You could tell he really was gun-ho about going, since he wasn't planning on coming till last minute, and it was an aching 9 1/2 hour drive!
So after arriving Thursday, we visited Kings Island on Saturday from 10am to 10pm.
Once we got in the park, we were instantly amazed by the entrance plaza, it seemed like and improved version of the Disney entrance plaza.
The eiffel tower and the fountains along with the KI logo looked picture perfect, and although I normally don't buy any souvenirs at a theme park, we had to get a picture of us in front of the fountains.
The park was very clean, and the paving was well maintained, unlike my local park Worlds of Fun which has torn up and damaged paving.
we looked around the entrance plaza and decided to go wait by the ropes to get to Diamondback, as it was 9:30 at the time. After waiting half an hour they un-hooked the ropes and everybody sprinted to Diamondback. After entering the line, it was only a 5 minute wait to ride.
I must say this is arguably the best ride I have ever rode, the first drop was exhilarating and rest of the ride was pure air-time which is what probably made the ride so good.
After that we made our way to the Beast, being said one of the best woodies in the world, we couldn't miss it. We got in line, which was almost a walk on. Me and my son were expecting it to be very rough, but I guess once you've rode Timberwolf at Worlds of Fun, no woody can break your back.
I was disappointed in The Beast, perhaps it was because we rode Diamondback and it so close together? To me it was just a long wooden coaster, even so the tunnels were pretty exciting.
We then made our to Backlot Stunt Coaster, for future reference how about BSC? the line for BSC was about half an hour, we met a coaster enthusiast in line giving is more tips on the rest of the park, that was great! Very helpful.
BSC was a great ride, very intense, it whipped you around and had a decent story, and the dark part of the ride was completely unexpected, however the "headlights" weren't on in the dark part as we were told they were normally on after the ride.
We took a look the Vortex line, but it was a huge wait, so we decided to hit the others and come back later.
We then made our way to Firehawk, we had no idea Flight of Fear was a coaster till after we left the park, so Firehawk only.
The wait was about 20 minutes, and it was worth it!
This ride was extremely intense, and had you screaming the entire time, it wasn't amazing, but fun nonetheless.
After a 5 minute wait we rode the Racer, red train, blue train won by a mile but this ride was great! A classic out and back.
We walked by Adventure Express, saving it for later as the line was also long. We then rode Delirium, about a 20 minute wait, it was lots of fun, the slight spin added a great element to the long drops. We had no intention to ride Drop Tower, i was too chicken! So we head to Flight Deck.
The line was about 25 minutes, I had never been on a swinging coaster before, me and my son were both eager to experience this.
I have to say, this ride caught me off guard, looking at it we expected it to be a slow and fairly boring ride. But that thing was fast! You would speed up weirdly, you would be going slow at the bottom of the hill then somehow speed up halfway up the hill! Although short, a very fun ride and we rode it again.
Since Son of Beast was right next to it, we had no choice. We waited about 35 minutes, I was expecting THIS to at least be rougher then Timberwolf at WOF. It should be a law not to make a woody this tall and fast!
Although we were eager once we got on board, going up the lift, looking at the rest of the ride...our faces dimmed. Going around the turn to go down the first hill was the most intense moment i've had on a coaster, and that thing just went!!! The train was so small, and the ride was so huge it was unbelievable, and the ride was surprisingly smooth...
After that shaking experience, we headed to the Eiffel tower and went to the top, it was an easy walk on. It was very cool at the top, it gave a great overview of the park, and it was interesting to see suburbs and city's on one side. And forests and farms on the other.
After that we hit Diamondback a few more times. The wait was averaging 40 minutes, and to get a few more rides, we agreed to split up and go single rider, we got about 4-5 more ride each!
Then we hit the Kings Island train, although we weren't expecting much, it didn't even get close to expectations! It hardly went by any rides, and was a bore.
After that we rode Vortex, about a 20 minute wait, this thing was horrible! I'm not quite sure what happened, it looked like a lot of fun, but your head banged around in between the restraints so much it wasn't even enjoyable. We were eager to get off!
After that it was around 8:30, we rode White Water Canyon, an easy walk on. Then we rode Diamondback 3 more times, all in the dark. The dark ride was amazing, going up the chain-lift you could see the stars, the first drop was even more intense, then by the end of the second hill it was pitch black.
In the queue for the third ride, there was an unexpected show of fireworks, great entertainment for a queue line!
That was our last ride on Diamondback, it was 10:30, so we left the park and head back to our hotel.
Overall, this park is a 7/10. Lots of fun, clean, employees were helpful and friendly, the crowd was relatively friendly even though a few people line jumped on Diamondback. (Got caught though!)
I hope to come back someday!
This is my first trip report, so if anybody has any tips for my future trip reports, please let me know. :-)
Vortex when it came on the scene in the 80's was amazing! It was so smooth and a blast but over the years has really show the wear. The ride is almost unbearable now. :(
Too bad you missed Flight of Fear. Great take off and some fun twists and turns. Oh well something to look forward to for next time.
And Flight Deck is my favorite coaster of it's size and length. Very fun! Really feels like you are flying. The line is always so short that my son and I ride it 2-3 times on every visit. Can't wait to ride Diamonback!
Bummer that you missed Flight of Fear.
One note: Timber Wolf (which you mentioned several times) has been fixed up quite a bit this year and seems a lot smoother. It is still a bit painful, but definitely more up and down jarring than side to side painful. However, an unintended side effect of the fix seems to be that Timber Wolf has slowed considerably. It barely makes it past the double helix midway through the ride before sputtering through the final run. I will have to ride it again when the weather is warmer, but right now, I preferred it more when it flew around the track breaking your back and neck with every sharp turn.
Anyway, did you happen to eat at KI or did you leave and re-enter? I have not been to KI since Cedar Fair took over, so I am curious if the food is as lame as the choices at Worlds of Fun or not?
For lunch we were planning on going to Panda Express in the theatre, but the line was out the door, at least a 45 minute line!
So we head over to Chick-Fil-A by Diamondback, we both had the Chicken strip meal, the chicken strips were decent, but the waffle fries were horrible! And it was fairly expensive, so that meal was a normal theme park meal.
However, at dinner we went to Panda Express at last, and it was also normal price, but the food was great! Fried rice and orange chicken, yum!
Not surprisingly, you can find a very "Chick-Fil-A"ish Restaurant at WOF, as well as a Panda Express.
So as far as food goes for this park, so-so as far as i could tell.
