Kings Island trip June 18th/19th

[happyslap]

                                                                                                                                 June 18th

I wanted to take my friend Rachel to KI so she could experience her first roller coaster. She brought her sister named Haley along. We took the 3 hour drive, which was pretty short. Then, once we arrived, we decided that I would ride with Rachel and my mom would ride with Haley. On the walk to the park, Rachel falls and reskins her knee on the concrete. It takes about 15 minutes to help her (Thank goodness Mom is a nurse!) and we finally get going again. We headed to Planet Snoopy, so Rachel could see if she liked the rides. She has motion sickness, so we steered clear of the "spinny" rides and walked towards Woodstock Express. Rachel wanted to ride with her sis, so we paired up and got seats close to the front. Once we got on the lift hill, I could hear Rachel say, "Can I get off now?" But as soon as we dove down, Rachel enjoyed the whole ride. While we were waiting for the train to pull into the station, I asked Rachel if she enjoyed the ride. Almost immediately she said, "This was my favorite ride EVER!" Since we wanted to try to get her on a looping coaster, we took her to Surf Dog to "test her limits". She was acting nervous the whole walk there. We tried to get on, but there were only 3 seats left and Mom had to angrily and reluctantly let a group in front of her. But when it was our turn, the OPs were making a big fuss about our seating arrangement so it took us a few more minutes to get locked in. As the ride started spinning, Rachel looked a bit queasy, but as we went up the ends of the ride, she automatically perked up. When we got off, she said, "That was my FAVORITE ride so far!" We headed towards Flying Ace Aerial Chase, but Rachel didn't want to ride. We asked her why, and she pointed to Diamondback and she exclaimed, "Well, look how BIG it is!!!" I had to patiently explain to her that they weren't the same ride and we FINALLY got in the line. After the longest 10 minutes ever, we hopped on (literally) and we started ascending the lift hill. We got a good view of Planet Snoopy and I asked Rachel if she was scared. She started to nod, but then the ride dropped and we twisted and turned through the track. "WOO-HOO!!!" Then Haley asked if she enjoyed the ride. "It's been my favorite ride so far!" (Notice the pattern?) Haley and Mom were ready to ride some real roller coasters and so was I. Haley looked around and said, "How about that big red thing?" and pointed at Diamondback. You know, the one that Rachel had just said she didn't want to ride at all? We got in the line and while we waited, I tried to convince Mom that the ride had a LOT of loops, so Rachel couldn't ride. And then I wouldn't have to ride because I had to wait with her. (I didn't want to ride anyway.)  Mom and Haley took some seats that were close to the back while Rachel and I headed towards the exit. 5 minutes later (there was a train traffic jam), they both came back with their hair messed up. "Welcome back, riders! HOW WAS THAT RIDE?!?!" Immediately from Haley & Mom's train we hear... "WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Then the whole train applauds and they all get off. Mom whispers to me that Haley (15 years old) was saying some... not very good words during the brake run. Since it had been a while since Rachel and I had ridden something, I ran towards The Beast. When we neared the entrance two men were standing there and shooing everyone away. The Beast was broken and they said they didn't know when it would be open again. They also wouldn't tell us why it was closed. Angrily, we walked away and towards Backlot Stunt Coaster, which had the longest line. After about 30 minutes, we got into the cars and I warned Rachel about the "launch" and the triple helix. Then, BAM! We were sent flying through the turns and I asked Rachel if she was OK. Silence. Then I hear, "Well, THAT was extreme. Yeah, I'm OK."  We stop at the helicopter area. Rachel nervously says, "Are we stuck?" Then, BAM! We get launched again! We go under the line and I see the station ahead. We wait to pull ahead and we jump out. Haley's stomach is hurting, so we have to leave soon. We decide to head to the Grand Carousel because Rachel wants to ride. (She's only been to county fairs before, okay?) She accidentally gets on a non-jumping horse and we just.. ride it. When we pass Mom, I yell, "MOST HARDCORE RIDE AT THE PARK!!!" When we get off, karma makes an appearance as I get hit in the gut by the foot handles. Then we head towards the Eiffel Tower and replace Rachel's Band-Aid while Haley feels even worse. We leave KI and stop at Walgreen's for Haley. As soon as we get to the hotel, it starts storming. At 9 P.M. we swim for 10 mins. then go to sleep. Tell you about the next day later! Thanks for reading! (By the way, tell me if there are any errors I can fix!)

[Magenta Lizard]

That was very entertaining!

Not an error, but you may want to add some paragraph breaks. Right now it is a big wall-o-text that makes it a little difficult to read I only mention it because you asked.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

I enjoyed this TR! Great perspective on what seems to have been day 1 of a memorable visit to KI!

[CoasterOhio]

I ran towards The Beast. When we neared the entrance two men were standing there and shooing everyone away. The Beast was broken and they said they didn't know when it would be open again. They also wouldn't tell us why it was closed. 

I want to say what everyone probably thinks. That Ride operators do not know. But in fact, they TRULY do not know what is wrong. The only people that do know what is wrong with the ride are the park mechanics. So when they do say they don't know. They REALLY don't know what's wrong. If you listen to the radios from park supervisors (Green shirts) you can sometimes hear when a ride breaks down, and most of the time it's electrical of mechanical. That's it.

[happyslap]

CoasterOhio, thanks for telling me about that. I didn't know and didn't mean to offend anybody. Sorry about the error! 

[happyslap]

                                                                                                                                                   June 19th

We checked out of our hotel, ate some McDonald's, and took the 5-minute drive to Kings Island. We had planned on staying at the waterpark that day, but since it was raining, we decided to ride the roller coasters we couldn't earlier. 

 

Once we're in Action Zone, we decide to start at The Bat. Despite being to the park before, I still get slightly lost trying to find it.  Only one train was working on The Bat, so we waited in line for about 25 minutes. Finally, we get in the "boats" (I don't know what they're called). As Rachel and I head up the lift hill, she says, "Are we going into that hotel?" and points to Great Wolf Lodge. I sigh, shake my head, and then we zoom down the drop! As we fly through the woods, I can see my mom and Haley in front of us trying to put their hands up. Our "boats" fly by the people watching us and both of us wave. As the ride's about to end, Rachel remembers that the "boats" swing at the end and asks me if we're going to hit the wall. We were already slowing down, so by the time she got done with her question, we were swinging side to side. After we get off, she says, "This was the best ride SO FAR!" We head back towards AZ.

 

Haley and I planned on riding Banshee, but since everyone (but me) was hungry, we eat at LaRosa's on International Street. Then we plan on going to The Racer next, which I forgot to say was also not open yesterday. We look up and don't see any trains running, so we instead head towards WindSeeker. At first, Rachel was a bit frightened because of the height, but then once I told her it was just like the swings at the County Fair, she opened up and decided to ride. It was still raining, but Rachel and I still made Haley and Mom ride with us.   As we ascent up the tower with Star Wars music playing in the background, I hear Rachel mutter to herself, "This was a bad idea." But once we finally start spinning, the great view immediately changes her mind. By the time we reach the top, both me and Rachel have our hands up. The rain is starting to sting us, but Rachel's having such a good time that she tells me that she's going to ride again. As soon as we get off, me and Rachel run back in line while Haley and Mom hide under shelter. At the last second, Haley runs up to join us in line, but more people have gotten behind us, which makes her get the exact opposite seats from us. WE ride again, get stung by the rain, etc. etc. etc., but then, a miracle happens. As we swing around, I look into the woods and see The Beast going up its lift hill! "MOM!!!" I yell. "The Beast IS OPEN!!!" As we spin around again, I see The Racer's Blue Train going up an airtime hill.I yell back at her,"The Racer'S OPEN TOO!" As tiny as an ant, I see her give me a thumbs up. I turn over to give Rachel a highfive. I tell her that we're heading to The Racer next. "Does it have any loops?" she asks. I say no, and she replies, saying," Then let's DO IT!" Once we get off, I run towards Mom and tell her to follow me towards The Racer. 

 

After running towards The Racer and waiting for the adults to catch up, we get in line. Since Mom's too lazy to take the regular path, she cuts through the Fast Lane and then enters the regular line at the last second. We get the closest trains to the front that we can get. Mom sits out, and our train gets moving. Only the Blue Train is working, so there's no one racing us. As we head up and down the hills, Rachel asks me if we can ride again. I tell her, "I hope so," and then I get back to the important task at hand: keeping my hands up. (Get it?) Once we get in the tunnel area between the station and the track, Haley screams, "THIS IS THE BEST PART!" and we hear some laughs come from the back row. We get off and ask Mom if we can ride again and she says yes. We run back to the entrance, and learning from Mom's "wise" decision, Haley tells us to take the Fast Lane. Once again, we cut back to the regular line at the last second, and this time I ride by myself for the first time ever. For a while, the ride stays completely normal, until at the end after the turnaround, I see Rachel putting her hands up! Now, this may not seem important to you, but since she rode her first roller coaster the day before, I was pretty proud of her. We were supposed to leave at 3, but it was already 1:30. Despite the time, I ask if we can ride one more ride: The Beast.

 

I convince Mom to let us ride, and she finally says yes. I lead them towards The Beast. By now, I've memorized the path by heart. I run through the queue with Rachel close behind me and the others trailing behind us. Once again, we get seats close to the front. As we pull up the lift hill, I watch Vortex go through its double loops. I show Rachel Soak City and tell her we're heading there next. As the ride stops near the top Rachel asks, "Oh. My. Gosh. Does this go UNDERGROUND?!?!?!" Before i have time to say yes, we rush down the drop and go through the tunnel. During the double helix, Rachel tells me, "THIS IS THE BEST RIDE EVER!!!" and puts her hands up. The ride ends and we get out. Rachel asks if we have time to ride again, but it's 2:00. We then decide to take K.I. & Miami Valley Railroad to Soak City.

 

After waiting for what had seemed like forever, the Green Train pulls up and we hop on. Our guide gives us the tour, I convince Rachel that the bear is real, and we reach Soak City. We get changed into our bathing suits and make sure Mom has her phone (She left it in the Smoking Area near SC last time). By then, it's 2:30, so we have 30 minutes to ride the slides. One of the wave pools is closed even though it isn't raining, so we head towards the Mondo Monsoon. Rachel won't ride so she waits for us at the bottom. Haley and I go through the freezing waterfall, through the dark portion, and then we slide through the toilet bowl and find Rachel waiting for us. Next, Haley wants to go ride the surfing attraction, Pipeline Paradise. neither of us want to ride either, so we wait 15 minutes for Haley to fail at surfing and not catch a single wave. I show Rachel all of the slides around and decides she wants to go to... the kiddy area. I very quickly let her play with the water toys and I soon grew a liking to it. By then, it was 3, and we went to go check on Mom and she said we could stay for another hour. Rachel ran towards the open wave pool, so I followed her. Long story short, we spent three hours in there. I went to go get a snack, and Mom said we could stay for one more round of waves. i swam back to Rachel, who wouldn't get out. Three wave cycles later, I see Mom on the lifeguard platform yelling, "KIDS! GET OUT OF THE WATER RIGHT! NOW!!!" I swim as fast as I can towards the chairs with Rachel right behind me. Mom makes us dry off as we walk and we don't take the train. I follow Mom, but we had to make one more stop. For the past 30 minutes, Haley had been BEGGING Mom for a souvenir. After she buys her a shirt, we get in the car, and leave.

 

Overall, this was a really good visit to Kings Island. Sure, I didn't enjoy the wave pool incident, but I'm just glad nothing else like that happened. There's one ride I left out, and that was Vortex because 1. Rachel sat out. and 2. Nothing special happened on it. I would bring them back any day if I could, but it won't be for a long time. Thanks for reading! Once again, please tell me if you enjoyed my Trip Report and tell me if there's anything I can fix! After all, it's not like I won't go again!