Kings Island - July 7th

[Delirium13]

Made a trip out to the park today with my girlfriend today and got there around 4 o'clock. Walking into the park it seemed as if they had completely recovered from the power outage, from what I could tell at least. Music was playing, the fountains were going, the sun was shining, it was a beautiful, but extremely hot day to be at the park. First thing I noticed was that the park was the most crowded I had seen it so far this year (I haven't gone on any weekends or holidays), which surprised me as it was a very hot Wednesday. Call me crazy, but as much as I like to go on a day with low crowds and short lines, I prefer to see the park full, not crazy crowded, but full. The place seems so much more lively and in my opinion the atmosphere is better.

First ride of the day was Boo Blasters for a little friendly competition. I'm glad to see that they have fixed up the queue line, including fixing the wallpaper, as has been mentioned on this site already. Everything but the fog effect seemed to be working today, as opposed to a few "blacked out" scenes as I had encountered on my past two visits. It's really nice to see them taking care of these things, and I have confidence in them that they will have the fog effect repaired sometime in the near future.

Next up was Diamondback. Waited only about 20 minutes or so. Diamondback was being its usual awesome self. Gave a great smooth ride with plenty of airtime. I really like the gift shop that the exit leads into and find myself looking around for a few minutes after my rides, they did a great job on it.

Then it was on to The Beast. Waited about 10-15 minutes. Rode in the front row of the very last car, what an intense ride. I definitely prefer riding The Beast towards the back of the train, as the ride feels much faster and out of control. The only trade-off is that it's a bit rougher.

After The Beast we headed back to International Street to look around in some shops and get out of the heat for a bit. After a little bit we went over to SlingShot, as I have always wanted to give it a try. Longest wait of the day due to capacity, we probably waited about an hour. But it was worth it. Riding SlingShot is truly an experience worth having. For about 5 minutes you are the center of attention of all the bystanders and the ride itself is just a rush and provides a very nice view of the park.

After Sling Shot we decided to take it easy and rode Adventure Express, waited about 5 minutes for that.

Went to the Red Racer next, waited 5 minutes. The Racer was usually a ride I skipped in the past but have made a point of riding on every visit this year. It's a very fun ride with plenty of airtime, I love it. Red won as usual

After The Racer we were hungry and decided to eat at Skyline on International Street. I was extremely pleased with my food and service there. I got a cheese coney and a large 3-way because usually a large 3-way at the park is about the size of a regular 3-way outside of the park, today was different. I was given more spaghetti and chili than I knew what to do with. And when I was handed my 3-way and coney, thinking out loud I said "I should have grabbed a tray". One of the girls working the counter went and brought me one, I wasn't expecting it and was very thankful. The food was all warm and delicious and I was not able to finish my 3-way. Just one of many positive customer service experiences during the day.

While passing Outer Hanks I noticed a grill where they were cooking corn and what looked like rotisserie chicken, it smelled delicious.

After dinner, we did the Dodgems, fun as usual. My girlfriend had never seen Spongebob 3D so we headed down to the Action F/X Theater. I was surprised to see they had gotten a new Spongebob sign out front and by the line. It looked nice. Waited for about a half hour and got on, the seat motions seemed more intense than I had remembered but it had been a while. On the way out I decided to take a peak into Urgent Scare, and got an early taste of Halloween Haunt when I looked through the crack between the door and the wall to find a face looking back at me. It was just a prop body but it scared me! I jokingly tugged on the door handle and to my surprise it was unlocked, I did not open the door, but they should probably lock that before the wrong person finds their way into Urgent Scare...

It was getting dark so we headed for The Beast. The line was beginning to pile up and we waited 25 minutes. You can't go wrong with The Beast at night, an absolutely incredible ride experience. The ride-op asked if there were any first time riders on the train and several excited and scared little kids raised their hands high, I was jealous and wish I could experience that again.

After The Beast it was about 9:30 and as I haven't been at the park at night yet this season I wanted to check out Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular and the Fireworks, this is when the trip got even better. Starlight Spectacular was even better than I had expected. Watching the trees and the tower dance to the music was awesome. We stayed in the area for 15 minutes or so just taking it all in. It seemed to be a hit with everyone else in the area too, as people stopped to take pictures and videos of the Tower. I heard many compliments as well.

It was getting close to time for the fireworks so we made our way down International Street, to the sight of the fountains lit up in different colors, the sound of people laughing and music playing, and the delicious smell of funnel cakes, the atmosphere was just amazing. I do miss the instrumental music and the Tower lights on the fountain side, but I was in too good of a mood to let that bother me. The firework show was great and I'm glad they still do it every night. It ended with applause from the crowd and a wonderful day at Kings Island came to a close. The nighttime atmosphere at the park is just fantastic and I felt like a kid again at the park. Thank you to Kings Island for a wonderful day!

Thanks for reading!

[The Interpreter]

And thank you for writing. Such warm, glowing, positive reports make me happy just reading them! Glad you two had fun!

[IndyGuy4KI]

Awesome report, glad you had a great day!

[Adventure Express]

Sounds like fun! Glad you had a great time

[Kirk Sheppard]

I didn't know the Spongebob 3D show was open! I'll have to try that next time I'm there...