Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[SFOGdude25]

^Being there yesterday I can answer that fairly well. It was overcast and raining on and off throughout the afternoon, but pretty much all the rides were open during that time, then a REALLY dark cloud system headed our way, followed by some really heavy rain. That is when everything closed. From my perspective, it seems that they keep rides open in standard rain conditions, but if there's anything that looks like a potential storm up in the sky, then they will start closing rides.

 

One other thing. After riding Banshee again several times yesterday, I can conclude that the inside seats were a lot smoother than the outside seats.

[Jodon]

I'm planning on hitting up KI next Sunday for the first time. I know being the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend that it will be really busy and I am planning on buying a Fast Lane + to make the most of my time. According to weather.com, the 10 day forecast (which I take with a grain of salt being so far away) shows that it is likely to rain. I don't want to plop down a significant amount of money on the FL+ if the rides are going down because of the weather, so my question is would I be ok to wait to buy the FL+ when I get to the park, or will they have sold out online? Also, any can't miss food items in the park? Any good breakfast places close to the park? Anything else I should know to make the most of my day at the park?

 

Also, I will be going by myself and live tweeting my day in the park, so if anyone will be in the park and want to meet up for a ride or two, or follow my live tweet, feel free to tweet me @Jon_Winters.

 

EDIT: One more question, what is the cheapest way to get into the park for one day? Online it looks like the cheapest option for Sunday is $43.99 with a $5.99 processing fee. Is $49.98 the best I will be able to do?

 

Thanks.

[Diamondbacker27]

I'm planning on hitting up KI next Sunday for the first time. I know being the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend that it will be really busy and I am planning on buying a Fast Lane + to make the most of my time. According to weather.com, the 10 day forecast (which I take with a grain of salt being so far away) shows that it is likely to rain. I don't want to plop down a significant amount of money on the FL+ if the rides are going down because of the weather, so my question is would I be ok to wait to buy the FL+ when I get to the park, or will they have sold out online? Also, any can't miss food items in the park? Any good breakfast places close to the park? Anything else I should know to make the most of my day at the park?

 

Also, I will be going by myself and live tweeting my day in the park, so if anyone will be in the park and want to meet up for a ride or two, or follow my live tweet, feel free to tweet me @Jon_Winters.

 

EDIT: One more question, what is the cheapest way to get into the park for one day? Online it looks like the cheapest option for Sunday is $43.99 with a $5.99 processing fee. Is $49.98 the best I will be able to do?

 

Thanks.

FastLane plus is a must if it's going to rain later on IMO. You will get to ride all the rides before the rain begins. I wouldn't miss the blue ice cream if I were you. I would also try one of their funnel cakes. Kroger sells fairly cheap tickets. Something like $46. More than likely you can buy FastLane Plus at the park, if you arrive by 11. I don't think I have ever been to the park when they were sold out. Enjoy your day!

[Coastin Eric]

I got out to the park a few days ago, and I got to ride Banshee for the first time.

 

I thought it was incredible. I rode in rows 4, 6, and 8. I think the last row was the best, but the b&m rattle was definitely there. It was not too bad though and I only noticed it because I was looking out for it.

 

I only waited about 10 minutes per ride, so that was awesome. All in all, Kings Island really got a winner, and it miiiiiight pass Montu with a few more rides on it...

[Coaster19]

Since school in Ohio does not get out till June. Would week days be perfect to go still??

[Reon]

Regardless of school being in or not, Tuesday-Thursday is usually a solid choice. Even yesterday I was averaging about 15-20 minutes on Banshee, and that was with 2 train op. As for the new ride itself, I've been on 10 times now-and I feel its more of a front seater. Although I normally advocate back seat for better forces, the front is DEFINATELY more prevalent in Gs (and those zero-G rolls are FANTASTIC when in the right spot.) So far I recommend left side, but only time and more rerides will tell....

[Invertalon]

Front left is also my preferred seat on Banshee.

[BDFS]

Since school in Ohio does not get out till June. Would week days be perfect to go still??

 

June...what?

 

We've had our best experiences at many Theme Parks the Tuesday after Memorial Day when school is still in session in the park's metro area.

[BigDipper 80]

Another shoutout for the front. My first ride was in the row 8 and I was... underwhelmed. The ride in row 2 was significantly better. I have yet to get a front row ride.

[mikeslagy]

Since school in Ohio does not get out till June. Would week days be perfect to go still??

 

i'd say so

 

this week and next week would be the best time to go

[Invertalon]

Ill be there Friday on the way to Dollywood... Stopping by for an hour or so as a driving break just to get a lap or two on Banshee. Can't wait to see if it changed any from media day / opening weekend.

[Diamondbacker27]

Banshee Edit

[Ape]

Since school in Ohio does not get out till June. Would week days be perfect to go still??

 

 

We went yesterday. Everything was walk on except for Firehawk at 10 minutes and Flight of Fear at 20 minutes. We even walked on front seat of Banshee.

[BigDipper 80]

I was at the library today thumbing through the June issue of Cincinnati Magazine, and there was a nice, lengthy article about the construction of The Beast with interviews from Kings Island's engineers and with a number of coaster enthusiasts. Robb got quoted a couple of times throughout the piece. Unfortunately I couldn't find it online, but it's a good read if you live in the Cincinnati area and have access to a hard copy of the magazine.

[2012jarrett]

Has anybody gotten a gold pass? I want to but I have no idea how it works. The "6 payments" thing, when do you make those payments? All at once or over time? And what does it entail to process one? Do I need to go to the park to do that or can it be done over the phone and mailed to me? I want to know what I'm doing before buying one.

[BigDipper 80]

You can buy it online or at the park's ticket window. It's either $117 in a lump sum, or you pay $19.50 every month for six months. You need to get it processed at the park if you haven't had a gold pass in the pass. They take your picture and get all of your personal information into their database. Be aware, though - they stop selling gold passes this Monday (May 26) so hurry up and buy one if you're going to get one.

[2012jarrett]

You can buy it online or at the park's ticket window. It's either $117 in a lump sum, or you pay $19.50 every month for six months. You need to get it processed at the park if you haven't had a gold pass in the pass. They take your picture and get all of your personal information into their database. Be aware, though - they stop selling gold passes this Monday (May 26) so hurry up and buy one if you're going to get one.

Just got mine with the payment plan! Thanks!

[Jodon]

I'm at the park today live tweeting my day (@jon_winters) if you want to follow along. Also, if anyone is at the park and wants to meet up for a ride tweet me.

[Coaster19]

Since school in Ohio does not get out till June. Would week days be perfect to go still??

 

 

We went yesterday. Everything was walk on except for Firehawk at 10 minutes and Flight of Fear at 20 minutes. We even walked on front seat of Banshee.

 

Nice! Can't wait! I am trying to hit up KI many times!!

[coasterbill]

We decided to spend Memorial Day weekend at Kings Island and had a great time. It was my first visit to the park in 10 years and my girlfriend's first visit to the park ever.

 

We left from work on Friday and drove 8 hours to a town right outside Columbus where we got a hotel and then finished the drive on Saturday morning... arriving right before opening. The park was packed on Saturday and they were telling people not to ride Banshee first to avoid the crowds. We took this advice and instead headed to Diamondback where we were greeted with a full queue.

 

We hadn't planned on it but it became apparent that we should spring for the Fastlane plus and it was a great decision. Banshee's line was back by Delirium, Delirium's line was full, Diamondback and Beast had full queues and Adventure Express and Vortex had lines spilling way beyond past entrances. Rather than go in chronological order for the sake of organization I'll break this trip report down by ride as we bounced around the park a lot in the 2 days we were there. We didn't get Fastlane the second day and had a much slower pace as we had already ridden everything the day before.

 

Diamondback - This was my first time on Diamondback and I have to say that I was really impressed. It has way more airtime than most other B&M hypers and has a very enjoyable layout. It does have a significant rattle in the back but the airtime more than makes up for it. We probably rode this 6 or 7 times over the course of 2 days.

 

Adventure Express - This is probably my favorite non-Disney mine train. The ending makes no sense but the ride is themed pretty well and has a fun, lengthy layout. It's hard not to love this ride.

 

Backlot Stunt Coaster - I've always enjoyed these coasters... especially with Fastlane. Some of the effects were working which was a nice surprise. This ride really packs a punch for it's small size.

 

Racer - This ride is a ton of fun. I enjoy this a lot more than Rebel Yell and Thunder Run (the similar Paramount / Cedar fair wood coasters), it's very well maintained and has some nice pops of air. The red train won every time though.

 

Firehawk - I love vekoma flying coasters... is that weird? There's not much to say about this ride as it's a clone, but it's a very good clone. Thank god for Fastlane Plus though as it turned a 2 hour wait into a 15 minute wait.

 

Invertigo - I guess it could have been worse, but I'd love to know why this thing had an hour wait.

 

Flight of Fear - I think I prefer the Kings Dominion version as it's a bit smoother, but this is still an awesome ride. I actually think these coasters are great and have always felt that they were underrated by the enthusiast community. Most "GP" seem to love them though as this ride had a 2 hour wait all weekend.

 

Vortex - I remember liking this as a kid... I guess I was a stupid kid. I generally like Arrow loopers as my height usually prevents headbanging but this is a horrible piece of crap. I'd rather ride Anaconda 10 times than ride this once. The ride looks great and always has a long line but it's really, really terrible.

 

The Bat - I think this is one of the best rides in the park but I've always loved Arrow suspended coasters more than most people. The ride is a little short but it's incredibly fast and has some very dramatic moments of swinging where the car feels like it's at a 90 degree angle (though I know it's not). We lost count of how many times we rode this. What a great ride!

 

Delirium - Even with Fastlane this ride had a 30 minute wait on Saturday and the regular queue was full bit it was well worth it. What a great ride.

 

Race for Your Life Charlie Brown - What is it about this little flume that gets you so incredibly soaked? This ride is a blast and we rode it a lot over the course of 2 days.

 

Windseeker - The world needs more of these. Not only is it a great ride but the enormous capacity gives you a nice break from standing in long lines.

 

Banshee - Obviously this was the main reason for our trip and it didn't disappoint. The area around the ride looks great with the dramatic lighting, headstones and great sign complete with fog effects. The Banshee scream is really cool and I love the projected logos in the queue line.

 

We lost count of how many times we rode this, especially on Saturday when we had Fastlane. Most of our rides were in the front but we had a few rides in the back and in the middle and it was great every time The crews were really fast and the ride had virtually no line at all with Fastlane even when the regular queue was totally full. On Sunday when we did wait in the normal line we were shocked at how quickly it moved. Kudos to B&M and the Kings Island staff for the awesome capacity on this ride.

 

As far as the ride itself I'd definitely rank it as one of my favorite inverts with only Raptor, Alpengeist, Montu and maybe Afterburn at Carowinds ahead of it. It really packs a punch and has some very intense moments (especially after the zero g roll). My favorite part of the ride is probably the loop after the Batwing element which is very tight and forceful as well as the tight turn immediately after it. The final barrel roll is incredibly fun too.

 

The first drop also surprised me, it really yanks the train down the drop with a lot of force which is really refreshing to see on a modern B&M ride. The first 2 elements are great and the first zero g roll is fun (though it's probably the weakest zero g roll I've experienced on an invert). This ride is all about the second half though. The ride makes such great use of the terrain that on a few of our rides there were noticeable temperature changes at the bottom of each element on the second half of the ride. That was a great experience.

 

Banshee was definitely worth the trip and gave me a lot of optimism that maybe B&M is going to be a force to be reckoned with again. It's really forceful and even has a few snappy turns. I can't wait to get back to Kings Island and ride it again!

 

The Beast - When I rode the Beast 10 years ago I thought it was a middle of the road wood coaster. It didn't have any airtime to speak and and it was pretty rough but the unique layout still made it fun. I tried to prepare my girlfriend for the ride and let her know that it was rough and didn't have any airtime but it was a classic. I figured if she went in with low expectations she might enjoy it.

 

I'm happy to report though that the ride is running a lot smoother now than it used to. We rode it on Saturday morning and we both got off the ride pleasantly surprised and while it still wasn't anywhere near my favorite wood coaster I definitely had a more positive opinion of the ride than I did before.

 

Let me set the scene for what happened later...

 

We were using our awesome wristbands to marathon Banshee and were planning on doing that for the rest of the night. Banshee was clearly the star attraction in the park and we knew that the next day we'd have to wait in a huge line to ride it. After one of our rides I mentioned in passing that everyone said the Beast was a great night ride (I had never ridden it at night before). Neither of us really wanted to stop riding Banshee to ride a coaster that clearly wasn't as good but we decided that we should give it a try just to see for ourselves.

 

When we got near the Beast we noticed a huge crowd of people heading for the ride which now had a line spilling out of the entrance. It was obvious that the Beast was the place to be.

 

We walked up near the station with our wristbands and they told us that the ride was closed for the nightly fireworks show since they shoot the fireworks off near the tracks but it would re-open once the show was over. This was a blessing in disguise for 2 reasons. Not only did it give it the opportunity to get completely dark out (it gets dark really late in Ohio this time of year since the days are so long and it's so close to Central time while still being in Eastern time) but we also had a great spot to watch the fireworks as we were standing right outside the station.

 

Once the ride re-opened the operators were really pumping up the crowd, asking every train if they were ready for the "best night ride in the world". Every train left the station screaming and cheering and every train returned screaming and cheering even louder. The Beast station had a real party atmosphere as people in the station were even cheering and at one point singing (the ops were trying to fill an empty row but gave up and one of them made the mistake of saying "let it go" over the mic in reference to the train... you can imagine what happened next).

 

When we finally sat down in the front seat we were really excited. They dispatched the train and we headed for the lift which shines bright lights at you to make sure you won't be able to see anything during your ride and plays dramatic music which is really awesome when combined with the sound of the chain lift.

 

Once we got to the bottom of the drop and exited the tunnel we were shocked at how dark it was. Obviously we've been on a lot of coasters at night but because of it's use of the terrain and it's close proximity to the trees, not even the moonlight reached the tracks. There is nothing like the Beast at night. The feeling of racing through the forest with no idea where you're going and going through tunnels that you only know you're going through because of the roar of the train (it's just as dark outside the tunnels as it is inside the tunnels) is unmatched. Not only is this the best night ride in the world, I can honestly say that the Beast at night in the front is the single best experience I've ever had on any coaster EVER. If you're reading this and you haven't ridden the Beast at night, stop reading this and go book a flight and a hotel so you can go ride it. I'm serious... it's that good. There are plenty of coasters that are great night rides, many of them (like Nitro for example) are far from the rest of the park and are very dark but you can still sort of make out the track and you have an idea of where you're going. The Beast is nothing like that... you literally have absolutely no idea where you're going and it makes the ride feel completely out of control. We came for Banshee, but the Beast stole the show.

 

On Sunday we managed another night ride, this time we were lucky enough to be in the front seat on the last train of the night with the train mostly full of employees from throughout the park that came over to get a night ride on the Beast, and who could blame them? I can't believe I'm speaking so highly of coaster I always considered mediocre but this ride is a different animal at night.

 

Overall we had a great weekend at the park. It's improved a lot since the last time I was there and they've added some great rides. Banshee is awesome, Diamondback is awesome but the Beast at night is an experience I'll never forget.

Edited May 28, 2014 by coasterbill

[Invertalon]

We stopped at KI on the way to and from Dollywood this past weekend (so on Friday mid-day and Monday mid-day).

 

Friday did not appear to busy... We only walked to/from Banshee, so I can't tell you how other rides were. But the parking lot appeared pretty light.

 

Banshee was quite short... We rode 3x in one hour (2x front, 1x back). Ride had a slight increase in vibration, but nothing significant. Did not take away from the ride at all IMO. Speed wise, it did not seem any faster than opening weekend.

 

On Monday, the parking lot was packed. Was worried that we would not get our rides in on our little pit-stop, but the line was only about 20-25min wait. Got another 2x front seat in about an hour. This day, the ride did feel to be going a bit faster (was also about 15F warmer or so than Friday). Running awesome!

 

A few notes:

 

On both days, they were running it very well (loading times). They have 8 or more ride-ops checking bars, which was nice to see.

 

The dried puke from media day / opening weekend on the bottom of the control panel is STILL there. You think they would have power-washed that by now...

[Diamondbacker27]

My family is planning on heading to Kings Island this weekend. Any one want a photo TR?

Glad you had a good trip Coasterbill, it sounded amazing.

[Woodie Warrior]

I am possibly going to visit Kings Island on Father's Day Weekend. Any recommendations for a hotel? We are looking for something within 5 minutes of the park, in the $70-80 range, and clean.

[Philosoraptor]

I am possibly going to visit Kings Island on Father's Day Weekend. Any recommendations for a hotel? We are looking for something within 5 minutes of the park, in the $70-80 range, and clean.

 

There is an area less than 5 minutes from the park with several hotels in that price range, I'd check those. There's a microtel that has been nice in the past within that area that I've gotten for as low as $60 a night. The closest hotel is going to be the Great Wolf Lodge (walking distance to the park), but is probably higher than what you would want to pay.

[DirkFunk]

I am possibly going to visit Kings Island on Father's Day Weekend. Any recommendations for a hotel? We are looking for something within 5 minutes of the park, in the $70-80 range, and clean.

 

Via Priceline, you may be able to get something above average at a reasonable price. I've scored the Hyatt Place in Mason less than ten minutes away twice for about $60 for a base price. The Towneplace Suites Cinci North is also pretty good, but paying base rate I doubt it is below $80.