Trip Report July 10 2010

[stephatron]

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

[thekidd33]

Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing!

[The Interpreter]

I loved your report. King Cobra's last operating season was 2001.

Sounds like you did your part to keep per caps up in the park, too!

[Dieseltech20]

Nice report, good to see I'm not the only nutjob that buys food in the park, lol.

On a side note though, I love riding Vortex and have yet to get bumped around on it. I especially liked my 5-1 ride last on my last visit. I did not like my front car ride on Beats at all however. Too many times I thought the train was gonna stop, especially on the hill after the first drop.

[Purplehaze]

Stephatron, I am so glad you came to the park, I know from your posts how much you missed it.

[stephatron]

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

[The Interpreter]

(probably not very politic to note that someone here traveled to Seattle to ride the coaster at what was then Enchanted Village and Wild Waves (once) and to ride the Puyallup coaster (again once but only because the coaster shut down thereafter)...and then flew back home!)

[Purplehaze]

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

Nothing wrong with buying food I do often.