PKI - 4/1

My mom called me at college earlier this week and told me that she won tickets from a local television station for the sneak preview weekend at Kings Island. I have never been to a park early in the year, so I was very excited to have the chance. The weather forecasts all week predicted rain and cooler temperatures, so we weren’t surprised to find that to be the case.

My family and I arrived at the park around 5:45 after the 210 mile journey from West Virginia. It was very overcast and windy, but to our surprise the rain had stopped for the most part. As we approached the park we saw Delirium making a cycle, soon followed by Drop Zone, Face-Off, and Son of Beast. We weren’t sure if they operated the rides in cooler weather or rain, so we were very excited to see the rides operating.

My sister and I separated from my mom and dad at the entrance of the park, and we headed off to the Action Zone.

-Son of Beast-

Our first ride was going to be Top Gun, but it was closed so we hopped in line for Son of Beast. I’ve never really enjoyed this ride, and I wasn’t planning on riding today but my sister wanted to, so I did. We waited two cycles for the second seat of car one. Our ride was surprisingly smooth compared to the others I have had in the past. I’m 6’2” and Son of Beast usually gives me quite a beating, especially my legs. I’m not sure if they have done a lot of work to the track over the winter or if it was just our seat, but the ride was very good. 9/10.

-Adventure Express-

I have always enjoyed the Adventure Express, and yesterday’s ride was no exception. There was no wait and only a few people in line for the first car, so my sister and I decided to sit in separate parts of the train. She sat towards the middle, and I sat in the last row. It was really interesting to ride in a virtually empty train. I love the way this little ride whips you around, especially in the last row. I noticed a few improvements to the theming in the tunnels since last summer. 8/10.

-Racer-

After Adventure Express we headed straight to the Racer. We rode both forwards and backwards. The forward side was running very well. We had a smooth ride filled with airtime, but the backwards side was another story. It could have been just our seat towards the back of the train, but it was awfully bumpy. At the bottom of the hills we got rapidly jolted up and down. A really good forward ride coupled with the rather poor backward ride gives the Racer a 7.5/10.

After the Racer we weren’t sure what we wanted to do next, so we went and checked out the Italian Job site. The ride looks extremely fun. From where we were standing, all of the track work, theming, and landscaping looks to be in place. Although I was skeptical when the ride was announced, it really fits in well. There was a rumor going around that they were going to test the ride at 7:00, but I don’t think that ever happened. I’m not sure if the ride is even close enough to completion to be tested at this point. After checking out the site, we rode the Zephyr after deciding to skip Flight of Fear because of the wait.

We wanted to ride the Vortex next, but the line was closed. They were running trains through the course, but I think they were empty, so we decided to head on back to the Beast.

-Beast-

By the time we made our way back to the Beast it was completely dark. We got in line and made our way up to the station platform when they announced they would be removing a train from operation. That took around 15 minutes and pushed our total wait time to about 30 minutes. This was only my second night ride on the Beast, and it was incredible. By the time we got on the ride around 8:30, it had started to rain again. It wasn’t raining hard, but screaming through the woods at 65 miles per hour made the droplets feel like little needles. The ride felt very fast and out of control, but also very smooth. I couldn’t tell for sure because it was so dark, but it looked and felt like there was a lot of new wood on the tracks. 10/10.

-Vortex-

After the Beast, we headed back over to the Vortex to grab a ride. The rain had set in and while we were in line my mom called us to tell us that we should head back towards the front so we could go soon. We waited about 15 minutes for the Vortex. I have always loved this ride, and last night’s ride felt especially good in the dark. There were no lights anywhere on the Vortex site, except for a streamer going up the lift hill. The lack of lights created a really eerie feeling and an out of control ride experience. The ride was pretty smooth, except for a couple of jerky Arrow transitions. 8.5/10.

-Delirium-

After Vortex we headed back to the front and grabbed a quick ride on Delirium. We only had to wait one cycle and then we were on. The ride operators weren’t assigning seat numbers like they have done in the past. I’m not sure if this is something that will continue all season, or if they just weren’t doing it last night. I love Delirium, but the rain and temperatures in the 40s made for a rather miserable ride. At the bottom of the swing the rain really stung your face and hands. Aside from the weather, the ride itself was pretty good. 8/10.

We met my mom and dad at the front gate around 9:20 and decided we should leave for home. We didn’t get to ride all of the coasters or large attractions, but it was really fun to get a few rides in on some of our favorites. The staff was very friendly and efficient, and the park had a pleasant feel even with the poor weather conditions. It was a real treat to visit so early in the season, and we enjoyed our visit even with the poor weather. Thanks for reading.

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pkidelirium said:
I have news for you: IJST has completed over 100 testing cycles.

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Do you have proof?

-Sean