malem Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Last Saturday was Kings Island's final midnight close of the 2014 season, and several from this site came to enjoy a fantastic day at the park. It did get crowded, but there was plenty of fun to be had even without Fast Lane and without waiting in excessively long queues. (None of us wanted to wait more than 30 minutes for anything. And we didn't.) I arrived at the front gate right at 9:30am and had time for 2 rides on Banshee and 1 ride on Drop Tower before the park opened. Afterwards, I enjoyed minimal waits in the rest of the park for the next ~1.5 hours. IAmABanshee arrived around 12:30pm, headed to Action Zone for a locker, and bought Fast Lane Plus immediately upon seeing the crowd there. He had little time at the park before work and wanted to make the most of it. We met in the station of The Racer after I waited ~20 minutes, then we rode Adventure Express and Congo Falls together with minimal waits. He walked onto Banshee and had ~10 minute Fast Lane waits on Diamondback and The Beast. At 2:25pm, a strong pop-up storm affected the park. Intense rain and some impressive cloud-to-ground lightning came out of nowhere. Rides immediately shut down and wouldn't start re-opening until ~3:30pm. This unfortunately cut IAmABanshee's day short, and I took the opportunity to eat at Hank's Burrito Shack while watching guests on the midway run for cover. I then got in line for The Beast just as it reopened and waited about 30 minutes. After the weather moved out, more KIC members found each other. By the end of the night the group consisted of jcgoble3, DontWantToWait42mar0, Kat, Aaron, Goki32, MDMC01, Beast Man and me. (Unfortunately silver2005 couldn't make it due to a car problem, and Ryan was absent. Devan and Jon ditched us for Cedar Point.) Even though the park became rather crowded, we decided against Fast Lane. As thousands of guests corralled themselves into full queues, we took the time to enjoy other rides such as WindSeeker, Adventure Express, Vortex, Dodgems, Congo Falls, and The Bat. After a couple hours of riding together, we headed to the Kings Island Theater for Cirque Imagine. After the show, we ate at The Chicken Shack - which tasted much better than it did in May and June. I hadn't seen Cirque Imagine since mid-June, so some more recent changes were new to me. The Hand2Hand act is one of the best of the performance, and the increased roster adds a lot to the show. Of course, it ended (as usual) with a huge standing ovation. If you haven't seen Cirque recently, make sure to get to the park before it ends on August 17! Of course, the best part about staying until midnight is getting lots of night rides! In order, we did the following after dark as a group: Viking Fury Grand Carousel White Water Canyon International Street viewing of extended fireworks Vortex Vortex (re-ride) Adventure Express Racer Banshee Race For Your Life Charlie Brown Beast - last train of the night White Water Canyon is an excellent night ride. You can't see where you're going, and rapids take you completely by surprise. Kat stayed behind with plenty of quarters, and some of us taunted the tower operator. We got what was coming to us and were soaked the rest of the night, but it was very much worth it. Vortex and The Beast were especially great, with thick fog covering the area under clear skies. It was my best ride on Vortex ever; we enjoyed it so much that we had to immediately re-ride. The Beast has been running especially well recently, and Saturday was no exception. Waits at most attractions were minimal in the 11pm hour, and even full Diamondback and Beast queues were down to about 20 minutes before the park closed. We chose not to cut it close by waiting for Diamondback just before 11:30pm, so a few of us (still drenched from earlier) decided to ride the log flume. It's a surprisingly good night ride as well. We started waiting in The Beast's plaza around 11:50pm for the much-anticipated final train of the night. Once the park closed, we chatted for a good while, and some purchased a hilarious Beast on-ride photo. We took our group picture by the Kings Island sign at the front of the park (which Kat needs to post) and called it a night. Overall, it was very fun day at the park - probably my favorite of the 2014 operating season so far. A lot can get done on a busy day, especially with a midnight close. I also love seeing the park fully awakened at the peak of the season, notwithstanding the crowds. There's a certain energy that just doesn't exist on a dead weekday. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I wish I could make it! Work was in the way and I was far too tired after to go to the park after. It sounds like you all had a great time, thanks for the TR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 I just realized that I posted this in the wrong forum. If a moderator could move it to "Trip Reports" from "Meet Ups", I would appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Great meeting up with everyone! I think I got the worst of the WWC night ride. My clothes were still wet when I got home around 2:00 AM. I had to hang them up to dry in the bathroom. I just realized that I posted this in the wrong forum. If a moderator could move it to "Trip Reports" from "Meet Ups", I would appreciate it! I requested a move with the "report" button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDMC01 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Great trip report Malem; I'm glad I could join everyone for the last two hours! Vortex and Beast's night rides with the fog and darkness were just surreal; it almost felt like you weren't even at Kings Island anymore. On The Beast's second lift, I remember seeing the dark forest and 2 bright headlights in the distance (marking the top of the hill) and thinking "Are we even on planet Earth anymore?" And also, really glad I got 7-1 on that 2nd Vortex ride as the first drop was insane (and I always thought 7-2 was better...). But seriously, though, it was amazing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 7-1 all the way. And I thought the fog was simply just the smoke from the fireworks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DontWantToWait42mar0 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 An epic trip it was. Good call on the WWC night ride Goble !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I helped a friend move until 11:30 and then hung out at the Waffle House across the street. Sorry I couldn't make it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 ^ Helping a friend is much more important than getting to Kings Island. We were just surprised not to see you at Cirque or on the last Beast train of the last midnight close. I think I got the worst of the WWC night ride. My clothes were still wet when I got home around 2:00 AM. I had to hang them up to dry in the bathroom. I had dry clothes waiting for me in the car. The clothes I changed out of were still wet when I got home at 3:00am, and the shoes I wore were still wet in the morning. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goki32 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 That particular White Water Canyon ride was definitely memorable lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysticsTimber Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 It was fun! Even though I was only there for 2 hours. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VortexBFForever Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I would've loved to come, but I was too busy enjoying the last day of the Greene County Fair. I'll make a note to myself to get to one of these midnight closings as early as next year. Riding Vortex at/just before midnight sounds really cool! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 In just a little over a month you can ride Vortex at 1am during Friday night Haunt or Saturday night Haunt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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