Is King's Island Essential?

[sirspud]

My wife and I are taking our first real vacation in two years this summer. For our honeymoon one of the things we did was a mini road trip which included visiting CP, Hersheypark, Kennywood, and Knoebel's. We're hitting the road again and doing a mix of things which includes Holiday World, Dollywood, Carowinds, and King's Island. Initially SFoG was on there, but the price for the park is outrageous and there is really very little that I feel is worth going out of the way for with the similar parks I've already visited, so that was out. Down to four, but two of those are now former Paramount Parks whose coaster stock is very, very similar, minus the Beast and Fury 325.

 

I have to say a couple things before I continue. First off, my wife and I don't make a ton of money, so our vacations are infrequent and a little over a week, the most our jobs let us take. Second, I'm an extremely active photographer and I've found myself being as excited at the prospect of visiting scenic spots (like mountains, which we have nothing even close in Florida) as I am about rollercoasters, at least ones that aren't unique hypercoasters and woodies. My wife is cool with visiting theme parks but isn't a buff, and could probably enjoy some other activities a lot more. I will ride all rollercoasters, but except for unique ones like 4D and wingriders, I don't get the least bit excited by loopers anymore. They make me sick and the inversions all feel pretty much the same as other inversions of the same type.

 

The Beast seems cool, but nothing really excites me about King's Island. Of course I want to ride a legendary woodie like the Beast, but it does seem like a lot of straight track finished off with an awesome helix. I've visited Carowinds before and will be going again due to Fury 325, and most of the rides at King's Island are redundant. I'm more for quality than quantity, and would rather visited a park that has four coasters with character than one that has mass produced rides. Does anyone here really think that for someone who is already visiting Carowinds that Kings Island is also a must visit?

[Intimidator305]

As far as the headliners go:

Diamondback is much better than Intimidator, but from a non-enthusiast view, essentially the same

Racer is practically the same as Thunder Road (RIP)

Banshee is a more modern Afterburn with a bit less of a bunch

Invertigo is close enough to Carolina Cobra

Firehawk and Nighthawk are the same thing

Both have Windseekers

 

Only rides you'll be missing out on at either park is Beast (very overrated in my opinion) and Flight of Fear at Kings Island and Fury 325 at Carowinds.

 

For your tastes and wants I believe skipping out on KI wouldn't be a problem, especially on the same trip. However, later on down the road the park is worth a visit as like the rest of the former Paramount Parks, it is getting more and more charm back each season.

[sirspud]

As far as the headliners go:

Diamondback is much better than Intimidator, but from a non-enthusiast view, essentially the same

Racer is practically the same as Thunder Road (RIP)

Banshee is a more modern Afterburn with a bit less of a bunch

Invertigo is close enough to Carolina Cobra

Firehawk and Nighthawk are the same thing

Both have Windseekers

 

Only rides you'll be missing out on at either park is Beast (very overrated in my opinion) and Flight of Fear at Kings Island and Fury 325 at Carowinds.

 

For your tastes and wants I believe skipping out on KI wouldn't be a problem, especially on the same trip. However, later on down the road the park is worth a visit as like the rest of the former Paramount Parks, it is getting more and more charm back each season.

 

Thanks for the reply, yes at some point I think I'd like to see the park, but on this trip it just doesn't seem that vital and I'm glad you agree. I am an enthusiast, but lack of resources means riding coasters just to compile a coaster count isn't something that makes sense.

[bert425]

we feel the same way about scenery/culture vs Coasters on vacations, and that's why we're about to do a Kings Dominion/Busch Gardens trip, with also stops at Colonial WIlliamsburg, and Washington DC.

 

have a great time on your trip regardless where you are stopping!

[ArizonaGuy]

I'd say Kings Island is a must do. I live in AZ and have been there 3 times in the past 7 years. Great photo ops especially if the Eiffel Tower is open. The assortments of coasters is great in my opinion.

[Ape]

I'd rather take a visit to Kings Island than I would Carowinds. Carowinds just is not that good of a park to me.

[coasterbill]

This is a tough one, Kings Island is a great park but there's not much there you can't find anywhere else. I consider Diamondback to be a very good B&M hyper but if you're going to ride Fury on the same trip that lessens the appeal a bit, Banshee is very good but I'd put it below some of the larger older inverts like Afterburn, Montu, Alpengeist and Raptor, Bat is great but it's a clone... same for Firehawk (and a lot of people tend to hate these though I like them a lot) and Flight of Fear. Delerium and Drop Tower are very good too but they're not totally unique.

 

The park is very good but the Beast is the only thing that's totally unique about it. Riding the Beast during the day is fun, but it's not going to crack many top 10 or even top 20 lists. I feel like the initial reaction would be disappointment. The thing that's holding me back though is that (out of about 250 coasters), I've never had a more amazing ride on any coaster, anywhere, ever than our rides on back to back nights in the front seat of the Beast last year. I really don't even have words to describe how insane a Beast night ride can be.

 

So that's the dilema... the park for the most part is good but not incredibly unique, the Beast is a good ride but not amazing for most of the day but a night ride on it (especially in the front) is an unforgettable experience.

[mark549]

Beast at night is nice but it still doesn't have any airtime. I liked Diamondback at night much more.

 

Their drop tower and Delirium may be clones, but they're very, very good clones. Delirium is better than most coasters.

 

Kings Island definitely has a much better coaster line up than Carowinds, but I haven't been to Carowinds for a few years (so I haven't been on Fury). I did like Afterburn more than Banshee, and Intimidator 232 is my least favorite of the six B&M hypers in the US - it's fun but could have been better.

[Werner]

Well maybe don't visit Kings Island if you dont feel like it on this trip, but visit Kentucky Kingdom instead?

[John Peck]

True ... KI does have some similar rides to Carowinds, but the experiences are much, much different. There are a lot of discount tickets available, since money is an option. What is your home park? If you had a platinum pass and had the monthly payment plan, you would get the free parking and in-park discounts, and pay for it over a 6-month period (if it's still available, of course)

 

Edit: I just noticed you are from Florida, so a platinum pass wouldn't really be worth it unless you hit 3 or 4 cedar fair parks

[yay101]

I don't think KI is entirely necessary, but it has classic rides such as The Racer, The Beast, and of course The Bat, so keep them in mind as you make your decision.

[Invertalon]

I only live 3.5hrs from KI and find it hard to go there once a year until Banshee came along. The park is filled with OK rides, but if your going to Carowinds and such, that is a better park IMO. I enjoyed it much more.

 

Diamondback is probably one of my least favorite B&M hypers... Fury is FAR better. So no loss there.

 

Afterburn is better than Banshee, although Banshee is a very good ride... Afterburn is one of my top 5 coasters, easily.

 

Beast is awesome at night, during the day its OK at best. I find it grossly overrated for the most part.

[Ape]

To each his own as i found carowinds to be fairly boring. I want to make it back for Fury but it's not something that has me jumping out of my seat to go ride right away. I think I truly like one coaster at Carowinds and that was Afterburn. I like Banshee better than Afterburn.

[sirspud]

In regards to Carowinds versus Kings Island, there are a couple reasons why Kings Island may be dropped from my trip and Carowinds not. First, Fury 325. It's a unique ride and I find 300 footers worth going out of your way for. Although I'd like to try The Beast and FOF, other than that the parks are really a wash. Just from a coaster perspective, I'm going with Fury. I've actually been to Carowinds before, so I know how average the coasters are besides that, but its worth trying. But the other major factor is simply location. Kings Island is a significant way from anywhere else I'm going. The closest I will be is Holiday World, and that's not so bad when you realize its only 2-2.5 hours from the Nashville area where I could stay that evening. On top of that, the things I could spend time at in the Carowinds area are endless. The mountains, including the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains, are not far away, and there are tons of things I could find to do in that vicinity. My wife would certainly enjoy spending time in Asheville as well. There's not really anything in the vicinity of Kings Island that I can imagine being worth doing on a big vacation.