Photo TR: Kings Island Update

[Bauton]

Hello everyone, this is my first trip report, so please be gentle!! My son and I had an opportunity to take part in the Boy Scout Camp-o-ree at Kings Island this past weekend and wanted to pass on some pics and some minor news. For the low low price of $50.99 each, we got full day admission for both Friday and Saturday at KI, 2 meals, a snack, 90 minute ERT on Racer and a two flat rides in the coney mall area, one hour early admission into the water park, camp out in a tent behind the racer coaster, admission to the new dinosaurs alive (more on this later), and a backstage tour of the Beast!! We had a great time!!

 

News first: Windseeker is still not operating. I spoke to a guest service rep about it and was told that the Ohio state inspectors came in and found some things they didn't like about the ride. So KI is in the process of correcting these things to get their certification. Now a guest service rep maybe equal to a WDW bus driver when it comes to news, but this did sound plausible to me. During the Beast tour, one of the scouts asked the guide about Son of Beast. We were told that when the trains were designed for the ride, they had to be steel coaster trains due to the loop in the ride. These type of trains are twice the weight of wood coaster trains, and this extra weight caused unintended stress on the wooden structure. He said the real reason they closed it was the ride just didn't provide the thrills and fun that guests expect at a cedar fair park. What I heard is we were afraid the ride was going to eventually kill someone. He said no decision has been made on what to do with the ride. Also, it appears that Flight Deck received a new silver paint job on all the supports! It looks great and still runs great.

 

Now onto the pictures!!

 

Here is our campsite. That's the flight of fear building behind us.

Here is the view from our campsite. It was awesome spending the night, except for them deciding to do some test runs of the racer at 5 a.m.

More to come

 

ADMIN EDIT: I went ahead and added the "Photo TR:" notation to the title of the thread, as well as a subtitle to be more descript. Thank you for sharing this with us!

Edited June 14, 2011 by jedimaster1227

[Bauton]

Since we received free admission to the Dinosaurs alive attraction, we decided to take a look. I was pleasantly surprised by this exhibit. It is located in a wooden area behind the racer, next to where the windseeker is now located. They have a very nice, shaded, concrete trail that loops back into these woods. There are over 60 animitronic dinosaurs. Most move and make sounds. Each has a sign telling you all about the dinosaur. Some had buttons you could push to make the dino move yourself. They also had a large sand pit where kids could uncover a fake dinosaur skeleton. In their best Disney tradition, you had to exit thru a gift shop which carried your normal theme park souvenir stuff. There is a $5 up charge to experience the dinos, and in the case of my son, it would have been worth it, as we spent a good 90 minutes on the trail.

 

Heres one of the dinos

And another

The world's largest animitronic dino was supposed to be included in this display, but burned down a few days before it opened. The worker told me that a replacement had been ordered, but no idea as to when it will be ready.

 

The highlight of the trip for me was the backstage tour of the Beast. Here are some pics

Train coming back into the station

First lift hill

Take the Tunnel!!! (okay, had to work it in some where)

For the lift hill chain pulley fan boys

What I didn't know, was this small building is under the second lift hill. It contains two transformers that provide the power needed to get the trains up the hill.

My personal favorite pic.

 

Thanks for viewing!

[cal1br3tto]

I'd love to camp right by a coaster! The Beast backstage shots got me to thinking I might really like the ride. I'm glad the dino exhibit seems well-done, though I probably wouldn't spend much if any time on it myself. Thanks for posting!