Stricker's Grove and Kings Island (Beast Buzz)

Invertalon · August 12, 2014

We headed down to Kings Island for the weekend to attend Beast Buzz on Saturday... I was pretty excited, as I have yet to have a night ride on the Beast (crazy... I know) and honestly think the ride is one of the most highly overrated rides, next to Magnum. But I will admit, that did change!

Just a short summary:

Saturday morning we had ERT on Banshee and The Bat for an hour. I stayed at Banshee the entire time, riding it eight times I believe. It has more vibration than it had earlier in the season, but still is a great ride. Now that the "newness" has worn off a bit, it has drifted a bit on my favorites list... I think I still prefer the more old-school inverts such as Raptor, Dueling Dragons, Talon, etc... But in general, they are all amazing rides!

Next up was the half hour ERT on Diamondback. Only rode it twice, as I don't care much for this one. Not sure why, but it is my least favorite B&M speed coaster (I have been on all of them in the US except Intimidator, as well is both Leviathan and Behemoth in Canada). It is a fun ride, but nothing really draws me back to ride it.

Afterward the park opened and we went right to Beast. We snagged the first train of the day, front seat. Nobody else was on the train, so we had it to ourselves. The ride was running very smooth. Still just OK. The ending helix is still the best moment of the ride, I just wish there was more on the first half.

Afterward, we just took photos, saw shows, had lunch and went back to the hotel for a few hours before night ERT. When we did come back, we watched the fireworks in the area above the main gate and headed to Banshee for a half hour ERT once the park closed. Got a few more laps on it and then it was time to finally ride the Beast at night...

We waited for the front seat for our first ride. The skies were dark, the full moon was out and the temperature was perfect out. I must admit, at night this ride is a far different experience. We had a BLAST on it! The entire ride was just awesome and really made me appreciate the ride more than I have in the past. I also really liked the music they played up the lift (somewhat like the JAWS theme). We ended up riding 5-6 more times in various seats, enjoying each and every ride. While I still think "daytime Beast" ranks really low in my books, at night, it is one of my favorites. I am glad to have finally experienced it the way it should be. I still would love to get just one ride without that trim-brake-of-death in that long tunneled straightaway, though! The first drop and second hill trims don't bother me much, but that last set slows the train down significantly and really ruins the pacing. I just love coming out of that second tunnel at night and just picking up so much speed for those few turns.

On Sunday, we planned to stop at Stricker's Grove... We had heard it was open (I never knew it was only open to the public a few days a year), so we made the detour to stop in. Checkout at the hotel was at noon, so we had some time to burn until the 2pm opening. We visited Jungle Jim's for an hour or so, grabbing a few beers (Mmmm... Southern Tier's Pumpking on tap!) and doing a little shopping before hand. We arrived at Stricker's at 2:15, paid our $12 admission and went right back to Teddy Bear. Was nothing special, but a great little family coaster. Next up was Tornado, and we hopped on the very backseat. The ride had a few abrupt bumps and some floater air here and there, but there was on moment on the double-down type section which had some violent airtime. Made for a fun little ride!

Afterward, we stopped by the arcade and played a few games of skeeball and then grabbed the camera from the car. Took some pictures for a half hour or so and then headed out. The park was actually very busy and the midways were packed by the time we left. I am glad we stopped to see this little park!

Now for some pictures! I don't have much from Kings Island, as I had taken many on previous trips and really was not all that motivated this time around

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