Leaderboard

I have no desire for KI to get VR unless it is a new ride designed with it. I love The Bat the way it is. Please do not slow down capacity with VR. If you want to see Bats on a ride, go ride MT and hope you get them in the shed.

Winterfest may be here, but it's not too late to still talk about Haunt! I promised myself I'd write this report at some point not just to document another great trip, but also to brighten the moods of any KICers who may already be experiencing the offseason blues if their favorite ride isn't operating for Winterfest. Either way, who doesn't like the joy of seeing a newly written trip report just waiting to be read?!? 'Twas the night of Friday, October 19, and my Fall Break was in full swing. My parents were out of town that weekend, leaving me home by myself with an available car. Of course, I chose to use all that spare time wisely...at Kings Island. I invited two of my friends, Margaret (one of my church friends; she has gone to KI with me three times before) and Meagan (my roommate at Cedarville U), both of whom were available to go on this night. We arrived at Kings Island just after 6pm. I knew lines were not going to be bad for most of the rides, but Meagan had never been to KI and I wanted to make sure she could ride a good number of rides, including the ones that tend to get longer lines on nights like this (especially a certain coaster that didn't have very many days left). I had renewed my Platinum Pass a few weeks earlier, so I decided to redeem my complimentary Fast Lane Plus and buy two more for my two riding buddies (I didn't mind paying, since it was not Saturday ). There was a good line to buy Fast Lane, and we waited ~15 minutes. That would happen to be our longest wait of the night. A lot of rides had short lines, but I had never used Fast Lane on any ride other than Vortex prior to this night, so it was cool getting to go through the Fast Lane lines on some of the other rides for the experience. And yes, our night would still be fun without it, but I wanted to use my complimentary Fast Lane Plus at some point and this night was my best choice for when to use it! I wanted to be sure I grabbed some pictures this time (as I didn't get any on the previous visit - October 12) and this was my first attempt. It gets better; I promise. Plus, I was attempting to take it as we were eagerly rushing to our first ride, Viking Fury! Riding Viking Fury first was Margaret's idea, as she enjoys this ride and how underrated it is. I like Viking Fury, but I was long overdue for a swing, as my last ride on it happened on August 29, 2014! And of course Meagan had never ridden it. So Viking Fury made a great first ride! We walked right on to one of the end rows. And let me tell you, Viking Fury makes a pretty fun night ride, especially on the end! Needless to say, we had fun, including Toothless (as it was his first ride on it too!). Like Margaret and me, Meagan also enjoys roller coasters. However, she prefers a more gradual transition into riding them (i.e. she'd rather not ride Diamondback first, but after she's ridden other smaller coasters then she'll do it). Conveniently enough, Viking Fury has a neighbor which for many is the ideal starting coaster, and for us was our next ride. Which ride? Adventure Express! I was excited to ride my original favorite night ride, and of course we rode in the back. The three of us had fun careening around the turns and through the pitch-black tunnels! After the ride, Meagan was ready to ride the bigger rides! Our next ride was Delirium, which was Margaret's second favorite ride! We waited two cycles before experiencing a very chilly ride! It was nice riding Delirium at night again, as I barely remember the last time I rode Delirium at night (it had definitely been a while!). Since Banshee was right next door, we we were ready to ride that next. After paying $2 for a locker, we headed through the line and rode in the back row. Zipping through the dark (and past the lights) on Banshee is definitely more fun than a daytime ride! Even though I don't ride Banshee on every trip, it's a great ride...especially at night! Like The Beast, which I prefer to ride in the rain or in the dark, I prefer to ride Banshee at night. I wouldn't mind riding it during the day, of course. We rode Banshee again, in the front this time. The chilly 68 mph wind in our faces added an exhilarating touch to our nighttime scream! We determined that our locker rental would allow us enough time to ride both Firehawk and Mystic Timbers and still make it back to the locker before the rental expired, even if it meant walking an entire lap around the park. Once we agreed on what to do, we set off toward Firehawk. Our first ride was on the yellow train. Prior to this night, I had actually never ridden Firehawk at night. In fact, Margaret and Meagan had never ridden Firehawk at night either! We had a blast on our first ever night ride on Firehawk. We all loved flying through the dark and upside down five times! We loved it so much that we rode a second time! This time, we ended up on the Red train, so I got some good (attempts at) night pictures of the ride. Our next stop was Mystic Timbers, as we had enough time left in our locker rental to ride it two times as well! As we passed Vortex, it began to rain... ...and we walked through my now-favorite scare zone, Pumpkin Eater! I wasn't sure how I would react to the scareactors, but I found out how when I said "hello" to every scareactor I saw and laughed in response to their scaring me. I actually loved it! I was never a big fan of Haunt, but I must admit that it is starting to grow on me. Maybe next year I will finally muster the courage to brave one of the mazes... On to Mystic Timbers! I took a break from taking pictures, for my non-waterproof camera's sake. Our two rides made me appreciate my rain jacket A LOT. I had not ridden Mystic Timbers in the rain since August 15, and I had never ridden it in the rain AT NIGHT before! It goes without saying that they were the CRAZIEST rides I have ever had on Mystic Timbers!!! The ride was insane and I had to keep my eyes closed as we were jostled side to side and up and down as we careened through the woods!! Our first ride on Mystic Timbers would be Margaret's last ride for the night. She loved it, but since we were now fairly wet (and a bit cold), she decided to sit out on the rest of the rides which Meagan and I would ride for the rest of the time (it was around 10 at this point and we planned to leave at 11) and she was completely fine with waiting for Meagan and me while we rode. After another watery truck ride through the woods of Rivertown, we walked back to Action Zone and retrieved our locker contents. Yes, we had just made a lap around the park just to make the most of a locker rental. Yay! It's probably a good thing Margaret sat out on our next ride... ...Diamondback! In the back! We put the "back" in "Diamondback" by riding in my favorite row, 16 (a.k.a. the back ). Not long after we took our back seats, a cold, wet, and ejector-airtime-filled ride followed. And before you ask, I did NOT dare stick my hand back during the splashdown (I normally do, but that's normally during the summer!). I just looked at the water instead. Since it had just rained (and it was still drizzling at this point), I knew we had to seize the chance to ride The Beast. I already know how fun The Beast is in the rain or at night, but I had yet to experience The Beast's wrath in BOTH conditions (much like how on the previous Friday, October 12, was the first time I ever rode Vortex in the cold, rain AND dark!) so Meagan and I were pretty hyped as we boarded my favorite row, 17. One long lift climb later, we were pulled over and down we went into the darkness for what would be one of the best, if not the best ride I have had to date on The Beast! The woods and the surrounding tunnels were pitch black and all I could do was helplessly enjoy the ride as everything sped by at 65 mph! Another EPIC ride at the mercy of The Beast (happy early 40th anniversary!)! Earlier, when approaching The Beast, I noticed this part of the park was quieter than usual. Indeed, Vortex had gone down for the rain while we were at Mystic Timbers, but it had gone back up by the time our Beast-tastic nature hike (er, ride) concluded. Perfect timing, because we were just now getting to it, we didn't have much time left, and I really wanted Meagan to get a chance to finally experience the ride I always talk about (she is my roommate, after all, so she is well aware of my Vortex adventures). We headed back through Pumpkin Eater and hopped right in line for Vortex. There was a small station wait, so Meagan took her first ever Vortex ride with me in 6-2! I told her everything she needed to know and before I knew it, we had already reached the 148-foot summit and plunged into the darkness! We laughed and twirled our way through the night as our Vortex train hauled us through its course one element after another. When we disembarked, I asked for her verdict and she said it was good! She enjoyed it! Last but not least, we had just enough time for a cold, post-rain night flight on WindSeeker! We bundled up and clutched Toothless close as "Flying" began to play and the 64-seat hub lifted us up to 256 feet in the air. As I said, it was cold, but the view of a fog-shrouded Kings Island and the surrounding area proved no less spectacular! After safely landing three minutes later, it was time for us to head out. We were cold and still a little wet from the rain, but we were happy that we got to experience this fun night at Haunt together! Meagan and Margaret loved their #FirehawkFinalFlights! Margaret said that Delirium will inherit her "favorite ride" title from Firehawk. Good choice. +Viking Fury: 1 Total: 4 (I really need to ride this more...it's underrated!) +Adventure Express: 1 YTD: 8 Total: 63 +Delirium: 1 YTD: 4 Total: 27 +Banshee: 2 YTD: 5 Total: 30 +Firehawk: 2 YTD: 6 Total: 23 +Mystic Timbers: 2 YTD: 5 Total: 28 +Diamondback: 1 YTD: 9 Total: 118 +The Beast: 1 YTD: 4 Total: 20 +Vortex: 1 YTD: 155 1/3 Total: 648 1/3 +WindSeeker: 1 YTD: 32 Total: 151

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

But those 800 steps hurt 10x more than all the 15,000 you took!

I second this! If they had a KI coaster shirt series similar to CP’s, I would totally buy Bat and Flight of Fear* shirts! *On a related note, can we have some Flight of CHEER merch? I feel like this is a missed opportunity; I would gladly buy a Flight of Cheer shirt if it was available.

Some people seem salty that @RuthlessAirtime got recognition instead of them. It's a bad look. Good job @RuthlessAirtime that was a cool concept you came up with. I don't know if it will be that tall, but I sure hope so!!

Paul Shortt (who also designed American Heritage Music Hall, today's Kings Island Theater) created design concepts for Festhaus and designed the building's original stage. The exterior of Festhaus was designed by Bruce D. Robinson Associates Inc. (today known as Bruce D. Robinson Design Group) of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Yes, lets put the Ohio and Cedar Fair flag out front with the existing US flag. As much as I understand the reasoning for the flags by the fountains, it does take away from the tower in pics.

@Rivertown Rider Good mention. I remember the year Banshee opened it seemed like they must of had 20 different designs for just that one coaster. Seems like they could have had at least one solid design for every other coaster. I kind of prefer the bold and simple designs myself. I feel like some of the designs miss the mark, and appear more as a concert or NASCAR tshirt more than they do as a trendy novelty tee. Speaking of designs, whoever did the KIC designs for this site really nailed it out of the park!

They could sell some of the old roller coaster parts in the shops that would end up in the landfill otherwise. They could also offer valet parking.

And I was responding to your post. If you can’t accept my disagreement then don’t post.

When I was there opening night potato works was open so you should be in luck. I know at least some of the games are open and some even have a holiday theme to them like the soccer game was transformed into a hockey version. Some of the games are priced in a new way though where you play until you win but the price you pay determines your prize level. If you plan on riding the train then I would suggest maybe trying to do that right before close. I rode it one and a half times (the second time we made it half way to the Soak City station but couldn't make it up the grade because of a water leak and rode back to Rivertown backwards) once right when it opened at 6 and the half as the last cycle of the night. There was a fairly log line when it first opened but we walked right on for the last cycle. I highly recommend ice skating on the royal fountain. I did it during the middle time block and it was sold out so make sure you plan around that. I would recommend the last time block because when I passed by the fountain during the last block there was barely anyone and you get until 10:30 even though the park closes at 10

Winterfest is a great event but very different to the regular season. This Saturday in Mason their is a chance of rain so Sunday might be better. The park opens at 4 Saturday and there is plenty to do before it closes at 10. Main rides open include, Mystic Timbers, Flight of Fear, Zephyr, Boo Blasters, KIMVRR, Coney Mall flat rides, Horse-drawn carriage ride, Ice Skating and some others. The high is in the 40s both days but with rain a hoodie and jeans is probably a safe bet. Food includes the Festhaus being open and fully functional like normal, along with many of the same restaurants albeit given a more Christmas-like name, but same food of course. Hot chocolate is also a great choice and at many locations, not sure about potato works. Also, not that sure about games as I go for the rides only but I hope you have fun and hope this tips help some!

Yes, but people are getting sold on that DESIGN. And that could provide some serious problems, since the public are not coaster enthusiasts, and will not realize that certain elements will terrify them as much as a parabolic airtime hill.

I’m going to be in hysterics if they announce a dive coaster in August.

First the Steel Beast video that was all over social media, and now this. I feel like the masses have spoken: Giga or Bust!

Take note creators- use less convincing roller coaster sims for your speculation.

Rides were indeed open at 4 this past Saturday. Mystic opened a bit late but they were doing test runs at 4. I rode Boo Blasters, Shake Rattle and Roll, and Dodgems and the Carousel first thing before 5pm. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

WCPO reported on @RuthlessAirtime's creation and referenced this thread. https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/possible-kings-island-giga-coaster-in-new-video

Even though the park is opening at 4 on certain days, the rides are not opening until 5 regardless of the day. I think it mainly has to do with labor laws because the extra hour would throw off the way they run breaks and stuff like that. On this note, I've heard that on New Year's Eve the rides are only open until 10pm because of issues with the state certifications only being valid for 2018 and needing renewed as of the first of every year

I personally wouldn't use the valet service just because whats 800 more steps at the end of your day when your walking 15,000 steps but I know the park would make loads of money on it. I have seen a few but they could offer some more polos.

Or outside of the front gate. Maybe in the center area where the path splits to go off to either side of the parking lot. Wouldn't be terrible to see the flags as you are walking up, and this way it can both proudly display the flags, while not obstructing views in the actual park, and not having to hide them somewhere in a random area.

All I asked was for people to read and abide by the TOS... I never mentioned your name or anyone else's as I wished to keep it anonymous. Threads have gotten derailed over the past couple of weeks with people's unnecessary arguments, like the one you're currently having, that don't contribute to the overall thread but rather one's that are personal that flood threads. I've been guilty of it which is why I have just given up on arguing and ignoring certain posts made by certain members as to not provoke further quarrels. The more people abide by the TOS, the more smoothly things run.

They had VR in the 90’s. It’s making a comeback. One of the companies I work with is adding it this year.

That will ruin the ambiance and the pictures in front of the fountain. Rides have a place in their respective areas. A zip line elsewhere would be fine. I’ll take a hard pass on this idea.

Politics aside, you can't deny this is cool. This train was painted in honor to former President George H.W. Bush, who was a lover of trains, in 2005. Several years later this locomotive, engineered by navy veterans, is piloting the train taking the president to his resting place in Texas. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/navy-veterans-crew-george-hw-bushs-historic-presidential/story?id=59650849

YES to scores! That Bernstein track is wonderful. As good as the scene is with "Blue Moon," I kinda wish the cue was used. Keeping with the score motif just for fun, here are my picks: Flight of Fear: "Prelude/Radar" by Bernard Herrmann from The Day the Earth Stood Still Banshee: "Let's Get Her/Rebirth" by Jerry Goldsmith from Poltergeist The Beast: "Main Theme/Desolation" by Ennio Morricone from The Thing BLSC: "Rush Hour" by Mark Mancina from Speed Diamondback: "The Swarm" by Jerry Goldsmith Vortex: "The Black Hole" by John Barry Adventure Express: "The Idol Temple" by John Williams from Raiders of the Lost Ark The Bat: "My Skull/Gurney" by Jerry Goldsmith from The 'Burbs Mystic Timbers: I love it's music already, but hey why not? "Plymouth Fury" by John Carpenter from Christine

Actually, they are renaming Banshee "Bananarama" and replacing the lift hill scream with strange voices. What will they say? Things you can't understand.

Those who know, don't speak. Those who speak, don't know.

And, as you can see in the above picture, the train has been lifted up on jacks. The trains are fired by liquid propane, which is denser than air. Because of that, having a traditional maintenance pit could be lethal for those working on the trains. So instead, they will jack the train up off its wheels to do the necessary maintenance.

Someone knows!

This isn't average nerdness... ...this is, advanced nerdness

Hope you're not trying to make friends with @homestar92 I don't see Gemini leaving any time in the foreseeable future. It's a classic that help put Cedar Point on the map, and it's still a great stepping stone between small coasters and big coasters. It's also a capacity machine, important at a park that packs crowds like Cedar Point can.