Trip Report 5/26/12

[KDogg]

What's better than a planned trip to Kings Island? An unplanned one! My daughter got to go with her school so I thought she was gonna be the lucky one this time. But as it turns out, they were concerned that with her Autism there could be some problems. So at the last moment I scraped up a few bucks and headed out myself. She got to the park a couple of hours before I did and, as it turns out, did very well on her own. She got separated from her group so she found her teacher and relocated her group. It was during this time that I arrived, but since she was with her group again everything was cool until their check-in time. I had 90 minutes to kill before then so I headed off for some coasters.

First ride was Flight Deck. I don't know if they did something to it or if it was just me, but the ride seemed more intense, faster, and seemed like it "topped out" several times on the swings. One thing I miss about the ride is the theming it used to have as Top Gun. I know Cedar Fair isn't much on theming but if they focused at least half the energy they do on Peanuts on the adult rides it would be a 100% improvement. But anyway...

Next ride was Vortex. Last time I was at the park (been a few years) Vortex seemed to be having issues. Not this time. It, too, seemed faster and was definitely much smoother than last time. Definitely a 10/10 when compared to then. 9

After those two rides it was time to meet up with my daughter's school check-in. She wanted to spend the rest of the day with me, so I signed her out from the school group. Now, as I mentioned before, she has Autism, so I thought maybe the bigger coasters were gonna be a problem. Boy was I in for a surprise.

We headed off to Rivertown because she wanted to ride Diamondback. When we got there the line was backed up a bit so we mozied on up to one of the kiddie rides she wanted to ride. Back to Diamondback and the line had moved a good bit so we got in. This was our longest wait of the day, but no more than 30-45 minutes. This would be the first time riding for both of us. Definitely a 10/10 ride! Very smooth, very fast, and love the amounts of airtime!

Up next was the grand old favorite, The Beast. A little bit of a wait here too but nothing to complain about. The ride, on the other hand... I like a good shaky, rattly wooden coaster but The Beast seemed a bit angry. I like the fact that the trim brakes were toned down a bit (or so it seemed) but there were a couple of places where things got unusually rough. I thought a couple of those bumps were gonna sling us from the track but, alas, The Beast didn't get us. I'll give it an 8/10, fix the potholes and all will be good.

We then took a spin on the log ride (forgot its new name lol). Not very eventful and didn't even get a splash until Snoopy spit on us. I don't like getting too wet but have to say it felt pretty good in the heat and it didn't drench me.

I'm not a game player but my daughter wanted a Hello Kitty. Don't remember the game but it was the one where you spray a button to make the game piece rise. We were the only ones playing so either way it was a winner, so why not. She beat me and got her Kitty. I'll take that loss any day.

The half a pretzel my daughter gave me earlier was by now well worn off, so time to eat. LaRosa's pizza was the final choice and we got the combo slice with breadsticks. They had a piece up but it looked like it had been there awhile, so I waited on the fresh. Very good.

Back to The Vortex, as she hadn't ridden it yet. Once again, another great ride. I could ride that thing all day.

She wanted to try Firehawk, but when we got there it was more than 60 minutes wait time and neither of us wanted to stand in line that long so we went for The Racer instead. Wait time was a little extended due to only the Blue side running at the time, but still not too bad considering. It was a good ride for an old classic, and didn't beat me up like it used to. The kids behind me provided a little entertainment, which made it a bit more fun.

She took a spin on the Scrambler. She was antsy for it to start, and it was funny watching her get off - it made her quite dizzy.

Next up was Adventure Express. Still week on the theming but at least what's there was working this time. I'm still undecided on this coaster though. It's like a love/hate relationship; I love the ride but hate how it beats the heck outta me every time I ride it. The addition of a NASCAR-style Hans Device probably wouldn't hurt this thing...

Delirium was closed when I got there so I thought I'd be safe. Somebody fixed it (dang) and she wanted to ride it (oh crap). I don't do spinny rides very well and heights aren't my favorite either (other than coasters) but there's no way I'd let her ride it alone. She drug me into the queue but changed her mind when she saw that it was pretty much full. Whew.

I wanted to hit the Flight Deck again but never made it. Drop Zone caught her attention (oh crap, again) so she drug me in there. Wait time wasn't too bad but when I did get on, I made sure eveything was as tight as it would go. I will admit the view from up there is awesome - so long as you don't look down. Not too bad of a ride on the way down, either, and the braking is a lot smoother than I thought it would be. Guess I can add it to the list of things I'll ride, but still not a big fan of the height lol.

Our last ride ended up being Invertigo. I noticed upon my arrival to the park that it had been repainted. The red and yellow wasn't bad but it was dated to the Face/Off theme / McDonald's / old-school Hulk Hogan lol. The blue looks better. Anyway, it was my daughter's first time on it, and a girl across from us was also riding for the first time. Neither one liked the backwards part but they seemed to enjoy it. Wasn't my choice to be the last ride of the night but since it was such a good day and I plan to return during the summer, I can deal with it.

After the Invertigo ride we just wandered around the park for awhile and picked up a couple of souvenirs, waiting for the crowd to diminish and the parking lot to clear out a bit.

Now, some stuff I noticed:

The park was definitely the cleanest I've ever seen it. I don't know if it was just a good crowd or good sweeps walking around but things were very nice.

Smoking areas need to be highlighted. I walked around the park all day not knowing there were designated areas, and not one single employee told me otherwise until we played the game.

All the employees and ride ops seemed to be in a good mood. I know everyone has a bad day every now and then but if anyone was having one this day I didn't see them.

Bring back the music! I miss the Paramount movie themes playing, and the few rides that did have music had the same track playing over and over. These need to be fixed; there's all sorts of music out there that could be applied to rides and to the park in general. It's not like people are going to complain because such-and-such song was playing or they don't like a certain kind of music, they're there for the rides. But no music at all just makes it seem too quiet.

I don't mind the different (though somewhat outrageous in some cases) prices in the restaurants, but special refill options should be the same price everywhere. I bought one of those 40th Anniversary drink containers and refills for it were different prices here and there.

Well that's all I can think of at the moment. Overall it was a great day and like I said, can't wait to return later this summer with the rest of the family. Since I paid full price for my ticket I took the second-day-free option, which will offset the expense of that trip. See y'all then!

[CedarPointer]

Smoking areas need to be highlighted. I walked around the park all day not knowing there were designated areas, and not one single employee told me otherwise until we played the game.

Smoking areas are marked with signs and are shown on the map...

[thekidd33]

Sounds like you had a great day, thanks for sharing!

[Dieseltech20]

Good report. Refills for the souvenir cup should be 1.99 no matter where you have it filled. Unless of course you go with the $5 unlimited deal.

[Jr for Birdy]

KDogg, i hate to spin myself,loved it as a kid but not anymore. I rode Delirium for the first time this year and its nothing like it looks from the ground.I get more dizzy riding Vortex than i do Delirium,its now on my must ride list! You gotta give it one shot and i bet you love it.Im glad you and your daughter had fun!