What a spectacular day to visit K.I. The weather was perfect.

Usually, my family takes a vacation day in the middle of the summer and visits on a Tuesday or Wednesday and the crowds are pretty small. This allows for plenty of riding. Yesterday the park was not packed, but certainly more crowded than we are used to.

We arrived about noon. My youngest daughter likes to start off with Adventure Express, so we did. I think it's a great family coaster. Then we headed up the Coney midway and rode the Scrambler and Shake, Rattle, and Roll. The girls rode The Vortex (I had a sore back - I tested it on Adventure Express and thought The Vortex might be too much, so I sat that one out). Although A.E. might be rougher than The Vortex. They eventually rode The Vortex 4 times.

The UC Bearcat football team visited the park yesterday. Being a UC fan, this was great as we got the chance to talk to a few groups of Bearcats and take a few pictures with them. They were all very friendly and asked people to sign their t-shirts.

We waited in line about 40 minutes for ITSJ, and right before getting on we noticed the ride ops checking the doors or something on one of the trains, and you guessed it - they closed the ride. This happened to us on our earlier visit to the park. So we headed over to the Nickelodeon area to ride Avatar, and it too was closed.

We eventually made our way back to the other side of the park. My oldest daughter and my wife rode Face-Off. My wife described it as "intense" - she said you can really feel the g-forces on the loops. My oldest daughter loves it. We made our way around the park again with more rides on A.E., The Vortex, the Scrambler, Shake, rattle, and Roll, the Hanna-Barbera movie (This should have been 3-D - but it's not too bad), then a visit to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and a spin on the Carousel. We also managed to get a ride in on The Beastie (or Fairly Odd Coaster - whatever you prefer). And we tried again on IJST and got one ride after only a 20 minute wait in line. I think IJST is a very fun ride - it's just too short.

Dinner was pizza by the fountains on International Street - always good (But very expensive).

Ride times varied from 15-30 minutes - not too bad.

Some additional comments:

1. K.I. does not enforce their smoking policy at all. People pretty much smoke whenever and wherever they want, even in the queues. I'd like to see the policy enforced better.

2. I am glad they give out free ice water - that saves a lot of money buying drinks.

3. Food prices are ridiculous, but we know that going in. Eating LaRosa's on a K.I. visit is a tradition. $17 for 3 slices of pizza, an order of breadsticks, and a soda is a lot. Add on a $5 waffle later (that amazes me - 5 cents worth of dough for $5. My wife joked that we should buy 4 with toppings - could you imagine spending $24 on 4 waffles with toppings?)

All in all a very nice day.

I glad you and your family had such a good time on Sunday, even though it was more crowded than what you are used to. I noticed you didn’t mention that you did any shopping or buy any merchandise. How is that possible? As a family man myself I find it almost impossible not to walk out of Kings Island with at least something o’matter how much I say not today.

No Beast ?

I glad you and your family had such a good time on Sunday, even though it was more crowded than what you are used to. I noticed you didn’t mention that you did any shopping or buy any merchandise. How is that possible? As a family man myself I find it almost impossible not to walk out of Kings Island with at least something o’matter how much I say not today.

We have souvenirs from previous trips to K.I., so we did not get any on this trip. Our girls are in their teens now so they enjoy the park more for the rides than anything else.

No Beast for me - I have not ridden it in a few years. I'm kinding of losing my ability to ride the big coasters now, which makes me feel bad because this is the age my girls love to ride them.

I've got to make myself ride it with them next year - that's my resolution for 2007.