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McSalsa's Coaster Adventures: A Mystic Chilly Birthday Bash (April 22nd 2017)


McSalsa
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Hello everyone! I went to Kings Island yesterday (April 22nd) and as usual, here is my trip report. First up: my rating scale so you'll get my ratings for each ride. (I have decided to just give how fun I thought each ride was- I'm ditching the intensity and roughness ratings from my last TR). I'll also be going back to a 1-10 scale, which I used in my older trip reports...

10: Incredible. One of the best rides I have ever ridden anywhere.

9: Excellent. A fun ride from start to finish, well worth riding over and over.

8: Very Good. Would happily ride this again.

7: Good. Worth re-riding, but not if there is a huge wait.

6: OK. Worth a ride if the line is short, but not if it's 30 minutes or more.

5: Meh. Really only worth it if it's a walk-on.

4: Bad. Not really even worth a walk-on.

3: Very Bad. Would not ever ride again unless something changed.

2: Terrible. Why did they even consider building THIS?!?!?

1: Garbage. I have no other words for how bad this ride is.

0: Ultimate Garbage. HOW DID YOU BUILD SOMETHING THIS BAD!?!?

OK, let's begin the trip report!

My sister had gotten us tickets through her college, which was having a trip to the park yesterday and she could bring 1 friend. Since the date of the event also happened to be my birthday, and she knew I loved Kings Island and wanted to try Mystic Timbers, she chose me. We arrived at her school campus around 7:30AM, and by 9:00AM the buses left. We arrived at the park at around 11:00AM and my sister used her phone to check the wait times, Mystic Timbers was only 15 minutes according to the app, and since we wanted to ride that, we headed for it. As we headed down I-Street, we heard the new international music and it was awesome. We got a locker and paid $10 to have it the rest of the day (this was very useful and I would recommend it if you are gonna bring stuff you need to store, the disadvantage is you'll be running back to the same lockers a lot depending what you leave in there though). Then it was finally time for...

Ride #1: Mystic Timbers
Wait Time: 15 Minutes

The app was about correct, and we waited 15 minutes or so for the newest ride at Kings Island. It is very well themed, and I love all the small details the park put into this ride. The Millennium Flyer trains are amazing, and the ride is buttery smooth. It's pretty intense, with lots of airtime hills (all of which give air, though it comes in different varieties depending what hill it is) and twists and turns. The trick track near the end is a awesome element and my favorite part of the ride. I liked the shed- though it is a little troll-ish, it's a nice way to end the ride since essentially it is also the final brake run. While Mystic Timbers didn't become my new favorite roller coaster (I've only been to a few parks, but I have already apparently been on some of the best in the word so such a feat would not have been easy anyway) I still liked it a whole lot and think this was a great addition to Kings Island, one I will ride over and over again in the years to come.

Score: 9/10

After Mystic Timbers, we decided to go ride another of those amazing coasters I had already ridden before...since it was also wooden, and I wanted to compare with Mystic Timbers fresh on my mind...

Ride #2: The Beast

Wait Time: Walk-On!!!

Beast was running AMAZING yesterday IMO (it had rained the night before and it was cool out which apparently really helps woodies). The trim brakes didn't seem to have nearly as much of an effect, and even if they did sap speed, it was quickly re-gained. The ride was a bit bumpy, but I'll admit for this one, I like it that way. The 2nd hill after the first drop, for only the 2nd time I have ever gotten this, had some actual airtime, although it was weak. The final helix, as usual, was utter chaos and I loved it. I was laughing like a giddy schoolgirl by the final brakes- Mystic Timbers is pretty awesome, but Beast is still my clear favorite ride in the park.

Score: 10/10!

If you looked at my wait time for Beast, you saw something rare. Yep, it was a walk-on. It was pretty cold, and the forecast was calling for rain (which NEVER CAME!) so at least for the first few hours, the park was dead- it picked up later though. We then exited Beast plaza and saw Diamondback was ALSO a walk-on, so we headed there next.

Ride #3: Diamondback

Wait Time: Walk-On!!!

With no wait, we jumped right into the very back seat, climbed up the 230-foot lift hill, and dropped 215 feet with airtime the ENTIRE WAY DOWN. And it was like that on every single hill! It was awesome. You could also really tell the ride went 80mph because it was in the low 50's, so it felt crazy cold with the wind. The splashdown- usually only a event for non-riders- even made a louder than usual splash, scaring us a bit as it was a little like a explosion of water. An incredible ride on yet another incredible coaster. Rivertown has become crazily OP in terms of its roller coasters now!

Score: 10/10!

We then were hungry (had last eaten around 7:30AM) so we ate at Tom+Chee's, since it smelled good and was nearby. I got the Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwich and it was good, but they screwed up my sister's order by forgetting her chips. D'oh!

Afterwards, we headed up and walked towards Vortex, which had been broken earlier but began testing when we were in "line" for Diamondback. By the time we reached it, it was open, and...

Ride #4: Vortex

Wait: 10 Minutes

Vortex HAD A BIGGER LINE THAN BEAST OR Diamondback. And due to this, I actually couldn't get either 5-1 or 7-1 (my seats of choice) and had to go for 3-1. From this seat, Vortex drops from quite awesome to...pretty average. There was not much if any airtime on the 1st drop, and it was noticeably rougher. These 2 things took a lot from the ride IMO. Still decent, but I'd perfer to ride Vortex from the 2 seats I listed above if possible. Oh, and the 30th Anniversary banner they had was really cool. Also a Bat apparently tried to perch on the Corkscrews, but it flew away when it sensed the train coming- considering what ride USED to be here, and what we saw in the shed earlier, that was pretty cool.

Score: 7/10

We then tried to ride Flight of Fear, but it's line for whatever reason seemed to just stand still for 10 minutes (during which point a 2nd Bat flew into the que area and went into the metal roof overhead), so we got out and headed Banshee, but we wanted to also hit The Racer and Adventure Express while heading that way. When we got near The Racer both sides were running at first, but when we got in line, Red Racer broke so we had to ride Blue.

Ride #5: Blue Racer

Wait: 10 Minutes (Due to capacity suddenly being cut in half when Red broke)

We boarded Blue Racer and rode near the back, my sister sitting in the row ahead of me and me in the middle car. The ride was pretty fun, though a bit on the rough side. Decent airtime though nowhere near Mystic Timbers (and pathetic if compared to Diamondback). On the way back to the station, a empty Red Racer train came over the lift and "Raced" past us, so it was good to see it begin testing. And when we left the ride, Racer was racing once again, always a welcome sight.

Score: 7.5/10

After Blue Racer, came Adventure Express.

Ride #6: Adventure Express

Wait: 5 Minutes

Adventure Express was pretty fun this ride- pretty smooth by AE standards, and decent forcefulness. We got a good look at "Indiana Jones"- he apparently wears glasses, which my sister thought was new but we may have just never noticed. The music & spiel in the final tunnel seemed to be off, but the drum dudes worked, and the screech at the top also did. A fun ride on a fun mine train coaster.

Score: 8/10

After "paying" Adventure Express a visit, we then headed into Action Zone and we reached Banshee.

Ride #7: Banshee

Wait: 5 Minutes

The crowds were starting to build by this point, but Banshee's insane capacity kept its line to the stairs. We boarded the purple train (which my sister always seems to get) and climbed the 168-foot lift hill. One scream later, we dropped at 68mph- it was still cold so BRRR...- and began flipping. It was, as usual, one awesome inversion after another, ending with the awesome "slow roll" and helix. There was a noticeable vibration (though not painful at all) and slight shaking though, and I did feel a little dizzy afterwards. Still an amazing ride though. There were also 2 huge Falcons/Hawks flying in the woods over Adventure Express.

Score: 9.5/10

After Banshee, we were getting a little thirsty. When we had eaten at Tom+Chee earlier, we bought a souvenir bottle, but afterwards we had put it in the locker...near Mystic Timbers. We decided to ride Bat and Delirium, then we would go get it.

Ride #8: The Bat

Wait: 5 Minutes

After so much "Batty" stuff earlier in the day, how could we not ride the actual coaster? There was a minimal wait, then we boarded and rode The Bat. It didn't slow on the lift like it has done on nearly all my other rides on it, which was a bit odd, and you could smell what was apparently chain lube. We were in the rear of a car, and it was a bit bumpy, so I kept smacking my kness into the seat in front of me. It wasn't very painful, but it was a bit annoying. Still a very fun, though short, ride though.
Score: 8/10

As we headed up back towards the main area of Action Zone to ride Delirium, I asked my sister to check to see how bad Invertigo's wait was, and she said it was broken. So we headed up, planning on riding Delirium and getting back to our locker.

Ride #9: Delirium

Wait: 5 Minutes

Delirium only had to run once, and then we got on. It was the usual high-speed spinny-swingy action, though it was also quite cold due to the 76mph speed. A fun ride on my favorite flat ride at Kings Island.

Score: 9/10

As we exited Delirium, I spotted Invertigo running, so it had been fixed since the app updated. We checked the line and there was none, so we got a quick ride on Invertigo in.

Ride #10: Invertigo

Wait: 5 Minutes

During our short wait, as we watched the train before us run, I spotted something black-ish fly out and hit the rocks with a THUNK. It was someone's expensive-looking phone, and I saw the ride op get it and hand it back to them with a DESTROYED screen. Poor dude- but that's why YOU DO NOT take loose articles on roller coasters. Thankfully, it didn't hit anyone.

As for our ride on Invertigo? It was OK. Nice forces and stuff, but a HUGE amount of head banging. I tried my best to avoid it, but nothing seemed to work. If you asked what roller coaster at Kings Island I enjoyed the least (excluding kiddie coasters)- Invertigo is the one I'd pick.

Score: 6/10

After Invertigo, we had ridden most of the major rides at Kings Island we wanted to (due to the cold and stuff, we decided not to do Drop Tower and WindSeeker) besides BLSC and the X-Base rides. We then headed to Rivertown (cutting through the Festhaus and catching some of the 90's show...good stuff...also saw Don Helbig again there but he looked busy so we didn't bug him), got our cup, and drank some soda. My sister played the "Spin the Wheel for a Fast Pass for a ride" game, and we got...Vortex. We decided to save it for later. Then it was time to relax a bit, and you know what ride is good for that?

Ride #11: Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad

Wait: 5 Minutes (for Train to Show Up)

With Mystic Timbers now built and open, this ride's 1st half gives you more than just trees and White Water Canyon to look at. You great great views of the entire new GCI woodie, as well as Diamondback. The Bear gimmick the train ops did was kinda funny, and there were gophers near the turnaround point and geese living in the old western town, their nest on the roof! It was a fun, relaxing way to waste a few minutes.

Score: 7/10

After the train ride, we had some time to kill before a 5PM check-in (yes, all that and some of the below were from 11AM to 4PM...it was not very crowded) so we headed for Backlot Stunt Coaster, which had a short-ish wait and had re-opened.

Ride #12: Backlot Stunt Coaster

Wait: 10 Minutes

Backlot Stunt Coaster, I feel, is one of Kings Island's more underrated rides. This ride gets hated on a LOT since it replaced the Antique Cars & Flying Eagles, and yeah a lot of the theming from its Italian Job days is gone. But the ride has a good launch, forceful helix, some decent airtime and forces, cool fire effects, and a great tunnel finale. It's capacity is also better than you'd think as while it has small trains they dispatch quickly. I really like this little coaster.

Score: 8/10

After BLSC, we went to I-Street and did some shopping- we got fudge, the Mystic Timbers "What's in the fudge"? flavor. We also did some shopping but eventually went to Coney Confections since they have everything for $10 or less, found some nice shirts and $1 fridge magnets. Since we were in the area and had time to kill, we did a few rides...

Ride #13: Red Racer

Wait: 5 Minutes

Red Racer was rougher than Blue, but ironically I found it the more fun of the 2 sides since it also had a bit more airtime. Some of the airtime also felt weird, like it would pause or bump in the middle of it then resume instantly. We started out ahead of Blue Racer by a car or two, but by the brake run, Blue had caught up (I think it was due to the smoother track) and won. D'OH!!!
Score: 8/10

We got in line for Monster, but it had become 5PM, so we had to ditch and go check-in with the group at the Eiffel Tower. We did so, and we hungry again, so we headed to Reds Hall of Fame Grille...and then left because it was super slow, so we went for Skyline Chili on I-Street instead. The service here was pretty fast, and the food was also pretty good and filled us up nicely. After that we tried to wait for Flight of Fear again, it didn't move (again) and then a bunch of people began leaving saying it broke down. We decided to abandon X-Base for the day after this, since FOF was clearly not running well and Firehawk always has a slow, agonizing wait. We wandered around for a bit, headed back to Rivertown for some of our stuff, then decided to spin the wheel of Fast Lane again...I did it this time, and won...DODGEM.:wacko: Well, since we had 2 tickets now and they were in Coney Mall, we headed there to spend them. (They saved us little- the waits for Vortex and Dodgem were both very short)

Ride #14: Vortex #2
Wait: Used Prize Ticket

This time, we rode from my usual seat, 5-1. And boy, was it better than it was earlier. The ride went from little air to lots of it on the first drop, and the ride was noticeably smoother than before. Seat selection sure makes a difference on Vortex.

Score: 9/10

After Vortex, we cashed in our other ticket for the Dodgems.

Ride #15: Dodgem

Wait: Used Prize Ticket

Well, at least the ticket had me get on a ride I had never ridden before. Dodgem was pretty fun, but sadly the ride is a bit short- it stopped just as I was really starting to like it.

Score: 6/10 (too short)

After riding Dodgem, we were waiting for 8:00PM so we could get in line for Beast (app was saying 45 minute wait and we were expecting it to be accurate and we had to be ready to leave around 9PM and wanted to squeeze a night ride in). We decided to let the Wheel of Fast Lane decide a ride for us, my sister spun it....Backlot Stunt Coaster. Hey, not too bad, it's a fun ride and it actually had a line so we did get something here.

Ride #16: Backlot Stunt Coaster #2

Wait: Used Prize Ticket

See earlier ride review- same applies here.

After re-riding BLSC, we boarded the train for a 2nd ride.

Ride #17: Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad

Wait: 5 Minutes (for Train 2 show up again)
Again, see the prior review, as this was mostly the same save it was now sunset.

And then it was around 8:15PM, so we got in line for Beast at last, expecting a 45-minute wait which would get us a night ride...but...

Ride #18: The Beast #2
Wait: 15 Minutes (App was 30 minutes off!:wacko:)

We got a sunset ride instead. Regardless of this, Beast was still crazy fun, and felt even faster than it had earlier as it was more broken-in by this point. I got weak airtime once again too. Also the tunnels were pitch black by this point as well. My sister tried to get a cool on-ride photo, but failed.
Score: 10/10!

It was now around 8:30, and with nothing better to do, we decided to try for the on-ride photo again, so...
Ride #19: The Beast #3

Wait: 15 Minutes

Now it was closer to night, and the sky was dark-ish but not quite, so I'd call this a Quasi-Night ride. It was just as fun as before, and in the middle dark tunnel, I looked to the right and shockingly was able to see the trees through the tunnel's cracks somehow (probably due to the speed, and my brain putting the images from the cracks together). The final helix was chaos for a 3rd time. Riding Beast once is great, but twice in a row is even better. My sister failed at her photo yet again though.

Score: 10/10!

In an ironic twist, as we left Beast for the 3rd time, we STILL had some time to kill for 1 more small-ish ride. The ride we picked was...
Ride #20: Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Wait: 5 Minutes

Shake, Rattle, and Roll looks amazing with its new paint job and lighting package. The ride is also pretty fun, and disorienting with its spinning wackiness. A fun way to end the night.

Score: 8/10

After SR&R, we headed out down I-Street which was beautiful and exited the park, and boarded the buses to go home. It was an awesome day- 20 rides in 1 day is very good IMO. It was also probably the most fun I have had on my birthday in years.

I hope you enjoyed this trip report. In finale, here are my pro's and con's:

Pro's:

+Nearly all rides were running excellent

+Mystic Timbers is a great new wooden roller coaster with awesome theming

+Ride crews were doing a great job with sending out trains so little or no waits were common

+Though the crowds were also small most of the day

+Food was pretty good, though not the greatest

+Coney Confections has some great stuff for cheap (compared to other shops in the park IMO)

+Lots of wildlife was out and about

Con's:

-Tom+Chee's forgot my sister's chips

-It was brutally cold most of the day

-Flight of Fear apparently didn't want us to ride it today

Anyhow, thank you for reading this. In finale, here is a picture my sister took for you...have a nice day! B) (Comments and Questions Welcome)

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