McSalsa's Coaster Adventures: Evil Eyes and Lots of Fog (KI Haunt 10-14-2016)

[McSalsa]

Well, I had some sleep now and thus, as stated, here is my full trip report (I did a quick summary of my day in the Kings Island 2016 thread). First up, my new ratings system (first used at the state fair a few weeks ago), which is a 1-5 scale:

Fun Factor: How fun I thought the ride was. 1 is boring and lame, 5 is awesome.

Intensity: How intense and forceful I thought the ride was. 1 is tame, 5 is super forceful and intense.

Comfort: How comfortable the ride felt- this includes roughness. 1 means I was in horrible pain by the end, 5 is super comfy.

With that explained, let us begin...I went with only a small group of only 3 people this time- me, my sister, and one of our close friends (more her friend though). We left around 2:00PM to do a quick Wal-Mart run before hitting the highway at 3:30. After a 2-hour drive (10 minutes due to super slow traffic at one point due to road construction) we reached the park at 5:20PM, and waited 40 minutes for it to open. The Undertaker came out and greeted everyone (and he pulled no punches) and at 6:00PM, the monsters came out and we were in. We headed to Flight of Fear, but it was broken and we didn't want to get a locker for Firehawk, so we headed instead to Vortex.

#1: Vortex
Wait Time: Walk-On
5-1 was taken (surprisingly) so I hopped in the "other" good seat, 7-1. The ride was maybe a LITTLE rougher here, but there was amazing airtime on the first drop. Nice forces throughout too. An awesome ride to start the day with. Now I'll have to make a choice (probably based on lines) when I ride Vortex of which of the two seats I want.
Fun Factor: 5/5
Intensity: 4.5/5
Comfort: 3/5

After Vortex, we decided to ride Beast before it got dark (with a night ride planned for later of course), but since the waits were super short on the way we hit BLSC.

#2: Backlot Stunt Coaster
Wait Time: 5 Minutes
BLSC was its usual, spunky self with good forces (especially the helix) and its nice pop of airtime after the police chase turn. The helicopter attack and tunnel finale are still great fun. We also got the Blue Train for what I think is the first time, but I'm not 100% sure.
Fun Factor: 4/5
Intensity: 3.5/5
Comfort: 4.5/5

After BLSC, we headed for Beast as planned.

#3: The Beast (Daytime)
Wait Time: 10 Minutes
The crowds were starting to pick up a bit, but were not terrible yet. The line had gotten pretty big by the time we got off though. The sun was setting during the ride, so it made for some BEAUTIFUL views. With a loaded train and the reduced trims for fall, Beast was flying through the course on this ride, and it was dark enough that the 2nd tunnel and helix were awesome. My favorite coaster was on-point once again. There was also some cool theming around the que, with references to the ride's lore as well as Son of Beast, Mystic Timbers, and oddly, Flight of Fear.
Fun Factor: 5/5
Intensity: 4.5/5
Comfort: 4/5

After Beast, we headed to check on Diamondback as it had broken down but we saw it testing, but we stopped to get Ice Cream which tasted exactly like Pumpkin Pie (not a bad thing as I enjoy Pumpkin Pie) and checked out Mystic Timbers construction. That ride looks like it's gonna be awesome when it opens. The line for Diamondback to re-open was pretty long surprisingly, so instead we rode Boo Blasters on my sister's request.

#4: Boo Blasters on Boo Hill
Wait Time: 5 Minutes
Well, while not truly awful, I am starting to feel Boo Blasters is one of the weakest rides in the park. The shooting aspect of the ride seems random and you can't actually tell where you're aiming and thus will miss some of the effects, and I would have preferred a traditional dark ride where the scenes run automatically instead, like Enchanted Voyage or Phantom Theater were. Alas, my sister loves this for some reason so I must ride it again I assume. At least it was comfy and didn't have much of a line.
Fun Factor: 2.5/5
Intensity: 1/5
Comfort: 5/5

After Boo Blasters my sister wanted food, and we had seen 2 food trucks near the Eiffel Tower (which I should mention looked awesome with those evil eyes and from here on out I am calling it Evil Tower) but before we ate, we went up since the ride was surprisingly open.

#5: Evil Tower (Eiffel Tower)
Wait Time: Walk-On
We went to the lower of the two platforms (not counting the 50-foot-high closed one) for the first time I have done, since I assume the Evil Eyes atop the tower are on the higher one and would otherwise block the view. My sister didn't even realize there were 2 decks. The views of the park at night with the fog were beautiful and the air felt cool and crisp. We didn't stay up too long but it was fun.
Fun Factor: 4/5
Intensity: 1/5
Comfort: 5/5

Afterwards, we did hit up the Food Trucks, and I got a Grilled Cheese for $4 which was tasty. The other truck had Pizza for cheaper than the park's own LaRosa's Pizza ($8 for 2 slices versus $11) but my sister got Hot Cider. I needed to use the bathroom so I went over to the one on I-Street near the entrance, and my sister and her friend got LaRosa's for some reason (they could have saved money at the food truck). Also we saw some scareactors for the first time since the park opened here, which makes this a good time to point out...where were they? I was under the impression they would be all over the park long before this. Later in the day I did see more but early on, they seemed MIA. No problem for me as I was there for rides, not haunted houses, but if you came for haunts I can only assume you would be disappointed.

We then headed for Action Zone where we found Delirium and Banshee both had huge waits. I would wait that long for Banshee, but they wouldn't. So instead we headed for The Bat, which...

#6. The Bat
Wait Time: Walk-On
WTF!?!? Banshee GETS ONE HOUR LINE AND BAT GETS NOTHING!?!? What makes this even sadder is this ride does have pretty good capacity and probably could have reduced Banshee's line considerably if more people would have come back to ride it, and that this ride is very good...especially after dark. It is lit up more than Beast, but it still gets a bit of that night vibe and has its own great views during the ride. It also felt very fast this time.
Fun Factor: 5/5
Intensity: 4.5/5
Comfort: 4/5

After The Bat we headed back to I-Street, and watched Blood Drums (or some of it least). It was cool. Our friend went and got some cider which was cold instead of warm since the trucks were close (she let me try it and I prefer it cold as well). After a few songs, we headed for Adventure Express, which I really wanted to try at night.


#7. Adventure Express
Wait Time: 15 Minutes
Wow- AE is a really, really good ride to ride after dark. It is in a wooded area, and the tunnels are very dark (save intentional lighting of course). The ride was a bit jerky but didn't seem as bad as last time. After The Beast, AE probably is the ride that improves the most after dark.
Fun Factor: 5/5
Intensity: 3.5/5
Comfort: 3.5/5

After AE, we planned on going through Coney Mall and then my sister would break away to do a haunt. Our first ride was The Racer, since the line didn't look too crazy at all and they were running both sides, which if I recall they usually don't do during Haunt...

#8. Blue Racer
Wait Time: 5 Minutes
One of the best parts of racing coasters? Since they are technically 2 coasters, double capacity! We chose Blue Racer, which I have not ridden since at least 2011 I think. The ride itself ended up somewhere in the middle of my 2012 and 2014 rides- not amazingly smooth like 2012 but not overly rough like 2014. There was decent airtime, especially on one of the big hills near the turnaround where there was also a rough spot at the same time. That made for a intense moment. Also for some reason my lapbar was taped up- somehow, someone broke it earlier. Overall this was good fun.

Fun Factor: 4/5
Intensity: 3.5/5 (though that one moment was a 4.5)

Comfort: 3.5/5 (a little rough but not too much)

 

After Blue Racer, our group split up as my sister left to do Field of Screams. We instead checked the line for the now-open Flight of Fear. It was full on the outside, but we asked a employee if the inside was full and they said no, so apparently the park was making the line look longer...probably to sell Fast Lane passes. I also didn't see too many people using Fast Lane in spite of the crowds to be honest. So we got in line...

 

#9. Flight of Fear

Wait Time: 25 Minutes

When you consider FOF is a 90 minute wait when full, this confirms that the inside was empty. The start of the ride was normal. Forceful launch, Cobra Roll, and then some twists and turns...then we hit the MCBR. I was expecting the train to stop, and gradually pick up speed, like it normally does.

 

It didn't. On this ride, the train barely slowed down on the MCBR, and we flew through the 2nd half of the course at even higher speeds than I am used to. The G-Forces were crazy, and the final Corkscrew was even more intense. We hit the brakes, and all I could think was "WOW". That was pretty darn crazy, IMO.

Fun Factor: 5/5
Intensity: 6/5!!!
Comfort: 3/5 (FOF is one of the rougher coasters IMO even with the MCBR on...still not terrible though)

 

After the crazy ride on Flight of Fear, we began heading towards Diamondback so I could do it solo (our friend who was with us is too large and my sister was still at the Haunt- I also never did get that ride in, see later...) but our friend suggested we ride WindSeeker, and I do like WindSeeker so we rode that first.

 

#10. WindSeeker

Wait Time: 10 Minutes

My 3rd ride on WindSeeker was similar to the 1st- it was night, and the cool air blew in my face as we flew 270 feet in the air and spun around. Seemed like a longer ride cycle this time though. Great views of the park, as usual, which also showed how crazy far back my sister's haunt went.

Fun Factor: 4/5

Intensity: 3/5 (due to height really, not so much forces)

Comfort: 5/5

 

After this, we used the nearby restroom and then my sister met up with us. It was getting a bit late and with the huge crowds, we expected a huge line for Beast, and it wasn't far so we went to ride it for the night ride.

#11. The Beast (Night)
Wait Time: 40 Minutes

OK, 40 minutes for Beast @ Night with crowds like this? Not bad. The ride itself? It's The Beast @ Night, of course it was amazing. It felt like it was even faster than it was earlier in the day, and it was far from slow then! (My sister complained it felt TOO FAST for her...) And the helix...oh boy was that fun. One minor complaint- they put a fog machine right at the base of the 1st lift. Horrible spot- I would have preferred it near the middle tunnel or something, especially since it was sending fog into the brake run. In spite of that, this was still an amazing ride and easily best of the entire day. Beast night rides are legendary for good reason! Mystic Timbers will have to be something amazing if it hopes to challenge them. (Though I at least expect Mystic Timbers will put up a fight!)

Fun Factor: 6/5!!!

Intensity: 5/5

Comfort: 4/5

 

Afterwards we checked out the Diamondback line (for me mainly), and it looked too long still, so we headed home as we were hungry and heard there was a Sonic drive-in nearby. Also from the parking lot, you could see the insane amounts of fog- Diamondback looked like its lift lights were floating in midair! However they closed on us just as we had pulled up so we ended up getting Subway instead. Overall It was a super fun day, and I had a blast. I eagerly await my next trip to Kings Island.

 

OVERALL SUMMARY

PROS
+Great Rides (well execpt maybe Boo Blasters which is just "Meh")

+Ride Ops did a great job dispatching trains which probably helped the waits

+Good food, even if one item was from a food truck and not the park

+Blood Drums is awesome
+The Undertaker guy is great at his job

+Cool Haunt props as usual...especially "Evil Tower"!

 

CONS

-They overdid it on the fog...when you can't see a 230 foot B&M Hypercoaster, you know they did...

-Scareactors seemed few and far between at points, which is bad if you came for haunts

-Making lines look longer for the sake of selling Fast Lane? A wee bit shady IMO...just a bit but still...at least if this is why they did it, could have just been a mistake.

 

Comments and questions welcome.

[jcgoble3]

Glad you had fun! Regarding the roaming scareactors, they typically don't come out until after dark. So yeah, during the early part of the evening, there indeed are no scareactors roaming about.