violakat03

That is really good news. I was afraid it was going to end up rotting away and sold piece by piece with most of the coasters going to scrap instead of new homes. If they can manage to close this sale and open it again, hopefully they will learn from what HRP messed up last year and make it successful.

I don't remember some of those. I've been riding FOF since 1996 but don't remember any kind of prints or even any very good signage (except for the sign at the base of Racer's hill) leading to FOF. I seem to remember something leading to Vortex but don't remember what. Same with Beastie.

What kind of Nikon do you have? My husband's got an older D100 but we don't usually take it into the park - it's too bulky to carry on the rides and too valuable to be left at the station or in a locker. I carry a Kodak EasyShare C613 point & shoot that takes great pictures during the day and can fit in my cargo pocket on the rides.

My favorite is my "Coaster Freak" hoodie and matching t-shirt. I think they still sell these, but mine are from the Paramount days. It looks like a dictionary entry for what a coaster freak is. Second favorite would be one that I bought back in I think junior high. It's grey and says "The Beast" but it's not the typical Beast logo, it's on like a red and blue bar across the upper part of the shirt. Very simplistic. I got paint on the sleeve in art class once but I still wear this shirt on occasion.

You wave to KI as you pass it on I-71 at 4 a.m. saying "hi Diamondback! Hi Eiffel Tower! Hi Drop Tower!"

I was totally guilty of that last week ... was going to Mason and knew I couldn't see the park from where I was (48 at Columbia Rd) but was straining to see it anyway!

Double post due to forum error message. Mod, please delete?

My mom reminded me of a few from when my brother and I were young. We always knew we were getting close when we went over the "washboard road" - the portion of 42 southbound just past where 73 crosses at Waynesville. When I was younger the paving was really warped and it felt like you were driving over an old washing board. Also somewhere along 42 there was old farm equipment up on the hill on the side of the road. All of it's gone now, over the years it started falling down the hill or rusting to pieces and was slowly removed. And then on the 48 bypass we always played the "spot the Eiffel Tower" game - which was a lot easier back then, I guess the trees have really grown up! You can't see it until you're on 71 now. A friend of mine always said his family's ritual was the red horse. There was a small row of business that had I think it was called the Red Horse Tavern that had a statue of a red horse on the top of it's sign, on 42 just barely north of Lebanon. His mom always threatened that she could turn the car around if they misbehaved, until they got to the red horse. Once they got past the red horse they could do whatever they wanted because they were too far from home for her to turn around.

Depending on what park you're thinking, I might be willing to join you.

Closing day was pretty empty too. The last Saturday was insane, but Sunday was great. We walked on everything. I think the only wait was for The Beast, which we skipped since I'd gotten my last night ride in the night before.

urgh. After two years working in the water park, I cannot stand any of the traditional water park songs that you hear all the time. Beach Boys, especially. Just can't stand 'em any more. It didn't help that when I worked there (under Paramount) one of the CDs had a skip in it in the middle of Surfin' USA. Talk about annoying.

I used to always paint my nails a certain way. White with black music notes on them. I don't do that any more because I go there way more often, but all through junior high and early high school, I always did this. Now the only thing I do is actually take care in what I wear. I don't like wearing just any ol' t-shirt to the park, I try to always wear something unusual that shows something about me - a dive shirt, a coaster shirt, or something else involving my interests.

That's bizarre. I've taken pictures in stations and even inside the train on BLSC (before the lap bars were down - I put my camera away before they were) and never had an op say anything to me. In your position my first reaction probably would have been "I'm not that stupid!"

I think it's a little late to hope for that ... this thread derailed about two pages ago.

The Racer was running 1 1/2 - 2 hours, according to what people were telling me. Most of the big coasters were 4+ hours. Even the flats that are normally walk-on were 1+ hour waits. The speed slides (now are the ones that you slide down on a blue mat) that I could see from the locker rental counter in the water park were lined all the way down the stairs and onto the ground. Probably well over an hour just for a water slide.

Honestly I am too. I never made use of them because it was far too packed those days. I'd rather pay $25 for my friend's ticket at AAA and go on a day when there's decent wait times.

Yep, those days were some of the few that I didn't enjoy the park after I got off, just left immediately. There was a 30 minute wait just to rent a locker in the water park. It took us over an hour to sort the keys at the end of the night, something that usually only took 15-20 minutes.

For the record...that's poetry. It also truely captures how I feel about KI. I was blown away by the royal fountains on my first visit to Kings Island, and have been impressed by them every trip since. You're all right! There is something to that one spot of ground that makes it the most magical place on the planet. Seriously, poetry for sure. And yeah, walking in and hearing those fountains ... it really is like nothing else. I hadn't been to KI for about 3 years before this past season, and walking in to the fountains and International Street just brought all the great memories rushing right back. There's no other park on earth that can compare to the park that's been my home park for as long as I can remember.

Yes. I saw it used twice while I worked there. Both times were during bring-a-friend free day. They had the marquee set to say it, and had signs in front of all the parking gates that said "park full."

I wasn't aware of any ERT privileges for gold passes at KI last year. I know at CP, you had to go to a certain spot in the midway, show them your platinum pass, and they let you past the gates. But only in a certain spot, you couldn't walk up just anywhere to the gate.

Ah, no wonder I was confused! I had "on" in my mind, and thought I'd typed on... but apparently I didn't. I fixed it. Thanks.

I'm excited to hear Flight of Fear launch. It always gives me chills the first time I hear it after a while. And I'm excited for The Beast's anniversary. Can't wait to get my first night ride of the season in.

I thought that's what I said? Or, you may not have been talking to me. Not sure.

I took photos from the train this year and the ops never said anything to me, even when they were sitting directly in front of or behind me. I also took pictures from the riverboat ride, sky ride, observation tower and giant wheel. The ones from the sky ride came out the best but there were several good ones of Maverick and Millie from the train. As for taking pictures and video, I'd say take whatever you want. You'll know the 'limit' when someone says something to you about it. If someone says "hey, did you just take a picture of me?" then do the considerate thing and review your photos to see if they are indeed in one of them. If they are, ask their permission and delete it if they don't give it. I've never run into this but there's always a chance, especially involving children. I take a lot of photos at any park I go to and I've never once had an issue with another guest or the park having a problem with it. The two big no-no's that are exempt from this rule (a.k.a. don't even try to take these) are on the ride and photos of the screens that show on-ride photos. The on-ride photos are considered copyrighted by the park and taking a photo of them is a copyright violation. Taking a photo on the ride is considered a safety violation and is seen as just as dangerous as not securing your lap bar because if you loose your grip, your camera becomes a loose object. They will remove you from the park for either if you are caught.

And then sigh and wish it was April 18th already. You might be a KI addict if you're planning to make your first KI videos this year or have made them in the past. I'm planning to make my first music video this season now that I've figured out the video function of my digital camera!