Well, sure, Jacob Addison loves running around Paramount's Kings Island all day rushing from ride to ride, but it's not the main reason he treks up here from Louisville every weekend.

        No, the big thing that drives him north is a little more, well, academic. Cyberacademic, maybe.

Jacob Addison of Louisville runs a web site devoted to King's Island. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

        Mr. Addison's hobby, see, is maintaining www.pkiguide.com, a year-old Web site — independent from the park — that tells visitors everything they ever wanted to know about the place, from news to ride descriptions, stats and bios, food options, attack plans to hit the most rides in the least time, chat forums, accommodations, the works.

        A right-handy little tool just now, as the park begins daily operations this weekend and families start planning summer visits. During last year's debut summer, the site was getting 30,000 page views a month, so, yeah, we guess there's a need.

        And Mr. Addison is ready to fill it. He's a 23-year-old minister of music at Louisville's Greenville Christian Church, a guy who has played piano twice at Carnegie Hall after winning competitions, a guy who spends his weeks planning worship services, rehearsing his choir and maintaining his church's Web site.

        So you gotta wonder: What the heck is he doing running up here every weekend? Especially since he lives in the shadow of Louisville's Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. “I can stand on my roof and see it,” he says.

        “But I grew up in Northern Kentucky and graduated from Dixie High School in '97. For as long as I can remember, Mom bought Kings Island season passes and we'd go every Sunday after church. The whole family. My brother worked there, singing in a barbershop quartet.

        “The first thing I did when I moved back to Louisville after college in Florida was buy a season's pass because I always loved going there. It's such a wonderful family thing, both in the memories I have from growing up, and the new ones I'm making now.”

        Those new ones involve only wife Tellina for now, but come September will involve their first child as well. “You know the only negative thing Tal's said about being pregnant? "Oh no, now I won't be able to ride Tomb Raider.'

        “Since she can't ride, she does a lot of food testing, hotel checking, that sort of thing. She wasn't too keen on all this when I started, but now, she's really gotten into it.”

        Nowadays, a typical summer weekend for the Addisons is to jump in the car as early as possible Friday afternoon for the 90-mile trek up Interstate 71, sometimes straight to PKI, sometimes with a stop at his parents' home in Northern Kentucky, where they always crash for the weekend.

        Saturdays are usually a full day at the park, followed by the 90-mile trek south so he's home on Sunday for church.

        Lots of driving, that. Wouldn't it be easier to climb down from his roof and head for Kentucky Kingdom?

        “I've been there a couple of times and it has some really great rides. But the feel of the park, it's like being on a big slab of concrete. It all looks the same and there's no shade. If you're there three or four hours, you've done it all, whereas PKI, you need three or four days.

        “Our visits are always different. When Tal was riding last year, some days we'd go and ride the Beast a couple of times and leave. Other days we'd do the Flying Eagles — we love those things — and bumper cars for hours. Other days, we'd do all we could from opening to close.”

        That's not the path Mr. Addison recommends for the summer visitors in the throes of planning a trip. For them, he recommends they arrive early and head all the way back to Rivertown. Start at the Beast and work forward through the attractions.

        Then move to the Coney section, start at the back and once again work forward. The end of that trip dumps you into Action Zone (Son of Beast, Drop Zone), the park's busiest and most crowded section.

        “But you'll be getting there late in the day, when it's less crowded. See, most people go through the gate in the morning, turn left and head straight for Action Zone's big guns. They're out of there by late afternoon when you're arriving.

        “Of course, Tomb Raider may change that. We'll be visiting this summer to check that out.”

        Whatever he finds, he'll report it on pkiguide.com. Not with a rating, mind you, but with what he calls a recommendation.

        “At first, I did rate rides on a a 1-5 basis, but so many people are looking for so many different things and judging by so many different standards. One wants thrills, one wants a family experience, somebody else just wants to sit and feel the wind. There's just no standard that works across the board.

        “But I do say so when I think something is a "don't miss.' That's things like the Beast and Son of Beast, the revamped version of Flight of Fear.

        “I think Tomb Raider is a don't miss, too, if for no other reason than because there's nothing like it anywhere in the Midwest. You have to go to Florida to have a similar experience.

        “The really cool thing about Tomb Raider is the system that runs that particular ride is capable of some really crazy maneuvers. Right now it's set at a level people can appreciate, but the consensus in the industry is that Kings Island is testing the limits to see how much people will tolerate. But the ride's capable of doing more, wilder maneuvers. I'd like to see that happen.”

        Something else he'd like to see happen at PKI is “a large steel coaster, like Millennium (Cedar Point). I understand the lay of the land there makes it difficult, but wouldn't it be fun? But what the heck, isn't just about everything there fun?”

       Mr. Addison doesn't rate the rides, but The Enquirer did last year when it sent a team of four thrill-seekers to spend the day and keep score. Check it out at http://www.cincinnati.com/visitorsguide/ki/raterides.html
       

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