August 17th TR

[Hoeter]

Went out to Kings Island on Monday 8-17 for visit #9 of the season with some friends. We arrived around 10:40am to find a so-so parking lot, not too crowded and not too dead either. We parked in Son of Beast 63 and made our way to the front gate.

Our first ride of the day was Diamondback. At this time, maybe 3 or 4 switchbacks in the covered queue were being used as well as the four switchbacks past that. Not too bad of a wait and the line was moving fairly quickly. Waited about 20 minutes and were assigned rows 5 and 6 on green train. The friends that I took today had never had the chance to ride Diamondback and they heard great things about it from some other friends. Two friends took row 6 while me and my other friend took row 5. We get to the top of the lift hill, and my friend looks straight down at the ground and starts shouting out expletives. I won't go into any further detail about it because we have youngsters frequenting these boards, plus it's probably against the Terms of Service- so we'll just leave it at that.

After this, we decided to head over towards The Crypt. My friends went to Kings Island last season but they haven't had the fine pleasure of experiencing this amazing attraction since it was Tomb Raider: The Ride. They insisted on riding it, but I told them how it's changed under the expert tutelage of Cedar Fair. They didn't care- they wanted to ride it anyways, and I agreed to tag along. We waited three cycles before we boarded. Two out of three said it was lame and way better when it was TR:TR, and one friend said it was even better now than it was before. This is the second time I have ridden it with the new program and it wasn't any better than it was the first time.

Next up was The Beast. We waited 25 minutes before we boarded and the ride seemed way rougher than before.

After this, we headed up the midway and decided to check out the line for BLSC. It was all the way back almost using two switchbacks. All of us decided that the line wasn't worth the wait for the ride so we passed on this one. Further up the midway, my friends decided to ride Shake, Rattle, and Roll while I headed to Jukebox Diner to get some ice water. They ended up walking on that ride and as soon as we met up again- we headed towards Vortex and waited 20 minutes for rows 5-1 and 5-2. Excellent as always.

Following this we headed up Coney Mall and went back to X-Base to check the lines for Flight of Fear and Firehawk. Firehawk had a 90 minute wait according to the sign because they were only running one train, so we passed on this one and got in line for Flight of Fear. Waited 25 minutes for the last two rows and the ride seemed to be much faster in the back than in the front where I've experienced it on my past visits.

After this, we decided to head up towards the front gate to have our hand stamped so we could leave the park to get some lunch. Going further up Coney Mall, we saw that Racer didn't have a line and we walked right on to Red Racer without waiting.

At this time we left the park and headed up to Taco Bell to get some food. Two chili-cheese burritos, two chicken soft tacos sans lettuce, one order of cheezy potatoes, and three cups of Mtn. Dew Baja Blast later- I was officially stuffed. We returned to KI and parked in Gold Pass 57 and re-entered. First up was Delirium. We waited about 3 cycles before we were on the ride. I got so nauseous on Delirium and had to sit down for a few minutes so my stomach could get back to normal.

After I was all good, we headed to Flight Deck to find out it was closed. No worries- we headed to Adventure Express and walked right on. To be honest with you- I almost fell asleep on that ride! Next we rode Viking Fury. Haven't ridden this in about 10 or 15 years. Awesome ride and we had a screaming contest with the other side. I think we won.

We headed back up towards Coney Mall after this and decided to check out Dodgems. We walked right on. Classic ride as always but the fun wears off fast. After we got off, my friends decided they wanted to ride it again, and they walked right on again with no wait.

After this, we headed over to Nick Universe and checked out SDATHC. I scored 1190, the highest out of our group. Plus being in an air conditioned building was a major relief to the stickiness outside.

Next we headed back over towards Diamondback and got another ride in rows 5 and 6. I took row 6 this time around and we ended up waiting 20 minutes for red train.

After this, my one friend decided to get a massive turkey leg and an adult beverage from the Snake Pit right near Diamondback. It was going to be a little while before he finished so I managed to get one more ride in on Diamondback using the SRL. Waited 15 minutes for row 7 on gold train, and this was #25 for me.

Finally to close the day out, we headed towards White Water Canyon to cool off. Coming up the pathway, we saw Brandon Phillips getting off so we shouted his name and he was very friendly to talk to. Waited 5 minutes to get on and I was up to my "It's Her Birthday" antics again. See StalkerChick's TR from July 7 to find out more. We got drenched and left about 6:30pm.

Look for another TR from me on Sunday. I will be up at Kings Island for the Mid-Summer Scream event on Saturday. I look forward to meeting some of you there. Until next time, RIDE ON!

[tigellinus]

Rows 5 and 6...why bother?

Sorry, but my disdain for the seat assigning is well known. At least it wasn't super busy. But last year at this time the weekdays really started slowing down...for anyone watching the DB construction webcam last year could probably attest!

[Jasper]

Great TR, sounds a bit on the crowded side though. Hopefully tomorrow it will be rather thin on the crowd side.