First Ever Kings Island Trip - Wednesday, August 5

[brendan71388]

On Wednesday my wife and I went to Kings Island for the day. It was my first time going there, and although she'd been before, she hadn't ridden much so it was almost like we were both new to it. This is a VERY positive report! 

 

We don't like to eat in the park because the food is so expensive, so I like to get there early to make sure we get a good parking spot for when we go out to the car and eat. We got there around 9 and got a great spot. We didn't have early entry. We got into the park at 9:30 and were at the front of the crowd waiting to get through toward the Banshee/Drop Tower area.

 

I have been really excited to ride Banshee ever since it was announced, and it did not disappoint! We walked on to the back row and it was amazing! That first drop was so intense. Of course it also helped that we hadn't ridden anything for two years. But what a great ride. It had been advised that we go to Firehawk/Flight of Fear first but couldn't resist walking onto such a new ride, and it worked out great. One thing I wasn't expecting was for the train to pick up speed about halfway up the lift hill. That just added to the intensity of the ride. 

 

Next we hit the other rides in that area. We walked onto Drop Tower, which was fun like any ride of that sort, and then we did Delirium, also fun. After that we decided The Bat could wait and we'd head toward Firehawk and Flight of Fear. 

 

Firehawk is the only ride from the day that I could say was disappointing. To me it seemed like it had been hyped as a really great coaster. I had never ridden a flying coaster so I was excited for the experience. It was a very sunny day, so coming out of the station on your back was blinding. Then the chain up the lift hill was SO LOUD since you're head is right down by the track. The ride itself was okay. The flying feeling wasn't as cool as I'd hoped. I'm just glad it was a very short wait. Flight of Fear was similar. It was a bit of a longer wait (at least relative to the others). My experience with indoor coasters has been that they're just okay, and FOF was no different. I didn't realize it was a launch coaster until we were on the platform. I did like being able to see everything inside the main part of the ride. It's cool how it all winds together in that small space. My wife and I agreed, however, that this would be the only time we'd visit this section of the park.

 

Next we were going to Vortex. I was pleasantly surprised at just how tall and long Vortex was. From the website I got the impression it was more like Corkscrew at CP and was even considering skipping it altogether. I had heard it was rough but we wanted to give it a try. We actually ended up riding WindSeeker first because there was no line. For some reason, though, we got to the loading spot and they closed off the line at that point. They ran it half full and then we got to go. Our time was only half full, too. Vortex was literally a walk on, as in we didn't have to even break stride from arriving on the platform to boarding. This would be a really good coaster if it weren't so rough. I would be willing to try it again in a different seat where I've read it can be smoother. The first drop and the loops were fun though.

 

By this time it was about 11:45, so we were thrilled at how much we'd been able to do in less than 2 hours. Next we went to The Racer, which is another one I'd considered skipping. Again, I'm glad we tried it. Up to this point we could see they were only running the red train. They didn't start testing the blue side until we were close to the platform. We ended up waiting about 30 minutes, but it was worth it for such a classic. I don't give the old wooden coasters enough credit because they do have my favorite two elements of coasters:  drops and airtime. Two days later I would ride Gemini at CP for the first time as well. I still haven't ridden Blue Streak.

 

Our next ride was the one I was most excited about--Diamondback. The TVs were saying it only had about a 10 minute wait. It was a little longer by the time we got there, but still not bad. The line seemed to be moving slow like they weren't getting the trains out very quickly. We rode in the front car on the two outside seats. The ride was a lot of run but not as good as when we rode back row later in the day. As I said before, I love a coaster with drops and airtime, and DB has a ton of that.

 

Finally, we were headed to The Beast. We had a really short wait and we went for the front row. This was definitely a crazy ride. By far the best wooden coaster I've ridden. The drops and the sharp turns were all very intense.

 

After we went out to the car for lunch and got back in the park it was about 3. We decided to go to Invertigo since we were at the front of the park. At the front of the line it said 30 minutes but it was much, much shorter than that. We rode in the very front/back where we weren't looking at anybody and we got pulled backwards first. This ride was intense! From hanging over nothing when you're going up the hill backwards, to that drop, and especially going through the entire thing backwards, it was a lot of fun. 

 

From here we decided to head back to Banshee. We rode front row this time, with another very short wait. When we got back there was still almost no line and we went back row again. Back row is definitely much better, although that's my preference on pretty much any coaster.

 

The Bat was next. Just by looking at it, I was excited that it looked like it was much more intense than Iron Dragon at CP. While it may have been, it was still just an okay coaster.

 

Next was the moment I was most excited about--Diamondback in the back row. Once again we were in the two outside seats. This was by far the best ride in the park. The first drop was so much better than in front, as were all the big airtime hills and drops. My wife and I agreed we wanted to do this again...and again. And we would.

 

But first, we went back out to the car for a little break. We went back to Invertigo when we came back in. We rode facing the same direction, but instead in the very last row facing forward first. I was hoping it would make the first drop going forward better, but instead it really just made the whole ride really awkward. I'll never ride that again unless I'm facing somebody I know or on the outside rows. Now it was about 6. We went back to Diamondback and rode very back row again. From there we went to The Beast again, this time in the very back as well. I didn't notice as big of a difference between front and back on Beast as I typically do. 

 

It was about 7:20 now and we went back out to the car one last time for dinner. We got back in about 8, and I wanted to make sure we rode each of the big 3 again at least once. What we ended up doing was going to Diamondback first, back row again. We got out about 8:40 and headed to The Beast. We hoped the wait would be just long enough where it would be dark by the time we got on, because I'd read that it was a must at night. We got on around 9, but it was not quite dark yet. It was still a really fun ride again. Doing it when it's DARK is a must next time though.

 

From Beast we wanted to hit Banshee at night and then do one last ride on Diamondback. Banshee was great once again and was again a really quick wait. We got to Diamondback soon enough that we hoped we might get through and be able to book it to Beast. Alas, that didn't happen. We were both really happy with getting one last ride in on Diamondback, though. It was pretty creepy at night, too, because there weren't any lights or anything through most of it. It really is a fantastic ride.

 

So...we had a great time! We ultimately rode Diamondback 5 times, Banshee 4, and Beast 3. We got to do pretty much everything else at least once, too. I couldn't believe how much we were able to do because I'd never been to a park on a day that slow. It was amazing! I can't wait to visit again. Thanks for reading!

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Awesome trip report! It was fun to read. Glad you had an amazing time!

[MDMC01]

Good stuff; glad you enjoyed yourself! And yes, going to theme parks on weekdays are great at weekends at the parks can get pretty crowded.

[westcoaster]

Great trip report.

To another adventure as soon as possible at KI.

[KI FANATIC 37]

I totally agree row 16 on Diamondback is the best ride in the park! I'm glad you had a great time!