esquire

Just wanted to give a quick write up of our visit last night. It was me, my husband, and our two kids (11 and 8). We decided to go and check it out, to see what was there and what we might like to do next time (we live ten minutes away and will go at least one more time). We knew it would be crowded, so we planned to go early. We got to the parking lot at 3:45 and got a great parking space, got through security, and studied the map while we waited for the gates to open. Also, get a booklet at Guest Relations - it has show schedules and good info in there. International Street opens at 4 on Saturdays, so we entered and checked out all the open shops. Most of the food was open on International Street as well. My kids wrote letters to Santa, which was a super cute experience (my 11 year old was less than enthusiastic but she got into the spirit). After we saw all the shops, we thought about waiting at the rope to walk towards Mystic Timbers, but we still had 20 minutes to kill so we ended up doing the cookie decorating instead. That was worth the price - we got 4 GIANT cookies to decorate. My only complaint there is that they seemed to be low on green icing (I chose the Christmas tree cookie). They give you a nice box for the cookies so you can take them home (which we did, although we did have to carry the box around, so you might do that later in the evening). After that, we just meandered around, looking at things. My kids didn't feel like walking to MT, so we rode the Carousel and then made our way back to Coney. It was dead back there at that time, so they rode the Zephyr by themselves. They didn't much feel like riding anything else, so we made our way to Action Zone, saw the ice carving. And they rode the snow tube ride, which they enjoyed (agree with previous poster it could be loaded more efficiently). That's where we were when they "lit" the Eiffel Tower. We could see from where we were and hear everything they were doing - they pumped that out over the whole park on speaker. So that was nice. While they were waiting for the tubes I went over to look at the giant snow globe. I thought it was kind of weird that so many people were waiting in line for that, but then I saw a friend's photo on Facebook and it was a pretty cool photo of her kids in the snow globe. After the tower was lit, it seemed to get very crowded quickly, which was ok. We walked around a little more and walked back over to Rivertown. The line for the train was long so we might prioritize that next time. As we walked around, we caught snippets of shows here and there. So much to see and do! It was a bit overstimulating at times. We ended up leaving at around 6:30 (which was our plan for this trip). We don't generally eat in the park so we didn't buy any meals. We are looking forward to a return trip soon! There is definitely something for everyone! Edit to say that we are not skaters, so that was never something we were going to do, but we enjoyed seeing others skating! The line to pay for skating was very long when we left.

We attended this event yesterday so I thought I'd give a quick report on what we thought. The line to get food moved rather slowly, and it would have been nice to have more lines open or something (not sure how this would have worked, though). I thought the staff did a good job keeping food stocked. Waiting in the line was also rather hot with all those people so close. We don't usually eat in the Festhaus so I don't know if these are things that are always the case there. The food was average. I would have liked a better selection of choices, such as bacon. But it was fine for such a reasonable price. While we were eating the characters came out and they started the meet and greet. I thought we'd have to wait in line for a long time, but we didn't. The characters didn't have much of a line, except Snoopy and Woodstock, and that line wasn't that long at all. We had plenty of time left over to wait in all the lines, because it's not like we could go ride rides! We saw all the characters except Linus, who left before we got to him. My recommendation to anyone else who wants to attend this event - try to get there right at 8 am. That way you'll have plenty of time to go through the line, eat, and see characters. We were leaving right as early ride time began and could have walked right on to Banshee, but my son is too short and daughter is still working her way up to it. Instead we went upstream and headed over to Planet Snoopy. It's too bad that the breakfast has to be so far from Planet Snoopy, since most of the families would be heading that direction, against the crowd at the end of it. Also, I found the Festhaus felt rather packed, trying to navigate in and out of the tables to get to the characters. But I am sure that is the way it always is. It was a fun event, but I am not sure we would do it again, having done it once.

I'm similarly proportioned to the OP, but I can't speak for a lot of the grown up rides since I am primarily there with my kids. My problem is my hips, which will always be there no matter how much weight I lose... just an aftereffect of having had two kids! Anyway, I could not ride Kite Eating Tree and the tiny train ride in Planet Snoopy (can't remember what it's called) because of the seatbelt. I've ridden pretty much everything else (that adults can ride) in Planet Snoopy, including Flying Ace Aerial Chase and Woodstock Express, with no problems. (I didn't try Linus' Launcher - my husband rode that and said it's not comfortable for adults no matter what your body size, especially men. ) But enough about kiddie rides. Now that my daughter is 48 inches, we have tried some of the bigger rides, and I haven't had any problems. I have ridden Flight Deck, Adventure Express, Back Lot Stunt Coaster, Scrambler, Monster, and Shake Rattle and Roll with her. (she doesn't want to try Vortex or Beast yet, so we haven't done that) One day last summer when crowds were low, I tried Diamondback by myself for the very first time. I did try the test seat first, and the worker had to push down to get it locked. Then the worker in the station did the same for me to ride. I probably would not try Zephyr, WindSeeker, or Drop Tower due to my size, but at my age (36) those are less appealing these days. I'm not sure about some other rides either.

Well, I'll bite. I was born in 1976, and my years at the park were the 80s and early 90s, until I started working there under Paramount. I definitely think people are most nostalgic about their childhood era, because I for one think the Paramount years were bad (but I can see how someone who was a kid then might be nostalgic about them). Anyway, the rides I miss include the Ferris Wheel (#1), Witch's Cauldron (where Charlie Brown's Windup is now), the spinning barrels, the flying shoes, the antique cars, the similar car ride in Hanna Barbera Land (Sunshine Turnpike?), the Flying Eagles, the other log flume... etc. Basically all the family rides that are long gone. Now that I have kids of my own, it would be fun to have more rides outside of Planet Snoopy we could ride together. We can only do Scrambler, Monster, and Viking Ship so many times (the are 40 and 47 inches so they can't yet do a lot). Oh, and Skylab! I probably wouldn't ride it now, but it was a neat ride to watch.

My kids are 6 and 3 and we only started going this year, so we like Planet Snoopy just fine. My daughter liked Dora and used to like seeing her on the commercials, so she would have liked to meet her, but she didn't know many other Nickelodeon characters and she has had an active loathing for Spongebob for a couple of years now for some reason. Hanna Barbera is nostalgic for me, but my kids wouldn't have known those characters at all. Snoopy works the best for my kids. The rides are great, though, no matter what they are named!

The first time I redeemed a drink wristband, Mr. Helbig himself was in the Funperks booth and waited on me. I asked if this was where to redeem the free wristband and he said yes. I asked if it was for the souvenir cup and he said no, the 20 ounce. I said ok, and that I would like to just redeem one (I had all four of our certificates and I was with my two small children). He said, "Ah, smart!" which I took to mean that it was totally ok to redeem one and share drinks with the family. When I went to the first drink stand, I showed the worker and said I'd like to redeem for a drink and could I get two drinks? And he said no, only one per person at a time. I said, "So I can come back in five minutes and get another drink?" He looked at the line (about 2 people) and said "Probably less than five minutes." So I took those interactions to mean that the park was ok with us sharing drinks from the free wristbands. We've done it twice, and have two left. We have ALSO purchased meals and two souvenir cups, which we will get the $5 wristbands for too.

I have a question. I'm on Level Two now, so I can choose a total of three rewards. There are two sections. The first section, I can choose one from all-day drink wristband, front of the line pass, souvenir drink cup, free funnel cake (we'll probably choose the funnel cake!). The second section, I can choose TWO from 50% off Fast Lane, Bring a Friend 9.99, 15% food voucher, free game play, free cotton candy, free popcorn, free ride on Thunder Alley. My question is: in the second section, can I get two Bring a Friend for 9.99? Or do I need to choose that one and pick something else. In case anyone is wondering, this is how I got to level 2: Family of four (two small kids). Kids and I have been 5 times, Husband 4 times. Three visits we spent nothing. One visit we bought dinner at the Festhaus - two chicken tender baskets to share, two fruit cups. Also bought one cup of blue ice cream with sprinkles to share. One visit we bought dinner at Juke Box diner (don't recommend it) - one chicken tender basket, one cheeseburger basket, one hamburger basket, one souvenir cup. Also bought a pretzel that day. Also have used two of our four free drink wristbands. So have probably spent about 75-80 dollars.

Thanks! I plan to try a couch to 5K program in the future but right now I am building up my endurance so I can walk 5K. Right now I am walking/running about 2.5 miles. When I can walk/run 3.1 miles I will try to switch over to a couch to 5K program.

Thanks for the recommendation! I just signed up. I'll start tracking tomorrow. I get a lot of exercise (I'm starting a running program to train for a 5K) but I just eat all day. I am a stay at home mom so it's just easy to grab a few pretzels here and there. I want to lose about 60 pounds.

Hi all, I was at the park this morning with my family and thought I'd share my experience. Maybe it will help someone in planning. I am a bigger woman - I'm 5'8" and carry most of my extra weight around my middle - stomach and hips. I wasn't sure what to expect with rides. I was there with my husband and two kids (46 inches and 39 inches). I was able to ride with no problem: Boo Blasters, Woodstock Express, Woodstock Whirlybirds, Surf Dog, Rivertown Train, Race For Your Life Charlie Brown, Grand Carousel, Eiffel Tower (obviously). I had trouble with two rides: Snoopy's Junction and Kite Eating Tree. Kite Eating Tree I could understand because the operator just couldn't get it hooked. Luckily my daughter could ride by herself and a kind stranger offered to have my son sit on her other side as there was an empty seat there so they could both ride (my husband doesn't like heights so he wasn't wanting to ride). But Snoopy's Junction! Those little trains! Apparently you have to wear the seatbelt and it just couldn't fit around me. This is kind of mind boggling because my husband could ride just fine. So my daughter rode that by herself and my husband rode with my son. I was a little bit sad because I remembered that ride from my childhood. Anyway, hope that helps someone who might be looking for information on bigger people and rides. I did not attempt Flying Ace Aerial Chase but I have a feeling that would be a problem too. If there's anything to shame me into keeping up trying to lose weight, it's this embarrassment in front of my kids! Hopefully I can drop some more weight before next year when my daughter will be over 48 inches. I want to ride Beast and Racer with her.

Hello! I don't really have any tips as I am also a new pass holder (after going many times as a child and teenager and working there a total of seven seasons). Ten years off for life and having babies, and now back to take my husband and kids. But I thought I would ask how old your kids are because that might help people give you tips. My kids are about to turn 3 and 6 and we live about ten minutes from the park.

I thought it might be the Great Pumpkin Coaster (with an earlier name) that he was referring to but he says it was definitely what is now the Woodstock Express. Oh well, I guess it will remain a mystery. It is likely something got warped in his memory after 20 years of not being at Kings Island! (and possibly confusing with other parks he's been to)

Could be, although I myself never heard it called that in all the times I was there during that time. We also figure there could have been a Scooby Doo sighting near by, maybe.

Hi everyone, I just joined this board today. I grew up going to Kings Island in the 80's and 90's so The Beastie is how I knew that particular roller coaster. I have learned that when it was first built it was the Scooby Doo - didn't know that till recently! I was showing my husband some of the pictures in the "Flashback" thread. My husband went to Kings Island one time as a child, in either 1990 or 1991. He remembers riding The Beastie but he remembers it being called the Scooby Doo Coaster. He's pretty sure he saw a sign or something calling it that, and his younger cousin kept whining to go back and ride the "Scooby Doo Coaster." He was only there the one time so he was surprised to hear that it wasn't called that then. Any idea why he would have thought it was called that? Thanks!

Hi there! I have been lurking for awhile and I created an account so I could answer your question. I am in the same situation - my son turns 3 on May 1. I think the way you stated it was the way it used to be, but now they'll make you pay admission for your child if he is 3. So if you go before his birthday he'd get in free, but if you go after you'd have to pay. Obviously, they'll trust what you say as for his age, but if they ask and you say he's 3 they'll make you pay. That's what I was told when I called about this question. Hope that helps!