deb

I tried that, didn't help. From full aerial, you can see IJ:ST. Go in closer, turns to Antique Cars. Also, I checked out Google Earth... and guess who uses the SAME aerials?!?!?! odd. deb

Maybe I'm stupid, but I can't see Avatar in the parking lot. The view I'm getting looks like the park is open: trees are green. There are cars and buses. Even some that are "moving". And the south parking entrance is loaded with cars. Am I stupid? deb

Thanks for all the good advice everyone. I do plan on calling the park beforehand so I am all up on the baby rules. I can't swim, and in no way would I ever take Christian on a water ride. As for the babysitter idea, my MIL is going with us. She will be taking care of the babies so that the mommies and daddies can ride stuff, too. deb

On 6/2 and 6/3 my hubby and I made an impromptu trip to KI. We stayed at the Ramada Express in Mason. The rooms were clean, the TV worked, and it was just $79 + tax for the night. It was the lowest priced hotel in mason, and we checked them all. And it's only about 10 mins on the interstate to KI. We went the back way, and it took about 30 (had to go through town). deb

We are taking our soon to be 5 year old to KI for his birthday on July 1. He's been talking about it all month. In addition to older children, there will be at least 2 infants- our little one (6 months) and our niece, who'll be 2 months at the time of the trip. I know admission is free. My concerns are bringing in all their stuff: Christian is on formula, and Breanna is breast fed. I know there is a strict no outside drink policy (my husband bought a $3 Vault when were in the gold pass processing line and had to toss it at the security gate... he was miffed) but for us, I'll have to bring bottles and formula, and a container of OUR water (babies get sick if you change water on them). I'm just curious at what kind of ordeal I could get into on that day.. and I want to make it as fun as possible for Joe (the birthday boy). Have any of you taken bottle fed infants or seen the check in process? Any info would be helpful! And, are the railroad and carousel the only rides babies are allowed on? Thanks! deb

If you think you'll be going more than once, get the parking pass. It's $34.95 and it covers reg parking all season. And if you have a gold pass, you can park in the gold pass area, which is closer to the gate, too. Good deal! (if you know someone who does have one, take them with you and you can park there too!) deb

holy crap thats amazing, i really need a ticket and only had 20 bucks saved. however i went to the kroger website, and the ad says 34.95 for adult admissions. not 19.95. im from the dayton area, but cinci and dayton ads on the site are the same, it actually links us to the cinci ad as its the same for the whole region. can anyone confirm they are doing this still? it said till the 17th on this forum. Do they give you an option to choose the store? I haven't checked it, but my mother-in-law is going to call our store to find out. deb

AE is prob a 5 due to the banging you get riding it... and the fact that I still hear ppl screaming in fear while they are on it. It's a great coaster... one of my favs for a lazy, non intense visit when you go just to hang out with your riding partner, like I had a few days ago. And it's good to get you hyped up for the good stuff. Personally, I HATE Vortex. I rode it once, and my hubby wants me to ride it with him, so I'll ride it one more time with him. It was so rough I felt like I had fallen onto a reject from the 70s. (no offense to those who love it) I think I was expecting too much when I rode it, I though steel would be a smooth ride, and Vortex isn't. It was my first steel coaster with inversions. Face/Off beats me to death, but I like it better because it's smoother. deb

What a deal! If we weren't season pass holders we'd be cashing in on this deal. I'm calling everyone who might be going for my son's b-day and letting them know.. saves us poor folks some $ and we get in on the fun! deb

Face/Off, at night. The first time I rode it it was at night, and no ride since has compared. deb

I live about 2 hours away from KI in IN. Saturday was the 6 year anniversary of our first date, so we thought we'd go to Metamora (if you live in Cincy or Indiana close to Cincy, you know what Metamora is... ). When we got close to Metamora... we realized we were a mere hour or so away from KI... so... IMPROMPTU trip! We left at about 5 pm on Sat night, reached the park at about 6:30 ish. We've got a Geo Tracker, and it's a convertible... and we had the top off. We got rained on on the way. Talk about fun! 80 MPH on the interstate getting soaked before you get on WWC... So we got in quick, and went to ride. We got in a few rides... WWC, Top Gun, Tomb Raider... but not everything because I wasn't feeling too spiffy, and the blisters were showing up on my tootsies. We spent the night at the Ramada in Mason (great hotel btw, and not too pricey: $79 on a SAT!). We got up the next morning, late (after I watched the new Willy Wonka on HBO... but that's a whole 'nother thread), and made it to the park at about 11ish. We had went to WalMart and got some food, so we had a cooler loaded down to save a few $$. First off I wanted to go try to ride Firehawk. We walked all the way back there, and it was in testing.. and then someone said they shut it down... but we could see ppl getting on and riding... so we stopped and watched it for circuit before I decided that I didn't want to wait 2 hours (as I'd heard that was the line length) for a coaster that looked like it went super slow in the loop.... But I'll get on it. Eventually. So we came back up, and I saw the Zephyr, and we got on it... a girl lost her pink croc shoes... and the op called out and said "if you are wearing shoes, please keep them on!" which got a TON of laughs... I had on slip on Birki's and took em off before we got on. Then we went and got on the Scrambler, and the Bumper Cars, and Shake Rattle N Roll, and Monster... We also got on IJ:ST, and we were in the very back (#6)... and it's actually really fun from the back. We were in a car with a couple that the lady had never ridden it... I love that- hearing someone's first reaction to a ride. She loved it. It is pretty spiffy to be so little. Then we went to TR, and I was the first one on for the ride. The ops had to clean up vomit, AGAIN, and one of the guys was talking about how he didn't think it was the best ride in the park, and that they've had a TON of people vomit on it this season... odd, I'd think there'd be more vomit on IJ:ST... We rode AE and Racer, my first time for Racer, and I don't care for it too much, thought I was gonna hurl multiple times. Then we decided we were got, so we went to WWC, and didn't get as soaked as we had on Sat, but we were hot and ready for the water park. So we rode the train to BB, got a locker (omg I can't believe it's $12!!!! I think it went up in the 12 or so years it'd been since I'd been there- when it was still WaterWorks... hahahaha), and went to the water slides. I can't swim, and if there isn't a raft, I'm not getting on it. We did do the Sidewinder. That thing makes you fly! And get a lot of water in your mouth... ew. I needed a dental cleaning. BLECH! Then my hubby wanted to do the one everyone gets stuck on... it's got the pool at the bottom (I nearly drowned there years ago... I sat that one out). Then we went to the Snowy River thingy, and that was so much fun! Then I heard it. KABOOM! Thunder. It was actually beginning to rain while we were in line for the snowy river. By the time we got through the wait, and out the bottom and back up by the lockers, it was lightning and beginning to rain steadily. We were starving, and it was about 4 by then. So we turned in our key, I got a $3.50 Cherry Coke ( ) and we were gonna wait on the train, which we missed by less than a hair... and then it started to rain harder. So we decided to walk. Nick Central is neat looking, we're gonna take our 4 year old there on his birthday (July 1). By the time we got through the line getting our hand stamped, it was steadily raining and lightning. Did I mention that our Tracker is a convertible? And that the top to it was on our front porch in Indiana? It's not the easiest thing to eat a sandwich in the rain and not have soggy bread. Really. I was more soaked once we got out of the tracker than I was after we left BB. I had on a white bikini, white Tinkerbell tshirt and a white skirt that was TINY. I saw a lot of people pointing out that fact that every ride I was on you could see my skirt flying up. Bikini. It's all good. After the lightning stopped, I saw stuff running again: Delirium, Face/Off, and Vortex. We walked in, went to the arcade to play some skee ball, lost some money on midway games, and by then my back was hurting so bad it made the blisters seem invisible. So we decided that since we have season passes, and we'll be back, we'd just hit the road. It was about 8pm then. I drove home (the seats were dry, we sat in them the whole time it rained... ) and we were about 10 mins from home when it started POURING rain. Again. And again, I was DRENCHED. So drenched, that my skirt could have saved someone from dehydration. We picked up a Kings Island-Opoly game (my hubby's fav game is Monopoly). It got wet while I was driving. Insides are all ok, the box has bubbles. With that, I have ridden every (adult) roller coaster at KI except Firehawk, and every other ride except Drop Zone, Delirium, SlingShot, and the bungee thingys. And unless I'm seriously not myself (think inebriated), Firehawk will be the only thing that will change. See you on July 1!!! deb PS: Firehawk was running BOTH trains on Sunday.

So my husband and I decided to go to KI on Saturday, but we woke up too late (we live 2 1/2 hrs away), so we changed it and went yesterday. My sister decided that she would be ok to go with us, even though she drove nearly 12 hours from NJ in on sat., but she wanted to go, so she got to drive. (that was our only mistake..... taking HER with us). Got our season pass temps printed out, and arrived at the park at about 10:30ish. We had to get pictures, and that line was a good 30 min wait, there were people EVERYWHERE. Once we got our passes, headed to the gate, security, no waiting, except that my pass showed a 14 yr old boy instead of me.... LOL Got a map (I've got a horrible memory) and decided to really throw my sis for a loop and go to Tomb Raider, and NOT tell her what to expect. She had to take dramamine before we even got there.... She's apparently terrified of everything.... Anyway, we get to TR and there was about a 15 min wait. They counted us, lined us up (we got middle row) and we watched the movie. The doors opened, we head in and start emptying our pockets into the pouch when an operator walks up and asks us to all get our stuff, get back out of our seats, and walk back to the queue line where the movie is. Then we hear "Tomb Raiders, we're sorry (etc) technical difficulties... staff is on it... etc." That's when the TRs decided to jump the boat. By the time everyone had left (including a couple very much in love, lust, something... they tried to come back in, but staff wouldn't let them) there was about 10 of us. Took about 15-20 mins for the staff to clean up the vomit (that's what technical difficulties mean, apparently.. as someone asked one of the staffers), and the asked us to all line up in the middle line, and then those 10 or 15 of us got to ride. It was FANTASTIC! First time I rode it I was in a dangler seat, and it had this tiny metal bar that kept hitting my tailbone (OW) and I was really ticked. This time though, it was awesome. As the ride wasn't even barely full, it was as smooth as it could be. No jerking around, nothing. AND I kept my eyes open!! So we got off TR and headed straight for The Beast, since it was close by. We waited MAYBE 15 mins, if that. While we were walking the queue line, my husband kept smelling pizza, so we went to LaRosa's after getting off The Beast. Last time we went, IJ:ST had just opened, and the lines were huge, so we didn't ride. They were still pretty large, but... when we got up to the metal gates, where the loading starts, the op needed a group of 3 or 5... and we were the only 3, so we got to get on the train just leaving... There were a lot of riders irritated that the ops pulled us up from the back.. But they were asking, and we replied, and I know it's cause the cars need to be full. If you were one of the people that were skipped, SORRY! (this ride is what I call a "puker"... because that's what I wanted to do.... I think it's the small size. But it was still awesome!) Next, we walked over to FOF, but the lines were SOOOOO long, we turned around and went back. My husband wanted to ride the Zephyr, something else I had never ridden, and he and I got in line (my sis refused saying she'd never ride swings or a ferris wheel.... ), where the wait was non existent. What a relaxing ride! I only wish the seats had higher back so you could lay back and chill. After we got off Zephyr, we walked over to AE, and waited for about 10 mins on it. I've got bruises on my legs from the lap bars... I wish they'd switch them to the ones like on The Beast. Next we walked over to Top Gun... my personal favorite (I could stand in line forever to ride TG). We did wait for about 20 mins, but it was still cool. My sister hated it. How can you hate TG?!?!?!?! Next we walked over to F/O. We did wait FOREVER on it. And I noticed that PKIVortex said that when he got there, it was closed. When he went to that line and saw it was closed... We were on the next train. The one before us had to wait. Apparently a VERY thin girl rode on the inside(near entrance gates) end train(first one going into loop) facing in, and she wasn't held in very well... So there were managers, suits, all kinds of KI staff checking it out. After about 25ish mins one of the ops hopped into the apparent "bad seat" and rode alone. Of course we were all watching every flip and drop... and he came back in one piece. WOOHOO! They announced that the ride was ready to roll, and we all screamed and clapped. The riders next in line rode, then we got on... my sister was TERRIFIED (we were facing each other). When the ride stopped my husband had to help both of us out of the seats.. she had whiplash from an accident last week (yet insisted on going) and my hips popped out of place from all the air time (it happens on every coaster, no biggie). But it was still fun. My husband wanted to ride the log flume, so he and I went alone, I dunno why my sis didn't go... I think she didn't want to get wet... or her car wet... I dunno. But for us, it's not a trip to KI if we don't get drenched sometime. The ride itself was ok, we were in the back of the boat, and there were 2 boys in front of us, and the rest of the boat was loaded. I had NO clue of the airtime you get on that ride.... we were completely OUT of our seats... it was great, but we barely got wet. The boys in front of us were less than enthusiastic that we didn't get drenched, so as we were leaving, they grabbed us and put us in the perfect spot on the bridge to get soaked... and held us there until we were. It was great. We had mentioned going to the scrambler after we got drenched to help dry us off, so we caught back up with my sister who was sitting at a picnic table outside a shop, and headed for the scrambler. Seemed like she wasn't having a very good time (she was riding alone) so I got in the same car with her. I squashed her to death.. and she laughed the whole time, so I assumed she would be able to tough it out the rest of the day (this is at about 4:30). And if any of you were in line for the scrambler while we were on it.. my husband was the guy without a shirt on talking on his cell phone through the whole ride.... one of his friends called, and the guy still can't believe he was ON the ride when he called. He took a pic of us for proof. I tried to get a pic of him on the phone, but he hung up too quick. Next we headed for the dodgems, and the race was on! I got in 3 laps, so I won in laps. as for bumps, well.... they cornered me. It was still great fun, reminded me of being a kid at the county fair. We wanted to go ride The Vortex (I don't really care for it, but Casey had never ridden it, so I said sure) but the line was all the way out on the midway... and we thought we could just come back and ride it later. I had to go to the ladies room, and we were going to go ride White Water Canyon. I came out of the ladies room to hear my sister say that she was tired, didn't want to ride anything else, and was gonna go sleep in her car till we got finished. This is about 4:45. Casey said, fine, we'll go ride this (WWC) and then we'll meet you at your car. So she chimed up and said I'll just ride it with you... That ticked my husband off even more... So he got very angry, said a few choice words, and said we'll just go. We went and added on the gold parking to one of our passes, and then headed for the parking lot, straight to her car, which she had NO clue where to find it... and wound up by the buses, then calling me. Casey complained about it all the way home. I gave her the wrong directions and we wound up driving the full distance of 275... Anyway, we got home at about 8 pm, at which time I looked at Casey and said, well, now they are closed.. *sigh* All in all it was a great trip, albeit much too short for us (we spend the WHOLE day), and not getting to ride everything we wanted to. deb

ooh, my first post! I started going to Kings Island yearly beginning in 1994, when I was a freshman in high school. Our academic team always did a trip a few weeks after school ended, and we had a blast every single time we went! KIC, I found through that itty-bitty no-name search called Google... ever heard of it? Anywho, I just got seasons passes for the first time, and we're planning a trip for Saturday, should the local weather guy be right (he usually is) and it be near 70. Hope too see ya there! deb