August 18: We Got Wet...AND Drenched!

[VortexBFForever]

Like my previous trip, the day of this trip started out quite typically, without any immediate plans to return to the Island. I clearly remember sitting at the round table in the front lobby of the Xenia YMCA on the quiet morning of Thursday, August 18, 2016, when my phone buzzed with a notification that my friend Taylor (who I saw at the park on May 31 without even planning it) had sent me a direct message on Instagram saying she was going to Kings Island with her parents and that I was invited to come along. I let my parents know via text and they said it was okay if I went.

 

And just like that, I was in for my second Kings Island trip this week, and I had not even moved from my seat at the round table at the Y. My, how things can work out in a snap...

Let me just say that I walked into my 12:15 p.m. Zumba class with an extra spring in my step. It was no surprise I was excited to take my favorite fitness class and go to one of my favorite places in the same day!

 

Just before we met up and left, I suggested spending half of our time at Soak City and the other half at Kings Island, since we would arrive at the park at 4, with Soak City closing at 6 and Kings Island closing at 8. We would spend two hours at each park. We hoped for light crowds since a number of school districts were starting the academic year, including my local school district (Beavercreek). My school (Xenia Christian, now Legacy Christian Academy) doesn't start until August 25. Ha...

 

Part 1: Soak City

 

 

 

 

After leaving Beavercreek just after 3, we arrived at the park at around 4. Approaching the park, I felt the same excitement I felt when I first came here as an intrigued 8-year-old back on Sunday, September 30, 2007. Kings Island has become so special to me as my "home playground" and my inspiration to become an engineer so I could potentially work in the amusement park industry. After 73 visits (by far) in 10 seasons, it's no surprise that this wonderful place means so much to me.

 

Since we were going to Soak City first, we went through its entrance. I had never gone through Soak City's front entrance until this day!

 

 

On our way to Tidal Wave Bay, we saw that Breakers Bay was closed and blocked off with a long line of chairs. I would later see a few other attractions including Tropical Twister appearing to be closed as well. Staffing, maybe?

 

 

But no need for mopin', because Tidal Wave Bay was open! After finding a chair (which surprisingly didn't take too long), Taylor's parents stayed with our stuff while Taylor and I headed into the water. It was so great to be back in a wave pool for the first time in three years (last time was July 27, 2013 at the Big Surf Wavepool at The Beach). The waves had just started, so we were quick to get in (safely, of course) and ride/swim under the waves with the other guests who were enjoying the water and the sunshine. After the waves ended, we played in the fountains until the clock reached 0:00. When I swam under the waves, it was so cool looking up at the surface of the water and seeing it moving up and down. If I swam under with my eyes closed, I could feel the waves pushing me, sometimes causing me to lose track of which direction I was swimming (which felt so weird!) because obviously my eyes were closed and I couldn't see!

 

After the waves ended that time, we decided to head to Splash River. There were so many empty tubes that we literally walked right in and hopped on one each! We ended up going around three times. Yes, it got crowded sometimes, but there were always enough tubes to go around! And there are so many features on Splash River! My favorite features are the waterfalls and the cones that dump water. On our third time around, I was able to be under the first two cones when they dumped water! And of course, it was awesome.

 

We spent a few minutes playing in the shallow waters of Coconut Cove before I declared it was time to do some slides. We went back to Tidal Wave Bay for a time check and we found out that it was already 5:20! Tropical Plunge was only a few paces away so we decided to do that. We did the tube slides first. Taylor went on the blue slide while I went on the aqua green slide. The aqua green slide has a pretty big drop (the biggest drop on any tube slide I've ridden!) and it was(is) really fun!

 

In the meantime, the line for the body slides had gotten shorter. I wanted to ride but Taylor wasn't up for it just yet. She said she would watch while I made the climb, and took the Plunge (pun intended), which I did after waiting a few minutes. I went on the Green slide for my first ride ever on a slide of this kind.

Never before had I stepped into a capsule with a clear floor and leaned against a slide, with water running down my back and out into the tube right below, knowing that the clear floor was going to open, sending me into the tube at the mercy of gravity. Thankfully, there is a countdown! When the lifeguard pushed the button and the door closed, I heard "3...2...1..." and immediately the floor dropped and I Plunged into the fiberglass tube. Adrenaline rushed through me as the rushing water sped me around the turns. I opened my eyes enough to see the water and the green tube around me. Seconds later, I was in the catch pool. It was a fun ride!

 

Taylor and I went back into the wave pool, since the waves had started again. I wanted to slide a few more times, as it was 5:40, and Taylor wanted to stay in the pool, so we agreed to meet back at our chair just before 6. I went back to Tropical Plunge and rode the aqua green tube slide again, since the line had shortened. Good thing I rode when I did, because by the time I exited the splash pool, the line was much longer. The body slide line, on the other hand, was nearly nonexistent, so I decided to ride again. This time, I rode the Blue body slide, letting out a short yelp of excitement as I experienced another adrenaline-filled Plunge into the swift waters.

 

We met back at our chair at 5:55, and we gathered our stuff and made our way to the changing rooms as we heard the closing announcement. The changing rooms were full so I changed in the less crowded bathroom instead. After I had changed, we tried to make it to the train, but of course they were closing the gate RIGHT AS WE ARRIVED...so we walked over to Kings Island instead.

 

 

We had just walked across the tracks when the gates started to close and we heard "Ladies and gentlemen, the train is approaching..." I wondered if we would make it back to Kings Island on foot before the train would arrive in Rivertown...

 

 

 

 

Unbeknownst to us, we would be in for a wild evening on the dry side, which wouldn't be dry for very long...

[King Ding Dong]

SFSTL had a guard who reguraly launched the slide on 2 instead of 1. I dubbed him Evil Guard. It actually made it more fun.

[jcgoble3]

SFSTL had a guard who reguraly launched the slide on 2 instead of 1. I dubbed him Evil Guard. It actually made it more fun.

 

Here, the countdown and drop is fully automated. The lifeguard just holds down the dispatch button, and the computer plays a countdown from three and automatically drops exactly on zero. I don't believe there is any way for the lifeguard to drop the floor early.

[VortexBFForever]

After a busy weekend, I have finally returned!

 

Part 2: Kings Island

 

Once our feet and the path had led us to Kings Island, the first ride we rode was Race For Your Life Charlie Brown. There was a line, but from past experience I knew it would move quickly. And I was right - less than ten minutes passed before we boarded with another group of 2. As physics would have it, a boat of 4 displaces more water and makes a bigger splash than a boat of 2, which was very evident on the final drop when we got more wet than on any of our other rides on RFLYCB! We sure had not been dry for long...and it would end up staying that way, as we would later find.

 

The Kings Island app told me that Diamondback was a five minute wait, so we headed over there to try to dry off. The line went back to the bottom of the lift hill and it moved very quickly. Like RFYLCB, it was no more than ten minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you could see in the pictures, we originally queued for Row 12, but switched to Row 14 when we saw it was a one train wait as well. Taylor's dad rode in front of us, in Row 13. The Green Train took us on our first dry ride adventure of this evening!

 

Knowing that Banshee's line would be nearly nonexistent, we skedaddled over there immediately after we got off Diamondback. I was contemplating buying an on-ride photo, but I wanted to save my money since I was still "recovering" from my Cedar Point splurge.

 

 

In the meantime, we enjoyed our walk down International Street, one of the few times when we walk down the Street for a destination other than the exit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The walk up to the station took longer than the actual wait, which was no more than one train. We picked Row 7 (my favorite number!), the farthest back we have ridden on Banshee by far. Let me tell you, Row 7 offers a wild ride, as we experienced on the Purple Train!

 

 

 

 

We had not ridden The Bat since May 31, so we could not pass up the opportunity to ride it again. The Bat is also special to me, as it was the first big steel coaster I had ever ridden, with my first ride on July 4, 2008 (with the Blue Racer being my first big wooden coaster, first ridden on June 30, 2008).

 

We waited for the front row since there was literally NO ONE else in line...at least for 40 seconds, anyway. Four others had joined us by the time our train arrived, one of whom was a young boy who was a little shorter than us (but still above 48"). One of the attendants, Nathan, walked over to him to check his height and held the stick up extra high and said, "Sorry, you're not tall enough." The boy looked around, saw that he was joking, and laughed. Since the purple marker was also very far above my head (and I'm 66"), I went along with the joke and added, "I'm not tall enough either!" as I jumped to see if my head would get high enough, then I pretended to exit the line while jokingly saying "Well, guess I can't ride either!"   Then Nathan walked over to Taylor, saying he wanted to check her height, and when he did, he held the stick so that Taylor's head was just a quarter inch below the purple marker (for reference, Taylor is just over 54") and said "Oh, you're just a quarter inch short! So close!" as we all laughed. I made a note to stop by Guest Services at the end of our trip, since Nathan had made our short wait that much more fun!

 

 

 

(taken while I was boarding, as always. Yes, I know that you trust that I don't take my camera out on a ride during a ride, but I just provide the note for the sake of clarification. )

 

Do I even have to tell you that the cool 51 mph breeze, coupled with swooping through the trees, is SO EXHILARATING??!?!?!? Especially on a warm August evening??!?!? I always love riding my first big "grown-up" steel coaster, as The Bat is special to me as well as Vortex. And I can't forget the Blue Racer, my first big "grown-up" woodie!

 

 

 

Those gray rain clouds seen in these last few pictures would be responsible for an interesting turn of events that would only get wetter from here, especially since we still had not dried off from RFYLCB!

 

As we approached the entrance for our next ride, Drop Tower, it suddenly began to rain as we joined the non-existent line. The cover offered some shelter from the rain, which was good because during the ride there would be no shelter!

 

Thankfully, it was just rain, as the rides continued operation like nothing happened, and it was 7:20, 40 minutes before closing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rain took the off-ride experience to the next level when the ride dropped. Not only did we get a good, cool breeze, we got a crazy awesome MIST along with it; it was a pleasant (albeit chilly) surprise for all of us in line!!

[King Ding Dong]

So when you are on the drop, which falls faster, you or the rain?

[VortexBFForever]

^That is actually where I am picking up this part, so you will read the answer really shortly!

 

 

By the time we got on, the rain had escalated to a downpour. The few people who were in front of us bailed, so now we were at the front of the line, which meant we got Seats 1 and 2. We were two of eight brave souls willing to get soaked for the sake of free-falling at 67 mph. Minutes later, Drop Tower was on its way, with eight of its forty seats filled, making the 315-foot ascent. The view from up top was so worth being soaked! Visibility was low, but it was sooooo cool seeing all the rain falling from 315 feet above ground! Then I heard the click, counted to 7, and plunged. The rain slowed down, then started going UP as we dropped faster and faster! When the magnetic brakes kicked in, the rain started falling down again as we heard "Welcome back, Soak City Waterpark riders; we hope you enjoyed that drop!"

 

So to answer your question, King Ding Dong, one who rides Drop Tower falls faster than the rain. This is living proof that rain can fall up! Just ride Drop Tower when it's raining!

 

Taylor's mom took a picture of us on our way up. I'm the one sitting the closest to the camera, and Taylor is sitting next to me.

 

Once we touched down, the two attendants scrambled to help get the eight of us off so we could get to a dry shelter. We ran out the exit gate to a nearby gift shop were Taylor's parents had gone to get out of the rain. I suggested we have our picture taken together as a future reminder of just how soaked we were!

 

 

And by soaked, I mean so soaked that we could literally wring water out of our shirts, like a washcloth! The only part of my clothes that was dry was where I was wearing my waist pack.

 

 

 

It was 7:30. After staying in the gift shop for a few minutes, we wanted to ride Adventure Express next. Taylor's parents wanted to stay where it was dry, so we agreed that Taylor and I could go ahead and ride some rides and then meet up again after the rain stopped. So Taylor and I started out on our rain-filled journey to Adventure Express, speed-walking/jogging down the nearly deserted, puddle-ridden walkways and past clusters of guests huddling under roofs of buildings and queue lines. Finally, we reached the entrance and the covered queue line, where we could finally slow down without having to worry about getting more wet. We trudged up to the deserted station, where a train was just arriving. We queued for the front row. No one else had dared to join us, meaning we would have a train all to ourselves!

 

 

And the two of us were off through the rainy woods. The trees blocked a lot of the rain and the tunnels were warm and dry. With the rain we still got, I enjoyed feeling it on my face, even if it meant squinting for nearly the entire time! And in the last tunnel we could clearly hear "You have disturbed the forbidden temple. Now you will pay!" As I saw the lava flashing, I said "Please dump some lava on us! We need it right now!" When we arrived back at the station, Taylor asked if we could ride again, which was answered with a sad "no." A few oncoming riders behind us reminisced about when the policy did allow rerides.

 

And of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture of us and our train after the ride.

 

We had time to ride Racer, so we did that next. The Red side was open and the front was already taken, so we rode in the second-to-last row, one of my favorite seats.

 

 

 

While waiting for our train to arrive, we talked with Claire, one of The Racer attendants. She was very nice and we enjoyed talking with her and about our rainy rides on Drop Tower and Adventure Express!

 

The rain had stopped by the time we and about six other riders were on, with the exception of a drizzle that I felt while going up the lift hill. I looked back and saw more rain in the distance before we crested and sped down and over the hills. I noticed that WindSeeker was down and Vortex appeared to be down as well, either due to no one showing up to ride it, a technical delay, or both.

 

After our fun, and of course wet, Racer ride, we headed up to Vortex, since we had ten minutes and we wanted to ride it. The sparsely populated midway was a nice change to the normal crowds, as tonight was nearly as "dead" as Tuesday (August 16) was!

 

 

 

 

 

As we were approaching, Vortex began testing! We remained by the entrance for a few minutes, waiting for one of the attendants to come and move the trash can. One eventually did a few minutes later. Even though we were cut in line by two other guests who had shown up right before the can was moved (even though we were there first), that didn't matter. What mattered was that Vortex had reopened and we were about to take my 315th Vortex ride!

 

 

 

The two girls who got in front of us had Train #3 to themselves. We were hoping for our own train, but several others were in line behind us. We had already had our own train on Adventure Express, and we were in line for the front seat, so everything was still good!

 

 

The three trains were beautifully speckled with raindrops, which would add a nice touch to this photo I took as we boarded Train #1. It was nice and cool at the bottom of the first drop (something I really enjoy when riding in the evening!) and of course the unparalleled view in the inversions was intriguing as always. During the inversions, I looked back and could see the rest of the train making the twisty maneuver. That view in itself is absolutely amazing!!

 

It was 8:00 right as we disembarked. I took a couple more photos of the train's rain-speckled nose.

 

 

 

While exiting, I saw that one of the crew members who was there for my 300th ride was there again tonight. He asked what my count was and I told him 315. He then said that the crew had something for me. He went into the drive box and brought out a 2016 Vortex/WindSeeker crew button and gave it to me. I told him "Thank you!" as I attached my new button to my waist pack, alongside The Vortex button I had received in 2014.

 

 

 

As Taylor and I began our journey to the Front Gate, we took a side trip to the overlook in front of Vortex, where we found some large puddles. Since we were already wet, we jumped around in the puddles as Vortex cycled its last trains of the night. As the three of us played together (yes, I'm counting Vortex ), the rain started to fall once more. It was a simple, yet unique moment of this crazy evening where we could forget about reality and just enjoy being kids.

I wouldn't have chosen to end this adventure any other way than to play with a friend in rain puddles, all at my "home playground" with my favorite ride standing by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The train in these last few pics was Train #1 - the same train that took us on our ride earlier. How much more fitting can this get?!?

 

We continued to play in the puddles until Vortex went quiet as it went to sleep for the night. Then we resumed our walk to the Front Gate to meet up with Taylor's parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After meeting back up with Taylor's parents, we had one more stop: Guest Services. The gentleman who helped us was more than happy to hear our compliments that we had for Nathan and Claire and how they made our trip more memorable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would say that this trip was the best trip all summer, and probably all season as well (by far)! I will be remembering this #KIBestDay for eons to come!

 

+Tidal Wave Bay: 2

Total: 6

 

+Splash River: 3

Total: 5

 

+Coconut Cove: 1

 

+Tropical Plunge: 4 (2x tube, 2x body)

 

+Race For Your Life Charlie Brown: 1

YTD: 3

Total: 9

 

+Diamondback: 1

YTD: 6

Total: 89

 

+Banshee: 1

YTD: 5

Total: 19

 

+The Bat: 1

YTD: 3

Total: 77

 

+Drop Tower: 1

YTD: 2

Total: 29

 

+Adventure Express: 1

YTD: 3

Total: 45

 

+Red Racer: 1

YTD: 3

Total: 17

 

+Vortex: 1

YTD: 15

Total: 315

 

Notes:

-Definitely not your average night - especially once it started raining!

-A few slides, including Tropical Twister and Paradise Plunge, were closed as well as Breakers Bay. I am guessing it was because of staffing since it was the first week that a lot of schools were starting the year.

-Yes, Tropical Plunge was fun. I recommend it.

-The dry park was almost, if not, as dead as it was on Tuesday (August 16)!

-We were in wet clothes for a total of three hours, including our one hour drive home plus a side trip to the Waynesville McDonald's. I'll say it again: it was well worth it!

-Again, Nathan and Claire and a number of others at the rides were very nice and helpful.

-Our rainy "zen ride" on Adventure Express happened to be my 45th ride! For that matter, my Diamondback count is approaching 100...

[medford]

great report, had me laughing at several points.  any pictures of the pin?

[IndyGuy4KI]

Great PTR! I hope to see you at the park again soon!

[VortexBFForever]

Any pictures of the pin?

Not right now. But I will have a picture of the two of them by the end of the season.

 

 

I am glad you all are enjoying yet another trip report! Thanks for the compliments!

[Elizabeth19]

Great trip report! It looks like you had a lot of fun! It reminded me of the day me and my sister went and it rained. I have the best time at KI when it rains!

Also, I don't know if anyone else noticed this. Lol there's not one time when I've rode Racer and there's been a super cute boy working