My parents and I got up at 5:15am so we could hook up with the rest of the Youth Group at the church and be on the road by 7:30am. We were coming from Noblesville, IN (a northern suburb of Indianapolis), so we hoped to arrive at PKI at 10:30 Ohio time. Unfortunately, Scott, our Youth Minister, was running late with the rental van. We finally got on the road at 8:00. My parents were chaperones so they drove with me and my friend Jesse. We had no sooner gotten started when a traffic jam literally stopped us in our tracks at I-69 and I-465. After making our way through all of the construction on 465 and 74, we got to the park a little after 11. We hooked up with 2 more of my friends, David and Shawn and Shawn's dad. My parents and Shawn's Dad love coasters too, so we were ready for anything.
We decided to hit Sonny first. David had never ridden a roller coaster, we wanted get him started with something intense. We headed off for Action Zone. The weather was great. Slightly overcast with temps in the 70's and low 80's. The wait for Sonny was just under an hour and a half and was worth every minute, as usual. All David could say was "Cool!" Rating 4.5/5. After Sonny, we talked about Drop Zone and Face Off, but since we only had about an hour before meeting wtih the rest of the Youth Group, we decided to get a quick lap in on The Racer. David , Shawn, Jesse and I jumped in the backwards line, while the old folks went forward. After 15 minutes we got in a great, air filled ride. Rating: 4/5 Then we grabbed some ice cream and soft pretzels, we headed over to meet everyone else at White Water Canyon. We ran into everyone else at the Potato Works and had their great fries with ketchup and malt vinegar. While the adults were eating, David, Shawn, Jesse and I went over to the Hoop Shoot and all of us sunk 1. I got a stuffed alligator and the other guys got basketballs. We decided to hit the Beast. All the queues were open so we waited about an hour. Jesse and I grabbed a seat in middle of the train and off we went. The Beast was running trim-free and was an incredible ride. My Mom and Dad rode in the back seat and said the ride was completely insane. Rating:5/5!! After a quick restroom break, we headed for Vortex, because David could wait to try it. Shawn's dad and my mom decided to sit it out, but my dad was up for it. What can I say? Vortex looks great with its new paint job, but it's great inversions are killed by all the head banging. Our ears were still stinging 20 minutes later. Rating 2/5. We were all ready for a lap on Flight of Fear, but the line was way past the entrance to the queues, so we decided to get a couple of quick laps in on the Racer and then hit Face-Off. On the way to The Racer, we ran into another group from our church and we all went on
the Racer together. 2 laps, both forward, both with lots of air, and I didn't get stapled either! Rating: 4/5. On our way back to Action Zone, we stopped and watched the Sling Shot. It looks crazy, but I didn't have the money, nerve, or parental permission, so we kept going. Everyone wanted to get a ride on Top Gun, so we headed back there. The wait wasn't bad, (30 min) and the ride was great. Too bad it's soooo short. Jesse mangaged to catch a hat that a guy a few rows in front of us lost. Rating 3.5/5. Now it was time for Face-Off. Just as we were entering the queue, an attendant told us "Sorry, ride's closed." Bum! We hadn't noticed it not running when we walked up. While we waited, hoping Face-Off would reopen, we went on Congo Falls and got drenched. Face-Off still hadn't reopened and Shawn and his dad headed home. We had to meet the rest of the Youth Group for the Newsboys concert in less than an hour, so Drop Zone was out. So back to our short wait stand by. The Racer. More air, more fun. By the way, what is with the Virtual Reality game over by Coney Mall? Why would I want to pay $6 to make a fool of myself?
We met up with the rest of the Youth Group and headed for the concert and grabbed some La Rosa's, (read La Grossa's) pizza. Ketchup on cardboard. yuck! I was bummed out cause while I was at the concert I knew Mom and Dad were getting a night ride on the Beast.
Dad's Night Ride Report: After all the kids went to the concert, We rested for awhile, waiting for dark. We got in line at dusk and after an hour wait we got on seat 1/3. We hadn't ridden the Beast at night in 15 years, and this was the wildest, craziest ride I can remember since high school grad night in 1981. It was running virtually untrimmed with just a slight slowing before the second lift. By the time we got to the front of the park and cleaned out the lockers, it was time for the long trek back to Indiana. Great weather, great rides, great day.
*** This post was edited by koasterkid on 7/14/2002. ****** This post was edited by koasterkid on 7/14/2002. ***
*** This post was edited by koasterkid on 7/14/2002. ***
