Coasterville Commentary

Kings Island - April 27, 2008

2008-05-03T13:59:00.001-04:00

Trip Report: Kings Island
Mason, OH
April 27, 2008
T-shirt of day: blue Holiday World Raven/Legend shirt

It's my season opener!

On the park's true opening day, I spent the day with my cousin at Great American Ball Park, but today I reserved for riding some coasters. Therefore, I met up with Rideman at 1pm, and we arrived at the park just before 1:30. I could tell it was going to be a busy day judging from the parking lot. We approached the south toll plaza, and noted that while the middle lanes were backed up, no one was going around the side of the tollgate in the lane marked for RV's/Bus/Oversized vehicles. Hey we were in a Crown Vic, that's an oversized vehicle right? We pulled up alongside the tollgate and I noticed the toll collectors are now scanning barcodes on passed with a 'gun' style barcode reader instead of a swipe style reader. We drove through the lot, and I noticed that at passenger pickup that last year I noted the American and Ohio flags were replaced with Kings Island flags, this year the American and Ohio flags are back. We give up trying to park in the main lot, nd go back in the corner behind the RV's in "Adventure Express 15" and take the long walkway to the gate. I notice that while the lot itself could use some resurfacing, the walking trail is freshly laid blacktop. I wonder if Great Wolf Lodge had anything to do with that, as the signs along the walkway are in the Great Wolf Lodge style.

We get to the entry plaza and I note the season pass processing line is backed up clear into the parking lot, I'm glad I already processed. We approach the park and I notice the bright yellow painted trip hazard that used to separate the tram lane from the pedestrian area is still there, but at least the ride safety sign appears to be standing on its own now. We note a park close at 8pm and no rides are listed as closed. We head to security, and get there just as additional lines are opening up. I duck through a newly opened line and am through the checkpoint in no time. A family with 3 wagons, and 7 people intercepted Rideman on the way to the newly opened lane he ducked for and by the time he realized it all the lanes had long lines. I did note they took a couple detectors out of the center of the checkpoint to use as an exit. We hit the admission gate and use some newly opened lanes to sail through the admission gate.

We then head up International Street, but not before being ambushed by Keyhole Photo, we then wander kind of aimlessly, turning at the first turn and walking through Oktoberfest. We note the line for Delirium looks short, but also out of the way. We press on, past a substantial line for Slingshot (sale price: $15 ($25 list) and take a ride on Adventure Express. Adventure Express was a walk on as usual, but my hopes were raised when I noted a) the presence of a height check person, b) brand new height check poles (the wooden poles have been replaced with something a little more substantial looking), and c) the ride ops have new costumes. Really if we inserted a turnstile in the queue right by the height check person, this would feel exactly like a Cedar Point operation. As it turns out this would be the last greeter type person we would see in queue for a rollercoaster for the day.

We take seats in the front seat of the back car, and fasten the belts with their newly added grab loops, drop the safety bars and off we go. Adventure Express is one of those reliable rides that always seems to run well, with just the right amount of laterals. The special effects are about where they were last year. The big guy at the top of the second lift has his speaking part back and his eyes glow but to lights on the molten lava. Most of the drummers are drumming, and they even left the lift hill tunnel service door open, just like Paramount used to.

We exited Adventure Express and Rideman showed me the new scenery panel for the rope ladder game, it features all kinds of easily identifiable Kings Island rides and landmarks, and one giant coaster that doesn't seem to fit in with anything at the park. We wonder if the scenery panel is already designed to be compatible with "Project: 2009". The same motif can be found on the fronts of the Coca Cola vending machines. ($3.50). I also note the minimal overlay used to transform Bubba Gumps into Outer Hanks.

We head into Coney Mall and head to Racer. Okay, so Racer has been in the news a lot recently because of the big change to discontinue the backwards facing side, so yes now both sides of Racer run in the traditional forwards facing manner. At the same time they also discontinued having 1 red train and 1 blue train per side, instead putting both red trains on the midway side, and both blue trains on the back side. I say this because when the trains were sitting back in maintenance, somebody decided which trains went on which side, and I'm not sure how much thought went into that decision. It's also worth noting that since the Forwards/Backwards signs at the queue entrance are now obsolete, they were replaced with signs reading "BLUE RACER" and "RED RACER" Here is where somebody fell asleep at the switch in the "attention to detail" department, a few years ago Racer received a brand new marquee, it looks like a big shield with the word Racer written across it, with one half of the shield being red, and the other half blue. Yep, you guessed it, the entrance to Blue Racer is under the red half of the shield, the entrance to Red Racer is under the blue half of the shield. Rideman thinks I am being way too nit-pickey in calling the park out on this.

So how does it ride? Well, I have never known the midway side of the ride to go forwards so we head for Red Racer, and the line is just to the bottom of the ramp. I was really hoping they would get ride of the chain link fence down the center of the platform to ease station congestion, but they haven't. The station congestion is also still a problem as there were crowds heading for the seats in the front of the train, but after pushing ourselves through there was almost nobody waiting for the last two cars. I dunno something just looks wrong seeing this train facing forwards. We sit down, same loops have been added to the belts. We go out on the course which had received a lot of retracking over the off season. This side is running nice and smooth, but its not quite broken in yet, as the ride is smooth but a bit sluggish. Note that we left the chain lift first, and the blue train had already passed by the time we got to the turnaround. Anecdotal comments by the ride operators are that the Blue side has been winning pretty regularly. (Blue side? Go Muskies!) Hey, since the train has been turned around, do I get a new coaster credit for this?

We exit Red Racer and head to Blue Racer. Line is about the same length, station congestion problems are about the same. We ride in the same seat as Red, that being the back seat. Okay Blue Racer is running faster, but it is also running quite a bit rougher. How come the midway side of this ride gets all the love when it comes time for maintenance, and the backside doesn't?

We exit Racer and head towards X-Base. I note despite rumors to the contrary the X-Base sign next to the Ring Toss game is still there, and is mounted on a substantial concrete base. The X-Base sign on the archway under Racer however, has been removed. Also I don't think the runway lines on the ground extend out as far as they used to.

Our time back here was short, the greeter at Firehawk was advertising a 2 hour wait, and an quick inspection of the ride indicated only 1 station open, and the queue maze at least 3/4 full. While they did get the second station open while we were observing, the crew appeared to be sluggish in operating the ride, and besides Rideman has little interest in the ride, so we headed next door to Flight of Fear. We saw the outdoor queue maze full, and decided to return later.

We scamper our way down to Vortex, looking at the credit card machine installed in one of the game joints. In a similar minimalistic transformation the Happy Days Diner, is now the Juke Box Diner. Vortex's line was spilling out onto the midway, but we both know there isn't that much queue space available, especially with three trains on. Consequently the line moves pretty fast, Rideman notices a couple minor changes have been made to the ride, and soon we are heading to the front seat of the last car. Vortex, not much to say about it, its another ride that is pretty consistent so we had the typical Vortex ride.

We did not check to see what was playing in the Action FX theatre, but did note the Tramp Thing actually had a line, and also noted it had been sale priced down to $5 from the regular $10. As the maximum weight limit on this one is 200 pounds, I doubt I will ever get to find out what the big deal is.

We noted that Three Point Challenge (aka License to Print Money) is still doing a great job, and I note they replaced the real basketball racks with new racks that are more permanently mounted. We pass by Backlot Stunt Coaster and the line is through 2 switchbacks in the queue house, we decide to return later. but a visual inspection of the ride reveals that the billboard at the end was changed to remove the Italian Job reference.

We then come across Area 2009. Yes, there used to be a lake here, but right now there is a lot of heavy duty earth moving equipment standing proudly all in a row. You know usually when I see this much earth moving equipment in one place at an amusement venue, I am at a large fair, and am allowed to walk around and look at said equipment. The lake and much of the grassy area around it is now a big dirt field, and there is a collection of footings of various sized strewn about the area. A new picket style fence has replaced the simple chain barrier that used to be here. The walkway from here to the floral clock has been gated off, and I note Paradise Island still stands, albeit out of use for the year, at least as a concession stand. Not much to be gleamed from this area, but it does send the message that something LARGE is coming. While in this area we note a brand new park directory has been placed at this fork in the path. I thought that was a great idea, to help guests who are realizing the pathway is now closed and wondering "What do I do now?" Then I looked at the directory. It has a park map up top and a listing of common destinations at the bottom, with arrows pointing the way. Okay, the arrows for First Aid, Nick Universe, and Action Zone quite clearly point right to the blocked off path. Uhm, maybe this directory was created before the knew the path would be closed, so I looked at the map, they even had a magnified "You are here" inset. The inset and the map both quite clearly show that the path in question does not exisit this year. (It is solid grass on the map). That means whoever designed this directory is sending people down a path they KNOW isn't there. Classic! This goes beyond "poor attention to detail" to "outright stupidity"

Speaking of outright stupidity, that discount vacation scam booth is still allowed to exist across from Rivertown Pizza. I mention to Rideman that it would seem odd that Cedar Fair would allow people to come in for the express purpose of screwing their guests over. Rideman pointed out to me that no, these people are merely here to tell you about an exciting vacation opportunity, once you get there, then THOSE people are the ones that screw you over. I dunno it just seems tacky to have this kind of joint in a first class amusement park. I mean this is something that would fit in better at a fair or flea market. They approach me with a cheerful "Hi! How would you like a trip to _____ for only $____!" I respond back with a gruff "You mean they haven't kicked you guys out of here yet!!??!!" and go on my way.

We head to Beast, and notice they have slightly remodeled the entrance. Most of the chain link is gone except for a small section to block off the walk on weekends entrance. Also gone is the wooden fence, so now you enter in the center of what used to be the Beast Drinks building about where the height checker used to be. I think they need to replace that "Beast Canyon Cold Drinks" sign with a big Beast marquee front and center over where the new entrance is. We enter and the line is almost down to the middle queue house, but with all the queues in the top queue house (station platform queues ) in use. We were surprised that it took about 30-40 minutes to get through the Beast queue. When we got to the station, we noted that the front seat queue was not that much longer, so we took a front seat ride on Beast. There is evidence of new wood on several parts of Beast, and the ride actually seems to be running pretty good this year. It lunged about halfway up the second chain lift on its own, and it seems anyway that they have lightened up on the brakes. At any rate, Beast seems to be running great this year, although the crew is still sluggish as you might expect with it being early season. We were in row 1, rows 2 and 3 were full of girls who were the kind that scream in a high pitch shrill at the top of their lungs for absolutely no reason, like sitting still on the brake run. When we exited Beast we noted that now both the top and middle queue houses were full.

We next head to the Crypt. I was eager to ride the Crypt as early reviews are that it now runs a much more intense program. The line was almost back to the ride entrance but with none of the outdoor queues in use. We decide to wait it out, and eventually we get into the Crypt itself. lots of skulls, skeletons and spiders have been strewn about the indoor queue area. We reeach what was the Moneky Room (now the skeleton room) and with the addition of two ropes, they have changed the three seat lanes into a new section of indoor queue. This area does have a couple problems, the first is the speakers in this area are entirely too loud for PA announcements, and b) the people that diesigned the lighting effects never intended for gueusts to be facing 'backwards' in the room. Yeowch those things are bright. There is a grouper at the end of the new "Monkey Room queue". We note that the leftmost lane in the preshow room has been blocked off with rope. We were sent to the right lane, and there is no more preshow movie. Instead front and center in the room is an audio animatronic bat that spreads its wings and roars a couple times. Not that impressive. The attendnat had given the safety spiel and was starting to collect loose items when the ride went down. Obviously they needed to back people up so the people who were on the ride could move back to the queue. Rather than pack them into the unused third lane. (The lanes are wide enough where we were not at all packed into the other two lanes), they insisted everybody indoors COMPLETELY exit the cave by walking back through the queue. There are obviously no speakers in the tunnel part of the cave, and they had one operator trying to get people to move, the people weren't moving, the operator got frustrated at the situation and as the saying goes "Nothing good can come of this" The operator started rudely barking orders at guests, in between barks, we overheard her mutter that this was the EIGHTH time today they have to evacuate. A time later they had some management types walking the queue apologizing for the delay and how things were handled. Some time later we were alllowed into the cave and due to people ahead of us leaving. (The people who were cleared off the ride were not eager to try again, given their hasty exit) we were led right into the preshow room, but there was no preshow, instead the overhead door silently rose, and we boarded the ride. We had heard a row of seats had been removed, but we saw no evidence of where a row had been removed, I mean yes there were only 2 rows of seats but we could not see where the third row would have been, and that was looking both at the front and rear of the gondola. Wonder if they totally replaced the gondola. Anyway we were in our seats, the bars and belts were locked, the checkers had come through and checked restraints, everything seemed ready to start, and then nothing. I did note that a lot of the theme elements in the main chamber had been removed and the big woman on the wall directly in front of you had been painted over in black. After a few moments of fiddling with it, they asked everybody to return to the preshow room. We had already invested 45 minutes the first time to not ride it, then waited out a 45 minute downtime, to not ride it. The ride is clearly not ready for riders if this was (by the crew members own utterance) the NINTH breakdown of the day. We bolted towards the exit doors, escorted by a ride op, who could then not open the exit doors at first. In other words it still a pile of crap.

We spent some time inpecting the new flower pot holders in Rivertown, and heard that next years new attraction is some kind of floating restaurant, so clearly they are getting the Dinner in the Sky that was featured at the last IAAPA. We noted the train arriving, so we took a ride on the train so we could see the deforestation of some of the train ride grounds, we could see lots of markings indicating something is going on back in that woods. I also noted the rumors that somebody bought the western town set is false, as it was still there.

We next head over by the Back Porch Stage to get another look at Area 2009. From there we head to a Genuine Scale Model Replica of a famous French Landmark, that was built by a German Firm and sitting in the center of an American theme park. Yep, a no wait ride up to the top of Eiffel Tower was in order to get another look at Area 2009. You really can't see any more from up top than you can from a ground walk and riding the train, as the woods hide any work being done back there. You may get to notice the enormity of the construction site. We also noted the patio behind Midway Eats and Treats in Coney has been blocked off. Is it too early to start the rumour that a certain underutilized Coney snack bar could soon make way for the queue area and station for a new antique car ride to take place in the Tower Gardens/ Paramount Story area? Further interesting earth moving can be seen behind Son of Beast. We also noted that for park with an aerial tower attraction, almost no attention has been paid to how things look from the top of said tower. Oh and that one floor panel by the down elevator doors still wobbles.

We come back down to earth, and head to Action Zone, by this time Festhaus is closed but we are intrigued by signs that would seem to indicate Skyline Chili has been added to their menu. Entering Action Zone, we ride Delirium. They are using about 3/4 of one switchback in the queue house so its a relatively short wait, for a most excellent if somewhat brief Delirium ride.

We then headed back to Flight Deck, paying attention to the new Thunder Alley name for the go karts ($6) and that Skycoaster was sale priced at $15, Rideman said "Don't even think about it!" remembering our long long wait for Skycoaster at Halloween Haunt last fall.

Flight Dec, well instead of very minimal changes, went for a minimlaistic approach. Every single piece of theming between the entrance sign and the station building has been removed: the radar dish, the yardarm style flagpole, the movie posters, BOTH giant billboards the stand that used to hold miniature jet fighters (but didn't actually hold miniature jet fighters the last couple seasons). About the only things that remain is the giant American flag painted inside the tunnel, and a couple regimental banners they forgot on the lower level of the station queue. (Well, and who knows if they gutted out the closed display cases of the lower queue area) They also removed the giant tarps that had been stretched out between the columns in the station house and adorned with more regimental symbols. I hope they put something back in their place to use as sun shade. As for the ride itself it still runs great, short but great. It was a total walk on as usual.

Now an aside to the flag situation, yes those who read my TR's know I have a certain flag fetish. The poles at the front of Fort Kinzel are again unused for what is now countless seasons in a row. What kind of military fort does not fly the colors? The poles in the middle of Coney now all bear Kings Island flags, well the half of that avenue of flags layout that is left. The flags atop Wings Diner are gone. And in a way I agree with Cedar Fair, in that they don't use the American flag as gratuitous decoration, but in some themed experiences, it actually does belong.

Anyway, one last ride, we duck into Son of Beast just as the park is closing. We wind up in seat 2.1, and let me tell you, that ride was B-R-U-T-A-L. It is back to being a ride with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. With that we exit the park but not before taking a look at the Evil Kenevil display setup in the lobby of the International Restaurant.

We kill enough time in fact, that we have very easy egress out the north exit to the parking lot, and then more or less make our way to Culvers for some dinner and custard before heading home.

And with that, unless something unexpected happens, I will next be reporting to you about the Coasters and Rides of Las Vegas. Hey its been 4 years since I have been there, and that new Inansity ride on top of the Startosphere looks awesome, STar Trek Experience added Borg 4D, Adventuredome added a Disk'O, and Manhattan Express got new trains, and then there is the Pinball Hall of Fame. Much to report on!

TR: Kings Island - 10/27/08

2008-04-25T21:42:00.003-04:00

TR: Kings Island
Mason, OH
October 27, 2008

This wasn't meant to be my last park visit of the season, but alas thats the way it turned out. We all do some hard headed things that we later regret, especially when your hobby is involved. It is true I was getting over a cold, it is also true that the weather today was to be cool with patches of rain. I really shouldn't have gone to the park, but I hadn't had a normal day in the park for quite some time, it seemed I was always there for some other purpose. Besides I had not seen Masacre Manor or Dead Awakenings and both were reputed to be top notch Halloween Haunt attractions. So I started the day by printing out an e-ticket for a brand new Platinum Pass, and I found out the VIP Haunt dinner was sold out.

So I head to the park and arrive shortly after the noon opening and a light rain is falling. I head to the season pass center to exchange this e-ticket for my 2008 pass. The line is relatively short and soon a grouper assigns me to a camera station. I present to the clerk my e-ticket, 2007 Maxx Pass, and 2008 Platinum Pass. I had been told that they could just transfer my 2007 photo onto my 2008 pass without a new photo being taken. The clerk scans my cards and voucher but the photo transfer did not seem to work, but no problem, I just walked around to the business end of the camera and got a brand new picture. I asked about my Cedar Fair jacket, but they were not in stock yet, but I was given my season pass e-ticket back and told to present that e-ticket and my 2008 pass at jacket pickup when available.

I entered the park and looked around some of the Haunt theming around International Street. The Grim Reapers office in the Emporium window is definitely a highlight. From there I headed back to Firehawk, first lightening my load by dumping all non-essentials into a coin op locker for 75 cents. I head into Firehawk's line and noticed something is different. What is different is the park is in reduced staffing mode, typical of seasonal parks during the school year. For Firehawk, this means eliminating the attendant that controlled the pace and direction of the line from the queue maze into the twin stations. This means that instead of stopping at the end of the queue maze, the line continued as one solid line all the way to the loading area. More staff was eliminated by only running one of the two stations, but luckily they were running both trains out of that one station.

I have some bad luck with Firehawk, it seems like I always experience about 20 minutes of downtime while waiting for it. When I get to the station I take the shortest available line, joining another group of three. As usual I have to trouble with the vest harness arrangement, and the operator has to trouble with the lap bar, in fact they didn't really put any effort into tightening it. I actually sort of wish thwy would tighten it down as I find myself slipping around when it is on its minimum setting.

At the top of the lift, especially on your first ever ride, prepare for one of the finest acrobatic manuevers in multi-element history: The Lie-to-Fly. Its a simple element, the track twists 180* so that instead of lying down on top of the track you flip over and are suddenly lying down on your stomach, your full weight being held by just the restraints, and a wide open view in front of you. Your first few times, this gives you a very unsettling feeling at first, then it becomes one of the most interesting positions on a steel coaster. You do a dive head first through the structure, your eyes playing tricks on you. Is that support post far enough away? You soar over the station, then on the second pass, you do a fly-to-lie which flips you back up on your back, before you go down a drop and into the vertical loop. The Vertical-Loop-Headfirst-On-Your-Back is another highlight of this ride, and what a unique feeling it is. After the loop you Lie-To-Fly again, criss cross the structure once more before doing 720* worth of barrel rolls. You exit the rolls in the fly position, fly around in circles through the helix before one final Fly-to-Lie puts you back on your back for the brake run.I do still love this ride, and its a great addition to the park, and let me say it again "Vertical Loop on your Back!" and the sensation of flight. Its a great ride, and at the end of the ride I learn an unpleasant side effect of running two trains from one station is you spend some time lying in a not too comfortbale position on your back in the brake run.

From Firehawk, I head right next door to Flight of Fear and find the line hanging out the door sarting into the outdoor queue area. I had a hunch they might have the inside queues closed as they have in the past. I get in line and am delighted to learn, that yes we would be going the short way. I get to the station and find that the shortest line is actually the front seat. I take a seat, pull down the lap bar and have my usual fight with the seatbelt buckle. Its not that it won't reach, its that it doesn't want to lock, even when its all the way over the metal tab. Give that buckle a coulple good hard whacks against a hard surface and try again. (Operators are more likely to thing the bar needs tightened rather than to check the cheap piece of shit buckle). The ride itself was pretty good, the first three inversions are over before you have time to realize what just happened, the mid course brake is still on "Bring the train to a total stop" mode, but they have the multi colored show lights on, and the ride gains some speed in the long helix like section, but that corkscrew is just missing something when you aren't barreling through it at top speed.

From Flight of Fear, I head back to Vortex. The line for Vortex is back to base of the stairs up to the trestle, and even with only two trains on thats still reasonable. Vortex was being its usual reliable self, and yes I headed to the back seat to get one of the finest airtime moments in the park.

I exit Vortex, and head to the Action FX Theatre, there was a rumor they were showing Funhouse Express, and I happen to like that feature. I walked through the long empty queue trail and into the loading lanes at the theater doors. Even at that, it still seems to take forever, partially because the preshow for this ridefilm is only about 15 seconds long, on an endless loop, and partially due to that reduced staffing thing, they have one person loading the ride, having to check about 70 or more seatbelts, and not putting any hurry into it.

There was a film loop playing on the televisions in the area that was meant to set the scene for you. I say film loop, and the clip was about 20 seconds long and kept repeating. The basic story is that you have arrived at some old guys "scariest fun house ride" the old guy looks for his ride operator who is not at his post "Where's My Ride Operator!!!!" the old guy bellows, saying that he should have sacked Jimmy about 20 years ago. Must not be a good business relationship if this duo have been working this gig for 20 years and this how they get along. The old guy accuses Jimmy of sleeping on the job. Well Jimmy is dreaming but he is not asleep, instead he is under the fun house with sketch pads designing his own fun house ride, and he lets us know he his starting to build it right under the old guys nose. We see sketched of parts of the ride, take careful note when he shows us a flipbook animation of a stunt involving the riders car getting stomped on by a giant shoe, and also note that is the stunt he was drawing right before he gets interrupted by the old guy threatening him "If this ride's not running in ONE MINUTE…."

I watch that clip just under a jillion times before I was admitted to the auditorium. Seated, seat belts checked, time for the feature. The film starts right where the preshow ended with you sitting in the dark ride car and Jimmy arriving at the operators console. The ride starts and you go through the crash doors into the funhouse, Far from the worlds' scariest fun house ride, the ride consists of carboard cutouts and looks pretty cheesy, you only have to endure about three stunts before the service lights come on right by the "spider falls on you" gag and then the old guy berated Jimmy for breaking the ride and fires Jimmy. You are slowly brought backwards through the now lit funhouse where you can see its got trash strewen about and looks run down. Jimmy says no I'll show you a real ride, and Jimmy and the ride console falls beneath ground, and then so does your ride car, and you wind up at the entrance to another dark ride "Clown Chaos" this one starts with a long roller coaster like tunnel, then an areas where it looks like you travel in suspended cars in a cave full of scary props then it just goes crazy as there is no more track, and you negotiate a serried of hills drops, spins, bumps, and stunts that are far beyond any realistic fun house ride. Careful observers will note the last stunt before the ride ends is a giant shoe coming down on your car, wihch just barely misses your car, and cuases a seesaw like effect with a loose board, throwing your car back up to the loading area for the old guys funhouse. Jimmy then gets rid of the Old Guy by sending him down to the basement, while he proudly unveils "Jimmy's Clown Chaos" Cute film, and time to take the long walk back to Coney Mall.

I verify that Three Point Challenge, (aka "License to print money") is still a big success, and head to Italian Job. The line for Italian Job was just backed up into the first switchback in the queue maze. I notice the grouper position has been eliminated in short staffing mode. I take advantage of this as the line now just goes all the way to the station, and I duck through the crowd and into the front seat, the only seat with any airtime. As usual the on board audio, working headlights, stair step drop effect and fishtailing are no where to be seen, but at least the show scene still works. Its a fun peppy little ride.

After Italin Job, I head to Beast. The line for Beast was backed up just enough to start heading down the ramp from the station area. As usual I headed to the front of the train and took a ride in seat 2. A non wheel seat is a good thing as Beast hasn't been running all that great lately. But still it's Beast, and the final helix is one of roller coastings greatest moments.

From Beast, I notice that Tomb Raider is still closed (what a uhm, surprise), the train is involved in some family friendly pumpkin patch attraction, White Water Canyon is closed, and its a bit too cold for Wild Thornberrys. I instead head to Reptar. The line for Reptar was a bit longer than I would have liked, and that line moves slow. But its the last day of the year, so I endure it as I haven't had many Reptar rides this year. It takes some time, and I snag a middle of the train ride with another single. (And getting that belt fastened with this jacket on was a challenge, but I did it. Reptar is a fun little family inverted coaster.

I finish up with Reptar and head to one mf my new favorites, Avatar, which has a near full queue. I decide to wait it out, and soon realize that Avatar is also in short staff mode with its grouper eliminated, one of the two loading lanes closed off, and everybody channeled into one entrance gate. I got to the ride, and man I have some terrible luck, getting the middle rows, but at least I didn't get the middle seat of the middle row the way I have had recently. I proceed to take a ride that is barely half of what it was when it was first opened up. You used to make 5 full trips over both humps, now its 2 with full spin, then on the third one the car locks at the far end and returns back to the station without spinning.

From Avatar, I take a ride on Fairly Odd Coaster, with the line bing almost all the way accross the trestle. I found the fastest way onto the train I could for a quick ride on this fun junior coaster, though I liked it better with the tunnel. I noted it is now after 5PM, and Nick Universe was slated to close at 5Pm so that parents hopefully take those under 13 OUT of the park before the 7PM transformation to Haunt.

I was walking past Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle and I noted the ride was still open, even if the indoor queue maze was full and the line was backed out onto the midway. I enter the line and note I was about halfway through the indoor queue before they cut the line. I proceed to have a fun game through the ride through shooting gallery.

I noted it was gettng to be around 5:40, so I didn't have much time to get to Top Gun before it closes at 6pm. I hadn't been on Top Gun in a while either. I make a beeline to Top Gun, and am directed to go down the Top Gun exit, and then enter through what is usually the re-ride path. I go through the shortened, but empty queue area and proceed to a near empty station. I take a seat in the back seat of the train, and have a fun yet short ride on Top Gun. I find out I am on one of the last trains of the night, as when I got back to the reride gate on my way out it had been closed and converted over to be the entrance for the Club Blood haunt which uses the other part of Top Gun;s queue. I walk past Son of Beast, and notice the queue is back to the big tunnel under the road I guesstimate this at 45-60 minutes, which would ruin my plans to make a quick entrance into Massacare Manor. I skip Son of Beast and Face/Off and even Delirum and proceed to Octoberfest.

In Octoberfest, I take a quick no wait ride on Advneture Express. It's nice knowing Adventure Express is getting some care in the special effects department. I then head over to forwards Racer, and after a short wait take a ride in the back car. I could almost swear thee was a hint of airtime. I follow it up by what I have found out was my last ever ride on recaR. I took a ride in the back car of the backwards Racer. Man, am I going to miss this.

I head to the Masacare Manor haunted maze and find a lengthy line, in fact the line was backed up through Scramblers queue area, through Scrambler's ride area (The Scrambler has been removed for Haunt), hen wrapped around the perimeter fence of Scrambler. But its the last haunt I need to finish the set. I take my place in line and even with getting in line around 6:45 it still took about half an hour or so to get into the haunt. As usual linejumping is a big problem with the haunts, and I caught one guest with their hand in my pocket, too bad for them my wallet was not in that pocket. I resisted the urge to punch out said guest, But from them on tonight, I was on extra high alert for pickpockets. I tell you these Haunt events draw a BAD crowd.

As for Masacre Manor , it was one of the best haunts in the event. I mean it starts wth an actual theme setting introduction as a "realtor" greets you in the living room, then you tour the house, Easily the best haunt this season.

From Masacre Manor I headed back to the lockers at Firehawk to get my belongings, as I would not be headed back this way. I headed to Bubba Gump's for a fish and chips basket. It's a huge meal with three large piees of fish, fries and slaw. With a Coke it was a bit over $11.

From Bubba Gumps, I headed to International Showplace for Dead Awkenings. Dead Awakenings is a stage show designed for mature adults, and the park is sure to make that known before the show starts. Adult subjects are key to the show, including some bondage, what looks like either a rape or knifing scene, a suicide scene, straightjacketed dancers, and lots of song and dance by scantily dressed performers and a lot of fishnets. Even the music is a bit edgier than you would expect in a theme park show. I was seated center house towards the rear of the seating bowl, and it was fun watching the crowd reactions. Yes, there were a lot of walk outs, but I liked the ones where the wife/girlfriend/whatever looked sincerely ticked off, practically dragging their husband/boyfriend/whatever behind them who had this look like "I WAS enjoying this, but I know I had best better act morally offended for the sake of me own relationship" I admit, I quite liked the show, and as soon as it ended I made a mad dash to the Paramount Theater for "The Torture Chamber"

The Torture Chamber ended up being a 10-in-1 style circus sideshow, except with only about 5 stunts: (Human blockhead, walking on broken glass, sword swallowing, bed of nails, etc). The show itself wasn't as bad as some would have you beleive, IF you like the old style circus sideshow. The big problem was the magician by his own admission on his own website is more of a close up magician. He seemed lost on a big theatre stage. If they could have given him a wireless microphone it would have helped, but he would talk to the audience while standing no where near the microphone stand.

I took a lap around International Street, and the Paramount Clearance sale where everything is now $1 each is now beyond picked over and just a handful of items remain. From the gift shop glance, I headed out to the parking lot. I had intended to return Tuseday for Bare Bone Nights with my cousin, but for reasons beyond my control that visit did not happen.

And with that, my 2007 Trip Reports are all caught up, so I guess I can start 2008 trips now.

Extra Bonus: In early April, I headed up to the park to get the Cedar Fair Jacket. Free parking, everybody sent to handicap parking. I noted the Cedar Fair style Kings Island logo on the main marquee sign. I got in a short line at the season pass processing center and when I got to the front of the line I explained I already had a pass, just coming to get my jacket. I was told to go to the Group Sales building. I exit season pass processing, and head to the window at Group Sales, ask for my jacket. I present my E-ticket and 2008 pass as requested. The attendant scans my 2008 pass but doesn't even look at, much less take up my e-ticket, He askes what size I wanted, and being a cheap free jacket, I take the largest size they had, 3X. Its a very lightweight pull over style jacket with no pockets. You can't even use it as a rain poncho as it has no hood. It does have Cedar Fair VIP embroidered on the front int he usual corporate logo location.

I noted one of the big welcome signs in the front gate plaza is being held up by wooden braces, and the guest relations area looks different.

It's almost time to start the new season!

TR: Stricker's Grove - 10/14/08

2008-04-22T20:35:00.002-04:00

Trip Report: Stricker's Grove
Ross, Ohio
October 14, 2008

(Time to clear out the last two TR's of my 2007 TR backlog, just in time to start a 2008 backlog)

Stricker's Grove is a private picnic grove just west of Cincinnati that is kind enough to open their rides midway to the public on select days of the year. More recently they have added an October date, so with time running out on the amusement park season, I joined Dave and April and headed to the park.

We timed it to arrive at the park shortly after opening, so after scoring a free parking space and then heading to the very simple front gate, paid $12 each to enter the park. I have noticed the admission fees have been steadily rising here, but as a bonus in addition to the usual free beverage service they have in August, they added free popcorn, free snow cones, and free cotton candy to the offerings. We started with a raid of the free snacks then headed to the rides.

We all headed to the Flying Skooters, but I could plainly see we would not be getting on the next ride, so I headed next door to the Tornado. There had been reports in August that they were having trouble with the lap bars in the last car leading to seats 7 and 8 being closed. Well seat 7 is still closed, but 8 is open again. I climbed into seat 8 and noted the lap bars still have an unusal quirk that you have to push them down really far, like almost past the seat divider low, then it will lock but you will be able to lift it back up to the usual locking height. As for the ride, well the Tornado has gotten a bit rough but the all important airtime pops are still there.

I exited the Tornado and got in the Flying Skooters line right behind the group I had left. The gate opened and the rider count would seem to indicate that we would all be able to ride, but the ride operator let everbody in line into the ride, and I lost the race to the tubs. Annoying, but a harbinger of things to come.

So I took my ride after the rest of the group had ridden and moved onto the coaster, so I go and ride the coaster, again a train or so behind. Luckily the group engaged in Strange Coaster Nut Behavior which is when you stand around on a midway within walking distance of operating rides, and TALKING about rides instead of RIDING rides. Usually occurs out in the sun and not under any shade trees as well.

For the rest of the first ride session we spent most of our time on the Flying Skooters, and I was getting used to racing out to those tubs like a speed sprinter. However, the antics of the Flying Skooter operator were downright dangerous. He made your stereotypical carnival ride operator look like Mr. Safety himself. This guy would let everybody in line into the ride area, let the guests fight it out for tubs amongst themselves, let those that didn't get tubs back into the queue area. Then go start the ride without doing the customary visual inspection. After the ride starts odds are slim that he stayed by the console. Sometimes he would hop the rail into the Spin the Apple ride next door and bang on the backs on tubs as they came around, or walk around the permieter of the Flying Skooters area while the ride was running, or duck through a service gate under the Tornado station. However this was the mild stuff, he soon played Donkey Kong and climbed up the coaster structure itself to socialize with his friend on the Tornado crew. Later on he was even darting in between cars on the Flying Skooter. I know I almost accidently creamed him once, leading him to having to fall down fast and bite the grass while yelling some words you don't normally hear in a family park.

But enough about him, the park has other issues. For one the Teddy Bear and train rides were already closed for the season. Dave and I rode the Spin the Apple, which is a rare 6 tub Sellner spin ride, its good they chose the higher capacity model as three of the tubs were closed off. At least the tubs that were open seemed to work alright, and I noticed another rare feature, a 'window' in the back of the tubs.

Dave and I then rode the Electric Rainbow which is a Super Round Up that was transplanted from LeSourdsville Lake. They built a real nice operator booth, and entry/exit ramps for it as well as a big loading deck. While waiting for the ride, Dave made his usual joke about a huge ride safety sign "YOU MUST BE 42" TO RIDE - NO EXCEPTIONS!" Of course the sign means 42" or taller, but thats not what it really says, and its a mistake that is made on a lot of ride signs. He was laughing at that mistake, when he noticed an even bigger problem with the ride safety signage. Strickers Grove bought a bunch of stock ride safety signs that are meant to be used on practically any ride. The problem with the sign here is that it says quite clearly "DO NOT STAND UP ON THIS RIDE" I remind you its a Super Round Up, designed to be ridden standing up. I also noted the scenery panels for the hub of the wheel are still sitting underneath the ride.

After the Electric Rainbow ride, we went to the parking lot so Dave could get his camera and I could shed this sweatshirt as it got a bit hotter than I expected. So the Knoebels Phunfest sweatshirt came off, revealing the Holiday World Legend shirt underneath. On the way back into the park I picked up a $1.75 draft beer then met the rest of the group back by the Tornado. After finishing my beer it was more Tornado and Flying Skooters till about 3:45.

At 3:45 we positioned ourselves to be first in the food lines. You see the park midway shuts down from 4-5 for dinner. So I grabbed a double cheeseburger, served with chips, potato salad, and this year they served beans instead of the roast corn. I followed that up with a Strawberry topped funnel cake. All this for $cheap.

After the meal break we all took a ride on the Eli Ferris Wheel, then rode the Tornado and Flying Skooters a lot, with occasional trips to the front for more free snacks. Somewhere in there we took a ride on the Scrambler that never seemed to get up to full speed, and a satisfactory ride on the Tilt A Whirl that seemed to be using the tubs from LeSourdsville Lake.

We finished up the night on the Tornado where single rides turned to double rides, and then we even scored a triple ride to end the night. I took those final three rides in the back seat, and that was near brutal, but brutal in a fun way.

And with that quickie Strickers Grove TR, that just leaves me with one more 2007 trip report: Kings Island on 10/27/08. Watch for it

TR: Kennywood Park - 10/7/07 Phantom Fright Night

2008-02-23T15:14:00.003-05:00

Up and at em. Yesterday we were at Knobels and today we head back home with a brief stop at Kennywood. Our hotel had a ridiculously early 10AM check out time, but our room provided the perfect excuse to ask for an extension. It seems their hot water heaters are inadequate, and after waking up with a COLD shower, we called and complained and got some extra time.

Soon thereafter we were finally on the road around noon. It was a pretty smooth trip to Kennywood, with the occasional fuel, snack or relief stop. We had planned on grabbing pizza at Beto's on the way to Kenneywood, but that plan got scuttled when we learned the Steeler's were having a home game that afternoon. See, to get to Beto's we'd have to drive through Pittsburgh, eat, then drive back through Pittsburgh to get to the park. We were advised that plan would be very bad due to the fact Pittsburgh can't handle traffic.

We did eventually wind up at Swissville. near Kneenywood around 4:30 and ran into a Giant Eagle to pick up some discounted Kennywood tickets. We had no reason to rush to the park as it was only open for their Halloween event "Phantom Fright Nights". The event is usually only open on Friday and Saturdays, but with most schools having Monday off on this Columbus Day weekend, the park decided to open up on Sunday, with very short hours, 7pm-11pm. Note that they still charge full price to get in, and suprisingly it is still pretty crowded.

After picking up our discount tickets from Giant Eagle, which got the cost down to $16.50, we decided to go have dinner. We chose the Eat N Park at the same shopping center as the Giant Eagle. Its like a Perkins, Denny's or Big Boy restaurant. We knew we were in trouble when it was a slow time in the restaurant and the salad bar was in dire need of restocking, and the crew was not even trying to get it restocked. We had the usual slow refills you practically have to beg for, but the crowning blow was with April's dinner. She ordered the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup special. Two very common, very basic items, what could possibly go wrong? Well the sandwich came out before the soup, with a comment that they managed to overcook the soup, and were fixing a new pot. Well, like most people who order Grilled cheese and tomato soup, she had planned on dunking the sandwich in the soup. Let's not forget, by the menu's own admission they were using Campbell's Tomato Soup. You know, open a can, pour contents into bowl, add water, heat. When the soup did arrive it was the most watered down Tomato Soup we had ever seen, a very pale orange. We had enough collective experience with Campbell's Tomato Soup to know that didn't look right. But by then the sandwich was cold. Partly because we had time to kill, and partly because "Hey, we're paying for this!" It took two servers, a manager, and a few tries, but they finally managed to get a fresh hot sandwich and a fresh hot bowl of soup out at the same time. Even after all that, we got no discount on the meal.

Anyway, on to the park. We arrived at the park around 6pm and found nobody at the toll booths, so we managed to park on the lower level of the parking lot for free. But, wait a minute, this park looks open, its not supposed to open for another hour. April goes to investigate. It seems that the park had a corporate buy out in the afternoon, which is all well and good, but the company that bought it out, had a ticket sales table sitting out front selling tickets to the general public. That meant if we hadn't taken out own sweet time getting there, and stopped for lunch and all, we could have had some more Kennywood time.

Right around 7pm, the gates opened, and it takes a little time to run people through security, check bags and all. We then turned right as is tradition and headed down the ramp into the park. Your haunt experience starts as you go down the ramp, as you can just see artificial fog billowing out of the tunnel under the road. Said tunnel is so full of smoke you are basically just blindly walking straight while the tunnel is crammed full of monsters. They want to set the tone for the evening right away, if you want to visit Phantom Fright Nights, you first have to survive this.

After going through the tunnel, we take a left and head for the headliner attraction, Phantom's Revenge. We got there right in the window when they were clearing the day guests out, and the evening guests were just coming in. We almost had a walk on for the first ride on Phantom, maybe a train or two wait because we wanted the back seat. The benefit of them having been open for the day, is they already had the second train on and running. Phantom's Revenge is still a top airtime ride, in fact I think I have moved it over Magnum XL200 as my favorite hypercoaster, I mean you get ejector air on just about every drop. Its an almost perfect ride. We exit Phantom in what is usually Lost Kennyoowd, but is a Gorky Park scare zone. Unlike other parks, you don't wait in line for Scare Zones here, you just sort of encounter them. To be clear, the big haunts do have lines, but the scare zones do not. This scare zone, first they go out of their way to make that area of the park as litter filled as possible, then they have stuff setup all around the Plunge area, and I think a more formal haunt in the Plunge. A highlight of the area is right by the Swingshot, were they again have foggers so think you can't see, and these guys get quite an effect just out of scraping metal garbage can lids across the pavement.

We went to ride Phantom again, and we were met with people walking back out of the line with ominous remarks "It 's at least an hour wait". They must not have noticed the second train was on, and the line was backed up to just about where it goes next to the lift hill. I'd say a half hour at most, another round of airtime perfection coming up.

After this ride, we decided to make a tour of the park, we headed towards Jack Rabbit, while first looking at their new Cosmic Chaos (Zamperla Disk'o), I was surprised to see that the main cash room is located directly off a midway and is clearly labeled. We headed around further through the food court (closed), and then around past the carousel and some flat rides where a "Carnival from Hell" themed area was set up.

We made it to the Jack Rabbit, and headed down the hill, the line was wrapped around the ride to the bottom of the hill. We were a bit concerned at first when we saw no activity, but once things started rolling, it seemed like no time. Dave and I got the next to last seat, and fastened the belt. After all these years the ride still does not have locking lap bars using the older style slide-under bars instead. It should be noted that the trains were recently totally rehabbed (if not replaced), and new modern seatbelts replaced the old leather belts, but it still remains very classic. Sure, its a one trick pony, but its very fun. The train advanced forward, around past the queue area, down the drop up the hill, where my gaze at the lifthill was interupted by the tunel, through the tunnel turnaround, down the dip, up the lift. The lift has been modified to make accomodations for the newbrake fins, and they took a different tactic than PKI did with the Beast to solve the same issue. Crest the lift, turnaround, the airtime filled double dip, final trurnaound, final dip into the station brakes. The moment of truth, and quite frankly there is no noticable difference to the ride with the installation of the new braking system. Its odd that there are two brake fins per car, but the general effect is the same. The train pulled into unload and we exited down to the midway.At the end of the ride, the unload station is so small it looks like a service area, so I am usually startled when I realize that yes, this is where you are supposed to exit the ride.

Next we stop at the Refreshments stand for some refreshments, before heading to Racer. There were some scareactors plying their haunted trade in the area between the two coasters. Racer almost had a full queue, but it moves fast. Racer did receive new trains a year or so ago, with the new hollow seat dividers, and seatbelts were added to the ride. They are in the standard PTC configuration and somewhat short, so I had a challenge getting the seatbelt on, then the traditional style lap bar seems to lock down lower than most. Its a fairly tight fit, which is ironic since the Racer is the mildest of the three wood coasters there.

After Racer, we continue our tour, noting the Aero 360 had already been disassembled and that the Ice Cream parlour was serving a limited menu. We didn't do any of the haunted mazes, but the scare zone alongside the path that used to lead to Gold Rush was pretty intense. Speaking of Gold Rush (or whatever its name was) Its show building was pretty much gone, we were startled by how fast the demolition on that has progressed.

We headed on to Thunderbolt, counted ourselves, and dangit, an odd number of people. That always seems to be the case, and Thunderbolt has a very strict no single riders policy. That means somebody has to sit out each time. In that time I managed to score two front of the train rides (rows 2 and 3). I have grown to like the front car on this ride, and like last year it was running remarkably smooth for Thunderbolt.

After Thunderbolt there was some confusion about riding Volcano, that turned into a "I thought you wanted to ride it!", "No, I thought you wanted to!" So in the end no one rode Volcano, we noted Noah's Ark had a long queue, and someone mentioned Pittfall, but the usual entrance to Lost Kennywood was closed. That means we had to walk right past the Phatnom's Revenge entrance, and Pittfall is located near the Phantom's Revenge exit (What other park has a ride where its entrance and exit are so far from each other?) So we took another ride through airtime perfection on Phantom, this time sitting towards the front of the train, and the line was about 15-20 minutes.

After Phantom, we did head to PittFall, where we found a 1 or 2 cycle wait waiting for us. They had said there was a rumor the park had lengthened the seatbelts on this ride, as in the summer a good number of the people in our group could not ride, that rumor was proven true when we had no problems riding, yes some needed a little operator assistance, but we all did get to ride. It was a fun fast ride on the Intamin Giant Drop, and we had a river view.

We next came to Exterminator, and about 45 minutes left until park close. I indicated I wanted to ride Exterminator, and nobody else did, so I went and rode Exterminator while they rode Swingshot. The outdoor queue area was empty, and the hallway into the building was empty, but the main queue room was full. Ugh, this is not gonna be fun. I could see another modification was made. Origianlly there was an unmarked button in easy reach that if pressed would set off lighting effects and a loud buzzer/siren that was real irritating, especially when people would press it over and over again. On my next trip I noticed that button had been disabled, now I note the button is back again but with a time delay circuit so it doesn't get overused. Oh, and since it wasn't 90 out, the building temperature was actually liveable. I find myself grouped with others on one of the last cars out for the night. I admit I had been eager to see the dark ride effects on this again, but tonight they ran the entire ride IN THE DARK, no lights, no special effects. I had noted the loaders were taking extra care pushing the lap bars down tighter than usual for these kind of rides. We were rewarded with a spinfest in the dark, so overall it was a fun ride.

I exited the ride, and hey I have 5-10 minutes left before park close. I head to Swing Shot, and alas the line has already been cut, I look to the queue area and note however there was nobody waiting. Yup, the ride had closed about 7 minutes early. I remember them saying they were going to try to go to Jack Rabbit after Swingshot, so not seeing them in the area, I start to head to Jack Rabbit. I pass by a string of closed rides despite the fact the park doesn't close for 5 more minutes. I know Kennywood likes the hard close, where they close the lines early so everything closes right at closing time, but hey, when you are only open 3 hours, charging full fare, give us a break here! I decide to stop in front of the tunnel exit, that way if they come from Swingshot, or come from Jack Rabbit they have to pass by this point. Its a strategy that worked out well, because about 5 minutes after park close, we all met up. They reported that Jack Rabbit had closed about 10 minutes before park close.

So we all head out to the parking lot, and it takes what Rideman said was the longest, slowest parade of cars from Kennywood to I-376, we don't know what took so long but that was painfully slow.

We call ahead and find out Beto's is open till the odd time of 12:55 or something like that. We all meet up at Beto's which is just east of the Fort Pitt tunnel. We managed to get there at like 12:10, to learn the dining room closes at midnight. They didn't mention that bit of trivia, but we decide the hoods of cars can make great picnic tables. We go into the carry out area and place our orders. Now, admittedly I had my doubts when the biggest selling points of the place were very low price, and very generous toppings. OK, what's the catch. The slices are pizza rectangles cut from a big sheet of cheese pizza, and just like at Knoebels they add whatever toppings you want on top of the premade cheesse pizza, and toss some more cheese over it. Unlike Knoebels it does not go back in the oven. So we get out to the car to find our warm slices of cheese pizza covered with a mountain of cold toppings and unmelted cheese. It was weird to say the least, not quite our cup of tea. But it was different, you have to give it that.

After Beto's it was the long drive to Columbus, where we arrive at Dave's house at about 4 or 5 in the morning. Dave and I had taken Monday off, so I took a nap at Dave's place, then the two of us went to Schmidt's German Village for their Autobhan Buffet. Very good German buffet, and it was weird at lunch being the only two guys with Bier sitting amongst businessmen having their lunch. It also gave me a chance to go past Schmidt's candy kitchen. Some say that Schmidt's has the best sugar free chocolate, and I had three diabetics back home that were counting on me to load them up.

Then all that was left was the ride back to Cincinnati.

Next up: Stricker's Grove
(Only 2 more TR's to go to get out of 2007!)

TR: Knoebels PPP 10/7/07

2008-02-14T18:54:00.003-05:00

Trip Report: Knoebels Groves
Phoenix Phall Phunfest
October 6, 2007

Ah, its time for the annual Phoenix Phall Phunfest (PPP) at Knoebels, the traditional season ender for coaster enthusiasts. Accordingly, I got on the road towards Columbus, OH around 9pm on Friday October 7, and met up with fellow coaster enthusiasts Dave and April. We get on the road from Dave's house at 1am, and pull an "all-nighter" to get to Knoebels. Well, Dave pulled an all nighter driving, and as others have noted I can fall asleep in a car or on a bus faster than you can imagine. So there were a few fuel, snack, and relief stops and before we knew it we were looking at our watches and its only like 7 or 8 am and we are just an hour away from the park. We start the day with breakfast at Perkins. We decided to get checked into the hotel, partially because checking in late at night sucks, and also because Dave had a bad experience in the past with a hotel giving away his "guaranteed reservation" room out from under him one year at this event. We check in to a budget motel named after a single digit integer, and the desk clerk was understanding and allowed us to check in at 10AM.

Food and hotel taken care of, we head to the park. We opt to take country roads instead of the interstate from the motel to the park, and wind up getting into a real nasty traffic back up related to another pumpkin festival near Catawissa. I mean, going 5mph traffic backup. We were under the impression that Knoebels was opening at noon, but still no one likes sitting in 5mph traffic. We were happy to get past the festival grounds so we could start making time again. We eventually arrive at the park, and although its only like 11:30 (I told you it was a nasty traffic backup!), and looked in the park and already saw rides running. We also saw a crowded parking lot, and wound up having to use the last entrance before you loop back around to the campground, I mean we were in the back of the lot. We opt to walk from our car to the park, and debate the merits of getting a ride pass versus using ride tickets on the way to the park.

We entered the park, and walked right into the Covered Bridge Festival, which is a big arts and crafts festival located in the park's picnic groves, the midways nearest the parking lot, and a big field next to the park. It is a very popular festival, and walking through it to get to the park is a challenge even to seasoned crowd weavers. They seriously need a bypass path for those that have no interest in the crafts fest. We head under the old Knoebels sign and head towards the Grand Carousel. There are ride ticket boxes all over Knoebels, but you can only get ride passes at the Pay One Price booth at the center of the park,

April had decide to use ride tickets during the day, and eagerly bought a $10 ticket booth from the ticket box nearest the carousel and took off for the Skooters bumper cars. Dave and I had initially decided to get both an event handstamp, and a regular handstamp. Dave and I made our way to the Pay One Price booth, arriving right around noon to long lines. We did price the event, this year PPP is $17 ($2 increase from last year), and includes rides from 5pm-10pm. You can get a second handstamp for $16 more which covers rides from noon-5pm. We start to get in line, but then decide that even if we go through two $10 books each, we would still only be out $4, and we also know what sort of behavior goes on at coaster events. I should also disclose that I brought back 80 cents worth of left over ride tickets from last year.

Dave and I return from the handstamp booth without getting handstamps, and ironically return to the booth nearest the carousel and get our $10 ticket books. We get back to the Skooter bumper cars just in time to get on the same ride cycle as April, so it all worked out in the end.

Let's start the Ticket Meter at $10.80

Knoebels Skooters are genuine vintage Lusse Auto Skooters, big heavy things that bump nice and hard. Ah, to be back in the Lusses, with their big metal and chrome bodies, the large steerng wheels, the simple velcro seatbelts. "One way only, no head on collisions" When riding most bumper car rides, I think "They don't make bumper car rides like they used to", well "These they make like they used to", Fast heavy cars, loud colissions, and more importantly hard collisions, you get a good bump on one of these and you will feel it. The skooters is one of those rides that makes Knoebels. I noted the price had been increased to $1.20, so that leaves me with:

Ticket-Meter: $9.60

From the Skooter, we head to the Phoenix Junction Steakhouse to meet up with other enthusiasts. The Steakhouse hosts the swap meet where enthusiasts sell coaster related merchandise to other enthusiasts. I don't know but the swap meet seemed smaller this year. That didn't stop us from spending quality time perusing the merchandise and chatting up friends. I decided to walk over to the food service window and get the first Birch Beer of the trip. ($2 for a large). Birch Beer is a soft drink (no alcohol), with a minty taste to it, and they just don't sell it in Ohio.

After the group was assembled we headed to the Handstamp booth and bought our PPP handstamps ($17), and got a booklet of valuable money saving coupons. I know that the "book of valuable coupons" is a joke at most parks, but note here. We also take some time to look at the Flying Turns construction site, and hey they must be close, they are running test cycles. Two comments about the ride, it is faster than I think people were expecting, and it runs very quietly.

After talking for awhile, we decide to go ride the Phoenix. I note the Phoenix is now up to $2. Phoenix is, of course, the famous relocated Herb Shmeck double out and back. It's not an official classic, but it has classic looks, a classic station, and has good airtime. The ride doesn't have a big queue maze. The line is basically a walkway under the track, and a ramp directly up the station. You pay at the bottom of the ramp. We all take assorted seats in the first car, and owing to the size of the group takes a bit to get everybody their ride. I take my first ride of the day in the infamous Schmeck seat (Row 3). The ride still lacks seatbelts, or headrests, and still uses buzzbars. They were only running one train right now, but even at that the train spends very little time in the station. Knoebels can get people through their coasters at a pace most parks could only dream of. The ride starts with the long dark tunnel to the lift, then has the traditional double out and back layout. I must admit I was disappointed in my first ride, I mean it had nice gentle floater air, but for some reason I recall the ride having much stronger air in past seasons. April shared my opinion.

Ticket-Meter: $7.60

We engage in more Strange Coaster Enthusiast Behavior, which is defined as standing around on a midway within eyesight of a coaster and spend the time TALKING about coasters rather than RIDING coasters. Eventually, Dave and I decide we need to go ride a ride, and decide to try out the Fandango!, a few others follow us down to the Fandango. The others comment that if we don't see them on the midway they will probably be in the Alpine Chalet gift shop. Fandango is Moser Rides version of the popular swinging, spinning pendulum ride. It is setup like the Giant Huss ride, with the seats facing outwards, but is sized more like the traditional Frisbee. It takes a cycle or two to get on the ride. We sit down, and they are very strict about not pulling down or pushing up on the shoulder bars, these are automated. They spend some time balancing and grouping. The bars come down and getting the belt to reach from the center of the shoulder bar to the buckle on the seat horn doesn't even look close. Luckily the loader was willing to give a couple hard shoves, and I was able to ride. The seat mold is akward so t wasn't a very comfy fit. As for the ride itself, I thing the Moser has a lot of power swinging back and forth, but it doesn't seem to spin all that fast. I mean it swings hard enough to get some of that weird inverted airtime. Dave and I decided we like the Giant Frisbee better, but we do like how the floor is only two big panels on Fandango and looks more reliable. We exit Fandango and go through what we think may be the only turnstile at a ride at Knoebels. That seems so random and out of place here. (Fandango is $1.40)

Ticket Meter: $6.20

At this time, we attempt to rejoin the group, but we don't see them by the Phoenix, we don't see them in the Chalet, but we head over to look by Ceasari's Pizza. We had a bad experience last year of waiting over an hour to get our pizza, and they had talking about going earlier to try to beat the rush. Nope, not there either. We take another look through the Chalet, an eventually meet up. We do decide to beat the rush for pizza, so start heading back to Ceasari's. We take some shortcuts that became long cuts, an we see April and company darting into the Cosmotron building. Hey, I thought April didn't like fast spin rides.

Cosmotron is a Musik ride in the dark. There was a short line for the Cosmotron but we were on the next available ride ($1.40 - this must be the high rent district), and I noted its the same price to ride or watch. The Musik Ride itself is mostly painted black, we paired up, and pulled down on the massive ratcheting overhead lapbars. After everybody was settled in the ride started to spin. Add flashing lights, add strobes, add loud music, and you have the Cosmotron experience. My favorite part of the ride is right when it starts to spin backwards and they activate the strobes. The Cosmotron ride was of a nice length, and I found a new exit on the back side of the ride.

Ticket-Meter: $4.80

We head to Ceasaris' pizza. We fared somewhat better than last year, it only took 20-30 minutes to get our pizza. The PPP coupon book has a coupon for 2 slices of cheese pizza, and its an 18" pie, so they are two nice large slices, a 1/4 pie in fact. Looking at the menu, that means the coupon has a face value of $4.80. They will let you add toppings at your own expense. It is worth the time to explain how Ceasari's works, they operate in the traditional Italian tradition. You purchase a cheese pizza that is already cooked, then you specify what toppings you want, they add the toppings to your pizza, toss it back in the oven to heat the toppings and melt the cheese around the, and then serve it to you. Toppings run 40 cents each per slice. The bit about the toppings and reheating the pizza is what makes this a long drawn out affair. We spend part of the time debating if Voyage or Phoenix is the better coaster, and chuckle about how we are debating it like it is actually vitally important.

We all opt for different sets of toppings, with me selecting Pepperoni and Sausage on both slices ($1.60 upcharge). We then headed out and scored a table on the patio next to the restaurant. They had a bar set up between the tables and the serving lines serving soft drinks, and look the coupon book has a voucher for a free soft drink. I was pleased to see they went ahead and used large soft drink cups instead of the picnic size cups they have used in the past. Thats another $2 value. We sit and eat our overcooked pizza, well Dave's must have been extra crispy as they seemed to have forgotten they put it in for reheating. After dinner, we sat around talking some more until we deicded to break it up. Well, lunch is over and I have recouped $6.80 value out of the $17 PPP fee. Just $10.20 more value to get out of this event.

Ticket-O-Meter: $4.80
PPP Value Meter: -$10.20

Dave and I headed to the Flyers. The Flyers, as you might expect had an overflowing queue. It went fast when we realized it was a lot of the former PKI Flying eagles pilots in line, this feels like old times. We board our aircraft, and remember here the door is on the other side, and the ride spins in the opposite direction. I had noticed a distinct quiet around the ride while we were waiting for it, and riding it, the ride just isn't as extreme as it used to be. It used to scare me while I am riding it, now it feels like a more common Flyer ride, where it feels right, but I couldn't get the loud SNAP noises. Man, they felt like snaps though. Flyers ride = $1.

Ticket-Meter: $3.80

We take a pit stop, then take a self guided tour of the Flying Turns construction site. Then just start wandering the park. We spend some time looking at the Merry Mixer. It looks like a Scrambler but it has 4 arms instead of 3, and thus more cars and the same ride motion. With parks and carnivals wanting higher capacity rides, I'm surprised this ride isn't more common. Dave hinted there are reasons why it isn't very popular. We wound up not riding the Merry Mixer, but we did ride 1001 Nachts, which is I think a Weber Flying Carpet, complete with a theme package heavy on arab looking characters, and crecent moons. I like the Flying Carpet rides, and I like this style better than the ones where you sit facing out. 1001 Nachts = $1.20.

Ticket-Meter: $2.60

Next we cut back across the font of the park and I take a spin on the Roll-O-Plane, named Satellite here. Dave isn't a big fan of it, and Knoebels does allow single riders There particular ride is most unusual in that it still helicopters, or tilts so that the two cars are spinning around in a horizontal plane rather than the usual vertical plane. Most may not like it, but I kinda like the Roll-O-Plane. Roll-O = $1.20

Ticket-Meter: $1.40

Dave and I take the opportunity to enjoy a soft frozen iced tea, and while drinking it, we spot the rest of the group on the Skooters. After we all join up, we go take a ride on the High Speed Thrill Coaster. The HSTC might easily be confused for a kiddie coaster, but don't let looks fool you. Several cycles later I am climbing into the third car and lowering the big lap bar. The ride starts, and it starts out as a kiddie coaster, but wait till you get to the bunny hops along the course, and is that airtime. But wait, they then crank the lift hill up to high speed where is seems like they are launching the train. With each circuit the bunny hops seem to be taken faster and the airtime gets that much more extreme. If you want to cram maximum airtime into minimum space, this is the ride for you. There aren't that many full size coasters that outperform this one.
All that fun and its only 80 cents.

Ticket-Meter: 60 cents.

We come to a pivotal moment in the day. I decide I want to try the Sky Slide, but nobody else does. I also note the Sky Slide is 70 cents. I get spotted a 10 cent ticket, so I take my 70 cents over to the Sky Slide. Sky Slide is located in the very back of the kiddieland section. Its an interesting ride because it is made out of an old Wisdom Astroliner ride, they gutted it, set it up on end like a rocket. Added spiral stairs in the center of the rocket, and a spiral slide wrapped around exterior. I get to the ride and the queue maze for it is full, and after waiting for it about 10 minutes or so I realize how long and slow the wait is going to be, and to be honest with you I look at the slide and I look at me, and I wonder if the slide could even accommodate my girth. I bail on the Sky Slide, and return to the the HSTC. I decide to ride the Whipper instead, but it is 80 cents, so to the ticket booth I go to buy 1 10 cent ticket, yes they do sell single tickets. I then take a nice relaxing nostalgic ride on the Mangels Whip.

Ticket-Meter : OUT

I look at my watch and its 4:50 so I made the right call to just buy a $10 ticket book instead of getting the $16 hand stamp. I knew a lot of that Strange Coaster Nut Behavior was going to happen. I knew the rest of the group was going to ride the Sky Ride, so I headed there. I knew the Sky Ride takes 15 minutes once you are on the ride, so I figured I would see them on the way to the ride, or I could wave to them as I passed them on the ride. I had thought we would meet up at the ride exit, since there isn't much else to do between 5-6pm. The Sky Ride is $3, and is NOT included in any handstamp. Luckily, I noticed the coupon book has a free Sky Ride coupon in it. Thats a $3 value.

PPP-Value-Meter: -$7.20

Last year, I rode Skyride at twilight on the way up, and it was dark on the way down. We had all wanted to ride it during the day so we could actually enjoy to the overhead view of the park. You board the car, and it goes out over the access road to the park, then up a steep hillside accross the street from the park. Not much to look at on the way out, then you turn around, and you get a spectacular aerial view of the park as you come down the hillside, and then glide over the access road and back into the park.

I did not run into the rest of the group, so I headed to the only two open attractions during the 5-6 hour. Recall this is when they expect you to get your pizza. At this time, only the Haunted Mansion and Lazer Runner.

The line for Haunted Mansion was through the queue, out the front yard and down the midway. I join the line for Haunted Mansion, and that line may look long but it moves very fast. The park is renowned for having one of the nations best haunted house rides, and it is normally not included in the POP plans, but PhunPhest is an exception. The house looks perfectly nice from the outside, a wide 2 story victorian, with a big wrought iron fence around it, and is that a raven on the sign. The sign claims the ride is a terrifying adventure in darkness. I walk through the front yard, and bypass the gazebo out front where you normally purchase ride tickets. With the ultra efficient Knoebels ride crew the line was moving really fast. It seemed as if no time had passed when we walked pased the coffin shaped control booth right past the "No handstamps or armbands" sign and boarded a red car. I boarded the car on the porch of the house, made a turnaround by the control booth and proceeded to the center of the front porch where I turned and went in the front doors. Ah, crash doors, two sets of them to ensure the tour through the living room is nice and dark. The first room doesn't seem too bad, it looks like a living room, and then there is the mysterious pipe organ, oh and watch out for that granfather clock, be sure to take a good look to find out what time it is. This haunted house has really well done tableuax and a variety of pop up stunts But is more than that, they house has several crash doors to add their distincitve unsettling noise and to make sure each room is kept nice and dark. I like the skull and mirror room, its a cool visual. At the end of that room they flash some bright lights right before the nexte crash door and the lift. The lift has a very simple effect, just hang some bits of string from the ceiling that are low enough to brush the riders hair. Upstairs you go through the haunted attic with a lot of cool classic stunts. Also upstairs the rolling barrel wasn't turning, but the room with the stange black and white patterns on the wall and weird music was working and I still don't get it. The truck lights a We exited the Haunted Mansion where a crew was sending the car back to load the second after I got out. The Haunted Mansion is a $1.40 value, and so we are down to $5.60 to break even. It was particularly cool as it was the first time I rode this solo, so I got the full effect all by myself.

PPP Value Meter: -$5.60

Next I decided to do something I normally would not do, I tried the Lazer Runner. Laer Runner had a long single file line back to Ceasariss. It didn't look that long, but Lazer Runner takes about 15 people per cycle, and it takes about 7-10 minutes per cycle. Unusually low capacity attraction for Knoebels, and not many get to experience it. Odd, that it is free during PPP. I figure the building used to be a theater of some kind. The ticket booth has a space station look. After wating a long time, I am finally admitted to the briefing room.

The host seemed surprised that we all entered the briefing room and immediately lines up on the marked line. Briefing is simple, first they have you put on your vest, then line back up. Its every man for himself, the game is 5 minutes long, and if you are hit there is a 5 second penalty during which you can neither fire or be fired upon. He pointed out the targets on the vest, and how to use the gun. He also pointed out there is a wall right inside the front door, so be sure to turn either left or right upon entering the arena becuae that wall is very real and it will hurt. He inserts some kind of key that looks like a phono plug to activate the gun and start the timer.

We enter the arena, and it was a fun diversion. I'm not good at it. Its worth noting that when you fire the gun it sounds a loud sound effect and a light flashes. In other words, once you fire, your position is given and you better keep moving. The walls are painted black with trim in neon colors, the arena is lit solely with black lighting, Very eerie futuristic feel in there, and with the black walls, you may not notice the holes in the walls at first. A skillfull player can make use of those. We exit the arena at the end of the game and I scored 1900, which sounded pretty good amongst my peers. I turned in my vest and didn't stick around for the post game debriefing.

It was just after 6pm, and the midway had reopened, but first, I need to account for the $3 value of the lazer tag game.

PPP Value Meter: -$2.60 (almost even already)

I start hitting rides by myself, figuring that worst case scenario, we will all meet back up at the Pheonix at the end of the night anyway. I stop off at the Paratrooper, a classic ride, and this one seems to run faster than the average Paratrooper. ($1 value)

PPP Value Meter: -$1.60

I then heade for the Flyers, but decided to hold off on the Flyers and instead headed for Twister. Twister is $2.20 per ride. For my first ride, there was not much line so I tried the back seat. No seatbelts or headrests, and the lap bars still have a LOT of play in them. I don't know, Twister just doesn't do it for me. Not much airtime, but it does have one evil moment if you ride alone, where you get the rides best airtime pop and a lateral at the same time. I notice they dispatch one train when the other clears the helix the second time. I do like the split lift gimmick. When I finished my ride, I decided to try the front seat. The line was a bit longer, but one of our group was near the front of the front seat line and was going to ride solo, so I joined up with him. I do like the ride better up front.

Thats two rides on Twister which I am now $2.80 to the GOOD,

PPP Meter: $2.80

After a pit stop, I decide to sample Knoebels flat rides. I start with a ride on the Giant Wheel ($1.40 value), which was much longer than it needed to be. It also feels akward riding a wheel alone, but I did notice it is only lit up on one side. The view from the wheel is good, and I noticed it is obviously a portable model wheel.

PPP Meter: $4.20

Next up, I took a solo ride on Downdraft, solo as in I was the only rider on the entire ride, Downdraft is a direct decendent of the Hurricane, and looking at the ride you can clearly see the resemblance. The ride contains the same center tower, a multitude of cars hanging down from seeeps, and the same shape platform with the same type stairs and railings. Even the bumper ring to prevent the sweeps from banging into the tower is the same. The Downdraft like the Hurricane features a center tower from which six sweeps are hung, each sweep ending in a ride tub. The ride starts up the ride tubs swing out, then the gimmick of this ride is under operator control the tubs dive dwon from cruising altitude then soar back out again. Its an interesting feeling and the ride is notorius for strong lateral g's. Where Downdraft differs is that the tradititional 4 seat cars have been replaced by 5 seat floorless legs dangling cars. Curious arrangement of 3 in the front seat and 2 in the back. The lapba dropped down from overhead similar to a chairlife, except that the bar was much more than a lapbar, the lapbar had curious dividers that dropped down between the riders compartmentalizing them. You heard that right, seat dividers, no more crushing into your ride partner. Oh well the seats are slightly staggered from each other anyway. Another protusion of the lapbar is a rounded bar that goes between your legs and meets up with the front of the seat, forming an anti-submarine device. It still exhibits very strong laterals and I don't quite care for it, maybe a bit too strong for my tastes. At the end of the ride the operator jogs the ride around so I stop right by the exit stairs, and I noticed that they have the same exit path as at the fair so that you have to walk around the perimeter of the ride back around to near the operators booth. ($1.20 value)

PPP Value: $5.40

Next up was the Merry Mixer. Its the ride I talked about earlier, the Scrambler-like ride with 4 sweeps instead of 3 sweeps. I found the lap bar to be tight, but the ride action is very similar. I do think the ride action is not as solid as a Scrambler, like its not as well built. ($1 value)

PPP Value: $6.40

Next up is the Power Surge. I call it the Power Surge, Rideman remembered that the same spot used to house the Zamperla Mixer. Which is right next to the Merry Mixer. (So you had the Merry Mixer, and the Not-So-Merry Mixer). Power Surge is the kind of demented ride I like, and I forgot how evil it can be as a single rider. It twists you every which way but loose. ($1.40 value)

PPP Value: $7.80

Next up was the Zamperla Flying Tigers. Its a modern version of the Whip, and ironically is placed right next to the Whipper. Flying Tigers differs in that the cars are suspended, and when you don't weigh what I weigh, they swing out on the turnarounds. I did feel kind of silly riding it in retrospect, and most places do class it as a kiddie ride. ($1 value)

PPP Value: $8.80

Next up, I take another ride on the High Speed Thrill Coaster, in the next to back seat. Much stronger airtime in that seat. Its small but it packs a wallop. (80 cent value)

PPP Value: $9.60

I next try another Knoebels ride I had never ridden, the Italian Trapeeze. Its a circle swing ride, and I do see the family resemblance to the HaloSwings at Holiday World. They have added a lot of rubber tubing that maked it hard to lift up the safety bar. But all in all, just your basic circle swing ride. ($1.20 value)

PPP Value: $10.80

I look at my PPP program, and I just need the Carousel and Super Round Up to finsh up all the flat rides available during PPP. I decide to ride the Skooters, and was rewarded with one of the best bumper car rides ever. ($1.20 value) Even more importantly, as I was exiting the ride, the rest of the crew was boarding, so I waited around so we could all regroup.

PPP Value: $12.00

We all headed back to the Phoenix Junction Steakhouse for drinks, thats another Birch Beer for me. We then took a ride on Phoenix all together, again towards the front. And wow, not only do they have the lift tunnel filled with dark ride stunts and day glo paint, the fog from the haunted car ride blankets the whole ride. What's more the ride has really kicked up and the good airtime is back! ($2 value)

PPP Value: $14.00

We then had started to head back to the Carousel. The group split up and knowing it was getting near 9pm, so I would have to choose one ride, even though I was looking forward to grabbing rings, a ride in the Skooters with the gang, and the GCI crew won out. Now THAT was a Bumper Car Caged Deathmatch! Best Bumper Car Ride Ever, even if I did think my car was overheating. ($1.20 value)

PPP Value: $15.20

We then regrouped with the Carousel group, and all headed to the Flyers. We all decided the Flyer line was a bit long, and split back up. Dave and I headed to Twister, and took a back seat ride. Dave wanted to see what the back seat was like, so I took one for the team and rode in the back though I prefer the front. ($2.20 value)

PPP Value: $16.40

I then grab a snack of a Birch Beer and some popcorn chicken. One of the nice things about Knoebels is they keep some of the snack bars open for the event. Dave and I then head to the Phoenix, where else? Time to power ride the Pheonix till they lock the gate, literally they have a big chain link gate that closes over the entrance, The line admitedly looked scary almost all the way bak to the Chalet, but with two trains and the parks super effficiant operation, it takes like 10 minutes. I think we got 4 or 5 more rides, all but one towards the front, We tried the back seat once, and it was riding rough in our opinion. Remember each ride has a $2 value, so that eans for $17, I got somewhere between $41-$43 worth of value, or a net of $24.40-$26.40.

So after finishing our ride session, we met up with the gang back at Phoenix Junction for dinner, For myself, I had a Cheeseburger platter with fries and cole slaw, a Birch Beer, and a slice of Pumpkin Pie. It was a very nice amusement park meal, and all for $9.60. We had a nice long talk during and after dinner, then listened to the awards from the parade and the announcements, and then wound up talking to some Knoebels crew members and wound up talking to tell after everybody else had gone. Now most parks would be chasing you out, or having security escort you out, not Knoebels, they let us talk for a LONG time, then they let us head from the Phoenix at the back of the park to the parking lot totally unescorted, after the park closed, and didn't mind that we didn't take the most direct route. Its just that special atmosphere that makes Knoebels special. When we did finally exit the park, we appreicated that Dave took one for the team and went out and moved the car to the front of the lot earlier in the night.

We headed back to the motel, and I think that most of us were asleep within 5 minutes of getting into the room.

Tomorrow: Kennywood's Phantom Fright Night!

TR: Crosstown Shootout (XU vs. UC) - 12/12/07

2007-12-14T18:23:00.000-05:00

I arrived shortly after 5:30, so had no trouble with parking or traffic. I decided to break out the blue spirit hair that, coincidently enough I bought the last time the Crosstown was at Cintas. So last year's Xavier Nation shirt and blue hair, that ought to do it.

Collected the free rally towel on the way in. Nice move to have enough for everybody, and the towel had a full color Crosstown Shootout logo on it. In that was the promo item was suitable for all fans, no matter what school they are affiliated with.

Stopped at the Atlantic City table on the way back to Duff's, and collected a free pen and some free salt water taffy, as well as get registered for a A10 Tournament package. I sit here eagerly awaiting their email telling me I won.:)

Walked into Duff's and they were already in full swing. Had some Skyline, it seemed only fitting for the Skyline game. There were five door prizes tonight, all Skylne gift cards of undisclosed value. No, I didn't win.

Got to me seat in section 208 about 12 minutes before the game started. Saw the student section already looking pretty full and already fired up. Also noted the stands at large were filling up faster than usual. There were a few UC fans around me, but they were mostly in isolated single seats. I can report the ones around me were pretty subdued, yes they cheered at team approprate moments, but not even annoying really.

As you might expect, the Bearcats brought their cheerleaders, their mascot, and even their gigantic flag. In other words, the usual. One of the funny moments before the game was when the Bearcat and the Blue Blob were out on the court togehter, and the Bearcat comes out with a large Pac Man shaped clapboard and proceeds to go after Blue Blob like he was eating a ghost. Hey, credit to cleverness where due.

The Schola Cantorum sang the national anthem, and I thought the sound system was turned a bit low, a problem which was resolved somewhat later in the evening.

For team introductions, as has already been reported the big surprise was the really neat "X" field light show. I hope we get to see that again sometime, in fact I would not mind that becoming a permanent feature. Imagine if you will giant "X"'s in the same font as the logo appearing on the court, then they start multiplying with more and more coming on, then they start spinning around in a flurry of motion., eventually all zooming towards center court to highlight the Musketeer waving the flag. Very impressive.

During home team introductions, the Bearcat stood on center court reading the paper, an obvious reference to the traditional student section paper reading during guest introductions.

Oh, and I think everybody breathed a sigh of relief when the lights came back on. :)

Then the game started...

Okay, UC gets the tip, no problem so far. UC scored the first points, a trey, but we soon looked like we would get back into it. Then as we all know someone put a lid on our basket. It seemed like we could not buy a bucket, the only saving grace was that UC wasn't faring much better on their end of the court. I knew that we were in for the usual Shootout experience, where the lead flip flops back and foth and no one ever gets up more than 5 points. Crosstown Blowout, yeah right.

I think the crowd was pumped at tip off and for the first few minutes or so it seemed like we came out of the gate running, but as we kept missing more shots, I could see the wind being taken out of the fans sails. I wouldn't say it was quiet around me, but crys of "ARRRRGGHHHH!","NOOOOOOOO!!", "NOT AGAIN!!!!" were replacing positive cheering.

Its always a humbling experience when the team that the "experts" say you should dominating is dominating you. Oh, there were some nice shots every now and then, small glimers of light. To go back to the four minute wars concept, here is how the first half played out:

16:00 media time out: Tied at 7
12:00 media time out: Down 1 12-13, despite building a 5 point lead.
8:00 media time out: Down 2 17-19
4:00 media time out: Down 4 17-21
That's right, 1 score in the whole "war", I want to say the scores stayed low due to excellent defense on both sides, or it could be a wide variety of ill advised shots. You may recall last year's game had some scoring droughts as well. I wonder if because both teams lay their heart and soul of on the floor for this game, that there may just bee a whole higher level of pressure to perform.

Then - things started getting ugly. As one of my friends quipped after the game "That was a football game disguised as a basketball game" as the game degenerated into classic street basketball, you know "No harm,no foul",well thats how this game we being called. I know we often want the officials to stay out of the game, but this was fast becoming a very physical game.

THEN, all of a sudden we have 8 or 9 guys on the floor fighting over the basketball like it was made of solid gold. I like to see the "Never say die" enthusiasm, but I suppose those closer to the action can verify that tempers flared, trash talk was exchanged, and the situation had to be defused. The officials defused the situation with a nice double technical (Burrell/Warren), which if you have to have a technical, at least that way no one got any uncontested free throws, and it was, I'm sure intended to put both teams on notice that this is a college game, not a neighborhood playground game.

While the officials were sorting this all out, the classic "UC SUCKS" chant started in the student section, and it looked like from my seat it was quickly quieted down when Fr. Graham stared over to the student section like "Knock it off, NOW!"

The half sort of peters out from there, but then kudos to Josh Duncan for the buzzer beater trey to give us a 4 point lead, and the momentum going into intermission. This helps to revive the crowd that was sitting there in a state of shock and awe wondering "How is this game so close?"

The halftime show wasn't much to write home about, it was a contest from Skyline. At first I thought they were setting up for some super deluxe game of Beer Pong. Instead it was bowling. Each contestant got one roll to roll a basketball towards somewhere around 100 Skyline Chili large takeout cups. Person to get the most down got a years worth of Skyline, the loser still walked away with a $100 gift card. The first person rolled and knocked down 56 cups according to the official scorer. The second person really hammed it up, which is usually an invitation to be served a nice large slice of humble pie, but then he proceeded to roll, well if it wasn't a strike (all cups down) it was very close. I was still able to run down and get a fresh beer. The halftime stats people printed the stats on paper with a big GO X! on the back instead of the usual advertisement. Oh, BTW, I vividly recall X coming out on the floor first for warm ups for the second half, to dispel that rumor.

Then the second half started.

The second half was more of the same as the first.

Halftime: 29-25 - The Good Guys
16:00 time out - 37-32 Good Guys - Hey, it looks like things may be improving!

At 12:56 - That was when Gentry takes a knee (from a fellow Bearcat) to the head, HARD. I saw the spill, and unlike most falls in basketball, Gentry did not get back up, in fact he didn't even make a movement. That was when I got worried. We had the medical time out, and the longer Gentry laid there, the quieter the arena became. After the signal was given for the waiting EMT crew to appear, the whole arena hushed down as quiet as a church. No music from band or PA which made the quiet in the arena that much more noticeable. As the delay persisted the silence turned into a hushed murmur of the "Can you see whats happening?" "I hope he's gonna be alright" variety. It may be a rivlary game, but we are all human at heart, and for 10 minutes the rivlary was put on hold, and it looked as if everybody was genuinely concerned. I know from my seat in 208 it looked very bad. It looked as if it could very well be critical. The sight of anybody being carrying off on a stretcher during a game is very sobering, and not an experience I ever want to have again. As the medcical team hoisted Gentry up onto the stretcher, the crowd rose to its feet and gave Gentry a very dignified round of applause. Then it stopped for a few seconds, and then resumed as he was being taken out of the arena, and continued until he was outside of the arena bowl.

Then as soon as the teams took the floor again, the rivalry was back on, in a heartbeat.

12:00 timeout: 40 ALL - It's nailbiting time again. This timeout was very confusing as this is when Duncan went down, which did not see. I just thought the teams were going to timeout, then realized something was wrong. At first a wheelchair was being rolled out, but we can all be releved that Duncan was able to walk on his own power. The crowd stood and gave Duncan appluase, true not as prolific as for Gentry, but the injury looked no where near as severe. Even the UC fans in my area applauded during Duncan's ovation.

At the 8:00 media timeout, the enthusiasm usually generated by the Ball Toss was somewhat tempered as UC went up 43-48! The person behind me calls a buddy on his cell phone to have them play then the song "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. I start to have very real concerns about how I will face my UC fan co workers in the morning.

The final media timeout occurs with the score at 51-53 Bad Guys. The game is now on.

With 2:35 left, the score gets tied up, and from this point on, at least in section 208 and it looked like in the other sections around me, that the crowd was on its feet for the duration of the game, if you weren't standing up, you didn't see the game. I saw a level of cheering that you just don't see too often. People who you didn't think knew how to cheer, an be loud and obnoxious wee cheering loud and proud. I think the crowd energy is what started THE RUN.

We go on the run to get the lead up to 6, then the Free Throw Parade starts. Also known as the longest minute n your life. This is that part of the game where the losing team starts taking their chances sending the winning team to the free throw line and hoping they miss their free throws, which when you are only dealing with the BONUS situation and not the double bonus is an appealing risk. All to get the ball back into your posession.

Here is where we can rest easy that they did take their 100 free throw practice, as they were able to make the free throws when they mattered the most. By the time the carnage was almost over, we had run the lead up to a respectable 8 points, the highest lead of the game, but don't get comfortable, a buzzer beater 3 by UC ends the game at 64-59 Good Guys.

The crowd erupts in loud cheering and jubilation. With no one having left the game early, I knew not to be too eager to get out of the arena. I had planned on sticking around and watching Coach Miller's comments on the scorecube, and stuck around till they started turning off the lights. I got the hint, and we got out to the parking lot, and there was still a backup of cars leaving. Turned on the radio, and it seemed to still take forever to hear the commentary.

All in all, everybody got the full $26 worth of basketball they paid for. I can hope that our team learned a lot about zone defense, specifically how to thwart it. If they learn something, anything from this brutal game, it will be worth it, if they learned something and still get the "W", thats wonderful.

The blue spirit hair just might have to come back to Cintas Center for special occasions, as I recieved a LOT of positive feedback on it from those who sit around me, to just people I passed walking on the concourse.

Now its Thursday, and I must admit, yeah we got the "W" but it was not very satisfying from the perspective that just didn't have it in me to talk the smack with aforementioned UC loving co workers. I mean, I have learned over the years to keep a low profile BEFORE the game, but now I didn't really get to enjoy it as the UC fans were quick to point out how much of a struggle they put up.

I mean I still pinned the ticket stub onto the Xavier flag in my office as I can still use it to deflect any incoming smack talk for a year.

But, as someone else suggested it's over, time to refocus on Arizona State. It's true they didn't cause us much trouble last year, but remember we are in their house this year. Road games are always tough, time to rally behind the troops and go for 9-1.

In parting: Best of wishes and a speedy recovery and return to the basketball floor for Duncan and Gentry.