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Based on the teaser pic that Mr. Siebert posted to Thrill Seekers United group? I'd say odds are it's the Double-heart coaster. we'll find out tomorrow tho. . formal announcement is tomorrow afternoon! that middle sign certainly looks like a "layout" sign

Day 2, the conclusion of CoasterStock: Kim and Joel met up with us at the finally re-opened Beast, and we headed up the FL+ line, and asked if it was OK for us to wait for the front row. With a nod from the grouper, we all headed to the front line, and Zach, bless him, decided to immortalize my front row ride on the Beast with a pic. so I have this GREAT picture, which makes me very happy every time I look at it: how was it? Well, while it was good in the front, I think I really preferred it in row two, only because the front row is a wheel seat. oh, it didn't jackhammer me the whole ride, but it did have a very noticeable vibration, that shook, up my brain quite a bit. Not a head-bang, exactly, but I definitely felt it for the rest of the night. So not terrible, but row two is the row for me, I think! waiting for the others to finish their front row ride let me get some nice pics of the first lift hill, and the returning train from the course. thanks to the photoshop skills of friendly folks online, was able to get my official pic looking fantastic (the original pic was ruined by a woman blowing a kiss to the camera from the 3rd row in the car. . . luckily she was far enough back that it was an easy fix (I was told) to just blacken her out). what completely blows my mind tho, were the handful of very immature idiots who thought it was "hysterical" and "made the picture" seriously. . grow the fuck up. I don't want some woman (probably a local who's ridden this tons of times) - especially a woman I don't know - ruin a picture from my bucket-list trip, and make it not frame-able for me. at least I was informed that if I had gone to the booth, perhaps the operator could have adjusted the pic to remove the "kiss blowing" part of it. . . good to know if I ever do make it back to Kings Island (which hopefully will be for next year's Coasterstock). . . but it still blows my mind that someone would purposely do crap when they are sharing a car with folks they don't know (PianoJohn's pic on Diamondback has a goth chick shooting both middle fingers at the camera) you wanna do it in your own log, or two seater ride? go for it. . but why ruin someone else's picture. . . sheesh. (now get off my lawn!) I may have gotten my timeline mixed up a little bit, but I think we may have headed over to Mystic Timbers for another ride, and then it was time to go eat tonight's dinner in the picnic grove. keeping it 100: I am not a Bar-B-Que fan (and being from Texas, there's BBQ everywhere. . so I'm not even a fan of fantastic BBQ). So I knew going in, this wasn't gonna be my favorite meal. . but I had high hopes. I'll do it similar to the prior meal: the Fantastic: - that corn casserole at the bottom of the plate. it was SO good, went back and got Seconds the good: - the hot dog (that I put a small amount of slaw on along with Mustard) was excellent - Kim raved about the baked chicken (which I passed on, as I had enough on my plate, didn't need any more food, but she said it was the best main available) the mediocre: - the macaroni salad (which really only missed the "good" category because it needed Salt. it was OK tho) - the cookies (some were perfect, some were underbaked and very "raw-doughy" there were enough perfectly baked ones that it evened out, and they did bring out more ice cream for anyone who wanted it later in the night) - the pulled pork was. . . I mean. . it was there. I don't recall if the sauce was an option (I think it was), but there weren't any pickles or onions - which to me make a pulled pork sandwich. not terrible, but not something I'd specifically order again, if I had that option. the horrific: - that Sausage link. Oh, it LOOKED like it was gonna be good, and it was nice and greasy. . but it had no flavor other than "grease" And when you cut into it, the link was probably 40% fat pieces mixed in with ground pork (I think it was pork). I took one small bite of it, and pushed the rest aside - tho I certainly tasted the "grease" the whole rest of the night and it gave me some nausea for an hour or so after dinner. I'm trying not to be mean, but looking around the tables, *everyone* seemed to be taking one bite, and tossing the rest. Yeah, it was that bad. Maybe we just happened to get a bad batch? (tho like I said, everyone around us was not eating it either tho they had it on their plates. .and I think John also took one bite and tossed it - tho he did thank me for recommending the corn casserole - which was quite good). the only way this sausage could be worse, would be if it had been served with the gray onions from the prior day. yes, I know I'm being a bit harsh. .but that one bad part, is what leave the biggest impression, doesn't it? It was still a good meal tho.. I just know if I go back, avoid the Sausage (and the Pulled Pork) and get the baked Chicken. after the dinner break, we met up with Zach and went over to Racer so we could finally attempt to race. I'm sure that Joel/Kim went to Red and we went to Blue to attempt to race - because I remember asking them didn't' they want to ride Blue, since it had been down when we tried to ride the prior night (and we rode Red only, with the one train ops due to the vomit row). . . but I'm also remembering that one train on Red went down while we were already queued up to ride, and so we ended up not racing them, since it was only racing every other Blue. . .and by the time we were ready to go, we raced the train before them. we got off Racer, and Kim mentioned again (she had asked several times) if I was ready to ride Monster - since I had said I was wanting to ride it. but the shaking from Beast earlier, and the sausage bite (again still tasting it) had me really wary to ride anything "spinny".. so I passed and we kept moving. We took another spin on Adventure Express, which was memorable as we saw the floats that would be getting used for the Mardi Gras festival (that just started this week) testing out their LEDs in a backstage area that was viewable from AE's exit ramp. I'm pretty sure Kim didn't ride with us this time tho, because she was at the end of the exit ramp waiting for us - and watching the LEDs on the floats - when an obnoxious Teenager, whom had been bouncing a basketball (annoyingly) in line and got it from the cubby after our ride, lost control of it while bouncing it down the ramp. It bounced right down the ramp, and hit Kim square in the butt (of course it did). the teenager looked shocked (as did his friend) and he quickly pretended the ball wasn't his, and rushed right by Kim as she turned around questioningly as to who's ball it was. no, he did NOT apologize, or say "excuse me" or take ownership. But a park employee did see the ball hit, and when we explained what had happened she handed the ball to Joel and said something along the lines of "well, if he's not going to have the decency to claim it or acknowledge he even hit her? you can have it" So Joel took it and offered it to a little girl who was with her family on the main walkway - and was THRILLED to have a basketball. What thrilled me tho? watching the teenager whos ball it *had* been, watching this sullenly from around the corner, and watching them slink off towards the park gates, when they saw Joel give away the basketball. Can't recall if we went back over to MT or Diamondback, but I think we stayed over on this side of the park, and Zach asked if anyone was ready for a drink - and we went back over to the Beergarden behind the Mexican place across from Adventure Express. We sat and sipped on either beer, mixed drink, or water. . and as Kim mentioned earlier. . we "oldies" (her and I) sat and rested, and i tried to will my stomach to settle, as Joel and Zach headed over to Drop Tower for a ride on that. We noticed Banshee hadn't cycled in quite a while at this point, and when they came back from Drop Tower, Joel mentioned that there were maintenance guys on the lift hill. what was most interesting, is while we were sitting in the Beergarden, a small cast (4-5 performers) came out and got up on the stage, and performed a show. It reminded me of the Italian show at BGW, in that it involved the performers banging on tubs, bottles & cans with Spoons, and spatulas. It was also pretty interactive, with them choosing a few folks sitting in the area to bang with them in rhythm. it was nice to see a live performance show in a park again, and really nice to see them interacting with the crowd. by this time everything had settled, and it was getting "dusky" so we decided to head back over to Area 72 and get some rides on Orion. and it turned out we timed it just right that as we were entering the area, we saw they had just started the Evening show that happens in Area 72. yep, so we saw two shows in just under an hour.. . . this one is pretty cool, with dancers, hula hoopers, and jugglers, all using neon/LED accessories. I snapped a couple of pics as we passed by and got a couple of rides on Orion. Orion is so pretty at night. . . . and wasn't pulling too much of a line. We knew it shut down at ~9:30 for the fireworks, so it must have been ~9:10 at this point, cause we got several rides on it in different rows. and by the time we got off, it was getting nice and dark, and almost ready for the fireworks. I believe Joel/Zach went around once more to get a ride before the park shut down, and Kim and I found a perfect bench to sit down on to relax and wait for the fireworks (and for me to call home and check in with Spouse since really hadn't talked all day). We also got the extra show of a SUPER drunk frat-bro/italian guy with FL+ who was yelling at the top of his lungs about how great the ride was - punctuated by lots of "whoot" and "that's what I'm talkin about!" complete with fist pumps, and he was getting encouraged by those standing waiting for the fireworks to go around and keep getting back in line. it was amusing, tho I'm not so sure those who had to ride the train with him were overly amused that he kept getting back in line. soon enough, the lights on Orion dimmed, and we got to see the evening fireworks from a wonderful seated position! Interestingly, they shut down Orion before the fireworks, but Windseeker kept cycling. . that must be an amazing ride during the fireworks! and then it was over, and the park was closed for the General public. We said our goodbyes to Zach, gave him a hug (it really was SO great to see him and spend the day with him), and we waited for Orion to open back up. we still had a couple of hours, but there was bad weather coming in so we weren't sure if we'd be able to get the full ERT. Secretly, Kim and I both were hoping it might get cut short (or at the very least, we were ok with it if it DID get cut short, since I still had to pack tonight, and be up pretty early for a flight). for some reason, it did seem to take them ~15 minutes to get Orion cycling again, and we hung around this area, because Joel was hoping to get one more ride on it during ERT. which was fine with us. . sitting on the bench was doing my body good. But they eventually did reopen the line for ERT and began to flush out those that had waited out the Fireworks shutdown. it took about 20 minutes tho we started to wonder where Joel was. There was a commotion on the loading platform (which ended up being someone who was having issues getting the green on the restraint, and there appeared to be an argument that she had ridden it many times, and she fits. I'm sure that's true, but we'd also had that big dinner not too much earlier - since we were in ERT by now, she was a Coasterstock attendee - so for some reason they couldn't get the green, and it held up the train for maybe 5-10 minutes. we then heard a collective groan come from the station and folk started coming down the steps - they had shut down due to that major storm cell / lightning in the area. I only even mention this, because she was apologizing to folks around her as they were leaving the area, because she knew that the coaster could have cycled a few more trains before the shutdown, if the station hadn't shut down trying to get a green light on the restraint. Oh, and because Joel was on the next train that would have gone out. . but didn't because they shut the line down for lightning. Whoops. checking radar (and we had gotten an alert from Don on the FB group a little earlier that there was a big cell coming in that might impact ERT) we saw the big cell, and debated if we should leave to try to beat any rain. It was already 11pm, really, so we wouldn't be cutting out too much of Coasterstock. But we decided we'd head over to Beast/Mystic Timbers and see if they were open. Logic being lightning might not shut down lower to the ground wood structures, as opposed to Orion's tall metal one. But as we passed Shake,Rattle,Roll - we came across a crowd heading towards us. . . Beast & MT had shut down too. . . so they were heading to the only operating coaster: Flight of Fear - which is indoors. I had zero interest in riding that again, and Kim & Joel weren't too excited about the prospect either, so we made the decision that we'd just head out ~11pm, and use that extra hour back in the hotel to relax/pack. so we headed up to the front gates, and my adventures at Kings Island and Coasterstock came to an end. i had an incredible time, and loved this park.. and I got a new #1 wooden coaster out of it in Mystic Timbers (and Diamondback and Orion both make my steel top 10. . Diamondback actually makes my top 5, I think). I definitely plan to try to get tickets to next year's Coasterstock and do this again. This bucket-list park absolutely lived up to my expectations. couldn't pass up an opportunity for some pics on the way out tho. . especially all lit up, and with literally no one around! the picture I'm using as my desktop. . .love it: we were back in the hotel by 11:15, and I was packed and in bed by 12:30. and, of course, never even got a drizzle, and the lightning quickly passed -and we did hear that everything opened back up by 11:30. . so we probably should have waited it out to get another night ride on Beast. but at the end of it all? I didn't need it. I had a great time and it's OK we left when we did. thanks for reading along, hope you enjoyed viewing Coasterstock/Kings Island thru my eyes! a follow up post with swag purchased will be up in the next couple of days!

I've actually seen similar guesses tho. . . . like the Aquasplash moving from SFOT to SFFT (and yes, they were serious. . LOL).

if they didn't already have a Disc-O (Hurricane Force 5, that I just DON'T see leaving the boardwalk), maybe. . . . but the park won't put in two similar rides (even if one of them is "extreme")

^ they do a great job of helping you from inadvertently touching your face. So while true, Covid particles may still get thru a standard mask? it will help keep other things out when you don't have your hands in your nose/mouth area so much due to wearing a mask. so there really IS a benefit to wearing one.. . . I haven't had a cold or flu in well over a year, since i tend to mask up when going out into public.

I did get it I picked it up from the Online Store when I got back, since I discovered that although the KI Limited Edition Squishmallows were sold out in the park (and the store closed), they still had the 3 I wanted in the online store! . . . . tho it hasn't arrived yet, it has been ordered!

you'll find many coaster and theme park groups have a LOT of LGBTQ members, and most all of them are very welcoming to members of the LGBTQ community. I'd suggest joining some coaster clubs, and go to some events. You'll meet people. and no, I'm not talking about for sex, or relationship. . I mean, you'll make friends. And thru those friends, you meet more friends, and then you never know who'll you'll meet. at 33 (are you 33? that's not "middle aged" really), you have plenty of time to meet someone. . so never take anything off the table. oh. . and I'm 54 and just spent a weekend at Kings Island for Coasterstock, and go to theme parks all the time. . age is just a number, and if you like riding roller coasters, or going to parks? do it.

I have not (tho almost - it was on my list when we went to Niagara Falls back in May 2018. . . but if recalling, they were not open on the day we arrived, or on the day we left - we flew in and out of Buffalo airport and rented a car to stay on the Canadian City of Niagara Falls). if we ever make it back to that area (which I doubt, since NF is really a once in a lifetime and cross off the list type of place), I'll certainly pop in tho. I really want to go to the one that near Cedar Point (possibly the same museum)??? - Laura went to that one when I was with TPR, but I was nursing a quad injury at that time and couldn't really walk. if that's the same one, then it IS a possibility, as I expect I'll make it back to CP at some point again Edit: not the same museum: https://www.merrygoroundmuseum.org/

^ such a great coaster. . . LOL. . and I was just watching some folks lose their minds over a "Bill of Lading" shipment from B&M to SFFT that got leaked. only to have Jeffrey Siebert pop into the thread and say: Sorry folks, it's needed replacement parts to have on hand for Superman, NOT the new 2022 ride.

Day 2 continued. . . a lot of this day is gonna be a blur, since we rode so damn much with our Fast Lane +, but gonna try. Once I had my Starbucks in hand, we headed down the path over to the Carousel. Zach had messaged me that he was in the park, had gotten his FL+ wristband, and was headed over to Orion to get a few laps to beat the weather - just in case. The agenda had noted the Carousel Anniversary and how folks should celebrate with a ride. . so I certainly wasn't gonna pass that up, and I messaged back he should meet us over there ~11:15. we had a little bit of time before still, so we took the "long" way thru the park that looked like it used to be a Smoking Area, and was getting prepped for the Mardi Gras festival (I assume the tents there will be the food stations). the landscaping crews at KI do an amazing job, and the flowers & shrubbery thruout the park are just lovely. they were particularly nice over here tho. Yesterday, I saw the clock, but today on the other side of the Carousel, I saw the Calendar! We got over to the Carousel, and waited. it was a little odd tho, as there wasn't' any kind of "presentation" or "announcement" that I ever saw (tho I did see Don come over and set up the camera, I think for that video they filmed about Coasterstock). . so after a few moments - and finishing my coffee - I gave in and rode. of course, I had dressed appropriately I got a couple of spins on it this morning. and while riding, the sky just opened up and it started to pour for about 10-15 minutes. we were ok, as we were under the Carousel Pagoda, so we were covered anyways. . but it worked out well. Stacy had filmed some video of me on one of my rides (no idea how to post that, or would), so when I saw her and John riding, I snapped some pics to capture that moment. (tho John chose a pony that didn't go up and down ) as the rain was starting to lighten up a little, Zach messaged he was here, and quickly found us. so TPR representing! (tho Stacy not in this group pic): we hung out a few moments and visited, and the rain seemed to be slowing down to a light drizzle. . . so we decided we were close to Racer, let's check it out. It appeared that it had stopped running at the moment (or at least the line was not moving) so we went around the corner to ride Adventure Express. the rain, instead of letting up, actually got a little bit harder while we were in the short queue for that. . so it resulted in a hysterical ride, heads down against the rain the whole time, laughing hysterically as we got thrown around and soaked in the trains, with the tunnels/final lift, offering a nice respite from the pouring rain. but after that final forceful heavy drizzle, it really lightened up. . to the point of almost stopping, tho it was still drizzling. We headed over to Area 72, and I decided that I had no interest in FoF (the ride yesterday was really brutal), but had no issue waiting if anyone else wanted to ride. So Joel and Zach used FL+ to wait for front row, while Kim and I chatted and let the rain slow down even more. For what it's worth, they both said it wasn't too bad, and Joel said it was way less rattly in the front. Although Zach had already gotten 3 rides on Orion, we headed there to get a ride since the rain had gotten so light at this point. MISTAKE. . OMG. . LOL. . it was like getting hit in the face with a thousand bee stings. A memorable ride, although slightly painful. . immortalized in a picture: Luckily tho, that really was the last of the heavy rain - until post 11pm - so it turned into a beautiful day once we got done with our rain rides (although it did drizzle during the Orion/Racer walkback that I didnt' do that afternoon) We decided to head over to the Beast area, but on the way, passed the antique taxis - a ride that had been recently refurbished and looked very nice. there was no line at all, so even tho we had ERT on them, and it was FL+ eligible anyways, we stopped and hopped on. because it was so dead, we split into two different taxis, and I got to experience "driving Mr. bert".. .LOL. . tho really it was so I could take pics as we went around the small, but lovely and detailed course. With some great opportunities to get pics of Racer since it's right next door. as noted, the day kinda becomes a blur after this. . but I believe we headed over towards the Beast (only to discover it was down at the moment), so instead went to Mystic Timbers, and rode that a few times. Joel hadn't eaten anything yet today, and it was getting to be lunch time (and Kim needed to get him fed), so we headed over to the BrewPub over by Diamondback, and they went inside and ordered food from the bar. The view from the outside patio (tho small) can't be beat, really: and it's even better once you think : oh, I can raise my phone OVER the fence: Zach and I weren't hungry, so we left them while they were ordering to get rides on Diamondback and another loop thru Mystic Timbers by the time we got back (and Zach got a beer - the blue ice cream beer which smelled great - they were already eating. The food they ended up getting (deviled eggs, a salad, and chickenstrips) all looked good, and Kim gave me one of the deviled eggs, which was interesting with a nice smoky flavor. But she said all the food was very good. post their snack, I think we may have headed back over to ride Diamondback again, but I recall I had gotten an alert on my phone via the Kings Island App about an "interactive experience" in Planet Snoopy. . it sounded like something to do with art, as it promised the "strips will come alive" so I was interested in that, if the others were willing, and we headed over that direction. There weren't clear instructions on where it was tho, so we stopped and asked an employee who told us it was in the theater over by Woodstock Express. the employee we asked was over by BooHuners (or whatever it's called) tho, so we used FL to get in line for that. I had NO idea what to expect, tho Zach had told me that it used to be a ride very similar to Haunted Mansion, with the use of Omnimover vehicles. . but it had been converted into a shooting ride. it was SO dark in there. . . I mean, can't see your hand in front of your face dark - they must have dozens of trip/fall accidents every day just in the queue. but I noticed this sign right before you get to the moving / rotating station area, and while we were stopped, I asked the attendant about it (since signs don't get hung without a reason). . and she was like OMG, you would not believe what people do in those cars, since it's so dark in there. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. . . the ride was . . . OK. . . I never experienced the original version, and I suspect it will never go back to a "haunted" attraction, as it's technically inside of Planet Snoopy. . but I'd love tho have seen this when it was a ride thru Haunted House, rather than a shooting ride. the guns were super hard to aim, and didn't make any noise, so it was difficult to know if it was even working - but that said, once I did get the hang of it? the effects (cheesy cartoon scares) DID all work. and when we got stopped in the Library - I'd assume the omnimover system stopped to let someone mobility challenged into the ride - I did get to rack up a lot of points, just shooting the same target we were stopped in front of over and over. I still lost to Zach tho it's a fairly long ride too, so was a nice way to get out of the humidity and sun outside. we found our way over to the theater next, and yup, as several in the group had told me? it was a meet and greet with the characters. I had already met Snoopy the prior day, and although Linus and Lucy were both out (as was Franklin), I really didn't want to make anyone wait for me for a meet and greet, so I bypassed getting in line for it (me? skipping a character meet? i know, right? SHOCKING!). we noticed that Flying Ace Arial Chase was down and shuttered, so was glad I had gotten a ride on it. . but since we were over here, Joel joked about wanting to ride the Flyers, to see if he could snap them. Zach was game, so using FL, they got on the Flyers, while Kim and I people watched. it was ~ an hour until the Orion/Racer walkback, that I had no interest in this time, so we headed towards Mystic Timbers for another ride. . tho on the way, we passed by Race for your life, Charlie Brown. the line wasn't terrible, but since we could skip it - and since we had already gotten wet today and were still somewhat moist- and since it's a flume!. . we decided to go for a ride on it. we'd heard that you don't really get too wet on this flume, and that if the log is too heavy, you just scrape along the bottom of the flume, rather than float. . . so we split into two groups to ride in separate logs. This was a way better flume that I had expected, and the entire first half, we flew along the path - floating, and tons of fast moving water splashing up to mist us. after the initial part tho, we did start to feel the scraping along the bottom of the flume, and it really did feel more along the lines of a toboggan than a flume. oh, I should mention, I asked Zach which seat he wanted, front or back, and he didn't care. So he took the front, and I took the back. the on-ride pic happens at the top of the final drop, so this pic is literally seconds after Zach said "we shouldn't' get too wet on this, as it never does other than the spitting Snoopy" cut to 4 seconds later, as the water (in TIDAL WAVE formation) came up over the front of the log, and completely drenched whomever was in the front seat (that would be Zach, and Kim on the next log), and leaving those in the back seat (me, and Joel) completely dry. BWAAA-HAAAA-HAAAAAA let's just say that Kim made use of the 4 minutes of "dryer" that was there at the photo exit. . including leaching some heat off the people in front of them who were in the same situation. we hung out here for a bit watching log after log down that final drop, and unsuspecting front seat riders get SOAKED every single time. it was brilliant, and quite fun. I believe it was almost time for the Orion/Racer walkback, so we all headed over to that area, and while Kim and Joel went to meet the group for that, Zach and I continued on to ride more stuff, tho a very slight drizzle had started again. 1st stop was Racer, since Blue was down the prior night, I wanted to get a lap on that. Both were racing when we got in line, but just as we got to the station, Red went down (I shit you not) and they moved everyone over to Blue, doubling the line. So it ended up being a bit of a wait, even w/ FL. it was ok tho, since blue is what I wanted to ride anyways, and we ended up in the back car (non-wheel seat). it was an absolutely brilliant ride - so good, we ended up riding blue again later that night - I dunno if the retracking just worked *better* on the Blue side or what. .but it was a fantastic ride. and as we were getting ready to pull out of the station, Zach noticed the guy behind us at this row queued for the next train was wearing a well worn TPR Poncho. LOL It was very brief hello, as we were about to pull out of the station, but we introduced ourselves, and he shouted out his username (that we didn't catch, but he posted on page one, so we can put it all together now) and then we were off for our great ride. It was really fun zooming by the folks on the behind the scenes tour, since Blue Racer is the one that comes closest to Orion. Then, I think, we went for another lap on Adventure Express (told ya, I loved that ride) and then Zach asked if I was ready for a drink. I thought he wanted to head back to the Brewhouse by Diamondback, but he said no, there's a beergarden in the back of the Mexican place right over there. I would have never known it was there. . but they had a pretty big variety of on tap, as well as other frozen drinks (this is where I got my Pina Colada - which was good - and where I made the bartender guffaw with my response of "but Sir, I just met you" when his cohort asked me to "take it out" (referring to my ID from my wallet)). much stronger than I expected (for a theme park frozen mixed drink), and as noted, it was good. Since I was informed we could walk (or stand in line) while drinking in this park, we decided to head over to Beast to try to get a ride, only to find out that it was still down. So we continued on to Mystic Timbers. only to be informed that MT was the exception, and we couldn't get in line with any drinks. . . so we stood by the entrance and chugged until both were done, and then got in line. the park was having a rough day with rides (Beast still down, Racer going up and down, Banshee would go down the whole afternoon), but while finishing our drinks to get in the MT line, this happened: Diamondback getting stuck on the lift hill for 15 minutes or so. but we did get another fantastic ride on Mystic Timbers. . that thing is relentless. So fast, and so much airtime over those hills. It really is my #1 woodie now (yes, even higher than Phoenix, which I absolutely love). After our ride, I checked the app, and it showed that Beast had a 4 minute wait. We didnt' see it running - but it's so hidden, you can't really anyways, so we walked over there and yes, the employees blocking the station had left the walkway, and folks were pouring into the station queue. i texted Kim and told her Beast was now open, and they should meet us there, and she responded they were on their way. literally in 5 minutes, the wait time jumped from a 4 minute wait to a 45 minute wait - and it only got longer. We had our FL+ tho, so we knew it wouldn't be too bad. . . so we waited for Kim and Joel as folks filled the line all the way into the bottom switchbacks! to be continued. . concluded. . . .

^ rude customers expecting things to be operating at same efficiency they did in late 2019-early 2020, and reacting badly (mostly with bad yelp review and/or online bitching if they don't)? yes, absolutely applies across the entire Country. edit: and note, I'm not saying YOU are a "rude customer" . . . just responding to your questioning of the comment that a story from California absolutely applies in Indiana) I'm giving benefit of the doubt to a new member at the TPR forums that you didn't intend to come across as harsh as you did.

^ every complaint you had about staffing/open places, and supply at said places are due to the Pandemic, and interruption of Supply Lines. you may not have intended it (tho it sounds like you knew how you were coming across "I was afraid I'd receive a response like this"). . but yeah, not a great 1st impression as a welcome here at TPR. Cut them some slack, and maybe don't go to any parks until 2022 when things are back to relatively normal if you're not able to cut them some slack - I mean, really, check out the Cedar Point thread. . it's been kind of a horror show this year at that park. So either go and know what you're getting into (so don't' complain), or wait for things to normalize. just my input.

as others have said, this is happening all over the Country, due to a Pandemic that has interrupted supply chain and the ability to hire/keep employees you should have expected this - and not for the idiotic reason you state "the slow degradation in the quality of service and value" - but rather because there has been a goddamn pandemic. Kudos to Holiday World for opening up what they could. . it's a shame that folks have lost a sense of decency and empathy. From San Francisco area. . but absolutely applies here: https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/SF-Bay-Area-restaurants-customers-rude-Yelp-review-16333535.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

Jeffrey Siebert just posted an updated pic of Poltergeist with it's new paint job almost finished! LOVING the new colors, and can't wait to see what train wrap they chose to go with.

having the car lets you go to Thirsty Pony (if you so desire) and more importantly, lets you make a trip over to CVS so you can stock up the mini fridge in Breakers. you're already paying for Breakers, don't even blink twice at the cost of car rental! (even if it sits.. I just did that at Kings Island, where I rented and the car sat at hotel for 3 days. . but was nice to have when I wanted to run to Wendy's and the store)

Fast Lane, Flash Pass, Skip the line passes are an even playing field. ANYONE can buy them. if you want to spend the money on it, then do it. If not, don't - and don't bitch about those who are willing to pay for something you've chosen not to get.

yeah. . Raptor. (I was typing up report while working, and just had brain fart). lemme go fix. the 1st time I rode Raptor was mid train, and it made me SO ill (same with Alpengeist). the next year when I went back to CP (with TPR on the USA 2018 trip) I made sure to ride it in the front, but was still 1 and done with me. . but at least in the front row, I didn't get nauseated. (on that same trip we went to BGW, and I don't think I rode Alpengeist at all. . not even during offered ERT time. . I just sat in station and waited for everyone). at least I know my limits.. maybe because the Batman clones aren't super intense (most of em) is why I can handle those so well.

you should have said hello if you were at CosterStock!

Day 2 of Coasterstock! so after a long, and fantastic first day, we had decided that instead of being there at crack of opening (8:30 am parking lot open), we'd target getting to the park when ERT started - ~9am. so with that in mind, we had planned to meet downstairs at breakfast in the hotel ~8:30, and head out closer to 9. as usual, I was a little bit excited and was up early. Not only was it day 2, and we had our Flash Pass + for today, but we were gonna meet up and hang out with Zach most of the day (and he had messaged me that he had gotten FP+ as well even tho it's his home park). . . I had such a great time hanging out with him in Japan that I was looking forward to that as much as the rides. I didn't really plan on doing any of the Speakers or Book Signings - but that was because this was still my 1st ever visit to the park, and I wanted to cram as much in as I could. Next Year at CoasterStock, I intend to attend some of the speakers, and watch some of the games (the Kings Island Family Feud I heard was fun). but today? it was time to get ready for Day 2. so dressed and down in the Breakfast area, the offerings were slightly different today. I snapped this pic to get Kim to hustle down, since she had been displeased about the peppers included in yesterday's Omelettes.. so today's? just cheese. (it worked too, she was down to meet me in less than 2 minutes, tho Joel didn't join us until just before we headed out at ~8:50). once again, although I was passenging in the back seat, I was so excited watching the coasters on the skyline, that I AGAIN forgot to have my phone out. . so no pics of the main sign (whoops). Easy/Peasy in - and although we were at least 25 minutes later than we had been the prior day? we parked only two spaces over from where we had been yesterday. The ERT this morning was on Banshee and the Bat for the 1st hour, then adding in Invertigo and the Drop Tower until general park opening. So we went thru the main gates, took a left, and headed over to Banshee. ok. .so, admission time: I don't do well on suspended coasters. not just the occasional headbang, but i tend to get nauseous from them. . and the only one I can really ride are the Batman Clones for some reason. so in almost all cases, they are 1 and done for me, tho Batman clones I can do 2-3 times as long as not all in a row. Raptor, Alpengeist, even Montu (tho I did ride that one twice over 3 days). . yeah, 1 and done. Even as much as I loved Afterburn at Carowinds? I only rode that once too. so although Banshee looked AMAZING, I knew that I had to be careful. So I intended to ride it only one time during ERT, and after I had taken some Tylenol to be safe. If I was ok on it, then I'd ride it later with FastLane+. so we headed into the line (not Kim tho, she doesn't do upside-down stuff) I really liked the tombstone theming, tho I was expecting "jokey" tombstones, a la the Haunted Mansion. still very cool tho, and i really loved the Son of Beast tombstone with the eternal flame burning (tho it's hard to see in this picture), that you pass by in the queue. Nice nod to what used to be in this location. we got up to the station, and they were assigning rows. I asked the grouper if I could go into the front row, and he said we should go to the middle of the train. so I said to him, "I really need to sit in the front" and he said, "oh, you really do?" and I responded with: "unless you want to chance cleaning up vomit from the train? yeah, I really need to sit in the front, since i tend not to do well on suspended coasters unless I can see where I am going, so I need to sit in the front" I further explained that the only reason I was getting on it at all, was because I wanted to ride everything at least once on my 1st time at KI. he then shrugged and pointed us to the front row line - which had two other people in it, so Joel and I filled up that row of 4 anyways (and in talking to the two that were there, they were in the same situation, they asked for front so they didn't get ill). so was weird he gave me some grief, but he did let us go where I really needed to ride anyways. what did I think? i really liked it. It was just spread out enough, that the inversions didn't really overwhelm me, and sitting in the front allowed me to not get nauseated since I could watch the track ahead and above to keep myself grounded and lean into the directional changes. it DID make me a little light headed regardless, so had no desire to go back around and get back in line, tho I possibly would have ridden it again later if it hadn't gone down for the afternoon. regardless, it was a great ride, and I'm glad I did it: although we had ridden the Bat yesterday in the very back, since it too was on ERT, we walked over and got in the line, and this time got a front row ride on it. not quite as fast (seemingly) as in the back, so not as much 'swing', so I think on this one I did prefer back car. . but the front car gave a really good ride too. A nice hidden gem in this park. Got lucky here and got both Banshee and Bat trains in the same shot going on at the same time as the ERT was the "behind the scenes" Banshee tour. . .it wasn't really much of a tour, other than they opened the gates and let us back behind the restricted fences to get some nice shots of Banshee in action from some angles that the General Public can't usually get: I'm sure not many even notice that the theming continues around the ride. . but it's actually pretty cool that they put the stones even this far out from the queue. really gives a nice attention to detail feeling. Tis me (with a terrible, "Jowel-y" angle, catching Banshee doing it's famous lift thru the giant loop. [Robb] Loop-de-LOOOOOOOP [/Robb] after about 10 minutes back here watching Banshee cycle, we decided to head over to Invertigo, as that was about to open for ERT in the next 5 minutes. I knew it would be awful. . .I mean, it's a Vekoma Boomerang. . .but inverted, so it gets the added headbang (and by the way, the two worst coasters in the park: Invertigo and Flying Ace Arial Chase - are both Vekoma flyers. Coincidence? I think not. .LOL) anyways, I really wanted to ride it because: 1) I'd never been on an inverted boomerang & 2) I'd been told that Invertigo was running with the trains from Stinger at Dorney Park - a coaster that was SBNO on my 1st trip there, and gone on my next. so I wanted to ride it to say that I'd gotten on both of em (even if not quite the truth) we headed over that way, and there was NO ONE else waiting. LOL. In fact, by the time they opened it up, there were maybe 8 of us waiting to ride it? and at least 4 of them worked at KI and were doing Coasterstock on their days off - and at least two of them regularly staff this ride anyways (they kept talking about "their" ride. we were actually the very 1st people in the queue when they opened it, and Joel went to the very front. I didn't' mind, because although we didn't get to experience the awkwardness this ride is kinda famous for - staring at the people sitting across from you and staring at you - the front afforded me the same as the front on Banshee had: the ability to see where I was going to help cut down on the Nausea . but oh, did this really stink as a "fun" ride. . headbang for days. at least it's kind of short. still, I rode it and can check this off my list for a coaster type I've now ridden. waiting to go thru the gates for the front row. and now actually running.. with people! (from the 2nd ride of the day, after us): once we had ridden all 3 of the suspended coasters that were on ERT, it was still only ~10:15, and we really weren't interested in riding any of them again (and Kim hadn't ridden anything yet this morning), so I suggested we head towards the front gate, and see if maybe the Fast Lane Booth had opened early. Even if they had not, we still had to go there for our wristbands anyways, so we heade dup taht direction. as luck would have it, the boot was open and staffed, so we got our wristbands, and joined the group of folks queuing up by what would be the "rope drop" area - there was no rope tho, just a security guard on either side of the fountain, that were asking the crowd to wait until 10:30 (I guess that's early entry for pass holders, maybe?) we stood on the side with Starbucks, as I really wanted to start my day there, and besides, we planned to go to the Carousel to have a ride for the anniversary at 11:15, so seemed like a good plan, and we'd meet Zach just after. the sky, as you can see in the pics, was pretty overcast, and there was rain forecasted..so we weren't sure how the day was gonna go. But kept our fingers crossed. someone asked when the Starbucks would open (same plan as I), and the security checked and came back to tell them 10:50 . . but when it hit ~10:30, the National Anthem played, and then the guards let folks move into the park. And the Starbucks was open. The people who originally had asked the guard what time it opened were very annoyed that some "younger folks" had run ahead of them and got in line, but as far as I was concerned, they had opened up 20 minutes early, so all was good. here's a pic of folks pausing for the National Anthem. . that i may (or may not) have taken because of someone's certain body part that I kept noticing thruout the day. . . .hey, I'm married, not dead but(t) I'll say I snapped it to be patriotic. that's my story and I'm sticking with it! Starbucks in hand, ready to officially start to make use of Fast Lane + for my 2nd day at Kings Island CoasterStock! . . to be continued. . . .

^ you have to buy the FL online, and I'd recommend it. Especially for KI, where most everything is on FL (you want FL+ tho to get Orion, Mystic Timbers, Beast as well tho), and they put you almost directly into the station. I was just at KI two weeks ago (and have a Trip Report going), but every ride, and almost every Food Location and Store was staffed up and operating. (including both bars). they also had multiple entertainment performances going thruout the day. the only things that appeared to not be staffed up were some of the carnival games (not on the midway by Orion - those were all operating - but the stand alone "guess your weight" type games, and some of the stand alone food carts seemed to be closed. but overall, the park was fully staffed and operating normally. Had a great time. can't speak for CP tho. . .

thanks. trying to get started on Day 2, but work (and life ) have been kicking my behind, so haven't had time to get started yet. hopefully in the next few days.

that "Covid" queue line would concern me even more.. . the plastic panels will keep any particles within - by preventing the wind from blowing things outta there. .. all I can think is "hot box". . even without a roof on it nice pics, thanks for sharing!

maybe they've been letting employees ride to test it? (hence the legs). regardless, good news that it's been testing all day.

I be dumb, and can't figure out. . .LOL I mean. .it looks like a butt. . which I think is appropriate for me :P. . tho it says I'm an apprentice, while some of the Admins show as "newbie" ?? just wondering.