violakat03

I'm hoping and thinking it'll be paw prints or something else for The Beast. Don Helbig said they're planning something special for the big guy's anniversary, so that seems appropriate.

Totally guilty. But I also have a couple other parks' (CP, HW, etc) opening days marked in there too. You might be a KI addict if you're already working out your game plan (where you'll go and in what order) for April 18th.

Healthy choices are the biggest reason I don't eat at the park. My stomach can't handle greasy food when it's hot out. I pack a cooler with sandwich fixings and leave it in the trunk of the car. That way I save money, eat better, and don't get sick from the greasy pizza combined with the hot summer days. I also only drink water (free!) when I'm inside the park.

Wow, 25 lbs! Congrats!!! Hopefully I'll see you there on opening day sliding into those seats with plenty of room to spare!

I finally had a dream I could remember (really rare that I remember them) when I took a nap this afternoon. And, of course, it was about Kings Island! I dreamed that we showed up for the Diamondback tour in February and it was in the 70's and sunny out. It was so warm that most everyone was wearing shorts. When we got to Diamondback and saw that they were running the trains, Don Helbig said "since it's unseasonably warm today, you'll be the first ones on Diamondback!" and sent everyone through the queue line to ride it. After getting off Diamondback, we rode Maverick (where did it come from?!) which was completely over water from start to finish and for some reason I absolutely loved the ride, which is weird because I didn't really enjoy it when I rode it in real life. Then we went on a walking tour of Mean Streak (again, where did it come from?!) which was back in the woods behind Firehawk now. And by walking tour, I mean, we walked the entire track like maintenance does, which they were in the process of still doing winter retracking on. On the top of the first hill we stopped for a Q&A session with the tour guide (who looked suspiciously like the tour guide in the pink shirt from the GWL tour) and asked for suggestions on improving the ride, because since it was moved to the park they wanted to make it a spectacular ride instead of one with a reputation for being rough. Then we met up with the parts of our group that had dropped off throughout the day because they didn't want to hike Mean Streak or whatever their reason and regaled them with tales of how great everything was, and for some reason I had a video on my cell phone of our ride on Diamondback, even though my phone never appeared while actually riding it. And it was shortly after that when I woke up. Talk about weird!

To clear it up - the forum I'm referring to is not a coaster or amusement park-related site. Totally different subject matter, actually. But, it just goes to show that no matter what you're talking about, you've got the good forums and the bad - it's all a matter of how well it's run.

The implication at the event was exactly that, that we should be seeing them go up as soon as the weather is appropriate. It's supposed to be in the 40's this weekend so hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. Just for reference ... no one was rick rolled in this thread. The link was not a rick roll, and when it is an obviously embedded video, it is not considered a rick roll.

I don't know, the Rick Roll is pretty over done now. The "train roll" might just become the new thing.

I know this seems kind of random, but I'm in the progress of watching my other favorite forum sliding downhill due to poor moderation. The members do nothing but argue and there are more spam posts than real posts. The few posts that there are legitimate are all on the same topic, to the point I completely stopped reading entire sections of the site because there was nothing new. I've been a member of that site for about nine years (it's not a small site either - about 40,000 registered members) and have seen this downward spiral from the beginning and to what I fear might be the end. I just want to say a huge thank you to the entire moderation team to this forum. This is by far the highest quality forum I'm a member of. Petty arguments and insults are not tolerated, maturity is expected, spam posts are never even seen. I appreciate all the work that goes into keeping this forum at the level that it is and I hope you guys know that your members really enjoy it! I have no fear of seeing this forum reduced to nothing like my other forum is, because the moderation team is sharp, witty, and quick to the point. Good job to everyone!

I was rolling. I give full credit to Mr. Helbig for that one.

I'm thinking none of them will go for less than $1000. Especially when it's for a good cause, that will lead a lot of people who wouldn't normally care to bid on it.

They should have thrown some pics up on the website of them. I guess we will see them within the next few days. What, you didn't hear? He showed us trains at the event! You can see them right here!

That surprizes me to be honest that two inches is that different. Even one inch can be different. One of my good friends is one inch taller than my husband and was uncomfortable in FOF but my husband fits just fine without even having to wiggle. There's also only about a 10 lb difference in the two.

I'm going to say yes - because I didn't realize coasters like Voyage, Cyclone, and Ravine Flyer II had a steel superstructure. But really, I'd say yes and no - they're a hybrid and that's what they are, but if you had to say it is one or the other, I'd say wood because the track is wood. Just like AE and Gemini are steel because the track is steel.

Are you the one that was talking to my husband about cameras?

That's what I meant by maintenance sheds. They're pulled off the track and taken to a different location in the park for their rehab, i.e. to a maintenance shed where they work on other stuff during the season.

Yeah, big kudos on the sandwiches Dane. Best catered group lunch I've had in a long time (and I used to have them all the time where I used to work).

Yes. They are all in maintenance sheds right now most likely. There's a yearly refurbishment process that they do on all moving ride parts, including trains. On the Cedar Point blog they had a cool picture of Millie's trains in the parking lot getting ready to go in the maintenance shed.

I remember seeing you! I had on a grey "Coaster Freak" hoodie.

Yeah. I had my camera set up on a tripod close to the front of the room.

Am I seriously the only person who didn't photograph their (or someone else's) food?

Do you have the full presentation available somewhere for the people who couldn't see it very well? If not, I know my husband took pictures of every single slide with his digital SLR. I loved your presentation. I didn't know much about Coney Island but having learned the history behind it, I'm planning on visiting it for the first time this season.

Driving on it, actually.

We all took our shoes off once we got upstairs. My view from the International restaurant. Absolutely beautiful. Picturesquely iced over. Shadowy Eiffel Tower. Shadowy Beastie. Love the sun glinting off Diamondback. And that's all! I just noticed I appear to be the only one who didn't take a picture of my food.

Nice pristine snow around the entrance way. I like the way it lays over the tram road. Here you go Jasper! Diamondback peeking through the trees. Our group was pretty big, I was standing almost at the back. Diamondback and Beastie (Fairly Odd Coaster - it's still Beastie to me) teehee, the security car covered in snow!