How was your 2019 season?

[Bansheelover]

How was everyone's 2019 Kings Island and Cedar Fair season?

[MaestroJr]

I had a great 2019 season! I visited Disney World, Carowinds, Dollywood, Cedar Point, Kentucky Kingdom, as well as 16 Kings Island visits, the most I’ve done in one season. 2020 will be great but 2019 was fantastic, I had never been to Cedar Point or Carowinds but now defiantly look forward to going back. 

[MDMC01]

It was a slow burn season for me, but it ended beautifully!

Let me explain...

On Kings Island's Opening Day, the three Arrows (now 2) were unable to operate due to the cold. IIRC, I rode Diamondback and FOF a lot. Throughout the main season, I went to KI, but didn't go as much as I had planned. I really enjoyed Carnivale and it was great to take my step-dad to see Crowder at Spiritsong as Kings Island is my happy place and it was cool to share it with someone, especially someone who doesn't normally visit theme parks like I do (also, getting to watch Skillet perform from the Effiel tower on that Saturday Night was super cool as well). Also, the two fireworks shows (Greatest Showman/Footprints) were pretty cool as well. And we can't forget Orion's announcement as well as Gravity, season two (that sensory-friendly show was epic!)! So, next comes Haunt. I had wanted to be Scareactor for years, but finally pulled the trigger this year and I loved it! You all already know about some of my amazing experiences (And I know least one KICer guest saw me in action), but you may not know that my first big scare routine that worked was inspired by Cedar Point's Forbidden Frontier.

That Cedar Point trip took place on Labor Day weekend and though it was extremely crowded, I had a blast! My main reason for going was for experiencing Forbidden Frontier (it was awesome!) but I was also able to get two decent rides on Magnum as well as go back to some old favorites like Rougarou, Valravn and Wicked Twister (RIP?). Switching gears a bit, Vortex Closing Day was probably one of the single best days at the park. I did all the things: Ate breakfast with friends, went to church, rode some rides, got to see one of the my best friends and rode more rides, said goodbye to Vortex, and partied with my Haunt Fam afterward!

After that great end to the main season, Winterfest rolled around. Though I went as a guest, I had a blast seeing Haunt people and seeing the shows. The two standout shows this year (IMO) were What the Dickens and Four Drummers Drumming. I saw Dickens six times and I love how it is so funny. Four Drummers Drumming is always awesome, no matter who is in the band! And I can't forget about NYE and the party on I-Street; what a great way to end the season!

EDIT: In addition to Haunt, HalloTween was a thing this year! I overcame my fears in Blackout and really enjoyed walking through CHAOS once again. Shipwrecked looked and sounded awesome, and turning Madame's into a whodunit experience was a cool concept.

[Bansheelover]

I deliberately did not write an answer to my question, as I wanted to see other's responses to maybe stimulate my memory of 2019.  2019 saw the most visits in the Bansheelover family history. We visited Kings Island 62 times along with four visits each to Carowinds and Cedar Point.  

 Many of KI visits were drop ins to eat lunch or dinner and ride a few rides. I think we only had 2-3 full days at Kings Island where we rode everything. Usually in a visit we would hit a few coasters in one area and leave. We only visited the waterpark 4 times as it now too busy to have an enjoyable day.  With that said though we still had a lot of fun, and my youngest reached 48 every time we visited. She rode The Bat, Adventure Express, BLSC, and Racer last year. This year she conquered The Beast and Mystic Timbers. MT is her new favorite roller coaster at KI. Her overall favorite is Ricochet at Carowinds. Unfortunately she never got up the nerve to ride The Vortex.  I had my last ride on The Vortex in early September before its death was announced. No one else rode it with me.  Vortex was also the last roller coaster I rode for the year, as major shoulder surgery ended my season.  I took the family every Friday and Saturday night for Haunt. They would do the mazes, and I would eat, and watch the scare actors pop out of the fog and scare people.  It was quite hilarious to watch as the scare actors would scare grown men, and teenagers.  Toward the end of Haunt I was out my sling,  and did enjoy a few mazes. Field of Screams and Slaughterhouse were my favorite. Slaughterhouse scared my youngest so bad we lost her retainer.  After Haunt we visited Winterfest, and had a really good time. Kings Island does an amazing job with Winterfest. It has gotten better each year. 

As mentioned we visited Carowinds and Cedar Point. Our Carowinds visits were for a four consecutive days in June. Beautiful weather, and park. If you have not gone, it should be a Cedar Fair park on your list.  Cedar Point was two, two day trips in July and August. We were unloading off Valravn when the accident happened shutting down that ride in July, and our August trip saw Top Thrill Dragster down. However we enjoyed both trips, and took a trip to the beach which was gorgeous. 

Summer 2020 we are planning on a day at Kings Dominion primarily to ride Intimidator 305 as my oldest daughters have decided we must ride every giga in North America, and a stop at Michigan's Adventure on our way to the Sleeping Bear Dunes.  

[flightoffear1996]

We had a pretty good year.  We did our first cruise on Royal Caribbean and just booked a Disney cruise for 2021.  We went to Kings Island over 30 times and we were able to make to to Busch Gardens Williamsburg this year.  We went to Cedar Point as well but didn't get to ride much because of high winds and large crowds.  We upgraded to Platinum passes for 2020 and cant see what adventures it brings us.

[McSalsa]

2019 was a pretty good year for me, not quite as epic as 2018 was but last year was really epic and I dunno if I will surpass it anytime soon. Here are how my 2019 Trips went:

Passholder Preview Night (April 19th)

This day kinda sucked- not because the park did anything bad or wrong, but because the weather was awful. It was cold, and very rainy at the same time. Lots of usually awesome roller coasters like The Beast and Banshee were made unenjoyable due to rain bullets (and Banshee actually DUMPED WATER ON US!). We did get some dry rides towards the end on Mystic Timbers and Diamondback thankfully, but it was so wet and cold I just couldn't enjoy it very much. Luckily...

Opening Day (April 20th)

We came back the very next day, and while it was still a bit cold, it was MUCH drier and that alone made everything much, much better. The threat of rain also kept crowds away, so I was able to ride pretty much every big ride in the entire park save the 3 Arrow coasters (it was too cold for them). I actually managed to tie my personal record for most rides ridden in a single day, in spite of waiting 2 hours for The Beast in the morning to get one of the free T-Shirts (though the ride I got- which was from 6-3, the very back row of the last car- was awesome and probably the best daytime ride I have ever gotten on Beast). I also joined up with other KIC Members for the first time and rode WindSeeker, The KI & MV Railroad, and Boo Blasters with them (getting my best score ever on Boo Blasters!). The day ended with some incredible night rides on Mystic Timbers, Diamondback (which was giving stronger than usual airtime for some reason), and The Beast.

Memorial Day Weekend: Sunday (May 26th)

This trip was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision made on the Friday before, but it was a good one! Made sure to ride the Arrows on this trip as they were closed on Opening Weekend, and also saw Gravity for the first of two times in 2019. I got a new coaster credit- Flying Ace Aerial Chase. It was quite rough, even worse than a lot of the bigger rides! We also got tricked into thinking there was a cat trapped in a locker at Soak City- it wasn't, it was behind the lockers. A few storms also passed through, causing some brief ride closures. I ended this day by riding Banshee and The Bat at night, and then we saw the updated for 2019 fireworks show. I also broke my record for most rides in a day, riding a whopping 27 rides (includes re-rides) in a single day!

July Summer Trip (July 13th)

This was my final trip to KI in 2019, I didn't get out for Haunt or Winterfest this year like I did in 2018. This trip was hot and crowded- I actually had to wait 30 minutes for Vortex at one point, and this was before it was announced that the ride would be closing (I got 3 rides on Vortex on this day- they were, I did not realize at the time, my final 3 rides). Then again the crowds I was kind of expecting, it was a July Saturday and the park would be open until midnight for a reason. I was also able to take pictures on this trip as I had my own phone finally. I also saw Gravity for the 2nd time this season (3rd overall) for the final time. We stayed until Midnight, missed the fireworks cycle of WindSeeker by just 1, and then we rode Beast twice at night- including the last ride of the night- to finish the trip.

Cedar Point Halloweekends (September 14th & 15th)

Taking advantage of the Platinum part of my pass, we headed up to Cedar Point in September to celebrate my sister's birthday. And oh lord, did it get crowded on Saturday- even the less popular rides like Rougarou or Magnum XL-200 were pulling 30 to 45 minute waits, and popular rides like Millennium Force were over 2 hours, with Steel Vengeance hitting 3 hours plus! We did get a few rides in, but not a whole lot for obvious reasons. I felt smart for doing Millennium Force around opening and only waiting 20 minutes then. I also got my best ride ever on Raptor, after waiting 45 minutes for it (it was re-opening from a breakdown and had a 90 minute wait afterwards). We ended Day 1 with a night ride on Steel Vengeance, thankfully as everyone tends to leave near park close the wait was "only" 75 minutes then...not great, but a heck of a lot better than THREE HOURS.

Sunday was much better, the big rides still got big hour plus waits at peak but everything else was 15 minutes or less at least. Save Top Thrill Dragster, which was broken all day. Typical TTD- it and Cedar Creek Mine Ride were the only 2 coasters I didn't ride at least once on this trip. We knocked out Valravn and Maverick early, so we avoided the huge waits for them. I also got my first ride on Power Tower, which felt like Drop Tower in reverse as you shot up 240 feet in the air. At the end of the day we took a awesome dusk ride on Millennium Force, ending this trip on the same ride we began it with- also because I wanted to experience and get used to a 300 foot drop because Orion was announced not long before this. 

And that was my 2019. It was great, though I still think my 2018 was better (In 2018 I went to CP twice for a total of six days instead of 2 total, went to Holiday World, and also went to Haunt and Winterfest at KI) but I do think years like 2018 are gonna be rarer and thus hard for me to beat. But hey, maybe 2020 can beat 2018...

[silver2005]

My 2019 was a bit slow.  Spent all last year unemployed which affected my park visits, though I did make it to the park about 5-6 times and did my first Holiwood Nights (which I'm planning on returning in 2020 with the Voyage re-tracking).  

I am planning a trip in northern Ohio/Michigan this summer- likely CP, MIA and either/or Waldameer and Indiana Beach.  I hope to get to KI more than I have the last few seasons, too. 

[PatchesC]

Didn't get may visits in since work started mandatory weekends on me. Managed 2 days in April, 2 in June, 2 September, 1 December. Avoided most of the crowds and heat so that is a plus.

Most important part is my 11yo made the 54" mark and we finally all hot to ride Diamondback together. Planning our first CP visit for July. Excited to finally get to go and test her crazy limit.

Kid is now ditching us at the coaster trains if she sees another kid by themself to ride with. Guess it's more fun with kids her own age lol. 

Though she has already decided she will grow up and build a 600ft coaster because "Orion could be taller" . 

 

[Hfocke94]

it was good. sad that Vortex is leaving but it was another wonderful successful year at Kings Island

[tuxedoman52]

I had an awesome 2019 season and an even more promising 2020 season! Made about 20 trips to KI this year while hitting Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Six Flags Great Adventure. I won't mention my disappointing visits to CP; I was the there the day the park hit capacity and they shut down the spillway. Made the most out of that trip and explored Cleveland. With the addition of a Six Flags Membership for the first time on top of my Platinum Pass. I'm looking at hitting 4 new parks before the summer even begins this year!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[SnakePlissken]

11 hours ago, McSalsa said:

2019 was a pretty good year for me, not quite as epic as 2018 was but last year was really epic and I dunno if I will surpass it anytime soon. Here are how my 2019 Trips went:

Passholder Preview Night (April 19th)

This day kinda sucked- not because the park did anything bad or wrong, but because the weather was awful. It was cold, and very rainy at the same time. Lots of usually awesome roller coasters like The Beast and Banshee were made unenjoyable due to rain bullets (and Banshee actually DUMPED WATER ON US!). We did get some dry rides towards the end on Mystic Timbers and Diamondback thankfully, but it was so wet and cold I just couldn't enjoy it very much. Luckily...

Opening Day (April 20th)

We came back the very next day, and while it was still a bit cold, it was MUCH drier and that alone made everything much, much better. The threat of rain also kept crowds away, so I was able to ride pretty much every big ride in the entire park save the 3 Arrow coasters (it was too cold for them). I actually managed to tie my personal record for most rides ridden in a single day, in spite of waiting 2 hours for The Beast in the morning to get one of the free T-Shirts (though the ride I got- which was from 6-3, the very back row of the last car- was awesome and probably the best daytime ride I have ever gotten on Beast). I also joined up with other KIC Members for the first time and rode WindSeeker, The KI & MV Railroad, and Boo Blasters with them (getting my best score ever on Boo Blasters!). The day ended with some incredible night rides on Mystic Timbers, Diamondback (which was giving stronger than usual airtime for some reason), and The Beast.

Memorial Day Weekend: Sunday (May 26th)

This trip was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision made on the Friday before, but it was a good one! Made sure to ride the Arrows on this trip as they were closed on Opening Weekend, and also saw Gravity for the first of two times in 2019. I got a new coaster credit- Flying Ace Aerial Chase. It was quite rough, even worse than a lot of the bigger rides! We also got tricked into thinking there was a cat trapped in a locker at Soak City- it wasn't, it was behind the lockers. A few storms also passed through, causing some brief ride closures. I ended this day by riding Banshee and The Bat at night, and then we saw the updated for 2019 fireworks show. I also broke my record for most rides in a day, riding a whopping 27 rides (includes re-rides) in a single day!

July Summer Trip (July 13th)

This was my final trip to KI in 2019, I didn't get out for Haunt or Winterfest this year like I did in 2018. This trip was hot and crowded- I actually had to wait 30 minutes for Vortex at one point, and this was before it was announced that the ride would be closing (I got 3 rides on Vortex on this day- they were, I did not realize at the time, my final 3 rides). Then again the crowds I was kind of expecting, it was a July Saturday and the park would be open until midnight for a reason. I was also able to take pictures on this trip as I had my own phone finally. I also saw Gravity for the 2nd time this season (3rd overall) for the final time. We stayed until Midnight, missed the fireworks cycle of WindSeeker by just 1, and then we rode Beast twice at night- including the last ride of the night- to finish the trip.

Cedar Point Halloweekends (September 14th & 15th)

Taking advantage of the Platinum part of my pass, we headed up to Cedar Point in September to celebrate my sister's birthday. And oh lord, did it get crowded on Saturday- even the less popular rides like Rougarou or Magnum XL-200 were pulling 30 to 45 minute waits, and popular rides like Millennium Force were over 2 hours, with Steel Vengeance hitting 3 hours plus! We did get a few rides in, but not a whole lot for obvious reasons. I felt smart for doing Millennium Force around opening and only waiting 20 minutes then. I also got my best ride ever on Raptor, after waiting 45 minutes for it (it was re-opening from a breakdown and had a 90 minute wait afterwards). We ended Day 1 with a night ride on Steel Vengeance, thankfully as everyone tends to leave near park close the wait was "only" 75 minutes then...not great, but a heck of a lot better than THREE HOURS.

Sunday was much better, the big rides still got big hour plus waits at peak but everything else was 15 minutes or less at least. Save Top Thrill Dragster, which was broken all day. Typical TTD- it and Cedar Creek Mine Ride were the only 2 coasters I didn't ride at least once on this trip. We knocked out Valravn and Maverick early, so we avoided the huge waits for them. I also got my first ride on Power Tower, which felt like Drop Tower in reverse as you shot up 240 feet in the air. At the end of the day we took a awesome dusk ride on Millennium Force, ending this trip on the same ride we began it with- also because I wanted to experience and get used to a 300 foot drop because Orion was announced not long before this. 

And that was my 2019. It was great, though I still think my 2018 was better (In 2018 I went to CP twice for a total of six days instead of 2 total, went to Holiday World, and also went to Haunt and Winterfest at KI) but I do think years like 2018 are gonna be rarer and thus hard for me to beat. But hey, maybe 2020 can beat 2018...

Maybe I am just a weirdo but I really really enjoyed riding The Beast, Mystic Timbers, Diamondback and getting soaked on Banshee in the pouring cold rain on passholder preview night. It is something I had never experienced before and maybe never again. Lines were short. Then the next day started with light cold rain and dried off quick. I went prepared. Had extra of everything and wore 2 hoodies the first night and the 2nd day wore a hoodie and pulled out my old faithful leather jacket with a lining in it. Bought my all season fastlane with my tax return and got to skip that massive Beast line and got my Beast 40 Shirt. Although its a size too small and cant wear it. Went to my first Coasterstock ever and had a Blast. Took a 2 day Trip in June for my first ever Coastermania at Cedar Point. Rode Steel Vengeance 5 times in a row at night. The park was open for us to ride coasters for 18.5 hours Went to Kings Island for 3 days for the 4th of July/ my birthday. Hopped in the car a couple weeks later with plans to go to the Hot Summer Nights water park ERT and at the last minute decided to drive to Carowinds instead. Went there for my first time ever over a hot 95+ degree 2 day weekend. Rode Copperhead Strike 9 times and Fury 11 and loved it. Went to a Kentucky Kingdom event in August and was there for 2 days. Again it was insanely hot 95+. Loved the food and the waterpark. I went to Cedar Point again for the first weekend of Haunt. Wore my Friday the 13th shirt there on Friday the 13th. Was there again for an insanely packed Sat. Went to Kings Island again 2 weeks later for Haunt. Took a trip in Oct to New Conneaut Lake park for 13 Layers of Fear. Rode Devils Den which is one of the last Pretzel dark rides still in operation. Rode the Blue Streak which is now 82 years old. The Next day I went to Kennywood for Phantom Fright Nights and got to ride a 100 year old coaster. Was suppose to do a 14 hour Dorney event the next night but a hotel fiasco caused me to not go. I went to Kings Island for Winterfest 3 times. Once opening night, 2 weeks later then again on New Years Eve. Had plans to go on a Wed the week before Christmas but I got sick. I was at Kings Island 14 times in 2014, Cedar Point 4, Carowinds 2, Kentucky Kingdom 2, New Conneaut Lake park 1 day, Kennywood one day in 2019. Had a great year.

I plan many visits to Kings Island this year. Hopefully even more than 2019 due to Orion. Plan on going for passholder preview night/ opening day. Then again for my second Coasterstock. I bought a ticket to my first ever Holliwood Nights this year. Planning a 5 day 4th of July/ birthday trip this year to Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens for my first visits ever. Going to go back to Kennywood at least once. Planning an Oct trip to Knoebels for Phoenix Phall Phunfest. Planning a 2nd  trip to Kings Dominion for Fall Thrillfest. If I have money I might do Coasters Eh at Canada's Wonderland. I'd like to do Coastin Through the Snow in Dec at Kings Dominion if they do it again. Maybe a trip to Dollywood or Hershey if I can fit it in over the summer.

[lifetimecoaster]

I would say 2019 was my best season yet!! I visited more times in one season than I had ever. Made 4 solo visits, and then 1 visit with my wife. Got a surprise visit right at the end of the regular season when my mother in law decided to take all of us for a "last ride on The Vortex visit". Well that visit ended up being a major awesome, because my daughter the roller coaster nut ended up reaching 48 inches. Once we got her arm band, we headed straight away to Vortex... a ride that she wanted to try. My wife and I had discussed it, and my wife was a little on the fence thinking it would be too forceful for her, and would possibly end up scaring her away from coasters for a while. I agreed, but my daughter persisted that she was going to ride Vortex. (she is 7, I rode it opening season at roughly 6 years old). The first go round we got front seat. She squealed and screamed through the whole ride, and I just thought to myself, "well those are either good screams, or this is the last lap she will do on this coaster ever". We came off the ride, and she just giggled "I wanna ride again daddy". And we did. All in, we rode 3 laps of Vortex that day. On the second lap she didn't scream, or yell, or squeal. She just smiled. While upside down in the second loop, she yelled to me "daddy, I thought you said this goes upside down 6 times, but that isn't six". It was at that point I knew, it's going to take a LOT of roller coaster to scare that kid off of roller coasters!! 

Looking forward to 2020, I'm likely as not going to be getting a season pass this year, because last year without one, I would say I easily spent WELL over what a season pass would cost buying the Indy Saver tickets. 

[KyLore]

I rode The Beast, the first year that it opened and the 40th anniversary. I relived many memories this year, and got to share them with two KI newbies! 

[HandsUp]

It was awesome. My son barely missed 48'' at the tail-end of 2018, but was good to go by spring. It totally re-invented our park trips and he fell in love with Vortex especially but it was great to ride Beast with him for the 40th as well as the others--he even does Drop Tower which is impressive for a 7 year old IMO. 

In August, we went to Holiday World even though I was a little hesitant since my daughter wasn't 48'' yet. A little creative footwear and some friendly measuring got her 48'' which means we could all ride together as a family. We went right to The Voyage and that ended up being her first big coaster--and she loved it! Had an amazing few days there and enjoyed the rest of the year at KI with both kids being able to ride. My last ride on The Vortex was my daughter's first (and only) which was a poetic way to close the book on that ride. 

[VortexBFForever]

[insert cliche "where do I begin" response here]

2019 was an extraordinary end to a decade, an era, and arguably the best chapter of my whole life. I rode Vortex a whopping 536 times in 2019, including six milestones. Compare that to 2018 when I rode *only* 192 1/3 times and 2017 when I rode just 176 times. My third and final season as a WindSeeker/Vortex ride op was amazing as I got to live my teenage dream of driving Vortex for one more season, and of course test ride countless times. I ended up breaking two records - highest documented ride total on Vortex at 1221 1/3 (emphasis on documented as I know people have ridden it many times more but didn't keep count) and highest single day ride count on Vortex (93 rides on August 9, 2019, up from the previous record of 66). It's pretty cool when considering the ride held two world records when it first opened, and it closed with me holding two records of my own!

I'm so blessed to be able to say I was one of Vortex's final riders, on both the last public train with the original crew and second-to-last train EVER alongside my crewmates (go give my Closing Day TR a read if you haven't already!)!

At the same time, many things began, from my 5-year-old nephew's and 3-year-old niece's first visit ever to Kings Island, to the start of my current job in Tech Services -- a major step closer to my next "dream job" of working in Rides Maintenance -- which was not easy to attain.

To cap it all off, I and several dozen fellow fans were standing right next to Vortex when the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. We watched the fireworks and said one last goodbye to Vortex as part of our saying hello to a new year.

I hope I remember 2019 for as long as I possibly can.

-BFF, who did her absolute best to condense this into a short-and-sweet tip-of-the-iceberg post instead of a novel. You're welcome.

[jimlaheyscar]

I visited KI 5 times this year.  Had a blast every time.  Vortex was a favorite growing up.  I'm happy I got to ride it during the final season again.  That was cool.  

Before this year I hadn't been on a coaster in 22 years because I wouldn't fit.  Dropped half my weight and changed my life.  Also visited KD, Kennywood, Hersheypark, CP, Carowinds, SFoG, KK, HW, Knotts, Strickers, Lake Winnie, Dollywood, SFMM.  What a year.  Fit on everything without a problem.

Can't wait for 2020 and Orion.  And many others.

[Steph88]

2019 season was excellent.

Mystic Timbers continues to impress me. It's so much fun.

I had my first Soak City visit this year. I really enjoyed it. The wave pools and the lazy river are great. 

The dining plan turned out to be a great deal for us and I've really liked the food.

I got some great tee shirts at the gift shops. 

The baby care center is awesome, it makes being at the park with a toddler way easier.

I did not get to Winterfest as often as I'd have liked this year- only once. That was basically the only downside to this season.

[radishman]

This was my first season of many things: Kings Island in general, going to theme park solo and having a season pass. I think I ended up going to KI proper 17-20x. Maybe closer to 15. Sounds like a lot for someone who went to a theme park once every 5 years, but reading some of the posts throughout the season almost makes it seem like I got ripped off even buying a season pass LMAO.

I think I went the second weekend as the first one was mostly rained out.

Also went to CP 2x this year. 4 hr drive, well 8 to get back is just too brutal to do too often. I think both of them took place in May. I have a platinum which may be wasted if I don't go more than that in 2020, but with the cheapo Gold Pass I am expecting it to be a nightmare so...