RAWKIN_coaster38

I went to KI yesterday too, and posted about it here. I, too, thought Timbers was still hauling.

I visited WinterFest on Sunday and wanted to post some pictures and give my report. I must say, as a cynical non-married childless adult, the event was sort of "a few hours and I'm done." See a show or two, ooh and ahh at the lights, ride the train and get a few rides on Mystic Timbers, done. However, for families (especially those with little kids) or people with way too much holiday spirit, this was a really stellar event. I was most impressed with the number and quality of lights around the park. I couldn't take enough pictures of the eiffel tower with the lights coming off of it. The colors changed frequently and there were even images (Santa in his sleigh and snowflakes) every so often. There were lights all over the park. The unused portions of the park were left dark and blocked off with Christmas trees. That made it feel weirdly like there was nothing else to the park but what we were doing. The train ride was another nice plus. It had lighted versions of the 12 days of Christmas. I didn't go ice skating because the rink looked crowded and I didn't want to pay the money at this time, but it looked like a lot of fun. They even had special seal carts for new skaters who needed the extra help getting around. Also, I passed by Cool Yule as it was going and went and saw Tinker's Toy Factory in its whole. The former was a song and dance show and the singers appeared very talented. The latter was a musical-ish (SPOILER?) about elves who are having trouble on the night before Christmas. The "spirit meter" is getting too low and Santa won't be able to get his sleigh in the air because one elf doesn't have enough Christmas spirit, the reason being the head elf chastised him for wanting to give teddy bears to the kids instead of iPads. Andd....Santa saves the day. It was a seriously gag-worthy way-too-cute-for-its-own-good show for an adult who came alone questioning, "Why the heck am I here and why did I decide to come to this show?" Seriously, I think I lost some Christmas spirit after seeing this show. However, the show was perfect for little kids. They were all mystified. I even overheard one little girl ask if the elves were real Mystic Timbers was a walk-on for single riders and not too long for standby. I got 6 great night rides on it, including back row last train of the night (with a dude who said it was his 1200th ride... what the heck??) Overall, I would visit again as a passholder, but I would not pay for a separate ticket at this stage in my life. I hope they bring this back next year and open even more adult rides, but it was still nice to get some wintery rides on Timbers. The park was actually fairly busy, and I can see this event becoming a tradition for families and pulling in a ton of money (seriously, they must be making bank on ice skating and hot cocoa sales alone). Onto some of my pictures! Walking up to the park, I just felt blown away by the beautiful lights I'm a sucker for shiny things OMG! Santa has landed at Kings Island! I like this better during Haunt, but hey, they dressed it up nice. Stunning area for photos Here you can pay to fall on your a$$ and collide with little children! Couldn't get over this Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a Charley Brown tree! Hope they're ready to pull Santa's sleigh! Or something like that... There's something missing in this photo... So many lights! You can entertain an ADD kid for hours in this spot alone. I clearly cannot get enough of the lights This is a very pretty ride I still have not been on. In case you haven't heard enough Christmas music yet Brightly colored high-pitched adult-children reporting for duty! A Christmas show isn't complete without some sassy elves Thank goodness Santa came and saved the day! I hope you guys saved some dignity for the next show Pond reflection game on point! Such wow Don't know if the plane was from a former ride, but thought it was cool Swirling vortex of....snowflakes? I swear there is a coaster in this picture In case you wondered what 10 lords-a-leaping looks like Actual picture of me caring about adult responsibilities And lastly... 12 drummers drumming! (And yes, I counted) Mystic Timbers shed had some new Christmas-y props laying around. Still love this coaster, but apparently not as much as the guy sitting next to me, who claimed to have ridden it 1200x!

Parties of two had a MUCH better chance of getting in somewhere. Hell, I've even walked up to Be Our Guest as a party of two and gotten right in! I can definitely believe that! After trying for days to get a reservation there, we just walked up and got in for lunch. We ate at Epcot almost every day of our 5-day park hopper. My favorites of the ones we tried were the restaurant inside the pyramid in Mexico, and the sushi restaurant in Japan. We watched IllumiNations from a window seat at the restaurant because we wanted to relax, but it was harder to see than I'm sure Robb's suggested spot. I'm sure you can't go wrong with pretty much any restaurant there. I'm pretty sure we never got a fast pass for Frozen and were still able to get on it within like 30 minutes. This was also in July during the hottest part of the day when I'm sure people weren't really looking to walk around Epcot. I also want to put in a good word for Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster. They are also two of my favorites in the resort. I personally prefer them to anything at Epcot. The few times I've ridden Rock n' Roller Coaster, I had no trouble getting on it pretty quick using single rider line. Hope you guys have fun! One thing we experienced during our trip (but we also had several days longer) was a ton of plans shifting and flexibility. We'd plan for AK one day and then end up in Epcot by the end of the night, or think we were going to spend a lot of time in Hollywood Studios and then go to Epcot for dinner and then end out in MK. We had a ton of fun approaching it that way. We'd get FPs and then end up riding the ride before our FP time because the wait was short, and then something would randomly open up and we'd end up getting a FP for something else that we thought we'd have to wait for. It's easy to get overwhelmed in all this planning and then throw it all out the window in the end. I've not visited the park nearly enough to suggest that this is a good idea, but this is what we experienced. You just never know how things might change.

I just received an interesting invite for a FB event at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Totally wish I could go! This sounds awesome! Someone in the area should go and report back.

Semi yes. I've helped/seen people make it before but I'd need directions to do it myself. Do you prefer hot over cold coffee? (or tea if you prefer tea to coffee)

They still have the Haunt house entrance up? Thanks for the pictures! Everything looks spectacular. I was totally gonna go on Friday, but didn't feel up to it after my eventful Thanksgiving. I'll probably go this Friday.

NO!!! I can barely get myself up before 9! Thankfully, my earliest work day I don't have to get up before 7:45. Did you do any Cyber Monday shopping?

If you count a 24 hour period as one day, then this week. Watched Dexter season 1 between two days and just finished season 2 in about the same time. When was the last time you bought a live plant?

No. I didn't eat any meat at all! Did you get enough sleep last night?

Yes, usually. Did you go shopping today (Black Friday)?

I had to check, but Zonga at SFDK only operated at that park for one year and I rode it several times. It was relocated to Mexico where it operated for a few years, but it's since been removed Have you ever been to a theme park in South America?

This was posted in Larson Loop Credit Counters Anonymous.

Damn, that sounds like a good time to me! And no, just barely took down Halloween decorations less than a week ago. Haven't purchased any Christmas trees/lights and my ornaments are in CA, so not sure how much Christmas decorating I'll really do. Does your family eat meat on Thanksgiving besides turkey or ham?

^Not to mention that every RMC I've ridden in opening season experiences severe growing pains and lots of down time. Plus, there are lots of...."fluffy"...people who get turned away and slow down dispatching.

I honestly was surprised to see they put it on RCDB. I'll have to see video of it/actually ride it to understand better why they did this. Horrible example (or not?) but I look at this kinda like the "did I lose my virginity?" argument. If you feel it's a coaster when you ride it, then for you it is. Just because it isn't a coaster for someone else, doesn't mean it's not for you I don't think I will count it. Similarly, I don't plan to count alpine coasters either and they are on RCDB. But if you do, well now you have solid justification. Either way, you do you.

Sunscreen, deodorant, chapstick, snacks, a little pack to hold things in (thankfully Disney is good about letting people bring on backpacks), maybe a hat? Cool idea, though advice from a female, throw in something sentimental with all the practical stuff.

...or at least stop reading TPR. (C'mon Bill...why do you give these people an impossible goal???) Oh but I thought having the highest coaster count guaranteed you were going to get laid? The more pictures I see of that Time Traveler train, the more I love it. I didn't know it lit up like that, but it's great! Also, I'm a bit confused by the pictures of the Twisted Cyclone train. Maybe I'm being dumb, but why do the seats look off-kilter from the front? Is the front unattached from the first row? Those trains look beautiful too. Anyone know if we will get to see Steel Vengeance trains at IAPPA? Thanks for even more awesome footage!

Great pictures so far! Idk how I missed this was already happening. You guys seriously produce the best updates for this event. Looking forward to more! Land Before Time meets Magic School Bus? Is this the 90s again?? Also, Time Traveler trains look great!

Idk if "option" is the right word, but it was on the survey.

I don't play video games but I do occasionally play computer games and my family grew up around the Myst games. Riven is still probably my favorite, and Myst IV : Revelation was awesome (albeit difficult) as well! Also, you mentioned SIMS and definitely can't go wrong with SIMS. EDIT: Also, THIS! I love Sapphire (and Emerald). I've played it twice through now. Add the newest Pokémon games as my "wish." Also, not sure if we're counting arcade games but I love DDR: Supernova and someday I would love to buy one for my house. And not like the PS2 version, like an entire DDR.

The Amazement Shop is a maintenance shop outside of Cedar Point across the street from Quaker Steak & Lube. Seeing the maintenance shop inside CP that does the overhaul of the Millennium Force, Maverick, and Dragster trains has always been my favorite part of the Winter Chill Out, so you bet I put on my survey that I want to see The Amazement Shop too! Does Amazement do more the B&Ms? I seem to remember the one we saw this year did mainly Intamin. That was definitely one of the highlights of Chill-Out. Also seeing everyone go gaga over the little bits of SteVen we could see.

Did anyone note that Tony already mentioned the CoasterMania date? I was so thankful because a day prior I had gotten worried my June plans might overlap with CoasterMania. Thankfully, they don't, so less than a week after I'll probably get ERT on this wonderful creation I will be headed to Florida for WDW. They also recently put out a survey for previous Chill-Out attendees to weigh-in on what they'd like to see at next year's event. A few of the options were tours of the hotels, Haunt maze tour, Amazement shop (can someone tell me what this is?), and of course, Steel Vengeance! (I'll be surprised if the latter does not win popular vote, we'll have to see what the electoral college decides )

Friday, at the movie theater. I had a Kit Kat miniature from someone's Halloween stash. When was the last time you went swimming?

No, not all, but I do have my goals. Have you experienced extreme weather this week?

Yes. Bought a new sweatshirt today. Have you experienced a door to door salesman recently?