6/28 and 6/29

[gburn07]

Alright, I know this will be a little long so stick with me here.

We all left on the 27th for Kings Island for two days. One of the big draws (and future disappointments of the park) was to hit IJST as early as we could to avoid the lines that I have been hearing about so much. We stayed at a pretty close place (Amerisuites off exit 19 from 71) so we would not have to wake up very very early in order to be one of the first in line for the ride. Well, we woke up the next day, arrived at the park around 9:20, and pretty much spent the rest of the time at the closest part of the Emporium to the Eiffel Tower so we could get to IJST as soon as possible. It was kind of cool waiting there while we saw all of the floats for the Nick Parade being moved on the course for practice and what not. When they dropped the ropes, we were off. Another thing I want to bring up is the certain feel that you get once you walk into the park and onto International Street. Its hard to explain, but I only get that 'magical' feeling while walking into Disney. The entrance is right up there with Magic Kingdom in terms of being so nice and all. (O yeah and for any of you people who work there, most chances are you woulnd't remember me, but I was pretty much the only person with a Steelers hat on both days ) People sure do run like maniacs to get there and it seemed as if everyone who was at the park early went there. We waited about 45 minutes despite how early we went in line. After the fairly long line, I was put on 1.1 on the ride. From the reviews of the ride on here, I knew i was not going to expect a big thrill here so my hopes of that were gone. (good thing because everyone else expected more) The launch was pretty cool when you start up slow and then kick it up to full speed. After the first second on the helix, everything went downhill from there. The rest of the ride was forceless like I expected. But the thing that really destroyed me from giving the ride a higher rating was the lack of me feeling like I was actually doing any of the 'stunts'. Most of the ride, well pretty much all of the ride felt cheaply done in terms of theming. While up in the helicopter scene, the helicopter was not working, and neither were the splashes of water on the sides. That really ruined that part. The only good thing I can say about the ride was the tunnel was more fun than I thought it was going to be. Overall, I feel that the ride is too short and theming is not up to par with the big dog themeparks for me to really like it. I understand that the park does not have the money coming out of their cracks like Disney and Universal have, but I still feel that more could have been done to add more flavor to the ride.

Next up, I will say that the park was ridiculously empty! That threat of weather really made the park a ghost town. Following that, from earlier years, I remembered the dreaded hours of waiting I had been through on FOF. That was the ride we did next. Much to my surprise, they were actually waiting for people to come on the ride. Never in my life did I see that ride so empty before. Boy, does this ride still kick some serious butt. The loud noise the LIMS make and the roaring of the train as it flies past you when it is launched really gets your heart going. I sat in the back row first time. This ride is amazing. It is a little more rough than i can remember but that did not take away from the intensity and overall enjoyment of the ride that I had on it. Compared to Rockin Rollercoaster, this ride has it all over in terms of g's and length. That last corkscrew is taken so fast it feels like a zero g roll. One of my fav rides in the park.

After a few more rides on that we headed down to Face Off. This, ladies and gents, was the biggest surprise of the whole trip. After a modest 30 minute wait, while going up the hill I expected a typical boomerang type ride as in the ones at Hershey and such that are rough and pretty forceless. This ride is so much more intense than I remembered. I literally blacked out coming out of the loop on the second drop. Best part of the ride was it was as smooth as glass when I went on it. Did not bang my head one big. Such a great surpise for me.

Now to one of the biggest disappointments. Let me first get the fact about Delirium not being opened really got me down when I got there hahah. Didn't even seem as if anyone has been working on that for days and no one was for the two days that I was in the park. After Face Off and a couple flats we headed toward Son of Beast. Now I am someone who rarely complains about the roughness of a woodie (if any of you remember the "SOB that rough" topic that I posted saying that I thought the ride wasn't that bad). Today, it was horrible. First time I sat in the last car in the middle row. I heard that this was a pretty smooth row to sit in. It was very rough. Although I did not get injured or what not like others said happens to them, the time I was on the ride was not even fun because of the bumps on the ride. Now, the second time I rode I went on the front car middle row, it was much better but still worse than Mean Streak imo. After this we went on the Sky Coaster a few times and the short but sweet Top Gun.

Next it was time to head on over to Racer. We did both of them in the back seat (well front for the backward side hah). So much better than I expected. Very smooth and had tons of air time. Then it was time for A.E. This ride is more intense than I remembered as well. Then we went on Sling Shot for a few awesome rides.

Next came Tomb Raider. The pre show was not playing (tear) and the ride felt much shorter than I remembered as well. I feel the best part of the ride is when you walk into the room and you see the massive gondola and arms of it. That was the most terrifying part of the ride.

Following this we headed over to a somewhat rough ride on Vortex, then it was time for the greatest ride I have ever been on wood or steel, The Beast. I do not know what they did to the ride, but it was the second smoothest woodie I have ever been on (next to Lightning Racer) and riding it at night put the icing on the cake. Such a thrill speeding in the woods at night with little light around you and the Helix part was the smoothest part of the entire ride! I heard from earlier visits of people that it shook the crap out of them. Such high g's and no rattling made that the best part of any ride I have ever been on. Beats TTD and MF.

The next day was a little more crowded but since we did every ride that we wanted to the other day due to the lack of crowds in the park. We decided to watch two of the Shows. First off was Tuned In. I was kind of forced into watching it. It was a great surprise. The singers were very talented and was very enjoyable. The next show, which I am sure you all know what one I am talking about, was the best show I have ever seen in any park including Disney and Universal.

S.O.R was the greatest show I have ever seen. Being a rock lover, pretty much all of their songs sounded exactly like original artists of the songs. So much talent was there and everyone on stage had so much energy, this show was a masterpiece. I mean I did not expect this the least bit. I could go on and on about this ride but I think its time to conclude.

All in all These two days were the best times I have ever had in any park. All the operators were quick and friendly and most of the rides blew me away. The park is ten times nicer than C.P and is just one step behind them in terms of thrills. All they need is a M.F type ride and they will be the king of thrills. No ride compares to The Beast after how many years and that ride is truly a masterpiece. Kudos to the maintenance of the ride that made the ride so incredibly smooth over the years (and the breaking in the shed was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be). Awesome two days

[gburn07]

O yeah sorry forgot to talk about the food (most important part hehe). Graeters and La Rosas bring up my talk about this lol. Graeters is the greatest ice cream I have ever had. I wish so bad they had them in the Burgh. Now La Rosas, I was expecting some of the best pizza around. Instead, I had doughy, undercooked, ultra thin pizza which tasted bland. Idk if it was just a bad pizza made for us but I was certainly disappointed. O well, can't please em' all.

[Jasper]

I didnt take the time to read it but it looks like you had a pretty good trip by the length of it.

[gburn07]

Yeah, sorry for the long length, I just got back and had so much to say before I lost it in my head lol.

[CoastersRZ]

Nice TR. Yeah, Delirium has been down for almost a month now, and will hopefully be up soon, but I am still hearing reports for the end of July/early August. The sooner the better, and I am sure the park shares that sentiment.

[gburn07]

Yeah, from the other topic talking about the status of Delirium, I guessed that they were waiting for a part because not single person was even near the ride working on it both days.