KI Ride Warrior Event 5/9/09

We headed down to KI from Fairborn around 6am and got there just before the first group was taken back to Beast for ERT. The registration line did seem a bit inefficient for such a large group of people, but I didn't expect it to be great for the park's first try at an event. Anyway we were soon on our way and walked back to the Beast with the 2nd escorted group.

The Beast was running awful to be downright honest. We had ridden in the evening 2 weeks earlier and it had been running better than I can remember for a long time. However, this was a cool morning and the track was still wet from overnight rain. The trains seemed to be fighting with the track the whole ride. The sound of the road wheels "squealing" on the rails (think Mean Streak) was heard on every turn and was really loud during the helix. Too bad it wasn't running better to kick off the weekend event.

Next to open were Vortex and Backlot Joke Coaster. I'm pretty sure the best part of Backlot is the S-curve between the police cars. Vortex was its usual self, more appealing to look at than to ride. Both rides seemed to be running ok, but neither one is really a star attraction.

By 9am, I would say about 90% of the early morning turnout was lined up to head to Diamondback when it opened. So much for that 9-10 hour of ERT! I have no idea why KI thought people would want to ride Backlot and Vortex for more than 30 minutes.

We grabbed a ride on Diamondback and then went and got something to eat at Cinnabon. We hung around for a bit when the GP came in, but then left the park around 11am to go do some errands and take a nap.

We came back around 8pm for the Beast birthday party. There was a DJ, cake, and pretzels. We got bored after a bit and left to get some LaRosa's. We took a few quick spins on Adventure Express. That ride is actually really fun in the dark, although the final lift statues were still not operational.

ERT on Diamondback started pretty promptly at 10:30pm. The crew was a bit slow starting out, but things started moving pretty quickly. I'm convinced the ride is fantastic no matter what time of day it is. I love how the air time changes slightly in each different row. A bonus perk was that on-ride photos were free to an email address of your choice. We had 2 of our photos sent. I'm not sure when they started the email option, but it's a great idea. I also thought the overall area around Diamondback is well suited for hanging around. There are lots of tables, benches, food/snack options, etc.

We decided not to go back for the Sunday ERT seeing as Flight of Fear was the only thing we really thought would be worthwhile.

Closing Thoughts:

Some might disagree, but KI does not have enough "fun" coasters to do a 2 day event. I hope they do a 1-day version next year, but focus on what people really want: Beast and Diamondback. I tend to think that attendance will drop off in the future simply because so many were there just to ride Diamondback in its first major ERT. Diamondback was the reason for this event and it did not disappoint. The night ERT was excellent.

I was glad to see that KI has ditched a lot of the old queue TVs that looked terrible in years past. I also thought the music played throughout the park was better than I can ever remember. The fact that I'm even mentioning it is noteworthy.

Pagoda Gift Shop said:
Some might disagree, but KI does not have enough "fun" coasters to do a 2 day event. I hope they do a 1-day version next year, but focus on what people really want: Beast and Diamondback. I tend to think that attendance will drop off in the future simply because so many were there just to ride Diamondback in its first major ERT. Diamondback was the reason for this event and it did not disappoint. The night ERT was excellent.

I agree completely with this. I'm very curious to see how they treat that next year, as I think a one day event will work out much better all the way around. I remember seeing the initial schedule of events and thinking "the only thing I'm interested in is the Diamondback ERT". The coasters at KI, sans DB and Flight Deck simply aren't rerideable enough to justify the morning ERT lineups they had. The DB ERT made everything worthwhile, though!

Pagoda Gift Shop said:
We took a few quick spins on Adventure Express. That ride is actually really fun in the dark, although the final lift statues were still not operational.

I saw this, too. They were operating on opening day. Does anyone know why they were off???

d_port_12E said:

Pagoda Gift Shop said:
We took a few quick spins on Adventure Express. That ride is actually really fun in the dark, although the final lift statues were still not operational.

I saw this, too. They were operating on opening day. Does anyone know why they were off???

I dont think they've been working all season yet. Went OD and 2 visits since they are not working.

Maybe that's what he meant by "now you shall pay" ;)

Jo

They were working on opening day. In fact, I was complaining that only one arm was operating on a few of the statues. Apparently, I should have been greatful for that.