jamesdillaman

I'd much rather ride a B&M hyper to a rocket coaster like TTD anyday... Who cares about records, give me a decent ride, especially one as long as this one will be. -James Dillaman

This just in: http://www.kypost.com/content/wcposhared/story.aspx?content_id=5c235d3b-d208-4831-a060-80461c96643c Pretty scary, but at least nobody was seriously hurt. -James Dillaman

Nicely done. Sad about the Beast crew, stacking trains on the safety brakes is never a good thing... My crew wouldn't have done that -James Dillaman

A new bathroom so people can drop a.... n/m -James Dillaman

^Yeah, that's happened to me only once, but when I worked the ride at KI, we always tried to avoid it, as people get mad when the ride is closed down until maintenance untangles the cables. -James Dillaman

^ You don't like Scat 2? Seriously, Beech Bend is it. -James Dillaman

^ Cedar Point is more of a destination park than KI is. They have resorts, where as we have a [crappy] inn and the Great Wolf Lodge, which is way overpriced. The markets truly are different. Just because the parks are in the same state, the vast majority of people won't drive the 4 hours between KI and Cedar Point. KI draws from Lexington and Indianapolis markets as well. About the only market they share would be the Columbus area. -James"Ohio is bigger than people think" Dillaman

The key to getting a good snap and going high is to dive down hard. Seriously it isn't hard, just go back and forth until it snaps. Bonus points if you scare yourself... -James Dillaman

My fiancee is in the Graphic Design program... How do you even find time to ride anything being in DAAP?

^ I'll wait until the actual announcement, this is just a decoy. -James Dillaman

Steel Hawg just opened, it wasn't running when they filmed this. -James Dillaman

^ To be fair, the days of Arrow straight drops are gone...

I got a call from PKIManJZ and apparently they were interviewed by channel five (Him and Reon) and they mentioned LSHonF, so watch for that. Anyone have a capture card? -James "Went to the baseball game instead, as press releases aren't fun to me" Dillaman

Here's some pictures from Lollapalooza 2008 in Chicago... After day one, we were very happy, more to come from the next 2 days of the festival! last look at the stage! Thom is awesome as always Awesome video screens during Radiohead Radiohead!! but we were mainly trying to get close for... They put on an amazing show, as well! Bloc Party. My favorite picture from the mates concert. Jason from mates Mates of State doing their thing (being incredible and cute all at the same time...) Awesome show. The Kills. She succumbed to the heat, but then came back with a wet towel around her neck and the show went on! Free MySpace bandanas to beat the heat... My fiancee, Julia, with the lead singer of Rogue Wave Rogue Wave Bang Camaro has a LOT of singers! Bang Camaro

Lollapalooza!!! Man am I tired... -James Dillaman

^ Yeah, some friends of mine are managers even, and they're in their 20's still, but they've been working at the park for 6-8 years... Age ain't nothin' but a number -James Dillaman

aw, at first I was thinking a he/she was going on the east coast trip... -James Dillaman

^ We found the ride ops much higher quality this year than in the past (My fiancee and I have actually ridden Galaxi with no lap bars, as the ride op didn't remember to put them down, and when we yelled at him said it was okay "just hold on")! Also, they are all wearing uniforms which hadn't happened in years past. As for the guy working Den of Lost Thieves, he's been there like forever. I think they're having staff problems mainly because they are holding them up to a higher standard, and there really isn't much population around to draw from. A lot of there rides have been having issues since the storms a few weeks ago, too, when the entire park lost power. As for Steel Hawg, it's a new ride, so lots of downtime is to be expected, especially for a prototype. I didn't get to ride LoCoSuMo a couple weeks ago, when I went, but still had a great time, and you can't beat the price (use your Kroger Plus card for a discount wristband!). I'll admit I am a fan of this park, but I have to disagree because I thought the park LOOKED much better this year than it ever has, and the staff was a lot better looking AND acting. Sorry you caught it on a bad day, but again you went the first saturday in August... -James Dillaman

^ After getting in touch with some workers, I wouldn't count on it.

^^ It's been said that the station would be themed like Maverick's. -James Dillaman

Man, God even hates coasters in New Jersey. That state can't get a break... -James Dillaman

^ Well for someone who lives in FL, I can understand, but living 5 mintues from Kings Island since 1989, it will be nice to actually have a hyper, and I don't care what it was. I would've been happy with a Magnum clone for all I care. It's nice to finally have a big coaster at my home park. Now I am far from a fanboy, in fact I'm one of KI's harshest critics if you ask all my friends, but this is one thing that makes me feel a little better, and I might actually purchase a season pass for the first time in a few years to the park. It never ceases to amaze me that parks even bother announcing new rides at all, when all the coaster enthusiasts just go on and on about how they're going to be awful rides, and I wish they were building this or they should've built that... If anyone on here thinks they can run an amusement park better, especially at a time when the economy is slow and people have less discretionary income, then by all means, why don't you go out and raise capital to build your own park. You can build your 12-looping inverted aquatrax, and I'll go ride it opening day, because I know the park will be Bankrupt by the end of the week. It's the same thing in the Steel Hawg thread. Eveyone was going on and on about how it's going to be so rough, and that coaster looks like it's going to hurt. If people would wait until the rides finished and they ride it, they'd find that usually it isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. I rode Steel Hawg and it was very fun, not a top ten coaster by any means, but a good addition to the park and not painful like everyone seemed to fear. I feel this ride will be good, not a new best steel coaster, but decent. Especially for the people in Southern Ohio, who don't really have decent steel coasters close by. Many of my local friends haven't even been to Cedar Point. So Kudos to Kings Island, and I'll keep hopeful and save my thoughts on what the ride should be for when I actually ride it. -James Dillaman

^ Yeah, I was being sarcastic again... The good thing about this ride is it doesn't have to be all that great to be hands down the best ride in the park. -James Dillaman

^ Not one of those is a hyper with a splashdown... Where else... -James Dillaman

Some more nice pictures. Can't wait to see more... -James Dillaman