McSalsa's Coaster Adventures: Island of Fear (KI Haunt 9/29/2018)

[McSalsa]

Hello everyone! Welcome back to McSalsa's Coaster Adventures, as it is time for yet another trip report! But, per usual, first I will explain my ride/food/etc. rating system for newbies:

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- Epic. 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. 

Note: If you wanna take this as a 1-10 system, S=10, A=9, B=8, C=7, D=6, and F=5 or worse.

Our group for this trip was the usual, at least for the start. There was me, my sister, and our 2 main friends who have been coming with us the last 2 years (Friend A who has been overcoming a fear of coasters and cannot do most looping coasters, and Friend B who is less afraid but also can do looping rides). Later on my sister's best friend- along with her boyfriend- joined the group, which I will point out when it happens. Anyway, let's begin the trip report!

We arrived at the park around 10:15 AM, so we easily made it in time for ERT. The parking lot was pretty full for being 15 minutes early to ERT, which was a sign of things that would come later. However, we got in the park, and as a few of us were craving Diamondback, we went to that first.

Ride #1+2: Diamondback (ERT)
Waits: Walk-On, 5 Minutes for Front

Well, I guess a lot of the cars in the parking lot were not for ERT, because Diamondback had no wait when we got to it, so we ended up riding it twice in a row. We rode near the back on our first ride, and got lots of floater air over nearly every hill. On our 2nd ride, Friend A wanted front seat, so we rode there and got epic views and I noticed the style of airtime felt very different, it was more like weak ejector and it also tended to only happen on top of the hills. Both rides were smooth, and very fun. A great ride to begin the day with!

Rating: A

After Diamondback, we quickly got a locker for 2 hours, and then went over to ride Mystic Timbers.

Ride #3: Mystic Timbers (ERT)
Wait: Walk-On

We rode near the back of the train, and got a pretty solid ride on Timbers. There was good airtime, and the ride whipped through the course. One thing I have noticed the last 2 years since I have taken advantage of ERT and gotten lots of rides in, is that most rides tend to run better later in the day or at night versus in the morning hours. This was the case here: it was a lot of fun, but I felt Mystic Timbers was running just a little slower than it does later in the day. Also I got the rarest (supposedly) of endings, Tree, in the shed.

Rating: A-

After Mystic Timbers, ERT was over, so we decided to go ride The Beast before we got our stuff from our lockers and went to X-Base.

Ride #4: The Beast

Wait: Walk-On

Just like Mystic Timbers, Beast in the morning is fun, but it feels slower than later in the day as it hasn't broken in yet. Still gave a pretty good ride, though the trims were also kinda biting, I even felt the one on the first drop for the first time. Helix, as usual, was crazy though. A fun ride, and hey, it had no wait.

Rating: B+

After The Beast, we got our stuff from the lockers, and my friends wanted to smoke at the Reds HOF Grille section. Since I don't smoke, and it had no wait...

Ride #5: Mystic Timbers #2

Wait: Walk-On

...MOAR MYSTIC TIMBERZ!!! It rode about the same as earlier, but this time I got snakes.

Rating: A-

I got off MT and met up with my friends. Then we headed towards X-Base, however, we stopped at "The Graveyard" to see Firehawk's grave site. We also noticed from here that Firehawk did not appear to be running. Then, we got a message from my sister's friend that she had arrived, so we met her at the Eiffel Tower along with her boyfriend. After a brief chat, we decided (a bit randomly) to go ride...

Ride #6: Backlot Stunt Coaster

Wait: 5 Minutes

I am not sure why, but whenever we "randomly" ride a roller coaster, it usually ends up being Backlot. This was the typical Backlot ride, all the 2018 effects were still working, the helix had really good G's, and there was also a nice pop of airtime after the overbanked turn on the small hill.

Rating: C

After Backlot, we headed to X-Base to see if Firehawk was truly closed. It was, they were having issues, so we went for Flight of Fear instead.

Ride #7: Flight of Fear
Wait: 15 Minutes

The line was out of the main building, but thankfully none of the inside ques were open, so it was only about a 15 minute wait. Flight of Fear was running pretty well, a little rough but besides 1 moment where it threw my shoulder into the side of the car nothing too bad (and even after that I was OK- I can still kinda feel it if I move my shoulder too much though). Even now, I am still boggled they fit all that track and supports into the building- you could kinda see it because the colored lights were all working. Another fun ride.

Rating: B

After Flight of Fear, we exited and looked at Firehawk again- still down- and then left the area hoping it would open at some point. We were hungry at this point and decided to get some food, we had heard about the Mac & Cheese Bar and decided to eat there. It was not ready to open when we first arrived, so we headed out back to pond and my friends got some beer and smoked (I do not do either of these things) and I relaxed for a bit. I really do love the Oktoberfest Pond area, you get a great view of Banshee, Drop Tower, and Delirium on one side, the top of Racer can be seen, Viking Fury can be seen right next door (and even heard) and the Eiffel Tower is clearly visible as well plus you have a nice pond. Then the Mac N' Cheese Bar opened...

FOOD: Hank's Mac N' Cheese Bar

I got the Spicy Mac N' Cheese, and for my toppings, I chose shredded cheese, bacon, and chicken. The Mac N' Cheese was not as spicy as I was expecting, and the chicken was somewhat dry but also had a bit of a "smokey" taste to it.  However, it tasted very good, especially when it was all put together. I gobbled my bowl down pretty quick, usually a sign something was great. However what I didn't like was the price. There was no sign to tell what the price of the Mac N' Cheese bar was, so we just got it, and I was expecting like $8 or something based on the size of the bowl, but it was $13! Now if they were giving the 2x sized version that Winterfest 2017 had, yes $13 would be fine, but this? Overpriced, even for Kings Island standards. At least it tasted good, though.

Rating: A for Taste, D- for Value

After the Mac N' Cheese Bar, Friend A suggested we go ride The Racer as it was close by and had no wait. We ended up riding Blue Racer.

Ride #8: Blue Racer

Wait: Walk-On

I don't know how or why, but for some reason...Blue Racer was running insanely smooth! This was the smoothest ride I have ever had on Blue Racer, it felt more like Mystic Timbers than Blue Racer. Even the "rough spot" wasn't so bad, though it was still there (felt like a weak vibration instead of a THUNK though). We also got good airtime, and we won the race in spite of Red Racer dropping of the lift first! Woo-hoo! I wish Racer ran like this a bit more often!

Rating: B+

After Racer, we headed over to Action Zone, and my sister actually wanted to try Drop Tower (she has been afraid of it for a long time). A few others do not wanna do it (mainly Friend A and Sister's Friend) but the rest of us get in line. We wait 15 minutes, get halfway there (it was about a 30 minute wait as crowds were starting to pick up). Drop Tower suddenly remembered it was a Intamin and broke down. D'oh!

So, we headed over to ride The Bat instead.

Ride #9: The Bat

Wait: 5 Minutes

Bat was also pretty much its usual self: fun, swingy turns and twists and it's over pretty quick. There was a actual pop of airtime on one of the turns, though. Also I was looking at the layout from the walkway and noticed there is essentially a 2nd drop after the turn over the station that is nearly as big as the first drop, no wonder those final turns go so fast! Friend B, who I was riding with, said this blows Iron Dragon out of the water and I agree. Also, we had to wait a few minutes on the brake run, as there was a barf train ahead of us. Eww.

Rating: C+

After The Bat, we gave Friend A our stuff, was we were gonna ride Banshee and didn't want to get a locker and he cannot do inversions.

Ride #10: Banshee

Wait: 30 Minutes

30 Minute Wait for Banshee!?!? Oh boy, the crowds are kicking in. Granted, Banshee is a people eater, so a 30-minute wait had a LOT of people in line. But at least the line was constantly moving, and we got a great ride at the end. Banshee kinda reminds me of, ironically, a invert version of Millennium Force because both are big and fast, and have huge elements. The main difference is on Banshee those are inversions, versus overbanked turns on Millennium Force. Banshee does pull a bit more G's though.

Rating: A

When Banshee came into the brake run, I saw Drop Tower running again, with riders, so I went to check the line...and it was much shorter than before, probably because the ride just re-opened. So, I talked my sister into it again, and we got back in line.

Ride #11: Drop Tower

Wait: 5 Minutes

Drop Tower may no longer be the tallest ride I have ever ridden, but it is still pretty tall, and a little unnerving (though not nearly as much as when I first rode it). It is a simple ride, yet it is quite effective, and the drop is fun. My sister found it to be more bark than bite, just like TTD. And again I am proud of her for finally riding something she found scary. The ride itself was pretty fun as well, I saw a McDonalds way off in the distance (we faced Bat on the way down).

Rating: B

After Drop Tower, my sister's friend wanted to ride Invertigo. I have not done Invertigo all year, so I went with it.

Ride #12: Invertigo

Wait: 30 Minutes

I was kinda expecting to get head-banged again (this is one ride that has done it consistently before), but to my surprise, Invertigo behaved and was actually pretty smooth (new wheels? They looked like they were in good shape). As such, I was able to enjoy the ride and the very strong G forces in the loops. This is a fun ride when it behaves, which seems to be about 60% of the time based on the rides I have taken. However, I saw something horrible when I looked down from the lift: huge crowds of people coming in for Haunt. DA DA DUM!

Rating: C

After Invertigo, my group (Friends A+B plus sister) wanted to run out to the car to grab a few things before Haunt began. I stuck with her friend and boyfriend, and we ended up going up the Eiffel Tower for some views while we waited.

Ride #13: Eiffel Tower

Wait: Walk-On

Looking around from 265 feet up, you could tell the park was getting packed. Diamondback was almost 80% full, and was actually using some of the ques near the lift hill for the first time I have seen all year! Banshee also had a big line, and Racer was out the door. Yep, it is a Haunt Saturday. The views of the park, as usual, were nice. When I looked at Firehawk I imagined what a Giga coaster would look like from up here, due to all the rumors. A quick but fun trip up. Won't rate this though, since it really is less of a ride in a traditional sense, and more of a viewing platform.

Rating: NA

Afterwards, we met back up with the main group and we decided to go ride Adventure Express.

Ride #14: Adventure Express

Wait: 15 Minutes

Thank goodness AE rarely ever goes over a 20-minute wait, even on busy days. We even got front row! Thus, great views of all the scenery and stuff. It did kinda feel like the back of the train was slowing us down, though, at points. It was also a little jerky, and the final tunnel's main temple dude's eyes were not glowing, though the bucket effect was working. Pretty good ride overall though.

Rating: C

After Adventure Express, my companions all got some more beer (one of them spent almost $40 on beer!) and The Haunt began, as we heard over the intercoms. As we had friends who wanted to do Haunts and others who wanted to do rides, we split up. My sister and Friend B left to do Haunts, leaving me, Friend A, Sister's Best Friend, and SBF Boyfriend as the group I was with. They had not done any of the rides in Rivertown, and Friend B was craving Diamondback too, so we went over and rode it again.

Ride #15: Diamondback #3

Wait: 30 Minutes

Diamondback had apparently gone down and re-opened, so the line had thinned out quite a bit. However, this SHOULD have been a 15-20 minute wait, but there was a issue. What I will call, Fast Lane Clog. Fast Lane Clog happens when so many people have Fast Lane, a actual line for Fast Lane users forms, and as such the capacity of the ride for both lines is cut in two. This was the first time I have seen Kings Island so crowded this has happened, besides Banshee Opening Day 2014. Thankfully, to somewhat counter this, the DB Crew was doing a epic job getting trains out, very few stacks and a few trains were on the lift as soon as the one ahead was hitting the MCBR. They were not power-houring either, they were able to do this because I saw like 8 people checking restraints! So, not too bad a wait, considering the crowds. And the ride was running faster now, smooth and TONS of airtime. Great ride, though the Fast Lane Clog was annoying.

Rating: A+

When we were about to get on Diamondback, I saw Firehawk running. So we went over there, and found a decent but not terrible looking line. We got in line, and instantly it seemed as soon as we got in line...Firehawk broke down. We waited 15 minutes to see if they could fix it, but it became kinda clear it was gonna be a issue. Knowing this ride is on its last legs, and is reportedly having issues getting parts, we realized this was gonna be the case all night and thus riding Firehawk was gonna be a no-go this day. We are hoping that our group can return one more time before Firehawk closes, probably on a less busy Sunday, and perhaps we can do final rides then.

With that disappointment behind us, we headed to go ride the other coaster rumored to close, but isn't...Vortex. Also, I will note even as crowded as it was (and with 2 Haunts back here!) even with the under-construction Antique Cars taking up half the midway, I didn't think it was too cramped.

Ride #16: Vortex

Wait: 15 Minutes

Vortex was stacking trains pretty badly, but they were very under-staffed compared to Diamondback so it wasn't a big shock and the wait was still only 15 minutes. They were assigning seats though (could have probably asked but we didn't wanna jam the line), we got the 2nd car, I offered to take the cramped back seat but my sister's friend and her boyfriend took it, Friend A sat this out because it has loops. Boyfriend tried to ride with his $30 Hat, which ended up being a dumb decision as Vortex stole it. The ride did also have some jerky moments, I did get neck-banged (I am too tall for this ride to headbang) once though it wasn't too bad (though if I move my neck a lot I still feel it, kinda like what FOF did to my shoulder). I also felt like a hamster in a ball, I was moving around in my restraints especially in the corkscrews and got great hang time. I did feel Vortex felt smoother in the Corkscrews than Corkscrew did, the rough spots were in the turn-around and helix. The sharp turn before the MCBR also didn't feel as bad from the 2nd car. I still would have preferred the back cars though, as I missed the airtime from those seats. I do think new trains with vest restraints would make this ride better, reliability and capacity wise it's fine. (It was running all day and I didn't see it go down once)

Rating: C

After riding the Hat-Eating Vortex (My Sister's Friend did say she would replace the Hat) we went back to Oktoberfest and they had some more beer, and we met back up briefly with my sister and her friend doing haunts with her. Also, while I mentioned how cool this area was during the day, at night it was even cooler looking! We talked for a bit, and we ended up deciding to split up again, with our group going to ride...

Ride #17: The Beast #2 (Night)

Wait: 60 Minutes

This was the longest I have waited for Beast in a while, as they were using the 1st que house for the first time in ages. However, the line moved very well, thanks to a good ride crew and the fact each train does carry 36 riders. I liked how the lights in the que houses were red and ominous (can't remember if they were like that for non-Haunt), and The Beast Graveyard (with SOB logo on the gravestones) was a neat addition. We eventually boarded the trains, and headed into the woods.

This was a epic night ride. It was very dark out, and it felt like the woods were consuming me. The ride was at that perfect level of roughness: bouncy and out-of-control feeling but not painful. And the ride felt like it was hauling, I did notice a few of the trims but it felt like they could only barely slow the train at all. The tunnels were very dark and loud, and the helix was epic. I did have 1 issue, not with the ride though- in the long tunnel, mid-ride, I saw a dim white light up ahead. Some idiot was filming the ride with their phone! I doubt it was even good footage, that arm they were holding up was swaying a lot (and I think they stopped filming during the helix realizing their phone was in danger). I hope they caught them on the on-ride photo or something, while nothing bad did happen, that idiot could have hurt someone. The Beast itself after dark was amazing though, granted at this point I am not surprised.

Rating: S

After The Beast, we went to use the bathrooms, and then Friend A was hungry, so he went to get a Pizza. I went and got a soda with my season pass drink plan, and he ended up getting a plate of 2 slices and breadsticks, and he kindly shared them with me.

FOOD: LaRosa's Pizza Rivertown

There was a line out the door, but this place was getting the Pizza out fast, so it moved very fast. The Pizza- we got cheese- was pretty good, a little heavy on the sauce but the cheese tasted great. The breadstick also tasted good. I thanked the friend for getting us both food.

Rating: B

After we got food, we went through half of Pumpkin Eater to check it out (it was pretty cool) and then turned around to go to Mystic Timbers.

Ride #18: Mystic Timbers #3 (Night)

Wait: 45 Minutes

The Mystic Timbers crew was sending out trains like crazy, so in spite of the huge crowds and this ride's crazy popularity, the wait was only 45 minutes. Also, remember how I said Mystic Timbers feels like it runs slower in the morning? Well, that is really "slow in comparison" to how it feels later in the day, especially at night. And on this night, Mystic Timbers was HAULING. Lots of airtime and sudden twists, turns, and drops all in near complete darkness, save for the WWC entrance which glowed orange like a pumpkin, LOL. Even the shed was better at night, as it looks creepier and is darker inside. We got snakes, for the 2nd time for me. Also this was my sister's friend and her boyfriend's first ride on Mystic Timbers- they loved it, so it made a great first impression on them.

Rating: S

After getting a amazing ride on Mystic Timbers, we headed back to the restrooms near BLSC yet again to meet my sister and Friend B, who thanks to Fright Lane had done all the Haunts in the park. They liked CHAOS the best. We discussed riding Beast again, but Friend A wanted to ride Diamondback at night badly. My sister's friend and her boyfriend decided it was time to leave now, as it was after 11pm and they wanted to get home, but we wanted to do 1 more ride. We ended up choosing Diamondback, per Friend A's request.

Ride #19: Diamondback #4 (Night)

Wait: 30 Minutes

There were actually more people in line than earlier, but thankfully the Fast Lane clog was gone, and the crew was still doing a epic job with dispatches. So the wait was about the same. Like everything else at night, Diamondback was epic. It wasn't as secluded as Beast or Mystic Timbers (mainly because it comes up and reminds you that you are in a amusement park) but it still had some very dark sections, and the airtime was great. It was also very smooth, and because of that the ride was somewhat relaxing in a way. Kings Island has so many rides that give epic night rides, and they are all very different.

Rating: S

After Diamondback, we headed to the Eiffel Tower as my sister wanted to go up for 1 last view. Oh, wait, the eyes were on...IT IS EVIL TOWER, MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Ride #20: Eiffel (Evil) Tower #2 (Night)

Wait: Walk-On

The views of the park at night, with fog all around and all lit up, were cool. The atmosphere of the park in general was great. I also saw the parking lot, it looked like it was gonna be much easier to leave versus how it was preview night. (Again not gonna rate this because it is not really a traditional ride)

Rating: NR

And after the epic views from above, we headed out of the park after a long but epic day. We saw a few monsters around here, one of them even did a funny gag and slid in and did a pose right after we had a group photo taken, LOL. I'll note I didn't see many monsters around 6pm when Haunt began, but more came out as the night went on. Now finally, here are the Pros/Cons of this trip:

PROS

+Awesome Rides

+Ride Ops Doing a AMAZING Job on multiple rides (Especially The "Big 4"), in spite of the crowds this helped keep waits do-able

+Good Food

+Amazing Park Atmosphere, especially during Haunt

+Light Crowds Early

CONS

-Huge Crowds during Haunt, which also attracted a few idiots (Like the person filming on Beast)

-Fast Lane Clog at Diamondback

-Price of Mac N' Cheese Bar (It's good, but $13 for a simple bowl? The LaRosa's we had later was a MUCH better value IMO)

-Firehawk having issues, preventing me from taking last rides. Makes me further accept and understand why the park wants to get rid of it.

Anyhow, that is it. Comments and questions welcome! McSalsa away!