- July 6th, 2010, 11:13 pm
#41386
Kings Island
69 photos at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 219756201/
I do not exactly see myself living in Ohio again in my lifetime, so while at Cedar Point working this summer, I have been making a point to travel on my days off, mainly to parks. I visited Kings Island in 2002 and 2005, and did not particularly love the park either time, but it was time to give it another shot.
A terrifying sight at the front entrance plaza before opening as the great Cedar Fair army of sweeps prepared for release into the park.
When I was last at Kings Island, I felt that the major flaw of the park was that it lacked a destination coaster (and no, I do not consider The Beast to be one). That has changed.
Diamondback was unleashed in 2009, and now Kings Island has that standout ride.
This is probably the most effective method I have seen of communicating the no loose article policy.
Diamondback is one of the new generation of B&M hypers, joining its predecessor Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland and its successor Intimidator at Carowinds. The three coasters have different layouts but very similar heights, lengths, and speeds. Diamondback is the only one to feature a water splash.
The design on the front of the Diamondback trains is fantastic.
It is very hard to decide between Intimidator and Diamondback, but if hard pressed I would probably have to give Diamondback the edge. It has a couple more airtime hills and only has one trim brake that does not affect the ride. The water splash is a nice touch as well, but I will say that I like the pacing and turnaround better on the Carowinds coaster, as well as the unique second drop. You really can't go wrong with either, and they are both in my top 5 steel at this point.
Diamondback heads out into the woods after its first drop, very much like The Beast. I'm sure it makes for some fantastic night rides, but it wasn't quite dark enough yet when we got our ride that night.
Diamondback is an airtime machine, and like all other hypers that I have been on, I prefer the back seat. Unfortunately, like Carowinds, Kings Island has the annoying assigned seating policy on Diamondback.
Changing the subject momentarily, it was at Kings Island on this morning that I learned of the untimely death of Holiday World's Will Koch. It's hard to really explain how affecting this was to me, as I don't think there was really a better person working in the entire amusement industry. He was a pioneer, taking a tiny small town amusement park in rural Indiana to national status. It was all or nothing when he embarked on a project for Holiday World, and I doubt there is anyone else in the United States who would have the guts or desire to build a ride as ambitious as The Voyage, which may last my entire lifetime as the greatest roller coaster in the world. He truly cared about the experience of every one of the park's guests, and loved his job, something I can personally attest to having seen him at Stark Raven Mad in 2002 and Holiwood Nights in 2006. It seems that often times bad things happen to the best people, and this is definitely a loss that will be tough to endure for Holiday World and the coaster community.
Moving on, with the rest of the day being on a bit of a sad note, our second ride of the day. Like at Carowinds, the former Runaway Reptar is now Flying ACE Aerial Chase, but it remains a bumpy and mediocre Vekoma family coaster.
I was quite pleased to find that Kings Island had installed one of these rides since I was last there. They are a lot of fun.
When I was last at Kings Island, Tomb Raider was a fairly mediocre top spin in a box that had some good theming and excellent fire and water effects. I understand why they had to remove the Paramount branding and change the name to The Crypt, but I do not understand why that meant they had to remove all of the effects. The ride is now a poor top spin inside a warehouse with no effects whatsoever. Extremely disappointing.
Now, one of the more important parts of the day: a re-evaluation of The Beast, a legendary coaster loved by many that I ranked 79th out of 80 on my wooden coaster poll ballot last year. When I last rode The Beast, I found it to be both boring and brutally rough to a point where I had no interest in riding it again.
The verdict? Well, rest easy Beast fans, as perhaps I was a bit harsh on the ride before. Is it a top tier coaster? No. Do the abundant magnetic trim brakes prevent the ride from being something special? Most definitely. Do you have to keep your back off the seat throughout the ride to avoid being beaten up? Absolutely. But, I really enjoyed the coaster this time. We rode it several times, both in the front and back, and I actually liked the back the best. There remains basically no airtime on this ride, which is what I value most in a coaster, but the low to the ground scenic parts are nice and I found the double helix at the end awesome this time, whereas before I thought I was going to break ribs. The Beast is not exactly going to crack my top 20 or anything, but it is a coaster that I look forward to riding again some day, and my second favorite at Kings Island.
Shannon had never been to Kings Island before, so we needed to hit all the major rides. Thankfully the lines were not very long throughout the day.
This midway certainly changed from the last time I saw it.
We took the obligatory ride on Backlot Stunt Coaster and for some reason the lights were on inside the tunnel.
Next, a fairly brutal Arrow looper in Vortex. We rode in the front seat at least, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
A sort of new coaster to me, Firehawk. I went on it when it was at Six Flags World of Adventure as X-Flight. This was actually Shannon's favorite coaster in the park.
Flight of Fear had an abnormally long line, but we had to ride it. This is one of the best rides in the park, although like Kings Dominion they now bring the train to almost a dead stop on the mid-course brake run.
The Racer received a lot of offseason track work, and the result is I think a pretty good ride, and definitely much better than when I last rode.
Now, one of the more interesting mine rides out there, and definitely the most anti-climatic, as the ride ends with an ominous lift hill through a tunnel that seems to be preparing for a big finale but instead just turns into the station.
Before making a visit to Kings Island's Boomerang Bay, we ran into Snoopy.
The water park is so far from the rest of the park that you can ride a train to get there.
Shortly after we left Boomerang Bay it began absolutely pouring rain out, but this allowed for the discovery of an exciting new creation: the Dippin' Dots sundae.
Mine had birthday cake Dippin' Dots with hot fudge and peanut butter cups on top. Fantastic.
As the rain started to clear, we hit Kings Island's version of Boo Blasters, which is by far the best.
Like at Carowinds, they want you to fork over an additional dollar for 3-D glasses. Not happening.
I did not have my Skycoaster site controller card yet, otherwise a ride may have been in order. No big deal, as Kings Island has the same model as Cedar Point, but unlike us they for unknown reasons do not winch riders all the way to the top of the tower.
Shannon's second favorite coaster in the park (the two Vekomas...), which further displays the disconnect between coaster nerds and the average park guest.
I loathe the standard sit down Vekoma boomerangs. Absolutely hate them. They beat me to hell and make me sick. It does not make a whole lot of sense then that I love the inverted versions. They are incredibly intense and smoother than the standard ones.
One of the great drop towers out there. Unlike Kings Dominion this one rotates on its way to the top, then it's an awesome 300 foot free fall.
What is that structure I see there? All signs of Son of Beast have been removed from the park, aside of course from the massive structure that dominates the skyline.
The last coaster we needed to hit, Flight Deck. This is one of the more intense suspended coasters that exists, but it is really short.
Slingshot rides were on sale for $10, so we decided to give it a try. Highly disappointing. The initial launch was pretty fun, but there is nothing to it after that. I have no interest in ever riding one again.
We grabbed another ride on The Beast and Diamondback at dusk, and were hoping for a total darkness ride on each, but that was not to be. Ten minutes until close while we were next for the back seat on Diamondback, everything closed due to lightning. Hard to complain given that the storms held out pretty much the entire day. Ultimately it was a great day at Kings Island; definitely better than my trips in 2002 and 2005. I like the park better under Cedar Fair, I enjoy The Beast far more than I did in the past, and Diamondback alone now makes the park worth visiting.
69 photos at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 219756201/
I do not exactly see myself living in Ohio again in my lifetime, so while at Cedar Point working this summer, I have been making a point to travel on my days off, mainly to parks. I visited Kings Island in 2002 and 2005, and did not particularly love the park either time, but it was time to give it another shot.
A terrifying sight at the front entrance plaza before opening as the great Cedar Fair army of sweeps prepared for release into the park.
When I was last at Kings Island, I felt that the major flaw of the park was that it lacked a destination coaster (and no, I do not consider The Beast to be one). That has changed.
Diamondback was unleashed in 2009, and now Kings Island has that standout ride.
This is probably the most effective method I have seen of communicating the no loose article policy.
Diamondback is one of the new generation of B&M hypers, joining its predecessor Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland and its successor Intimidator at Carowinds. The three coasters have different layouts but very similar heights, lengths, and speeds. Diamondback is the only one to feature a water splash.
The design on the front of the Diamondback trains is fantastic.
It is very hard to decide between Intimidator and Diamondback, but if hard pressed I would probably have to give Diamondback the edge. It has a couple more airtime hills and only has one trim brake that does not affect the ride. The water splash is a nice touch as well, but I will say that I like the pacing and turnaround better on the Carowinds coaster, as well as the unique second drop. You really can't go wrong with either, and they are both in my top 5 steel at this point.
Diamondback heads out into the woods after its first drop, very much like The Beast. I'm sure it makes for some fantastic night rides, but it wasn't quite dark enough yet when we got our ride that night.
Diamondback is an airtime machine, and like all other hypers that I have been on, I prefer the back seat. Unfortunately, like Carowinds, Kings Island has the annoying assigned seating policy on Diamondback.
Changing the subject momentarily, it was at Kings Island on this morning that I learned of the untimely death of Holiday World's Will Koch. It's hard to really explain how affecting this was to me, as I don't think there was really a better person working in the entire amusement industry. He was a pioneer, taking a tiny small town amusement park in rural Indiana to national status. It was all or nothing when he embarked on a project for Holiday World, and I doubt there is anyone else in the United States who would have the guts or desire to build a ride as ambitious as The Voyage, which may last my entire lifetime as the greatest roller coaster in the world. He truly cared about the experience of every one of the park's guests, and loved his job, something I can personally attest to having seen him at Stark Raven Mad in 2002 and Holiwood Nights in 2006. It seems that often times bad things happen to the best people, and this is definitely a loss that will be tough to endure for Holiday World and the coaster community.
Moving on, with the rest of the day being on a bit of a sad note, our second ride of the day. Like at Carowinds, the former Runaway Reptar is now Flying ACE Aerial Chase, but it remains a bumpy and mediocre Vekoma family coaster.
I was quite pleased to find that Kings Island had installed one of these rides since I was last there. They are a lot of fun.
When I was last at Kings Island, Tomb Raider was a fairly mediocre top spin in a box that had some good theming and excellent fire and water effects. I understand why they had to remove the Paramount branding and change the name to The Crypt, but I do not understand why that meant they had to remove all of the effects. The ride is now a poor top spin inside a warehouse with no effects whatsoever. Extremely disappointing.
Now, one of the more important parts of the day: a re-evaluation of The Beast, a legendary coaster loved by many that I ranked 79th out of 80 on my wooden coaster poll ballot last year. When I last rode The Beast, I found it to be both boring and brutally rough to a point where I had no interest in riding it again.
The verdict? Well, rest easy Beast fans, as perhaps I was a bit harsh on the ride before. Is it a top tier coaster? No. Do the abundant magnetic trim brakes prevent the ride from being something special? Most definitely. Do you have to keep your back off the seat throughout the ride to avoid being beaten up? Absolutely. But, I really enjoyed the coaster this time. We rode it several times, both in the front and back, and I actually liked the back the best. There remains basically no airtime on this ride, which is what I value most in a coaster, but the low to the ground scenic parts are nice and I found the double helix at the end awesome this time, whereas before I thought I was going to break ribs. The Beast is not exactly going to crack my top 20 or anything, but it is a coaster that I look forward to riding again some day, and my second favorite at Kings Island.
Shannon had never been to Kings Island before, so we needed to hit all the major rides. Thankfully the lines were not very long throughout the day.
This midway certainly changed from the last time I saw it.
We took the obligatory ride on Backlot Stunt Coaster and for some reason the lights were on inside the tunnel.
Next, a fairly brutal Arrow looper in Vortex. We rode in the front seat at least, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
A sort of new coaster to me, Firehawk. I went on it when it was at Six Flags World of Adventure as X-Flight. This was actually Shannon's favorite coaster in the park.
Flight of Fear had an abnormally long line, but we had to ride it. This is one of the best rides in the park, although like Kings Dominion they now bring the train to almost a dead stop on the mid-course brake run.
The Racer received a lot of offseason track work, and the result is I think a pretty good ride, and definitely much better than when I last rode.
Now, one of the more interesting mine rides out there, and definitely the most anti-climatic, as the ride ends with an ominous lift hill through a tunnel that seems to be preparing for a big finale but instead just turns into the station.
Before making a visit to Kings Island's Boomerang Bay, we ran into Snoopy.
The water park is so far from the rest of the park that you can ride a train to get there.
Shortly after we left Boomerang Bay it began absolutely pouring rain out, but this allowed for the discovery of an exciting new creation: the Dippin' Dots sundae.
Mine had birthday cake Dippin' Dots with hot fudge and peanut butter cups on top. Fantastic.
As the rain started to clear, we hit Kings Island's version of Boo Blasters, which is by far the best.
Like at Carowinds, they want you to fork over an additional dollar for 3-D glasses. Not happening.
I did not have my Skycoaster site controller card yet, otherwise a ride may have been in order. No big deal, as Kings Island has the same model as Cedar Point, but unlike us they for unknown reasons do not winch riders all the way to the top of the tower.
Shannon's second favorite coaster in the park (the two Vekomas...), which further displays the disconnect between coaster nerds and the average park guest.
I loathe the standard sit down Vekoma boomerangs. Absolutely hate them. They beat me to hell and make me sick. It does not make a whole lot of sense then that I love the inverted versions. They are incredibly intense and smoother than the standard ones.
One of the great drop towers out there. Unlike Kings Dominion this one rotates on its way to the top, then it's an awesome 300 foot free fall.
What is that structure I see there? All signs of Son of Beast have been removed from the park, aside of course from the massive structure that dominates the skyline.
The last coaster we needed to hit, Flight Deck. This is one of the more intense suspended coasters that exists, but it is really short.
Slingshot rides were on sale for $10, so we decided to give it a try. Highly disappointing. The initial launch was pretty fun, but there is nothing to it after that. I have no interest in ever riding one again.
We grabbed another ride on The Beast and Diamondback at dusk, and were hoping for a total darkness ride on each, but that was not to be. Ten minutes until close while we were next for the back seat on Diamondback, everything closed due to lightning. Hard to complain given that the storms held out pretty much the entire day. Ultimately it was a great day at Kings Island; definitely better than my trips in 2002 and 2005. I like the park better under Cedar Fair, I enjoy The Beast far more than I did in the past, and Diamondback alone now makes the park worth visiting.
