Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[KBrylczyk]

Hiya -

I'm gonna be at the park next Monday, June 3rd, for the first time in 21 years.  Tomb Raider was still a big deal (and a bonkshit awesome ride, fight me), Scooby's Ghoster Coaster weird suspended thing was operating, and Son Of Beast was still running its original trains (I still ache to this day).

Point is, it's been a loooooong time since I've been to the park and there have been some massive changes since then.  I'm quite aware of what rides are there and what rides are dead and gone (RIP Vortex), so I'm just looking for pointers.  Since I'm visiting on a Monday I'm not too worried about crowds but please tell me if I'm wrong.  I'll have all day at the park so I can deal with a few lines.  Which coasters have the best/worst operations (I know the Beemers are people eaters), any F&B hidden gems, regional recommendations, etc.  Stuff like that.

I'll be getting into town Sunday night after a day at Indiana Beach, anywhere I should stop for dinner?

Thanks!

[prozach626]

Eat at Roosters. Cold beer and bomb ass chicken wings/strips.

[tndank]

Good news for your visit. Beast is testing today. It's been down a week or two waiting on parts. 

[KBrylczyk]

1 hour ago, tndank said:

Good news for your visit. Beast is testing today. It's been down a week or two waiting on parts. 

Funnily enough, I chose Kings Island over Cedar Point because TT2 is dead in the water.  I saw Beast went down and was a little disappointed, but I already got multiple laps, including a night ride during the fireworks, in 2003 so it wouldn't yuck my yum for the day.  If it's actually open, though, great!

[KICoasterkev]

6 minutes ago, KBrylczyk said:

Funnily enough, I chose Kings Island over Cedar Point because TT2 is dead in the water.  I saw Beast went down and was a little disappointed, but I already got multiple laps, including a night ride during the fireworks, in 2003 so it wouldn't yuck my yum for the day.  If it's actually open, though, great!

I saw they just opened it about an hour ago, so have fun! 

[KBrylczyk]

Alright, so yesterday was pretty dang awesome.  The park was a bit slow to wake up with a bunch of coasters being closed until 10:30/11am or so, but once things were in the groove it was smooth sailing.  Crowd levels had waits at 15-30 minutes for most everything.  Operations could use a little work as I noticed every single coaster stacking trains, though.  Still, every coaster that had the capability to run three trains WAS running three trains.  Stacking or not, that's appreciated.  Hate to see that go-get-em attitude disappear once the Six Flags merger completes and we're down to one train being half-loaded.

Coasters -

Orion - Hoo buddy, this one surprised me.  This bad boy RIPS through the layout and has some damn good airtime to boot!  Definitely a front seat ride, though the back ain't bad at all, either.  The wind in front, though, is the cherry on top.

Diamondback - The airtime on this ride is legitimately scary.  This isn't standard B&M floater air but instead it's "bucking bronco trying to send you into Kentucky" air.  Back seat is best.

Mystic Timbers - Fast and wicked ride through the woods with a phenomenal first drop.  Tons of laterals and some nice air pops.  The shed is a complete waste of time, effort, and money, though.  Back row is intense, especially getting ripped down the first drop.

Banshee - Holy hot dicks from hell!  I had absolutely NO IDEA how great this ride is.  I'd heard the good reviews and I've seen the POVs but lawd almighty this monster is completely different than I was expecting.  It rides like a mid-90s Beemer!  Forces out the yin-yang on every element, especially the batwing and second vertical loop.  Back row is is my fave, if for no other reason than that first drop.  Best ride in the park alongside...

The Beast - It's The Beast.  It's one of the greatest rides on the planet.  It also has some truly awful trims in the first bit (first drop, second hill, and the long shed) but after the long shed it returns to the incredibly wild run through the woods we all know and love.  The trim before the helix has mercifully been moved to the top of the hill, so now you hit the tunnel full-bore and go screaming around that bitch like a bat out of hell.  All hail the king, especially in the front row.

The Bat - I love this ride, even if it does have a horrible location compared to the rest of the park.  IIRC, back in 2003 it was much more visible and accessible with SoB in the area.  Instead it's now a relic hiding behind a 5-mile hike with an entrance hardly seen at Banshee's exit.  Damn shame, because this is a very fun and fast suspended coaster.

Racer - Third row has some great airtime on this classic.  Fun stuff!

Backlot Stunt Coaster - Great launch and helix, boring everything else.  Slowest line in the park.

Flight Of Fear - Closed most of the day, broke down when I was entering the UFO.  Didn't ride.

Adventure Express - Packs a punch!  I love me a good mine train and this one didn't disappoint.  Ride it in the back to get the real janked-out experience, ya jabronis.  This ride is great.

Invertigo - Pass.  I rode Two-Face when it was at SFA.  I'm good.

 

Other Rides -

Boo Blasters - Yeah, this has seen better days.  Cute enough and an easy way to escape the sun, but the guns hardly work and there's a large amount of broken effects.

Delirium - Fun ride but after riding a larger version it didn't feel as wacky.

Windseeker - This was my first Windseeker after riding many Star Flyers.  Let's just say there's a reason these haven't been built in a while.  Star Flyers are a much simpler mechanical ride and much more reliable.  This was also pretty uncomfortable, for some reason.  Good view, though.

Blue Ice Cream - Yummy yummy in my tummy.

 

[prozach626]

Kings Island guest believed to be hit by roller coaster after entering restricted area

 

Quote

"On Wednesday at approximately 8:00 p.m., a guest entered a restricted, fenced area of the Banshee roller coaster and is believed to have been struck by the ride. The park’s safety and first aid personnel responded immediately to the situation and contacted local emergency responders. The guest was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The ride remains closed while local authorities and park personnel conduct an investigation.

 

One teen guest commented, "i just think it's crazy how like some people i don't know just don't think enough to kind of like hop into like where you're not supposed to be to like risk getting hit by a roller coaster."

[GnastyGnoric7]

Ugh, this again. I witnessed someone go into an off-limits area on Project 305 to look for something they lost, and us on the train and in the station booed her good. They are off limits for a reason.

[KICoasterkev]

That’s terrible, I hope he makes it but it’s 100% on him, material things can wait till later when the park closes and they can look for it safely! 

[mikeykaise]

46 minutes ago, KICoasterkev said:

That’s terrible, I hope he makes it but it’s 100% on him, material things can wait till later when the park closes and they can look for it safely! 

I feel sorry for the kids the most, it  did't mention if there was another adult with them, only that he was with 2 kids. I can just imagine how scary it was for them. I seen another inteview with a ride attendant but the posting page wasn't sure if they were working or not, but basically this guy said that the man was told he would have to wait until the end of the night and retrieve the keys from Lost and Found, got back in line then disappeared, and was struck in an area of where Banshee is only 5' off the ground according to the ride attendant.

[thepoint4life23]

People on the ride said they hit a deer or some kind of animal. I get it you want to get home but waiting 2 more hours would of been fine. 

[tndank]

Just a quick update. The man has now passed. 

[KICoasterkev]

I just saw this too a little bit ago, so sorry to hear for the family. Prayers 

[CoasterNerd87]

6 hours ago, tndank said:

Just a quick update. The man has now passed. 

Source?

[teacherkim]

So pointless and so unavoidable. I feel very bad for his family and also for the other riders and staff that had to deal with it. Why oh why don't people realize that sometimes rules are there to protect them. Arrggghhh!

[KBrylczyk]

I figured this was appropriate. Timestamp is the 1-minute mark if it doesn't load correctly. 

[teacherkim]

18 hours ago, KBrylczyk said:

I figured this was appropriate. Timestamp is the 1-minute mark if it doesn't load correctly. 

Well as a dear teaching colleague once said "you can't fix stupid"..................but seriously, how terrible that his stupidity cost him and all those involved so dearly.

[coasternut]

I've been at Kings Island for the past several days. Just a great total experience as expected!

One thing I had to share, today was at the Trailblazer X-Treme show. Just a well preformed show and highly recommend it. During the show one of the songs they played is the Mr. Six / Venga Boys "We like to party" song. I was waiting for Mr. Six to pop out. You know he's coming back soon for the fright fest events. See the combination of these 2 corporations has started already...

[KICoasterkev]

Looks like the park is going to have an announcement for Soak City on 8-8-24! 

[Chris27]

Went to KI for the first time this past week, went to CP first which I've been before and then hit up KI after.  really enjoyed this park.  The theming and lights with the Carnivale in the front of the park was really nice.  I'm not a big show guy but having the country music shows and the bmx show and the parade is a nice touch. 

I'm from NJ and Great Adventure is my home park and they dont really have that kind of stuff.  This park was clean, you had people where they are supposed to be, cleaning the bathrooms, emptying the garbage when its full etc.  That kind of stuff is good to see cause you dont always see that at certain parks.   Also the food was good, coming from six flags you get a shitty burger and bland fries but here I got burnt ends, mac and cheese, real meals. 

 

As for the rides really liked Diamondback and Orion, its not Fury but its a fun ride.  I'm not biggest old wooden coaster fan being a bigger guy who has to squeeze into certain rides but I had to ride the Beast since its a Mt Rushmore of wooden coasters.  Everyone on lines were saying do the Beast at night, close the park down at 10 after the fireworks and we did that and wow what an experience in the dark.  That was such a great ride.

Loved Banshee, dont always get to experience that kind of ride cause Batman at Great Adventure doesnt have the bigger seat so getting on that was a treat.

But for me the standout was Mystic Timbers.  Didnt really know what to expect but man what a ride, you guys have something special with that one.  I loved it.  I dont always do the re-rides but with that one I had to do it a few times in a row. 

Camp Snoopy had alot of good stuff for the kids who arent 48 inches or arent ready for bigger rides. 

Wasnt really that busy, only thing we waited any real amount of time for was the Log flume ride, most everything else was walk on or less than 10 minutes.  really lucked out with the weather, the week looked like a total wash but other than some rain at Cedar Point and one 10 min downpour at Kings Island the weather was good.  Maybe that kept crowds away. 

Loved that you can take the train to the water park and back, there werent any real lines there and we got on a few slides. 

 

Only disappointment was my nephew wanted to do the human claw machine game and it was open the one day but we didnt do it and the next day it was down and broken, they didnt know what was wrong with it so my nephew couldnt get one of those blow up Aliens. 

 

[prozach626]

52 minutes ago, Chris27 said:

I'm from NJ and Great Adventure is my home park and they dont really have that kind of stuff.  This park was clean, you had people where they are supposed to be, cleaning the bathrooms, emptying the garbage when its full etc.  That kind of stuff is good to see cause you dont always see that at certain parks.   Also the food was good, coming from six flags you get a shitty burger and bland fries but here I got burnt ends, mac and cheese, real meals. 

That's why a lot of Cedar Fair park fans are apprehensive about the merger.

 

Those short downpours during the afternoons are great when they lower the temperatures and empty the park. 

I'm glad you had a good time. KI is wonderful. 

[Zand]

15 minutes ago, prozach626 said:

That's why a lot of Cedar Fair park fans are apprehensive about the merger.

 

Those short downpours during the afternoons are great when they lower the temperatures and empty the park. 

I'm glad you had a good time. KI is wonderful. 

But those are more "Kings Island" things (and other top tier CF parks). I sat down to eat 3 times at Dorney last week in 3 different places and each one was absolutely filthy. And the food was garbage. Hopefully Six Flags cleans up the place

Cedar Fair definitely has it's haves and have nots. Six Flag's haves have a lot less good about them, but their have nots are mostly better than the worst CF parks in my experience.

[prozach626]

My only points of reference are WoF, CW, CP, KD, and KI. Compared to SFStl, SFGam, SFGAdv, SFOG, and SFMM, they were much cleaner, more well kept, and had better vibes. Every SF park I visited felt more catered to teenagers. Granted, they're way closer in age to the target market than I am right now.

I'm not trying to turn this into a SF vs. CF (prior) thread, but I prefer much more than SF parks. I'm not alone.

[Zand]

13 hours ago, prozach626 said:

My only points of reference are WoF, CW, CP, KD, and KI. Compared to SFStl, SFGam, SFGAdv, SFOG, and SFMM, they were much cleaner, more well kept, and had better vibes. Every SF park I visited felt more catered to teenagers. Granted, they're way closer in age to the target market than I am right now.

I'm not trying to turn this into a SF vs. CF (prior) thread, but I prefer much more than SF parks. I'm not alone.

Alright, maybe it was a slight troll on my part but there are parks out there that like to out-Six Flags some Six Flags parks.

If every park everywhere just tried to emulate Kings Island then no one would ever need to complain about anything.

[prozach626]

We've gone to the haunt the last few weeks of the season on our past several trips. I take it if we go the last weekend of September it won't be as crowded? The secret is out with Fastlane. It's not nearly as valuable as it used to be during Haunt season.

No one gives a shit about credit card debt anymore, so night rides on The Beast were over an hour wait, which appeared to be longer than the standby line. (pass) Everything else has held a hefty wait as well.