Best Seats?

[Disaster Transport]

Greetings fellow coaster enthusiasts! I just moved to the area last month, and have already been to the park twice. I'm planning at least two more trips before the season is up.

My question, as a KI newbie, is what rows/seats are the best for each coaster? I know I've seen discussion of the best seats for at least Vortex and Banshee scattered around the forum, but I couldn't find a specific thread in the search. I want to make sure I hit the best rows/seats before the season's up! Thanks.

[BB1]

Front on The Beast, back on FOF.

[malem]

You'll find lots of differing opinions on this; here's an older topic with many of them: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/28348-what-is-your-seat-of-choice-on-kings-islands-coasters

The only rides at Kings Island that I have a clear seat preference on are Vortex (7th car, front row), Invertigo (front/back), and Banshee (front row).

[Disaster Transport]

Perfect! Thanks, malem. That's exactly what I was looking for!

[malem]

And welcome, by the way!

[jbum123]

Depends on your definition of "Best".

On Diamonback, second row is great due to the staggered seating. Gives practically the same view as front but not the line that comes with it.

Middle of the train is great for airtime, back is great for the forcefulness of getting pulled over the hills and such.

Backlot, Any seat for me as long as it after the first climb in the "Parking garage". Hate that part.

Lots of options but it depends on what you are wanting to experience.

And welcome to KIC and to the Kings Island "family. we've got a great park!

[homestar92]

You'll find two prevailing opinions on Vortex. Some, like malem and I, prefer car 7 row 1 as is offers great air on the first drop. Many others like car 5 row 1, as they feel it is the smoothest. I disagree, and find 7-1 to be much better, but to each his own.

Those are just the most common though. I'm sure you'll find fans of every seat around here.

[calakapepe]

Yeah, and I don't understand why some specify 7-1.. any seat in the last car feel very similar.

But I agree that 7-1 (really any 7th car seat) is a less rough ride than 5-1.

[kingsislandfan1972]

The first seats up front on Diamondback always gets my adrenaline pumping, the wait for the front is usually long, but it is definitley worth it.

[Voicetek]

I'm a little crazy I guess. I prefer the back seat on just about every coaster. If I can grab the back seat, I usually do. In the back seat, you get pulled over the hills so you get the most out of every drop. I know a lot of people prefer the front seats, but I feel like, in the front, by the time the train really picks up speed on that drop, the front seat car is half way down the hill already. The back, however, gets the entire drop at full speed. It really gives you that "tickle" in your stomach. That's why I ride coasters, so I try to get the most "tickle" I can get.

Now occasionally I'll do a front seat just for the experience. Front seat rides offer the best views, in my opinion. The first time I rode Diamondback was in the front seat. That was a great experience. Now, though, I usually go towards the back since I've already experienced it in the front.

I think the "best seat" is just whatever you feel it is. Some people have different preferences and would consider one seat better than another. It really just comes down to riding the coasters multiple times and get a feel for where you like to sit and what's the most fun for you. Someone's "best" seat might not be someone else's "best" seat.

[malem]

Yeah, and I don't understand why some specify 7-1.. any seat in the last car feel very similar.

The front row of the car has more legroom, which is important for the taller among us.

In back rows on Vortex, my knees hit the seat in front of me.

[KIBeast]

I prefer the back row on Vortex. I love the way you get whipped around the loops and over the first drop.

[coasterfanatic83]

The back car on The Bat gets me every time on the first drop.

[PKIVortex]

I like 7-1 on Vortex as well been riding there for years. 7-1 on The Bat. 6-2 on The Beast, 5-2 on The Racer. I find the middle rows of wooden coasters 3 bench rows to be the smoothest.

[The Interpreter]

You are going to see a trend, pretty much, below:

Beast: 1-1 or middle row of back car (90 percent of the time, you'll find me in the front, right seat).

Racer: 1-1 or 1-3.

Vortex: 1-1 or 5-1.

The Bat: 1-1.

Banshee: row 1, center seats.

Diamondback: Row 1

(but: Nitro: back row, outside seats).

Drop Tower, Delirium: Front row.

Cedar Point:

Maverick: Front Row ONLY

Top Thrill Dragster: Front row.

Magnum XL-200: 1-1 or 1-3.

Gatekeeper: back row, outside seat.

Mean Streak: The nice park bench out in front.

[jcgoble3]

Drop Tower, Delirium: Front row.

This is awesome.

Mean Streak: The nice park bench out in front.

Not even the front row?

[The Interpreter]

No. Life is too short to ride boring coasters.

[Guest dtk1376]

The Bat front row is really the only way I'll ride it, it's one of the best rides in the park when in the front seat.

[homestar92]

No. Life is too short to ride boring coasters.

Funny. That's why I usually don't ride Diamondback if it isn't a walk-on.

I feel we could raise quite a Dinn debating the coasters that we find Boring & Mediocre.

Oh, and I'll mark the following as an edit, just in case the post gets likes or replies before I'm done. These are my personal favorites on all the coasters at Kings Island:

Beast: Middle row of ANY car or the very front. No real preference within that group, especially at night.

Racer: Second to last row.

Adventure Express: Front Row or second to last row.

Banshee: Front row, outside left or back row outside right

Bat: Front row only. Life is to short to not get the best possible ride from this wonderful machine, and with any row other than the front, you're not getting the best it can deliver.

Diamondback: The back. Sometimes I get a little bit of air. Also, it tends to be a bit quieter so as to not disturb my nice nap.

Firehawk: Wherever they place me. And only if waits are minimal. I like the ride, but not enough to wait for it, especially before dark.

Flight of Fear: Formerly, the very back. Now, the backmost row that they are allowing people to use.

Flying Ace Areial Chase: The front.

Great Pumpkin Coaster: I've only ridden once, and in the back,

Invertigo: One of the seats outside Chicken Shack, preferably with their delightful toast. If I must ride it, then the front seat as you leave the station (facing parking lot)

Vortex: I'll happily ride any seat, but 7th car, front row is my favorite.

Woodstock Express: The very back row.

Backlot Stunt Coaster: I'll sit anywhere, but the closer to the back, the better.

Any droppy ride that ISN'T an S&S Space Shot: The nearest park bench.

Oh, and for Blue Streak: Driver's seat, and nobody else is to ever sit there. Preferably a nice pretty girl in the passenger seat, but no luck on that yet. Of course (to the original poster) unless you've been lurking here for a while, that last one probably makes no sense to you.

[Italian Job 2005]

I feel we could raise quite a Dinn debating the coasters that we find Boring & Mediocre.

Very, very true.

Yet in the end we will all still have our own opinions.

I liked Mean Streak when I rode it back in 2011.

And after riding it 100+ times, I still love Diamondback for its airtime.

[MDMC01]

I may have mentioned my seat preferences before, but I'll gladly do it again:

Banshee: back row, furthest right

Adventure Express: 2nd to last row in back car OR front seat

Vortex: 7-1 or 7-2

Invertigo: Back (dropping backwards first)

Beast: I like the very front, but as long as its not a wheel seat, doesn't matter to me (though I tend to sit towards the front or middle)

Firehawk: Doesn't matter, but the very back is cool as you get to see the rest of the train during the loop.

[Magenta Lizard]

If you read the other thread, I think I mentioned it there too: definitely try different seats for yourself. I got in a rut of front seat or back car as my preferred places on all coasters. Then earlier this summer I happened to try the middle of Diamondback. I love the heavenly floating sensation at the tops of hills when I ride in row 8 or 10, and I think that may be my favorite seating in the whole park. I never would have discovered it if I didn't experiment.

[homestar92]

^ And to add to this, never judge a coaster after only one ride. Vortex, for example, is a VERY different experience in the front than it is in 5-1 or 7-1

[The Interpreter]

And wood coasters, particularly, can be moody beasts. The finest wooden coaster in all the world can have bad days or even bad seasons, and even medocre to bad wooden coasters can have somewhat good days.

I even once had a somewhat pleasurable ride on Voyage. Definitely an anomaly.

[McSalsa]

^
Even though I have only been to a handful of parks at best (Kings Island, Holiday World, and back in 1999 Indiana Beach) I can ALREADY vouch for the wooden coaster thing with KI's and HW's woodies alone. I'll use KI's Red Racer as a example:

May 5th, 2012: I ride in the front seat. It's uber-smooth for a wooden coaster, the airtime is fantastic, and I was actually able to keep my hands up the entire ride with ease. Easily my best ever ride on the coaster. Was the first ride of the day, too...

May 13th, 2014: 2 years later, I ride Racer again from the same seat. Mid-day this time though. However, the difference is drastic- the ride was pretty rough, the airtime was far weaker (save one spot but it was ruined by excessive roughness that hit at the same spot causing me to slam into my lapbar) and the ride was only somewhat enjoyable. WORST ride I ever had on either Racer- yeah, Blue was never this bad and from what I've read that's usually the worst of the two. Beast was not running at its best either (though it was more it didn't feel as fast, that ride was still very smooth feeling) so I have to wonder if the weather caused this awful ride.

And there you have a good example of how wooden coasters can often be very different just based on when you ride them. Wet track due to rain will also have a huge effect. Another example: on my first visit to Holiday World in 2010, I rode all 3 wooden coasters (Raven-Legend-Voyage in that order) and got excellent airtime on every single one. On trip #2 in 2011, it was hot & muggy and only Legend had any decent airtime spots whatsoever- and Voyage felt 10x rougher than in 2010. In 2013, my 3rd and most recent trip to that park, Raven & Legend were actually even BETTER than they were in 2010- but Voyage fell somewhere in the middle, far better than it was in 2011 but not nearly as good as 2010.

And well, that's all the info I can give about how wooden coasters seem moody, from my experience. From what I've done so far, it seems Beast @ KI and Legend @ HW are the most consisent wooden coasters I've been on...and even they fluctuate. Steel coasters do it too, but it's nowhere near as drastic- usually it's just a bit less airtime or something on those.

[tuxedoman52]

Racer in the front. That will give you the smoothest ride in my opinion.

[timfsu2k]

It's a small coaster but I think the back seat in Adventure Express offers one of the most fun ride experiences in the park. I may be biased since that coaster is my wife and daughter's all time favorite.

Best seat on The Diamondback is any seat that allows you to ride The Diamondback. Love that monster!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KOBasinger]

Row 2 (outside seats) on Diamondback is great! I actually prefer them over Row 1.

I like Row 1 on Banshee or the very back as well.

[calakapepe]

Yeah, and I don't understand why some specify 7-1.. any seat in the last car feel very similar.

The front row of the car has more legroom, which is important for the taller among us.

In back rows on Vortex, my knees hit the seat in front of me.

Mm! Yeah, you see I need to be better at remembering that everyone isn't my own size. I don't even think about it. Ride on!

[TopThrill]

On any wooden coaster that has three rows per car, the middle sit is always the smoothest, along with the front seat. If you sit over a wheel you'll feel every bump. On Face/Off (Invertigo) I find that sitting towards the middle is the best, sitting on the ends is uncomfortable to me. Just like with any Inverted coaster the front is always the best, it gives you a sense of flying.