VortexBFForever

I may end up working during Coasterstock again, especially considering Vortex is in the ERT again. Working it last Coasterstock with my fellow slap-happy crewmates was so chill and so fun; even with how tired I was, I would definitely do it again!

I know it's been a week since my first post in this thread, but I have thought that I should include what I said in my "longest post ever" on Facebook, since not everyone has a Facebook for their own reasons. I feel I didn't adequately explain a lot of what I got to experience this year on here yet, so here is the content of my Facebook post, slightly edited: I knew many adventures awaited when the clock struck midnight on the previous New Year’s Eve, but my anticipation still fell short. My second season as an associate at Kings Island seemed to take forever to arrive, but once it did, I got to not only relive some of my favorite things about the previous season but also encounter a handful of new experiences, including but not limited to: -Getting trained at Monster, Scrambler, Dodgem, Firehawk, Racer, Flight of Fear, Train, Flume, Linus’ Launcher, and Adventure Express in addition to my home rides (WindSeeker and Vortex) and meeting lots of new friends in the meantime! -Taking my 500th and 600th complete rides on Vortex on May 4 and July 30, respectively. -Enjoying a fun visit on June 4 with relatives whom I normally see on only Thanksgiving. -Riding Vortex in a torrential downpour on June 12! -Bringing more friends with me to the park than any other year combined! -Being Flume’s last rider of the season on Labor Day, September 3. -Breaking my single day ride record on Vortex by riding it 32 times on October 21 with a fellow Arrow fan friend. -Riding Vortex’s third-to-last train of the season and being among the last riders on Firehawk on October 28. -Seeing family and friends who came to visit me at work throughout the year! -Working in Park Services for Winterfest! I actually really enjoyed it and I am glad that all the ride crews were full by the time I signed up; otherwise, I would not have discovered how fun Park Services can be. I am returning to Rides for next season, but I plan to hopefully pick up a few shifts to help out my Park Services friends during the summer as well as Winterfest. I made 103 trips to and from Kings Island, adding nearly 7,000 miles to my dad’s car’s odometer! And I had to pay for gas too, so that was fun... I spent over 680 hours at Kings Island operating Vortex, WindSeeker, Firehawk, and any ride at which I was trained, and later as a sweep wielding the power of the pan and broom and maintaining the park’s cleanliness during Winterfest. The fun did not just happen at Kings Island though! Spring Break (March 4-11) saw an amazing tour through Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee with my fellow Cedarville University Orchestra members, including a day at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure! I finally got to ride the Incredible Hulk Coaster and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem (both of which I wished to ride for at least six years)! July 24-27 saw a fun Upstate New York trip which included spending two full days (and then some) at Darien Lake, to which I had not gone for five years. It felt great to return to my first out-of-state park and see what was new! September 23 saw my first trip to Cedar Point since 2016; after hearing numerous people rave about Steel Vengeance, I got to experience it for myself. The first RMC I ever rode is indeed as impressive as people say it is. The only word I could find to describe my experience right after I rode it was “incredible!” And my other favorites (including Gemini – happy 40th anniversary!) were fun as always! Here are the five rides I rode the most this year: 1. Vortex (192 1/3 times) 2. WindSeeker (32 times) 3. Viper @ Darien Lake (27 times) 4. Flight of Fear (20 times) 5. Shake Rattle & Roll (18 times)

I like all four seasons for their own reasons, but I'm going to have to give it to the spring/early season. I love seeing the park come back to life (and getting retrained at my rides!) and not worrying about how much of the season remains when it has only started! And of course the long-anticipated first rides of the season are definitely something worth waiting the whole winter. The fall season is definitely my close second. I love the fall colors, not sweating my head off, and getting some rather chilly rides on my favorites before they close for the season; also, Haunt has started to grow on me!

I experienced four (technically five) parks this past year: Kings Island (of course), Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Darien Lake, and Cedar Point. I also went to Soak City once! One of these years I will actually get around to going to Soak City more than once. I love water slides but I love roller coasters even more! I also visited Splashtown Waterpark for the first time during my Darien Lake trip. I wrote my longest post yet on Facebook which still covered only a good portion of my many experiences in 2018, the majority of which came from Kings Island since I worked/visited almost every day for the whole summer. In fact, after doing a little math, I found that I made 103 trips to Kings Island (including the pre-season work-specific trips such as Orientation) which adds up to 154.5 hours of driving between home and the park, and almost 7,000 miles! I'm hoping I can live in the new dorm this coming season so I can spare my dad's car some mileage (and gas usage!), especially since I live far enough away to be given priority. I loved the 2018 season and all its jam-packed adventures! Even though I already miss Vortex and WindSeeker, I know I need this three-month break so I can be recharged and ready to work my third season when April rolls around!

Winterfest may be here, but it's not too late to still talk about Haunt! I promised myself I'd write this report at some point not just to document another great trip, but also to brighten the moods of any KICers who may already be experiencing the offseason blues if their favorite ride isn't operating for Winterfest. Either way, who doesn't like the joy of seeing a newly written trip report just waiting to be read?!? 'Twas the night of Friday, October 19, and my Fall Break was in full swing. My parents were out of town that weekend, leaving me home by myself with an available car. Of course, I chose to use all that spare time wisely...at Kings Island. I invited two of my friends, Margaret (one of my church friends; she has gone to KI with me three times before) and Meagan (my roommate at Cedarville U), both of whom were available to go on this night. We arrived at Kings Island just after 6pm. I knew lines were not going to be bad for most of the rides, but Meagan had never been to KI and I wanted to make sure she could ride a good number of rides, including the ones that tend to get longer lines on nights like this (especially a certain coaster that didn't have very many days left). I had renewed my Platinum Pass a few weeks earlier, so I decided to redeem my complimentary Fast Lane Plus and buy two more for my two riding buddies (I didn't mind paying, since it was not Saturday ). There was a good line to buy Fast Lane, and we waited ~15 minutes. That would happen to be our longest wait of the night. A lot of rides had short lines, but I had never used Fast Lane on any ride other than Vortex prior to this night, so it was cool getting to go through the Fast Lane lines on some of the other rides for the experience. And yes, our night would still be fun without it, but I wanted to use my complimentary Fast Lane Plus at some point and this night was my best choice for when to use it! I wanted to be sure I grabbed some pictures this time (as I didn't get any on the previous visit - October 12) and this was my first attempt. It gets better; I promise. Plus, I was attempting to take it as we were eagerly rushing to our first ride, Viking Fury! Riding Viking Fury first was Margaret's idea, as she enjoys this ride and how underrated it is. I like Viking Fury, but I was long overdue for a swing, as my last ride on it happened on August 29, 2014! And of course Meagan had never ridden it. So Viking Fury made a great first ride! We walked right on to one of the end rows. And let me tell you, Viking Fury makes a pretty fun night ride, especially on the end! Needless to say, we had fun, including Toothless (as it was his first ride on it too!). Like Margaret and me, Meagan also enjoys roller coasters. However, she prefers a more gradual transition into riding them (i.e. she'd rather not ride Diamondback first, but after she's ridden other smaller coasters then she'll do it). Conveniently enough, Viking Fury has a neighbor which for many is the ideal starting coaster, and for us was our next ride. Which ride? Adventure Express! I was excited to ride my original favorite night ride, and of course we rode in the back. The three of us had fun careening around the turns and through the pitch-black tunnels! After the ride, Meagan was ready to ride the bigger rides! Our next ride was Delirium, which was Margaret's second favorite ride! We waited two cycles before experiencing a very chilly ride! It was nice riding Delirium at night again, as I barely remember the last time I rode Delirium at night (it had definitely been a while!). Since Banshee was right next door, we we were ready to ride that next. After paying $2 for a locker, we headed through the line and rode in the back row. Zipping through the dark (and past the lights) on Banshee is definitely more fun than a daytime ride! Even though I don't ride Banshee on every trip, it's a great ride...especially at night! Like The Beast, which I prefer to ride in the rain or in the dark, I prefer to ride Banshee at night. I wouldn't mind riding it during the day, of course. We rode Banshee again, in the front this time. The chilly 68 mph wind in our faces added an exhilarating touch to our nighttime scream! We determined that our locker rental would allow us enough time to ride both Firehawk and Mystic Timbers and still make it back to the locker before the rental expired, even if it meant walking an entire lap around the park. Once we agreed on what to do, we set off toward Firehawk. Our first ride was on the yellow train. Prior to this night, I had actually never ridden Firehawk at night. In fact, Margaret and Meagan had never ridden Firehawk at night either! We had a blast on our first ever night ride on Firehawk. We all loved flying through the dark and upside down five times! We loved it so much that we rode a second time! This time, we ended up on the Red train, so I got some good (attempts at) night pictures of the ride. Our next stop was Mystic Timbers, as we had enough time left in our locker rental to ride it two times as well! As we passed Vortex, it began to rain... ...and we walked through my now-favorite scare zone, Pumpkin Eater! I wasn't sure how I would react to the scareactors, but I found out how when I said "hello" to every scareactor I saw and laughed in response to their scaring me. I actually loved it! I was never a big fan of Haunt, but I must admit that it is starting to grow on me. Maybe next year I will finally muster the courage to brave one of the mazes... On to Mystic Timbers! I took a break from taking pictures, for my non-waterproof camera's sake. Our two rides made me appreciate my rain jacket A LOT. I had not ridden Mystic Timbers in the rain since August 15, and I had never ridden it in the rain AT NIGHT before! It goes without saying that they were the CRAZIEST rides I have ever had on Mystic Timbers!!! The ride was insane and I had to keep my eyes closed as we were jostled side to side and up and down as we careened through the woods!! Our first ride on Mystic Timbers would be Margaret's last ride for the night. She loved it, but since we were now fairly wet (and a bit cold), she decided to sit out on the rest of the rides which Meagan and I would ride for the rest of the time (it was around 10 at this point and we planned to leave at 11) and she was completely fine with waiting for Meagan and me while we rode. After another watery truck ride through the woods of Rivertown, we walked back to Action Zone and retrieved our locker contents. Yes, we had just made a lap around the park just to make the most of a locker rental. Yay! It's probably a good thing Margaret sat out on our next ride... ...Diamondback! In the back! We put the "back" in "Diamondback" by riding in my favorite row, 16 (a.k.a. the back ). Not long after we took our back seats, a cold, wet, and ejector-airtime-filled ride followed. And before you ask, I did NOT dare stick my hand back during the splashdown (I normally do, but that's normally during the summer!). I just looked at the water instead. Since it had just rained (and it was still drizzling at this point), I knew we had to seize the chance to ride The Beast. I already know how fun The Beast is in the rain or at night, but I had yet to experience The Beast's wrath in BOTH conditions (much like how on the previous Friday, October 12, was the first time I ever rode Vortex in the cold, rain AND dark!) so Meagan and I were pretty hyped as we boarded my favorite row, 17. One long lift climb later, we were pulled over and down we went into the darkness for what would be one of the best, if not the best ride I have had to date on The Beast! The woods and the surrounding tunnels were pitch black and all I could do was helplessly enjoy the ride as everything sped by at 65 mph! Another EPIC ride at the mercy of The Beast (happy early 40th anniversary!)! Earlier, when approaching The Beast, I noticed this part of the park was quieter than usual. Indeed, Vortex had gone down for the rain while we were at Mystic Timbers, but it had gone back up by the time our Beast-tastic nature hike (er, ride) concluded. Perfect timing, because we were just now getting to it, we didn't have much time left, and I really wanted Meagan to get a chance to finally experience the ride I always talk about (she is my roommate, after all, so she is well aware of my Vortex adventures). We headed back through Pumpkin Eater and hopped right in line for Vortex. There was a small station wait, so Meagan took her first ever Vortex ride with me in 6-2! I told her everything she needed to know and before I knew it, we had already reached the 148-foot summit and plunged into the darkness! We laughed and twirled our way through the night as our Vortex train hauled us through its course one element after another. When we disembarked, I asked for her verdict and she said it was good! She enjoyed it! Last but not least, we had just enough time for a cold, post-rain night flight on WindSeeker! We bundled up and clutched Toothless close as "Flying" began to play and the 64-seat hub lifted us up to 256 feet in the air. As I said, it was cold, but the view of a fog-shrouded Kings Island and the surrounding area proved no less spectacular! After safely landing three minutes later, it was time for us to head out. We were cold and still a little wet from the rain, but we were happy that we got to experience this fun night at Haunt together! Meagan and Margaret loved their #FirehawkFinalFlights! Margaret said that Delirium will inherit her "favorite ride" title from Firehawk. Good choice. +Viking Fury: 1 Total: 4 (I really need to ride this more...it's underrated!) +Adventure Express: 1 YTD: 8 Total: 63 +Delirium: 1 YTD: 4 Total: 27 +Banshee: 2 YTD: 5 Total: 30 +Firehawk: 2 YTD: 6 Total: 23 +Mystic Timbers: 2 YTD: 5 Total: 28 +Diamondback: 1 YTD: 9 Total: 118 +The Beast: 1 YTD: 4 Total: 20 +Vortex: 1 YTD: 155 1/3 Total: 648 1/3 +WindSeeker: 1 YTD: 32 Total: 151

Vortex doesn’t always go down in the rain (it runs fine in a sprinkle), but more often than not it can get temperamental when it rains hard enough for long enough. I actually got stuck on it sometime in June due to a torrential downpour! ... To answer the topical question: it depends on what aspect you fear more. Banshee goes faster and goes upside down one more time than Vortex, but Vortex’s age, jerkiness and appearance make it look (and FEEL!) scary too. From my experience, it is possible to not get a headache while riding Vortex, but I do see how the possibility of getting one makes Vortex a bit scarier.

Steel Vengeance (1) vs. Maverick (1) The Beast (1) Vs. Banshee (1) Yes, I keep tying things up, but I can't resist giving the not-voted-for rides a little love. Maverick and Banshee are great rides too!

Millennium Force (2) vs. Maverick (10)Top Thrill Dragster (4) vs. Banshee (10)Steel Vengeance (10) vs. Magnum XL-200 (3)Diamondback (7) vs. The Beast (7)

I miss hearing Indiana Jones music in Adventure Express' queue.

Millennium Force (1) vs. Maverick (1) Top Thrill Dragster (1) vs. Banshee (1) Steel Vengeance (1) vs. Magnum XL-200 (1) Diamondback (1) vs. The Beast (1)

Millennium Force (10) vs. Adventure Express (4)Top Thrill Dragster (10) vs. Blue Streak (5)Steel Vengeance (10) vs. Flight of Fear (1)Diamondback (10) vs. The Racer (4)The Beast (10) vs. Mystic Timbers (9)Magnum XL-200 (10) vs. Rougarou (3)Banshee (10) vs. Raptor (1)Vortex (4) vs. Maverick (10) You're welcome, @BeastForever.

@IndyGuy4KI I'm not surprised. Maverick is one of my favorite rides at Cedar Point! -BFF, who had to wait only five minutes to ride Maverick during her Cedar Point excursion in September. Hooray for Early Entry!

Millennium Force (3) vs. Adventure Express (3) Top Thrill Dragster (3) vs. Blue Streak (3) Steel Vengeance (5) vs. Flight of Fear (1) Diamondback (3) vs. The Racer (3) The Beast (3) vs. Mystic Timbers (3) Magnum XL-200 (5) vs. Rougarou (1) Banshee (6) vs. Raptor (0) Vortex (2) vs. Maverick (4)

In that case... Millennium Force (10) vs. Great Pumpkin Coaster (3)Top Thrill Dragster (11) vs. Wilderness Run (1)Steel Vengeance (10) vs. Flying Ace Aerial Chase (2)Diamondback (11) vs. Woodstock Express CP (1)The Beast (10) vs. Woodstock Express KI (3)Magnum XL-200 (10) vs. Backlot Stunt Coaster (2)Banshee (10) vs. Cedar Creek Mine Ride (2)Valravn (6) vs. Adventure Express (10)GateKeeper (5) vs. Blue Streak (10)Vortex (10) vs. Iron Dragon (3)Maverick (10) vs. The Bat (2)Raptor (10) vs. Invertigo (5)Rougarou (10) vs. Corkscrew (4)Gemini (5) vs. Flight of Fear (10)Wicked Twister (6) vs. The Racer (10)Firehawk (4) vs. Mystic Timbers (10) Bring on Round 2! You're welcome. -BFF, who last voted 13 days ago.

The KIC community has changed a lot over the six years I have been a member here. Lately I have really missed seeing my original KIC friends (namely @Beastie1980, @ohiocolts, @Fire-Beast-OF FEAR, @Princess Sparkles, @LoraX, @Original and a few others whom I'm probably forgetting at the moment) post on here. They used to post here a lot and now I hardly see them anymore. I miss them. Thankfully there ARE friends who DO continue to post here, and I definitely appreciate that! @IndyGuy4KI, thank you for posting about the feedback. I would agree about the negative stuff seen on here. KIC isn't perfect nor will it ever be, but I would hate for it to come across as unwelcoming to any new members. I greatly enjoy seeing all the different (and sometimes controversial) opinions expressed here and I hope we as a community continue to help facilitate an environment where all of us can express our honest opinions without the fear of being shot down. Also: I know all of us feel like complaining every now and then; I pity the members who have had negative experiences, whether on here or at the park, but it also tends to kill the mood. I have been guilty of complaining too and I am doing my best to avoid complaining on here as much as I can. I still enjoy KIC after six years, even with its ups and downs!

I had fun seeing a few fellow KICers tonight! Congratulations to @XGatorHead 8904 for spotting me first! He said I could give my M&Ms to someone else, who turned out to be... @MDMC01! I also saw @DeltaFlyer and @Rallyomalley throughout the night. It was great to see you all again! I enjoyed my first Park Services shift! Even though I was in Rivertown all night, it felt great to walk nonstop around the big area that it is, and the simple task of using a pan and broom (and occasionally answering a guest’s question) offers a nice break from the more demanding ride operator job. I miss working at Train for Winterfest, but I enjoy Park Services too! Hopefully I can help at Train a couple of times. Not surprisingly, my favorite place to be tonight was on the connecting walkway in front of Vortex. Yes, there’s the obvious location-related reason, but I also found it to be a quiet, calm and relaxing place to take a break from the action over by Train and Mystic Timbers, all while still doing my job. The accompanying harp music in the area adds a lovely touch. My next time back won’t be until December 15 at the earliest, since I need all the time I can to prepare for my finals which are in just two weeks! But it’s comforting to know that this lovely winter wonderland will be waiting when I can finally return.

My first shift of Winterfest is tonight, and I am excited! If any of my fellow KICers plan to attend tonight, they have their chance to be the first KICer to ever spot me working as a sweep and not a ride operator! Since I am in Park Services, I can be found on any walkway in the park. Are you up for the challenge? Even if you're not the first to find me, say hello anyway! I love seeing fellow KICers when I'm at work, whether it'd be at Vortex, WindSeeker, or anywhere else!

That's me at Vortex! I have worked there there long enough to tell if a train miscatches on the lift or if a train arriving on the safety brakes either slows down or stops just by listening. I have also been able to suspect any possible abnormality on the trains (or at the very least, a noise slightly different from what I'm used to hearing) by listening to them when they are moving. This year I actually tried to tell which train was going up the lift by listening for any subtle differences in their anti-rollback noise, but I have yet to get to that point as the train I guessed would not match the train actually on the lift. If the trains have ANY differences whatsoever in how their anti-rollbacks sound on their 56-second ascent, one must have a highly sensitive, highly trained ear to even remotely notice them.

My favorite place to watch the tree lighting is from Snowflake Lake. I would skate during Session 1 just for this purpose. During the countdown and until the end of the song, the colored lights shine all around the rink too and it's really cool (given it doesn't throw off my balance! ). I cannot wait to experience that again this Winterfest!

As much as I loved Nickelodeon Universe, I enjoy Planet Snoopy too! Peanuts was a part of my childhood, as I had a few comic books that I read quite frequently, and I still have a VHS tape with “It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown” lying around somewhere that I used to watch all the time (even when it wasn’t Christmas!). I don’t think Snoopy or the Peanuts gang is leaving KI anytime soon.

With the arrival of Kings Mills Antique Autos, I am really hoping that Racer and Vortex get repainted. Both of them need it. The last time Vortex got new paint was nearly ten years ago (2009) and I have absolutely no idea when Racer was last painted. I was actually looking at Vortex pictures from 2003-2004 (not long after its 2001 repaint) in the KIC photo gallery and it looked amazing compared to today where the orange rails are pretty much yellow! I also noticed the blue paint on several supports was starting to peel while riding Vortex on Closing Day.

Millennium Force (2) vs. Great Pumpkin Coaster (1) Top Thrill Dragster (2) vs. Wilderness Run (1) Steel Vengeance (3) vs. Flying Ace Aerial Chase (0) Diamondback (3) vs. Woodstock Express CP (0) The Beast (2) vs. Woodstock Express KI (1) Magnum XL-200 (2) vs. Backlot Stunt Coaster (1) Banshee (2) vs. Cedar Creek Mine Ride (1) Valravn (1) vs. Adventure Express (2) GateKeeper (1) vs. Blue Streak (2) Vortex (3) vs. Iron Dragon (0) Maverick (2) vs. The Bat (1) Raptor (1) vs. Invertigo (2) Rougarou (1) vs. Corkscrew (2) Gemini (1) vs. Flight of Fear (2) Wicked Twister (1) vs. The Racer (2) Firehawk (1) vs. Mystic Timbers (2)

It looks like they were removed, because at the beginning all six of them are there and not long into the video, the two closest to the bandstand "disappear." So there are in fact only four of the pedestals present on the finished rink. I'm glad those last two were removed as I found that area of the rink quite cramped to skate through last year. especially during the session's peak when the most people were skating. Also, since it has not been mentioned yet: remember the benched area at the front end where we put on/took off our skates? I noticed that is no longer there and that the second benched area at the back end by the bandstand will be used this year. I'm liking these changes as it improves the look of the rink as you walk in the front gate, plus even more space in which to skate! For reference, here's a pic of the rink from last year, where all six pedestals and the benches at the front were present:

@kingsislandfan1972 Sandwiched between the associate lot and the handicapped lot is a little mini-lot with two rows marked by signs saying "VIP Parking". I walk right by it every time I'm walking in to work. It is right in the front of the parking lot and it is as close, if not closer, to the front gate than Preferred Parking!

I am so glad to hear the Train is running both engines on the weekends! I know from my experience last year that not everyone was willing to wait ~45 minutes just to ride the train. Fun times