stephatron

I agree with Indyguy. A plug n' play would be awesome, but only if they removed SOB (I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I HATE not knowing what is going to happen to it.) If SOB was renovated, I would really like to see a gigacoaster, but I fear that Kings Island is too close to the airport. I'm not sure which thread it was posted in, but I remember one posters stating that KI couldn't build a stratacoaster due to the airspace.

Worst park? Hate to say it, but Wild Waves. The water park section of it is great but the dry part? Not so much. It just seems dull and boring. I dislike how the kiddie rides are all spread out. It has the feeling of a fairground to me, with not a lot of options to it. I really wish that Six Flags hadn't sold it, as I felt that they could have expanded a lot more to the park. Now if we wanted a good amusement park experience, we have to trek 5 hours to Silverwood (not that I mind that. I LOVE Silverwood, Tremors espicially.)

I had a dream last night, but it wasn't at Kings Island, but at Cedar Point: Somehow, I got to Cedar Point and ended up climbing to the top of one of Wicked Twister's tops, and the people in the train had full control of the train and were trying to hit me. Somehow I got down, and when I got down, my boyfriend's brother was waiting for me and we ended up going on Millenium Force together and at the very top, started to sing the Carpenter's "Top of the World." We tried to get the whole train to sing with us, but it wasn't happening. Right as we were about to go over the first hill, my alarm went off. Funny thing is, I've actually never been to Cedar Point before.

I was there until midnight on July 10th and I found that the crowds we busy, but could have definetly been busier. I was also really suprised to see a lot of little kids, more than I thought I would. I think the longest I waited in line from 5-12 was The Beast, and that was because it was the last ride of the night. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get a lot of rides in.

Thanks for sharing your trip! I am one of those who love Disneyland and California Adventure, and think it is the most magical place, for both kids and adults. I remember going my senior year in high school for my graduation trip and becoming giddy with excitement. I'm glad your daughter got to have fun with the characters. Getting the characters all by herself is something that I am very jealous of.

To those who are unfamiliar with Wild Waves, it is the only theme park close to Seattle and it's surrounding areas (if you don't count the Puyallup Fair, which I do not). It's pretty small with only 3 coasters, one wooden, one steel, and one Wild Maus style. Mostly, it's a water park, but I think it's pretty fun for a small park. I took my brother last Sunday because 1) I was bored and 2) he wasn't able to go to Disneyland for his graduation/recovery from chemo trip due to my dad being in the hospital a few days before they left. My brother also has autism, so I felt bad that he couldn't go to Disneyland which he had been looking forward to, so to cheer him up, we went to Wild Waves, just the two of us. We got to park at around 10:15 am and found the parking lot to be a lot less crowded than I thought it would be (it was 90 degrees, so to Seattlites, that's about 110 degrees to them). We decided to go straight to the rides and get those out of the way first. My brother wanted to do a few flat rides before we hit any roller coasters. First we did The Hang Glider. A little boring but still a nice ride. We then hit the Timberhawk, which is the Pacific Northwest's either tallest or fastest wooden roller coaster. We sat in the front seat, of course, and prepared for our ride. I must say that for a little (in my opinion) woodie, it packs quite a punch! I felt us hopping up and down for most of the ride, and the airtime was awesome. Next, we hit the pirate ship, which was closed earlier. It was the same as Viking Fury, but I wish we could have gotten a seat more towards the ends. My brother wanted to get a hat, as he is still a little bald from his chemo treatments, so we went back to the water section to get him one. Aparently, there is only one gift shop in the entire park. We then hit Wild Thing, which is the steel coaster. It's really short with only one cobra roll and two corkscrews, so the normal procedure is to run the train twice through. It was cool, but I was looking for a bit more excitement. We then went further into the dry section of the park to hit the Disko, which is a ride like Surf Dog (I wasn't very fond of this one) and Kang a Bounce. You sit in a kangaroo seat with an OTSR and the ride goes in circles while the kangaroo that you are on bounces up and down with a variety of speeds. It was a lot of fun! Afterwards, we decided to get food and then hit the waterpark. After a slice of cheese pizza (darn you Weight Watchers!), we got a locker, got into our swim suits, and decided to hit the lazy river first. This river differs from the one in Boomerang Bay as the riders don't have to get out every time. However, all riders have to have an innertube, so the line is at the mercy of the riders in the river. We waited for about 30 minutes (longest line all day) and discovered that you could rent tubes and go straight in without waiting (we did that later). After a few times around the river, we went into the activity pool. This area has deep water (about 10') but there is a zip line, waterslides that have people shoot out of them high above the water, and ability to do laps around the pool. It was nice to get some exercise during this trip, and this is probably my favorite spot in the park. Next we hit the wave pool. I like the one at Boomerang Bay a lot better. After a few boring slides, and a trip down the river, we decided to go back to the dry section of the park and go down the Conga Fall's-like ride. They tell you that you might get wet on this ride, but you get completly DRENCHED! I was silly enough to stand on the walkway where the raft comes down the hill and got splashed hardcore again. Then we did one more lap around Timberhawk before we headed home. Overall, this is a nice little park, but I really wish they would do a lot more with it. They have an ampitheater which I think could be done away with and have a few rides put there. Most of their rides are spread out and put in really random places, such as the kiddie rides are spread out all over the park. It may not be the greatest park in the world, but it's the best one that I've got, so I'll take what I can get. I'll be going next Sunday with my partner-in-crime (boyfriend) so I'll post some pictures on here so you can see what my home park looks like, as well as pictures from my trip to Kings Island.

I heard this on my vacation last week while in Cincinnati, and although it doesn't refer to Kings Island, I did end up hearing it outside of Kings Island Overheard conversation on the phone: "Yes, Stephanie is visiting for a week" "She's visiting from Seattle" Sigh, then "Yes.....where Twilight is from..." I had to walk away after that, so as to prevent permanent brain damage from the facepalm that was surely coming.

Missouri may not be the best travel state for some, but when I went to Kansas City last summer, I found it to be one of the more pleasant places that I've been. It sounds like you are having a good time! I may have to hit that spot next summer...

Well, that makes me cranky. I forsee a much more expensive amusement park tour next summer than anticipated.

Edit: Can you use the same flash pas at multiple SF parks

Can you use a flash pass at multiple SF parks?

Sorry, I should have been more specific on the "stapling" preference! It only pertains to steel coasters. Woodies I am all for a little sliding as well. And I've never been to Kennywood, but that was my dad's home park when he was a boy and has many fond memories from Jack Rabbit.

Congrats on the 100 count! I am super jealous that you are going to Kennywood. My dad is from the Pittsburgh area, and Kennywood is ALWAYS brought up during amusement park discussions as his most favorite!

Personally, I enjoy OTSR, as it makes me feel more secure in my seat. I also do not mind being "stapled" as it also gives the feeling of more security when riding. I don't like sliding around in my seat on a ride, as it freaks me out way too much for the ride to be considered fun.

Saturday was a hot mess in terms of crowds, but I always go into an amusement park expecting Disneyland length crowds. When you wait in line for 2 hours for the Nemo ride at Disneyland, suddenly 30 minutes doesn't seem so long.

Excellent trip report! I think that once you get onto Diamondback, you won't be able to get off! It is a very awesome roller coaster (this is coming from the girl who is terrified of heights) and I wish you luck, as I know you will love it once you get off. Let us know how it goes! Oh and welcome!

Pink ducks! Dang, I totally forgot to get one last weekend...that is very cool that you got one though. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your prospective car!

I'm glad I got the year right! I absolutly hate giving wrong information, especially about Kings Island! In reference to the food, I saved for this trip for two months, and I walked in with a budget of $150, so of course I was going to buy food there. I mean, I did travel over 2,000 miles to go I keep reading all these trip reports about short days at the park and I get sooo jealous, but I am very happy I got to go at all. I forgot to add that I was GOING to go on FoF but it broke down

I like it when ride ops urge people to ride, even after the park is closed. I'm glad you had a good time! Oh, and Jasper, I LOVE your sig! That is one of my favorite movies

Sorry this has taken me so long to post about, but I wanted to post when I got back home to Seattle. Let me tell you that I did NOT want to leave! When I was planning my trip back east, the first thing on my list was to go to Kings Island with my cousin. We ended up going on Saturday, because the weather called for storms on Friday. Unbeknowsted to us, Saturday was not only during Spirit Song, but also during a heat wave. As you can imagine, I was not looking forward to wading through crowds and waiting two hours in line. We got to the park around 11:15 and as soon as I saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance, I literally almost cried with happiness. I mean, I had been waiting for this day for so long and here it was! Well, the preferred parking lot was already full, and what a time we had trying to find parking! After about 20 minutes, we finally found a parking spot and headed into the park. My cousin and I had $14 off admission coupons that we had stopped at Wendy's for, but the people in line ahead of us gave us a coupon that got us into the park for $23.99! After that, we practically ran to the entrance after getting our tickets, and decided to get Invertigo out of the way, since neither of us were really that excited for it, and I wanted to hit all the rides that I was too afraid to go on 10 years earlier! Holy cow, was it crowded! I don't think I'd ever seen in that crowded when I was a kid! I got to the end of the line of Invertigo and the estimated wait time was 1 1/2 hours! Needless to say, I was none too pleased, but the line seemed to be moving, and I understood that there could only be one train going at a time, so I was patient and waited the 1 1/2 hours (which was the longest I waited for a ride all day!). I ended up in front of these two woman in line who were looking at the map, and ended up asking me where King Cobra was. I let out a sigh and told them that it hadn't been at the park since 2001 (I hope I got the year right. After I walked away from the ride, I wasn't sure if it was 2001 or 2003. If someone could clarify?!). Poor ladies, one had come to the park just to ride it. They kept asking me a bunch of questions about the park, and finally asked me if I had a season pass, to which I replied, "Nope, this is my first time in 10 years, and I came all the way from Seattle, WA." Somehow, judging by their looks, I don't think they believed me... In reference to the ride, all I can say is, whoa! It was a fun coaster, although the pause at the beginning scared me a little, as I am afraid of heights HARDCORE. Once we got going, I found it to be cool, but not worth the hour and a half wait. I would give it a 7/10. Next, my cousin and I decided we were far too hot and hungry to not go to the water park, so we headed on over to the train. We stopped at Potato Works to get a bit of fries while we were waiting for the train. Good lord, those french fries were the BEST that I have ever eaten! So crisp on the outside, but perfectly cooked on the inside. It definetly hit the spot and held me over until later. The train came, and was awesome like always. One thing that I would like is much more theming on the train. I know that you have the little hotel on the way back from BB but I wish that stretched the whole train ride. The music needs some work as well. 6/10. I had not seen Boomerang Bay since it was Waterworks, but I enjoyed the decorations of the park. We took a dip in the wave pool, and then decided to head on over to Snowy River Rampage. I was very disappointed in terms of how the lifeguards were handling the rafts. I was also disappointed that there were not that many rafts considering how long the line was. One should not have to wait for an hour for a water ride. The whole point of a water ride is to get cooled off, and I felt as though the lifeguards were not as quick when dispatching rafts. This was the only part of my time at the park were I was displeased. The ride itself was nice and refreshing however. 4/10 Next we hit the Lazy River (I forget what it's really called...Crocodile Run! Never mind) and I was amazed to see such a long line. Luckily, it barely lasted 5 minutes and I was sitting in an innertube, floating and chilling out on the river. Loved it! 9/10 only because we couldn't go around mulitple times without getting out first. Plus, I would love to see a bar in the water like they have at Silverwood, but that's just the alcoholic deep within myself talking We hit the wave pool again, and I loved how long the waves lasted. We stayed more in the shallow end and then tried body surfing a bit. 10/10 We left the waterpark, took the train back to Rivertown, and discovered that we were hungry and that I had not met my La Rosa's quota for the week, so we stopped there to get food to eat in The Beast line. Oh, La Rosa's, how I've missed you so I also got strawberries and whipped cream and, though I had eaten a lot of really good food throughout the day, that ended up being the best thing that I ate all day. It was refreshing because it was so hot and the whipped cream was the perfect amount. Bliss is the best word I can use to describe those strawberries. The wait for The Beast was only an hour (posted) but we only waited for 30-40 minutes tops. Since I had always been afraid of the front seat, I immediately got in that line. How very silly I was as a youngster, because that front ride was the BEST ride I have ever had on The Beast, and I've had quite a few, let me tell you! The train felt like it was about to come off any minute, I felt like we were going faster than we had, and I barely noticed the trims. It was beyond awesome! 10/10!!!! My cousin and I then decided to hit Diamondback next because she had not been on it yet, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. We waited for about 45 minutes (wait time was posted at one hour) and boy, those ops sure can move! The girl who was on the microphone was hysterical! She kept everyone amused that was in line. Right before our train, they had a few guest with Down Syndrome get on the ride, and they were so excited. I heard a guest ask who was getting on the ride before she saw them and the op who answered her told her that they were VIP's with a smile. As a girl who's younger brother has autism (who rides scarier coasters than I do!), I found that to be very sweet and very kind. After their train dispatched, it was finally my turn! We got in and headed up the hill. Wow, it's much taller than I thought it would be. All I could see around me was blue. That first slow crest over the hill made me feel like I was about to fall out of my seat, but that drop....that drop has no comparison in my mind. It is awesome! I can see why everyone on here likes it so much!! I didn't want to get off! Next time I come, though, I am hitting that for a night ride! 10/10 Next, we hit Vortex, another coaster I had been too chicken to ride when I was younger! We waited barely 20 minutes, even though the line was the longest my cousin had ever seen it, and she has ridden Vortex over 100 times! We rode in the middle, but I wish I had ridden it when I was younger, as I hated it! It gave me what The Beast failed to give me - a headache. I just didn't find it that exciting and it was so painful! I did find (and let me know if anyone else had this epiphany) that the station of Vortex reminded me a bit of Legend's station. Just add a chalkboard and a desk and I thought they could be twins. The ride gets a 2/10. After that, I needed a good ol' woodie to get me back on track and The Racer is just what the docter was ordering! The line for The Racer was pretty short, so we waited for a front seat. That ended up being a good decision because we rode the red train and ended up racing the blue train. I pretended to have a riding crop and "encouraged" my train to go faster while talking smack to the other train. It must have worked because we totally won 8/10 only because they switched the blue from backwards to forwards. I mean, if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Next, we hit Adventure Express. We only waited about 10 minutes for this one, but the ride was still good, especially since it was starting to get dark outside. I felt that it was a bit rougher than I remember, but maybe I was just imagining things. I still love the guy with the lava at the end Poor girls who were sitting behind me had never been on it before, and were disappointed at that point. As always I gave it an 8/10. Afterwards, I wanted to ride Flight Deck, but I had more important things to ride and eat before then. We ate at Skyline (because no trip for me to Kings Island is complete without a coney dog!) and then got some blueberry ice cream, also completing my cousin's "balanced Kings Island Food Groups" (Potato Works, La Rosa's, Skyline, and Blueberry Ice Cream). We then hit up Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. I have to say, the decor is very well done. I was pleased with the outside castle, but feel as though there could have been more of a story line. I did get a score of 750, though! I know people have gotten way higher (my cousin got a 1250 and called herself a "master blaster" the rest of the night) but it was more fun than it was scary, most likely because I was so focused on scoring that I didn't notice the scary effects. However fun it was, I still prefer Phantom Theater. This gets a 7/10. The last ride of the night was a night ride on The Beast. This line moved a bit slower, and I wasn't focused on the front as much as I was getting on the ride in a timely manner. There were these kids that were in line that were loud and annoying, which wasn't making me happy, as I already dislike kids, and was glad when they were past me in the switchbacks. Well, we got up to the line and into our car segments, and wouldn't you know, those same kids were right next to us. When it was finally our turn and the gate opened, all four of them came out of that one segment and tried to take the whole car. By this point, I was fed up, and grabbed one and said, "I don't think so, wait your turn!" Only one of them ended up in front of us, which made me laugh. We start going up the hill and he turns to us (he was probably about 9ish) and asked me if the train was going to go down the hill slowly. It dawned on me that this was his first time on The Beast, and a night ride at that. Feeling less than nice, I laughed and said, "No" right as we were going over the hill. Wow, what an amazing ride! It is way better at night than during the day. I like that there are no lights except for the hills and you can't see anything! It was the best rush I have ever felt on a coaster! Once we were headed up the hill, I started to feel bad for the kid in front of us, so I tapped his shoulder and asked if he was ok. He looked terrified and told me no. My ice heart melted a bit and as we were coming back into the station, I made sure that he was ok and found his sisters and brother. The ride rating was 12/10. Best coaster ride of my life! However, when we got down to the pictures, we found ours and discovered how scared that kid really was. He looked as though he was terrified, and had tried to ball himself up in the seat with his mouth wide open in a scream and his eyes as big as dinnerplates. Because my cousin and I had made sure that he was ok, we thought it was the best picture we had ever seen and laughed about it for the next few days. I really wish I had bought it... Overall, I found my experience to be an extremly pleasant one. The park was emaculately clean. I even saw gold tags picking up garbage, and there was a man in a suit that was directing parking. I was extremly pleased with how the park handled the croweds and was pleased with how the ride ops kept the guests entertained. I will be going on a road trip from Seattle to Boston next year with my partner in crime (boyfriend) and on the way back, we plan to stop at Kings Island, as well as make our first trip to Cedar Point, so I will definitely be coming back, and will write TR on KI, CP, as well as Worlds of Fun next year. Until then! P.S. I will try to post pictures sometime this week

So I thought I would share with you all something funny I noticed this morning: I'm flying out of Seattle into Louisville tonight, and while printing out my boarding passes, there's a "Things To Do in Louisville, KY" at the bottom of my tickets. The very last thing on the list? Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, with a phone number. Now I know that it closed, but I'm going to assume that others that live in Seattle are not so obsessed with amusement parks in Kentucky. Perhaps Delta should take it off their list? Just an idea, haha. I thought you all would find that amusing! P.S. I don't have a scanner or I would have scanned it and shown it!

I actually just had a KI dream last night! I dreamt I was with my cousins (who happen to live in Mariemont, and who I'm going to visit in 2 weeks!) and we were in Coney Mall right by Monster. Suddenly, a door going underneath Monster opened up, and we all went down and there was a secret seedy bar. Well, of course we stayed for a little bit, but one of my cousins got insanely drunk, and we had to leave the park early. I remember being really upset at her, as I only got to go to Kings Island once in the past 10 years and can only go when I fly to visit them. As soon as I was about to start crying, I woke up. I'm not sure what my subconscious is trying to tell me: either I am WAY too obsessed with Kings Island, or I'm an alcoholic!

Excellent trip report. Santa Cruz has been my home park for a very long time, so I'm glad you enjoyed it, especially the Giant Dipper, which is one of my top 5 roller coasters. And Terpy got it spot on, the atmosphere is awesome. Did you get a chance to walk from the arcade down towards the park? They have a figure called Laughing Sal that used to be at Playland at the Beach for a long time, and I believe that Laughing Sal is either as old or a bit younger than the Giant Dipper!

I'm glad you had a good time at Silverwood! I try to get there at least twice a summer, even if it is about 5-6 hours away from my house. And I'm so happy you liked Tremors!! That is one of my favorite woodies!