electricsun

Hah! The plans for the season so far include: my sixth FUN park, at least six parks, but no SIX parks. Not sure how many campgrounds this year...There's only so much time in the summer. Pick and choose. I'll get what I'll get and won't throw a fit. Edited to add that I was apparently also unintentionally cross-threading. But truly, there is never enough time. We make the best choices we can with the information we have. Living in the what-if means we sometimes miss the here and now. So easy to say but sometimes so very hard to do.

Passes were found with very little searching, fanfare or stress. Looks like much fun will be had again this season.

I was talking with one co-op agency that said that the dollars they receive have to be spent in the areas where the money is generated, i.e. where their customers live. Could it be that in receiving state money, there is a limit placed on the advertising out of state? Also, I'm not surprised of the limit of parking during the fair. I could imagine many vendors and 4-H families purchasing a season pass instead of a fair parking pass to save money. Parking can be quite the revenue generator for fairs.

I think this is the point when I try to find that "safe place" where I stowed our passes in November... Let the seek and find adventure commence!

Please know that I didn't mean to imply that fashion/style should be of great importance when at a park. Really, to each their own and whatever makes them comfortable. I'm the person that will happily wear the work uniform so I can wear my gym shoes instead of dress shoes. I wish I'd been as lucky as everyone else in finding cargo shorts as that would make my life way simpler. Frankly, what I've tried on in past years would have had me walking around with a "saggy bottom" or a certain area of fabric halfway to my knees instead of where it belongs. That's not my style or comfort level and no one needs/wants to see that on me!

I'm very jealous. If my team is working, I have to have my phone on me...even on vacation and days off.

I've used a runners belt before. As LoraX said, it's not always the most comfortable. I tend to wear a tank under my shirts so I just wore mine between the two layers. I would shift it high up on my torso to make sure it wasn't between my body and the restraints. It was just big enough to fit my phone, 1 car key and license/season pass/credit card. When I had a different phone several years, I had a fabric phone holder that slid through my belt to stay secure. With the size of phones now, I don't see that as a viable option. I'm going to be looking for cargo shorts but I haven't had luck in finding them in previous years for my size/shape. They tend to hit in a really unflattering spot between my knees and mid-calves thanks to my lack of height.

I'll have my oldest nephew this weekend as it will be his birthday present from me this year. With his enthusiasm and curiousity, I figured it would be suitable. Memberships and tickets have been bought and one almost 13-year-old is eagerly awaiting mid-May.

Depends on how tall the niece will be at the start of the season. The youngest nephew officially cleared the 48" mark at the very end of last season. With them, I forsee many more rides on The Racer than all other seasons combined. Otherwise, The Beast.

Could it be that if they don't meet a minimum in revenue that they are responsible to pay the difference to the Fair Board?

I would imagine that the IR is included on the map as it is used at certain points during the season. For example, as a green room of sorts for teachers during Education Days.

Yes! It's such a treat to have been with my oldest nephew for all of his first rides at KI. His reaction during and his expression after were such a treat. His eyes couldn't have been bigger after his first ride on Drop Tower. His first ride on Banshee in the fall? I had one ecstatic kid! I'm looking forward to the 2nd and 3rd rounds of "firsts" with the youngest nephew and niece. The one is fearless and the other is going to need some coaxing and nonchalant attitude about how awesome a ride is. Just a few more inches and game on!

My oldest nephew and I ran into one of his school friends at KI this summer. He ended up getting in line with us for Diamondback and told us that the ride cost $25 billion to make. Erm...not quite kiddo. I told him that it seemed a little high but he was convinced. Teaching moment! Pulled out my phone, did a quick search and showed him the right price of $22 million. One letter can make a big difference.

May 8th is one of KI Education Days so you may see a higher than expected number of middle school/high school students. Typically though, most groups start leaving between 2-5p....depending on the school and their drive. In the times that I've been there during those days, the park hasn't been jammed packed. As The Interpreter said, you should be more than good to experience everything in the two days. Have fun!

Apparently, they also do not care about how they train their dragons.

I agree with a lot of what has already been said. I'm not going to base my decision to ride on the color of the ride. But for a ride with super faded paint or that it clearly hasn't been touched up, I can see where it might be a bit worrisome to some riders. I do appreciate a nice color combination. I tend to prefer the blue, green, purple, white and silver colors in general. I do wonder how different some rides look to those that are colorblind, especially the blue and green rides.

How do parks in flood plains, such as Coney Island, prepare for floods? I tried to look for this and found a few things on it - moving electric boxes and removing carousal horses. (If there is a detailed post on it that I missed, just point me in the right direction.) But what about the rides themselves? I've never been to CI so are they permanent or do they get removed to storage every year? I know they can withstand rain and snow but being submerged under standing water seems like a different beast. I would assume that such parks have become accustomed to the work and budgeted for the expense of dealing with the aftermath of flodding. But that certainly must add a degree of difficulty in planning for improvements and future development. Or am I just overthinking it?

I'm glad they're not. It's a low capacity ride, it could make the regular line really long. Cedar Point's flyers were part of the Fast Lane last year. I have distinct memories of standing under a very hot June sun with no shade and being *this close* to ride and kids with the Fast Lane wristbands coming running up. There goes another ride cycle. I'm glad the Woodstock Gliders won't be part of that system. And I really really hope there will be shade over the queue area.

In high school and college, my volunteer and paid jobs were 35-60 minute drives each way. There were limited jobs available and I had to go were they were. I know of quite a few that drive 45-60 minutes now so they can enjoy the country and get away from the city. It is worth it to them.

SRR, Monster, and Scrambler are rides that I tolerate only because I love my niece and nephews. They make me nauseous. But I want them to try all rides and not be "afraid" to ride anything so I ride when I'm with them. They get such strange joy out of my trying to keep it together. On Scrambler, part of their joy is scooting a bit to the left so they get "flung" to the right against me. Viking Fury is great as we can all ride together. The other flats are fine and I tend to ride them with the older boys. The niece was a bit too small this past season and I think needed some more time to ramp up the courage to ride. An adult sized Whip ride at KI would be awesome. I remember loving the little version as a child and the little ones love it as well now. I know they are going to be disappointed once they are too tall to ride.

Thanks shark4695. To read that "It's impossible to avoid an accident." is a bit strange considering so many people ride their rides each year. I would think it would be good business sense to eliminate as many potential safety concerns as possible. If I said that to one of my customers or to our insurance company, that would be unacceptable on every level. Ultimately, to the general public an accident on a ride looks poorly on the park, not the ride manufacturer. That is quite a risk to take if the manufacturer believes there is an acceptable level of accidents.

Some buildings are designed with fire doors at their stairwells. They are held open with strong magnets that release when a fire alarm goes off. This way, if someone can't travel down the stairs, they can go into the stairwell and be safe until emergency personnel can rescue them. I love the view from the International Restaurant. It would be great to see the building updated to allow its use for more than a few events each year. But, would it be a good ROI? edit for spelling: live...love?

Crossing the state lines back into Ohio always find me sighing with a smile that I'm home. I love exploring but I'm happy to call Ohio my home for the foreseeable future. Number 22 is the one that gets me anytime I travel. I've had a number of people, that once they discovered I'm from Ohio or went to OU, say "Go Buckeyes!" or "O-H!". Telling them that I'm a Bobcat, not a Buckeye, makes them a bit confused. I don't get the Cincinnati Chili love. Give me some heat and they can keep the cinnamon and chocolate somewhere far away from my chili.

Do you have AAA? I was able to get tickets through them for BGT. If I'm remembering right, they were two day passes (could visit a second time in the calender year for free), with one meal included, for $10 less than the one day ticket.

And it is very much a freight elevator. I was very grateful for that elevator a few years ago. Using stairs with what we were loading for an event was not an option.