As I'm heading up to Park #2 (Cedar Point) tomorrow, I figured I should get caught up here. I left Kentucky and enjoyed an excellent dinner and visit with John P. and family and actually got some work done the night before heading over to the park.

King's Island is a decent park, with a couple of outstanding rides. The first several were pretty ho-hum, even their newest coaster, the Diamondback. It was just a brief, fast, average steel coaster. From there it was on to the obligatory Big Drop ride - these are all really the same, but I still enjoy them. Someday I have got to go skydiving and experience the "real" thing. Anyway, KI's Drop Tower was better than most in that it sat at the top for a good 10 seconds so you could enjoy the view and the thumping of your heart while waiting for the drop. The drop however seemed super-short, but then again it always does. Then the Flight Deck, which was pretty old and dull - guess it's cheaper to keep operating it than to tear it down and replace it.

The Vortex was the first enjoyable coaster of the day, much better than it's newer cousin. The twists were twistier, it was longer and pulled significantly more G's. The Racer was a perfectly decent wooden camelback 2-track coaster, though only one side was running. I later learned that once upon a time one side was run backwards - that would have been cooler. But the Scream Machine in Atlanta is still a better camelback. Similarly, Adventure Express was an ok Mine Train, but not exceptional.

Then I made it around to The Beast. Oh My God, what a great coaster. Everything a wooden coaster should be. It has a great first hill, is bumpy as a bull ride and after the second lift has this amazing helix section - right off the chain you start gaining serious speed on a steep angled decline that twists into a tunnel. By the bottom it has gained so much speed that 2 spirals of the helix are UPhill just so you can cruise into the brakepad before the station. As soon as I got off it, I was headed back to the line and did it again, this time in the very back car. The 3rd time I just asked the station guy to let me hang out until there was another single rider, and lucky me the very next load had an empty seat near the back. Finally, I went back for a fourth ride, this time at the very front. I could easily gone another half-dozen times if I hadn't had more rides to still try. Before leaving the park I was sorely tempted to go for another ride, and wish I had gone back after dark to try it at night.

Unfortunately the Son of Beast was closed because someone had reported an injury just a few days before. So if anyone hears of it opening up before the end of this season, please, please, please let me know. If The Beast is that good, I can't imagine how great Son of Beast must be.

From there it was a bit anticlimactic, but still much better than the first few rides. Delirium is what's known as a Giant Frisbee, which I find to be very relaxing for some reason. Like a really big rocking chair. I guess I really like negative G's. The Backlot Stunt Coaster was kind of cheesy, but interesting too - it was basically a Mine Train on a steel coaster frame. Normally a steel track makes a coaster too smooth to feel like a Mine Train, but BSC managed to mostly pull it off. Firehawk and Invertigo were perfectly decent rides. Firehawk ended up being the longest line of the day - over an hour - and I might have liked it a bit more with a shorter wait. Flight of Fear was a really good indoor coaster - normally those are pretty lame because they think just being in the dark makes it a big deal. But it was the only LIM coaster in the park (the kind that take off super-fast) and kept up a good speed throughout the ride. The Crypt was closed, so I have no idea what it's like.

Stupid me forgot the sunscreen and ended up with a very red neck (insert your own joke here) and farmer's tan. And it was a hot day, easily around 90, so I was pretty drained by the time I got back to the room. More work, and then a drive up to Columbus for a day at Origins with the rest of the gamer geeks. Got to play Uruk again - it will hit my dime list before the month is up - and see Janna, Kevin, Ken and other friends. Found out Zong Shi is still aiming for an Essen release, so still crossing my fingers but not holding my breath.

Then the drive over to the Akron area for a weekend visit with Michael G. and family. Played a lot of games and actually got a bunch of work done. Found out that his 7-year old can beat me at Mario Kart without really even trying - not that I'm surprised by this fact. Tomorrow I head up to Cedar Point for a evening of rides, then more coaster-ing the next morning before the not-too-long drive into Michigan for a week there. Then the long drives begin, bouncing through Virginia and hitting a couple more parks before ending up in Charlotte for Gulf Games. I've pretty much written off getting up to the Six Flags in New Jersey. When I was going to head east via Pennsylvania it was doable, but the plans now have me going southeast through West Virginia, so the time-space field won't stretch quite far enough to make it work.