2012jarrett

GateKeeper in the rain!

I'm studying mechanical engineering and my parents are both industrial engineers, so I know a considerable amount about why this happens. The reason it does that is because allowing it to be flexible helps it absorb the forces a bit more. Ever notice how tall trees sway in the wind without falling over or how palm trees bend in hurricanes? This is sort of nature's way of demonstrating this. Skyscrapers sway in the wind similarly. Even wooden coasters can visibly be seen deflecting sometimes. It's about absorbing the force instead of withstanding it. If I'm correct, this is what killed Kings Island's original Bat. It was built too rigidly and the structure couldn't move with the train and it caused structural problems. I might be wrong but that's what I thought caused it. Some B&M track connectors are visibly made to be able to accommodate deflecting track, Mantis's are a good example.

If you want to stay right around six flags there are several places. There is a Wingate right beside the parking lot. It usually cost the most out of all the hotels around but is the nicest. I personally stay at the super 8. Nothing fancy about it, its old, but its quite and clean. It is also within walking distance but I have parking passes. You can get a room online for about $52 a night with codes. This weekend, that's what mine cost. If you booked in the hotel though they where charging $75/room. I have stayed there 3 times and its been quite and clean all times. Just a place to sleep just book online. There is also an econolodge (pretty bad I have tried it once) and I believe a sleep inn right beside the park with the super 8 and Wingate. Never tried the sleep inn BC I haven't ran into any problems with the super 8 yet. I stayed at the Wingate with friends and it is the closest and nicest but close to $100/night last time I checked. Still nothing fancy! I have found that in the evening the park is dead. I usually do a Friday or Saturday evening, one full day, and a morning. Sundays are usually the least crowded. Don't buy a flash pass until you see what the lines are like. If you read up about my trip this weekend I never waited more than 10 minutes for anything except to get into the park!! Haha Thanks! The Super 8 sounds like a good option for us. We'll probably end up going on a weekday due to our vacation schedule, but if we can work a Sunday into there, I'll definitely try. If it's dead in the evening that's good. I'd love to walk on a few night rides on Mindbender and Goliath. A few more questions; 1. Did Goliath ever get seatbelts? And if it did, how are they? 2. How good is Dare Devil Dive with larger riders? I fit into El Loco at Adventuredome pretty recently, should I be fine on DDD? I thought they were similar. And does DDD have seatbelts? 3. Would it be socially acceptable to wear a giant lime green Domo suit to the park?

I might be making a run down to Louisville next month to make my first visit to Kentucky Kingdom. How large people-friendly are Lightning Run's restraints? I'm assuming Thunder Run has standard PTC trains with standard restraints, I was more concerned about Lightning Run.I fit into Millennium Force a few weeks ago but it was a tight squeeze, will I be fine on Lightning Run?

I'll be going to SFOG probably in July. I've been there before but missed Georgia Cyclone since we ran out of time and it was back in 2006 so Dare Devil Dive wasn't built yet, plus I'd really like to ride Goliath, GASM, Mindbender, and S:UF again. Any tips for this park? Hotels to stay, any park deals we should be aware of (one day might be just an afternoon into evening if that helps), tips for hitting everything, that kind of stuff. I can't wait to go but I was wondering if there was anything we should know.

Just got mine with the payment plan! Thanks!

Has anybody gotten a gold pass? I want to but I have no idea how it works. The "6 payments" thing, when do you make those payments? All at once or over time? And what does it entail to process one? Do I need to go to the park to do that or can it be done over the phone and mailed to me? I want to know what I'm doing before buying one.

Here's the TR from my day spent here on my West Coast trip a few weeks ago! I went with my cousin Brittany, her husband Paul, and their roommate Brett who live in Vegas. I was visiting them for the week and we decided to spend two days in LA since my cousin and her husband used to live there. First stop on our 4-hour journey to LA was Dunkin' Donuts. Nabbed a selfie here because I'm from Dayton and Dayton don't run on Dunkin'. The desert landscape is cool for the first two hours and then just gets boring. Road trip! Desperado was closed when we drove past it. I need to know the origin of this street name... And we're here! Hello, thrill capital of the world! First ride of the day was YOLOcoaster. There was some dispute over ride lineup because my cousin refused to knock out all of the big rides first in fear that it would make the rest of them look lame. It was weird because I thought they would operate like enthusiasts when visiting a park and they didn't, but I just went with it. I did want to do YOLO first, though, as it was right at the front and seemed like a good warmup ride. I told Brittany it wasn't generally regarded as a flagship ride so we decided to do it first, expecting just a nice, fun warmup ride. It TOTALLY blew my expectations away! The launch is relatively strong, the hangtime at the top of that gargantuan loop is terrifying, the turn is somewhat intense, the dive loop is awesome, and the tunnel is cool-looking. But it's the second half of the ride that makes it. It shoots you backwards, you come out of your seat suspended on the dive loop, and roll back through only to be launched into the loop, get some airtime, fall back to your seat, only to be pulled back out at a pretty steep angle before the brakes. This ride is awesome! I had my hands up the whole time bar the inside of the loop screaming in amusement. Personally I find it to be really underrated, this is a top-notch coaster in my book. Orient Express was next to get to Tatsu and Ninja. It seemed pretty dated but it saved us a backbreaking walk up the mountain. If they could renovate it and maybe add some air conditioning it would make it much better. But still, being spared that walk is being spared that walk and I'd have been fine even if it was just an escalator. Next was Ninja, which is now my favorite Arrow Suspended. It rode like The Bat and Iron Dragon had a baby, soaring at high speeds through intense turns and transitions through the trees. Love all the snap in this one! After Ninja was, as the ride op called it, Tat-SOOOOO!!! I'm still a tad scared of being held at vertical angles so I was nervous, but I was still excited. What a fun ride! I liked Full Throttle better but this was fun soaring around the mountain, and that pretzel loop! I liked it a lot and it's now my favorite flying coaster by a long shot, but I felt like it was going a tad slow most of the time, bar the pretzel loop. I did like the terrain interaction and the minimal theming found around it. It's photogenic, too... Goliath was next. Like the rest of the dead park, everything, including Goliath was a walk-on, but I put a mile or two on my feet just walking through the queue. I did like the queue, though. The jungle foliage and themed walkways into the station were quite nice, even though it felt like it would never end. The ride was worth it, though. I rode in the back and the end was so intense, I thought I would grey out. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of airtime I got but I feel like it's supposed to be more intensity focused than airtime focused. Nice, solid coaster, I really liked it. DC Comics Universe was next. I went to Green Lantern only for the stabilizing mechanism to break while I was in line, so I decided to get out of line until they fixed it. After that, I went to Batman to brave it backwards. Got one ride in in the back and I have to admit, it was awesome. Such an intense coaster, and even though I've recreated it in RCT3 and somewhat knew the layout, I still had no idea what was coming! My legs were tingling a bit going around some of the turns around the far end. I went back to Green Lantern and found that it was back in action, so I took my first spin on a Zacspin. All I can say, WOW!!!!! This is such an intense coaster! I only flipped once on it but falling face-first and then being yanked back up into your restraint was absolutely nuts and I hit the brakes out of breath. These Zacspins pack quite a punch and had I had more time, I would have liked to see how different the ride can become. Colossus and Scream were next. Colossus was fun because I was in the front, but the ejector with those tiny Morgan lapbars was SOOO painful! Put mini B&M clamshells on it and it could be one of the best woodies out there. The texture was smooth, the restraints were painful. Kind of sad, really, as I probably would have found it to be one of my favorite wooden coasters with wider lap bars, even PTC ones. After that I met my cousin and we did Scream, and personally, I was disappointed. It's by far the ugliest coaster ever built, and it was full of headbanging. If Dominator is anything like it I'm almost glad I was spited on it. Speaking of spited, S:EFK was down. I heard them run it a few times that day but it didn't ever fully open. Missed credit #2 On the subject of spites, Revolution was down too... #3 But X2 was not only open, but a walk-on! This has to be one of the most insane things I've ridden. That thing is so psychological, and that drop holding you face-first with just that vest is horrifying! Those restraints feel like you could just slip out the bottom and even though I knew I wasn't going to, it didn't exactly take away from the shear terror that is X2! I would have to say my favorite part was the half zero-g roll, but I loved all of it! That was the first time I've been genuinely scared on a roller coaster in a while! Best ride there and my new fifth favorite overall! However, I had two complaints about it. First, the rack and pinion assembly felt a tad loose for the job it was supposed to do and it was bucking by about three degrees whenever it was doing a major flip. Second, I know it was an expensive ride as is but I felt it was short. But all in all, great ride! If they could maybe make a third? generation of the 4D coaster and give more spread out layouts like B&M's wing coasters (something more similar to S&S's new launchers like Extreme Rusher) and while I don't know much about the rack and pinion assembly but here assuming it's just a simple rack and pinion, maybe adding a new pitch/yaw mechanism that could be a bit tighter (rattling between the runner and upstop wheels on the flipping rails was another theory I had for what could cause the bucking) using a spring to pull the rack back could make them a bit smoother. I really like this 4D coaster and I'd like to ride Eejanaika and Dinoconda but I feel like a few improvements could turn these good rides into great rides. Just my opinion, though. Next was Viper. I personally found it to be the best Arrow megalooper made (much better than Vortex) but my cousin had other opinions. She was so small she kept getting jostled around in the seat...and her facial expression is awesome! Apocalypse was next, and while it wasn't better than Thunderhead, I still really liked it. It just lacked the insane and unpredictable element Thunderhead had. I did like the queue theming, though. I'd like to see Six Flags theme more of their coasters like that, a direction they seem to be moving in. We hit Gold Rusher afterwards and while I liked just how terrainy it was compared to other Arrow mine trains, I'd still rank Adventure Express above it. It is my second favorite mine train, though, and I like how it's painted a color that isn't brown. My final credit of the day (97) was Riddler's Revenge. They were running just one train and there was actually a bit of a line and I wasn't walking on it like I was the rest of the rides. For what it was, I loved it! I don't typically like how standups suck all the blood to your feet and hurt your ankles, but this was pretty fun! I think I've mastered the art of riding a standup without pain, too! Maybe B&M could start making these again with the new floaty style they seem to have for GateKeeper and Oziris, because I might not mind a floaty standup. We went to check on S:EFK only to find them operating it on and off as it kept breaking down at various times. There was no way we were getting on it, but hey, it provides a good viewing point for Full Throttle! Such a great view... Final ride of the day was YOLO! #stationselfie Hangtime! Whoosh! We all agreed that this plaza was a little too much. Loud dubstep and lights and a jumbotron that shows...people doing dangerous sports? Full Throttle is a FUN ride, danger and insanity is X2's thing. And even X2 wasn't loud and obnoxious with the way it was branded! This just screamed, "Hey, give THIS ride attention!"If they had gone more in the "the ride of your life" direction than the "YOLO" "SENSORY OVERLOAD" "LIFE LIFE FULL THROTTLE" direction they took, I feel like everybody, me included, might take it a bit more seriously. Gift shopping at Six Flags! It was a good day. I love this park, it looks nice and has an awesome ride lineup. However, I had trouble enjoying it because A. I had a few issues with operations, B. I noticed that a lot of the clientele wasn't very...mature, to put things in respectful terms. Definitely the crowd you would expect to be purchasing "COME AT ME BRO" t-shirts. And finally, C. the food was OUTRAGEOUSLY priced, I was starving and I would ordinarily have paid park food price for something at YOLO Sports Bar, but when I saw the menu I walked right out of there. I get that part of crappy theme park food is that it's expensive, but that was a little less expensive than this nice upscale restaurant we have in Dayton that serves ostrich steak...for crappy theme park food. I couldn't do that to my wallet, I'm sorry. After the park we did the LA thing and got IN-N-Out Burger. It was my first time having it and I thought it was just okay. Nothing bad but nothing amazing, I'm still a Smashburger guy. But with my level of hunger, I'd have taken anything! All I had to eat that day was a decent-sized breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts and $15 pizza and a drink from SFMM. Good night, Six Flags! And I really liked our hotel for some reason...

TR coming in a bit but I managed to walk on Banshee four times today! Green train rattles a bit, but nowhere near as bad as it is on purple. Blue is still my favorite. I did notice some capacity issues with Diamondback, though, not sure if it was the seatbelts or what but I saw all three trains stacked at one point. The Beast was running somewhat slowly midday (as in, unusually, it usually runs faster than it did at that time) but it was still fun as always. The Bat wasn't dripping oil like it was on media day and it ran pretty well, we went around that turn on the far end of the layout just as Banshee went by its carousel turn. Fun day overall, pictures coming soon!

Going to KI tomorrow and CP Wednesday, and I'm looking into the 60-ish dollar double park pass for this. Does anybody know how it works? Do you need to print it? Do you need to have it by a certain time in advance like KBF? How does one use this pass?

A few lovely ones from Knott's Berry Farm last week: Kid waiting for Sierra Sidewinder "This is the scariest ride in the park, I mean, it goes BACKWARDS!!!" 13-year old sitting next to me on Silver Bullet: "How do I undo the buckle?" Teenager sitting behind me on Boomerang's lift: "Wait, does this go upside-down?" And this gem from SFMM the day before: Guy behind me on Gold Rusher: "This is the first roller coaster ever."

Kings Island: Banshee's first drop Cedar Point: Millennium Force's first drop Carowinds: Afterburn's first drop BGW: Griffon's vertical drop BGT: Cheetah Hunt's drop off the wind catcher Kings Dominion: I-305's drop SFOG: Goliath's first drop SFMM: X2's face-first drop KBF: Montezooma's drop off the rear spike Adventuredome: El Loco's first dive loop

I'll be going to Cedar Point on Wednesday and I was wondering if there's somewhere I can get an inexpensive ticket. So far our awesome TPR discount can get me 13.99 off and reduce the price to 46 dollars, can anywhere else get me a better deal? I know you can get a really discounted Kings Island coupon from Kroger stores inte area.

Hey, we're going to Knott's Berry Farm in a few and if there are any tips anybody has that would be great. I'm at 97 credits and should be getting my 100th while we're there, preferably Xcelerator. Any tips on saving money on admission? We have 10$ off coupons from our hotel.

*Thanks! *My cousin says it's brand new, but it is owned by Caesar's. *The strip IS actually in Paradise, but it's still a busy urban district, so that's why I called it that. *We were on Fremont street during the day. No lights on...VERY weird! -x- Day 2 Sorry this wasn't up yesterday. We had internet issues. First, I thought I'd share with you the fabulous High Roller shirt I got yesterday. Started the day at Fremont Street, in the REAL Las Vegas city limits. The TV screens overhead weren't on because it was daytime but it was still cool to see...and I saw the Bearded Bride I had heard about! Just an artsy shot I got of it. You can zipline off of the world's tallest slot machine! I didn't but seeing people zipping over you was kind of cool. Slenderman! It makes for some good artsy shots...but Fremont Street as a whole was so weird! After this we went to Sam's Town outside of the strip for Cinco de Mayo. My grandpa on my cousin's side (who passed away from lung cancer in 2006) loved going to the Sam's Town in Tunica, Mississippi. The Mexican place there was inside of a natural lit food court designed to look like an outdoor forest. I love this shot! Willie & Jose's was so good! Had a HUMONGOUS seafood enchilada! I got up waiting for our food to call my parents when I saw it was 11 pm Ohio time and I wanted to speak to them before they went to bed when I hear all this music and water start. I wrapped up our call and went over to the waterfall setup to see that they did a laser and water show on it...and I got some great long exposure shots! I'm sorry, but this one is absolutely gorgeous. It wrapped up after a while and we finished eating...off to the strip for my first +1 of the trip! Hello fake New York Cityyyyy!!! I actually freaked out a bit seeing a crappy Togo because while I knew it belonged in one of those medieval torture museums, it looked great up on that building like that. It was dark so I couldn't get a lot of good pictures of it. Here we go! Jarrett's first Togo, coming right up! You have to drive under it to park. The actual coaster doesn't have a big height difference, but the lift is enormous. I hate that they stopped calling it Manhattan Express but the new logo is kind of cool. The queue was somewhat nicely themed but the former theatre geek in me wished they played Broadway music in the cattlepen. NYC from Annie or Manhattan from My Favorite Year (which I was in my junior year) would fit perfectly, among many other Broadway showtunes written about New York. Let's go ride! But first...let me take a selfie! Me trying to smile for the camera through the shear pain. Ouch! Can somebody please tell me what the point of those little half-OTSRs is other than to have something with which to hit your head when you go through some of those elements? I watched the POV before we left and I was sitting there trying to make a mental note of which transitions looked bad, and I found all the bad ones, but they were WORSE in person! That first high turn out of the drop is gross, the dive loop is awful, and that turn into the helix felt like somebody hit fast forward on one of those no heartlining Arrow transitions. However, I have to say, I've ridden much worse. Ninja at SFOG makes this feel like Millennium Force, and riding it at night on the FREAKING VEGAS STRIP was sick! And that loop and helix! Not a top tenner for me but I had some degree of painful fun on it! Somebody get me this wall trim NOW!!!!! After a decent pummeling we headed down the strip for Bellagio Fountain. Paris and Planet Hollywood Welcome to the Bellagio! Hello, Bellagio Fountain! You're my cousin's favorite spot in Vegas! The show was not only spectacular but also easy to photograph. They did Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Billy Jean, and All That Jazz. Sinusoidal wave pattern...somewhat! YES!!! LOVE this shot! The cousin and I at The Bellagio! Neat shot from the Billy Jean show. While I am a good photographer and somewhat knew what I was doing when I took these, no picture can do this justice. This is something that has to be experienced in person. I love how a picture can capture the hidden instantanous effects in these shows that being there can't, though. Dancing jets! These things could FLY. Those water jets could shoot over ten stories up in the air and unfortunately, I can't say I ever saw them shoot it insanely high. It's somewhat underutilized technology in my opinion. Moved towards the center near Paris to watch the last show we were planning to see. A nice shot from "All That Jazz." I had photographing the jets down to a science by the time the night was over. The ones that lack height actually photograph really well. Got some good use of texture in this one. Yet another nice one. Goodnight, Bellagio! Walking back through New York New York to get to the car, I noticed that Manhattan Express's brake run and turn go right through the building. The best arcade ever! Goodnight, Manhattan Express! That's a prime spot for a coaster and it's a beautiful casino, but the coaster is just so vile! I wish they could maybe bulldoze Manhattan and put something else there. Maybe Gerstlauer could use their experience making traveling structures for Eurofighters like Iron Shark to get a Karacho/Smiler style infinity coaster up there? Day 3 Today was our last day of the trip in Vegas and Brittany and I made the best of it at Circus Circus Adventuredome...during a desert zombie apocalypse. El Loco was the ride I was most excited about and I FLIPPED when I saw this in the elevator! Can I get this mural on my wall? Seeing these signs together was awesome... The first thing I noticed upon getting in was the source of that rosy tint that all pictures of Circus Circus seem to have. I always thought that the windows were clear...they're actually pink! That being said, Canyon Blaster looks fabulous snaking around the rock like that upon getting in. I see you, El Loco! They were still testing El Loco when we got there so we rode Canyon Blaster first. As Hyde said, it's incredibly smooth and I experienced almost zero headbanging. The interaction with the rest of Adventuredome is incredible and feels like a roller coaster tour of the complex! We rode it in the front and it has officially surpassed Corkscrew as my favorite Arrow Looper. And the end after the corkscrews in the dark is incredibly aggressive. Definitely ride this one if you get the chance. Such a fun coaster! Onto El Loco! But first...let me take a selfie! They were still testing it long after the park opened so a small line (by that I mean <15 people) had formed. I did find it cool to watch them test it at least. Testing 1 2 3... Okay, El Loco is sick! The lift is nice and fast and gets you up to the top of the glass dome, the first turn is nice and snappy, and the drop was absolutely bonkers! I wasn't expecting just a small, straight drop to have that much power! I couldn't help but grab the bar. From the drop it's back up into the first MCBR through this nice twisty climb. After that is the outward banked turn which is absolutely nuts and feels like you're about to be dumped out simply because of how unnatural that feeling is. From there it's an inward banked turn into the world's screwiest dive loop. It hangs you upside down, turns to the side (no painful kink like pictures suggest though, somewhat of a pleasant surprise) and then you just get slammed into your seat. From there it's a turn, another climb, a pullout full of airtime, and a turn into the second MCBR. From there is the grand finale. It banks to the side, but I'll warn you, this isn't the playful twisty trick track you'd find on Big Thunder Mountain that wiggles the train a bit, this suspends you sideways slowly. From there you bank back around counterclockwise into the final dive loop roll...and your butt leaves the seat! I felt myself being dangled by just the restraint with nothing else in contact with my body, it was terrifying! This was my first and hopefully not last S&S El Loco and I'd definitely advise riding this one if you ever get the chance as well as Canyon Blaster! In my book, it's the best coaster in Vegas! And we rode it again, this time in the back. Not much of a difference to be honest and I like the front row better. Canyon Blaster in the back was next...and we were the only ones on it! Whoosh! Next up was Sling Shot, possibly the most vile tower ride ever. First off, Brittany and I got seated on opposite sides of the tower to balance the weight out so it seemed a tad sketchy that having all the weight on one side was a problem. And I have to admit, it was GROSS. I was cool riding it because it was a shorter tower ride but it was just such a painful launch! The view from the top was nice, though. :? And we went back to do El Loco again...and it was a walk-on! A new for 2014 ride was a walk on! The Adventuredome ride ops were really nice, and the El Loco team was even nice enough to get Brittany and I's picture having El Loco to ourselves! Meanwhile I DID get spited on Chaos. They had a dremmel out and were either sanding or cutting something, and sparks were flying. I had never seen them fix a ride where it required cutting. And then we left. Nobody at the park, but it was so small that we were able to do everything we wanted in an hour. Spot the El Loco car! As dated as it is, Adventuredome is a really nice park. You can't look at this and deny that it looks fabulous. I wanted a Circus Circus souvenir so we walked through the casino...they were advertising El Loco EVERYWHERE. This is opposite the escalator to the bottom level. My grandmother on my dad's side (same side where my cousin and the grandpa mentioned in the Sam's Town portion of yesterday's TR) passed away a few weeks ago last year. This was her favorite slot machine. You can gamble EVERYWHERE in Vegas. I'm making Korean Barbecue for dinner tonight and we went to get the stuff...they have virtual poker at the grocery store! Been there done that! Me chilling out back at my cousin's apartment complex...on fake grass because there isn't grass in Las Vegas. Well, Vegas, it's been real. Can't wait to do SFMM and KBF in the coming days!

I was riding High Roller at The Linq yesterday and getting off of it I heard somebody say "That has to be the most dangerous ride ever." Seriously, Vegas?

So my awesome cousin and her awesome husband invited me to fly out to Las Vegas to visit them for a week this summer. While Las Vegas wouldn't normally be my first choice of place to spend frequent flyer miles, there I would have a place to stay and transportation (not old enough to rent a car) and somebody else to go with, so I decided to book it and hit up the city of lights! We also decided to make the 4-hour drive to LA to hit up Six Flags Magic Mountain while we were out there, so I was totally up for it! Me about to brave my fear of flying in the Dayton Airport listening to the 80's music in the terminals...that conveniently includes the Top Gun soundtrack. Dayton Airport's old and new control towers. You can imagine the look on my face when I looked out the window and saw that I would be flying to my connection in Cleveland in this city bus-sized plane! I'm claustrophobic, no thanks! ...my window WOULD be near the wing and the propeller! Flying over the Ohio landscape to the sound of the awful drone of the propeller...this trip wasn't off to a fun start! Landed in Cleveland-Hopkins and I got an urge to photograph the second I saw this... Me being artsy. Gah, don't build nice installations like this around me! Got my Great Lakes Brewing Company cred waiting for the next flight! I was looking at the menu (and ended up ordering a Mountain Dew and a sandwich for the plane) but this caught my eye. Yes, a BLT Bloody Mary with bacon in it. -_- Bacon in a drink...WHY??? Time to go! Taking off I got this beautiful shot of the sun setting over Lake Erie. The grilled chicken sandwich from Great Lakes was the bomb! Good flavoring on the chicken and chips, and the spiced mayo wasn't half bad either. Definitely something I recommend for this airport. Just another nice shot. Flew over the snowy peaks of the Rockies, so that was kind of cool. Wanna go skiing? We flew for a few more hours and then all of a sudden there's this giant field of light on the horizon...and I knew it couldn't possibly be anything else! Hours upon hours of flying and I was finally here! Got lost in the airport but I found my cousin! After getting picked up we went to Longhorn Casino, one of the local casinos on the outskirts, for dinner. Couldn't gamble but I have to admit, seeing all of those slot machines in one room was a tad overwhelming. Steak & Lobster dinner for $9.99, viva Las Vegas! After that we went to my cousin Brittany's sister Haley's place to see if she wanted to go to The Linq with us to ride High Roller. She declined...but I got to see Prince, her kitten! And from there we hit the strip! Now HERE'S where it gets fun! Finally at The Linq! Yes...a cupcake ATM. I was pleased to see the fountain lights synced to the lights on High Roller. High Roller looks small from afar, but as you get closer, you realize just how absolutely massive it is. Cute mural in the ticket building. I have my ticket! World's tallest observation wheel, here we come! Into the queue we go! The final cattlepen was really cool. They had cool designs flashing on the TV screens and rave music playing. Brittany and I pretty much had to book it through the cattlepen because there was a group of very loud drunk people discussing some pretty crazy things they planned to do that cabin...the same cabin in which we did NOT want to be trapped for 30 minutes. Our chariot awaits! Brittany and I's first time on High Roller! Let's do this! It goes really slowly so it's more like a Space Needle that you can't get off of than an actual ride. So massive! Ride to the top is a tad boring, but once you crest the first quarter of the wheel it becomes breathtaking. Pretty nice view of part of the strip. Just hangin' out 400 feet in the air...and I'm somewhat nervous. I'm really proud of this shot! There's The Mirage! Having watched The Hangover on the way over and seeing Caesar's Palace around town was awesome. Flamingo and Caesar's This is the fifth Eiffel Tower I've seen...with Flamingo off to the side. This is The Cromwell, a new casino opening downtown where my cousin was hired. Flamingo and Bellagio! I have conquered High Roller! I really love the LED system. I thought it was just to enhance the view of the wheel from outside but it adds a dimension to the ride itself. Even nearing the station it's still really high. Returning to The Linq! We are now officially High Roller veterans! Just a nice shot I got on the exit ramp... What a fun ride! Definitely do this when you're in Vegas, I loved it! Beautiful view of the strip, it goes so high up and provides such a nice view! Seeing that sea of lights span over the horizon on one side and the lights of the strip on the other side really make this a must-do in the city of lights! TOMORROW: Circus Circus Adventuredome for El Loco and Canyon Blaster and New York New York for The Roller Coaster

I'm going this week! Plane lands Sunday night and the exact dates are TBD but it's happening! We're on a somewhat tight budget for this trip so it's always sounded like YOLOcoaster sports bar is a no-go. Are there any places that have notably good food we won't want to miss? I'm already using my Club TPR discount (figuring out how to obtain the tickets is still on the agenda but I plan to) on admission, but every little bit counts. From what I've heard, our first rides in order should be YOLOcoaster, X2, and Tatsu. Anything from there that should be necessary?

I was literally packing for a park trip and waiting for my Cheetah Hunt t-shirt to finish in the dryer when I read this...the ultimate irony! XD Hope they get it up and running as soon as they can, though. It also makes me wonder about the river slalom and other trenches, I wonder just how much of it is underwater. :/ But hey, look on the bright side, splashdown!

I'm trying to get a group of friends together to go to Kings Island this Friday. If anybody else plans to be there, I wouldn't mind meeting up. I'll only be there from opening until like 2-3 but I'll probably be there.

When you hit the gas to get your car up to speed and vocally make LSM sounds. (Guilty) When you use the Banshee paperweight you got at media day as motivation to get a desk. (Guilty, and it shall sit in a place of high honor!)

When will you be there? we are going friday May 2nd and Saturday May 3rd... Ack! Either 5th-6th or 7th-8th, we're just going to miss you!

I'm going to be there in two weeks. It'll be on a weekday so I assume crowds won't be horrible, but what approach should we take to hit all the coasters in as little time as possible? The big ones we want to ride are X2, YOLOcoaster, Tatsu, GL:FF and S:EFK. Thanks in advance!

Here's my TR from media day! When we got there, I could hear her, but I couldn't see her. Seeing this at the end of the check-in line was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...because left my jacket in the car and this meant I was about to get something cool to take back and would therefore have an excuse to go get said jacket. Light was starting to pour over the horizon by the time we were through. Jacket? Check! Lanyard? Check! Time to go ride Banshee! This path felt so long! And here we are... They themed the queue out the nose with this one. Gravestones in some of the off-to-the-side areas, it was incredibly foggy, and they shone these spotlights shaped like little Banshees around the floor erratically. And it was definitely worth the wait I spent in it, the drive down, the months upon months of waiting, all the speculation, all of the checking the webcam between classes, all of it. This has to be the best B&M ever manufactured. It's as smooth as the newer ones like Intimidator, SheiKra, and Wild Eagle, but just as intense as the older ones like Montu, Afterburn, and Alpengeist. It has a significant amount of B&M roar but it isn't as loud as other ones like Mantis and Kumba. The drop is a great way to start the ride and it really whips you around and into your seat. The dive loop is also great and you get some old B&M snap going into it before diving down over the new tent (which provides a fabulous view). The entry into the loop (where this was taken) is just as intense as the drop and it really caught me off guard, though most of the pained expression is due to wind chill and the unexpected force. The zero-g roll isn't as good as Raptor's or Montu's but it still snaps a bit and still acts as a nice transition into the lower half of the ride. And then the drop. That drop off of the zero-g is as good as a good B&M first drop and hurdling into that trench is incredible. There is a trim there but I didn't notice it at all. It makes no sound and I didn't feel the train slow down at all. I'm guessing that either A. it's there but somehow switched off and only comes on on really hot days or B. it's like the little fins on Skyrush where they're there just to make sure that the top speed it was designed with is the top speed it uses, keeps it from entering the intense element with a Vknot higher than it's supposed to be entered with. Whatever the situation with the trim, you hit the bottom and she lives up to her name, that roar is deafening from the train! And then you go into the batwing, not much snap there but it still provides a nice visual, and then WHOOSH!!! She slams into that batwing and you get plastered into your seat. I didn't grey out but I felt like I might, because that's by far the most intense point on the ride. I love the batwing, it's easily the best part of it. After that the loop is pretty standard, nothing incredibly intense but a loop-the-loop is a loop-the-loop . Then came the spiral element which provided some really nice visuals of The Bat and the valley behind the park. It was definitely more floaty B&M than forceful B&M but that isn't a bad thing at all. And then came the inline. If you watch the music video I made it looks like just a harmless cartwheel. WRONG!!!! Those forces transfer strangely and you really get shaken around in that open restraint, it's absolutely terrifying that high up. The following helix acts as the intense finale of a great ride, no matter which seat you're in it's incredibly forceful and also provides some nice visuals. And then you hit the brakes which is just that, hitting the brakes after a nice long ride and wishing it continued. But it's not a short ride by any means, you'll hit those brakes plenty satisfied! And after that we got donuts. FREE donuts. With a line longer than Banshee's. They served as many free breakfast pastries as you wanted with free hot chocolate. Honestly, it outdid the catering my school does for its classy events. The donuts were huge (and I love donuts, they're quick and tasty, perfect college breakfast) and they had plenty of kinds. The accommodations they made were phenomenal. I WANTED to get back in line for more, but the line was long. That and Banshee at sunrise. The fog and the rising sun made for some beautiful visuals from The Chicken Shack. Round 2, here we go! *ding!* Me being artsy with myphotos that I posted to Facebook to let everybody know where I was. View from the station stairs. The sunrise ride was amazing! I got the same row as I did the first time. The sunrise allowed you to see clearly that the ground below the batwing was really muddy and you were about to get thrown close to it. The bottom of the dive loop is a good photo op, I could see quite a lot of pictures taken here. Banshee compared to the rest of the park. Going down! Delirium swings somewhat close to the new dive loop...but I'm not a fan of the new paint job personally. It matches Action Zone, true, but something about it seems off to me. Maybe that's just me, though. And I kept hearing people complaining about the noise it made for some reason. I've lived near this ride for eleven years and it never bothered me. On Location is now Coaster Connection and it's awesome. Love some of the new Banshee stuff. Some gravestones somewhat away from the ride. Not sure if these are there to bring the experience to the overflow queue space back there or just to provide some backdrop to the ride. No picture taken of this coaster that I've seen has done its size full justice. It's absolutely massive and pictures don't convey that well, something I've noticed is somewhat common with B&Ms. The fog is always on on the sign even when the night fog is off. After that ride I settled down to go hear the speeches. While waiting around, I saw Robb walking around and talking to people. Somebody approached him and got one of the buttons he had promised the first 100 people to show him their TPR IDs, so I took that as a cue that he wasn't busy and showed him mine. And look what he gave me when I said hi! Thanks, Robb! I love it! And then Don told us a heartwarming story about how they had to decide between keeping two attractions or removing them to build something bigger, and the difficult decision that a landmark ride had to go to make way for Banshee...so they removed the go karts. Lots of people gathered around to hear the speakers. They all did a great job and I found it fascinating, but the best had to be the guy (I forget his name) who talked about the engineering behind Banshee that the park did with B&M. As somebody going to school to design roller coasters, if I had to watch just one speech it would have been that one. The way Banshee rides is like somebody took the first part of a coaster and cut it off at the top of an element, and then took another and cut it off at the top of the drop, and stuck them together. As said by one of the speakers, the elements at the bottom of that hill are massive, and they were absolutely right. This right here is why "there is only one Banshee." These guys probably just had a fun time. Through the batwing! Some of the cattlepen theming. I like Eiffel Tower in this one for some reason. Back to the station! Snap into the dive loop A not-so-zero-g-zero-g roll (Five hyphens? Dang!) that still provides some snap. This picture does an okay job of showing just how massive the lower elements are. As said by a speaker, they re-opened Banshee, and also opened Skyflyer, Delirium, and The Bat. Banshee looks absolutely massive from this spot. And it really looks nice with The Bat's colors. Yay, they kept the station! I slept in this station during a rainstorm! Banshee towers over a train full of Bat riders. Three different types of below-the-track coasters in this shot. Once the trees fill out, you won't be able to see Banshee from here. Don't you hate it when people hover over you while you're trying to eat? Chicken Shack time! What a phenomenal free meal! Their chicken tenders are now my favorite anywhere and I love the sauce they serve with it. I love the tent they built. They have the Celtic interlocked three ring symbol (don't know what it's called) in brick on the floor, and the ends of each one stick out of the tent and can be seen from Banshee's dive loop. They gave out free Banshee twists. I thought the one I had back in August was good but the portion was a little much for me, I liked the mini one much better. Let's go back for some more! Modeling my new Banshee hat! Through the loop... ...AROUND THE LIFT!!!! More gravestones in the path to the cattlepen. In line for the front row! Front row, left seat, easily the best place to ride! Forces aren't as good as the back (but still way more aggressive than the middle), but the astounding visuals make up for it. They put up this really cool staggered LCD display behind the cash registers that has a little animated Banshee logo on a loop. Went to go put my jacket and tat in the car and snapped this picture outside the park. Sooo, anything new for 2014? I love this banner for some reason. Coming back for more! The wait spiked to what looked like it might have been an hour so I went to go ride Bat again. Hello, Bat! On the way back I noticed that they didn't paint over this. In a few years it'll be really faded and it'll have people asking questions about the little air force stars on this concrete tunnel. Like the original Bat footers under Vortex. I can't get over how awesome this sign is... Track behind gravestones Here's that Son of Beast memorial they built. There's an eternal flame at the top that was hard to photograph but it's there. More artsy... Three years ago I got a picture at Cedar Point of their Winseeker framed by one of Raptor's loops. Couldn't do exactly that, but I did this. It works, right? Waiting over there should be fun. ZOOM!!!! I was about to be in their position! I can't help but photograph it! Up, up, and into the dive loop! Taken from the station stairs. One more ride! I'd love to take a long exposure of this to get the train blowing the fog around... Diamond ring loop. Incoming! The trims weren't noticeable at all... Back up into the zero-g roll! Banshee dominates the valley. They're about to have fun... I don't even remember taking this but I love it! Load 'em up! She looks so menacing here... The closest I could get to the dive loop. You'll see plenty of these awesome Banshee banners around the park this season. What a fun day! Kings Island really outdid themselves, both on Banshee and the event! I look forward to coming back here to ride this one for years to come, it's easily their new best ride, both for Kings Island and B&M. The food was good, the operations were great, and the free stuff they gave us was enough to make Oprah want to step up her game. So glad Kings Island did this, it's a day I'll never forget. I wish there was a way to thank the people who put it together personally. Everything I got from left to right, top to bottom: *Banshee Media Day t-shirt- Free from check-in *Banshee park map: Free from gates *Banshee Lanyard and Tag: Free from gates *Banshee Hat: Bought for seventeen dollars at Banshee gift shop *Banshee On-Ride Photo of my first ride ever: Free from check-in, obtained from Banshee shop *Banshee Media Day Club TPR Button: Free, Robb gave them to us because he's awesome *Banshee Laser-Etched Paperweight: Free from check-in *Banshee Keyring: Bought for two dollars at Banshee gift shop RIDE TOTAL: Banshee x7 (once in front, once in back, once in row 4, twice in row 5, once in row 3, one in row 6) The Bat x2 (one in the middle, once in the back) Delirium x1 Had a great time! Go ride Banshee if you ever get the chance, I loved it and I think you might too!

Thanks! I'll probably opt for sticker paper when it comes time to make the name plate but I might put the train logo on the same way. UPDATE 1: Package arrived, melted necessary stickers off (middle and back car, name plate), removed track from base. First priority right now is getting the train off of the track. Once that's done, I'm fixing the track (I've already cracked five-ish crossties and you can see that the blow dryer heat warped it a bit towards the back car), painting the track Cheetah Hunt green, screwing it back to the base, making a Cheetah Hunt sticker for the name plate, and concentrating on disassembling and painting/3D printing the train pieces. Close-up shot of the trains without their stickers. I left them on the front car because I plan to remove that piece entirely and use it to measure the dimensions for the 3D printed zero car. Thought it'd be cool to show the stickers without their model. QUESTION: I've noticed that you need to get the little orange restraint pieces off to get to the central screw holding the train together. How do you do that? I pulled and felt around for a snap piece but I didn't find anything. Does anybody here know how to do that without breaking it? By the time I release the next one I should have the track painted and the train off and partially disassembled!