LongLiveTheSmurfRide

^ kissing this topic goodbye when the announcement is made.

Wouldn't it be funny if it was discovered that YoungStud is just Don's second account? And that this is his attempt at getting everyone to hate on Intamin and get pumped for a B&M? Well played Don. Well Played.

Portalicious. Anyone ever run a comb through a bat's fur?

^ If you want me to stop taking the photos of your house just say so Nemo. Sheesh!

Nice report. I went out there for the first time a couple years ago and loved it. The Whip is my favorite flat ever now. Can't wait to go back.

I may be heading out to BGW in September so I might be able to take quick que passes off your hands if they're still available.

I take my ID just in case of the credit card thing. Never got carded at KI, but when I went to Holiday World earlier this year was carded for each credit transaction.

Doing it at night too. Interesting.

Spider-Man is a notorious liar.

Yeah, "hyper", "giga", "strata"; I always assumed they only described the height and had nothing to do with other elements included with the ride.

Honestly, I think if you took a poll of the average KI visitor, they'd look at the words "giga" and "invert" and say, "What the heck does that mean?" I believe the average KI visitor just wants to ride a ride. Doesn't matter if it's an invert, giga, sit down, floorless, flying, 4D, ect. All this talk of what Kings Island "needs", I don't think the average visitor thinks about what the park "needs". If it's a new B&M coaster or Intamin, they will line up in droves to ride it because it's new.

Nice report, and woohoo for root beer!

Ride approved!

I guess that matters if you need to put up a front that you're cool. Can we buy a self esteem bracelet too?

I can understand not wanting a shirt with a giant logo if it's just not your style (my reason to not get one), but why are we ashamed to be enthusiasts? Why hide what you are?

I'll join in. The restraint was uncomfortable for me, though not horrible. I'm 6 foot, 200 lbs. I could feel it get a lot tighter through the ride and it was very noticeable on my collarbone, but didn't really "hurt", though it probably would if I rode it a few times in a row. Once in the brakes at the end, I noticed how hard it was to take a deep breath, which is always unsettling. My wife, on the other hand, had bruises on her collarbone after our one ride. She was not a fan.

I call Alice! *crickets* What!?

Cool video!

Found this on their site: Absolutely no cameras are allowed on any of the other rides (even when the camera is secured in a pocket or fanny pack). For everyone's safety, cell phone use is not permitted on rides. So technically, not allowed to have them even in your pocket, so I guess they can't enforce it unless they see it.

Wheeeeen! I hope. Thanks for the compliments, folks! I forgot to mention that I ran into an odd camera/phone policy that they have. We were in line for Voyage there and were next to board. That's when I whipped out my iPhone and snapped that picture of the Voyage train coming into the station above. Anyway, I took that picture then bent down to put my camera into my zipper side pocket and one of the station workers said, "If we see a camera or phone, you have to put it in a locker before you ride." I was like, "Oh, I'm just putting it in my pocket now", and he said, "Nope, it's policy, you have to lock it up now." I complied (thankfully they have nice individual key lockers in the station so I didn't feel like my phone would get stolen), and he wasn't really mean about it, but still it made me feel a little like they thought I was going to video the ride or something when I was just getting a picture of the coaster before they'd even opened the gate for me to board. Odd policy that I'd never heard of before, so you're warned!

^ three more times, or I don't believe you.

Last Saturday I went to Holiday World with my wife (Laura) and our friend (Scott). I had not been out there for a few years and it was Laura and Scott's first time. I was pretty nervous about driving 3 and a half hours out there mainly to take them on some of the best and intense wooden coasters, because, you know, what some people call "intense" others call "rough". And I didn't want to be responsible for dragging them out to the middle of the nowhere just to get a concussion; even if they got a lousy t-shirt with it. But threats of injury aside, we were going. Thunderstorms were in the forecast for later in the afternoon, so I hoped they would scare off some of the Saturday crowds. We arrived just as the park was opening. Me posing with Santa. "Welcome to Holiday World!" I had already decided that I was going to ramp up the intensity slowly by taking them on the coasters starting with Raven, then Legend and ending with Voyage. I'd already over-hyped the Raven enough early. My first trip to HW was when the Legend had opened. And while I loved the insanity of the Legend; it felt like a work out, where the Raven was just plain fun. It was short, but fun. We hopped on after about a 15 minute wait and flew through. Laura sat next to me and thought it was rough, but fun. Scott said that it was SOB rough and one of the worst coasters he'd ever been on for roughness. I thought they were both crazy, but they were reaffirming my earlier fears that maybe they were going to hate it here. I personally felt like the Raven was a little less stellar than I'd remembered. It was fun, but I wasn't blown away like I was years ago. Next we went over to Legend. It was about a 20 minute wait. Once we got into the station I saw that the front seat line was no longer than any other so we got in it. I always loved the Legend in the front. We rode and I heard Laura shouting "Oh god!" at every sudden direction change; which if you've ridden Legend you know, there are a LOT of sudden direction changes.So I was pretty sure she was hating it. As we hit the brakes we were wiping tears out of our eyes from the wind. Scott, again, thought it was rough, but not as bad as Raven, and he enjoyed it more. Laura loved the Legend. She was shocked by how forceful it was, but liked it a lot more than Raven. Hope was restored! Both of them needed a little break before going to what I told them would be the most intense coaster they'd ever ridden. Scott still had a headache from Raven and Laura's head was spinning. So we rode a couple flats like the carousel which has some sweet animals. Everyone was clamoring to get on this dragon-horse. Who-Dey!!! Their Flying Eagles/Parrots/Pelicans are fun, but you cannot get any kind of snap on them at all. I knew this going in, but we still tried. Laura insisted on taking this picture since my birthday is on the 4th of July (Look at me. I was so much younger in this picture. So full of hope, and life. Meeeeeemorieeeeees!!!) Scott and I on the Turkey Whirl. He's still got that Raven headache. So finally it was time for the Voyage. The line was pretty long and for the first half they were still running only 1 train. Once they got the second on the track, it moved better but we still had about an hour+ wait. We rode near the back, which was probably a mistake considering this was their first ride and they would not be able to see what was coming. I hyped this coaster a LOT. They are both big Beast fans and found it crazy that I thought any of these coasters could rival it. We started up the lift and Laura was getting nervous. We went down the first couple drops, then the beginning of the insanity starts. Sudden turns, 90 degree banks, lateral g's up the ying yang. Laura had again been shouting "oh god!" with every turn. We hit the mid course brake section and I shouted "It's about to get nuts!". Laura responded, "What!? Now!?" and then we hit the Voyage's triple down and everything from then was a blur of speed and turns. When we hit the brakes we were all out of breath. Laura was weak in the knees and needed some time to regain herself. She said that she had never been so scared on a coaster before. Scott got a bigger headache and was pretty much done for the day. I told them that we had to ride again in the front later so that they could judge better. We went back to the front of the park and ate at the restaurant in Christmas land. Food prices are so reasonable there. I think it was $9 for 2 big slices of pizza, bread sticks and some Oreos. Of course, drinks were free. The pizza was very good. Then we rode a few more flats like the bumper cars, which are still crazy fast and hit hard. They are not cars, but horses and bulls, which used to have light up eyes, but the lights weren't working at this time. Rode the Getaway Gobbler, meh. Then we went to the car and got some swimwear and went to Splashing Safari for a bit. This was my 4th visit to HW and the first time I'd actually tried the water park. It was crazy crowded, but we still got a few slides in. The water coaster lines were insane, so we didn't try them. We got changed and walked around a bit. Laura and I bustin' some ghosts. Both Scott and Laura were tired, but I told them we HAD to do Voyage one more time. Just then it started getting dark and a storm was heading in. We booked it to Voyage and it was already shut down. We had an early dinner to wait out the storm at the Thanksgiving restaurant. The food was okay and you got a LOT for the price, but the pizza was better earlier, I thought. The storms lasted a while with a lot of lightening and we had almost given up hope that we'd get a ride, but eventually the skies cleared and we got in line. Scott was done for the day so Laura and I waited for the front seat. We only waited about 30 minutes this time. The front is where it's at. Laura was still shocked by the coaster's intensity, and her final verdict is that it's the most intense coaster that she's ever been on, but she's still partial to The Beast for sentimental reasons. I'll take that. Laura and Scott both said they had fun, but I feel like Scott will not be a return customer. I think Laura will be glad to come back in a year or two. Maybe when HW finally installs those Timberliners. Laura loves Holiday World! And yes, we did get lousy t-shirts.

So, is every single post from Don a hint or a clue? I don't believe something that's said unless it's told to me at least 5 times in an hour .

I believe when I went was on a Sunday a couple years ago and it wasn't that bad, especially early.

Oh yeah, The Kangaroo and Turtle were really cool too. I love old rides.