How is Kings Islan'd waterpark

My wife and I are going to KI for Labor Day weekend, and I am wondering how their waterpark is. If the weather stays as warm as it has been we will definitely be hitting the waterpark. My waterpark experiences are not that many with the ones in the Dell's being the best I have been at.

Also, the last time I was at KI was in 1980 and I hear the beast has been tamed down since then. I was just wondering is it still a good ride? I always remembered it as being awesome.

Beast is still king of coasters. You can feel the breaks slow it down sometimes, but the incredible sense of speed is still there. It's still a very exciting ride.

The water park is very large, and can get very busy. It's really nice, with a good assortment of slides and attractions.

Kings Island is one of the best parks in the country, in my opinion.

I will probably be there that Saturday with my teenage cousin.

What Beast are you riding? The one I rode last was, incredibly, both boring and rough. How that's possible is beyond me..... :)

Arbitrary apostrophes ftw.

I just rode The Beast during Coasting For Kids, and it was just as exciting as I remember it the previous year, and every year that I have been to the park prior.

The speed just before the second lift, as well as the speed going through the tunneled helix after the second lift is just as exhilarating as I always remember it to be.

I don't know what the difference between our rides could be. I still really enjoy The Beast!

...Interesting controversy though. :)

I agree with you LK. I rode Beast this year and it was still a great ride. Even with the trims it still felt extremly fast and somewhat out of control. To me it did not seem that rough however I was riding towards the front most of the time. I can't even imagine what it would be like if the trims were turned off!

My Beast rides in June were terrific, especially at night. Yeah, the trims take away some momentum, but my enjoyment of one of my favorite rides didn't suffer.

If we include the waterpark (which is rare, maybe once a season) we always go there first, right when they open. Later in the day the lines for certain slides can be really long, so it pays to catch 'em early, especially if you plan on taking in the park later in the day.

Since your visits to KI are infrequent, don't feel bad if you miss the waterpark - it is really large and nice, but there's nothing you can't find elsewhere, especially at the Dells. I will say it's one of the nicer "in-park" installations that I've seen...and technically it's "outside" the boundries of the main park. It's a good hike or good hike and a train ride there from the gate, so I'd suggest using the separate Boomerang Bay entrance south of the main gate - you can park near it in the south lot. (If you happen to hold a CF platinum pass from somewhere you can get in 1/2 hour early) But if it's nuts busy at the park that weekend you might do best to concentrate on the dry side. I'd let the weather and the crowd decide I guess.

I rode the Beast on it's opening day, have had hundreds of rides since, and in spite of (and in some cases on account of) it's various alterations, I still love it. It's still good where it needs to be, and there's a couple/three moments that get me everytime no matter what. The thing for sure is there's no other ride experience like it in the world, and we are lucky to have it. I cure roughness (but not dryness :) ) by choosing the front seat of any car in the train - "my" seat is the front seat of the last car and I recommend it to everyone. Nice smooth drop into the helix there.

I don't know where you'll be visiting from, Corkscrew Follies, but in Ohio it's starting to get dark around 9p. Be sure to make a night time ride on the Beast a priority, it will jostle your memory back to 1980!

I hope you guys have a blast and I think you'll really love Diamondback, too. It's one of the greatest. Once again- lucky here in Ohio.

Thanks guys, we will be coming from the Grand Rapids area of Michigan, and we will for sure ride the Beast at night. Also, I am a platinum pass holder, and you say we can get in the waterpark a 1/2 hour before they open? Does Cedar Point do this also? We go to CP 3 to 5 times a year but haven't been to Soak City in years. Thanks for all the help everyone.

Also, is there any serious road destruction we need to keep in mind in Ohio? We will be spending 3 days in the area, any other things we need to check out around there?

I think KI's water park is ok, most of not all the slides there can be found at other parks. Think I don't get about these so called "Wave" pools, they don't create waves, they create ripples. Holiday Worlds Bahari Wave Pool makes three foot tall waves.

I think the Beast gives good rides, heard they were assigning seats don't know if that's true. The best seat's are the middle seats, when you sit over a wheel you feel every bump, seating in the middle feels better. And I like the Red Racer over Blue.

Because of the chaos that has been permitted in Beast's station in recent years, it's hard to figure out which rows are for middle (or back or front) benches. Also, it seems like there was some realignment of individual bench queues sometime in the past that causes problems.

Overall these days, with all the neutering that's been done to it, Beast is more of a whiny, petulant bitch than the monster that used to roar through the trees.