Kings Island + Fastlane Photo TR - All Photos Uploaded!

[Real]

Well this started off pretty cool.

 

Saturday the wife and I made the executive decision to race to Kings Island at 6pm and try to make it there at night so we could process our passes, get a hotel and be ready to go in the morning. We did, with a few hiccups which I will document later. But we arrived, got our Platinum Passes processed and had time for probably one ride. I elected to hit up Diamondback and right as we got to the queue entrance and nice lady pulls us aside and says "Here, were leaving, have these for the rest of the night" and hands us 2 Fastlane wristbands. Seeing as though the line was still about 45-60min we thought "hey, cool" and put them on and preceded to walk into the Fastlane line.

 

I didnt realized how awesome this was.

 

We walked on, got on the back seat and were off within 3min. Now we only had 20min left. What to do? RIDE AGAIN. Boom. Walk past 45min worth of people. Oh, well now we have 15min. What now? Ride Beast at night! Not just night, Supermoon + fog at night! That will probably be my best beast ride ever and that doesnt say much since I still think its not very thrilling but the way the fog was lit up by the moon and the way it hung around the track was pretty sweet.

 

After that we went home and pondered the whole Fastlane thing for the next day. Sunday morning and while it was 90 bucks, it was clear that needed to do it. Only took about 3 rides to realize this is where its at. Lines later in the day got up to around 1-2hrs and our longest wait was 15minutes - for Panda Express. We walked onto every single ride. I lost track of our count but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly because there was no pressure to rush around. I was able to photograph at my leisure, eat and rest at our own pace and still ride till we couldnt ride any more. That was some of the best 90 bucks Ive ever spent. DO IT. If you are out of town, just plan on spending it and then enjoy the insane freedom to walk by hundreds and hundreds of people, walk right into the station, pick your row and GO!

 

I only have 5 photos to share at the moment. Im sure some of you remember my huge topic I had with all of my Cedar Point stuff in high res. Its going even higher res this year but instead of doing the normal high speed stuff Im moving to capture the speed and emotions of the rides. With my Canon 7D high speed photography is a joke and is just really easy. Ill still take those photos because I need them for my library but youll see a huge shift into working panning into most of my shots. Ive gotten into this from all of my auto-cross/auto racing photography where its used to capture the speed of the car. I think roller coasters should not be exempt from this and since roller coasters work in 3 dimensions where as cars typically work in 2, it presents some unique challenges with focusing and capturing the shot.

 

Youll see in my Firehawk, that due to this third dimension my focus was spot on the second row but the other rows and the 3rd dimension working, it produced an image that looks like I took it with a tilt shift.

 

 

Once I get home tonight Ill process more photos. Cedar Point is this weekend. Hoping its another clear, beautiful weekend so I can go nuts with the camera.

 

 

 

==========================================

 

Season Pass issues.

 

So Saturday night when we were processing our passes the team seemed a little confused because we had CP Vouchers for Platinum PAsses and couldnt get past that. They tried to look us up (we had passes last year) and that failed. So they processed us as new. Mine went through ok, my wifes did not. Matt L. found us at the gate and took a picture of the card with his phone after we explained what happened and he said "Its alright, theres not much time left, head in and have fun. I will work on this tonight. Stop by in the morning (I already told him we were coming back) and it should be fixed. If not, have them contact me" I shook his hand and let him know that was outstanding customer service and thats when we enjoyed our Saturday night.

 

We came in and still the pass was not working (It was coming up as a 2009 pass...??!!). We got with Matt and he remembered us and asked "Its still not working? Ok, come back later and Ill sort this out". Later was around 6pm and we found Matt again and he already had the plan in motion. He printed out a new Platinum Pass ticket, scanned it. Had my wife fill out her information and processed the pass. Then verified she was in the system.

 

THIS IS CUSTOMER SERVICE. Matt L from Kings Island is where its at. I work in Customer Service and this is beyond even my own idea of excellent customer service. He was being pulled in 45 different directions at once but he handled one and went immediately to the next. I had no problem waiting for him to take care of a guest because I knew he was going to take care of us. This guy deserves huge props for the way he handled this issue (which ultimately, the girl who processed my wifes pass never entered in her information nor did she take her picture because my wife was never in the system!).

 

Matt L - you rock. You restore faith in big corporate parks. Oh and did I mention he was funny and personable and didnt seem to show an ounce of frustration with all the problems he was dealing with? Kings Island had a winner on their hands. He definitely should be moving up soon.

Taken from the top of the Eiffel Tower. 400mm FTW!

This is not a tilt shift, just a simple panning shot but because of the multi-dimensional base of the shot, I got one of the coolest photos I can think Ive gotten in a very long time.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Real

[vacoaster09]

Matt L is indeed awesome... you guys are lucky to have him.

[Intimidator305]

Thanks for the trip report... you have some awesome shots! I'm excited to visit Kings Island June 11-12.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

From what I've seen at KD of the fastlane wristbands they appear to be similar to those you get for bottomless refills on souvenir bottles,which are simply paper bands that you'd have to cut to remove so how can you swap them between users?

[Sir Clinksalot]

Great stuff.

 

And THIS is the reason to get a Qbot, FastLane, whatever friggin' option you can get at your chosen park:

 

I lost track of our count but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly because there was no pressure to rush around. I was able to photograph at my leisure, eat and rest at our own pace and still ride till we couldnt ride any more.

 

People incorrectly (IMO) label these as "Skip the Line" passes. Which I guess is "Technically" true, but it's more than that. It allows you to actually enjoy the park you are at instead of trying to rush around and ride everything while waiting in line all day.

[Invertalon]

Matt L. is a great guy. He was our supervisor at Geauga Lake back in 2005/2006 sometime. Ran into him again last year at the main gate during The Haunt. He was a great supervisor for us and appears to be that and then some now at Kings Island. He helped us get into Kings Island because our Geauga Lake passes fail to scan anywhere but our park and CP. Going to CW was a hassle because they have no idea what GL is, and even though it denied us they just let us in anyway. Was not worth the hassle during the insane crowds for the haunt to figure out why our passes did not work.

 

Nice shots Real... I plan to do a little more panning this year at the parks. I need to pick up a 4-stop ND filter though, especially to get the nice slower shutter speeds in bright daylight without stopping down to f/16 or smaller (and diffraction softening the image).

 

You reminded me to get on that... Thanks... haha

 

Hope the weather is good for you at CP opening weekend. I will be out of town this weekend, but hope to get there the weekend after. Anytime I seem to lug the camera to CP I get white crappy skies loaded with dirty atmosphere... Blah. I hope to get a few more nicer clear days this year!

[Real]

Great stuff.

 

And THIS is the reason to get a Qbot, FastLane, whatever friggin' option you can get at your chosen park:

 

I lost track of our count but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly because there was no pressure to rush around. I was able to photograph at my leisure, eat and rest at our own pace and still ride till we couldnt ride any more.

 

People incorrectly (IMO) label these as "Skip the Line" passes. Which I guess is "Technically" true, but it's more than that. It allows you to actually enjoy the park you are at instead of trying to rush around and ride everything while waiting in line all day.

 

Bingo. I've never done this before except for at Disney. But I think the FastLane is more closely related to "skipping" the line than a QBot or Disney FastPass because they require you still wait, but you have an assigned time. This is even more awesome (slightly) because I don't even have to adhere to that! We would simply sit down, get something to eat and look at each other and ask "OK, what do you feel like riding?"

 

When I think back on it, I feel like her and I were the only ones in the park. The lines were completely irrelevant. I almost forgot anyone else was there. That's not something you get to experience very often. How many of you can say that's ever happened and if it did, how GREAT did it feel? Yea. Its worth what they ask. Its like buying a VIP session for the day.

 

To be fair, we wouldn't have done it had that lady not gave us her bands. I almost feel like they could really make a killing on these by handing out some free ones to random people in the last hour or two of the night. Will it hurt the lines? Nope. Will it give people a chance to experience what its like to bypass a 2hr line at their leisure? YES. Basically, it sold me. Other parks can thank that lady and KI because now I'm a believer in that system.

 

Yes, now I am going to have to invest probably a 2 stop and 4 stop filter for the same reason. I got lucky and some of theses were still in a decent range. The 100-400's sweet spot is f8-f11. But yea, anything higher and your image quality sinks through the bottom. Gotta wait for my next paycheck. I need to finally get my UV for that lens. Been a year without a filter on it, I feel like I've cheated it already.

 

Right now, might not be great shooting weather. Sat is partly cloudy, Sun shows rain. Not sure which day we are going. I need to lose about 20-30lbs before I fit back into all the rides. My desk job combined with being uber lazy this winter pushed me past the breaking point sadly. That's my lazy asses fault. So I may skip most of the rides and just photograph if its decent out.

[Real]

Yup, it certainly was still under construction.

[Invertalon]

Why do you think you need a UV filter? Unless you plan on shooting in terrible conditions and want it for the ease of cleaning they are completely worthless by all means. The whole "UV Filter" thing is nothing but a trait that came over to digital cameras from film, in which IV rays *could* cause damage to the film. However, the digital imaging sensors today already have protection against UV and are completely unaffected by them. They do nothing to the 'look' of the image either. I used to use them for ease of cleaning but I sold them all about a year ago. I figured, I spend $2000 on a lens, why am I putting a $100 piece of glass in front of it? I do know some lenses require one for full weather sealing, though. This is why I kept one for my 24-105L in case I needed to use it in poorer conditions.

 

Now circular polarizing filters are useful (they did reduce reflection, glare, make skies look nicer, etc...) and ND filters for reducing the light through the lens, but as far as UV or clear filters, I wouldn't waste my money on them anymore!

 

I found the ND filter I wanted and picked it up... Should have it next week. Here is a link to it if your interested. It is a 4-stop Hoya multi-coated filter.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YCFEXE/ref=ox_ya_os_product

 

Not a bad price at $57. I used some points I had and got it for like $28. Should be useful to me this summer since I plan to do a bit more video shooting and the key is reducing the shutter to 1/50 or 1/60 for the video. Along with my CPL filter, if I stack them I will be able to reduce light by a little over 5-stops all together. Should be plenty!

[BeemerBoy]

You make KI look good.....which is an unbelievable accomplishment.

[Ed Farmer]

Wow, I'm not sure that I've seen better shots taken within the gates of a park. Definitely a breath of fresh air.

[Hilltopper39]

Nice to hear an overwhelmingly positive review of the Fast Lane system after reading so much bitching and complaining on various Cedar Far parks' Facebook pages and even from some member here. Glad to see more parks offering this option now.

[Real]

Why do you think you need a UV filter? Unless you plan on shooting in terrible conditions and want it for the ease of cleaning they are completely worthless by all means...I do know some lenses require one for full weather sealing, though. This is why I kept one for my 24-105L in case I needed to use it in poorer conditions.

 

I mainly use them to protect the lens. I dont have the money to replace what I have. I save up for awhile, then I purchase my stuff. I will probably get a B+W but Ill wait to find one used on FredMiranda and save money. They retail for 60, I know I can get them down to 45 or so. Also, the push-pull of the 100-400 renders it impossible to weather seal but I will shoot in the rain (like I did last year in torrential rain at racing event) so I also will use it to help keep moisture out from the front of the lens. I just have to keep the middle part covered and protected.

 

I had a CP filter and it was pretty neat. I just felt it was difficult to get the colors to look right. Sometimes it really oversaturated the blue in the sky. Adjusting it took too much time and I can do it in Lightroom 4 now with ease. Then again, that was like 3-4 years ago, so back then editing in Photoshop or LR2 wasnt nearly as awesome as it is now.

 

Ill look at that ND. I have read a lot that the 100-400L is finicky with filters. A cheap filter will reduce details in the extremes which I shoot in a lot. But I should invest in this if I want to ensure my stuff elevates to high end photography.

 

Beemer - Thanks! It might be because I focus right up onto the trains and the people riding them Diamondback is such a good ride. I really forgot and I think it moved up a few notches. I really enjoy the airtime I get in the back seat on those restraints. Its one of the few times I get slightly apprehensive because of how I slip back and up, not just up. I would trade several, several rides at CP for DB. And a years supply of Fast Lane passes for me and my crew

 

 

Nice to hear an overwhelmingly positive review of the Fast Lane system after reading so much bitching and complaining on various Cedar Far parks' Facebook pages and even from some member here. Glad to see more parks offering this option now.

 

Im not sure what there is to bitch about if you are the one using it. I mean i suppose if a TON of people purchased them in one day that might diminish the usefulness but even if I had to wait 10min for each ride it would not reduce my view of it one bit. The lines were what I expected for a beautiful, opening weekend (first full weekend) and tons of post-prom goers as well. Definitely evident by all the up-do's and shirts being worn proclaiming their "post prom Kings Island" trips.

 

But I dont see anything wrong with it. It works out even better since I have a season pass. I dont pay for entrance to the park so I take advantage of their amenity.

 

I know its been hashed around this site many times. Its a premium service. I doubt that anyones line was held up more than a few minutes, tops. Even on Flight of Fear, the longest wait I saw in any Fast Lane was 8 of us. So we took up 8 seats from a 24 seat train. And we even waited 1 train because they were alternating letting FastLane in every other train. Which is fine with me. Long as I dont wait in that gastly 120min line Im completely ok.

 

System worked great. I felt like a VIP the whole trip. For 45 bucks, thats a cheap way to feel awesome. And be awesome But seriously, I think they may even get me to buy these at CP a couple times this year.

[Hilltopper39]

Im not sure what there is to bitch about if you are the one using it.

 

yeah I'm with ya, I don't see what the complaints are about, but go read the comments on CP's Facebook page on the announcement of Fast Lane, or find the Fast Lane announcement in the Kings Island thread on here and you'll find plenty of people who's opinion differs from your and mine.

[Real]

The most it will increase a wait over a period of an hour is maybe 10-15 minutes. In a couple cases, we filled empty seats but otherwise it worked very smoothly. I really dont think we held any lines up. Might be different with a huge amount of FastLane but unless its a huge group re-riding over and over, I cant see it really altering the line much. If anything, you take those people OUT of the main line, making it smaller. But when they get in line they may make you wait 1 more train to get on.

 

I gotta assume in the end it works out to be about even. Except the park makes pure profit off the scheme. I like...nay, I love it.

[Sir Clinksalot]

The bitching comes from people who are unwilling to pay for the FastLane and the feeling that their experience is diminished because some of us don't mind spending the extra $$ for them.

[PKI Jizzman]

Fastlane does work very well! It's the reason why I only need to go to Kings Island once a year now haha; but seriously, it's not that hard to have a great time at Kings Island. It's hilarious how much effort people put into giving Kings Island a bad rep when it's really a nice park all around.

 

Ps boo photoshop

 

And Windseeker is a one and done ride. Not too bad, it's fun...but do not wait more than 20 minutes for it.

[Real]

Ps boo photoshop

 

Ha, I dont get it! I dont use it anymore, just Lightroom. PS is too busy for a photographers needs. Now I just restore the photo to as close to when I took it, make a few light adjustments and go. But only to color, clarity and basics, I dont fool with stuff like blur, etc.

 

 

But I agree, even when I waited in line last year, I found KI to be a great park. Theres tree's, decent food and a nice selection of varied rides. But I just posted on Cedar Points facebook about how great the FastLane worked. I am just WAITING for someone to try and troll it. Gonna be awesome

 

 

Oh and I have many more pictures I will have ready to post tonight to make this a proper Photo TR.

[Ed Farmer]

 

Oh and I have many more pictures I will have ready to post tonight to make this a proper Photo TR.

 

Prime. Looking forward to that.

 

 

The bitching comes from people who are unwilling to pay for the FastLane and the feeling that their experience is diminished because some of us don't mind spending the extra $$ for them.

 

FastLane will never be agreed upon by those especially for or against it. My favorite thing to do is to go to parks on days that shouldn't be particularly crowded. I doubt it's just luck that I happen to visit on days that the crowds are conducive to reasonable wait times and the ability to ride what I want to ride. If you've been going to parks for a few years you should be able to make an educated guess and peg a few days like that. I guess it helps that brisk conditions (upper 50's - mid 60's and a breeze) are my ideal park day temps.

That said, there was a time that the group I was with also happened upon a family that was heading out and had a few of those Fast Lane tickets with 2 punches left that they were giving away. It was nice. I'd do it if it's a park I haven't been to before.

[Real]

That said, there was a time that the group I was with also happened upon a family that was heading out and had a few of those Fast Lane tickets with 2 punches left that they were giving away. It was nice. I'd do it if it's a park I haven't been to before.

 

 

Thats exactly how I learned how awesome the FastLane is.

 

 

Heres something I typed up for someone who said FastLane makes the line twice as long:

 

Alright, lets look at the numbers.

 

It cant possibly make it 2 times longer. Lets say average wait time is 60min. Diamondback can run a theoretical rider per hour of 1620. Ill reduce that to 1400 and we will account for riders taking too long and other hangups.

 

So that means in that line, there's 1400 people. You are saying that it double the line while you're in it, which means another 1400 people went through FastLane. Frankly, I think that's about impossible. For one, the FastLane line is super short. I took video of myself walking through it. It can probably barely handle 150 people.

 

If they filled 3 straight trains with a throughput of 1400 an hour that's roughly 43 trains. That's a train every 80 seconds. So 3 trains means you waited an extra 4 minutes. Or, roughly the equivalent of 2 entire cycles on Diamondback. See how this doesn't add up?

 

Lets just say that in that 1 hour you stood in line 200 people come through FastLane (which I think would be a really busy FastLane day) Each train holds 32 people, that's 8 minutes. Well, 8.3 so well round up to 9.

 

Its just an illusion. It seems like it adds a bunch of time but it doesn't. The numbers say it all. The chances of so many coming through that they fill train after train is just astronomical. Most roller coasters are anywhere from 24-32 with a few rides that hold 36 (Millennium Force is one). Just to increase the 1 hour line at 1400 people per hour by 25% (15 minutes) you'd need 350 people coming through FastLane in an hour. I just don't see that happening. And any other hiccups that make the line longer like slow guests, people who cant operate a simple seat belt, etc - those would be there no matter what. Cant factor that into the total time.

 

But that many people coming through a single line probably wont happen because the overwhelming majority of visitors to a park are local and/or its not economical for them. Heck, I doubt they sell 1000 FastLanes on a given day. Which, considering all the rides there, the odds of getting 1/3 of them all on the same ride during the same hour is again, pretty slim. I think even 150 through the same line in an hour is slim.

 

Hey, if this makes you not go to CP or KI, that's your choice. Just means its one less person in front of me when I'm there.

 

 

Ill post pictures in like 10 minutes but I wanted to throw that math out there. When you break it down, it doesn't really kill your time. Plus, those people who are FastLane - they aren't standing in the line ahead of you making your already 45min line a 60min line. Ya know? but if there's other logic to refute what I wrote, by all means.

[noahman12345]

i cant wait to go this year

how were the prices on food this year

cant wait for the photos

[Real]

And here we go - about 40 photos. 2000px on the long edge so if you click on them, they enlarge quite a bit.

 

Enjoy

This is right after the first Flight Deck photo I posted in the first post. Not sure which I like better but they were about 1/50th of a second apart.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Real

[noahman12345]

did u take any photos of the fast line entrances & how much was it

good photos by the way

[Real]

Well the FastLanes seem to be old Single Rider lines. I have a video of me using the FastLane which I will edit and upload later. But its mostly me gloating about skipping by like 2hrs worth of line,

 

Its 50 bucks for a single person. Then $5 off for each additional person. So for 2 people, its 45 per person. And then for 3 people, 40 per person, etc. I think you can reduce it down to 30 bucks per person.

[ernierocker]

did u take any photos of the fast line entrances & how much was it

good photos by the way

 

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Now, I apologize to Real for having to make this post. Please continue with your regularly scheduled trip report.