Photo TR: Kings Island, Cincinatti and Dayton area

[Big Dipper 80]

Hello everyone! I just got back from an engineering course I took at the University of Dayton, and I can finally share my Southern Ohio experiences with everyone. I'll break this TR down by days: Friday, which includes Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Kings Island, Saturday, which is mainly Cincinatti tourist traps, and Sunday, which includes the National Air Force Museum.

 

Friday: It's quite a drive from Cleveland to Dayton, so it's easy to get bored. But the excitement picks up once we arrive at Wright-Patt, where we stayed. It's pretty cool to go onto a military base. Plus, they've got huge jets! Hooray for gas-guzzling planes!

 

We had bought some Starlight tickets to Kings Island, so we arrived at the park around 5:00. Surprisingly, the place was dead, so we managed to hit all of the major coasters except Flight of Fear and Invertigo. Overall, I enjoyed my first trip to the place, but I did have a couple big complaints. A lot the rides (especially Firehawk) broke down, and no one came over the PA to announce how long the ride would be closed for. It seems they should tell you how much longer you'll be waiting. Also, they didn't have wait times posted. This probably would have irked me more if the park was more crowded. Lastly, there was no mention ANYWHERE of which rides would be shut down for the fireworks. We waited in line to score a night ride for The Beast, and no one told us that it would be closing soon, so we got up to the station only to turn around. They should have had a sign posted or something.

I must say that I dislike the new bland ride names. Wow, Drop Tower, cool! *sarcasm* I'm sorry, but they are awful. Speaking of Drop Tower, I don't think it was rotating that day. Has this become normal, or was it just me??

 

Ok, enough talk, here's some photos! Enjoy!

 

P.S.- Saturday coming tomorrow! Jungle Jim's and bass Pro Shop abound!

You saw it here first: The back side of the Eiffel Tower!

The only decent shot I got of this thing. I liked it a lot (it may be one of my top woodies, considering I've only been on about 10), though it needs a bit of retracking in some places. What is it with Cedar Fair not taking care of their woodies?

Don't worry, little Jimmy, that fat thing out in the forest wasn't the Beast, it was only an ACER.

Where dead people go, not paying park guests. Stay away, unless you happen to be a zombie or a vampire. In that case, go right in!

History lesson: Since The Bat sucked so much (it whipped around too much), Arrow proved that they could do something decent with this thing. And they did do a pretty good job with this brake run.

Vortex, THROUGH THE TREES! A first for this website.

This is where you enter a world of hurt if you're *still* too short to sit properly in Arrow harnesses.

Hi Derek.

Loop 2.

Can anyone tell me why there is a pic of Raptor at Kings Island?

Ooh, look at that highly creative name! Go Cedar Fair!

Backlot Stunt coaster's Helecopter on a Stick. Like the Bird on a Stick, only a lot bigger!

The Racer, which isn't racing for some reason. It did the rest of the day, and was pretty smooth. At least it didn't give me a concussion like Mean Streak! I swear I lose a couple IQ points every time I ride that thing.

This ride invented backwards racing. But of course, Cedar Fair can't let there be a unique woodie at any of they're parks, so now both trains go forward. Boring.

Vekoma goodness. Yum.

Why is X-Hawk so damn smooth? I mean, half its wheels don't touch the track, and it rode better than Millennium Force has recently! (MF has had a nasty shake going thorough its first tunnel)

NERD SHOT! Look at those awesome wheels that don't touch the track!

This thing deserves the "WTF Award". It's got Indiana Jones music and the stangest ending ever. Period.

Coney Mall, with food in the background. Yum, food!

I see this and think, "free Coke!" But alas, KIngs Island is not as cool as Epcot.

Us looking happy before *almost* riding Delirium.

This dumb thing closed down right when we sat down. I swear HUSS hates me and has vowed to keep me off of riding a Frisbee with my sister. The same thing happened before on maXair. I still haven't ridden one with her.

For all the crap this ride gets, I thought it was decent. But that's not saying much, considering I've only been on about 10 other woodies.

Praise the Lord! Kings Island rocked!

Look at that, two Intamins and a Vekoma! "I'm so excited-it's an Intamin ride!"

Mmm, Intamin goodness!

[Groteslurf]

Great report.

 

I also thought SoB was a decent ride, but that's what you get when you only read bad things about this so that people expect the worst.

We didn't like Vortex however, probably because we were too tall for the Arrow seats and because we were sitting in the backrow : we got whiplashed in every inversion.

 

Hooray for themed churches.

[Big Dipper 80]

Here's some more random pics I didn't post the first time.

 

Question- any way to move around those first pics w/o reposting them all?

 

Saturday pics coming soon!

kaBOOM!

A nighttime fireworks shot.

It may not be Spaceship Earth, but it's still a golf ball.

PEACH RINGS! 'Nuff said.

I do love them big aero-plane things!

Any town named after cute little beavers is ok in my book!

Jolly, jolly, jolly, it's London!

[Big Dipper 80]

All right, here's day 2!

 

Saturday: Went to Ikea. That place is like 5 Disney Innoventions homes right next to each other, only better! And it has a "magical forest" for the kids. AWESOME. Except that I forgot my camera and didn't get any pictures. But then again, I'd look weird taking snapsots of furniture.

 

Then we headed to Bass Pro Shop. It had an awesome indoor pond, but aother than that, it was just another sporting good store. Exept for the DRUNKEN DUCK!!! See below.

 

Finally, we went to Jungle Jim's Food Market. THis was the single most eclectic grocery store I have ever been to. Food from around the world, anamatronics, and "adult oriented hot sauce", if you know what I mean. And of course, the world's best bathroom. Cameras weren't allowed inside, so I only got a pic of the monorail, but you can google the store and check it out.

And I leave you with a shot of the monorail that was once at Kings Island, but Jungle Jim bought so that it could go around his grocery store. I don't understand either.

An attempt to be artsy doesn't work.

It's odd how they run the place like a theme park, with the turnstiles and all. And instead of a bag check, they have a "gun check"! Crazy, unless you live on Mars, where this is the norm.

DRUNKEN DUCK! The second best thing I saw all trip, except for Jesus.

Fish from the aquarium inside. Nice touch.

Blurry rock wall picture. I wish this had came out better.

[Big Dipper 80]

All right, this is the last "day" of pictures, when we went to the Air Force Museum. Enjoy them, and to keep you from getting too bored, I'll attempt to make the captions mildly entertaining.

 

Please, POST and tell me what you thought! I'd like any feedback I can get so I can make the next TR I do better. Thanks a lot!!

The conspiricy theorists were right! UFOs do exist! Except that this is just a hovercraft.

AIR! Isn't this the same stuff that you can buy at Alton Towers, or get when you breathe in?

A flask, designed to hold...

Italian love in an airplane. Look at that little heart!

It also beat Matterhorn to the punch in that it was the first coaster with tubular steel rails.

The world's first true flying coaster. Sorry Vekoma!

I have no idea what's going on here.

Baby Propeller! Random but neat.

One of the many planes in the "Early Flight" hangar, with a blimp in the background.

Wow, just what I needed to see.

And remember, Jesus loves you! That's all for this trip report. Thanks for looking!

Let this giant missile serve as a warning to all Commies.

I need to get one of these.

If you were a bomb, this is what you would see.

[TheRapidsNerd]

Your trip to Dayton/Cincinatti area brought back some great memories when our family lived there (83-86)

 

Enjoyed seeing the Wright Patt and the Air Force Museum, as well as KI.

Drunken Duck is great!

 

Praise the Lord! Kings Island rocked!

Oh did I ever howl at that one!

 

Did you know that the famous "Hanger 18" where the Roswell aliens/debris were allegedly stored was there at Wright Patt? Supposedly, it's all still there under deadly force guard. Well, that's the last I heard anyway.

 

Also, if you love pizza (and haven't had any already) Casano's in Dayton and Marion's in Centerville are two great places. Our family always gets the Marion's credit while in town.

 

Great TR!

[Big Dipper 80]

Hey, I'm glad you liked it, and I had a lot of fun making it.

 

I didn't know the bit about Hanger 18 at all. That's actually pretty cool.

 

The next time I head down, I'll have to try that pizza. We had LaRosa's this time and it was pretty good, but I personally liked some other joints better than it.

[slither37]

Ah, yes, the inspiration of Big Butter Jesus, by Heywood Banks, Great picture of it. There is a great video on Youtube.

 

The USAF Museum is a great place to go. Great photos. If anyone is near Dayton, try to get there.

 

 

Great TR of KI and all the other places.

[pyrocoasterkid]

Great trip report! Living in the Cincy/Columbus area, I've been wanting to get back to the air force museum, but no such luck this summer so far; only got to the air show a week ago. I hear it's one of the best in the country, and I personally loved it when I was there 10 years ago. Did you hit the presidential hangar? It has the old Air Force One to walk through!

 

And since KI is my home park, it's always nice to see someone enjoy it!

 

And for the record, since I'm a picky SOB, it's CINCINNATI. Two "N's", and one "T"! ... Just for your own future reference.

[coolhandluke]

Yeah, Beavercreek! Way to rep my hometown.

 

Nice report covering a variety of subjects. Good to see you enjoyed your time down here.

[TheRapidsNerd]

And for the record, since I'm a picky SOB, it's CINCINNATI. Two "N's", and one "T"! ... Just for your own future reference.

Good point. You'd think I could spell it right after living there 3 years. Lol!

 

This makes me miss the area a lot.

[gk]

Nice TR! Jesus would be proud.