BeastBash (10/7) - Kings Island - a different kind of coaster event

The drive down was HORRIBLE. Took 3.5 hours to get around Chicago. From the end of 294 to Indiana state line (only 10 miles....I think) took more than an hour! I left at 10am and didn't get to Merriville area until 1:30pm! After that I met a friend of mine near Merrilville. He was going anyway and he split gas with me....so my trip got even cheaper yet....YEAH! Staying at a friends house and getting to visit with them....PRICELESS! After that we did hit a few pockets of bad traffic but nothing anywhere near as obscene as the Chicago traffic. The drive back was a lot better.....I flew past the construction in possibly record time.

I had a great time....probably one of the best coaster events that I have ever been to besides the ones at Holiday World. I actually did not ride much in the line of roller coasters.....but did some of the more obscure things that only this kind of event would allow me to do. Out of their 12 coasters I only road 4 of them....but I have been on all them before anyway.

We got to have a tour of the maintenance area of the park. This is where they disassemble all of the rides and inspect all of the pieces and put them back together over the winter. As well as the painting room and landscaping departments....very interesting. We got to do a tour of one the haunted attractions since this is there Halloween events time.

Got to see how they do the makeup on the people playing the ghouls and goblins and other scary characters. They actually did makeup on the attendees if they wanted.....so I did....I was the last one they did.....Told them to be creative! Well....they really did me over the top. I was actually scaring people at the park! That was fun! Some people thought it was very cool and others were totally grossed out.....I do have pics of it and it was pretty gruesome!

I skipped out on walking back along he 35 acres that the Beast roller coaster covers but I wanted to ride at that point. Oh well....another time.

Later in the evening we did a "Midway Olympics". Basically they picked out 5 of the games and we got to play them for free but we got points instead of prizes like the paying customers do. In the end the ones with the best scores got prizes....I was no where near the top but that was fun and different.

Our name tags...err uh....VIP name tags, acted as front of the line passes to all of the haunted attractions so we did all 6 haunted houses. Some were really great whiles others left a bit to be desired. But one of them was outdoors and a very dark part of the woods behind the park. This is where I was able to scare a lot of people with my gruesome face courtesy the makeup artists. After we did the haunt we had to go back up by the line so I walked close to the line of guests waiting and about every 10-15 feet someone screamed....but other thought it was cool. It was very fun and different experience being on the "other side" of the "hauntings".

I won a door prize too! And we had night rides on the Beast from about 12:30am until 1am! Too bad it was a full moon. Wasn't really that dark since it was a full moon.

Coasters:

Racer - substituted for a broken down Flight Fear for morning ERT. Running better than I remember in recent memory and backwards twice!

Top Gun - fun fast suspended coaster still slinging every which way.

Avatar - ok so not really a coaster but an interesting ride non-the-less....yeah spin and pukes with a hump in the middle of the track!

Italian Job - not quite as fast or powerful a launch as during media day....still fun however.

Beast - great night rides....but someone has to look at the lunar calender and not do this event on a full moon next time!

Haunts:

Massacre Manor - a rather unique adventure through a mansion...fairly well done

The Asylum - chailink fence, strobe lights and psychotic doctors and patients on the loose - completely disorienting and frightfully fun

Psycho Path - a path through the woods in the back of Kings Island awaits a trail fear and gore - one of the best outdoor haunts I have ever done anywhere!

Headless Hollow - Possibly the tamest of all he haunts, you ride the Kings Island Haunted Express (the train) through the thick pea soup fog until the train "breaks down" and you are escorted into the Headless Hollow.....home of the ever missing Headless Horsemen, still a very popular and unique haunt.

Cowboy Carnage - Somethings run amuck in the saloon (bordello) and it's gonna get rather ugly....If you arent careful you might not make it out alive either.....it was one of the tamer haunts but was an improvement over Headless Hollow.

Circus of Horrors 3D - quite possibly the absolute best 3D glow in the dark haunt I have ever been in anywhere! Even Reapers Realm can learn something from this one. The 3D effects were great and the clowns sure seemed to evily enjoy interacting with the group..There was something to see around every corner. Leaves little room for improvement but I anyone can find a way, it will be Kings Island.

EDIT - corrected some typo's that Word missed. *** Edited 10/9/2006 4:11:32 AM UTC by beast7369***

Did they give any info on SOB?

Nice TR!

How can you people go to Kings Island on the same day as Phoenix Phall Phunfest at Knoebels?

Are you crazy???

No, they just don't know anybetter :)

Chuck, It was good to see you at PPP. Sorry I didn't see you at the end. I wanted to give you some DVDs.

So what was the attendance at Beast Bash? The 1600 people at Knoebels can't be wrong!

Phoenix Phall Phunfest is a sacred day for enthusiasts, and no other event should be scheduled on that day!

Beast Bash appeared to have about 100.

darn it pete. Was that the 5 part series with Matt Damon?

Chuck

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SVLFever said:
Did they give any info on SOB?

Nice TR!

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Maureen Kaiser mentioned that before the Flight--- Racer ERT that it would reopen next year.

Charles, about PPP.....that would have been only reachable by plane for me....had to work until 4am Friday and be back by 6pm Sunday....near Chicago so unfortunately I missed out on PPP but what I got in it's place was well worth the drive and the $20 I spent (not including gas...that would be closer to $50 for the whole weekend.)

Thanks all for the comments....it is definitely and event to check out sometime in the future.

No wonder PKI only had 100~everyone was at PPP~where they SHOULD have been! It was a great time! 8-)

And Chuck, it was a young Matt Dillon, not Damon. ;-) *** Edited 10/10/2006 3:48:32 AM UTC by phantomrider3000***

As for missing PPP, couldn't miss our 3rd Beast Bash!
I also was worried CF would discontinue Bash after this season so didn't want to take that chance!

Besides, PKI is only 1.25 hours from me, quite the cake drive compared to the one to CP or GL! :)

The Beast walk back was it's usual great time. There is just something about seeing the faces of the riders when they notice 100 people waving at them from the woods! Priceless!
It never ceases to amaze me how well the Beast's structure has seemed to hold it's own over the years. You don't notice alot of new wood any where. Makes you wonder wth the deal is with other woodies.

When Maureen announced SOB would be opening again next season you heard more moans than cheers. There had been a rumor that CF was considering razing the thing. I was kind of hoping they would. That area would be a great place for a new B&M!!!! :)

Seeing people walking around with their wounds was classic too, some of those were nothing short of disgusting! Blech!!!

The "Christmas" set up by Racers was way cool! To see the bloody snowman with the ice sticking out of his eye, the deer eating the severed arm, and later on they had a dancing bloody snowman singing wicket Christmas songs.

Where were all the props from the Haunted Mansion? They were all over the park last year and I couldn't find any this season. Usually by the 3-D theaters there were a bunch of them back there and there was nadda there this season. My daughter was especially disappointed. We had ridden that ride so many times we all knew it by heart, she was anxious to see something from it as well.
"How bout some heat??" ;)

My daughter and son in law had a blast at their 1st PKI coaster event. We all especially enjoyed the 4 walk on rides on Italian Stunt Job. We had 4 rerides on Beast and thank goodness for the extra sweat shirts, hats and gloves I brought for everyone! They laughed at me when I showed them what I was bringing for all of us, but made the comment during PM ERT that they were glad I brought all the extra clothes!! It gets COLD back in the woods, and the wind chill doesn't help either!! :)

The weather was perfect, the crowds were heavy but apparently most of them were some place besides the rides cause most lines weren't too bad.
The only disappointment was FOF being down for ERT, but we did get 4 Racer rerides and eventually that evening did get to ride FOF. I love that ride!

I didn't see too many obvious CF changes. I did however notice that alot of the shirts said just "Kings Island" on it with no Paramount. Alot of the items were marked down. It will be interesting to see what happens to the park next season and if they let the Bash continue if they will allow the Beast walk back? Seems to me knowing how anal CF is, we are a tad too close to the track for their liking.
The good thing is I can visit PKI and no longer feel like a traitor! :)

All in all another awesome PKI event. My thanks to Maureen and Jennifer for a great time!!! :)

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 1163 :)

Again, How could you go to Kings Island on the same day as Phoenix Phall Phunfest at Knoebels???

Are you crazy???

Let's hope if CF does continue to have Beast Bash next year, it will be on a different day!