Advice Needed - Holiday World, Kings Island, SFKK

[edboxer]

I'll be going to Indianapolis in August for Drum Corps International World Championships. I am thinking of flying to Indy a few days early and driving to Holiday World, SF Kentucky Kingdom and Kings Island. I already know that these are several hours drive apart. How much time should I plan at each park? Any thoughts on good motels/hotels near these parks? Any other parks I should hit?

[ginzo]

I'll be going to Indianapolis in August for Drum Corps International World Championships. I am thinking of flying to Indy a few days early and driving to Holiday World, SF Kentucky Kingdom and Kings Island. I already know that these are several hours drive apart. How much time should I plan at each park? Any thoughts on good motels/hotels near these parks? Any other parks I should hit?

 

If you're super cramped for time, you could do it in 2 days. Allocate 1 day for Kings Island and a half day each for Holiday World and SFKK. Kings Island is probably going to be the hardest to get all the credits at. So, don't do Kings Island on a Saturday. Holiday World and SFKK should be easy to do on the same day.

 

As for hotels, I'd suggest Santa's Lodge near Holiday World. It's really cozy and clean, but avoid the nasty buffet at the restaurant.

 

You should consider hitting Indiana Beach either in addition to these parks or in lieu of one of them. It's a great place, and is closer to Indianapolis than HW, SFKK, and KI.

[spaceace12]

Holiday world, if not hitting the water park, can be done in 4 hours on a slow day. SFKK is an hour from HW, I have barely seen that park busy, you could probably hit all the coasters plus some other rides in 4 hours. Never been to kings island. I second Indy Beach, it is less than an hour from indy and on a slow day can be done in 4 hours if you get there for the early ride session.

 

If you go on a weekday or a Wednesday, you never know who might show up.....hint hint.

[mr_teisco_delrey]

What no Beech Bend? You could fit that in real quick between HW and SFKK.

[FLIPDUDE]

Heck with KI, KK or Beech Bend, I can't believe you're going to Indiana and not considering Indiana Beach - which any of the people who went on the midwest trip agree is their favourite park.

[Scaparri]

^Yeah, but keep in mind, IB is completely out of the way given the parks he listed. All the parks he's talking about hitting are all at least two hours away from Indy in a southerly direction. IB is at least an hour and a half north-northwest of Indy. But hey, if you are able to do that, Edboxer, then definitely take advantage of it 'cause it really is an awesome park.

 

I honestly wouldn't suggest any changes to the park itinerary if you are cramped for time at all. Yeah, Beech Bend is only two hours away from SFKK, but it's completely in the opposite direction so it'll put you down at least 4 extra hours of travel time. If you aren't doing the water park at HW and it's a weekday, I would probably suggest 3-4 hours tops, depending on how many rides you like to do. SFKK through the week can honestly be done in an hour or two if the park isn't too busy, which it generally isn't. KI can, range, but again if you go through the week and it's not too busy, you might be able to have the park done in 7 or 8 hours.

 

There isn't a lot in the HW area, so I would suggest trying to stay in Louisville somewhere. I know there are a lot of decent hotels around the park as well as a lot near the airport which is pretty much right next to the park. I couldn't tell you how pricey they are though.

 

As for KI, again, the only hotel I've stayed at in the area is the Kings Island Inn right there on the park's property. I thought it was a fairly nice little hotel and the price was fair given the time of year and the location.

[John Peck]

You could always fly into Indianapolis, rent your car and fly out of Cincinatti, or vice versa. Just make sure the car rental place you use is at both locations

[FeelTheFORCE]

I went to KI in the beginning of August last year and let me tell you, the park was DEAD (except the water park). I don't think you'll need a whole day there to ride everything. It all depends if anything is closed in the beginning of the day. Assuming you've never been there before and want to ride all the major coasters, of course. When I went, Son of Beast was closed half the day and opened at roughly 3:00 pm, so it's basically a hit or miss with that aspect. You just have to be lucky.

[willski]

I went to KI this past June and got all credits except SoB (closed) and the kiddie coaster (I'm too tall).

 

I got a few re-rides and some flats in before 4 pm. If you went hardcore and ran around, you could finish by 2.

[sixflagsguy5]

It really depends on whether or not you're the type of person who likes enjoying a full day at each park or if you just want to ride each coaster once or twice and then go on to the next park.

 

What I would do is spend one day at KI (prefferably any day mon-thurs). That night I would drive to the SFKK area and stay in a hotel room near the park. The next day hit up SFKK for 3+ hours and then spend the rest of the day at Holiday World.

 

Have fun

[disneygurlz2s]

I concur with everyone else, this is a very easy itinerary to do and you can get a lot in in just a couple of days, however bear in mind that the drive between Holiday World and Louisville-Cincinnati can be long and boring and I DO NOT recommend it at the end of a long theme park visiting day (I nodded off several times on my drive home last August!). I would highly recommend heading to Holiday World first, spend the night (The Santa's Lodge is awesome, but there are other reasonably priced properties nearby), hit the park at opening and then head on to Kentucky Kingdom. *NOTE... you "lose" an hour heading to Louisville, so.. if you leave HW at 2:00 pm it is already 3:00 p.m. in Louisville. Plan accordingly!

 

I would then spend the night in Louisville or just north of Louisville and head to Cincinnati the next morning!

 

Have a great time!

 

Shari

[edboxer]

Thanks for all the responses so far. Greatly appreciated!

 

To answer a few questions - I'm the kind that will go from one coaster to the next until I've ridden them all, and then decide which one(s) I want to ride again. I won't do Waterparks on this trip, and I usually don't ride much of anything except coasters, unless something strikes my fancy.

 

I am aware of Indiana Beach, but as I will have limited time, I chose the southern route as I can hit at least three parks in a somewhat circular route from Indy.

 

And the last time I was at Kings Island, 1980. I have never been to Holiday World. The stop at SFKK is simply because its conveniently located between KI and HW.

[coolhandluke]

I went to Kings Island last summer with a friend on the final Sunday before going weekends only (as a final "pre-move-off-to-college bash"). We didn't get to the park until 7:00pm, but we still managed to hit: Face/Off, Son of Beast, Top Gun, Racer (forwards), Flight of Fear, Firehawk, Vortex, double ride of Beast (just moved back three cars, no getting back in line), and Firehawk again (2nd to last train, going up the life as the fireworks went off). As you may be able to tell by our path, I also like to get rides out of the way before beginning re-rides. You shouldn't have any problems getting everything you want into your trip. I hope everything goes well for you!

[sixflagsguy5]

*NOTE... you "lose" an hour heading to Louisville, so.. if you leave HW at 2:00 pm it is already 3:00 p.m. in Louisville. Plan accordingly!

You bring up a very good point. Holiday World is in the same time zone as Chicago, but some of the hotels nearby are in a different time zone (an hour ahead), so be very careful about that, especially if you're trying to get to the park at opening from your hotel.