McSalsa's Coaster Adventures: Epicness at the Island (KI April 21st, 2018)

[McSalsa]

Hello everyone! If you recall, last week after preview day, I said I was returning to Kings Island this week. AND I DID. Here is the trip report! But, before we get in the meat of the report, here is my new-for-2018-and-thus-only-just used last week tier ratings system!

F- Garbage. I regret ever riding this and will not make the same mistake of ever riding it again!

D- Mediocre. A disappointing, or painful ride, though there might be a little fun here. I might give a D-Tier ride a second chance but it is gonna need to be a walk-on or something.

C- Average. A fun ride, but either there is enough roughness/pain to dilute it, or it just does not blow me away. Will still ride this if the wait is not too bad, though.

B- Good. A ride I enjoy, but it may have some flaws, but I will happily re-ride this unless the wait is pretty crazy.

A- Awesome. These rides leave me with a huge grin usually, and I will ride them over and over if there is a short wait. If there are long waits around the entire park, I may aim for these anyway, as if you are gonna wait, best to be for something worth it. Surpassed only by...

S- Zen. The best of the best. I am usually giddy and my happiness meter is maxed out after riding one of these. Tragically, these are not the most common rides out there, however.

I was with my sister and 2 of her friends, who I guess you can also consider my friends as we had a good time but I am farther from them than she is. We headed out and arrived at the park in time for ERT, around 9:15 AM. After the national anthem played, we entered the park. Also, with this trip report to save some time becuase THERE IS A LOT O' STUFF IN HERE, I am not gonna bother with the "we walked from here to here" blah blah blah stuff, and will just go straight from what we rode (or ate, or if we saw a show) in the order we did them.

Ride #1- Mystic Timbers

Wait: 20 Minutes

You are probably wondering why the heck Mystic Timbers would have a huge wait for ERT. Well, it was not yet 45 degrees outside, which meant the other 2 ERT rides (The Bat & Banshee) could not run yet. Due to the cold, Mystic Timbers was not quite at full speed (I'd say it felt like 95%) but even then it was still pretty fast and intense! I got good amount of airtime, and we got the snakes ending in the shed, so I was still stuck at 2 out of 3 endings.
Rating: A

Ride #2- Backlot Stunt Coaster

Wait: 10 Minutes (For Ride to Pass Pre-Park Opening Testing and Open, was Walk-On, we were first public train of day)

BLSC opened with the park, but it too seemed to suffer a bit from the cold- it was struggling to get over the first helix! However, it was making it, so the ride opened. The forces were not as good at the reduced speed, but the fire effect felt good in the cold air. All the effects the ride has left were working on this day, BTW.

Rating: C

Ride #3- Flight of Fear

Wait: Literal Walk-On (We arrived at the station just as the gates for the next train were opening and there was next to no one in line!)

Flight of Fear, being indoors, was not as affected by the cold and was thus running at normal speed. The ride was a bit on the rougher side, but the G-forces were strong, and the ride was still a good bit of fun. The alien at the end of the ride is still there. At the exit, the aliens told us "We now know what happens when the human body is pushed to..." (silence) LOL, a removed Outer Limits reference!

Rating: B

Ride #4- Boo Blasters on Boo Hill

Wait: Walk-On

While I am not the biggest fan of this ride (I think KI needs a much better dark ride) my sister loves it and as it was a walk-on and harmless, I did it anyway. I got a score of 510, not my personal best ever. I really don't like the blaster gimmick, and wish KI would make a traditional non-shooter dark ride instead.

Rating: D

Food: Skyline Chilli I-Street

After BBoBH, we went and got the all-season drinks plan. We chose disposable cups. To use the new plan, we went to Skyline Chilli, which had no line or wait. We also grabbed some cheese coney dogs, as they looked to make a decent snack. And they did- they tasted good, though I swear they were like 80% cheese! (I may be exaggerating a bit there)

Rating: B

Ride #5- Delirium

Wait: 5 Minutes (They had some restraint issues apparently and had to unlock and re-check them twice, otherwise, this would have been another walk-on)

I rode this ride solo, as it was a walk-on and my companions were smoking, which I don't do. Delirium was its usual, super fun ride, also based on its POV's I counted how many swings at full strength it does and knew how long the ride would last. These Giant Frisbees are fun, and remain my favorite flat rides so far.

Rating: A

Ride #6- Banshee
 

Wait: 10-15 Minutes

Our friend who couldn't do loops did not ride with us here, but he was able to hold our stuff, so that was a blessing (no need 4 locker). This ride marked a turning point- earlier, Mystic Timbers and Backlot Stunt Coaster, due to the cold, felt a bit slower than usual. By now it had warmed up, and because of this, Banshee actually felt a smidge faster than usual! One of our friends was also riding Banshee for the first time (he had not been since when Diamondback was new, Mystic Timbers was new for him also) and loved it. I did too.

Rating: A

Ride #7- The Bat
Wait: 5 Minutes

We saw The Bat testing before we rode Banshee, but it did not open until we got off. So we headed there, as one of our friends really wanted to do it (he loved Iron Dragon at Cedar Point). I was not opposed, Bat is usually fun. I rode in the back of the front car, and because my sister is a whole foot shorter than me (she is very short LOL) it was like a front-row ride! Bat also felt just a smidge faster than usual, and our friend loved it but was surprised by how much more intense The Bat is versus Iron Dragon. A fun ride once again.

Rating: B

Ride #8- Adventure Express

Wait: 10 Minutes

This one is another favorite of one of the friends I was with. AE continued the trend set by Banshee and Bat, it also felt a bit faster than usual! As such, this was a fun ride on AE. Also now I can confirm 100% Indiana Jones is not removed, I saw him this time.

Rating: B (AE is usually a C, but the slight speed bump raises it up a bit!)

Ride #9- Blue Racer

Wait: Walk-On

I decided to try Blue Racer, since I did Red on preview night. Well, Blue Racer was running a bit faster it felt like too, but also felt MUCH rougher than Red on Preview Night. I did notice the really rough spot near the turn-around, ouch. There was some good airtime though, so not all was lost, and I'd say this was a OK Racer ride. Also, we did win, as we were racing.

Rating: C

Ride #10- Red Racer

Wait: Walk-On

Thinking this side would be much smoother (based on preview night), I went ahead and took a wheel seat at one of my friend's suggestions. And well, it was a bit smoother than Blue, but the wheel seat negated that and made this ride a bit more painful! Yikes, how does a ride get this much rougher just from 1 week and a change in seat selection? As before, still a OK ride, just rough. But we also lost this time, somewhere in the turn-around Red Racer seemed to just lose speed for whatever reason and Blue passes it.

Rating: C

Ride #11- Vortex

Wait: Walk-On

I was with the friend who had not been to KI in awhile, as he was the only one who wanted to do Vortex with me. We rode in 5-1, since I figured that would be the best seat for us to try since it was usually the smoothest and had no wait. Vortex also felt a bit faster, which led to pretty strong airtime on the first drop and great g-forces in the inversions. Thankfully unlike Racer, Vortex's new wheels have not worn out in just 1 week, and it feels as smooth as it did on preview night. Yet another fun ride on the day.

Rating: B

Ride #12- The Beast

Wait: 25 Minutes

I was nervous and excited for this one- as a ride that focuses mainly on speed, if Beast was also running fast like all the other rides, this was sure to be awesome. However, on preview night, Beast was also running a bit rough. So I was expecting "Fast & Rough". Thankfully, while Beast did feel very fast here, it was also a bit smoother, since I was not on a back wheel this time, but a front wheel. Also, since the trees have not yet grown in, I could see the turn into the long tunnel between the long brake shed, and it is actually a 30 foot drop to my surprise! No wonder Beast gains so much speed after losing it to the brakes there. Another awesome ride on one of my favorite coasters.

Rating: A

Ride #13- Diamondback

Wait: 25 Minutes

My friends were doing some kiddo rides, so I decided to ride Diamondback solo instead. After a 25-minute or so wait, I was on, and my sister actually was trying to call me while the train began to climb the lift hill! (The phone was in a zipper pocket) Nope, sorry, can't answer that right now! (I called back after the ride from the gift shop) Diamondback kinda broke the trend of rides feeling faster, it did not feel slow but I did not notice a increase in speed or airtime here, it felt just like last week basically. However, I still got lots of strong floater air (some almost ejector), combine that with the openness of the restraints and the wind in my face, and it was still an awesome ride.

Rating: A

Ride #14- Woodstock Express

Wait: 15 Minutes

Yep, I went and rode a kiddie coaster, granted it is probably the least kiddie of that group. I have not ridden this in years, back then it was still The Beastie, and as I was just a kid I remember it scared me a little. And I can see why- for a kids ride, this is still a bit intense! There isn't any real airtime (though as it is for kids that is probably a good thing) but it felt decently fast and forceful for a small woodie. Also, the trains on here are still old-school buzz bars with just a seat belt, no head rests, no seat divider. I would have loved to ride Racer back when it had this style of seating (Beast too, but I think Racer has more to gain in this regard than Beast).

Rating: C (IMO, BETTER THAN Invertigo!!!)

Food: Yogurt Plus

We went and got some frozen Yogurt, we got the Blue Streak flavor, as we had a bit of a sweet tooth after checking out Sweet Spot, but did not wanna pay $7 for fudge. (We ended up paying around that much anyway ironically) It was pretty good, and we got in and out decently fast since there was no wait.

Rating: B

Ride #15- Red Racer #2

Wait: Walk-On

We were gonna ride Adventure Express again, but it was having some issues apparently, so we did Racer again. I made a point NOT to sit on a wheel this time, though we did also sit in the very rear car. Well, turns out this was a decent seat choice because airtime went up, and roughness went down. I could also really feel when we hit the re-tracked sections from this seat, they felt very smooth versus the rest of the track. IMO, this was much better than both the earlier Racer rides. This seat may be the one I target when I ride Racer from now on.

Rating: B

Ride #16- Adventure Express #2

Wait: 10-15 Minutes

AE went back up after we rode Red Racer, so went and rode it again. I rode in the very back car, and thus the ride felt even faster than before! Other than that, no real differences between the 2 rides on AE.
Rating: B

Ride #17- Vortex #2

Wait: Walk-On

My sister was with us this time, since she decided to give Vortex another shot with the new wheels. I gave her and our other friend (the guy who could not do loops waited outside for us) 5-1, and since 7-1 had a wait, I decided to try 6-1, since it is right in between. And turns out, 6-1 is also pretty good! Aside from maybe a tiny bit more roughness, felt about the same as 5-1. From here on out I guess I will look at the 3 seats I like (5-1, 6-1, 7-1) and ride whichever one of them has the shortest wait. However, my sister's short height still hindered her: she still got ping-ponged a bit. I guess Vortex isn't for her, unless it gets new restraints or something.

Rating: B

Ride #18- Dodgem

Wait: 5 Minutes (1 Cycle)

Well, Dodgem is more fun when you have more than 1 friend to target, LOL. I got them so many times. Sadly, the ride is a bit short and not the fastest version out there.

Rating: C

Ride #19- Grand Carousel

Wait: Walk-On

I was feeling a bit tired by this point, so I got on a horse that does not move and just enjoyed going around in circles while resting for a bit. I did watch how the ride works by looking at my sister and one of our friend's horses going up and down together, pretty simple but hey, it works. A relaxing ride on a old classic from 1926.

Rating: C

Food: Tom+Chee

We originally wanted to do Coney Island BBQ, but it had a big line and Tom+Chee was cheaper, and had a shorter line. I do want to try Coney BBQ eventually though. We ordered and split a Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich, and it was delicious. Our friend also got the Mac N' Cheese from here, and I got to try some, it was also awesome. This was the last of the in-park food we ate, and it was all delicious, so KI did a great job on this front IMO!

Rating: A

Ride #20- Kings Island & Miami Valley RR

Wait: Walk-On (Train was there as we arrived)

After eating, we decided to ride the train to relax, since it is a good way to do so. Diamondback and Mystic Timbers both ran, giving some nice views of them running their courses. The spiels were just the usual ones, nothing too crazy or new. Other than that, classic KI & MV RR ride.

Rating: C

Ride #21- Backlot Stunt Coaster #2

Wait: 20 Minutes

By this point, we were trying to kill time, as it was getting dark but not dark enough and we wanted to do a Mystic Timbers night ride (due to the not-so-huge crowds we also thought we could do both it AND Beast) . BLSC ran much faster at this point, as earlier in the day it was struggling to make it over the first helix but now it did so easily. With the sun down, the lights on the cop cars and effects from the helicopter attack really popped more. Another ride that felt better later in the day versus what it did earlier.

Rating: B

Ride #22- Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Wait: Walk-On

We still had more time to kill, so we spent a few minutes on this fun classic 1975 HUSS Troika. The ride op started the ride by saying "Enjoy your ride on Shake, Rattle, and Roll- stayin' alive since 1975" which made me play the famous song in my head during the ride. LOL.

Rating: C

Ride #23- Mystic Timbers #2 (@ Night)

Wait: 25 Minutes

Well, for my first Mystic Timbers night ride, I got front row! Woo-hoo! The view from the station as you sit in the front seat waiting for dispatch is quite awesome, one of the best views of the park IMO. The ride felt much faster than it did in the morning, and I got even more airtime on the many airtime hills. It was not pitch black or as secluded as The Beast at night, but the visuals of the lit-up Eiffel Tower and Diamondback are still pretty stunning. Mystic Timbers after dark is incredible, my only real complaint is it feels a bit short, I wish it was 1000 or so feet longer. Also, we went in the shed and got...TREE! I NOW HAVE GOTTEN ALL 3 ENDINGS!

Rating: S- (if only it were a bit longer...)

Ride #24- The Beast #2 (@ Night)

Wait: 40 Minutes

We got off Mystic Timbers at 8:50 PM, which meant there was plenty of time to also ride Beast. My sister and one of our friends left to do other rides like Adventure Express, but me and one friend stayed for Beast (he had never ridden it at night). Unlike Mystic Timbers, I knew Beast would be amazing after dark from past experience, and given how it was earlier in the day, I figured this ride would be super bonkers. And it was. Beast flew through the woods at seemingly epic speeds, my friend made this accurate comment before the long tunnel mid-ride: "IT IS LIKE A HORROR MOVIE!" Agreed. The view of the park at night from the 2nd lift is magical, and then comes the final helix, which was extra crazy on this night. And to top it all off, Beast was not too rough (it was a bit but a smooth Beast would probably be boring since the ride kinda uses its roughness to increase the out-of-control feeling). What a epic ride. Mystic Timbers puts up a great fight, but Beast is still KI's top woodie, IMO.

Rating: S

Ride #25- Red Racer (@ Night)

Wait: Walk-On

We met back up with our friends, and one of them wanted to ride Racer at Night with us. It was pretty fun and since I was not on a wheel again, not too rough. Good airtime too. However Blue Racer was not running due to the upcoming Fireworks. Riding all 3 of the large wooden coasters after dark was a fun experience, Kings Island has a great wood coaster collection IMO. Red Racer was the final ride of the night.

Rating: B

Show: Closing Fireworks

After Red Racer, we headed down to I-Street and saw the Fireworks. I can't believe I rode Mystic Timbers, Beast, and Red Racer at night and still made it to I-Street to see them and the park' s light show on the buildings, which was very pretty.

Rating: A

And thus ended a very awesome trip to Kings Island- possibly even my best visit ever! I rode so much stuff due to the low (for a weekend) crowds, and so much of it was running better than usual. So now, my final Pros/Cons...

PROS
+Rides were running amazingly well after the first hour or so, once they warmed up, they warmed up!

+All the food I tried tasted great, and the service speed was decent

+Low crowds, especially early on, meant I got to ride most of the big coasters before they even built up lines! I broke my personal record for most rides ridden in 1 day!

+Epic Night Rides

CONS

-Racer was running pretty rough, though it seemed better as I chose better seats and the day went on.

And now, for once...HAVE SOME PICTURES I TOOK!!! (+1 from my sister)

I hope you all enjoyed this trip report. Comments and questions welcome. Now, I await my next trip, which will probably be to Cedar Point, where I will return...WITH A VENGEANCE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LuvingKI]

Awesome trip report!  Today and yesterday I probably rode mystic 20 times, Beast twice.. why The Beast is a BEAST!!!  The helix at the end is to me the most intense experience any ride gives me and I can only handle small doses of it

[silver2005]

6 hours ago, McSalsa said:

 

I hope you all enjoyed this trip report. Comments and questions welcome. Now, I await my next trip, which will probably be to Cedar Point, where I will return...WITH A VENGEANCE.

Sorry, unless you're Bruce Willis and start yelling 'yippee ki yay (insert expletive which I can't say because of the TOS here) everywhere you go, then it doesn't count.