Since Sarah nagged Andrew into coming, he got to ride in her car (with the in-dash CD player) in the front seat (no less). He graciously offered to “let” me ride in the backseat with my legs hoisted up onto the other half of the seat (since there was a lot of crap on the floor). I declined and went to Dad’s car.

We listened to the radio for a while (until Dad was headed for the AM dial), then I handed Mom my “Best of the 90’s” CD (Thank you, Target). She fussed with the thing for a little while; I reminded her how to turn it on (you have to hold the play button for a REALLY long time), and Dad kept checking to make sure the FM transmitter was working (Dad’s car doesn’t like fake cassette tapes, it can taste the cord coming out of the slot). Turns out the thing must have gotten bumped in the glove box (poor design), so the battery was dead. …So no tunes except what we can find on the radio… which means constant flipping… Hm… Are we there yet? (Actually, Mom had me doing a sort of karaoke/name-that-tune thing with my CD; I sang bits of each song so that she would recognize what they were. That was fun for the 5 minutes it lasted.)

Besides late-night hysterics in the hotel room (which, by the way: Sarah’s laughing is mostly contagious because she makes the bed shake trying to contain it!), I remember the disappointing continental breakfast. Striking the options of 3 varieties of bland fiber in a bowl (also known as Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, and original Cheerios), I went with warm fruit cocktail, and OJ with a surprisingly good blueberry muffin. (Found out later that they saved better stuff for the late-comers: namely, microwavable sausage biscuits! MEAT!)

We arrived at the park and paid our (outrageous) $9 for parking, and while walking to the front, Dad reminded us that we were parked in, “Front to Back 44″. *laughter* “You mean, FACE/OFF 44?” Sarah says. Dad can tell this is a joke that is going to linger.

Security was better this year (for me anyway); they actually checked all THREE pockets of my hipbag, instead of the ONE they checked last year. And while waiting for the rest of the fam to come through the scanning line (they were held up by some teens who were being fingerprinted ), Andrew and I took a lovely survey (that’s new). Then, as Mom said, there was the obligatory first ride on the Porcelain Train (or the Swirly; which do you think is a better name?), as well as the “Scatter!” approach to photo avoidance. (Though we discussed later that it might have been more fun to let them take our picture and begin screaming, “They took my SOUL!” …hee hee)

One of the first rides, which Mom failed to mention was Scooby-Doo’s Haunted Mansion. Since my miserable performance in ghost hunting last year, I was dreading another pathetic ride-through. My score did not disappoint: 360 (and that was the combined score with TWO “guns”). Compare that to the others’ scores, which leaned into the 1200-1300+ range. I got a second shot at it later in the day and discovered that *shock of shocks* you’re not supposed to point AT the target! You’re supposed to aim like a little kid and shoot underneath it (so that you can keep the target in view while shooting)! *sigh* Outsmarted by a kiddie ride.

I got to ride everything that I wanted to ride that day (except for the “Antique Cars” - as they’re now calling them, but I did get to ride a few things twice: Drop Zone and Viking Fury). The Son of Beast was rough as ever. I think the reason it seems so much worse than many other roller coasters is that the bouncing is more up-and-down. My brain is used to the side-to-side bangs of other roller coasters, but it has no defense cushioning built up for the up-and-down!!!

Speaking of roller coasters (and being rattled in them), we skipped Outer Limits (awesome take-off, but it’s punishment the rest of the ride, so I didn’t miss it much). I rode the backwards Racer, which I don’t think I rode last year. (Ladies can ask me about the adventure on that one, as well as a Son of Beast tidbit that I left out.) Vortex was standard rough (perhaps even gentler than usual?); Adventure Express was rougher (still fun). And The Beast (celebrating 25 years of terror) was FLYING!!! It may have been because of the rain, but WOAH! I tucked my arms in beside me to soften the blows we were taking! Coming out of that first tunnel in the helix, I was jostled so much and laughing so hard I could barely breathe! (ROCK! heh heh)

Dance, Dance Revolution in the Festhaus was a fun diversion (especially watching one guy go at it after we were done - he obviously has no life). But who comes to King’s Island to play a game they can play at Circle Center (or at home on their PlayStation)? So on we went!

Drop Zone is my absolute favorite ride (and it was actually running consistently this year)! I wish I had a replica in my backyard; I could ride it for hours. I’m not terribly fond of heights, but I can’t get enough of that drop! Where else can you safely “fall” from WAAAAAY high up without the risk of death? (Or with only a MINIMAL risk…)

I know you must be thinking, who would want to ride a water ride when it’s been raining all day? Well, we would, I guess. Alex, Amber, and I piled in the front of a Wild Thornberries boat with Brian (Amber’s boyfriend) and Andrew in the back. I was predicting a good lot of soaking from that arrangement, and I wasn’t disappointed. Alex was completely soaked, and I was wet mostly on my legs. (I looked like I was wearing chaps!) I still don’t know how I managed to cram my legs into that boat, but… It was fun. We rode Congo Falls later (when it finally got up and running again). Sarah, Bubbs, Amber, Brian, and Alex rode it multiple times (in a row; there was no line!), and I got on with them once. Dad daringly took a picture from the bridge as we came down the hill, then went running and cowering to the back of it to avoid the colossal spray that threatened to drench him worse than if he were on the ride.

Fuel: La Rosa’s pizza (what a strange pizza sauce), Mozzarella sticks, and Mello Yello for lunch, Peanut Butter M&Ms after SpongeBob, Potato Works fry shrapnel after The Beast (come to think of it, Tomb Raider was shorter than I remembered it…), and a twist cone (not from the Sweet Tooth) at the end of the evening.

You know, we didn’t even really watch the fireworks? They weren’t shot off around the Eiffel Tower! They were hidden behind some trees (from where we were standing, near Oktoberfest), like they were back in the Coney Mall! Oh well, we were really shopping anyway. I was looking for a hoodie that wasn’t big enough to sleep 4; no success. So I just bought a couple postcards to send to Aiko and Kazuko (two of my roommates from college, both from Japan).

For the ride home, I changed into my pajama shirt (my other shirt was covered in glitter that I didn’t want to get all over everything in the car). We stopped by McDonald’s where I waited in the car for my cheeseburger, which I ate, then I quickly fell asleep and didn’t wake up until the police chase once we were back on the westside.

…Scared ya with that one, didn’t I? ;-D Well, you’ll have to ask Mom for that one.