BeastBuzz 2013: The triumphant return!

Lord Gonchar said:
Everyone was admiring your tail...whether they admit it or not.

You know, there's some truth to that. Yesterday morning we were waiting on the platform for Flight Deck and... how can I put this correctly...one of our Appalachian American families were so taken by my tail they were snapping pictures, taking turns posing with my tail. "Tonda? Did you get your pitcher took with the man's tail? Get in there."
The second the gates opened I cut past my friends and did the crawl over to the exit side. I took my tail and got outta there.
I swear, the nerve of some people.

Always nice to see a little Harry Caray working his way into an event, too. "Hey!"

We all know the moon is not made of green cheese... But what if it were made of BBQ spare ribs, would ya eat it then?

RCMAC said:

Hey! I was there, too, right on the aisle. I was the one with the cutest tail.

I remember you too. I think I am one of the ones joking about somebody possibly pulling your tail.

Bakeman, I was the one that "busted the ride op." I just thought it was funny that he used a speil from another park's coaster (yes I had a mini fit of nerd rage feel free to shame me but it was all in good fun.)

I too was horrible at getting people's names, I feel like we all need name tags or something. It was a fantastic event, again thank you again to all the people at KI, and Cbuzz who organized the event. The backstage tours were fantastic, really helped break up an otherwise extremely crowded park day, and the evening ERT (with the bonus Diamondback) plus those glorious Beast night rides were just amazing. Thank you, thank you for such a great event.

I've said it before, but I will say it again, the Beast is running fantastic this year and is super smooth. In years past I doubt I could have been one of the "die hards" who never got off the train, but I got in 5 rides on Diamondback followed by 8 on the Beast and I was not sore at all this morning when I woke up (and 4 of my rides were in the middle bench of the last car.)

Also, I deactivated my facebook page (starting a new job tomorrow, and deactivated it prior to applying and feel no real need to reactivate) but I was the guy in the red and white striped polo yesterday and it was great to meet you all.

I was wearing my Gordon Ramsay BurGR shirt. That should narrow it down :)

I was Gonch. That should narrow it down. :)

I wish I had heard about that middle seat of the last car before the end of the night. I may have been able to squeak out a few more Beast laps.

Touchdown said:

I too was horrible at getting people's names, I feel like we all need name tags or something.

I agree. Another thing we should all do is post pictures of ourselves on here so when we meet again in another event we don't forget names or faces. Hence that was my big problem yesterday. It was good meeting you and getting to ride The Beast with you yesterday. I had a total of 7 laps yesterday on The Beast.

Scott and I had an amazing time! Thank you to KB and the CB staff for making it happen. It was so nice to meet many of you! Mac, Gonch, Shawn, Adam, OMG STEAM stand out as I spoke to them the most. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly to Scott and I for this being our first CB event and my first time to the park. Mac especially just made us crack up constantly and even made me yearn for a visit to Branson of all places.

I disliked Diamondback at first during a single back seat morning ride. At the recommendation of some of you in the know, I tried the front seat and realized why it is a favorite among enthusiasts. Terrific ride!

And OH. MY. GOD. The Beast was like a Hitchcock movie. Simply epic. It was instantly my favorite woody. So happy I waited until nighttime ERT to experience that ride in the darkness.

Bakeman31092 said:

The topic turned to someone's love of Arrow suspended coasters.....

We also spoke with a couple of gay gentlemen before starting Diamondback ERT. They were saying how they talked the girl into re-opening the ride for us.....

So, identify yourselves!

I'm Chris Baker, by the way, and my wife's name is Amy. Nice to meet you!

Hey Chris! It was nice to meet you and Amy too!

I was blown away by Flight Deck/Top Gun/The Fixed Bat (all names we heard the ride ops call it) compared to Iron Dragon, which is one of my favorite coasters at CP.

I can't take credit for the Diamondback ERT, other than I kept talking to the ride op at The Beast entrance (Carolyn), asking what she could do because we were going to lose our planned 1:45 hour ERT time, which would've been cut to 45 minutes.

Here is how it went down that we had ERT on Diamondback:

When we arrived for ERT on The Beast she explained that the ride would be closed until after an inspection from the fireworks show. The line was over an hour at that point. Some of us asked if they would extend past midnight to allow for the planned ERT time. She texted Don to ask. Meanwhile, it was mentioned about Fast Lane entry instead of waiting in the regular line to maximize ERT. She said she would not be able to do that and was super friendly about it.

Don texted back and said it was the ride manager's call about extended Beast ERT. She checked with that manager, but was denied an extension. Again she apologized. At this point, Scott and I asked her again about Fast Lane because she hadn't checked with the manager specifically about that. She called and asked and to our surprise, received word back that Diamondback would be open until 11 for ERT since we wouldn't be allowed to access The Beast's Fast Pass.

So, while it was our asking questions that got her on the phone a second time, it was 100% the parks choice to offer anything additional to what would have been a 45 minute Beast ERT vs. the planned 1:45 hour. Kudos to the park for working with us on that!

Hey, I may not have been able to convince CP to allow a zombie commitment ceremony, but I sure was happy that we were able to ask the right questions to help our new coaster friends receive bonus ERT. :)

We ended ERT with 7 rides on Diamondback and 8 on Beast!

Oh, and Shawn.... we chatted on the train tour. Here is the pic of us from the best night ride ever! (I'm in the Heat shirt)

^Thank you Eric and Scott. Hopefully I see you guys at Cedar Point sometime. :)

Without being too sappy, Eric & Scott were two of the most genuinely nice guys in the world.

If I could have, I would've married them on the spot.

You can't marry two guys at once, silly. You're gonna have to pick between the two.

The one question I was going to ask during the Train tour that I didn't ask is something I remember now. ::slaps head:: Anyway, I was going to ask if my mind hadn't gone blank is how do they winterize the trains during the winter months?

Also Lord Gonchar, your right about Eric and Scott. Those guys were awesome and hope to run into them in future coaster events.

RCMAC said:

You can't marry two guys at once, silly. You're gonna have to pick between the two.

You can if you're Mormon!

...no wait, maybe you can't.

^^^^They wanted a zombie, not a devil. ;-)

It was nice finally meeting you, Gonch, and my hand didn't even catch fire when shaking (nor was it stabbed)!

Beast Buzz was even better than I was hoping. I don't think I've ever been to KI on a Saturday, knowing the crowd trends. I got on even more coasters than expected before the masses arrived in the morning. Then it was time for lunch (the beer...thanks Jeff!...and ice cream were great), followed by event pacing that made the crowds no problem.

Hey! It was so much fun hanging out with Mac, Adam, and Josh (and nice to meet others). The day became pretty epic once night fell. After grabbing a few $3.50 beers at Red's Grille (Why had I never heard about this deal anywhere?), it was fun getting bashed by Vortex and playing Air-Conditioning Hockey. Hey!

My earlier worry about the regular line eating away ERT ended up really working out in our favor. As mentioned, the park graciously opened Diamondback while waiting for the Beast line to clear, and it was like Fast Lane Plus Ultra Extreme on both rides.

I took full advantage of every minute...how could you pass up effortless front and choice seat re-rides? Maybe the slight buzz was helping, but these were some really epic coaster rides. The Beast in particular was dream-like. It no longer felt like I was at an amusement park; I was just smoothly and swiftly gliding through a secret forest.

Oh Eric, I didn't even notice your Heat shirt. If I had I wouldn't have spoken to you, and you would've understood had I been wearing my Pacers cap. ;)

I agree about the nametag idea, maybe put your real name and screen name. I'm definitely planning on attending Banshee's media day, and the wife and I were talking about doing CP's Coastermania next year as well. This stuff is a blast!

It was good times for us. My experience with Beast Buzz was a little different since I was toting around the wife and kids. I couldn't stick around for the evening ERT because our kids were tired from doing 3 days straight of KI & Soak City.

I was able to hang out with Gonch and his family for the morning ERT and after 3 rides on Diamondback I about had enough. I thought the train tour was kind of neat. I like the little interesting tidbits about the train and I was pretty impressed with the care that KI's crew take with the trains to get them up and running. I also met Dale, who looked like he was in the same position I was for the morning ERT who also snuck away from his family.

Thank goodness there was ice cream to go with the Yuengling at lunch. Mommy and daddy could drink while the kids could eat. The food was all good and we loaded up on ice cream to cool us down. This got us through our Soak City time since the park was super crowded.

The highlight of the event was Ed Alonzo making chicks appear out of thin air to the sound of Muse! Nah, just kidding. It was when he picked my oldest (Jacob NOT Caleb) to help with the show. It was definitely good times.

It sounds like there will be a media day for Banshee and I will be dragging the wife out there next year for sure. Can't wait for future events. Hopefully we don't tire ourselves out too much and make it to the evening ERT instead.

~Rob

Did Gonch lick a handrail?

I also want to thank CB for a great event! It was a long day but fun all around.

The wife and I caught the morning ERT on Diamondback for a couple of laps, then walked up for a FoF ride followed by a Racer ride before wandering around waiting for lunch.

Filled with food, beer and ice cream, we bailed on the Banshee and Racer tours and went back to the hotel to cool off before the Beast tour. We got some cool shots (Vortex from behind - Gonch?) of Beast, Diamondback and more, all while working off park food.

The magic show was fun. Just enough corny, cool and gross for laughs from all ages in the audience. (Where did that duck go?)

Fireworks were nice viewed from our "VIP" seating. I only wish either the bar would have still been serving so we could enjoy a beverage while watching. (Maybe next year, bring the keg from lunch over?)

ERT was the best I've ever attended. On both Diamondback and Beast we never left our seats. I could only stomach two laps on Diamondback and three on Beast, but after a long, hot day it was more than enough.

After a nice chat with Mrs. and Jr. Gonch as they waited for the other two in their party we made our way to the front of the park totally satisfied.

Thanks again for a great time and we can't wait for ____Buzz next year!

^ hopefully Boesbuzz

GoBucks89 said:

Did Gonch lick a handrail?

I always lick a handrail for good luck.