July 1 PHOTO trip report

[deb]

Joe wanted to go to Kings Island for his 5th birthday. Originally we had planned a bunch of the family going. When all was said and done, Mommy (me), Daddy, and Joe were all that went.

We got a late start, due to a late night before. Joe had some cool presents:

he's now a Hardcore Champ for the WWE:

Off we went for our 2 hour trip. I got plenty "are we there yet"s and "has it been 2 hours yet momma?" before we even got out of Indiana. Daddy played with dinosaurs and took pictures to help pass the time:

Finally, we got to the park. We took turns telling Joe what the rides you can see from the parking lot were, SoB, F/O, DZ (although he already knew what it was), to which he said with great authority, "I am NOT riding that!".

We went up, bought his season pass, he got his picture taken, and had him measured: 46" at 5 years old. He's gonna be a tall one!

Off we went walking, and he wanted to go straight to Scooby Doo. The wait was ridiculous, we were barely inside the building. And we picked a terrible time to go... it was almost time for the speed lane (and we didn't get our tickets). So we got passed up by a lot of gold pass holders (it was all good). Then, as we rounded the corner and could see into the loading platform, we noticed that the ride was stopped (I have NEVER seen it stopped). An op came around, and explained that there was an incident, and that security had been called and the ride would be back up in appx 10 mins. Well, it was more like 3 minutes, and the people in front were off. Then we loaded up, and Joe started shooting. He's so tiny that in our pic all you can see is his gun(we didn't purchase it)!

Next, I asked Joe if he wanted to ride the swings. First, he said no. Then he saw it, and walked around to wait.

I think he had fun, if he could stop studying the way it worked enough to have fun...

Next, he wanted to ride the Sportacopters. Daddy sat this one out, and went and got water and an Icee instead. While we were traveling around in our PINK (much to his chagrin) copter, he saw the Blues Clues ride.. and after waiting about 2 mins, he decided against riding it.

I then asked him if he wanted to ride the Fairly Odd Coaster, and when he saw he'd get to ride the Cosmo train, he was all for it. He and Daddy rode in the front of the first car, I sat behind them. As we reached the top of the lift hill, we came to an abrupt stop. "Attention Fairly Odd Coaster riders, please put away any and all electronic devices. As soon as the devices are put away, we will resume your ride." There were 2 teenage boys behind us playing with their camera phone... BUSTED! Everyone had a giggle, and off we went. Needless to say, Joe is NOT a coaster fan in the making. He did NOT like it at all, even though Mommy and Daddy tried our darndest to show him it was fun.

He was quite upset, but I reminded him that it was NOT my fault he rode it, he CHOSE to. Ok then. Off to the Nick Jr Racers.

Who knew you could make friends so fast?

We walked around for a bit, and then decided that we wanted to get wet, so I went back to the tracker to get our bathing suits. That's where I first heard that SoB was running (tests).

We hopped on the train to go to BB. Got over there, got changed, and then went to the Lazy River (ooops, Crocodile Run...). I really like the new double floats, great for skinny little boys that slide through the regular ones... esp when their mommas sit in the back of the double and let the boys float on her legs...

Next we went to the kiddie pool, and Joe played around for a bit. We walked over to the Koala Splash, and Joe had fun being a daredevil on the various slides. Then Daddy and Joe went down the bigger slide with the raft, and Joe liked it so much he wanted Momma to go too. He is VERY impatient, I must say. And there were parents letting TINY babies go with a small sibling instead of themselves...

We walked over to the other side, where the Sunken Ship slide is, and Joe took turns sliding down it... and bumping into every other child in the pool.

Next we walked over to the wave pool, and Daddy and Joe had fun splashing around over there. By this time, I was HUNGRY. The Grill over by the wave pool was smelling great... but we were still in suits. We decided to change and go back to Nick Uni.

Over in Nick Uni, we stopped at the Central Grill and got quarter pounders and a drink... Between the 3 of us, we spent $23. Cheap compared to everywhere else we had tried to eat before! Joe would not eat the burger because it was burnt (grilled), but he ate his and Daddy's pickles and his fries. We shared a large Coke, and because the burgers were meals, made it cheaper on us in the long run. And the food was pretty good.

After we ate, Joe and I watched Vortex run while Daddy took our suits back to the tracker.

For some reason, the third train ran empty for a few runs... couldn't get a pic.

I tried to get Joe to ride Shake Rattle N Roll with me, but once he saw it run, he was finished.

We walked back to Nick Uni, and rode La Adventura De Azul.

I reminded Joe of Spongebob 3-D, and we walked back to watch it, and had to wait through 3 shows. I got some pics of The Racers while we waited:

When we came out, we decided to go to Coney Mall and ride the Scrambler. Joe likes squashing us.

I tried to get Joe to ride Monster with us, but he was resistant. I talked him into WATCHING it, then deciding to ride or not. After he watched it, he decided he wanted to ride it. He rode with Daddy and I rode alone. The 13 car was out of commission. Joe was terrified. He said later he didn't like the way it made his tummy feel.

Horizon while in line for Monster:

We ran for the carousel, to catch a ride before ascending the tower to watch the fireworks.

Fuzzy pic of me and Joe, just as we were leaving:

All in all, Joe enjoyed his first trip to KI. Now that he's a "guru" (what his daddy calls a season pass holder), we'll be going much more.

deb

[The Interpreter]

What a wonderful trip report and adorable little guy!

I am glad you all three had such an incredible time!

[Raptor66]

Lol, I remember being TERRIFIED of Scooby Zoom, the ride formerly known as Top Cat's Taxi Jam, now known as Little Bill's Giggle Coaster. Well, until I actually rode it. That was over a decade ago. Hehe, I've come far in 10 years.

[BoddaH1994]

Wonderful trip report!

I wouldn't worry about Joe's fear of rides just yet. He still seems like kind of a little guy. Once he's around this stuff more often he'll probably feel a lot safer on the rides and it'll be a lot more fun to go as a family.

Just remember -- for the time being let Joe pick the rides he's ready to ride (as it seems you were letting him do) if you entice him to ride, it'll just make him more intimidated. Let him know that you want to ride with him and that you're not scared and congratulate him for being brave himself.

Good trip report, I had fun reading it!

Ryan

[Cory Butcher]

^ditto what Ryan said!

Sounds like you all had a great birthday party there at the Island!

Hopefully this will just be the start of his thrill seeking career!

[Avatar]

Sorry to be so late getting around to reading your report but i just wanted to thank you for taking the time to share your families trip to Kings Island. I enjoyed reading your report and look forward to more from you.

[deb]

Thanks guys! Joe had fun, he's still talking about it. Our Lions Club is having their annual Fair with the rides right now, and last night while we awaited fireworks (which got rained out and rescheduled on Sat) Joe saw some rides that looked like stuff at KI. He also told his Nana that she had to go, he had some rides to show her. All in all he had fun, and I think he's waiting to go back.

deb