Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[Zand]

Line for Flight of Fear ended up being 10 minutes (including a quick breakdown that involved sending a test train) and typical good but slightly rough ride. Had lunch at the Brewhaus which, to be objective, isn't nearly as good as the one at BGW but still nice to get out of the rain and grab some beers. Had the Blue Ice Cream beer which was very sweet but pretty good.

Spent the next 45 minutes in Action Zone. Delirium was coming to a stop as I walked by so I hopped on. Giant frisbees are always excellent, but getting a rare ride with no wait is even better. Went over to Banshee next and the gates were open when I got to the station, so hopped in back. Ride back there didn't feel quite as powerful, kinda felt Alpengeist-esque. More graceful through the elements. Still amazing. Headed back to the Bat, which unfortunately was pulling away and only running 1 train, so I had to wait a WHOLE THREE MINUTES for a back seat ride. Oh the horror! It seemed even wilder in back, especially having to ride with eyes closed because the rain was dropping off the wheel assemblies right into my face. As I walked back up, Drop Tower was on its way up so I got right on the next load. Restraints locked, all clear, hold, "Drop Tower is currently down for technical reasons." Kind of a bummer, but instead got another front seat ride on Banshee which WAS as great as last night. What a masterpiece.

Headed up the Eiffel Tower which had a nice breeze and rain in the face at the top. Quickly took some pics and headed back down. After a 3 train wait (my 2nd longest wait of the day) I hit Stunt Coaster which is always a good time.

Made my way back to the Beast and first rode in row 17. Pretty wild and man is that helix crazy. Went back around and got a walk on SOLO front row ride. On the Beast of all rides, what a zenful moment. What wasn't zenful was that the rain picked back up, so had to get a "night ride" with my eyes closed the whole way! Empty train kinda meandered but still a lot of fun.

Hit 2 walk on rides on Mystic Timbers. This thing just blows me away. This may be a sin on this site, but I think it's better and has more airtime than Phoenix. Don't @ me.

Currently at Miami River Brewhouse enjoying a Giga Coaster beer and a giant pretzel. Unfortunately down to the last few hours of the trip.

[JJLehto]

Mystic Timbers is great, was my fav ride there and we'll see if it remains so after Orion, though it wouldn't surprise me. Sounds like it was a good time and dang now I HAVE to try the blue ice cream beer lol Also seems like crowds were no issue which gives me hope but also guessing rain kept people away. 

[PKI Jizzman]

Glad to hear you're having an awesome day despite the rain! 

[Zand]

I found Jesus. He was reincarnated as the front row of Diamondback. This thing is 100% a front row coaster and holy hell do those camelbacks produce up there. Rode it 4 times in the front, getting pelted by the rain and loving every second of it. Went in the back once just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and yeah...it isn't half the ride back there that is in front. Sorry Banshee, your stay as the #1 coaster ar Kings Island only lasted 24 hours or so.

[CoasterGuy06]

Add me to the list of people that think KI is the real star of Ohio. Yes I love CP too, but so much of that park is just a bland concrete jungle it feels like. Plus the crowds have always been more manageable at KI compared to CP and my days at KI in 2011 had the best operations I have EVER seen at a park. Here's a pic from that trip of Diamondback where one train is heading into the splashdown and the train behind it is cresting the lift. Sad is seems like recent CF training will prevent this from happening again. 

 

[CP_RULES]

Remember when we all thought theme parks might be doomed by COVID? It is fantastic to see all the people flocking back to parks like Kings Island. Great reports all, thank you!

[AmyUD06]

I actually said the same thing, about KI being the better park, to a lot of people I met and engaged in conversation with in lines at both CP and KI.  I'd mention how many parks I've been to (nerd alert, I know), and every time, they'd ask "What's your favorite?"  Without hesitation, each time I'd say "Kings Island...while Cedar Point may have some insane coasters, and a fifth of my Top 25, their operations, employee attitude, and food service (both in quality and to my preferences) are generally horrible.  Kings Island delivers *everything* I look for in a park."

Oh, I guess CP's better on smoking zones too (there are four, since you can exit any gate and re-enter) haha.

Honestly, if they sent Maverick down to Mason, Kings Island would have the one thing I think it's sorely missing (a nutty Intamin), and Cedar Point would become a once-every-few-years trip for me. Kings Island will, for the foreseeable future, be a multiple-trips-a-year park.

[Haymaker]

3 hours ago, Zand said:

I found Jesus. He was reincarnated as the front row of Diamondback. This thing is 100% a front row coaster and holy hell do those camelbacks produce up there. 

I found Apollo's Chariot to be the same way. I sat in the back the first time and it was good, second ride in the front row was amazing. Intamin's seem to be back row coasters, B&M's front row. 

[Zand]

6 minutes ago, Haymaker said:

I found Apollo's Chariot to be the same way. I sat in the back the first time and it was good, second ride in the front row was amazing. Intamin's seem to be back row coasters, B&M's front row. 

I've always ridden Apollo in the back because of the first drop. Always enjoyed the whole ride back there, but will have to give the front a try next time.

On the other hand, Diamondback went from IMO the most mediocre B&M hyper in the backseat to *possibly* ahead of Nitro in the front. It feels like it wants to launch you to the moon on all the camelbacks before the MCBR.

[PKI Jizzman]

Row 2 is my favorite on Diamondback since you hang over the edge! It's excellent in the front, middle (row 6 or 10) and back, but that's where you feel the rattle. It's a ton of fun to reach behind and touch the water spouts on a hot day too!

[dankeykang]

Pro tip: visit your home park when the morning forecast shows storms all day. It never storms all day. Walk-ons everywhere today. 

[PKI Jizzman]

3 hours ago, dankeykang said:

Pro tip: visit your home park when the morning forecast shows storms all day. It never storms all day. Walk-ons everywhere today. 

Mason can be its own little weather bubble. Always breezy and a flat plateu before it gets a little hilly/uphill 71.

[dankeykang]

Ahh gotcha.  Yeah there were a few brief weather delays today but the radar guy did a really good job clearing rides to reopen as soon as things started to lighten up.  Getting on all the major coasters plus the drop tower only took about 3 hours (no Fast Lane).

Operations today were some of the best I've ever seen, even by Kings Island's lofty standards.  All the praise this place has gotten recently is 100% warranted.  

 

[Zand]

15 hours ago, dankeykang said:

Operations today were some of the best I've ever seen, even by Kings Island's lofty standards.  All the praise this place has gotten recently is 100% warranted.  

 

I meant to touch on,this a couple days ago...the ops were really cranking out trains both on busy Tuesday and rainy Wednesday. But what struck me as odd is Banshee, Mystic Timbers, and Orion all running with 3 trains despite not having MCBRs. Despite the great ops, that 3rd train always ended up back at the brakes right as the 1st train was leaving or even got stacked a bit just to sit again once it moved up. There were a few times Banshee at least had a train starting up the lift when the one on the course returned, but I never saw Orion or Mystic Timbers not stack that 3rd train because the rides are simply too short.

Enjoyed the Beast crew, especially the ride op cracking corny jokes every load cycle. But thought all the crews were fantastic.

[jarmor]

Went to the park yesterday. I would never imagine I'd fall in love with mystic timbers. I was just enamored with how they managed to leave soooo many trees in tact and still fit the ride in.   Orion,  oooooorion lol. What can I say?  I got off it feeling teased. The best parts, to me, were the helix and the hills that followed. I wish more of the ride was like it. 

[VegasBaby]

1 hour ago, jarmor said:

Went to the park yesterday. I would never imagine I'd fall in love with mystic timbers. I was just enamored with how they managed to leave soooo many trees in tact and still fit the ride in.   Orion,  oooooorion lol. What can I say?  I got off it feeling teased. The best parts, to me, were the helix and the hills that followed. I wish more of the ride was like it. 

Agreed, I loved Orion but it definitely left me wanting more.  You come out of that helix at the end into a great airtime hill and then right into the brake run.  It would've been great to have 2 or 3 of those final airtime hills before the brake run.

As for Mystic Timbers, you could make an argument for it being the best coaster in the park.  It has so much airtime and is just relentless from start to finish.  It's not often that a coaster surprises me like that, but it easily surpassed any expectations I had.

[AmyUD06]

Orion grows on you the more you ride it.  It's still my #4 at Kings Island though.  Might as well start up a chain of ranking lists, so here's mine:

1. Beast
2. Mystic Timbers
3. Banshee
4. Orion
5. Bat
6. Diamondback
7. Adventure Express
8. Racer
9. Woodstock Express
10. Flight of Fear
11. Backlot Stunt Coaster
12. Flying Ace Aerial Chase
13. Invertigo

[prozach626]

You know a park has a good lineup, when it doesn't get shitty until #12 out of 13 coasters.

[Zand]

I guess after my recent trip, I'd go with something like...

1. Diamondback, 2. Banshee, 3. Mystic Timbers, 4. Beast, 5. Orion, 6. Bat, 7. Flight of Fear, 8. Racer, 9. Adventure Express, 10. Backlot, 11. Woodstock Express. Haven't ridden either hang n bang.

[dankeykang]

I don't normally rank coasters but I can give it a go here:

1. Diamondback - best floater airtime there is, period
2. Orion - even better with full trains this year
3. Mystic Timbers - gotta love the unconventional out-and-back GCI layout
4. Beast - simply an icon, nothing else needs said
5. Banshee - I admire the large elements but a part of me wishes there was more whip to some of the inversions
6. Bat - still a classic, make sure to ride in the front of the car for more legroom
7. Racer - major props to everyone at the Gravity Group, it's substantially better after the re-track   
8. Flight of Fear - always like the spaghetti bowls but dang, that MCBR
9. Invertigo - not painful at all if you lean your head forward and keep your shoulders pressed against the OTSRs
10. Backlot Stunt Coaster - great for the whole family
11. Adventure Express - I'm starting to question why I keep riding this every year, definitely one of the weakest mine trains
12. Woodstock Express - not bad at all considering its intended audience
13. Flying Ace Aerial Chase - once was enough 

[Zand]

^Pretty sure I've only ridden 5* mine trains (Adv Express, CCMR, Runaway Train @ GAdv, Trailblazer, and Florida Thunder Mountain). Obviously Thunder Mountain blows them all away. But after that, other than the ejector hill on the GAdv mine train, Adventure Express is probably by far the best out of the remaining four. It has some good speed and forces to it and some actual theming. Maybe I need to get on more mine trains.

*6 if you count Steel Force at Dorney

[southpuddle]

Thunderation at SDC is everything Adventure Express wants to be, but I do still enjoy Adventure Express. 

[prozach626]

7 hours ago, Zand said:

But after that, other than the ejector hill on the GAdv mine train, Adventure Express is probably by far the best out of the remaining four.

The only thing worse than the painful ejector air on GAdv's mine train is the station packed with obnoxious children and teenagers.

[dankeykang]

^^ Spot on about Thunderation, it just does everything better.  I can see why people would like Adventure Express but for me, it's one of the very few coasters I consider to be somewhat discomforting.  Nice to see more lights on in the lift hill's tunnel this year, to be fair. 

[grsupercity]

Mystic Timbers 

Orion 

Diamondback 

Bat

Invertigo 

Racer

Back Lot Stunt Coaster

Flight of Fear

Banshee 

Beast 

Adventure Express