After all these years, I finally made the trip and visited Kings Island for the very first time. Kings Island is a park I've known since I was a kid watching America's Greatest Roller Coaster Thrills in 3D with the Beast being the featured coaster. Along with it being sister parks with my home park, Kings Dominion, it's been high on my bucket list for a long time. With that being said, there will be quite a few comparisons in my trip report. My buddy and I have the All Park Passport, along with All Season Fast Lane, which we found out works at other parks in chain as well, had decided to take the opportunity to make the trip to Ohio and visit Kings Island and Cedar Point.
We left southern Maryland around 6:30 A.M on Tuesday to make the 9 hour or so drive to Kings Island, with hopes of getting a few hours in at the park in the evening for a night ride on the Beast, go back the next morning and ride our favorite rides one last time before heading to Cedar Point.
We arrived at the park just before 4 P.M. First thing that stood out to me was how nice the booths for parking was. I wish Kings Dominion would upgrade them to something nicer and offer the self scan entry to make it easier on season pass holders. The parking lot itself wasn't a fucking warzone like KD's. After getting our preferred parking, we headed to the park entrance and noticed how smaller the plaza was in comparison. And I know it's been like this for a few years now, but it was a smart move for the chain to move security checks at the entrance plaza rather than the ticket booths themselves at their parks now. Upon entering, my first impression was how much bigger KI's International Street is in comparison to KD's. It made the Eiffel Tower in the distance, seem massive in comparison to KD's since the trees seem to make it seem much smaller. The walkways themselves had more room at KI's as well. However, I will never complain about how beautiful the trees make up at KD's International Street while providing shade. With 97 coasters in my count and wanting to make the Beast 100, we headed over to Orion first since it was another big draw for us, then Flight Of Fear before heading to the Beast for 100. However, we got to the Beast and it unfortunately went down. While we waited for the Beast, we went to grab some food at Miami River Brewhouse as we read it was a good place for food and was close to the Beast and Mystic Timbers. We were surprised to see how it was practically a traditional style like restaurant where the food is brought to you at your table and your trays were picked up after you were done. The burgers were definitely better than a lot of theme park burgers I've had along with the tatter tots. Crunchy and not soggy like most places, and I hate when they aren't cooked right. I was also surprised to see bathrooms located in the restaurants as well. I even saw this at Carowinds and this something KD needs. Another good indoor food place with a bathroom inside because it can be annoying of having to go find one right after if needed, especially if you're at Firehouse BBQ or Juke Box Diner.
After grabbing some food, we went back over to Beast and found it to be open. We got on and first ride we got back row. After a ride on that, we hit up Mystic Timbers and then Diamondback before making our way to Action Zone for rides on Banshee, Bat, Invertigo and Adventure Express before heading to Coney Mall and getting a ride on Racer. Another thing that stood out to me at this point were how fast the ride ops are here. No disrespect to KD's ride ops because they do an awesome job as well and are great people, but KI's ops are on point and make the lines bearable, even for fast lane. However, this is the result of them assigning rows on most coasters. Now, for the most part we didn't have a problem of getting a row we asked for, but there were a couple of times we couldn't get a row we wanted like a front row night ride on the Beast, but that was after close so I can understand trying to get as much people on as possible. Also, a lot of rides with three train operations helped very well. With all of our desired coaster out of the way, we headed to the Eiffel Tower for some views, as its a tradition at KD to get on the tower as much as possible when it's open. We then rode Orion, Diamondback and Beast a few times to kill some time for their fireworks and light show and get a night ride on the Beast. After a successful night, we headed to our hotel (Comfort Suites) to prepare for the next day before heading to Cedar Point. Wednesday, we checked out Soak City, rode our favorites and headed out to Cedar Point just before 3 P.M. All in all a great first visit to Kings Island.
Coaster reviews:
Orion - This is a great B&M and a solid part of the park's line up. I will say, Fury 325 did spoil me, so with how short this one was, it had me wanting more than it offered. But it still had fun first drop (despite the chain lift slowing down at the top) and had some fun laterals along the course. 8/10
Flight Of Fear - I always hear how this version is worse in comparison to KD's, but honestly, I didn't notice a difference. Neither one is smooth but I don't find them horribly rough either. I will say, I really love the light show they had in the queue. 7/10
The Beast - Probably my favorite wood coaster at the park and possible favorite wooden coaster. Now, I know this has been a long desired roller coaster bucket list of mine so I may come off a little biased, but the setting alone really made this ride special. Any ride that takes advantage of it's surroundings is always a win and the Beast does just that with it being tucked away so far back in the woods. The double helix was insane! Last row, admittedly, was a little too much that I felt like I pulled something on my side. However, our last ride before we left Wednesday afternoon, we got a front row ride and it was much more tolerable. The night rides, definitely live up to the hype. Even though we had the middle of the train, it was still an amazing experience. 9.5/10
Mystic Timbers - While the Beast is amazing, this one wasn't too far off. Definitely the best GCI I've been on. This ride hauls ass and has so many aggressive moments that you don't have time to catch your breath. I've seen POV's of this before and I can tell you, it does not do justice like it does in person. The shed sequence doesn't do much for me, but I do understand them having that when waiting on the brake run, it gives something for the riders to see instead of waiting in a typical brake run shed. 8/10
Diamondback - A solid B&M Hyper with good moments of airtime. Not sure where I'd rank it with Apollo's Chariot and Thunder Striker. 7/10
Banshee - I'm huge fan of B&M Inverts, I really enjoyed this one, but I did find this one on the weaker side of the ones I've ridden, and I've been on a lot. The first drop was definitely on the better side compared to most of them, I will admit. The rest of the inversions weren't as forceful as I was hoping. 6/10
The Bat - Lowkey was also looking forward to riding this as much as the Beast. Big Bad Wolf was one of my favorite roller coasters despite only riding it three times and riding Iron Dragon in 2019 was kind of a let down. The Bat always looked like a solid Arrow Suspended, and it did not disappoint. My only complaint is that it was too short. 8/10
Invertigo - Last time I rode one of these was probably back in 2003 when Six Flags America still had Two Face: The Flip Side. Not as bad as I thought but nothing special either. A one and done for me. 5/10
Adventure Express - I know Arrow Mine Trains aren't the most thrilling, but I always had a soft spot for these kind of coasters. This one was particularly fun and had a great setting and a fun layout. Reminded me a lot of Thunderation. 6/10
Racer - Fun woodie, almost the same as Racer 75 with a couple exceptions. I do prefer 75 as I find it to have more airtime from my experience but it's still a very solid ride. 7/10
The only flat ride we did was Delirium. I was expecting to like this more than KD's but I think KD's is a little more thrilling. For some reason, this one felt a little more tame and had a more relaxing experience than anything. Maybe it had something to do with the seat I was in? At least this one gave more arm room.
Overall thoughts, Kings Island is a phenomenal park with a great line up, amazing operations, good food selections and just a great experience all around. I would absolutely come back, maybe next year or two, especially if they add another good coaster to the line up.
We left southern Maryland around 6:30 A.M on Tuesday to make the 9 hour or so drive to Kings Island, with hopes of getting a few hours in at the park in the evening for a night ride on the Beast, go back the next morning and ride our favorite rides one last time before heading to Cedar Point.
We arrived at the park just before 4 P.M. First thing that stood out to me was how nice the booths for parking was. I wish Kings Dominion would upgrade them to something nicer and offer the self scan entry to make it easier on season pass holders. The parking lot itself wasn't a fucking warzone like KD's. After getting our preferred parking, we headed to the park entrance and noticed how smaller the plaza was in comparison. And I know it's been like this for a few years now, but it was a smart move for the chain to move security checks at the entrance plaza rather than the ticket booths themselves at their parks now. Upon entering, my first impression was how much bigger KI's International Street is in comparison to KD's. It made the Eiffel Tower in the distance, seem massive in comparison to KD's since the trees seem to make it seem much smaller. The walkways themselves had more room at KI's as well. However, I will never complain about how beautiful the trees make up at KD's International Street while providing shade. With 97 coasters in my count and wanting to make the Beast 100, we headed over to Orion first since it was another big draw for us, then Flight Of Fear before heading to the Beast for 100. However, we got to the Beast and it unfortunately went down. While we waited for the Beast, we went to grab some food at Miami River Brewhouse as we read it was a good place for food and was close to the Beast and Mystic Timbers. We were surprised to see how it was practically a traditional style like restaurant where the food is brought to you at your table and your trays were picked up after you were done. The burgers were definitely better than a lot of theme park burgers I've had along with the tatter tots. Crunchy and not soggy like most places, and I hate when they aren't cooked right. I was also surprised to see bathrooms located in the restaurants as well. I even saw this at Carowinds and this something KD needs. Another good indoor food place with a bathroom inside because it can be annoying of having to go find one right after if needed, especially if you're at Firehouse BBQ or Juke Box Diner.
After grabbing some food, we went back over to Beast and found it to be open. We got on and first ride we got back row. After a ride on that, we hit up Mystic Timbers and then Diamondback before making our way to Action Zone for rides on Banshee, Bat, Invertigo and Adventure Express before heading to Coney Mall and getting a ride on Racer. Another thing that stood out to me at this point were how fast the ride ops are here. No disrespect to KD's ride ops because they do an awesome job as well and are great people, but KI's ops are on point and make the lines bearable, even for fast lane. However, this is the result of them assigning rows on most coasters. Now, for the most part we didn't have a problem of getting a row we asked for, but there were a couple of times we couldn't get a row we wanted like a front row night ride on the Beast, but that was after close so I can understand trying to get as much people on as possible. Also, a lot of rides with three train operations helped very well. With all of our desired coaster out of the way, we headed to the Eiffel Tower for some views, as its a tradition at KD to get on the tower as much as possible when it's open. We then rode Orion, Diamondback and Beast a few times to kill some time for their fireworks and light show and get a night ride on the Beast. After a successful night, we headed to our hotel (Comfort Suites) to prepare for the next day before heading to Cedar Point. Wednesday, we checked out Soak City, rode our favorites and headed out to Cedar Point just before 3 P.M. All in all a great first visit to Kings Island.
Coaster reviews:
Orion - This is a great B&M and a solid part of the park's line up. I will say, Fury 325 did spoil me, so with how short this one was, it had me wanting more than it offered. But it still had fun first drop (despite the chain lift slowing down at the top) and had some fun laterals along the course. 8/10
Flight Of Fear - I always hear how this version is worse in comparison to KD's, but honestly, I didn't notice a difference. Neither one is smooth but I don't find them horribly rough either. I will say, I really love the light show they had in the queue. 7/10
The Beast - Probably my favorite wood coaster at the park and possible favorite wooden coaster. Now, I know this has been a long desired roller coaster bucket list of mine so I may come off a little biased, but the setting alone really made this ride special. Any ride that takes advantage of it's surroundings is always a win and the Beast does just that with it being tucked away so far back in the woods. The double helix was insane! Last row, admittedly, was a little too much that I felt like I pulled something on my side. However, our last ride before we left Wednesday afternoon, we got a front row ride and it was much more tolerable. The night rides, definitely live up to the hype. Even though we had the middle of the train, it was still an amazing experience. 9.5/10
Mystic Timbers - While the Beast is amazing, this one wasn't too far off. Definitely the best GCI I've been on. This ride hauls ass and has so many aggressive moments that you don't have time to catch your breath. I've seen POV's of this before and I can tell you, it does not do justice like it does in person. The shed sequence doesn't do much for me, but I do understand them having that when waiting on the brake run, it gives something for the riders to see instead of waiting in a typical brake run shed. 8/10
Diamondback - A solid B&M Hyper with good moments of airtime. Not sure where I'd rank it with Apollo's Chariot and Thunder Striker. 7/10
Banshee - I'm huge fan of B&M Inverts, I really enjoyed this one, but I did find this one on the weaker side of the ones I've ridden, and I've been on a lot. The first drop was definitely on the better side compared to most of them, I will admit. The rest of the inversions weren't as forceful as I was hoping. 6/10
The Bat - Lowkey was also looking forward to riding this as much as the Beast. Big Bad Wolf was one of my favorite roller coasters despite only riding it three times and riding Iron Dragon in 2019 was kind of a let down. The Bat always looked like a solid Arrow Suspended, and it did not disappoint. My only complaint is that it was too short. 8/10
Invertigo - Last time I rode one of these was probably back in 2003 when Six Flags America still had Two Face: The Flip Side. Not as bad as I thought but nothing special either. A one and done for me. 5/10
Adventure Express - I know Arrow Mine Trains aren't the most thrilling, but I always had a soft spot for these kind of coasters. This one was particularly fun and had a great setting and a fun layout. Reminded me a lot of Thunderation. 6/10
Racer - Fun woodie, almost the same as Racer 75 with a couple exceptions. I do prefer 75 as I find it to have more airtime from my experience but it's still a very solid ride. 7/10
The only flat ride we did was Delirium. I was expecting to like this more than KD's but I think KD's is a little more thrilling. For some reason, this one felt a little more tame and had a more relaxing experience than anything. Maybe it had something to do with the seat I was in? At least this one gave more arm room.
Overall thoughts, Kings Island is a phenomenal park with a great line up, amazing operations, good food selections and just a great experience all around. I would absolutely come back, maybe next year or two, especially if they add another good coaster to the line up.
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