McSalsa

I remember there was a "Beast" monster with red fog machines by it on The Beast during Halloween Haunt 2010, it was located near the final turn before the 2nd chain lift. It was cool to see that.

Hello everyone! Welcome to yet another Kings Island trip report from McSalsa. I rode quite a bit of stuff yesterday, but I will try to make this manageable. This will be sorted into 3 sections: Ride Reviews, Food Reviews, and Misc (everything that doesn't fall into the first two categorgies basically). Will be sorted by order I when I did/rode things, and re-rides will be described in the same order...mostly. THE RIDES Orion (x2) Orion was my first ride of the day- I wanted to hit FOF first but it was already a big wait, and Orion was a near walk-on instead. As I neared the station, I realized I forgot my glasses strap back in the car, so my glasses when in my zipper pocket and I rode "Blurry" Orion. I could still see enough to tell what was going on, and I got some nice forces for a early morning ride. I rode again later on and the ride had picked up some more speed, and I had bought a new glasses trap by then as well (they are cheap in park). Both rides were great, as I have come to expect from Orion. NEW RIDE ALERT: Snoopy's Soap Box Racers (x2) I have finally added to my coaster count (now at 38) for the first time in 3 years! Woohoo! Snoopy's Soap Box Racers is a great addition to Kings Island. It packs more punch than I was expecting, especially in terms of postive G's. The first drop has good anticipation to it, with how it holds you 70 feet in the air, a little bit like a dive coaster. Going backwards is a pretty fun sensation too. I do wish they had planted some trees in Camp Snoopy, but the ride itself is great. Oh, and I rode from the last and 2nd to last cars both times, and my nephew I rode with on my first ride freaking loved it. Diamondback (x4) 4 Rides on Diamondback!?!? Well, that is because the ride crew was KILLING IT yesterday, keeping the line at 10 minutes or less basically all day- early on when crowds weren't bad yet, they were hitting 30 and 40 second dispatches (I saw a few times where the train ahead had not even hit the MCBR and there was one halfway up the lift!). And with Diamondback's great airtime and short waits, I could not resist. I rode near the front, in the middle, and twice in or near the back. The back is still the way to go, though the 2nd hill might have been a bit better in front actually. On 3 of the 4 rides, save the middle one, I got airtime that lasted what felt like 5+ seconds on a few hills. Lots of fun was had on Diamondback yesterday. Mystic Timbers (x2) Got in two rides here- one early in the day near the middle, and a second later on in the back row. Middle ride was good, but the back seat ride happened just as the ride re-opened after a brief rain shower and...WOW. That was a contender for the best ride I have ever gotten on Mystic Timbers! The ride was hauling and throwing me around like crazy! I think the hot temperatures and rain truly unleashed the wooden coasters yesterday, Mystic being no exception. I got "Cars" as my song both times, and Bats and Snakes in the shed. The Beast (1st Ride) I also got two rides on The Beast, my favorite Kings Island coaster. The first ride I was on a wheel seat and it was a bit rough, nothing unbearable (2020 or 2021 rides in same seat probably would have been agony) but it did pop my back- it hurt for a few minutes, then felt great oddly the rest of the day. Still a fun ride though. Later in the evening, I... (TO BE CONTINUED...DA DA DUM!) Backlot Stunt Coaster (x1) Didn't get to ride this last time due to a breakdown and huge line, but got it yesterday. I got front row, and got some decent forces and nice views. I did find I actually like Snoopy's Soap Box Racers a bit better though. Flight of Fear (x1) After snagging my 2nd Orion ride, I saw FOF re-open after a breakdown so I tried to snag a quick ride, but ended up still waiting 25 minutes (longest all day) because the capacity is poo. The ride itself is way better than it's capacity though, a little rough and the trains are odd but great intensity and forcefulness. It was worth the wait. The Racer (x1 Red, x1 Blue) With no real wait, I snagged rides on both Racers. I am still so happy they removed the stinkin' trim brakes! I rode Red Racer from 5-2, and Blue Racer from 1-2. Both rides were crazy smooth for wooden coasters, both had good airtime, and I won both times. Win-win-win! Adventure Express (x1) In spite of riding on a wheel, this was a very smooth ride, oddly. Usually that isn't the case on wheel seats. All of the theming, music and effects were working and the ride was a walk-on. Fun ride, but I need to speak to the station master. He needs fired, badly. I keep trying to go on the scenic jungle route, and he keeps sending me on the city of stone route! UGH! WHO KEEPS LETTING HIM RUN THE Adventure Express!?!? Grand Carousel (x1) I rode this one with our main group. Sat on a non-moving horse because I had just eaten a huge burrito at Enrique's- review of that later. A nice relaxing ride as usual. Banshee (x3) Oh boy. Recent events have made this coaster get some extra attention- though the line was always very short hence why I got 3 rides in. Anyway, I'll focus on the ride itself and not the recent tragedy. Banshee was running really smooth, though the vest was a bit tight on my 3rd and final ride. The g forces were great, and I rode 3 times in basically the same hour because the line was moving so well. More good rides on the world's longest inverted coaster. The Bat (x1) After the 100 billion mile hike, I also rode The Bat. No wait, and I had a fun time swinging among the tree tops. The "river" below the ride was pretty full due to the rain. This ride may be a semi-clone of Vortex @ Canada's Wonderland, but it makes great use of the terrain. Delirium (x1) While in Action Zone, I also got a ride on Delirium, my first of 2024. I enjoy the spinning and swinging of this ride, and it too had a short wait time- Sundays when there is a chance of rain all day seem to be great days at Kings Island. A question hit me when riding this though. I have heard Youtuber Ryan the Ride Mechanic say, the Zamperla Giant Discovery has a 20 year lifespan, then Zamperla strongly requests you remove the ride due to fatigue. HUSS Giant Frisbees are similar to those...and Delirium is now 21. How much longer does Delirium have left? Woodstock Express (x1) I got my 3rd ride ever in on the former Beastie kids wooden coaster, once again riding with my nephew and his father. This was after the rainstorm, and like Mystic Timbers, even Woodstock Express felt like it had gotten a speed boost from it. I got a little airtime and some strong forces for a kids coaster here. A great ride for kids in spite of being 52. The Beast (2nd Ride) OK, here is why I said I wouldn't group EVERYTHING together...my 2nd and final ride on The Beast, also my last ride of the day. I bought a Fast Lane for $12 so I could get on and off fairly quickly to catch the fireworks with my group at the end of the day. I do enjoy having that option this year. This one will be a bit longer, as I want to go into some details. May 16th, 2009: A 19 year old McSalsa (me) arrives at Kings Island for the 2nd time. I was afraid of roller coasters ever since my last trip to Kings Island in 2000, when The Racer scared me as a kid. 9 years later, I had returned to conquer that fear, and I had selected The Beast due to seeing the fact it mostly stayed near the ground. I boarded the train with my mother (she passed away in 2019 due to a heart attack) and we departed. I got a bit nervous as we climbed the lift hill, but once the train plunged into the tunnel- the fear evaporated. This wasn't scary. This was fun! The double helix did get me a little, but a love of roller coasters had been born that day. Ride #2- my first night ride, that same day- further sealed this. 15 years have passed, and once again I board The Beast- now for the 50th time. I sit in 5-2, and the train departs. It is not 100% dark but it isn't daytime either. Once again, the train climbs the lift hill and plunges into the same tunnel. The drop is a bit different- The Beast and I have both changed a bit in the 15 years- but the general effect is the same. Pitch black tunnel, hard turn, drop into ravine. Fun stuff. Turn, into the endless brake tunnel. Trim brakes of sadness. Turn, train bounces a bit during turn, I have grown to enjoy this "bounce" so I giggle a bit. We dive into the endlessly long midcourse tunnel, I look to the right to see trees and the forest THROUGH the tunnel wall's cracks. (Seriously try this if you can, day or night, it looks awesome). Exit the tunnel, and enjoy several turns deep in the woods. Two "eyes" stare at us ahead, and we begin to climb the 2nd lift. I have a huge grin on my face already. Enjoy the best view of the entire park. Turn left. Begin to drop into a tiny hole. Trim brakes attempt to stop us. Trim brakes fail to do so. Faster. Faster. FASTER. FASTER! FASTER! FASTER! WHEN ARE WE GONNA... The tunnel hits. The Beast roars. The car shakes violently in pitch black darkness. I am laughing like mad. We get a second to breathe, then it happens again. Utter chaos in darkness. This is the best moment on any coaster I have ever experienced. Then, The Beast decides to let us all live and releases us back to the station, same as it did 15 years ago. Ride #50 on The Beast, conquered. I get off, to go rejoin my group, and wonder when ride #100 is coming. I don't get to visit Kings Island nearly as much as I would like, so I will probably never challenge things like Carl Eichelman's 4000+ rides. But I absolutely understand why people love The Beast. The coaster that helped me overcome my fears. A true legend. Thanks for the 50 great rides (some not as good, some extra good- this one was the latter). And here's to plenty more rides on a true legend of a roller coaster. FOOD REVIEWS Coney BBQ I forgot to eat breakfast before coming to the park, so I ate pretty much after my first ride on Orion. There was zero wait because of this, so good idea I guess. This was my first time properly eating at Coney BBQ after trying some of the sides last time- this place is great. I got the rotisserie chicken meal, and the chicken was delicious, I also tried the Carolina mustard as a dip. It was so good, I "drank" the leftovers when I ran out of chicken. I also tried the spiral mac n' cheese, it was delicious and creamy. My one complaint would be the hush puppy- it was still good, but a bit overcooked and crispier than needed. A 9.5/10 meal, only due to the Hush Puppy. Enrique's I ate here after riding the nearby Adventure Express, around 3pm. I got a big chicken burrito and filled it with my choice of toppings. It was freaking delicious, maybe a little messy near the end but that is true for any good burrito. Service was fast too. Probably my favorite meal of the day. Pigpen's Mess Hall This was my "dinner" around 7pm. I got a Hot Dog with cheese and bacon, and the Ranch Potato Salad. The Hot Dog was huge and delicious, and the Potato Salad was great- though I needed to grasp for a second it was not like Kroger Potato Salad I am so used to. Pigpen's tasted like actual potatoes. This was also a bit slower because a few people ahead of me seemed to be confused and held up the short line. Once they passed though everything sped up. Another thumbs up from me! Festhaus I didn't really "eat" much here, more like I got chicken fingers for my nephews. I did try one and a few fries though- the chicken finger I had tasted fine, the fries were meh though. Weakest of all the meals I had, though it was stiff competition today. Kings Island has been very good for food in 2024 so far. OTHER STUFF (AKA MISC) I watched one of my nephews and his dad ride Xtreme Skyflyer. I can't believe that a kid can ride that, and not The Racer! They both loved it, I could see the kid's smile from 150 feet up it was so big! We also ended the day with the "Under the Stars" Fireworks and Drone Show. It was epic. If I had one complaint, it would be that there is almost TOO MUCH here- I was focused on the drones mainly and thus missed a few of the laser effects, etc. It's awesome though, and worth a few rewatches. Ride operations were amazing. Diamondback would be my pick for best crew this year, but Orion, Banshee and Mystic Timbers were also kicking butt. Beast too though that ride naturally takes a minute to load/unload. Food was also quite fast, I never had to wait too long for any of my 4 meals. It wasn't PERFECT though: I have some small complaints. The budget cuts kinda showed up- Racer wasn't racing until around noon, and some shops opened late. By the afternoon everything was open though. They also had some trouble keeping up with the bathrooms- I saw some nasty yesterday. The main part of the park was spotless though. Ride reliability was pretty good- weather took everything down around 5-6pm, but most rides reopened quickly, save Drop Tower and WindSeeker. Invertigo and the Eiffel Tower seemed to have some issues all day, though. Kinda bummed about the Eiffel Tower, I wanted to go up and look around. And that's my trip report! Questions and comments welcome. I will try and attach some photos- I got some good ones, I think. Thank you guys and MCSALSA AWAY!!!

On my way home from another awesome day at Kings Island. I got my 50th ride on The Beast (it was amazing), rode tons of stuff including Soap Box Racers, and ate some great food. I will post a full trip report later probably.

I rode Soap Box Racers for the first time today. It packed more of a punch than I was expecting! Great ride for kids. Ps: still in the park, waiting for a pop up thunderstorm to pass so I can get a back row ride on Mystic Timbers. Things are otherwise going good at Kings Island today.

Que Times has it listed open but a user says it is closed. Anyone at the park able to confirm which is correct? I will be at the park tomorrow and thus would like to know this too.

Holy Beast Poo. I hope the dude is ok.

It's been 5 years already? What the!?!? Is it just me or does time seem to go faster as you age? I miss Vortex more than any other coaster, probably partially due to the fact where it sat is still an empty field. Top Thrill Dragster transformed into Top Thrill 2, Wicked Twister was replaced by a huge restaurant, and Firehawk got replaced by Orion. All of those have something- not even new rides in all cases, but something- new already in their places. Vortex? An empty field sits there. It still feels awkward to ride The Beast, and pass that emptiness before heading for the first lift. Heck it also feels akward when you are near Backlot Stunt Coaster's entrance and turn that way, and see a huge field and can clearly spot The Beast's lift hill without Vortex blocking the view. The drone show is cool, but I feel like it could be moved elsewhere if a new attraction takes the spot. And that attraction- which probably will come, it's just taking forever it feels like- had better be something awesome, IMO.

They stayed all day. If they had left, I probably wouldn't have needed to buy a few single use Fast Lanes at the end.

I didn't mention it in the report, but yeah, it felt like 50%+ of the crowd yesterday was school groups. Remove them and it would have been walk-on city all day long. I was also tempted to marathon Orion at points as it didn't go past a 15 minute wait until much later in the day. Orion and Diamondback are both very re-rideable coasters, given their smoothness and high capacity, and if I had pushed harder or known about how single use Fast Lane worked sooner I probably could have gotten 2-3 more rides on each pretty easily.

Hello everyone! I am still alive! I was at Kings Island yesterday, Friday, April 26th, 2024! Here is my trip report. I am gonna run through the rides I rode first, then food I ate, and finally any other notes I wanted to cover. Here we go... THE RIDES Flight of Fear (x1) My first ride of the day, I waited around 10 minutes. The outside que area has gotten some upgrades since I lasted waited in the standard que (I rode FOF last year during Haunt but used Fast Lane). It was running fairly normally- very intense with a bit of roughness. It was a good ride to start the day with. Orion (x3) Orion was up next. I got 3 rides total on the day- Orion was running fast and smooth, with very good airtime. On my first ride, the entire way up the lift hill, a ride operator was speaking over the intercom to tell someone in Row 2 to put their phone away. I was worried we would get stopped on the lift, but they apparently put it away. My 2nd ride had a much better situation- I was riding with a old couple. Good to see this ride, while big and fast, can still appeal to older people thanks to its amazing smoothness. The Racer (x1 Red, x1 Blue) Kings Island has been putting work in on The Racer for the past few years now, especially with the Gravity Group's recent work, and wow, is it paying off. The big upgrade for 2024 IMO? The removal of the trim brakes on the turnaround, for BOTH sides! No more slowly crawling through the ride's 2nd half, it now whips around the turns and the second half has just as much airtime as the first! Combine this with the smoothness of the recent track work, and Racer is running better than I have ever ridden it since I began visiting KI semi regularly in 2009. It's great to see a iconic classic running this well. One complaint, it took them forever to finally open up Blue Racer, so at one point the line for Red Racer was out of the building with numerous ques open. The Beast (x2) I got a daytime ride and a 90% (wasn't fully dark out) 'night' ride on The Beast as well. Beast was running a little rough, though I was sitting on wheel seats on both my rides, and nothing was too bad besides a pothole I noticed on the 'night' ride where the track switched from the gravity group retracked 1st turn into the old track ravine hill. The ride was running pretty fast, and of course the double helix was utter chaos on both rides. The ride crew was being slow in the morning, even going slow enough the 1st lift was running at normal speed (because the 2nd train had passed lift 2 before the 1st train reached lif 1- signs of a very slow dispatch) but by the evening things were going much better. I think this was a sign of a young ride crew that was still getting up to speed. Diamondback (x3) Diamondback was running very smoothly, no rattle whatsoever. The airtime was pretty good, on my first 2 rides, but for my 3rd ride, I requested and was granted back row. I have not ridden back row on Diamondback in a while, and HOLY COW I had forgotten how much better it was! The airtime went from good to INSANE, as I was forcefully getting yanked over every single hill, even the small camelbacks near the end! Even Orion's speed hill could not match this insane airtime. The back row ride on Diamondback was probably the best ride I got the entire day, and this was a day that had a almost-night-ride on Beast and multiple Orion rides! I did perfer my Orion rides to the other 2 rides on Diamondback though, so the ranking would go Diamondback Back Row>Orion>Diamondback other rows. Mystic Timbers (x2) I got 2 rides on Mystic Timbers, the 2nd one was a bit later in the day and felt a bit faster. The ride had pretty solid airtime and forces, especially on the 2nd ride. I got the "Turn Around" and Total Eclipse of the Heart songs, and Bats and Snakes in the shed. My 2nd ride had a very short wait because the ride re-opened after a breakdown. Not much more to say here, Mystic Timbers was just its usual fun self. Drop Tower (x1) I hadn't ridden this in a while (either it was down, too windy, or too busy), so I took another 264-foot drop on this day. I forgot how nerve-wracking going up can be! The view from the top was incredible, I ended up facing Great Wolf Lodge. The drop itself was intense and forceful. Banshee (x2) Probably the most intense coaster ride of the day, I got two rides in on Banshee. Both were fast and had great forces, the 2nd one did have the vest restraint dig into my shoulder a little bit though. Again, not too much new here- Banshee was running pretty normally too. Adventure Express (x1) I got in a ride on Adventure Express too. I love how much they have added to the que line and the surrounding area, with tons of cool small details. I love that since Mystic Timbers opened in 2017, more rides have gotten some love like this. All of the effects were working on the ride itself, and the ride wasn't being too jerky either. I have a few choice words for the station master however, HE KEEPS SENDING US DOWN THE WRONG TRACK! I WANT TO RIDE TRACK 1! The Bat (x1) I got one ride on The Bat, but I went down the path to go to it three times because it broke at least twice! Not a good day for it. I did finally get on, and had a fun, swoopy ride though I did bump my knee because I rode in the back of a car. Didn't hurt too much though. Still fun. Grand Carousel (x1) I rode this with a large group of friends and family we met up with at the park. It was a good, calm ride to relax on. The ride is showing some minor wear and tear but that is probably to be expected of a ride that is nearly 100 years old. The organ was working great though. THE FOOD I purchased a All-Day Dining Premium plan, and I think I got my money's worth from it. Here is everything I ate. Tom+Chee I activated my all day dining here, because most other places were slammed. I got the BBQ Grilled Cheese sandwich and it was delicious and flavorful. The chips that it came with were nice and crispy, too. A good start on the food for the day. Planet Snoopy Ice Cream I have a confession. In the past 15 years, I have had a decent number of visits to the park, and yet...I have never had the Blue Ice Cream. Until yesterday! It wasn't on the dining plan but I just ate the extra $8 to get a waffle cone. It was worth it, and delicious! The red cream soda I got with it was horribly flat though. I love red cream, but Kings Island just never seems to have good red cream in stock! Thankfully the Ice Cream made up for it. Service here was also very fast, there was a decently big line but I only had to wait a few minutes to get my ice cream. Miami River Brewhouse Around 6pm, there was a small rain threat, and there was no line for the Brewhouse as I walked past and I was kinda hungry so I stopped in and got a burger. It appeared a little overcooked, but I took a bite and it still tasted great. I couldn't stop chowing down on the potato kegs, either. I did have to wait a little bit to place my order because the family in front of me- they were literally the only ones in line though- had some sort of issue because their passes were from Cedar Point, not Kings Island. Once I ordered though and found a place to sit my burger was ready. I am a bit upset the chicken sandwich has been having issues, I was really looking forward to that one. Coney BBQ This was my first time ever getting food here, and...I got the side platter, because I was sharing my food with the 2 young kids (my nephew and his half-brother) who had come with us. I did take the hush puppy for myself becasue neither kid wanted it, it was a great hush puppy. The Mac N' Cheese also eventually got denied, which confused me because I thought it was delicious but, ehh, kids. The service here was also very fast, the line moved very quick. Gonna eat here again in the future, and actually get BBQ next time. OTHER STUFF Single Use Fast Lane This was added last year, and we tried to look it up this year- it confused the heck out of us, and even staff had no idea how to get it until we finally found out it was on the Kings Island app! Once we found it though, we tried it out to get some extra rides in on the last hour. I got rides in on Orion, Diamondback, and The Beast within the final hour because of this. We had a small issue at Diamondback, I bought 2 Fast Lanes so a friend could ride with me, and the first one scanned fine, then the 2nd one refused to scan! The ride op saw everything though and let us go. The passes scanned up the 2 other times however. Park Cleanliness/Atmosphere The park was super clean yesterday! I also saw lots of staff going around doing cleaning work. The atmosphere was very nice. It felt great just to walk around because of this. Tower Gardens I finally got a chance to walk through this, and it's a fun little time waster. You get to learn about the history of the park and see special Mini Eiffel Towers themed to some of the top rides in the park. I had no idea Invertigo was a top ride, LOL. I also love how they planned ahead and had several blank stones, so this will get updates in the future! Crowds & Operations The park was not too crowded, especially early on. It never got to insane levels, and we only purchased a few single fast lanes later just to crunch in a few rides quickly (and because of the lower crowds these were not super expensive). Operations were slow at the start of the day for most rides save Orion and Diamondback, but seemed to speed up as it went on and by the end everything seemed to be going much better though it got more crowded. There were some breakdowns, BLSC was down for ages and probably valleyed during morning tests, Bat went down a few times, Delirium went down and had the floor stuck open for a bit, and the Eiffel Tower never opened. I chalk all this up to the fact it is only Week 2, and a lot of the staff is still getting the hang of things. It should improve by summertime. Camp Snoopy Didn't ride anything here, but Camp Snoopy looks great. The kids are gonna love this when it opens up! Soap Box Racers is a lot bigger in person than I was expecting. The new paint and theming looks very nice. Merch Kings Island has some very nice merch this year. I didn't buy too much, but I got a pack of the new trading cards, a Orion fridge magnet, and a Banshee I Rode It Pin. I got the 3 commons I really wanted from the trading card pack- Beast, Banshee and Diamondback- and I got King Cobra as my rare. Cool stuff, I hope this gets expanded and comes to more parks. (If the Six Flags merger goes through and this expands to every park in the huge super chain, there will be a LOT of cards to collect!) And...that's everything I think! I hope you enjoyed reading this trip report. Questions and comments welcome as always. Oh, I didn't take many pictures as last time I had issues uploading them so they might come in another post.

Hey dudes! Yes I am still alive, just been very busy with work and stuff as of late. How busy? Well, I went to Kings Island 11 days ago (October 14th) and am just now posting the trip report. On the flip side, said busy job gave me the money to come in the first place, and since I just had a good check, I was able to buy a Fast Lane so I would not have to worry that much about the giant crowds I was expecting from Haunt. We had 2 kids with us, a 6 year old and my 1 year old baby nephew, and for most of the day I was by myself chilling. We arrived around noon, I got my Fast Lane, and I headed for my first ride. 1. The Bat Knowing this ride didn't use Fast Lane, I decided to ride it early. It already had about a 15 minute wait just a hour into the day, a sign of how huge the crowds were gonna become- if Bat gets a wait it's gonna be bad. I rode in the 2nd car, and Bat gave a fun and fast swingy ride through the tree tops. 2. Banshee After The Bat, I headed to Banshee to use my Fast Lane for the first time. The standby line looked to be about a half hour to 45 minutes already, so the Fast Lane was already looking like a great investment. No major vibrations at all this time like my first ride in July, and great G-forces and intensity. Banshee is great fun 99% of the time (the 1% is when it has bad wheel rattle). 3. Delirium My final ride in Action Zone since Drop Tower and Invertigo were both down. I actually got seat #1, even though that means nothing on this ride. Good fun swinging action. Also weird, the ride felt longer when I was on it versus when watching it for some reason. All 3 open rides in Action Zone done, I headed to Oktoberfest to do the next section of the park. I hit up one of the new-for-2023 rides at last. 4. Sol Spin I have ridden Witches Wheel at Cedar Point in the past before it was removed, and this felt similar, save instead of a cage I was in a open seat. The restraints feel very secure, and being able to see it felt very disorienting to see Orion and The Racer from upside down, but it wasn't very scary or intense. I think I liked Sol Spin a bit better than Witches Wheel just from the fact I could see what was going on. A fun addition to the Kings Island lineup. 5. Adventure Express NOW I MUST PAY! Adventure Express was running well from the middle of car #2. Lots of twists, turns, and out-of-control mine train goodness. Sadly most of the effects and music were not working, except the final tunnel and the last bit of audio at the end. I did notice a few new easter eggs I had missed on my last ride, too, such as "Arrow Cargo Company" in the station. I then headed out of Oktoberfest and into Coney Mall. 6. Blue Racer Racer is now a must-ride for me since the Gravity Group retracked it a few years ago and it got its repaint. It has gone from a beat-up looking old wooden coaster that beats you up (especially the Blue side here) and turned into a goregous classic with great floater air. And the wait time didn't look too bad even without Fast Lane, as both sides were running. We lost by a hair, BTW. 7. Orion I tried to ride Flight of Fear next, but it had a stupidly long wait even with Fast Lane, so Orion it was which had a much faster moving line thanks to the way higher capacity. I sat on the far right side, and I discovered that on this side of the train, you actually get great floater air on the wave turn! Suddenly that element is becoming one of my favorites, even if I still do perfer the one on Steel Vengeance. Orion may not be as long as Millennium Force, but it has no dead spots- every element at the very least does something. And I didn't hear anyone complaining about the ride when we hit the brake run. After Orion, my group wanted to ride Adventure Express. The kids were not tall enough so we met up at the entrance and I watched the kids while my sister and her boyfriend rode. My baby nephew tried to break her phone so many times (it was playing a video for him) and the older kid gave me some Reese's Pieces he had gotten doing Trick-or-Treating over in Planet Snoopy. That was nice, but it and the smell of Burritos nearby made me hungry. Food: Enrique's Burrito I didn't realize you had to buy the Premium Dining Plan online, which meant I ended up standing to the side and using my fairly-new phone (my phone from the July trip got a cracked screen so I got a newer one) and buying one on that. With it purchased, I got myself a Chicken Burrito and drink, and ate my lunch. The Burrito was delicious and huge, so it was worth the slight minor hassle. After eating, I went back to Flight of Fear since now I needed to wait in line to digest anyway. 8. Flight of Fear I ended up waiting about 20 minutes even with Fast Lane, and I was told the main line was over 150. Yikes. Dispatches were a bit slow here- instead of trains coming straight in after a launch, there was a 20 second gap like they needed the launch to cool down or something. While on the ride itself, while it was not too rough and very violent and intense, a weird thing happened. The train SLAMMED into the midcourse break run HARD, and came to a dead stop for 2-3 seconds, and I could feel the whole brake run swaying. The ride did release and then continued on as normal. I thought that was weird. My rides in Coney Mall now done, I headed for Rivertown. And yes for some reason that includes... 9. Backlot Stunt Coaster ...this according to some park info. I hadn't ridden this in a while and almost forgot how punchy this little coaster could be. That first helix is pretty crazy. A fun ride, and it felt like it had way better capacity than its older big brother in spite of shorter trains due to way more launches per hour. 10. The Beast No trip to Kings Island is complete without a ride on this, IMO. I got a front wheel seat, and to be honest, it was pretty dang smooth- still a bit bumpy, but that's just The Beast doing Beast things, and nowhere close to painful. Gravity Group has worked wonders on KI's old woodies and I love it. The final helix is probably the best ride element in the entire park. And I was sure gonna come back for a night ride later. 11. Mystic Timbers Last time at KI, I never got to ride Mystic Timbers because a storm came in right as I was about to board the ride. This time, that didn't happen- I got my ride. Mystic Timbers is a pretty aggressive roller coaster- the airtime isn't as strong as some of the B&Ms, but it hits so suddenly and fast. I sat with a little girl who seemed a bit nervous, and told her I had been on Mystic Timbers 20+ times before which calmed her down. She loved the ride BTW. We got Bats in the shed, and the song played was "Cars". 12. Diamondback With Invertigo down, for what seemed like the whole day, Diamondback was the last open major roller coaster to hit up. I rode towards the middle and got some pretty good airtime, but TBH I remember my later ride on this coaster a LOT better than the daytime ride I had. My first lap around the park completed, I met up with my group and we talked for a bit before I began Lap 2 with... 13. Banshee (2) This was pretty much the same as earlier. Which was far from a bad thing. Good ol' Banshee was just giving great rides all day I assume. After this, though, I was hungry again so it was time to put my meal plan to use! Food: Chicken Shack Spicy Sandwich Chicken Shack didn't have much of a wait, so I ate there since it was also close and I have had good things in the past. This sandwich was pretty good, as were the fries it came with. Haunt began as I ate (it was 6pm) and the Pumpkin Eater music became a little annoying. The sandwich was a bit spicy but nothing crazy btw. After the sandwich, I headed to Area 72, wanting to snag some more Orion rides. I found the Fast Lane line was basically dead and even the standby was looking under 45 minutes- that Orion capacity was showing even on a slammed Haunt Saturday. 14. Orion (2) 15. Orion (3) Yep I rode it twice in a row since Fast Lane had no wait. I also took more notice of the posters on the Fast Lane side of the building- they were pretty cool. Orion felt like it was getting even better every time I rode it. Also, I kept looking at WindSeeker and feeling like it was saying "HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU COMING UP HERE!?!?" as I reached the top of the lift hill. After a double Orion, I decided to go back and re-ride Racer, this time hitting the other side. 16. Red Racer About the same as before on Blue, but a wee bit smoother still, so this is still my favorite side even post GG retrack. We also didn't race because something went wrong with Blue for a bit, though it reopened soon afterwards. After riding Racer, I decided to return to Rivertown, as it was now becoming dark and those rides are all epic night rides. First up was... 17. Diamondback (2) (Night) The sky was black and clouds ominously loomed above the park. A light misty drizzle began as I was in line, but it was not enough to close any rides. We boarded and began to climb the 230 foot lift hill. I think I saw Cincinatti in the distance. Then we plummeted into the darknes- I could not see any track up ahead after the first drop, it was so dark out. The airtime was also pretty strong. And the mist made it very chilly. This was just pure epicness, hence why I kinda forgot quite a bit about the earlier daytime ride. 18. Mystic Timbers (2) (Night) After Diamondback, Mystic Timbers was next. The drizzle had subsided a little bit, and I was assigned front row! Woohoo! I promised everyone I would drive safe. I proceeded to drive like a crazed madman going all over the woods, unable to see most things save the White Water Canyon station which was lit up. I then drove us to the Shed, where I stupidly parked us and let Bat monsters eat us up while Maneater played. 2 epic rides in a row! After Mystic Timbers, I headed for The Beast, prepared for a epic night ride. I found a worker in the plaza guiding people, saying that while Slaugherhouse was open, Beast was having technical issues and was down. D'OH! I hoped it would re-open. I headed for Orion, aka "Plan O". I got in line and waited for a few minutes and it went down too. Double D'OH! I met back up with my group, and I watched the kids while they did the Alien Haunt nearby. I decided to grab a snack while I waited this time. Food: Meteor Canteen Pretzel Bites These were on the meal plan, and snackable, so I got some while I watched the kids. They were tasty and worked as a snack. While eating and watching, Orion began testing again and then re-opened. When the group reunited and I split off again, I knew what I was doing next. 19. Orion (4) (Night) Orion truly just got better with every ride. Since Orion has lights, unlike Diamondback I could sorta see the track up ahead but it was all "glowy" and stuff. And some sections were still very dark. 3 epic rides in a row! After Orion, I went to check if The Beast had re-opened... 20. The Beast (2) (Night) IT DID! This was my longest wait of the entire day with Fast Lane, at 30 minutes, but Beast at Night is worth it. Somehow, as epic as all the other night rides were, Beast surpassed them all with its crazy rampage in the dark forest. It was like the coaster was roaring as it rushed through the tunnels, and the final helix was utter mayhem. I was prepared to end my rides with this, it was so good, but...well there is more. After Beast, I rejoined the group ready to watch the kids so they could do some haunts, and I saw Invertigo had finally opened as we passed International Street. As our group wanted to hit up a haunt near it, we checked it out and found there was basically not much of a line- everyone had just gotten used to it being closed all day I assume. I was honestly a bit shocked to see the park work so hard to re-open it just for the last hour or so. My group went and rode it, and as they did, the 6-year-old began to randomly cry. I was confused why at first, as he can't really speak very well, but I soon discovered it was the stupid PUMPKIN EATER music again! When my sister and her boyfriend returned, they did a quick haunt, and I decided for the heck of it to ride... 21. Invertigo ...yep. I rode Invertigo just to get to claim that I have ridden all the adult coasters in a single day, and because it is the only coaster in the park I lack a night ride on. Invertigo was pretty shaky but I kept my head out so I would not get blended, and it was a fairly intense but short ride. TBH I ended the day with my worst coaster, LOL. After Invertigo, we headed to International Street to prepare for the closing ceremony. I didn't even realize there was a show when Haunt ended! I bought a Beast T-Shirt I found for a decent price, got a drink, and watched the closing Laser Show. It was epic, until the final song cut out in the middle of the show, and then for some reason the smoking section ad played. Tech Guy done goofed! It was then time to leave the park. I had an awesome day- Fast Lane was a butt saver, it allowed me to work at my own pace and still ride everything I wanted. The rides were all running great, save Invertigo's shakiness and Flight of Fear's odd midcourse wobbly action. The kids also had a great time, the 6 YO was only scared by the pumpkin eater music, the 1 YO was fearless. The food was also great, and I loved the Haunt atmosphere. And now, here are some pictures! The Eiffel Tower looms as we arrived at the park Big Snake hides in da treez LOL I have arrived! And these 2 random dudes walked in and photobombed me This saved my butte. My first ride was quite...Batty. LOL Good Ol' Banshee Yikes. That is scarier than any coaster or Haunt attraction! (Fast Lane was pretty needed IMO) I SPIN U! (With a Big Snake in background) One of the most legendary ride logos ever The legendary ride in question Big Snake, up close and in action! My chicken sandwich. It was delicious, but you must hear "PETER PETER PUMPKIN EATER" 1000x while eating for the full experience Diamondback as Night falls SO EVIL!!! This was another awesome trip to Kings Island. I hope you enjoyed this delayed Trip Report. See U guys later!

OMG MCSALSA LIVEZ!!! Hello everyone, yes I am not dead. I haven't posted anything here in a while but I have been lurking. I also finally managed to visit Kings Island for the first time since June 2021- yes I missed the entire 50th sadly- this past Wednesday. It was not a full day, so this trip report hopefully will not be too long. We didn't get to the park until 2pm, and I was shocked to see parking is now $30. Eek. Luckily, the ticket I had purchased included it. Our group consisted of me, my sister, her boyfriend, and two children- a young boy who was boyfriend's son from his first girlfriend, and my baby nephew who is 1 year old. (The baby is the main reason we didn't visit KI in 2022- he was born that year) For the most part I was allowed to fly solo, though we did group up a few times. They headed for the waterpark as soon as they arrived, and since I forgot my waterpark gear in the car (I really wanted to spend more time on the KI side anyhow) I headed for Orion. Orion had a 10 minute wait, in part thanks to its huge capacity, and the fact at this point the waterpark was slammed due to the 90+ degree temps. I got a great ride on Orion to start my day- there was some actual airtime on both the "wave turn" and turnaround, which kinda caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting much in those elements. I do wish the ride was a bit longer, but what it has is all great. After Orion, I headed to Rivertown to ride Diamondback for a comparison while Orion was fresh in mind, but saw The Beast had a short line and could not deny the legendary woodie- especially since it just got major track work done last year via Gravity Group. Was it still crazy rough like in 2021, or did Gravity Group overdo it and make it TOO smooth? Would it still even feel like The Beast? Turns out...Gravity Group nailed it. The coaster still feels like the same good ol' Beast, but now instead of being painfully rough, it is just bumpy fun rough. The tiny GCI-style bump before the 2nd tunnel don't have any airtime but it is a nice little quirky moment, and the double helix still packs a wallop and is still insane. Gravity Group did an amazing job here, and with quality upkeep like this, The Beast should keep thrilling guests for years to come. After The Beast, I made my way to Diamondback to find it apparently "broken down", so I got in line for Mystic Timbers. Right before I was about to get on Mystic, it too shut down as a huge thunderstorm was approaching. I guess Diamondback was not broken, and had just shut down sooner because it is so tall versus Mystic Timbers. I got this pic while waiting. After waiting a while, I gave up on the storm passing soon and went to get some food at Brewhouse. Brewhouse was slammed, but the lady running the left side of the line was moving people quick, so I got in and ordered a burger and tater tots. Given how packed the place was, I was expecting a huge wait for my burger, but it came out right as I found a open table. The Burger looked a bit black, and the tater tots were not golden brown, but everything ended up tasting pretty solid- especially the veggies on the burger which seemed super fresh- so I guess you cannot always judge food by how it looks. I was pretty hungry and the burger actually kept me full the rest of the day. After my meal, I bought a drink wristband, and as I drank a Coke a familiar voice came over the intercoms. It was...MAESTRO!!! Phantom Theater encore was going to begin soon, and since no rides were open, I speed-walked from Rivertown to the Kings Island Theater just as the show began. I caught a quick glimpse at the props before going in, they seemed pretty cool, but I had a show to catch. As I entered I got a message from my sister that they were at the same show. It seemed like a packed show- with the rides down for the storm, I could see why. Phantom Theater Encore was awesome. The songs were catchy as heck ("I would die for my life on the stage" is stuck in my head STILL!), and the jokes were funny. Sadly my sister had to drop out- my baby nephew decided to slam his head into her mouth for no reason, and broke one of her teeth (he was unharmed). It didn't hurt at all, and we stayed in the park, but she needs to see a dentist now. Ouch. After a quick bathroom break in Festhaus, we saw Viking Fury had re-opened, so me, boyfriend, and boyfriend's 1st kid went and rode it together. The kid went from bored to happy as heck as soon as the ship began to swing. That alone put a smile on my face. Afterwards, I saw Banshee and Drop Tower both re-open, so we split up again and I went to ride Banshee. It did have a decent looking line, but due to the ride's epic capacity, it only took about 15 minutes to get on. Banshee was running ROUGH. Great speed, great forces, but felt like square wheels. Oof. The constant shaking of the train really took away from the ride. I got off Banshee, and decided to go see how The Bat's wait looked. It was a walk-on, so I went ahead and rode that too. Bat was running MUCH smoother than Banshee, which I found a bit funny given it is 20 years older basically. Looking at the terrain under The Bat while in the line, I imagined it being built over a pool of Lava. That would be a epic coaster but it would also probably melt. The Bat was fun as usual. I next headed to Adventure Express to check out all its new bells and whistles, and it was...BROKEN DOWN. NOOOOO!!! So I went to The Racer instead, siding with the red train. The new paint on this coaster looks glorious, and thanks to the Gravity Group, it feels like its riding like 1972 again! Super smooth, and the airtime was actually on par with the big steel B&Ms in spots. I saw someone on a app that measures ride forces say this, and I didn't believe it- looked like maybe it was a glitch. Nope, no glitch- Racer is actually pulling -0.8 G's in spots now! Oh, and Red won our race...by ONE INCH. Closest race I have ever had! As I exited The Racer, I saw Adventure Express doing test runs. I ran over to find it had just reopened! I boarded the Adventure Express, enjoying all the signs and easter eggs I could find while heading towards the train. I smiled at the Son of Beast one, because in a way, that was a nod back to the fact Son of Beast's whole "Outpost 5" theme was a nod to Adventure Express, so this was AE nodding back. That is the only new theming I will spoil, but I will say, I loved all the new tidbits all over the ride. I likely missed a bunch too, so I'm sure I'll notice even more next time I ride the Adventure Express. Hopefully we go down Track 1 next time. After Adventure Express, I had time for 1 more larger ride before I had to regroup with my party, and because I skipped it last time in favor of Mystic Timbers, I picked Diamondback. I still vividly remembered how Orion was earlier and wanted the head-to-head on the same day as well. The new paint job looks nice, though I almost forgot it got one until I was in line for Mystic Timbers earlier. I like the dark red track and brown supports, it's more subtle than the old red and yellow scheme. After a 25 minute wait, I got on Diamondback and rode it, and thus finally now have my direct comparison with it and the new blue B&M across the park. I think I like Orion a tiny bit more, but dang, is it close. Diamondback does have more total airtime and is longer, but it also has a worse turnaround (Orion's whoops the hammerhead IMO), the MCBR kills the pace a bit where Orion hauls from start to finish, and it is a bit more repetitive with almost nothing but camelback hills. Based on this, Orion has a slight edge, but on a tier chart they are still easily close enough I'd group them in the same group, and both are awesome, reliable, high capacity coasters that the GP love. Me too, GP, me too. After riding Diamondback, we regrouped and went up the Eiffel Tower. It has been a while since I was up there, and it was nice to go up again. It is nice to see Orion from high up, even if you technically are not as high (we were on the 265 foot deck and Orion is 287 feet tall). Behold, the blurry version of a famous view! Afterwards, I "babysat" the two kids while my group did some adult rides- The Racer, Adventure Express, and Banshee. When they did Banshee it was nearly the end of the night, so I asked if I could grab a quick night ride since it was right there and there was no wait. I was approved. I hoped it would be smoother than the day ride. It was, and it made a huge difference in the enjoyability of the ride. But that was not all. It was also a night ride...and we departed the station at 9:59pm. As we turned to begin the climb up the lift hill, the fireworks began to go off and the drone show began. I got a Banshee Fireworks/Drones Night Ride! And it was insane. Banshee was pulling some great forces, and with the roughness mostly gone from earlier, I could enjoy them this time! It was pretty crazy to watch fireworks from upside down, too. I love my Beast night rides, but because it shuts down for the fireworks, Banshee did something that was impossible for Beast. This particular ride would probably make my Top 10 best rides ever on any coaster list. It was a great way to end the night, and redemption for the crummy ride Banshee gave earlier. After this, we headed home. The kids had fun and got to ride lots of stuff, I had a blast, it was a good family trip. I hope you all enjoyed this trip report. Sorry it was delayed a little versus when I went- I have been a bit busy recently. Anyhow, questions and comments welcome as always. MCSALSA AWAY!!! (Crashes into Drones) OUCH WHERE DID THOSE COME FROM!?!?

Hey, I rode Iron Dragon VR back in 2018. I thought it was pretty cool but not worth the very increased wait time (dispatches went from about 2 minutes per cycle to 10+) and on my 1st ride, my headset did not work at all. (The ride ops were super nice and put me in a empty seat to re-ride the next train though) That said a tamer smooth ride like Iron Dragon was probably the perfect choice for this: I would hate to ride something like Invertigo with VR.

I voted "now" based on all the 2010s stuff stacking (aka still being around) while we still get new rides like Orion as well as the recent re-tracking of Racer and Beast (as well as the repaint of Racer). Kings Island has generally been building upwards- stuff is added faster than stuff gets removed, so naturally the park will have more to offer in a later year. But, if we are voting based on what was added that decade alone (and not counting older stuff that was still around- for example a TON of the 1970s stuff was still around in the 1980s) I would say the 1970s win due to having 2 of the most influential roller coasters of all time being built that decade- The Racer and Beast- as well as the park having very consistent theming and appearance back then (the park was- based on photos I have seen- very clean and pretty and none of the attractions felt out of place theme-wise). The late 80's (mainly around 1987) also seems like it was a great time for the park but I can't vote for it as I was not even born until 1990. PS: That logo is very cool, only 1 minor flaw- White Water Canyon is missing from the 80's attractions, those River Rapids rides were a HUGE deal in that time period and thus I would count it as a "major" addition- especially if Congo Falls counts as one.

This made my realize how few defunct Kings Island rides I have actually ridden. I think I can only list 6 so here those are from worst to best. My visits to the park so far have all come from 2000, and 2009-2021 (due to various reasons have not been able to make it out for the 50th yet, hope to rectify that ASAP). 6. The Crypt 5. Snoopy's Splash Dance 4. Dinosaurs Alive! 3. Antique Cars (Coney Mall Side- Les Taxis I think?) 2. Firehawk 1. Vortex I also personally saw Son of Beast (with and without loop), King Cobra, and Sling Shot in operation but never rode them.

FYI if anyone is curious what this is, these are apparently brand new trains for Millennium Force. I am very curious to what these are gonna look like, what type of restraints they will have, etc. If I had to guess these new trains will be similar to the ones on say, Kondaa at Walibi Belgium. I also kinda think TTD's accident this past year may have had some influence on Cedar Fair deciding to go and retire the old trains and get brand-new ones. The trains on TTD did appear to have some of the same parts as the Millennium Force trains, so if what caused the TTD accident was a design flaw in the trains, Cedar Fair would probably want brand new ones with the flaw fixed for Millennium Force. Edit: OOPS! See below posts.

According to Que Times (not 100% accurate but easy to access and I think they just use KI's app data), the longest wait in the park for a ride ATM is 20 minutes for Kings Mills Antique Autos. Longest coaster lines are Diamondback and Orion, both listed at 15 minutes. Given chad_1138 did 4 haunts and got food in the first hour, I'd say these wait times sound pretty accurate. Doesn't seem the park is very busy at all tonight. Edit: Just saw a post on Facebook from Cedar Point- Steel Vengeance, which normally has at least 90 minute wait times, is only 30 minutes tonight. If Cedar Point isn't busy at all, Kings Island probably isn't either.

I can't really speak for Friday Nights, but the last time I went on Saturday (in 2018): fairly light crowds from open until around 1-2pm (aka pre haunt daytime), and then it started to get slammed. At peak on busy Saturdays major popular coasters like Orion, The Beast, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, Banshee (to a lesser extent due to its capacity), and Flight of Fear can easily get hour plus waits, even 90 and 120 minute waits can happen if it gets really slammed (especially at The Beast after dark as people want their night rides). Backlot Stunt Coaster and Invertigo will also get long lines due to their lower capacity. Large flat rides like Drop Tower and Delirium can also hit a hour plus, WindSeeker tends to max out around 30 minutes though (due to high capacity and people seeing the que full). Even less popular but decent capacity coasters like The Racer, The Bat, and Adventure Express which can be walk-ons on normal days could see 30 minute waits. Even small flat rides like Monster will have decent lines. If you stay until near the very close though, it dies down. Last hour or so the park is open people begin to leave and that 90 minute wait for Beast, for example, might drop to a mere 30-45. On my 2018 visit I used this strategy and it worked pretty well: I took advantage of the lighter crowds earlier in the day to get rides in on all the most popular coasters (Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, The Beast, etc.) and when it started to pick up a little I switched to hitting the less popular rides (AE, Bat, Racer, Vortex- RIP) as the big coasters were getting lines now. Then pick 3 or 4 night rides, maybe you could do 5 if you pick less popular rides like Adventure Express or Bat but the big stuff is gonna each eat a big chunk of the 4-5 hours of darkness you have to work with. Or you can just shell out $100+ and get Fast Lane Plus, and ride like 10-15 rides at night alone.

You never said it had to be the FIRST lift hill. Honorable Mentions: The Beast's 1st Lift Hill- Epic view of the woods, and first drop. Steel Vengeance- For reasons IndyGuy said, plus the loud anti rollbacks sounding fearsome. Magnum XL-200- Amazing views of Lake Erie and the waterpark. At night it seems you are going into a giant void! Millennium Force- Great views of the other side of the lake. Vortex (RIP)- Great views of Beast to the left, plus the park to the right, and a lotta twisty inversions below. Underrated AF Lift Hill: The Bat ('93) @ Kings Island- basically gives the opposite view of the park versus Beast's 2nd lift

Paramount chopped it off in 1999 so that this would be the tallest ride in the park by 1 foot (Eiffel Tower w/chopped antenna is 314ft, this is 315):

One thing about the 2021 Maps I found out from my last visit 2 days ago on the 8th- they have gone back to the folding style rather than the big sheet of paper that didn't fold up for the first time since around 2014-ish. I actually really appreciate this and have no idea why it was ever changed- the foldable ones are much easier to store, and for collectors like me having a stack of those is much easier. Also I noticed the shrunk Diamondback down to a more realistic scale to make the height difference between it and Orion more pronounced without having to make Orion ridiculous.

Oof. No, I do not consider 2 wings and some fries a meal. Actually thought about eating at Island Smokehouse when I was at the park yesterday, but it had a huge line so I decided against it and later went to Hank's Burrito Shack instead. The Burrito I got there was great, and decent sized too. So I guess I made the right call. Reject Chicken Wings. Embrace Burritoz.

It had been 693 days since I last rode a roller coaster (Millennium Force at Cedar Point on September 15th, 2019 around 8pm) and it had also been 757 days- over 2 years- since I had been to Kings Island. Things just kept getting in the way of trips to the park. Mainly COVID-19 (stupid virus ruining everything). However, yesterday morning I woke up, fed the dogs, and was ready for another regular coaster-less day. Then my sister came in my room with a grin on her face, and said these words: "Get your stuff ready, we are going to Kings Island". My happiness level increased by at least 400% in 2 seconds. We had to pick people up, and it is a long drive from Indianapolis so this was not a full day at Kings Island- we arrived around 1pm, though we did stay to close. This meant I didn't get to ride every single roller coaster and stuff, but I feel I got a lot in for only being at the park for 9 hours. I also got to try a lot of new things- mainly the new-for-2020 but I missed 2020 so it is still new-to-me GIGA COASTER, Orion. Upon arriving at the park, I really wanted to ride Orion, so after getting my group's blessing I headed over and got in the que. While walking to Orion I saw The Racer had zero wait- this will come into play in a bit. I got in line for Orion, stood still for 5 minutes, and saw a bunch of people leave. Then I saw mechanics show up. DANG IT! So I exited the que, and looked at Racer again- my coaster less streak would end up being broken by a classic woodie. For 2021, The Racer got a big retrack from The Gravity Group. I rode in 5-2, my favorite seat on the red side of the coaster. There was some decent airtime, but the main standout was how GLASS SMOOTH the retracked section of the coaster was! It was actually a little jarring after the turnaround, that section was not crazy rough but you could easily tell where the ride had NOT been re-tracked. If you have been avoiding The Racer due to roughness the last few years, give it a try now. It is MUCH smoother than ever before (I told my group about the no lines, and they all also came to Racer and all of us agreed it was far smoother). After The Racer I went and got a cup of water. On the way to get this, I saw Orion running again with guests, so I went over and got back in line for it. There were a good number of people in line, yet a mere 15 minutes later (epic capacity!), I was in the station and sitting down in Row #6. SHORT ORION REVIEW AHEAD (not as long as the one I posted in the Orion thread) Kings Island's controversial B&M Giga has been a hot topic the past 2 years, even before it was officially announced, since the blueprints were leaked around April 2019. People were expecting something huge even by giga standards- 330 feet tall, 350 foot drop, 7000 feet long, that kind of thing. A ride to squash Fury 325's pewny stats. Then we found out we were actually getting a 287-foot, 300-foot drop, 5300' foot long coaster which was far more in scale with Leviathan and Intimidator 305 instead of Fury. People began to say Orion was gonna suck. Well, my only other Giga I have ridden to compare Orion to is Millennium Force but: If Orion sucks, so does the generally beloved Millennium Force, because I found these 2 rides to be equals in terms of ride experience. The 300-foot drop on Orion breaks zero records, but it is still a massive drop with great airtime. The ride is noticeably more intense than Diamondback, and even packs better airtime than both Diamondback and Millennium Force in terms of strength (Diamondback may still have more total airtime due to being nearly all big hills, Orion's airtime beats Millie's in both categories). The short length is a bit of a drawback, but I found it was not nearly as bad as I was initially fearing based on the POVs. Orion ended up- to me- defying the naysayers and being a great ride. I am very happy this coaster is at Kings Island, and now when I visit the park I can get my Giga coaster fix without needing to drive 5+ hours and deal with Cedar Point's super crowded nonsense. After Orion I headed out and towards Diamondback, planning to hit The Beast on the way. Passing the wall to the field of sadness to the left (RIP Vortex), I got in line for Beast and waited about 20 minutes once again. I had been hearing that The Beast was running rough in 2021, and...yeah it kinda is. I was sitting on a rear wheel seat, so maximum roughness potential, but I also got jostled around a lot. Not day-ending (I'd say a ride I got in 2018 was worse when I hurt my shoulder), but really annoying and it did distract from the ride. I still had some fun on this Beast ride but I do feel a good re-track is in order. GRAVITY GROUP (or GCI)! I SUMMON YE! After The Beast, I heard from my friends the wait for Mystic Timbers was not bad, so I headed there next to find another 20 minute wait. OK, not too bad, I got in and waited. Before I was dispatched (I was sitting down in the train) I heard a little girl screaming she was scared and wanted off. They got her off, but the driver running the coaster opened his door and took some time to show her the ride controls to show her how safe the ride is. While delays for ride dispatches can suck, I will tolerate this- that was nice of the driver. I then got a wild ride on Mystic Timbers: way smoother than The Beast, and with tons of crazy little dips that give small pops of airtime. We hit the shed, and I got the Snakes and Cars combo. As we departed the shed, I finally saw the old Son of Beast eyes I had heard were in there. 20 rides after my first and I finally noticed them! Always something in the shed you didn't notice before, it seems. After that, I reunited with my group and we hit up Miami River Brewhouse (ironically they were in there right as I walked past it, good timing!) and got some food. I was feeling exhausted already and thus didn't feel super hungry so I split a BLT Sandwich and Tater Tots with my sister, but it was delicious. Crunchy bacon and tasty tots. I also got some water and then powerade to drink, and rested for a bit in brewhouse. Then we decided to hit the car, rested a bit more, and switched into our waterpark gear to go to Soak City. After riding the KI & MV Railroad to get to Soak City, we headed for the Breakers Bay way pool. The cool water felt so refreshing and helped rejuvinate me. A bit later we did the lazy river, which was fun too. We attempted to ride Zoom Flume, but the line didn't move and we waited 10-15 minutes. And after that there was only 30 minutes until Soak City closed (we got there late) so we headed back to the dry park and rode Banshee, which had a very short wait. Banshee was hauling, so much that the final inversion which is usually slow was, well, not slow. After riding Banshee we got hungry again, so we hit up Hank's and me and my sister split a Chicken Burrito. It was DELICIOUS. The line was moving fast too. After a tasty Burrito, we went to ride Orion again. It was night now, and Area 72 is simply spectacular at night. Kings Island did an amazing job on this section of the park. The line for Orion had grown a bit now but we were still on in just 20 minutes. Again, amazing capacity! By the time we got on, Orion had turned on its lighting package- this was a night ride. And we got assigned the front row! This night ride was even better than the daytime one I had earlier. The wind at the bottom of the first drop was so intense, I could not hear my own thoughts! All the airtime moments were even stronger than earlier. This was quite a epic ride. After the Orion night ride, we headed over to The Beast hoping to beat the 9:35 fireworks closure. But we failed so we had to sit it out and didn't ride until 10:20. I got a rear wheel seat again, though thankfully it was about 10% smoother than the daytime ride and thus tolerable this time. I did still get tossed a bit, but not too much. The ride experience was crazy- the woods were pitch black on this night, the only thing I could see was Orion right before the dip after the first turn- and seeing Orion made that part feel like a drop ride. I am a teeny bit annoyed Orion had to go this close to Beast, but only a teeny bit. Night rides on Beast are very, very far from ruined IMO. The double helix was pure insanity per usual. As much as I love the new Orion, I still think The Beast at Night is the best ride experience you can get at Kings Island. After riding The Beast, we headed out of the park and made our way home. It felt so good being back even if I didn't have time to ride all my old favorites (Diamondback, The Bat, Adventure Express, Backlot Stunt Coaster, etc. were all sadly forced to be skipped) BUT I WILL RETURN AND RIDE THEM AGAIN! Now, my usual Pros/Cons: PROS +Amazing Ride Operations +Park was very clean +Most rides were running great +Food was great +Orion is an amazing new addition CONS -Waterpark was busy, and some slide lines didn't seem to move (Zoom Flume mainly) -Beast could use a retrack soon: it is still a great coaster, but if unchecked it will become un-rideable in the near future And that was my latest trip report. Sorry for no photos- I had my phone, but it's battery life has been really "ehh" recently and I forgot my charger at home. As usual questions and comments welcome. MCSALSA AWAY!!! (Flies off but doesn't see Orion's lift hill and smashes into it)

Well, outta nowhere (2nd time now) I ended up going to Kings Island for the first time since July 2019 (stupid COVID!) and finally got to ride Orion, twice. Row 6 during the day and a Row 1 Night Ride. Orion has given Kings Island a ride that is just as good as Millennium Force in terms of ride experience. I consider the ride experience on the two coasters to be tied: Millennium is longer and has a nicer setting along the beach, but Orion has the superior forces in terms of both positives and airtime. I actually enjoyed every element on Orion- they were not all slam dunks, but the way some people were talking I was expecting nothing from the wave turn, turnaround, and helix and they were actually OK- I got a little bit of air on the wave turn, the turnaround had some nice positives and the drop is massive from it (POVs did it no justice) and the helix actually had some decent positives (a huge improvement if compared to Diamondback's helixes). However, I do agree the more praised elements were indeed standouts. The 300' drop? Oh lord, I loved this drop. It is my new #1 drop on every coaster I have ridden so far, sorry Millennium Force (also a 300' drop but not as much airtime). Wonderful strong floater air, and it feels like a Drop Tower with how long it feels like you are dropping. The speed hill was everything I had hoped for and more, great sustained flojector for several seconds. And the final 2 airtime moments- the sideways hill and bunny hop into the brakes- caught me off guard with how strong they were. The length also did not bother me as much as I was expecting, though I still do think it is a weakness and wish the ride had a few more elements. But I didn't feel ripped off by the length post-ride. I also really enjoyed all the theming elements, and I won't spoil it but if you pay attention, they actually show the connection Area 72's other coaster, Flight of Fear, has with Orion with a plot point of how they ended up creating the Orion vehicles in the storyline. I barely had time to see the whole video though due to one of Orion's other pluses- the capacity. Good lord, most other rides this would have been a 45+ minute wait yet Orion had me on in 15! B&M hit a home run in this regard, Millennium Force's capacity isn't bad but it does not compete with Orion. Orion did go down once I saw during the day- but it wasn't down for long, as I grabbed a quick ride on Racer which was a walk-on (I will do a full TR later and thus talk about ReTrak LOL) and then it was pretty much up all day. Millennium Force is also usually OK on reliability but I have seen it have big issues, I was able to get my first ride on Orion MUCH easier than my first ride on Millennium Force was (go back on my old trip reports and read about it on my first Cedar Point one from September 2017). I have actually put Orion ahead of Millennium Force in my rankings for the reasons of capacity and reliability- in terms of ride experience, as I said, it's a tie. I am very happy Kings Island finally has a Giga coaster, and while it may not have the world-beating stats some were hoping for, I for sure am not gonna shun a ride that is as good as Millennium Force at what I consider my home park. I would also say it's the best ride in the park...when the sun is up. Night Beast is still the best ride experience you can get at Kings Island (Night Orion is also epic though, I say do both if you somehow can). I also really, really wanna ride Leviathan and Fury 325 now.

While my first post earlier was focused on the teaser for the removal, now I kinda wanna talk a bit about how I felt about Wicked Twister itself. I really enjoyed Wicked Twister- it was nowhere near my favorite coaster in the park (not easy to be that when said park has Steel Vengeance, Maverick, Millennium Force, Magnum XL-200, Top Thrill Dragster and Raptor) it was a very fun ride, even if it was gimmicky. The launches were powerful, and looking straight down from over 200 feet in the air was actually more terrifying to me on Wicked Twister than it was on Valravn. Every launch, I was always a bit worried that the LSMs would overshoot and we would launch off the spikes RCT style. Sadly, I understand the removal: Wicked Twister is probably a expensive ride to run, and was not very popular. Yes rides like Magnum XL-200 and Rougarou usually also have stupid short waits but at least they have very high capacity to explain said short wait times. Wicked Twister did not have high capacity, running only 1 train and thus taking at least 3+ minutes between dispatches, yet only once did I ever have to wait for it (45 minutes for my first ride in late 2017, and that was only because the only other coaster running in the park at the time was Blue Streak due to cold temps- Blue Streak had a 90 minute wait at that point!). This was good for me, Wicked Twister was a coaster I enjoyed snagging quick rides on while my friends smoked and stuff. But from a park's POV, keeping a ride that expensive to run (5 launches per cycle had to be heck on their electric bills) with such low ridership was clearly not good. Something I do wanna praise Wicked Twister for though: I rarely ever saw it down, which is odd considering Intamin made it. Cold temps, as stated below? Wicked Twister was open. Windy? Wicked Twister was somehow open (I once rode it with 30mph wind gusts which was crazy!). On my visits to Cedar Point from 2017-2019, I never saw it down yet I saw TTD, Steel Venegance, Millennium Force, Maverick, and even Valravn go down a few times each...especially TTD. But never Wicked Twister. Wicked Twister goes next to Vortex and Firehawk on my short list of defunct coasters I have ridden, and while TBH I miss Vortex more, if I had a chance to ride one of them again and for some reason cannot choose Vortex, I would re-ride Wicked Twister over Firehawk.