Kings Island 7/24

[welchce]

7/24 was a good day for me. I got to ride everything I wanted and had a blast. Where to start... how about the beginning.

So my friends and I get there at 3 and as we're walking in we can see Drop Zone making its way to the top of the tower. We wanted to ride it but thought the line will probably be short all day so we decided to check out how SoB is first. The line wasn't that long people wise but since they were only running one car the entire day it would've taken forever. So since my one friend who has yet to ride it this year wasn't there yet we decided to wait till he got there so we just hopped the fence and walked back to ride Top Gun. We got two quality rides on it back to back in the back since no one was in our lanes.

After that we decided to do Drop Zone. The line (it would've been close to 3:30 by then I guess) wasn't even to the vending machine at the end of the final queue. The last straight away was about half full when we walked in so we just had to wait for the load that was currently on and then was our turn. This was my first ride on Drop Zone for various reason (most of which was me not really wanting to go on) but I have to say that I had a blast. I have to say that I probably wouldn't wait as long as I would for a roller coaster since it is only a couple second thrill but I will want to ride several more times before the year is out.

Next we went to AE and the guy at the top of the final lift hill was not only lit up but his mouth was moving. This is the first time I have seen that this year. I'm not sure if they needed to fix it or if they just never turned it on before but I was very excited that I could see it in all its glory. Making our way to the make of the park we next went to Recar. Quality ride, nice airtime as usual. We decided to check out the wait for FoF but it was over a half an hour so we decided to save that until our other friend got there as well.

Some how we started to meander over to NickU. I think it was mostly because my one friend wanted to ride Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle but we ended up riding Rugrats' Runaway Reptar. As we were in line the friend that was on his way gave us a call saying he was almost there. After we got off RRR we walked out to the parking lot and meet up with him and went to Taco Bell sometime after 5:40.

When we got back to the park after dinner (around 6:30) we headed straight for SoB because we realized that the line would be long enough that the food would settle will we were waiting. We waited about an hour to ride and I was in the last row right seat on the only train running, the blue train. I have to say that the airtime down the first hill was pretty amazing. The bottom of the first part of the rose bowl and just after the bottom of the second part of the rose bowl stick out in my mind as being the most rough but other than that it was a great ride. I remember that the helix after the ex-loop portion was really smooth. Overall, great ride and I recommend the back to all.

Next we rode Face/Off which was surprisingly only like a 10 minute wait. Then we hit Vortex and The Beast because we wanted to make sure we got them both in. I think someone puked on The Vortex or something because a group was about to get in a train when they sent it empty and then when it came back to the station they hosed it down and sent it empty some more. After The Beast it was getting around 9:30 so we decided to ride FoF and then get in line for Firehawk which we would probably ride after the park closes.

So we got on and off FoF fairly quickly since the line was only to the steps going up the UFO. The ride was good and I noticed that they had monitors where the on-ride video booth is going; so they're making progress. So it was about 9:50 that we got in line for Firehawk and only a few people got in line after us before they closed it off. We watched the fireworks from the queue as the continued to shuffle people on and off.

When we got to the attendant choosing the sides, he sent us down the stairs to the far side. Then the attendant on the far side put us in the last row. As the train before us was making its way around the course we turned around and realized that there was only a group of four still waiting to go since everyone else was sent to the opposite side. So we promptly asked the attendant if we'd be able to ride twice since they'd only be taking up one row and all the rest would be open. At first she said she ask her supervisor. So after a fun filled night ride on the last row of Firehawk (which is amazing in the loop) we got back to the station only to be disappointed to learn that we would not be able to ride. Partially confused and peeved we kinda just stood there as another group asked a different attendant if they could ride and at first shrugged their shoulders and then said yes. So of course we made this known to the nearest attendant to us and she let us ride again. That was the highlight of the night to have back to back rides on Firehawk, the last of which was the last ride of the night.

So as we made our way down International Street at around 10:40 I looked ahead and thought, "I'll be eating right there in the International Street Restaurant in only 11 days."

In review, Top Gun(x2), Drop Zone, AE, Recar, Rugrats', SoB, Face/Off, Vortex, Beast, FoF, Firehawk (x2). Great day, superb night. All is finally open in Kings Island.

[TOPGUN1993]

The Big Guy on AE has been lite up some days but it's not everyday.

[DropZone99]

Awesome TR!!!

=]

[welchce]

The Big Guy on AE has been lite up some days but it's not everyday.

O okay, thank you for clearing that up.