Trip Report

[KDogg]

First of all, YES IT WAS HOT!!! But, that turned out to be a good thing becuase the longest line I stood in was for the Scooby Haunted Castle ride. Personally, I'd say it was for the air conditioning... This was a family trip, and my kids' first visit to Kings Island. My son is 4 and my two daughters are 6, so I really wasn't expecting a whole lot out of this trip.

Was I ever fooled!

Due to the long road trip in the heat (the A/C in the car is out) and the kids' love of Scooby, we hit the Haunted Castle first. Then it was off to Nickelodeon Universe for the kiddie rides. They took a spin on the swings before hitting the Fairly Odd Coaster. They weren't too thrilled off that first hill but by the time the ride was over they wanted to ride more.

My son was too little to ride Avatar so he went with my nephew for a couple other kiddie rides while me, my wife, and the two girls rode it. That thing is bigger than I thought it would be for a family ride but we all enjoyed it nonetheless. After that, the girls hit a couple of the kiddie rides too, Azul's train and Swiper's whip ride.

Then they wanted a piece of The Beast. They weren't scared, but I was scared for them because I wasn't sure how they'd handle it. Well, they made a fool outta me! One rode with me, the other rode with mommy. Again, our son was too little for this one so he sat in his stroller waiting on us... quite upset, by the way.

We then went for The Vortex but two rides before us the thing broke down. So, off to see what else we could find. We hit the Scrambler, which must have had new bearings installed and greased up because I believe that's the fastest Scrambler I've ever been on.

Next was Top Gun. They didn't like it too well, especially when it would go sideways. But, as usual, I enjoyed the ride, albeit short. After a La Rosa's pizza for dinner I just had to try out Face/Off. That's the first coaster like that I've been on but it certainly won't be the last!

Back to Nickelodeon Universe and more kiddie rides, including another spin in the Haunted Castle to cool off. After that was another ride on the FOC, then the girls wanted a shot at Reptar. That thing might be little, but from a kid's point of view it packs quite a wallop. After that was a ride on the MVKIRR for the train freaks in the family... basically all of us, that is.

Vortex was up and running again so we tried another shot at it. Wifey didn't want to ride so I took one girl at a time since I wasn't sure how they'd react to it. Well, needless to say, they've inherited my love for that machine. One even got mad because she had to get off; I guess I'll be buying her a gold pass next year lol. I certainly hope they get the bugs worked out of it though, I'd hate to see it go the way of unmaintained coasters.

Another trip or two around the park and a few more rides here and there ultimately led us back to The Beast, mainly at the begging of my daughters. Again, mommy didn't wanna ride so I took them myself, putting them together in one seat and me directly behind them. I was joined by a Ride Attendant, whom I suppose was off work and wanted to take spin before going home. I had to get after him for holding on, though... The girls done great on the ride, although the youngest one got mad because she didn't see "The Beast" lurking in the woods. She wanted to hug him, so she says. She got off the ride crying and one of the attendants immediately came over to make sure nothing was wrong, for which I commend him (I failed to catch his name while attending to the crying kid).

All in all, it was a good (did I mention HOT?) day. I didn't get to ride everything, but I had conceded that this was a family day before we even got in the car to make the trip. Nearly every ride was either walk-on or a very short wait. The park wasn't crowded at all. We didn't splurge on stuff but the park did get a good chunk of my monthly budget; we walked out of there with four on-ride pictures, a souvenir cup, a couple of Beast Bears, and a couple of oddities won from games. But the best part for me is now I never have to worry about not having somebody to ride coasters with!

[Avatar]

Great Trip report Kdogg, and congratulations on you and your daughters getting to ride the big coasters!!

I know It’s nerve racking and just as hard on the parent worrying if they’ll be ok. It always gives me flashbacks from when I started ridding coasters and wonder if they are have the same range of emotions. This last weekend my 6 year old daughter rode Adventure Express with her older brother and I keep giving him advice on how to help her through the ride, Like if she looks scared, touch her softly and say the worst part is over, it’s slowing down now, one more hill to go and we be done. Then they get off and say let’s do it again!! Then you realize they are growing up and that your park experience has just gotten bigger.

I’m glad your family had such a great experience at Kings Island on such a hot day

[pkister]

Cool report! By the way whats a beast bear?

[pkister]

Incase you were wondering that question was for anyone! Not just for kdog.

[KDogg]

A Beast Bear is just a little stuffed bear. It's black and says "The Beast" on the front of it. I got it at one of the souvenir shops, thinking it would appease my daughter who was upset about not seeing the actual "Beast" out in the woods. And I was right - she and her sister were asleep by the time we hit I-71.

[Flight Of The Dead]

^ have u look at it claws!!! no one has ever seen The Beast! it stays hiden in the woods. Some people say if you ride it at night , you can see it lurking toward your train.

[KIBeast]

Nice report, KDogg. Sounds like you guys had a blast. My nephew is getting to the point where he will be able to take on some of the larger coasters and rides. However, I don't know if he is willing. When we are at home, he's always talking about when are we going to KI again. Then, you get him there and he won't even ride Little Bill's Giggle Coaster. Go fig! Anyway, I don't want to rush him, but I can't wait for the day when he's ready to conquer.

[becca011906]

Great report, we will be going next monday and tuesday for my kids first trip they are ages ds 6, dd4, and dd2, so hopefully my oldest will like the stuff as much as me and dh do!!! Sounds like your girls did, my 4y/o as well is going to get upset when ever brother gets to ride and she has to sit, oh well she will have her little sister to sit with!

[Braves0511]

Sounds like you have fun, and i remember when i first graduated to the big stuff, i hated coasters until that day, now im subscribed to a fan forum go figure...

We are going next Wednesday, and i need to work myself up to get on FOF. I've never been able to get myself on it, and the one time i was going to there was a two hour wait. And when you only get to go once a year, you really don't want to waste two hours just standing in line... On a side note I hope it's hot again next week and that it doesn't rain...

[vortex31]

Its great when your kids get old enough to ride the big coasters with you. My 11 year old son and I made a trip by ourselves last year and had a blast. His new favorite is FOF, and yes I think it is worth a 2 hour wait if the line gets that long. Can't wait for our next trip because my 9 year old daughter has passed the 54" mark and will be able to ride FOF. My 4 year old daughter can't wait to ride the JR. coasters, she loves to look at pics of them while I'm on PKI Central.

[KDogg]

That's awesome. My son, also 4, likes to get on my lap and watch POV movies and Roller Coaster Tycoon clips. If he sees a coaster on the screen he drops everything to come and watch. I actually think that helped out alleviating any fears about getting on the real coasters when we got to KI. Of course, he couldn't ride the big ones, but he was allowed on the Fairly Odd Coaster - and he loved every minute of it!