McSalsa

For those who could not attend media day, Cedar Point's Youtube Page has put up the official POV: Yeah, it looks amazing IMO. I can't wait until May, when my sister, me, and a group of friends are going up there again (went twice in 2017) and I will finally be able to ride this monster. (Visited on the last Saturday of 2017 and saw it with the track completed and it looked amazing even then.)

Hello everyone! If you recall, last week after preview day, I said I was returning to Kings Island this week. AND I DID. Here is the trip report! But, before we get in the meat of the report, here is my new-for-2018-and-thus-only-just used last week tier ratings system! F- Garbage. I regret ever riding this and will not make the same mistake of ever riding it again! D- Mediocre. A disappointing, or painful ride, though there might be a little fun here. I might give a D-Tier ride a second chance but it is gonna need to be a walk-on or something. C- Average. A fun ride, but either there is enough roughness/pain to dilute it, or it just does not blow me away. Will still ride this if the wait is not too bad, though. B- Good. A ride I enjoy, but it may have some flaws, but I will happily re-ride this unless the wait is pretty crazy. A- Awesome. These rides leave me with a huge grin usually, and I will ride them over and over if there is a short wait. If there are long waits around the entire park, I may aim for these anyway, as if you are gonna wait, best to be for something worth it. Surpassed only by... S- Zen. The best of the best. I am usually giddy and my happiness meter is maxed out after riding one of these. Tragically, these are not the most common rides out there, however. I was with my sister and 2 of her friends, who I guess you can also consider my friends as we had a good time but I am farther from them than she is. We headed out and arrived at the park in time for ERT, around 9:15 AM. After the national anthem played, we entered the park. Also, with this trip report to save some time becuase THERE IS A LOT O' STUFF IN HERE, I am not gonna bother with the "we walked from here to here" blah blah blah stuff, and will just go straight from what we rode (or ate, or if we saw a show) in the order we did them. Ride #1- Mystic Timbers Wait: 20 Minutes You are probably wondering why the heck Mystic Timbers would have a huge wait for ERT. Well, it was not yet 45 degrees outside, which meant the other 2 ERT rides (The Bat & Banshee) could not run yet. Due to the cold, Mystic Timbers was not quite at full speed (I'd say it felt like 95%) but even then it was still pretty fast and intense! I got good amount of airtime, and we got the snakes ending in the shed, so I was still stuck at 2 out of 3 endings. Rating: A Ride #2- Backlot Stunt Coaster Wait: 10 Minutes (For Ride to Pass Pre-Park Opening Testing and Open, was Walk-On, we were first public train of day) BLSC opened with the park, but it too seemed to suffer a bit from the cold- it was struggling to get over the first helix! However, it was making it, so the ride opened. The forces were not as good at the reduced speed, but the fire effect felt good in the cold air. All the effects the ride has left were working on this day, BTW. Rating: C Ride #3- Flight of Fear Wait: Literal Walk-On (We arrived at the station just as the gates for the next train were opening and there was next to no one in line!) Flight of Fear, being indoors, was not as affected by the cold and was thus running at normal speed. The ride was a bit on the rougher side, but the G-forces were strong, and the ride was still a good bit of fun. The alien at the end of the ride is still there. At the exit, the aliens told us "We now know what happens when the human body is pushed to..." (silence) LOL, a removed Outer Limits reference! Rating: B Ride #4- Boo Blasters on Boo Hill Wait: Walk-On While I am not the biggest fan of this ride (I think KI needs a much better dark ride) my sister loves it and as it was a walk-on and harmless, I did it anyway. I got a score of 510, not my personal best ever. I really don't like the blaster gimmick, and wish KI would make a traditional non-shooter dark ride instead. Rating: D Food: Skyline Chilli I-Street After BBoBH, we went and got the all-season drinks plan. We chose disposable cups. To use the new plan, we went to Skyline Chilli, which had no line or wait. We also grabbed some cheese coney dogs, as they looked to make a decent snack. And they did- they tasted good, though I swear they were like 80% cheese! (I may be exaggerating a bit there) Rating: B Ride #5- Delirium Wait: 5 Minutes (They had some restraint issues apparently and had to unlock and re-check them twice, otherwise, this would have been another walk-on) I rode this ride solo, as it was a walk-on and my companions were smoking, which I don't do. Delirium was its usual, super fun ride, also based on its POV's I counted how many swings at full strength it does and knew how long the ride would last. These Giant Frisbees are fun, and remain my favorite flat rides so far. Rating: A Ride #6- Banshee Wait: 10-15 Minutes Our friend who couldn't do loops did not ride with us here, but he was able to hold our stuff, so that was a blessing (no need 4 locker). This ride marked a turning point- earlier, Mystic Timbers and Backlot Stunt Coaster, due to the cold, felt a bit slower than usual. By now it had warmed up, and because of this, Banshee actually felt a smidge faster than usual! One of our friends was also riding Banshee for the first time (he had not been since when Diamondback was new, Mystic Timbers was new for him also) and loved it. I did too. Rating: A Ride #7- The Bat Wait: 5 Minutes We saw The Bat testing before we rode Banshee, but it did not open until we got off. So we headed there, as one of our friends really wanted to do it (he loved Iron Dragon at Cedar Point). I was not opposed, Bat is usually fun. I rode in the back of the front car, and because my sister is a whole foot shorter than me (she is very short LOL) it was like a front-row ride! Bat also felt just a smidge faster than usual, and our friend loved it but was surprised by how much more intense The Bat is versus Iron Dragon. A fun ride once again. Rating: B Ride #8- Adventure Express Wait: 10 Minutes This one is another favorite of one of the friends I was with. AE continued the trend set by Banshee and Bat, it also felt a bit faster than usual! As such, this was a fun ride on AE. Also now I can confirm 100% Indiana Jones is not removed, I saw him this time. Rating: B (AE is usually a C, but the slight speed bump raises it up a bit!) Ride #9- Blue Racer Wait: Walk-On I decided to try Blue Racer, since I did Red on preview night. Well, Blue Racer was running a bit faster it felt like too, but also felt MUCH rougher than Red on Preview Night. I did notice the really rough spot near the turn-around, ouch. There was some good airtime though, so not all was lost, and I'd say this was a OK Racer ride. Also, we did win, as we were racing. Rating: C Ride #10- Red Racer Wait: Walk-On Thinking this side would be much smoother (based on preview night), I went ahead and took a wheel seat at one of my friend's suggestions. And well, it was a bit smoother than Blue, but the wheel seat negated that and made this ride a bit more painful! Yikes, how does a ride get this much rougher just from 1 week and a change in seat selection? As before, still a OK ride, just rough. But we also lost this time, somewhere in the turn-around Red Racer seemed to just lose speed for whatever reason and Blue passes it. Rating: C Ride #11- Vortex Wait: Walk-On I was with the friend who had not been to KI in awhile, as he was the only one who wanted to do Vortex with me. We rode in 5-1, since I figured that would be the best seat for us to try since it was usually the smoothest and had no wait. Vortex also felt a bit faster, which led to pretty strong airtime on the first drop and great g-forces in the inversions. Thankfully unlike Racer, Vortex's new wheels have not worn out in just 1 week, and it feels as smooth as it did on preview night. Yet another fun ride on the day. Rating: B Ride #12- The Beast Wait: 25 Minutes I was nervous and excited for this one- as a ride that focuses mainly on speed, if Beast was also running fast like all the other rides, this was sure to be awesome. However, on preview night, Beast was also running a bit rough. So I was expecting "Fast & Rough". Thankfully, while Beast did feel very fast here, it was also a bit smoother, since I was not on a back wheel this time, but a front wheel. Also, since the trees have not yet grown in, I could see the turn into the long tunnel between the long brake shed, and it is actually a 30 foot drop to my surprise! No wonder Beast gains so much speed after losing it to the brakes there. Another awesome ride on one of my favorite coasters. Rating: A Ride #13- Diamondback Wait: 25 Minutes My friends were doing some kiddo rides, so I decided to ride Diamondback solo instead. After a 25-minute or so wait, I was on, and my sister actually was trying to call me while the train began to climb the lift hill! (The phone was in a zipper pocket) Nope, sorry, can't answer that right now! (I called back after the ride from the gift shop) Diamondback kinda broke the trend of rides feeling faster, it did not feel slow but I did not notice a increase in speed or airtime here, it felt just like last week basically. However, I still got lots of strong floater air (some almost ejector), combine that with the openness of the restraints and the wind in my face, and it was still an awesome ride. Rating: A Ride #14- Woodstock Express Wait: 15 Minutes Yep, I went and rode a kiddie coaster, granted it is probably the least kiddie of that group. I have not ridden this in years, back then it was still The Beastie, and as I was just a kid I remember it scared me a little. And I can see why- for a kids ride, this is still a bit intense! There isn't any real airtime (though as it is for kids that is probably a good thing) but it felt decently fast and forceful for a small woodie. Also, the trains on here are still old-school buzz bars with just a seat belt, no head rests, no seat divider. I would have loved to ride Racer back when it had this style of seating (Beast too, but I think Racer has more to gain in this regard than Beast). Rating: C (IMO, BETTER THAN Invertigo!!!) Food: Yogurt Plus We went and got some frozen Yogurt, we got the Blue Streak flavor, as we had a bit of a sweet tooth after checking out Sweet Spot, but did not wanna pay $7 for fudge. (We ended up paying around that much anyway ironically) It was pretty good, and we got in and out decently fast since there was no wait. Rating: B Ride #15- Red Racer #2 Wait: Walk-On We were gonna ride Adventure Express again, but it was having some issues apparently, so we did Racer again. I made a point NOT to sit on a wheel this time, though we did also sit in the very rear car. Well, turns out this was a decent seat choice because airtime went up, and roughness went down. I could also really feel when we hit the re-tracked sections from this seat, they felt very smooth versus the rest of the track. IMO, this was much better than both the earlier Racer rides. This seat may be the one I target when I ride Racer from now on. Rating: B Ride #16- Adventure Express #2 Wait: 10-15 Minutes AE went back up after we rode Red Racer, so went and rode it again. I rode in the very back car, and thus the ride felt even faster than before! Other than that, no real differences between the 2 rides on AE. Rating: B Ride #17- Vortex #2 Wait: Walk-On My sister was with us this time, since she decided to give Vortex another shot with the new wheels. I gave her and our other friend (the guy who could not do loops waited outside for us) 5-1, and since 7-1 had a wait, I decided to try 6-1, since it is right in between. And turns out, 6-1 is also pretty good! Aside from maybe a tiny bit more roughness, felt about the same as 5-1. From here on out I guess I will look at the 3 seats I like (5-1, 6-1, 7-1) and ride whichever one of them has the shortest wait. However, my sister's short height still hindered her: she still got ping-ponged a bit. I guess Vortex isn't for her, unless it gets new restraints or something. Rating: B Ride #18- Dodgem Wait: 5 Minutes (1 Cycle) Well, Dodgem is more fun when you have more than 1 friend to target, LOL. I got them so many times. Sadly, the ride is a bit short and not the fastest version out there. Rating: C Ride #19- Grand Carousel Wait: Walk-On I was feeling a bit tired by this point, so I got on a horse that does not move and just enjoyed going around in circles while resting for a bit. I did watch how the ride works by looking at my sister and one of our friend's horses going up and down together, pretty simple but hey, it works. A relaxing ride on a old classic from 1926. Rating: C Food: Tom+Chee We originally wanted to do Coney Island BBQ, but it had a big line and Tom+Chee was cheaper, and had a shorter line. I do want to try Coney BBQ eventually though. We ordered and split a Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich, and it was delicious. Our friend also got the Mac N' Cheese from here, and I got to try some, it was also awesome. This was the last of the in-park food we ate, and it was all delicious, so KI did a great job on this front IMO! Rating: A Ride #20- Kings Island & Miami Valley RR Wait: Walk-On (Train was there as we arrived) After eating, we decided to ride the train to relax, since it is a good way to do so. Diamondback and Mystic Timbers both ran, giving some nice views of them running their courses. The spiels were just the usual ones, nothing too crazy or new. Other than that, classic KI & MV RR ride. Rating: C Ride #21- Backlot Stunt Coaster #2 Wait: 20 Minutes By this point, we were trying to kill time, as it was getting dark but not dark enough and we wanted to do a Mystic Timbers night ride (due to the not-so-huge crowds we also thought we could do both it AND Beast) . BLSC ran much faster at this point, as earlier in the day it was struggling to make it over the first helix but now it did so easily. With the sun down, the lights on the cop cars and effects from the helicopter attack really popped more. Another ride that felt better later in the day versus what it did earlier. Rating: B Ride #22- Shake, Rattle, and Roll Wait: Walk-On We still had more time to kill, so we spent a few minutes on this fun classic 1975 HUSS Troika. The ride op started the ride by saying "Enjoy your ride on Shake, Rattle, and Roll- stayin' alive since 1975" which made me play the famous song in my head during the ride. LOL. Rating: C Ride #23- Mystic Timbers #2 (@ Night) Wait: 25 Minutes Well, for my first Mystic Timbers night ride, I got front row! Woo-hoo! The view from the station as you sit in the front seat waiting for dispatch is quite awesome, one of the best views of the park IMO. The ride felt much faster than it did in the morning, and I got even more airtime on the many airtime hills. It was not pitch black or as secluded as The Beast at night, but the visuals of the lit-up Eiffel Tower and Diamondback are still pretty stunning. Mystic Timbers after dark is incredible, my only real complaint is it feels a bit short, I wish it was 1000 or so feet longer. Also, we went in the shed and got...TREE! I NOW HAVE GOTTEN ALL 3 ENDINGS! Rating: S- (if only it were a bit longer...) Ride #24- The Beast #2 (@ Night) Wait: 40 Minutes We got off Mystic Timbers at 8:50 PM, which meant there was plenty of time to also ride Beast. My sister and one of our friends left to do other rides like Adventure Express, but me and one friend stayed for Beast (he had never ridden it at night). Unlike Mystic Timbers, I knew Beast would be amazing after dark from past experience, and given how it was earlier in the day, I figured this ride would be super bonkers. And it was. Beast flew through the woods at seemingly epic speeds, my friend made this accurate comment before the long tunnel mid-ride: "IT IS LIKE A HORROR MOVIE!" Agreed. The view of the park at night from the 2nd lift is magical, and then comes the final helix, which was extra crazy on this night. And to top it all off, Beast was not too rough (it was a bit but a smooth Beast would probably be boring since the ride kinda uses its roughness to increase the out-of-control feeling). What a epic ride. Mystic Timbers puts up a great fight, but Beast is still KI's top woodie, IMO. Rating: S Ride #25- Red Racer (@ Night) Wait: Walk-On We met back up with our friends, and one of them wanted to ride Racer at Night with us. It was pretty fun and since I was not on a wheel again, not too rough. Good airtime too. However Blue Racer was not running due to the upcoming Fireworks. Riding all 3 of the large wooden coasters after dark was a fun experience, Kings Island has a great wood coaster collection IMO. Red Racer was the final ride of the night. Rating: B Show: Closing Fireworks After Red Racer, we headed down to I-Street and saw the Fireworks. I can't believe I rode Mystic Timbers, Beast, and Red Racer at night and still made it to I-Street to see them and the park' s light show on the buildings, which was very pretty. Rating: A And thus ended a very awesome trip to Kings Island- possibly even my best visit ever! I rode so much stuff due to the low (for a weekend) crowds, and so much of it was running better than usual. So now, my final Pros/Cons... PROS +Rides were running amazingly well after the first hour or so, once they warmed up, they warmed up! +All the food I tried tasted great, and the service speed was decent +Low crowds, especially early on, meant I got to ride most of the big coasters before they even built up lines! I broke my personal record for most rides ridden in 1 day! +Epic Night Rides CONS -Racer was running pretty rough, though it seemed better as I chose better seats and the day went on. And now, for once...HAVE SOME PICTURES I TOOK!!! (+1 from my sister) I hope you all enjoyed this trip report. Comments and questions welcome. Now, I await my next trip, which will probably be to Cedar Point, where I will return...WITH A VENGEANCE.

^ My Overall Rivertown Theme Hypothesis: it's this small town with a Railroad and various shops, however, the town hides horrible secrets, note-ably with the Mining Company (Home to The Beast) and the Logging Company (Mystic Timbers & Its Shed). Based on one of the 3 shed endings (spoilers?) that Diamondback is a huge monster snake that escaped from the shed, and now also terrorizes the town. A river also runs through the woods which people can take raft rides on (White Water Canyon). Coney Mall is just a old fashioned amusement park, on the surface at least, featuring classic flat rides, old school roller coasters like Racer & Vortex, etc etc. They are also filming the car chase scene for a upcoming action movie here (Backlot Stunt Coaster), and they are looking for actors for that. However, hidden in a secret area behind The Racer, is X-Base, a government testing facility home to Hangar 18 (Flight of Fear) and its UFO, as well as a government machine to test human flight, known as Project Firehawk. Now, the other full areas I don't know/have not made up stories for, but based on the lore I have read/seen or made up, I can add at least some individual rides to the overall Kings Island storyline: Adventure Express: A railway designed to take government employees from near X-Base to Outpost 5, the other government base in the area where the Aircraft Carrier was located. However, the idiots building it made Track #2 go through a ancient forbidden temple, causing horrible things to happen on that track. Due to this, Track #2 has been closed for good, but somehow, on occasion (AKA every time you ride the coaster) the railway switches to Track #2, sending riders into the forbidden temple. Son of Beast: Yes, this ride is gone, but it's storyline is still connected in ways. Government Agents studying The Beast in Rivertown stumbled upon a cave, and there was a baby Beast inside. It is not known if the father Beast knew of his existence or not, but the Agents kidnapped the young creature and returned to Outpost 5, where the aircraft carrier was docked. This government base was also hidden, behind a well-known movie studio. In addition to studying the creature, the scientists at Outpost 5 decided to give steroids and growth hormones to it as well for research purposes, causing Son of Beast to grow incredibly massive and become very aggressive. The people in charge of Outpost 5 grew worried as Son of Beast kept attacking search vehicle after search vehicle, causing many injuries. They stopped giving him the steroids and neutered him, hoping he would become less aggressive, but it only marginally worked as Son of Beast continued to attack more search vehicles. Eventually, the General decided enough was enough and ordered Son of Beast to be killed. It took a while, and they say Son of Beast killed many of the soldiers trying to kill him, but eventually they did it. However, little did they know, this would be the undoing of Outpost 5! Banshee: When Son of Beast died, his blood soaked the ground. Little did most working there know, Outpost 5 was built on a former graveyard. With his last breath, Son of Beast wished vengeance on those who killed him. One of the spirits in the graveyard, known only as Banshee, heard Son of Beast's dying wish...and decided she would act upon it. The first of the loud screams was heard that very night. As days passed, mysterious things began to happen to the Soldiers, Scientists, and Agents: their drinks would turn into blood, their vehicles would randomly malfunction (sometimes even blowing up!), and they would have horrible nightmares and wake up screaming: "Banshee IS COMING! Banshee IS COMING!!!" Many soldiers, agents, and scientists quit their jobs and fled, but some remained. About 2 weeks later, the screams were heard again, but this time, Banshee herself appeared and began to terrorize and destroy the base! Since she is a ghost, bullets and bombs were useless against her. Nearly everyone either died, or ran away as fast as they could in pure terror. Banshee had taken over Outpost 5. She created a new tombstone for the fallen Son of Beast, with a flame atop it that is said to never go out. She also allowed a nearby Bat colony to overtake the army's aircraft carrier, and a pack of Werewolves were allowed to call the former Son of Beast search vehicle station home where they would not be persecuted by normal humans. The movie studio next door, unaware what had fully happened (they saw some explosions and heard the screams, but did not know the government base had been destroyed) remains in operation to this day, however, after Banshee took over Outpost 5 their hurricane-simulation prop, Delirium, changed colors mysteriously. The government has now abandoned Outpost 5, and has instead decided to focus its efforts on its studies in X-Base and Rivertown for the time being. And well, that's about all my Kings Island ride backstory head-canons. I really have nothing for I-Street other than it being a street with shops, probably in Paris, and Oktoberfest is just a small German Town, and Planet Snoopy is hard to make a backstory for that fits this overall storyline. I hope people enjoyed this story lore dump I came up with.

On Beast's que & station: The old beat-up feel is actually what I think the station designers were going for back in 1979. The Beast's station is supposed to be this old, beat-up mill that no one has maintained for years because The Beast keeps scaring away anyone who would maintain it, thus it has fallen into disrepair, taken over by the creature. Now that the station and que are nearing 40+ years old, they have actually worn down and now fits the story behind the ride even better. It's not supposed to be clean and pretty. IMO as long as they are still safe (aka don't let the wood rot and someone fall from the station- replace it if needed) I am 100% fine with the run-down look. Beast actually has one of my favorite que's in the entire park, actually, since it matches its theme and backstory very well. Now, The Bat's que...yeah, I do agree on that one. The patriotic stuff does not really fit back there, but I do kinda see why the park has not removed it as someone would probably call them anti-American or something. I also kinda wish they had done more with the actual ride station, besides just rip all the lower deck aircraft carrier stuff out and call it a day, because it still kinda looks like a aircraft carrier to me. However, I have kinda come up with a story in my head that "explains" it a bit: when Banshee appeared in 2014, the spirit of The OG Bat came with her, and there was a aircraft carrier close by (TOP GUN/Flight Deck). The Bat, with its swarm of smaller bats, decided this would be their new home and chased all the soldiers and sailors away, so now you have a aircraft carrier filled with bats, docked in a abandoned secret government base. At least, that's the best theme I could come up with to explain why the patriotic stuff is still there and it still looks like a aircraft carrier, but is called The Bat.

^ LOL, I will fix that! (Fantasizes Michigan's Adventure with a B&M Giga, B&M Dive Coaster, B&M Wing Coaster, RMC'd Wildcat, GCI Wooden Coaster, Intamin Blitz Coaster, B&M Family Inverted Coaster, Vekoma Mine Train, Intamin Strata Coaster, as well as a huge waterpark expansion with multiple waterslides including water coasters and also a bunch of new flat rides and theming that is as good as Disney World) MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I MADE MICHIGAN'S ADVENTURE THE BEST PARK IN DA WORLD!!! (Because I forgot to upgrade Hotels & Infastructure, Michigan's Adventure suffers the same fate as Geauga Lake and dies from over-expansion and all that stuff I listed above gets sent to other Cedar Fair Parks instead) Oh...uhh...oops... WA WA WA!

^ True, from my memory usually the Red Racer has run better than Blue, though in August 2017 I rode both on the same day and Red was a bit rougher, and was losing to Blue quite a bit. I was on Red and we got a huge (half train length) head start, and Blue pulled away and was a full train length ahead by the brake run. On my first ride of 2018, Red got a far shorter head start but we finished well ahead of the Blue Train.

While I technically rode Racer not on Opening Day but on Preview Night, I will be the 4th that I thought it was running much smoother this year. I also think the ride was quite a bit quieter from off-ride, at least it seemed that way when I sat in the old Dinosaurs Alive area to wait for my friends after I rode Vortex, which would mean the train was not bouncing around as much and thus confirming it was running smoother. The red side seemed to be winning its races fairly easily, so I wonder if Blue got as much love as Red, as I noticed last year when one side is running rougher than the other it tends to lose. Good job to the maintenance team who re-tracked Racer this year. I look forward to many rides on it in 2018, especially if its keeps running like this.

From Kings Island, Son of Beast, if possible with loop during its first few seasons. Mostly to see if it was really as bad as everyone said it was, or to see if I would be one of the 10% who seemed to enjoy it. The OG Bat also looks like it was a very interesting ride, and King Cobra looks like it was at least decent. For coasters outside of Kings Island, the Rye Playland Aeroplane Coaster comes to mind almost instantly. From the photos I have seen, it looked gorgeous and seems like it had lots of airtime and nice laterals. Chicago's Old Riverview Park Bobs also looks like it was great. For Steel Coasters, Big Bad Wolf @ Busch Gardens Williamsburg would be my pick, that or Eagle Fortress @ Everland in South Korea, which looked insane.

Well, this trip to Kings Island came from seemingly nowhere. This year, due to our desire to return to Cedar Point (due to Steel Vengeance of course) in May and our now having friends who can reliably offer transportation, we decided to get passes for Kings Island for the first time since 2014, but this time, Platinum Passes. So we did so, however, I was not expecting to actually be able to come to the park until next week. Yesterday, my sister told me we were going to some park due to the amazing weather with a friend, and that I should come to get out for a while, so I got ready and all that, and then she said this park was really nice but was kinda along the same road that we take to go to Kings Island. I bought it, but I grew suspicious when we drove for over 45 minutes and had not reached the park. There are good parks near our house, why are we wasting gas and driving this far? Then, after we hit a rest stop for 5 minutes to use the bathrooms, she finally had to spill the beans. We were not going to the park (well, we were, sorta) at all. We were going to Passholder Preview Night at Kings Island! TBH this is the first time I ever went to any amusement park without knowing beforehand, so it was a new feeling. Usually, I have time to hype myself up for weeks or even months beforehand, but I thought I was gonna have 1 more week of off-season. I guess not. Also: I have decided after some deliberation, to scrap my 1-10 rating system, as I have over this last offseason thought up something better for me (since I almost never used 0-4). I am also into video games, and was watching some stuff on Youtube, and have decided to switch to...Tier Lists! Basically, every ride I go on will get a letter. F is the worst, and it goes up to A/S for amazing rides. Here is a explanation of the full scale, from worst to best: F- Garbage. I regret ever riding this and will not make the same mistake of ever riding it again! D- Mediocre. A disappointing, or painful ride, though there might be a little fun here. I might give a D-Tier ride a second chance but it is gonna need to be a walk-on or something. C- Average. A fun ride, but either there is enough roughness/pain to dilute it, or it just does not blow me away. Will still ride this if the wait is not too bad, though. B- Good. A ride I enjoy, but it may have some flaws, but I will happily re-ride this unless the wait is pretty crazy. A- Awesome. These rides leave me with a huge grin usually, and I will ride them over and over if there is a short wait. If there are long waits around the entire park, I may aim for these anyway, as if you are gonna wait, best to be for something worth it. Surpassed only by... S- Zen. The best of the best. I am usually giddy and my happiness meter is maxed out after riding one of these. Tragically, these are not the most common rides out there, however. BTW if you must use a 1-10 scale, consider S=10, A=9, B=8, C=7, D=6, F=5 or worse, etc. Anyhow, let's get into the actual trip report and see what Kings Island has to offer in 2018! We arrived at the park around 4:30 PM, and headed to get our passes processed. This went by pretty quick, and I was the first platinum for the lady who did mine. We then headed in the park and I used the men's bathroom near the front gate, which seems to have been renovated this off-season. Our friend who took us was the one who was still scared of big coasters (though he managed to do Magnum XL-200 somehow), so for his sake, we made our first coaster of 2018... RIDE #1: Adventure Express AE was a walk-on, but we did not get first train of the year. They did have to take a little girl off for a second and re-measure her, as she was just BARELY tall enough to ride. She passed, and got her first ride on AE. Adventure Express was its usual, fun self with some minor rough spots but nothing unexpected for the coaster...save 1 thing. Indiana Jones skeleton is GONE from the 2nd tunnel! I mean, he was just sitting in there rotting away, so I guess the natives finally got sick of the stench and removed him. UPDATE: My sister has informed me he is still in the tunnel, we just did not see him the first time. My bad. Rating: C Since he had ridden Magnum XL-200, our friend who was with us realized AE is far, far less intense and he had nothing to worry about. Next up, we hit another coaster in the area, one of Kings Island's OG classics. RIDE #2: The Racer Another walk-on, but we waited 1 cycle for front row on each side, as they grabbed Blue Racer and I took Red. And I have some great news- Racer was running great! Memories of May 2012 were re-ignited because Racer was running pretty darn smooth, with a solid amount of airtime to boot. Easily my best ride on Racer since that day. Also, I won, by at least a full train length, so Blue Racer may not be as smooth this year as red. Rating: B After Racer, we headed for The Bat, since our friend really liked Iron Dragon and wanted to ride the larger, more intense version at Kings Island. However, when we got back there, a water pipe or something had busted and was spraying water all over, so The Bat was closed. I split off from the group for a bit, as they wanted to ride Congo Falls and I was not really feeling getting wet, so we agreed to meet up at the old Dinosaurs Alive! area, since over there I could ride... RIDE #3: Vortex 1 train wait, and since 5-1 and 7-1 both had the same wait, I actually went 7-1 since I always do 5-1, why not mix it up a bit? And this choice seems to have paid off: I got 2 nice pops of airtime, on the first drop and going into the corkscrews, and the ride was pretty smooth by Vortex standards (only 1 actual head-bang moment!). At least from my seat, the people behind me foolishly took a "2" seat and got pretty beat up. Though the guy behind me also did say as bad as he thought that was, he felt Son of Beast was worse. I can't imagine if I would have enjoyed that ride or not, but I never really had the chance for that one either. Rating: B After Vortex, I sat down and my group found me pretty quickly. I did get a chance to check the area out, no teaser posters here yet so I don't think we are getting a Giga Coaster next year, maybe 2020+. We then headed over and saw BLSC was also down (early season issues, early season issues everywhere!) so we headed to... RIDE #4: The Beast Our friend who was overcoming his fear of coasters was nervous about this one. However, since he did conquer Magnum XL-200, we told him only the helix at the end was to worry about. This was our first real wait at around 20-25 minutes. We boarded, and due to my friend's seat choices, I had to sit in 1-3 and be on a rear wheel seat. And, it resulted in a rough ride. My gut kept smacking into the lap bar, creating the sensation Beast was punching me over and over. Thankfully not too hard, but I could feel it. However, the ride was also running very fast and intense, so I would still take this Beast ride over some smoother, but less fun Beast rides I have had in the past. I thought this ride was very good. However, I am gonna try not to get a rear-wheel seat again. Our friend was fine for the first part of the ride, but he did think the helix was crazy, as expected. Though he will still ride Beast again, but he is scared to do it at night, since he hates not seeing what is happening. Rating: A After The Beast, my sister was getting hungry, so we wandered around the park and looked for food and...EVERY SINGLE FOOD STAND HAD HUGE LINES. We spent 30 minutes looking for somewhere with at least a short line, but nope. So we gave up, and decided we would eat outside the park later. However, this trek eventually took us past Diamondback, where we saw a old friend: THE WHEEL O' Fast Lane! A lot of rides had built up big waits, so we decided to play the game a few times. We got...Adventure Express, Banshee, and Diamondback! Well, one of those is right here...our friend sat this one out, he does not like how open the trains are and DB is even bigger than Magnum XL-200. He might do it when he has more confidence later this year, though. RIDE #5: Diamondback We still ended up waiting 10 minutes, because there was a protein spill on one of the trains, and thus only 2 were taking passengers. We rode in the front row of the 2nd car, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much airtime we got, especially since this was not the back car! Diamondback, per usual, gave its super fun airtime filled ride I have come to expect since 2009. Also the new black seats look great. Oh, and when our train hit the brake run, the 3rd train got barfed on as well, so DB was effectively down to 1 train and people were already barfing all over the new black seats. Yuck. Rating: A After Diamondback, we cut across the park and my companions took a 2nd ride on Adventure Express. AE is fun, but you could only take 2 people with the Fast Lane Ticket thingies, and it looked like it had a 20 minute or so wait. After that, we saw Bat had re-opened, but when we went back there we found it with a 45-minute wait (for Bat that is HUGE, biggest wait I personally have ever seen it with) so we just turned around and spent our final Fast Lane ticket. Our friend cannot do loops or inversions, so he sat this one out as well. Also, it was night time by now! RIDE #6: Banshee (Night) Ahh, Banshee at night. The cool air in your face, your body going upside down 7 times, the strong G-Forces...what's not to like here? Also, the KI Phone App was horribly wrong on a lot of stuff all day, for example it claimed Banshee had a 15-minute wait but it was actually over an hour, as we saw when we walked up to the ride with our ticket. Rating: A After Banshee, we checked the wait time for Mystic Timbers and found it was 90 minutes. While we normally would have waited that out, my sister had to work today so we could not leave the park that late. Beast was a hour, and due to its fireworks shut-down adding 15-30 to that, was also a no-go. So instead we opted to do some smaller flat rides, then wait and watch the fireworks. We came across Zephyr, and decided to ride that. RIDE #7: Zephyr (Night) There was a 5 minute or so wait, it had to run a cycle before we went on due to there being a decent line. Thankfully, Zephyr has good capacity. Swinging around and going up and down is fun, but I was also swaying side to side, possibly because it was windy (yet somehow, WindSeeker was open!). I had fun, but the ride made my sister and our friend kinda sick- turns out, he can't do spinning or looping. Rating: C After Zephyr, we checked out the new Coney Island BBQ, but my sister did not like the prices so we ditched (the menu may have only had combo meals, I didn't get a good look at it myself) and headed for our final ride of the evening... RIDE #8: Eiffel Tower (Night) You could really feel the wind up here, in fact it was making the tower sway. Our friend was getting sick from it, so he had to bail and go back down. The views of Kings Island at night are amazing though, and we stayed for the fireworks, which we got a great view of (though WindSeeker ran during them, bet that was a even better view). Then of course, due to park close, we went down to ground level. A fun trip up KI's iconic tower. Rating: B Oh, I should mention it here, the new lights on International Street are gorgeous. I think they were added during Winterfest (must do that in 2018!) but I am not sure. Anyhow, after all that, we met our friend and left the park, but it took us 30 minutes to exit the parking lot. Ouch, my sister is probably super le tired at work today. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this trip report! Here is my final Pros/Cons... PROS +Rides were running great mostly! Vortex and Racer felt smoother than in 2017, Beast was rough but running fast. +The park looks very pretty at night with the new lights +Good fireworks show to end the night CONS -Huge...food...lines...ugh. I'd say I hope this improves, but this has been a issue for 3 years now. Next time, we will have food in the car, just in case. -Huge crowds. People really want to go to KI after the offseason and it shows. Especially with nice weather. -Lots of ride breakdowns. Not unexpected, they are just waking up after the offseason, but it still kinda sucks. As usual, comments and questions welcome. Oh, and I'll be back...next week. Yeah, the trip next week was NOT cancelled, we are literally going 2 weeks in a row for the first time I can recall. And will probably be back more after that. YAY SEASON PASSES!!!

Here is my bucket list. -Eat at the new Coney Island BBQ -Finally get a night ride on Mystic Timbers -Get Tree ending on Mystic Timbers (this one could be tough, due to the random nature of the endings) -Ride Flying Ace Aerial Chase (so I can finally say I have ridden every coaster in the park) And that is it. I don't want some ultra-huge bucket list, as it would be very tough to knock everything off, and I would rather enjoy KI in 2018 at my own pace thank you very much.

^ The Premier Rides (company who designed Flight of Fear) Facebook page actually linked to the same poll, so that may be the reason it has so many votes.

Wow, I expected Beast to do well in that poll (it did get my vote), but it is currently demolishing everything (only Diamondback is even making a dent in its lead)! And Banshee and Mystic Timbers are both surprisingly getting slaughtered with only a few votes each. I am guessing locals who have not gone to Kings Island in a while may be doing a lot of the voting, and they have not been on the new coasters, since reviews for Banshee and Mystic Timbers were VERY positive, and quite a few enthusiasts list one of those as their favorites from what I've seen. Or Beast is just the GP's favorite ride in the park by far. Granted if more people see this poll, that could change and Banshee and Mystic Timbers could probably do better numbers.

Having ridden all 3 of Holiday World's wooden coasters (though it was in 2013 most recently) and Mystic Timbers, I think I can give some advice. Mystic Timbers, IMO, is excellent and very much worth riding, though of the 4 wooden coasters mentioned I would take Legend over it (I am one of a small handful of people who adores Legend). Mystic Timbers is a lot smoother than anything wooden at Holiday World though, and is more focused on airtime than laterals than at least Raven & Legend, as it has 13 moments of airtime instead of the 3-5 found on Raven & Legend (though the 5th drops on those coasters from the rear car have very strong airtime). The best way I can think to describe Mystic Timbers- imagine Legend's curved first drop, minus the tunnel, is followed up by Voyage's post triple down section (lots of twists and turns and small bunny hills) but with more consistent airtime (on my Voyage rides I took, I sometimes got airtime in that section, sometimes not) and a LOT smoother. The shed is a bit cheesy, but it has grown on me as I re-ride Mystic Timbers. I actually hope to get the 3rd ending this year (I got 2 of the 3 in 2017, unless they add more for 2018). Also the Millennium Flyer trains are MUCH more comfortable, IMO, than the PTC trains used on the Holiday World woodies or the other KI woodies. Expect a decent wait at LEAST, though, if you are going opening day. Mystic Timbers is a ride that appeals very well to families, thrill seekers, and kids who are working their way up from Adventure Express and Backlot Stunt Coaster alike and while it does run 3 trains and have decent capacity (the ride crew typically does a good job so at least the line moves), it is popular enough to get huge lines (I went one day last year, and while everything else was a walk-on Mystic Timbers was 30 minutes!). I would try to get to Mystic Timbers as early in the day as possible, before the line can build up, but it is also on ERT usually so you may still have to wait at least for those people. Opening Day, if the weather is nice, also usually gets big crowds so if that is the case, expect a wait for Mystic Timbers.

^ Thank You!

I have a quick question that I think is a bit appropriate for here (since it is CP themed): if you get Platinum passes and stay at a Cedar Point on-site hotel, like Breakers, how big is the discount usually? My sister is considering getting passes, but wants to just go for Gold (Kings Island only) but were planning to also go to Cedar Point, but right now we only plan on going to CP once (2 days) in 2018, so how much we save on the hotel for that is a factor, and Gold is $100 cheaper per person. Thanks in advance.

Ahh, OK- so pre-1999 (Islands of Adventure opened that year if I recall). Thanks for clearing that up.

That is a pretty decent list of parks...quick question on the bolded Universal, though- just studios, or Islands of Adventure AND Studios? I did see you "broke up" the 2 Disney World parks, and Universal (and most sources) do consider the Florida parks 2 parks as each one has its own ticket.

Well, haven't made a poll in ages, but this thought popped in my head and I thought it was a good one, if a bit obvious and simple: how many different amusement parks (and theme parks of course) have you been to so far? Oh, while I will leave it up to you, I personally won't be counting places that are only technically considered amusement parks because they have 1 small kiddie coaster or something- such as a zoo, or a big video game arcade/go-kart track that happens to have a wacky worm, etc etc. but it's up to you if you wanna count those or not. Personally the one place like that I can think of I have been to would be the Indianapolis Zoo, but I also have never ridden their "Kombo" kiddie coaster, so that's my 2nd reason for not counting it... I have been to four, and since I remember it, I'll include the years of my first visit: Indiana Beach (1999), Kings Island (2000), Holiday World (2010), and Cedar Point (2017). Yeah, I am not the most seasoned person out there when it comes to getting around to amusement and theme parks. Someone will probably blow that away only a few posts, if that. Still, even with those few parks, I have already ridden some great rides and made lasting memories with friends. Hopefully in the future I can spread my "wings" a bit more, and will add more parks to my list. Enjoy the poll!

I was browsing Youtube, looking for something to watch, and this came up. Could not find just a random thread for this I thought it would fit, so I just made this one. Thought it was a interesting look into the past of Kings Island, as it is a promo from the TV show "Entertainment Tonight" for the new-for-1987 Vortex. I think it is very cool to see the coaster back in its very early days, when 6 inversions was the most in the world, and 148 feet was the tallest roller coaster in the world*. Still, 31 years (and MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of riders) later, Vortex remains a popular coaster at Kings Island. I even remember last year, the park (or someone in T-Shirt design at least) thought enough of it to put it on a "Kings Island 5" T-Shirt with Beast, Mystic Timbers, Diamondback, and Banshee. *= Unless you count Dragon Mountain @ Marineland in Canada, which is 186 feet tall and opened in 1983 but also heavily used terrain to boost its height as it sits on a tall hill and does not have very tall supports due to this.

I also vote Racer. I would love to see the ride get some TLC, which would include a new paint job and hopefully also a re-track (in recent years it has given me some bumpy rides and even 1 painful one). Diamondback would probably be my #2 pick, though to be honest, while it needs paint I do like how the faded colors are more subdued then when they were new. The super bright red track has now turned Maroon, and the bright yellow that stood out in 2009 now blends in more. I would not mind if when they do decide to repaint Diamondback, they keep a more subdued color scheme. Granted it still needs it, up close you can tell the paint is in bad shape after almost a decade.

I remember them- h/she (Username suggests female, but when you click it it says male on the profile- odd) was crazy about RMC's (not Intamin- though they did seem to be OK with Intamin at least), and was sure Mystic Timbers was going to be one as soon as we realized it was not a Giga but a wooden coaster. S/he was one of a few people who really firmly thought it would be a RMC, and when it was revealed to be a GCI (which most of the evidence and Cedar Fair's past trends pointed to anyway) s/he seemed upset about it. And yeah, s/he did get banned. I think it was before Mystic Timbers even opened as well, as I don't recall them ever saying anything about the ride when it did. (You can still search for banned members via the search tool, BTW, if anyone didn't know that) Oh, and on the "Cowboy Coaster" comment, out of curiosity I went to Intamin's web site to see what they consider Maverick: According to them, and they made the ride so they have a lot of say in it: Maverick is a LSM Launched Coaster. (As far as I know, Cowboy Coaster is a nickname for Maverick, and enthusiasts have taken to calling this and other rides of this model "Blitz Coasters"...I like that name more than LSM Launched Coaster, but it's not official.) https://www.intaminworldwide.com/project/maverick/ (Link in case anyone else wants to see Intamin's "official" site page for Maverick)

Hmm...this depends. CBS ownership, or does Viacom get to keep the parks after the 2004 split? CBS did not seem to care about or want the parks, so if Cedar Fair had never bought the parks from them, I honestly wonder if Kings Island would even exist in 2018. As far as I know, CBS might have even sold the park so it could be razed and condos built on the site, which would obviously make tons of people angry. Thankfully, IRL, Cedar Fair did end up buying the parks from CBS. Now, if Viacom had acquired the parks in the CBS-Viacom split, maybe we have a different story. Viacom has made a few attempts to build new parks since losing the old ones (though so far, none have stuck) so I think they would have actually wanted to keep and run the Paramount parks. So, under Viacom... Son of Beast: Still gets torn down. This ride had many major issues, and RMC did not really get going until 2012-2013, after Cedar Fair had destroyed SOB already. I think Viacom would have been even less tolerant of the ride's major flaws, and it may not have even lasted until 2009 had they stayed in power. Flight of Fear: Probably re-Themed to a Musical Roller Coaster, but remains in the park. (There were actual plans for this, which Cedar Fair reversed) The Kings Dominion model may have been moved to a new park entirely. I'd say...Carowinds. Banshee: Not likely to have been built. In this scenario, Cedar Point is still a "enemy" rival park run by a different company. When Cedar Point built Raptor, they had B&M make a deal with them not to build any more inverted coasters within 200 miles or so of Cedar Point. Kings Island is within this range. I don't know if that deal had a expiration date or not. If not...uhh, anyone want Kings Island to get a Vekoma SLC? Diamondback: Unlikely- after SOB Paramount & Viacom seemed iffy on huge roller coasters, but since Cedar Point never added a B&M Hyper, still possible. Probably would not have been built in the current spot, however, since Paramount was not as big on tossing rides "In Your Face" like Cedar Fair does. Might have actually been the SOB replacement, TBH. Would not be called Diamondback though, of course, if Viacom/Paramount built a B&M Hyper. Firehawk: Might still be X-Flight @ Geauga Lake, but could have been re-located, maybe to Dorney Park or something. However in this scenario I think GL has a much better chance of surviving, but Cedar Fair did have plans to return it to its family park roots and downsize it before the PP Acquisition drove them into massive debt making that impossible. Tomb Raider- The Ride: TBH, unlike SOB, TR:TR has a bit better chance of still being around in this scenario. Running it in crazy mode in 2007 took a LOT of years off it, so had that never happened, maybe it would have lasted longer. It would probably have been pretty run down by now though, and likely still be a shell of the ride it was in 2002, unless at some point Viacom put money into refurbishing the ride. It may have gotten a re-theme though, since the Tomb Raider movie is very outdated by now. Mystic Timbers: ...might actually still be built, but under a different name. GCI's are not expensive, or overly large, and the company has a great reputation so Viacom probably would have taken interest and wanted one. With Son of Beast still flopping, the park would end up needing a modern woodie again anyway. In fact, under Viacom, I think smaller coaster companies would have some rides at Kings Island by now, like Gerstlauer, Mack and Premier Rides since Cedar Fair would have most of the big B&M's on lockdown...unless KI built them first, should Viacom have opened up to big coasters around the 2010's. A Dive Coaster seems like something they could have done, and ironically it would prevent Cedar Point from getting Valravn! Other Notes: WindSeeker probably does not get built, but Viacom might have built a Star Flyer of some sort instead. Racer still runs backwards since apparently that was a Cedar Fair decision, if Viacom is not tempted to RMC it. TOP GUN, Drop Zone, FACE/OFF, and Italian Job: Stunt Track retain their old themes and names. Nick U remains the kids area, but would need some re-theming as lots of the shows the rides were based on are over now. Boo Blasters is likely still Scooby Doo. Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay probably remains the name of the waterpark as well, though it would also have probably been upgraded and gotten new slides by now. Unsure if Viacom would allow Vortex to live as long as Cedar Fair has, since the policies on very old rides like that could be different (Six Flags has destroyed most of their Arrow Loopers, for example, while Cedar Fair has kept most of theirs so far). Well, those are my predictions for this scenario, for at least the major attractions and stuff. Though since Cedar Fair bought the park in 2006 IRL, none of this is true in this universe, and some of it may be a bit optimistic at that.

I have not ridden that many wooden coasters (9 total so far), but of the ones I have been on, I feel Beast is actually among the smoother of the bunch (and is my current favorite woodie mainly due to the epic night rides). It was a bit rougher feeling in 2017, I do still think smoothness wise 2014 was its best year by far that I have ridden it, and of course the brand-new Mystic Timbers is gonna be smoother. But Beast may have a case for #2- and even my roughest rides on Beast (wheel seats usually) were far from unbearable, I have had much worse. (Legend @ Holiday World would probably be the other wooden coaster that could make a claim for 2nd smoothest, though I have not ridden it since 2013 and it got the GCI Re-Track a few seasons ago, and apparently it is even smoother now) In fact, probably the roughest single ride I ever got on ANY coaster was on the aforementioned a few posts ago Voyage, in August 2011. Holiday World was expecting the Timberliners to be ready and thought they could skip re-tracking as much that year. Ouch, I don't think so. The ride was still fun and very intense, just painful fun due to the added roughness. 2013 was better (it had gotten re-tracked by then), but the 2nd half of the ride after the triple down was still pretty rough at points. I have not re-visited Holiday World since 2013, but apparently this section needs work often as they are re-tracking it again for the 2018 season. Hopefully it runs well in 2018, I had some of my best coaster rides ever on it in 2010 and would like to see Voyage get back to that state. Back to Beast: I also kinda think the ride does benefit from a LITTLE roughness, as it helps enhance the sense of speed, which is one of the things Beast is all about. As long as it does not go overboard, which I don't feel has happened in my 22 rides on it so far, it's fine. I'd be OK with a re-track of course (Not a RMC conversion or layout change however, those would be excessive and un-needed), but TBH, Racer needs that a bit more than Beast in my opinion right now- it felt like it was the rougher of the two coasters last year.

Wow. I did not realize I had the same birthday as King Cobra- April 22nd. (Granted King Cobra was a few years before I was born) Granted, I never got to ride this coaster. I do remember seeing it in 2000 on my first visit to Kings Island and thinking it looked cool with the big loop right next to the walkway and stuff, but the fact it went upside down intimidated me as I was just a kid. By the time I finally felt ready to ride roller coasters it was 2009, and King Cobra was already long gone and replaced by Delirium. Also, good article IMO.

Well, the 2017 ElloCoaster poll is in the books. Here are the results: http://www.ellocoaster.com/2017-results/ It lists Top 25 right on the main page, but full results can be downloaded/viewed via a link. And here, IMO, are some noteables: Kings Island Woodie Rankings (171 woodies total were ranked) Mystic Timbers- 11th (2nd best GCI after #10, CGA's Gold Striker) The Beast- 57th (The love/hate relationship this coaster has shows, it still did OK IMO though considering it still beat 100+ other woodies...) Blue Racer- 113th (BLUE RACER DEFEATS RED!) Red Racer- 115th Woodstock Express- 164th (Poor Kiddie Coasters) Other Things of Note Wildfire @ Kolmarden was named best wooden coaster. The odd part: It is at a Zoo in Sweden! Lightning Rod @ Dollywood settles for 2nd, but put up a great fight to Wildfire. RMC takes home 1st and 2nd place, as well as 4th and 12th. They have not made a coaster that ranks lower than 12th. El Toro @ NJFTP, winner of 4 straight Mitch Hawker polls, sees a big drop to 9th place here. Apparently the only explanation I have seen is that it has gotten a little rougher since 2013 (plus RMC rose up during this period), thus the drop. T-Express, which was considered a rival to El Toro, placed ahead of it at 3rd. At least it won a Golden Ticket this year though. Anaconda @ Walygator Parc in France, as was the case in the last few Mitch Hawker polls, still ranks as the worst wooden coaster in the world.