Christian's Coaster Adventures 2019

Kings Island - below

Cedar Point (6/27-6/28) - here

Irons Flea Roast (part 1) - here

Kings Island (6/26/2019)

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that I had to take a civil service exam to determine eligibility for a job opening in Columbus, OH. So with me already holding a CF Platinum Pass, I decided to make a trip out of it including visiting two Cedar Fair parks.

After a five hour drive from my sister's place in Grand Rapids, I finally pulled into Kings Island around 2pm after a quick lunch stop at Raising Cane's off the (unsigned) Kings Island exit from I-75.

When I entered the park, my first stop was to get a Fast Lane Plus at the gift shop near Diamondback. After that, I hopped right on Diamondback. The operators there were making mentions of free water at food stands, which I saw a lot of people take advantage of (it was over 90 degrees that day).

My first drink of the day was a Powerade, which I enjoyed while standing in the Miami River Brewhouse. Following that were rides on Mystic Timbers and the Beast, with a water break following.

Next on the agenda were rides on the new for 2019 Antique Cars, as well as WindSeeker and Vortex, which wasn't as bad as it was on my last ride on it in 2017.

Following another drink break, I went on Red Racer, followed by a pizza and breadsticks break at LaRosa's. After letting that settle, I hit both of the Premier launched rides (Backlot Stunt Coaster and Flight of Fear).

After more free water, I hit my final two rides of the day, which were Adventure Express and Banshee. I skipped the Bat due to time constraints and Invertigo was down when I went past it. I left around 7pm in order to get to my hotel, a Quality Inn in the middle of nowhere Ohio just off I-71. I had a super early morning the next day, so I had to make sure to get some rest before the civil service exam and Cedar Point the next day.

Raising Cane's basic meal. It was really good. The sauce was good as well even though I had no idea what was in it.

I managed to get a very good spot!

Eiffel Tower standing tall (I didn't have time to go up there)

Lots of old phones in here! (probably from Diamondback's opening year)

Blue Powerade!

There was a line into the Brewhouse at 2:30pm, likely for A/C and/or soft drinks

Kings Island was handing out these free water cups at their food stands. Cedar Point was doing the same thing on my two days there.

It's basically a scenic railway with two big drops, but I prefer it to Blue Streak (CP) and Racer.

Interesting picture and signage!

Vortex: Looks decent, and actually rode decent this year!

Kings Island is the only park in which the antique cars are on FL+.

WindSeeker, aka Nice Breeze: The Ride, which felt very nice on this hot day.

I managed to avoid heat exhaustion this trip by following my Busch Gardens Tampa strategy from a very hot day last year, which involved downing Powerades and water like shots.

Racer actually racing! Most of the day, the dispatches were off slightly, likely due to no lines. I did manage to get a racing ride.

1. Kings Island is paying tribute to a couple of their older flat rides.

2. Is this where the new giga's entrance/exit will be?

Backlot doing its thing. Side note: A ride like this would fit in very well at the Cedar Fair parks that don't have this ride!

Flight of Fear actually appeared to have a line, in part due to being indoors.

The second lift hill on Adventure Express is one of the most bizarre experiences on any coaster I have experienced! It empties into the brake run and there are animatronics on both sides (along with what looks like a smaller Olmec from Legends of the Hidden Temple at the top of the second lift).

Part of me wishes I would have ridden Son of Beast, but I have heard it may have been worse than Mean Streak was.

This ride hauls and has an insane throughput!

I've been on Backlot Stunt at KD, and found it fun, but it looks like it was much better with the added theming during the Paramount era (during which I never visited the park). Now it's seems like a hit-and-miss whether you'll get a fireball or not.

I've been on Backlot Stunt at KD, and found it fun, but it looks like it was much better with the added theming during the Paramount era (during which I never visited the park). Now it's seems like a hit-and-miss whether you'll get a fireball or not.

I didn't get a fireball when I rode, but it may have been too hot for that effect

KD's fireball, machine gun fire, and helicopter movement were all MIA when I was there mid-June.

It was definitely better back in the day.

Awesome! Thank you for sharing...

Hmmm no fireball you say? That's strange. I can't remember ever riding it w/o the fire, but that would make sense to not have it given the heat (when i go on a cold day during Haunt, I always make sure to go for a front-seat ride to bask in the split-second of warmth it gives off )...

I also can attest to it being better under the Paramount theme, and with all the effects on full display. But as mentioned above, it still better/more immersive theming than you'd find on 95% of typical Cedar Fair rides (I for am actually glad that we still have most of the effects working on the helicopter scene - apparently the one at CW just awkwardly stops for a brief moment before proceeding forward into the tunnel!)

Kings Island (6/26/2019)

 

Unlikely. Per the blueprints the entrance will over by FOF, and passing through Firehawk's old photo booth.

What civil service exam did you take? I hope it went well.

Next on the agenda were rides on the new for 2019 Antique Cars

Dude, I laughed imagining the sight of a grown man driving one of the antique cars around by himself!

Nice report! Most US parks give you free water if you ask for it. Lake Winnie and Funtown are the only two where I've had to pay for a cup of water.

What civil service exam did you take? I hope it went well.

 

Next on the agenda were rides on the new for 2019 Antique Cars

 

Dude, I laughed imagining the sight of a grown man driving one of the antique cars around by himself!

 

It was for the City of Columbus. I scored well enough to be in contention for an interview invitation.

Side note: I was able to fit in those cars without any problems.

Nice report! I can't believe I haven't been to KI yet this year... I really want to check out the brewhouse.

Cedar Point (6/27-6/28)

After taking the Columbus civil service exam, the next step of my trip was the mostly surface road drive to Cedar Point. I arrived at the Point just before 3pm and I was directed by the parking attendants to the back lot, which worked to my advantage as I didn't have to walk all the way to the back of the park to get on the good coasters.

My first ride of the day was a near walk-on Magnum, which has the second best airtime in the park. After that, I went over to Steel Vengeance and waited in the long line, which ended up being over 2 hours due to a breakdown just as I hit the metal detectors. Thankfully, it was a short breakdown and I ended up being on the third train after the breakdown in row 11. SV is amazing in any row, but the airtime seems even better in the back.

After getting off Steel Vengeance and having to pay an extra $1 to unlock my expired fluffy bunny, I walked across the park to have dinner at Melt. I had the Mighty Macaroni sandwich, which was HUGE. I managed to eat it all and then took a little break to look at all the old CP pictures and signs in Melt.

Following dinner, I went to Iron Dragon, which had a short wait, and Rougarou, which was a walk-on (and CP was still running three trains on it!) After Rougarou, I headed to Millennium Force and Maverick, which are both still amazing coasters. I was starting to get tired (I had been up since 6am), so I hit Magnum and then headed to my hotel, the Knights Inn on US-6 east of the Causeway.

The next morning, I pulled into Cedar Point around 8:45am and waited for early entry rope drop. At 9am, I headed back toward Steel Vengeance, but I didn't notice any activity over there, so I headed to a walk-on Maverick. While on Maverick, I noticed Steel Vengeance was running with people on it, so I headed there next. A little over an hour later, I had another amazing ride on SV. For my last ride of the trip, I decided to head to Millennium Force, which was only a five minute wait at the time. I thought about going around, but the line for MF had doubled in the time I had ridden and I had a LONG day ahead of me with seven hours of driving and another stop much closer to home.

Waterpark parking lot!

Magnum is still incredible 30 years later!

Getting back car on Steel Vengeance was more than worth the 2+ hour wait and waiting through a breakdown.

The Steel Vengeance sign.

This is an amazing sandwich!

Old aerial photos from the Point (the bottom left one appears to be from either Gemini's opening day or July 4th, 1978 based on all the cars in the lot)

Iron Dragon over the lake

Rougarou doing its thing.

The bottom sign is only useful when Rougarou has a line, which is only on very busy days.

Cedar Point's historical marker.

Irons Flea Roast (part 1)

After my morning riding Cedar Point's Big Three, I drove seven hours (it would've been six, but I hit traffic around Ann Arbor and I also had to pick some things up at my sister's place in Grand Rapids). After a stop for dinner at a gas station Subway in Reed City, I finally pulled into the Irons Flea Roast parking lot around 8pm.

For those who don't know, the Irons Flea Roast and Ox Market is part flea market, part beer tent with live bands, and part carnival with rides I have no interest in riding. Friday night was country night, so they had a local country band (I used to work with two of the members of that band) and later that night they had a regional country band. The first band played a mixture of covers and original songs, while the second band played mostly original songs with a couple of covers thrown in.

The Whiskey Rebels, the first band of the night. Based out of nearby Ludington, they've played together for several years now.

The paratrooper and the sizzler (which appears to be a scrambler under a different name).

Hurricane, with spinning space ships.

Tornado! (This ride looks exactly like a flat ride in Planet Coaster)

The Rock-o-Plane and the Gator (a powered coaster with a 60" maximum height requirement).

Redneck wave swinger!

Kiddie rides were in the center of the midway.

There was a carousel, but it had a maximum height requirement of 60"

More kiddie rides!

They even squeezed a kiddie ride next to the Ferris wheel (which has a lower capacity than the wheels in RollerCoaster Tycoon)

A fun house! Note that one of the L's is dropped in "hillbilly", likely for space purposes.

Another fun house, but this one had a maximum height requirement of 54" (the "Hilbilly Village" had no maximum height)

Super slide!

The second band, Gunnar and the Grizzly Boys, out of Grand Rapids.

This festival even has a costumed ox mascot!

Beer pyramid (I didn't drink any beer, but A LOT of beer was sold that night)