How Far Do You Live From Kings Island (and how do you get there)

[McSalsa]

Well, I was browsing the site, and saw some people talking about this, Sixodieselrage asked for something like it...figured I would make it. Seems like a interesting poll: how far do you live from Kings Island, and how do you usually get to the park from your "home base"?

I live about 130 miles (2 hour car ride) away, in central Indiana, very close to Indianapolis. (For personal privacy and such I won't go too much into detail past that) We go to I-74 using some back roads (or, go to I-465 and then go to I-74) and follow that all the way down to I-275 in Ohio. Then we go to I-71 and take that north, until we reach Kings Island drive. Really not too complicated a trip, easy to remember. Due to this being our route, I am used to approaching KI from the South. I still get excited whenever I see the park come into view from behind that big warehouse building- according to Google Maps it is called Festo Corp or something.

Enjoy the poll/discussion.

[silver2005]

I live on the west side of Cincinnati in Delhi Township.  On an empty highway with forgiving lights, I can make the park in 35 minutes.  However, more realistically, its about 45-50 minutes.  Going up in the mornings or evenings gets me into rush hour traffic which probably bumps it up to an hour at times.  I go US Route 50/River Road, follow it to the 6th Street Viaduct, and get on I-71 around downtown Cincy. 

I have 2 alternate routes though.  I can also take a bunch of side streets through Green Township/Dent and take I-275 from the I-74 split and either take it all the way around to I-71 or get on OH Route 126/Ronald Reagan Highway to I-71.  Those 2 are about 40-55 minutes.  

Mileage wise, its about 30 miles for me. About 8 to get on I-71 and 22 to Mason.  

[Gannersdaddy]

Well, McSalsa, you drive by where I get on 74 at Greensburg.  It about 91 miles or around at hour and a half (plus whatever time Indiana is dragging their feet on construction wise) Depending on when I coming to the park, I will either take 74 to 275 to 71 or take some backroads around to get to the park.  I dont mind stoplights but hate the freeway parking lot mess at rush hour.

Waze usually does a good job for me.

[Magenta Lizard]

I live near Springboro which is about halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati. I just hop on 48, and take it down to the 48 bypass. I don't get on 71 in South Lebanon, because it's much prettier to take Mason Morrow Millgrove/Columbia Rd across. Or even Grandin, if I want to check out Peters Cartridge. 

Takes me almost exactly a half hour to drive most mornings. 

[VekomaRulz]

I live 550 miles away, I hadn't looked at directions before since my trip in 2015 was from a different location, it looks like much of the drive is I80 in PA to get to Ohio. I'm hoping I'll be going back to the park next year.

[McSalsa]

^^

Ahh, good old Greensburg. On my first trip to Kings Island as older teen/young adult in 2009, we actually took a moment to drive through and saw the crazy tree busting out of the side of one of the buildings.

Also I fully understand why you'd skip the highways depending when you are coming to the park: when we came to the park on passholder preview night (It was the trip I did not even know I was gonna be making), I-275 was pretty backed up, so our friend who was driving took the back roads instead. We ended up driving through the housing complexes by the park, which was pretty cool. We also drove through Mason once, for Banshee opening day, because we took the wrong exit (I think we got off on I-75 instead of I-71) which was very pretty, but then we ran into the huge line and we got into a minor auto accident when someone tried to line jump us in their blue Ford SUV, and smacked into our rental GMC SUV (it was very similar to a Cadillac Escalade) and then ran off. They got caught though, and the rental insurance covered it because it was their fault.

[silver2005]

If I take entirely back roads, it'd be 60-75 minutes with all the lights and slower speed zones and poorly timed lights I'd have to navigate.  

I do know a way to skip I-71 going up Madison Road and getting on at Red Bank, which takes me past the bigger bottleneck areas during rush hours.  Madison Road, though, has a LOT of lights and 25 mph zones.  Driving through Oakley and Hyde Park is nice though. 

[King Ding Dong]

From my house it is 87 Miles to KI and 100 Miles to CP. but with all the two lane roads, railroad crossings and small towns it takes 2.25 hours to CP and 1.5 to KI.  

If the weather is good I take 315 south through OSU to 71, but if there is any rain I stick to 71 the entire way.   

[Creed Bratton]

It depends on which way travels take me. Google Maps say I'm at 92 miles away, but most routes I'm on are around 100.

[BeeastFarmer]

From my farm, it is 147.2 miles to the toll plaza, entering the plaza from Western Row Road.  (side note, I still say Western Row Road in a Scooby Doo voice.)  Its 4 lane highway all the way except from the farm to U.S. 127.  It always seems longer to drive there than it does to drive home.

[King Ding Dong]

Lol.  That should be the another question for this thread.   Does the ride to the park or the ride home feel longer?

For me the ride home feels longer, so does the walk from the gate to my car.  

[IndyGuy4KI]

West side of Indy, 140 miles door to door and takes me right at 2 hrs to get there.

[VortexBFForever]

I live just east of Dayton in the Beavercreek/Xenia area, so for me it takes approximately 45 minutes to drive 37 miles to Kings Island on a good day.

Unlike some of you who would rather avoid 71, I personally enjoy driving on 71. I usually don’t run into much traffic as I am on it either earlier in the morning or later in the evening depending on when I work. I do have an alternate though (Colombia Rd).

I start out on U.S. 35, on which I spend only a few minutes since I live just one exit down from U.S. 42, which I take south through Spring Valley and Waynesville to Lebanon, where I hop on 48 and get to see numerous drivers pass me while going at least 10 over (I have never seen the 50 mph speed limit more abused in any other place ) before I finally merge onto 71 (or continue going straight to Colombia Rd).

If there isn’t much traffic on 71, I will gladly take it, as it is a bit faster and it will save a bit of time since the associate entrance is all the way down at the south end of the park and I come from the north...  

[KIghostguy]

I'm lucky enough to live in Mason, two miles from the park. Just straight down Tylersville and Western Row Roads and then left onto Kings Island Drive. 

[awoody]

We live in the Township in between Mason and Monroe. Take us about 10-15 minutes to get there. Straight shot down 741 to Kings Mill and onto Kings Island Drive. Visited the park 40 times on the nose last year. Made the Gold Passes and All-Season Dining plans well worth the investment. We like taking our 2 and 5 year old in the evenings after work. Grab dinner, hit a few rides in Planet Snoopy. Gets them all tired out and they fall asleep on the car ride home.

We can hear the fireworks every evening at 10.  :-) 

[goettablitz]

15 hours ago, silver2005 said:

I live on the west side of Cincinnati in Delhi Township.  On an empty highway with forgiving lights, I can make the park in 35 minutes.  However, more realistically, its about 45-50 minutes.  Going up in the mornings or evenings gets me into rush hour traffic which probably bumps it up to an hour at times.  I go US Route 50/River Road, follow it to the 6th Street Viaduct, and get on I-71 around downtown Cincy. 

I have 2 alternate routes though.  I can also take a bunch of side streets through Green Township/Dent and take I-275 from the I-74 split and either take it all the way around to I-71 or get on OH Route 126/Ronald Reagan Highway to I-71.  Those 2 are about 40-55 minutes.  

Mileage wise, its about 30 miles for me. About 8 to get on I-71 and 22 to Mason.  

I am also a fellow Delhi Township resident.

[BeeastFarmer]

Sidebar question:  Why are towns in Ohio called townships?  I've lived in several states and this seems to be unique to Ohio.

[KImom]

I live about 15 miles east of Lexington KY and it's an hour and 40 minutes for me. The ride home always feels much shorter since a good 30 minutes of our drive is after we've passed in to Ohio so for some reason, the I-75 part of the trip flies by going up and back, but going up the distance between the Ohio river and KI seems like it takes forever!!   We take 64 to 75 and then 71. 

[flightoffear1996]

Right now I live 15-30 miles from the park and it takes us about 45 minutes to get to the park thanks to no highways being close by.  Our new house which is currently under construction will be about 50 miles from the park but take less time to get there.

[King Ding Dong]

2 hours ago, jtro223 said:

Sidebar question:  Why are towns in Ohio called townships?  I've lived in several states and this seems to be unique to Ohio.

Several other states use townships.  The one thing I have never seen before is Sharon Township in Cbus which seems to be about 5 non-contiguous areas.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Township_(United_States)

[awoody]

10,000' overview of townships - Townships are unincorporated areas that fall outside of contiguous city limits. I.E. no city services like trash pick up, snow removal, city police or fire protection, et al. These things are privately funded, handled by the county, or custom governed by an ad-hock committee formed by the township itself. The main draw - you do not pay city income taxes, are typically more rural, and are not subject to standard city ordinances.

[Maverick44]

Columbus here! 95.2 miles from the park. Straight down 71 S for me. about 1.25 hours.

[jcgoble3]

8 hours ago, VortexBFForever said:

I live just east of Dayton in the Beavercreek/Xenia area, so for me it takes approximately 45 minutes to drive 37 miles to Kings Island on a good day.

Unlike some of you who would rather avoid 71, I personally enjoy driving on 71. I usually don’t run into much traffic as I am on it either earlier in the morning or later in the evening depending on when I work. I do have an alternate though (Colombia Rd).

I start out on U.S. 35, on which I spend only a few minutes since I live just one exit down from U.S. 42, which I take south through Spring Valley and Waynesville to Lebanon, where I hop on 48 and get to see numerous drivers pass me while going at least 10 over (I have never seen the 50 mph speed limit more abused in any other place ) before I finally merge onto 71 (or continue going straight to Colombia Rd).

If there isn’t much traffic on 71, I will gladly take it, as it is a bit faster and it will save a bit of time since the associate entrance is all the way down at the south end of the park and I come from the north...  

Basically identical for me, except that I live TWO exits away from U.S. 42 on U.S. 35. Oh, and I've never bypassed I-71.

And yes, that 50 mi/h speed limit on 48 is routinely ignored by most drivers. I myself don't understand why it's not at least 55 mi/h, though I suppose the large number of traffic lights could have something to do with it.

[txdrummer]

Roughly 92 miles away. Several backroads including 421, 36/42, and 227 all just to get to 71N where I can really make up any time lost on those small backroads. My car doesn't like to go any less than 80 for some reason.

[jdawg1998]

Technically, my house is 1.5 miles from Kings Island. I can see it from my bedroom window, watch the fireworks every night in the summer, and hang out on my back deck while listening to the peaceful noises of trains swooping down the roller coaster track accompanied by the sound of screaming - and sometimes, depending on the wind, ride operator spieling can be heard. 

Unfortunately, due to my position across the Little Miami River, it still takes about 10-15 minutes to get to Kings Island. It is very strange to see how close it yes, yet road-wise, it is about 5.5 miles. Always have found that interesting!

[BlondyRidesOn]

I live in West Chester Township, so very close.

[Honorarius]

570 miles/8 hours 50 minutes if I go around the west side of Lake Erie, 608 miles/9 hours 20 if I go east around Lake Erie...  West gets me there a bit faster, but east gets me to cheaper gas faster... Plus, crossing the border in Michigan is way more of a hassle than it seems to be elsewhere for me...

[d-lo775]

I live on Kings Mills Road, less than 3 miles from driveway to parking lot. Catching all green lights with no traffic, 5 minutes. Preview night and first day of Winterfest just after 5 P.M. about 20-25 minutes.

[jimbo t]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 9:12 AM, KIghostguy said:

I'm lucky enough to live in Mason, two miles from the park. Just straight down Tylersville and Western Row Roads and then left onto Kings Island Drive. 

oh to be so lucky.....

[silver2005]

^I'd consider that a bad thing.  I'd never get any school work done, especially if there was coaster construction in the off season.  I'd hate to have gone to Kings HS or Mason HS.