Steph88

We got season passes for next year, which we haven't done since 2019. As a little preview trip we visited the park for my son's birthday in October. The soft pretzel at Miami River Brewhouse was fantastic, much bigger than I expected it to be, and the cheese dip was great. Three of us were able to share it. I also got the chicken and waffles, and that was pretty awesome as well. As we were heading out of the park we got a caramel apple and a cookie at the Sweet Spot. My son said the cookie was great, the caramel apple tasted great but the caramel was really hard on my teeth. For some reason I expected it to be a softer caramel. I guess I haven't had a caramel apple in a really long time. I will say the staff at the Sweet Spot are wonderful people! Will definitely stop in there again. Anyway, with that preview I'm super looking forward to our dining plan kicking in next year! Also really excited for Winterfest. My favorite thing at Winterfest was always the cherry funnel cake so I can't wait to have that again if they're still doing it.

2019 season was excellent. Mystic Timbers continues to impress me. It's so much fun. I had my first Soak City visit this year. I really enjoyed it. The wave pools and the lazy river are great. The dining plan turned out to be a great deal for us and I've really liked the food. I got some great tee shirts at the gift shops. The baby care center is awesome, it makes being at the park with a toddler way easier. I did not get to Winterfest as often as I'd have liked this year- only once. That was basically the only downside to this season.

Anyone know how busy the park is today? Does it tend to clear out a bit more in the evening? I haven't been paying attention the last few times we went.

Got the dining plan and visited Sunday. I have no complaints except the line at Hank's was insanely long. The food itself was really great!

My year was short at KI cause I got my season pass late in the year, but I did get to visit the park at least 5 times. Mystic Timbers is fantastic. Haunt was pretty cool even thought I didn't do the mazes this year. I loved riding The Monster with my son several times and he had a ball. Winterfest is probably my favorite thing EVER and the lights were out of this world! The food was all excellent, particularly the funnel cakes, the hot chocolate, and Rivertown Potato Works. Service everywhere was great!

There's an actual weight limit posted at the gliders. Unless they just plan to turn adults away, I don't know how they plan to enforce this.

Brr! Anyone else in the park today? Loving this cold weather! Short lines, no standing around in the heat! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm just sad they took out a water ride. It's Florida! More important than ever to have a good mix of water rides. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The last time I looked only platinum and regular passes were showing up, but tonight I looked and saw the gold passes. Not sure if I just suck at internetting lately or what! Gonna talk with my husband and see what he thinks. It seems like when you buy a 2019 pass now you get the rest of 2018 included which would be a fantastic deal! Thanks for letting me know! Otherwise I wouldn't have checked again and missed out! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ooh, I hope I get the bats next. Bats are awesome. Also it looks like a season pass is not in the cards this year. I guess it's past the deadline for gold passes and we can't quite justify the platinum pass cost with how little time there is left in the season. We are definitely going to be back once or twice this fall though! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also- after reading other trip reports apparently there are multiple endings on Mystic Timbers. We got the scary tree monster ending. Josh and I have been obsessed with playing a video game called Don't Starve Together lately. I joked that they cut down too many trees and spawned a tree guardian. If only you'd planted those pinecones! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So on Sunday we came to Kings Island because my mother in law's work was having their company day with discounted tickets. My husband's whole family came and it was a really good time. Sean wasn't quite up to the 36 inch mark but it probably won't be much longer. Next season for sure. We took him on Woodstock's Whirlybirds first. The line didn't LOOK that long but boy did it take forever. He really enjoyed it though, he was fascinated looking at the sights. He cried a bit when it was time to get off and go. We tried to take him on Boo Blasters but it was closed temporarily. Later he got to ride Snoopy's Space Buggies with my sister in law and her girls while I was trying to cool off. I get overheated so quickly and I get these massive headaches, and the first half of the day it was SO hot and sunny. If I could go to the park in the snow and still ride everything it would be a DREAM. Thankfully we had this spray bottle/fan thing and we put some of the free ice water in it. That kept me headache-free the rest of the day. My awesome mother in law watched Sean for us while my husband Josh, my father in law, and I went on to the roller coasters. My father in law and I rode Race for your life Charlie Brown. It was WAY faster than I expected! Dollywood's log flume kind of meanders along until the big hills. I loved it though, I'm becoming more of a water-ride person as I get older. After that the three of us went over to Mystic Timbers. It was a pretty long line but most of it was shady enough, the clouds rolled in to block the sun, and they had misters. The ride shut down for a short while, not sure why, but it came back up after a bit. Once it reopened the line moved pretty steadily. I was a bit scared of this one because I didn't know how rough it would be or if it would hurt my neck, but I had to try it. I figured if it's new, how rough could it be? It ended up being really fun! That coaster is a WILD ride, and I did hurt my neck a bit toward the end but nothing too bad, it went away after we got off the ride. I was surprised at how fast it was! I was a little underwhelmed by what was in the shed. I remember people talking about a possible drop track in the speculation before it was open. A video on a screen is a bit less impressive. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the theming and was so happy to see something like that on a Cedar Fair coaster. I think it was so well done. But the way they hyped it up left me expecting something really different. Overall, I'd give it a 10/10 though. Great ride, great theming, super fun. Next we split some chili cheese fries and had some drinks, and then we went on to Whitewater Canyon. That was probably my favorite ride of the day. The three of us got grouped in with three really nice, fun people and we had a "contest" to see who got the most drenched. I think I might have won! Nobody was using the water canons during our ride though so we missed out on that. I liked the new queue line, that was a nice upgrade without taking away from the "in the forest" shady queue later on. I liked that a lot. It was cool to see how Mystic Timbers interacted with the ride too. On the coaster I didn't notice anything else but the speed, but on WWC it was neat to see it flying down the track. We had tried to go on Diamondback after. I've gained weight since my last trip 7 years ago. The test seat technically FIT, but I was getting pinched really bad. I told the guys they could ride and I'd find a shady spot to hang out and wait for them, but it was an hour and a half long line, so they opted to wait til next trip. I do have to give props to KI for having a worker up front at the test seat! At other parks these are usually unattended and you really don't know if it will push down far enough to lock. Having a worker there to tell you for certain saved us SO much time on such a short operating day, and the guy was very nice. I really appreciated being able to know for sure instead of having to wait in line and leave later. I'm pretty good at losing weight quickly with Keto now, so I'm going to work on that and get some exercise for the next several weeks. Hoping I can get back on Diamondback comfortably by the end of the season. I started missing my kiddo and the day was coming to an end. We got some blue ice cream (yum!!!!) and then met up with my mother in law and took him off her hands. It was so great of her to watch him for us. He had a fun time playing in the shallow part of the wave pool while we were gone. I knew I really wanted to end the night in Coney Mall like I always have. We got on Boo Blasters on the way. Sean wasn't as interested in the guns as I'd expected but he loved the ride and seeing all the little ghouls and skeletons jump out. My gun didn't work. Or at least I don't think it did. My husband racked up 1200 points like it was nothing! I'm still not sure if my gun didn't work or if I've just got really bad aim. After that it was getting close to closing so we rushed over to Coney Mall quickly and I wanted to take Sean on the Monster. I thought Josh and I could both fit with Sean on the ride. The ride attendant said only two at a time could fit. I was kind of skeptical but it's been a long time since I've been on one, and never with my kid. Josh got out of line so I could take Sean, and it turned out she was 1000 percent right. There's no way we could have all fit. Gotta trust the ride ops! Sean's a big fan of things like flying elephants, but I wasn't sure if the Monster would be too much for him or not. It's always been one of my favorite flats though. I figured we'd give it a try and if he liked it, we could marathon it next time we visit and take turns riding with him. At first on the ride he was very quiet while I was shouting "woooo!" and giggling like a goofball. Eventually he started doing the same thing! Caught a couple glimpses of a big smile. It makes me so happy we can enjoy this stuff together, and I can't wait til he's tall enough to ride even more together. That was the final ride of the day before the park closed. I didn't get to do EVERYTHING I had hoped due to the crowds and the long lines but I came in expecting that so I wasn't disappointed. (Okay, maybe a tad disappointed that we didn't have time for Racer this trip.) I did get to do the things that were at the top of my list so it was a really good trip. Next time I'll have to try to start out with Banshee since I haven't been on it yet. We are planning an adults-only trip at some point in the near future, and I'm even considering a season pass if it's not too late. I can see us going up there a lot on Fall weekends. The terrain isn't as hilly as Dollywood and I had a far easier time getting around. If it weren't for the heat I'd have had no issues. My ankles hurt a bit in lines, but my back was totally fine all day which is definitely a first. I'm not much of a summer person, but Fall is the perfect time for amusement parks. One thing that has changed a lot is our method of going on rides. When it was just me and Josh we would jump from ride to ride as quickly as possible, almost never stopping. Sometimes marathoning certain ones. Now I have to slow it down and take a break sometimes, and there's a little one to feed and change. And that's okay. Being close by, we don't have to worry so much about making sure we get to do everything in one visit. I actually really like that. I also want to check out the water park sometime. Most of the family spent the day there but we were too excited about the rides. It was a great trip. I can't wait to go back!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does BGW have its own version of Falcons Fury yet? It could be that. Or maybe a giga. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cedar Fair buying the Busch Parks would scare me. I don't want them getting rid of the animals in Tampa. I like competition. But Cedar Fair really would be smart to buy a park they can operate year round. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I find it super weird that my kid is going to grow up never having gone to the circus. Then again, if it were still around, I dunno if I'd even think to go. Amusement parks, zoos, and nature/state parks are way higher on my radar than shows. I went once as a kid and it was really cool. I hope everyone working with the circus will find new jobs. I feel awful for them, it must be hard to find a new job when you've done something so specialized. I hope the animals get good homes too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk