Kings Island 6-3-2010

I got up Thursday morning at 3:15am and left my house in Birmingham, AL for Ohio at 3:42am. I was very motivated to get up there as you can tell. I knew I would be going right by Kings Island on the way to my final destination (Cedar Point) and everytime I do I find the need to just stop and hit the park. Boy am I glad that I did!

I arrived in Mason, OH at around 11:45pm eastern time so I made it from Birmingham in about 7 hours. Not too bad. I did not have a ticket to get in so I had to get one somewhere. I knew they had discount tickets online so I managed to find the Mason public library and printed a ticket for $30 which I thought was a good deal. I would have bought a season pass but I don't think I will have the opportunity to return anytime the rest of the season. I then grabbed a $5 footlong from Subway for lunch and then headed over to the park. I avoided the $10 parking fee by parking in the Showcase Cinemas parking lot. Yes it was a long walk but I was willing because I really did not want to drop $10 for a parking spot when I found a way to avoid doing so. I was also by myself so I did not mind the long walk to the entrance.

I entered the park at 1:06pm and I couldn't have been any happier! I love the big fountains that line the main midway with the Eiffle Tower in the background. Plus I had not been at an amuesment park since August of '09 so I was craving me some coaster action.

I knew what I needed and that was Diamondback so I went straight for it! I got in the single rider line and waited about 17 minutes (which was the longest wait I had all day) and got in row 9 for my ride. The ride was awesome as it always is. I love the lift to the drop to the hills and airtime and the final helix over the water! Great ride. I got back in the single rider line and waited less than 10 minutes this time. It is always a gamble hitting that single rider line. I think the main line moved faster most of the day honestly. They gave me row 2 which I was very happy about! Another great ride.

My next ride would be THE BEAST. Yes I love the Beast. It was pretty much a walk-on so I rode it 3 times in a row. Even with all of the trims (I think there are 4 total) the ride still feels out of control to me. I mean the trim will slow the car down but it will just continue to pick up so much speed. It's like the trims are supposed to slow down the ride but you can't tame the Beast!

From the Beast I went and got my first ever walk-on on Stunt Coaster. Fun ride. I enjoy the launches and tunnels. I then hit up Vortex. The wait was about 10 minutes. Vortex is an ok ride. It can be rough at certain points. I actually greyed out at one point on it which surprised me! I felt like such a wimp! I kept telling myself that I am retired from riding Vortex but I know good and well when I am at Kings Island again I will ride it. Then I went and rode the Red Racer 3 times in a row. I was very surprised with this ride. It was so smooth! I sat towards the front and I'm sure that had something to do with it. I was also impressed with the airtime I got on the ride! At this point I had met a friend to ride with and she said she had never rode the Beast so I was like let's go ride it. So we did in the front car! She loved it as did I. Then we went over to Diamondback and caught a ride. She had to go so I got my 4th ride on Dback after that and then took a rest with a great Blueberry/Vanilla ice cream cone.

While I ate my cone I walked all the way from the new Planed Snoopey area to Flight Deck. It took me that long to finish that cone! Then I hit up Flight Deck and got a reride on it since there was nobody in the station. It was very fast for a suspended coaster I thought. I enjoyed it. Then rode Adventure Express and got a reride. It is one of my favorite mine rides. I don't know why I just like it and think it goes pretty fast for a mine ride. Then I went and hit up the Racer again. I rode the Blue and then the Red train. Fun rides yet again. I then went on Invertigo and Drop Tower. I think Invertigo is pretty intense. I love going through those loops backwards. Also, Drop Tower is one incredible free fall ride! Scares me to death everytime I ride it but I love it. After those rides I had about an hour left before the park closed so I went over to Dback and rode it two more times and one of these rides was in row 1. Then I went over to Beast and rode it two more times. I closed out the night on Diamondback and it was great!

I just can't say enough about my visit. I love Kings Island. I was there from 1-8pm and the park was as dead as I have ever seen it! I will say though that Flight of Fear and Firehawk had the longest lines of the day so that is why I didn't ride them. Flight of Fear (which I love) was a 30 minute wait and Firehawk (which is the most intense coaster I have ever been on) was about an hour wait. I just didn't feel the need to wait for them this time. I got plenty of rides in on everything else. I intially was only going to stay till 5-6pm so I could begin my trip up to Cedar Point but I just had to stay, I couldn't leave! I rode 26 total rides: 7 on Diamondback, 6 on Beast, and 5 on Racer.

I was also really impressed by the Racer. I rode it in front about 10 minutes after the park opened to the public on that Thursday and got great air and great speed. Too bad when I came around the second time that line was pretty long and I had to pass on it.

That was quite the gutsy drive from AL to OH. And to think that I complain about having to drive 4 hours to get to HW.

Hell, I complain about driving 50 miles to KI and often skip it.

Yeah I just figured since the park was on my way to Cedar Point I would just go and enjoy it while I had the time to do so. Plus it broke up the drive a little since the total time I was in the car was almost 11 hours.

I agree with you on firehawk being intense. I rode it when it was x-flight at Geauga Lake. That is one of the most thrilling rollercoasters I have been on. I think it beats the Superman rides mainly for the verticle loop. It aslo seems a lot faster than the B&M rides. That double corkscrew is insane! Why B&M didn't incorporate those inversions into their rides is beyond me.

I was thinking about going to Kings Island, but, ever since Son of Beast had it's loop removed, I really debate on wether or not I want to go there. Is Son of Beast still closed? What's going on with that?

If I could get a Max pass, Kings Island, Cedar Point, and Canada's Wonderland would be on my wish list, while I spend the rest of the summer at Michigan's Adventure which is only 45 miles from my house.

Wish Michigan's Adventure would get some coaster love. We're getting Jipped here! OOOOHHH!!! We get new Bumper Boats... Big F"N" Deal!!!

Timber-Rider said:
If I could get a Max pass, Kings Island, Cedar Point, and Canada's Wonderland would be on my wish list,

I'll be visiting those three parks...in that order...two weeks from now. Of course, my drive is a little longer than yours...11 hours or so to KI, then four to CP and 6 to Canada. But I like driving, so I'm looking forward to it.