PKI - April 3rd; Employee Family and Friends Day

PKI – April 3rd 2003; Employee Family & Friends Day

At the start of every season, PKI has an employee friends/family day. We scored tickets this year,including a free parking pass and started making plans to hit the park for the first time this season.

We got up bright and early after a late night to head to the Island. As we turned on to Kings Island Dr. we soon realized it was going to be somewhat crowded. The line of cars extending out on to Kings Island Dr. was pretty significant, and there were already quite a few in the parking lot. After waiting in line to give our ticket to the parking attendant and waiting on her to hand us pamphlets and what-not, we drove into the parking lot to find a spot in Bus/RV lot, close to the gates! After emptying out our pockets to drudge through the metal detectors, they told me I had to take my knife back to my car. I was disappointed. We were soon in the park.

We arrived at the security ropes and pushed our way to the front of the line. We came prepared in our running shoes and as soon as security finished saying we were not allowed to run, he dropped the rope. We ran. We proceeded to run, ignoring the irate security officer. We were directly in front of the old car station when some little fat kid tripped me. Unbelievable! I promptly got back up and the chase ensued. After realizing that I didn’t want to get kicked out for hurting a 13 year old kid, I let the incident slide. I caught back up with my friend and we made it to the Beast line. Whew, that was one hell of a run!

The Beast:

We arrived in the station and a train is there waiting. Disappointment quickly came over me; King Island had installed seat belts on the trains. I continued undaunted by the seat belts with my normal routine to obtain only one click, and I was indeed successful. The operators dispatched the train and we were on our way. As we ascended the lift hill, I promptly took my seatbelt off as I knew The Beast was nothing to be afraid of. I had heard so many stories of maintenance employees riding with no restraints what-so-ever I knew that a seat belt was just unnecessary. Another new thing that we noticed were the speakers blaring music on the lift. This too was a disappointment to us and we aren’t entirely sure why this was done. The coaster ran very well for it’s first day of operation. I was indeed impressed with how it ran. The second lift hill also had music playing…. Certainly disappointing.

Tomb Raider:

After our thrilling ride on the Beast, it was time for a top spin in a box. The line was somewhat long, but certainly worth it. This problem was compounded, we later realized, by the fact that they had the middle row shut down. We got lucky and were put in the front row. Tomb Raider is the same as it’s always been, a thrilling and unique ride.

Flying Eagles:

After Tomb Raider we head up the midway to the Flyers. We waited about three cycles before it was our turn. We boarded the ride and waited anxiously for the operator to fire her up. I snapped fairly well for the first time this season. Overall it was a good run. The next one later in the day was much, much better, and the third being the best overall.

After our first flyer ride, we headed over to Flight of Fear (formerly known as Outer Limits:Flight of Fear). The line was considerably long and we were in no mood to wait on it so we moved on. We walked by the Racer intending to ride, but it too had a line longer than we were interested in waiting for, and backwards was closed so we moved on. We decided to take the opportunity to eat in the Festhaus. On our way over, Jeff Seibert walked up behind us and said hi, it was amazing that he remembered us, as the only time we really spent any time around him was at the first Beast Buzz Con and the 3 day travel channel video shoot. We headed over to the Festhaus only to be greeted by another line to get food. It was fine though, and we waited. It didn’t take us long to notice the changes in the menu! You can no longer get just one slice of pizza, and two slices cost 4 something. It’s nice to know PKI and Larosas are deciding how much you would like to eat, it takes the stress out of deciding how hungry you are, they apparently know! I purchased my two slices of pizza, a cup o’ fries and a coke (which now only comes in one size too! How dandy!), and paid the lady my 11 dollars. Think I’ll eat at McDonalds or Popeyes Chicken from now on, considering they are only 4 or 5 minutes from the park! We took our time eating as we were in no hurry for anything. After we finished eating, we headed for Delirium.

Delirium:

We entered the line for Delirium excited to ride. The line started at the entrance to the ride so we expected to wait about 1 hour. Two very nice (and cute) girls entered the line behind so it was nice to have someone new to talk to in line! We talked the entire time and as we got close the park experienced a power problem and all the rides, at least on this side of the park shut down for at least ½ hour. We persisted and waited it out, as one of the girls had never ridden and wanted to, and we were now within three ride cycles once it opened back up. They restored power and they tested it a few times and reopened. We finally got on the ride and it was as amazing as I remember from last season. Great ride!

After exiting the ride, the four of us decided to go and hit up a coaster. We walked over by Racer, but still the line was much too long and no one wanted to wait, so we tried the Vortex line. The Vortex line was about 45 minutes long and we were not feeling that either. So we started towards the flyers thinking we could introduce them to the best ride in the park. Nope. Three turnstiles deep and no one wanted to wait. Neither of them had been on Tomb Raider so we went to check out that line, no dice once again. See a pattern? Yeah, so what, we don’t like to wait, this is our home park and we visit often, give us a break! The beast line was out of control too so we didn’t ride that either. So much for the four of us riding a coaster! We sat around for a while and just talked, then walked around looking for something to ride. We ended up riding nothing with them, they left early and we all said our goodbyes, exchanged phone numbers and it was just the boys again. We walked around for a bit and decided on:

Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle:

This ride is fun, it’s a sally dark ride, the line was significant, but not too bad. My score was 750 my friends was 690. What else is there to say?

Racer:

We headed back over to the racer and the backwards had since opened up so we jumped in line. We waited for our turn and has we walked up into the station I calmly question my friend. “One three?” I said. “Of Course!”, he replied. We walked up into the station and there were two departures in front of us. The Recar was running with only one train as was the Racer, so the wait was longer then usual. We realized too, that once again we were going to be forced to wear seatbelts. This too was a disappointment. The Recar was running very well for opening day, with moderate airtime. One Three is the seat!

After Recar we realized it would soon be time to hit up the line for a night Beast ride. Since we had a bit of time, we took the opportunity to hit up the flyers twice more, see above. Then:

The Beast (night time):

We were in line for the Beast and it seemed to just suddenly get very cold. The wind started to howl and I estimate with the wind chill, it felt to be in the 30’s. We had every intention of waiting for the front and when we made it onto the platform we blended in with the line for One One. We waited and waited and finally realized that we had missed the cut off by just one train! We dropped back to One Two and waited for the next train to enter the station block. We questioned the operator to find out how many more trains would be leaving and he informed us that this one and the next one was going to be the last. We had the opportunity to board this train, but decided against it thinking that if we couldn’t have a One One night ride we may has well be on the last train of the night. So we stayed in the queue when the gates opened. The final train of the night rolled on in with a full crowd. The operator informed them that they could not in fact stay on if their queue was empty so they all disembarked. Our train departed the station with merely six people, including us, along for the ride. We ascended the hill trying to ignore the stupid music and finally started to make our way through the course. The brake in the brake shed seemed to slow us more than it did during our morning ride. Overall, it was still the Beast and still an amazing night ride.

DDR:

After Beat my friend decided he wanted to try DDR. He tried to act really cool as he climbed up on the platform. The park was closed so we had a very nice security guard keeping an eye on us… i.e. watching us like a hawk the entire time. He dropped his tokens into the slot and the game began. After acing the first level, his shoes must have been a bit wet and when he stomped his foot down, he slid off the platform. His game was over.

The security guard tagged along as he limped out of the park.

*** Please note, that you should not take some points of this seriously!!! I did not in fact break ANY park rules. *** *** Edited 4/5/2004 4:58:42 PM UTC by eric.walton***

Please add paragraphs. Then I will read this.

Beat ya to it, you're so quick! I had just posted it and realized my paste job didn't transfer the paragraphs, but thank you!

Eric

Taking seat belt off is breaking a rule. This thread will be forward to PKI. *** Edited 4/5/2004 8:30:57 PM UTC by Woodyman***

HA! If you're going to attack me, you should've at least done it with correct grammar! No matter though. Guess you failed to read the whole thing.... so if you do forward "this threat" please forward the entire thing. I'd appreciate your cooperation!

Did you not read to not take some points seriously. A little touch of sarcastic humor was implied. But the fat kid was a true story.

Thanks! I must have missed what Woodyman was talking about. Nice Trip Report...even though it kind of floored me that you were disappointed that they did not let you take your knife with you.

What really is the big deal with that? Heck I would be happy they made you take it back to your car. At least they take it seriously that it could (not necessarily) pose a threat to other customers as well as be used to damage their property. I personally would not want you to take a knife into my park! Nor anyone else for that matter. Even though I really dont see much need for the metal detectors.

Yes beast7369. More humor, or so I thought. I didn't try and take a knife in the park.

I'm not sure what woody boys thing is all about, "Taking seat belt is a breaking rule.", No idea what that really means.

Yeah I hear the Beast Sound Effects are suppose to be sounds of the Beast Roaring and People Screaming.

I was pretty shocked to read that you un-did the seatbelt on your morning Beast run...

Sorry Eric - I missed your disclaimer when i typed that. LOL! Still a great trip report.

Obviously to those who thought he really did stupid things, basicly he probly did not. I think I understand that now.

I did not 'un-did' my seat belt, thanks.

You were shocked that he 'un-did' his seatbelt, but were not at all concerned he was taking a gun into the park. And you weren't concerned about his safety after the fat kid tripped him. Or when his friend (me) fell off of DDR.

As we ascended the lift hill, I promptly took my seatbelt off as I knew The Beast was nothing to be afraid of.

Well you did take your seatbelt off. They obviously added those for a reason. Rolling Thunder at Great Adventure added seatbelts and never once did I think about taking my seatbelt off.

This is exactly why numerous safety devices are being added constantly. It's people like you who break park rules and brag about it on the internet. Then the incident with the knife? You empied out your pockets but forget probably the one potentally dangerous item to being into a park? The park should ban you for these actions.

Coaster Ken

People, People, People. I don't think he took off the seat belt or tried to take a knife into the park either. I believe he was just trying to be funny. Not that he succeeded (nothing personal), but he was just trying to be funny.

Edit: L. Kris Allen, by looking at your profile, I see that you are only two years old. Congrats on being the first two year old to go around a park picking up older chicks while riding "big kid" rides. ;) *** Edited 4/5/2004 6:20:59 PM UTC by Sarah Jackson***

Funny or not funny, it is a very serious issue. This is not something to joke around about. If he did it or not, I don't know, but he openly admitted he did. We are still going through tough times after the Holiday World incident. Even though it's almost been a year, we still have to be careful about what we do, how we act and what we say.

Safety is an important issue that should not be taken lightly. Sorry to hear that you were disappointed that you had to walk back to your car to put your knife back. I applaud PKI on this part.

Coaster Ken

Damn. Jump on me for changing the phrasing of a statement. Concider me pounced. I'll make sure I quote accurately next time. But I have to ask, when did a gun get brought up? *** Edited 4/5/2004 6:52:53 PM UTC by joe.***

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Sarah Jackson said:

Edit: L. Kris Allen, by looking at your profile, I see that you are only two years old. Congrats on being the first two year old to go around a park picking up older chicks while riding "big kid" rides. *** Edited 4/5/2004 6:20:59 PM UTC by Sarah Jackson***

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LMFAO.... I wonder if he knows his birthday is like that.

Check yours first before saying anything about other people's grammar. Your statements can and will offend people even if you think you are "JOKING" about seat belts. *** Edited 4/5/2004 8:35:06 PM UTC by Woodyman***

Eric Walton, I was reading over your trip report and wanted to comment on some of things you said about the Beast and the restraint system used to keep the riders in place. The first thing I disapprove was that you mentioned that you only put the lapbar down one click before leaving the station to ride the Beast.. As a former ride operator on the Beast and having worked on the Beast at PKI for 3 years, every coaster (or any ride that has any restraints that can click down to differrent levels) must HAVE 2 CLICKS. This goes for any coaster or ride and does not exclude the Beast. Now it is the ride operators job to check the restraints to make there at a secure but comfortable level, but it also there responsability to make sure they click 2 TIMES. However since it was there first day of operation I will give them a little slack, but you should never under any circumstances ride the Beast unless it has 2 CLICKS. The rules do not apply differently to you, just because you have ridden more coasters than the avearge guest.

Another issue was brought up, and this is dealing with the removal of the seat belt on Lift 1. Under no circumstances is any guest (or ride operator who is taking a test ride for that matter) allowed to remove or free themselves of any restraint on any ride at Paramounts Kings Island before the ride has come to complete stop at the loading station. It is true that wood coaster maintance at PKI does take there morning test ride without restraints on the Beast. However these people are experts on the ride, they inspect it everyday during peak season, ride it everyday during peak season, and know much more about the Beast than you do. They also have to have no restraints so they can properly inspect the ride as it goes along and sometimes they have a tool that lubricates the track and this would be very difficult with a restraint. The wood coaster maintance crew is excluded from this rule because they could not inspect the track properly and thus could not do their job completely.

However this does not mean you are excluded from this rule. It actually is a misdemeaner offense to do what you did (by removing the seat belt). This is just a verbal warning and a strong recommendation to you to follow any safety instructions posted or stated verbally by any ride operator, maintance personal, or other park employee. You were fortunate that you were not caught with your unsafe riding habit. You are however more fortunate that by riding without a seatbelt and only one click that you made it safely back into the station with no injuries. After the incident on the Raven were the girl removed the seatbelt and decided to stand up on portions of the ride, and was thrown from the car during a negative g section at the peak of the big middle drop in the ravine, I would have thought more people would follow all the rules and not try anything like this. I guess I was wrong and am very disappointed in your actions. I would hope that this would be the last time you would try anything like this.

Edited 4/6/2004 11:50:00 AM UTC by Beast Fan*** *** Edited 4/6/2004 8:59:16 PM UTC by Beast Fan***