VortexBFForever

5/16: -Meeting a KIC group for the first time since Media Day! -Riding with KICers on Adventure Express, Racer, Vortex, BLSC, and The Beast -Having a train all to myself on Vortex for the first time since 9/26/2010! -Another fireworks ride on Vortex -2nd ever night ride on The Beast -short lines! -got a pretty good number of rides in (7 total) in only an hour and a half!

Homestar92, I agree with what you said about Mind Eraser. It's not that bad! I had a lot of fun when I rode it last year. Really enjoyed reading about the fun you had at Darien Lake!

I hope you have fun at Darien Lake! I was there last year and I enjoyed it! (and you also know that park is home to an Arrow looper called Viper, the first coaster ever with five inversions. )

^I was wearing my waist pack at Banshee Media Day; I rode with it without a problem.

Mine was Vortex!

I won't be in another play or musical until the fall. Sorry On the other hand, I would like to know more about Tarzan. Do you have any more info about that?

Mom's photos from the trip! First ride of the evening on Vortex Getting ready to ride WindSeeker (I'm in Seat 60, on the inside) Looking around from where I was perched ~10 feet in the air on WindSeeker. Waving from 7-1 on my second Vortex ride Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this!

There was no line, since they had just let people on to the next cycle. There was only one person in front of me while I was waiting. The wait was a cycle-length. When I was let on, I chose a blue seat on the outside. It felt great to fly on Zephyr again! It felt just like when I rode it on Opening Day 2013! The same thing happened with Scrambler. Since they had just let people on, the line for that ride was nonexistent as well! I rode in Seat 7. It felt great to ride Scrambler again too! Plus, I don’t think I had ever been on it at night, so I was also experiencing my first night ride on Scrambler! After that always fun ride, I headed to Racer. Both sides were open with a station wait. I hopped into my normal spot, row 5-2 on the Red side, after waiting only 3-5 minutes. Needless to say, it too was very fun. I forgot how much I missed riding those hills on a wooden coaster! This ride was also like when I rode it on Opening Day ’13. It started out with Red just ahead of Blue, but it ended with Blue ahead of Red! Once again, I was truly baffled, but the ride was still fun! I saw Adventure Express as I was heading through Racer’s near-empty queue, and I automatically made that my next ride. I had not had a night ride on it since May 26, 2013, so I was very eager to do it again! I almost jumped up and down when I saw how short the line was – only a station wait! I got in line for the very back row. I ended up on Train #1 for my 3rd ever night ride on Adventure Express. I knew I was in for something when the train took off into the darkness! First off, the first two tunnels had no lights on in them. It was PITCH BLACK!!I couldn’t see a THING until we were out of the tunnel. I enjoyed my favorite part (that small drop to the right before that turn that comes before the part where you go under those low beams). Love those laterals!! The last two tunnels did have the lights on, including the final tunnel. The effects were working in the last tunnel, were myself and several other riders did the Tiki Dance! Believe it or not, it was the best night ride I ever had!!!!! It was AMAZING!!!! By this time, it was just after 9:40. We started heading back to the far end of the Mall so I could get my last rides of the night on Vortex. It was about 9:50 by the time I got back. The station was almost empty, just like I predicted. I waited a few minutes to get on 7-1; I ended up on Train #2. It was a very thrilling, airtime filled, intense ride. Just how I like it! (and do I even have to say I loved it? ) After that ride, it was 9:58. It was either stay on for a re-ride, or find out for sure if WindSeeker would open for the fireworks (my main goal was to try to get a fireworks ride on WindSeeker). I rushed over to WindSeeker’s entrance, where a security guard was standing. I asked her, and she nicely responded and told me that WindSeeker was not going to open for the fireworks. After thanking her, I went back to Vortex (I had a backup plan in mind; if getting to ride WS during the fireworks didn’t work out, I would go straight back to Vortex and get a fireworks ride there instead). I entered the queue just as an attendant was moving the trash can to block the queue line entrance. My “backup plan” had worked! I was going to get a fireworks ride on Vortex! As I was boarding Train #3 in row 2-1 (where I sat on the first ride of the evening), the fireworks began! Not long after that, Train #3 was dispatched and we were sent on our way. I watched the fireworks lighting up the sky, as well as the ride’s classic chasing lights running up the railing of the lift hill. This magnificent ride turned out to be my 230th ride ever on Vortex! The fireworks were a fabulous way to celebrate as I was flown, flipped and twisted all over the place for the 230th time. At the end of the cycle, the trains stacked (since I was on the last train, it was on the first of the two brake runs. It was a great place to watch!), allowing everyone on board to enjoy the last few moments of the fireworks before they ended. It was a great way to end my first trip of the year (on a normal operating day)! I said “good night, sweet dreams” to Vortex and WindSeeker, then started the journey out of the park. +Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown: 1 Total: 2 +Shake, Rattle & Roll: 1 Total: 13 +Vortex: 3 Total: 230 +WindSeeker: 1 Total: 57 +Zephyr: 1 Total: 16 +Scrambler: 1 Total: 10 +Racer: 1 Total: 13 +Adventure Express: 1 Total: 31 Notes: -Prize Wheel’s return -“extended flight” on WindSeeker, as I have explained already -WindSeeker was testing at various times throughout the trip, but did not reopen other than when I was riding it -I heard “Happy” by Pharrell Williams playing not long after I entered the park -I saw a couple of people smoking while walking around…while walking around… (yes, I know it was opening weekend, but still…) -I heard the “F-bomb” being dropped way too many times (I heard a bad word spoken about 10 times total, at least). Not. Fun. At. All!!! I did not let that spoil all the fun I was having, though. As a Christian, I know I have to deal with hearing the occasional bad word once in a while, but just so you know, I completely detest bad words 120%. -Fireworks ride on Vortex! Amazing! -Got to see Banshee in person at night for the first time. The colored lighting on that ride is really cool! -No trace of the Starlight Spectacular left -Fountains were lit up! (there were some nights last year when that wasn’t so) Part 4 (Mom's photos) in next post

I got on the ride in Car #7 (one of the yellow cars). It was fun, and yet another nice way to start the trip! Then came the part you’ve all been waiting for: my first ride on Vortex since Closing Day. I was pretty happy to be there again! The line was just outside of where the ride’s sign is. I started timing the wait on my watch. As soon as I boarded Train #3 in Row 2-1, I stopped the watch and it said 14:54, just a few seconds shy of a 15 minute wait! Even the small things, such as pulling down the harness, made me so happy I was finally back! (especially since I didn’t ride Vortex enough times on Closing Day ) Earlier in the trip I had noticed WiindSeeker testing. By the time I had finished riding Vortex, it had opened. I’m glad I got my ride when I did, because after I rode it didn’t open again for the rest of the night. While I was taking photos of WS, I switched to the "Super Vivid" setting on my camera to bring out its colors. I only waited a couple minutes since the cycle was ending. I got assigned to Seat 60. Since the previous cycle had the “Hedwigs Theme” from Harry Potter, this one was supposed to have “Romantic Flight” from How to Train Your Dragon. It did start playing at the beginning, but for some reason it went to the next soundtrack – “Test Drive”. I like that soundtrack too, so it was no biggie. It was a very nice (and chilly) flight uptop. Why did I leave my hoodie on the ground with my shoes? This particular cycle was really interesting! When the ride was coming down, it suddenly stopped when it was still about 10 feet off the ground. When I felt the gentle yet abrupt halt, I thought, “I don’t remember this being part of the ride…” as I slowly took a moment to realize that this normally didn’t happen, and the other ~40 riders and I were stuck! I was actually excited. Not scared at all, to be honest! You see, I had never gotten stuck on a ride before until now. Plus I already knew that WindSeeker was having the hiccups (this was only the second and last cycle it operated with people that night). The extended ride was caught on video on both my camera and my mom’s. Mom (TurkishDelightBGW) even took a picture of me when I was up there! The ride didn’t move for about 3 minutes. It turned a typical 3-minute ride into a 6-minute ride! It was rare, and interesting, to say the least. After the 3 minutes, maintenance attempted to restart the ride, in which they succeeded on the first try! Then, they lowered it slowly to the ground, to allow the riders to exit. There were some attendants at the exit apologizing for the minor “inconvenience”. I told them I actually enjoyed it! After all, it was the first time I had ever gotten stuck on a ride! Now that my extended flight on WindSeeker had concluded, I started walking to the other rides. Like always, I planned to return to Vortex during the last hour. The next ride I rode was Zephyr. Part 3 in next post

Great! I hope it works out!

Nice TR, once again! Judging by those photos, everyone looks to be having a good time! Seriously, there has to be a time where I can meet with the group as well! I have not been with a KIC group since Media Day, so it's long overdue! My mom and I are thinking of heading to the park on the evening of the 16th. Hope we all can meet together then!

50th ever Kings Island Trip! – Saturday, April 19, 2014 Kings Island served as a much needed break from working in the kitchen at home for nearly 4 hours! We headed out at around 6:50 and got there at about 7:45. I was expecting the crowds to start tapering off at this point, but it turned out that it was a bit more that crowded than I thought. It wasn’t too crowded to be enjoying the park, though! It felt great to be inside the park again on a normal operating day! Once we were inside we headed toward Planet Snoopy and Rivertown. My original plan was to start on Diamondback, and I was going to check on the line. I saw that the Prize Wheel was back! It was by Diamondback’s entrance. Since I didn’t have $2 on me at the moment, I decided to pass on it for this visit. (I did not even THINK of trying to win a front of the line pass on the wheel so I could possibly get a ride on DB. Oops…) I looked at DB’s line and it was a little too long (we only had about 2.5 hours until closing). Race for Your Life Charlie Brown, on the other hand, had NO LINE, so it ended up being my first ride of the evening! I got Boat 17 to myself for the ride. I only had to wait one minute because there were a few people on the boarding platform when I got down there. It was a nice ride through the woods, and I didn’t get too wet when I zipped down the drop at the end! Loved it! (I obviously need to ride this more often…) We headed straight to Coney Mall, and I bet you know the reason why. It was the first time in over 5.5 months that I was “reunited” with my beloved favorite, Vortex! But I decided to stop by Shake, Rattle & Roll first to multi task: I was going to enjoy the ride all while getting myself more excited for Vortex by simply watching it. I waited only one cycle length since I had gotten in line right when they finished loading. I was able to get some good shots of Vortex: Part 2 coming up

Thank you for inspiring me to complete my 4/19 TR! (I haven't completed it because of complications uploading 3 videos from that trip). Once it's done, I'll post about it!

^Like I said before: glad you had fun seeing Shrek. Had I not had my performances of Beauty & The Beast that same weekend (and known more about Shrek as well) I may have thought of seeing it. LoraX, I don't want to sound like I'm nagging or anything, but whenever you bring up the topic of Shrek, I keep holding on to the thought "I wish some KICers had come to see my show..." But I know they're both over now, so I should just let the thought go. Carry on...

Nice trip report! I can't wait to be at Cedar Point this summer. Sounds like the new rides are very fun! Sent from my brand new iPod touch using Tapatalk

^And pants. Shorts too. (it actually says "pants/shorts" because obviously you wear either. )

I only know for sure that June 8 and 22 will not work for me, since I will be in the Carillon Park Concert Band and on those two dates we have concerts, both at 2 pm. I do not know about June 14 yet, nor any other day in June, July, or August, but if you know me I always prefer Sundays and usually weekdays.

April 19: Getting stuck on WindSeeker for 3 minutes, riding Vortex during the fireworks, getting the best night ride yet on Adventure Express, getting to see Banshee in person at night for the first time, and experiencing the park at night for the first time in forever (Frozen reference intended )

Do you remember the lights that are on the bottom of WindSeeker's seats? They were working in its inaugural season (2011) but have not since 2012. In contrast, the ones on Cedar Point's WindSeeker were still working when I was there on September 15 last year (2013) and I wouldn't be surprised if they're still working now. I really miss seeing those lights lit!! If Cedar Point can keep them going on their WindSeeker, then Kings Island can too.

So which is better: Banshee or Vortex? I like both. No, really. Even though I was able to be on both Banshee and Vortex last week (Banshee on Thursday, Vortex on Saturday) I like them both the same, though Vortex may still be ahead by a slight edge. Keep in mind that it is quite hard to thoroughly compare a 27 year old Arrow mega-looper with a brand new 3 month old B&M invert.

I heard that same song while in line for Vortex!

^5-1 is normally referred to as the first row of the fifth car. For example, the front row is 1-1 and the back row is 7-2. If I said I was riding in 2-1, I would be referring to the first row of the second car. If I was riding in 6-2, I would be in the second row of the sixth car. So it would be like this: 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 It hardly matters whether you sit on the left or right in row 5-1; you'll still get a smooth ride. It's basically the same with any row. You'll get the same experience that that row gives whether you're in the left or right seat. I hope this is the clarification you are looking for.

Wait...they weren't working again yesterday?? I was on AE on Saturday night and all the effects were working in the last tunnel!

WindSeeker had the hiccups when I was there tonight. It was open briefly, so I took a ride on it after I had gotten off of Vortex. Near the end of the ride when we were still about 10 feet above the ground, it stopped. It stayed that way and did not move for about 3 minutes until maintenance restarted it and brought us back down safely. I thought it was very interesting, and even fun, for I had never gotten stuck on a ride before until tonight. What an interesting experience I had on WindSeeker! After I had gotten off, WS was down for the rest of the night, except for it was testing quite a few times including during the fireworks. I wasn't able to get a fireworks ride on WindSeeker like I hoped, but I instead got a fireworks ride on Vortex! Better yet, it was my 230th ride on Vortex, so it was an amazing way to celebrate!

I may be going tonight. But first, I'm helping my mom do chores. Work comes before fun!