Kings Island (Mason, OH) is now owned by Cedar Point, although for a while it was owned by Paramount for many years. After the transfer of ownership, all ties to Paramount movies, Nickelodeon, and Hanna-Barbera (Scooby-Doo!) were removed from the park. Similar to my way up to Cedar Point (that trip report is forthcoming), I stayed at the same cheap Motel 6 along I-75 in Sidney, OH. This left me with 1.5 hours of driving to get to Mason, OH (north of Cincinnati). Wanting to do my Holy Hour and say Mass at the hotel before I headed out, it wasn’t really a sleep-in day. I got to the Kings Island parking lot (more on the parking lot later in the post) a few minutes before 10 a.m., which was opening time on this Monday in late June. After getting through security and getting my ticket scanned on my phone, I made my way to the entrance area known as International Street. The entrance area was probably the best opening area that I’ve seen at a park not owned by Disney or Universal. There is a large, rectangular pool that makes up the central area with European-style shops on the side. At the far end of the pool, is a ⅓-scale model Eiffel Tower. But I wasn’t stopping at any of these places right now, because I was making my way quickly to Area 72–King’s Island’s version of the famous Area 51 in Nevada. The first stop was the Flight of Fear indoor coaster. Learning that my drawstring backpack wasn’t allowed on the ride, I found a place on the ground to stash it and made my way into the least lit queue I had ever seen. Honestly, I don’t know how people don’t regularly bonk heads or step on people’s shoes in that line. The line was about 10 minutes long when I was in the queue, although the rest of the day it would be at least 40 minutes due to the low capacity of the ride (there is a long wait at the loading station between trains). The first half of the ride was exhilarating and lived up to my high bar for indoor coasters; unfortunately, the second half of the ride was a little rough or outdated. The other ride in Area 72 is Orion, a “giga” coaster that features a first drop of 300 feet and reaches a maximum speed of 91 miles per hour. The first drop was a doozy, although I was expecting the thrill to be a bit higher. The rest of the ride was rather smooth. As the line was rather short, I rode it a second time. I walked through the Coney Mall fair-themed area on the way to the classic wooden coaster called The Beast. The Beast lasts 4 minutes, 10 seconds and uses two lift hills (the first of which is painstakingly slow but this is to allow for one of the other trains to pass by it down below). It’s a bit of a terrain coaster–the track’s path and height depends a bit on the terrain. It was an enjoyable ride (and smoother than the original ride thanks to modifications) and I got back in-line for a second ride. I made my way to the Backlot Stunt Coaster, which had about a 30-minute wait due in-part to its low capacity. Compared with the Mad Mouse style family coasters that are found at many parks, including my own ValleyFair, it was much better. It had a launch, special effects, and theming. Diamondback is a steel “hypercoaster” that is 230 feet tall and reaches a speed of 80 miles per hour before a splashdown water effect. From beginning to end, it was a more exciting ride than Orion. Curiously enough, every rider sits separated and staggered on the train. Mystic Timbers was a thrilling wooden coaster that leaves its greatest impression from what happens at the end, in the shed. Spoiler: there’s a monster in there and some creepy writing and lighting. My only midday stop at the children's land of Planet Snoopy was to get some blue ice cream. Technically blueberry-vanilla in flavor, the blue ice cream has been a staple at King’s Island throughout its history. I rode a few more roller coasters in the afternoon on the left side of the park. The Racer is a standard racing, wooden coaster. Banshee is the world’s longest inverted steel coaster with a total of 7 inversions on it. The unpredictability of the ride made it worth it to do it again!
My other time in the park allowed me to take the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower for a beautiful view of the park. I rode Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, which is a longer version of the shooting ride Boo Blasters at Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America. Essentially this ride is an Omnimover (like The Haunted Mansion at Disney parks). My gun worked on the ride but it didn’t keep score; I’m not sure if that is the current operating procedure. Later on, I stumbled upon a comedic musical that was based on the original ride to occupy the Boo Blasters space (imagine a musical about The Haunted Mansion). I rode the carousel by the Eiffel Tower before leaving the park (it’s a tradition for me that the last ride I typically do is the carousel). Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember where I had parked my rental car at the beginning of the day. What made matters worse was that I was heading to the airport to fly out that evening. It was a frantic 15 minutes or so of running down the aisles trying to set off my alarm. I finally tried a row closer to the entrance to the park, only to find my car there. In short, Kings Island is a great park in the Cedar Park system. Although it’s not on the same level as Cedar Point (or Six Flags Magic Mountain), it offers some great coasters and other enjoyable rides. But don’t make the same mistake I made: make good note of where you park!
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