MidlifeCoasterCrisis
Roller Poster
Overview
My brother and I just had our first visit to King's Island. I had been wanting to visit this park for many years now. We did 2 evenings of "Halloween Haunt" on Oct 1 and Oct 2. Oct 1 was a very warm day (88F) and had a lighter crowd. We were very lucky to get such a warm day and be able to get faster ride experiences. Oct 2 was cooler, but still very comfortable. I was very impressed with King's Island. It was a very similar experience to King's Dominion. It's obvious that the park staff takes pride in their jobs and really go out of their way to provide a great experience. All of the big coasters were running, along with most of the flat rides. A small number of rides like the Drop Tower weren't running, but that wasn't a huge deal. I was again impressed with the ride operators. All of them were really hustling to make sure they dispatched trains quickly. I also love how every single operator would say something like "have a great ride". While we didn't do any of the Halloween extra/add-on attractions, I thought they did a really good job with the "Halloween Haunt". The overall atmosphere was great. The main paths from the main entrance look really awesome with all the special effects in the water. I also enjoyed all the fog, the special themed sections and random characters roaming around and interacting with the guests.
Rides (one and done)
Invertigo (2 rides) - I enjoyed this more than I expected. This was my first inverted boomerang coaster. After riding regular boomerangs like Flying Cobras and Sea Serpent, I expected to experience a lot of head banging on this one. Surprisingly, I didn't. I just focused on keeping my head back and there was minimal roughness. I liked doing these elements from an inverted coaster train. I don't get the need to have the forward and backward facing seats since you do the elements in both directions on a Boomerang anyway.
Flight of Fear (1 ride) - Not a bad ride, but it was rougher than the one at KD. It also wasn't super dark, so that took away from the experience.
Queen City Stunt Coaster (1 ride) - Okay for a starter coaster. It has some nice launches and laterals. For some reason, the effects at the mid course brake run weren't operating. So, it was a little odd to stop up there with nothing going on.
Racer (2 rides, one red & one blue) - This one surprised me. It's a lot of fun for an very old, wooden coaster. When I rode Racer at KD, I got almost no air time. On this one, I got a lot of air time. We did both sides and they were both quite fun. They were even running both sides on the the second night, so we got to race. We lost.
Delirium (1 ride) - This is a nice pendulum ride. It's one of the bigger ones and has nice speed. It was a nice break from the coasters.
Rides (The Big Boys)
Orion (4 rides) - This is a very good coaster, but definitely the weakest of the giga coasters. Fury 325 and Pantherian are both much better. Front rides on this are way better than back rides. You appreciate the speed more and feel the funky elements like the sideways air time hill much better. That low speed hill is also amazing. I love the pop of air time you get from it. I agree with the general consensus that the ride is too short. It's like it's got a front half and no back half. Just when you are expecting a bunch of bunny hops or tight turns, you hit the brake run.
Diamondback (4 rides) - This is my new favorite B&M hyper coaster. The floater air time just hits so nicely. I love the abundance of hills. The helix is great, although I think Nitro's helix is a bit more intense. The splashdown is a nice ending. My right shoulder even got a little wet, which took me by surprise. Even though some people complain of a rattle, I found the ride very smooth.
Banshee (4 rides) - This is my new favorite B&M invert coaster. Unlike most inverts that are compact and forcefull, Banshee has more drawn out elements and a longer layout. It also has vest restraints, which work nicely since there is no chance of head banging. Everything just worked so well. The slow roll at the end was a great touch. I loved the hang time. The front row night ride was amazing.
Mystic Timbers (4 rides) - This is an excellent coaster that actually took several rides for me to appreciate. I would describe this coaster as a wooden Maverick. All of our rides were in the dark, which was awesome. On the first ride, we got mostly laterals and it was also rougher than I expected. You need to ride this one a little more defensively because of the looseness in the lap bar and the strong laterals. I learned to keep my arms straight and pull the lap bar a little tighter so I wasn't getting tossed around so much. The 4th ride was our best ride. It had great speed and we also got great air time and laterals. Also, the shed is not bad!
Beast (3 rides) - After doing research on this one, I knew we had to get night rides on it and we managed to get 3 of them on this trip. I was completely blown away. Racing through the woods in the darkness was awesome. The highlight was the double helix and tunnels after the 2nd drop. I did not expect that level of intensity. Plunging into a black hole and hitting that helix at such a crazy speed was amazing. It felt like the train was going to fly off of the track. These rides alone were worth the long trip to King's Island. My only gripe is that there isn't much variety. If there were a few more hills or other elements mixed in to the layout, this could easily be a top 3 coaster for me.
Conclusion
King's Island is a fantastic park. While I found the coaster collection at Cedar Point better, I definitely found the overall park experience much better at King's Island. The staff really makes a difference in the experience. I love seeing them so focused on efficient operations and making sure the guests feel welcomed. While none of the coasters made my top 5, their coaster lineup definitely changed my top 20 coasters. The Beast and Mystic Timbers were our favorites. Also, Diamondback is now my top B&M hyper coaster and Banshee is my favorite B&M invert. They definitely deserve a truly elite coaster in their lineup. ArieForce One maybe in the near future?
My brother and I just had our first visit to King's Island. I had been wanting to visit this park for many years now. We did 2 evenings of "Halloween Haunt" on Oct 1 and Oct 2. Oct 1 was a very warm day (88F) and had a lighter crowd. We were very lucky to get such a warm day and be able to get faster ride experiences. Oct 2 was cooler, but still very comfortable. I was very impressed with King's Island. It was a very similar experience to King's Dominion. It's obvious that the park staff takes pride in their jobs and really go out of their way to provide a great experience. All of the big coasters were running, along with most of the flat rides. A small number of rides like the Drop Tower weren't running, but that wasn't a huge deal. I was again impressed with the ride operators. All of them were really hustling to make sure they dispatched trains quickly. I also love how every single operator would say something like "have a great ride". While we didn't do any of the Halloween extra/add-on attractions, I thought they did a really good job with the "Halloween Haunt". The overall atmosphere was great. The main paths from the main entrance look really awesome with all the special effects in the water. I also enjoyed all the fog, the special themed sections and random characters roaming around and interacting with the guests.
Rides (one and done)
Invertigo (2 rides) - I enjoyed this more than I expected. This was my first inverted boomerang coaster. After riding regular boomerangs like Flying Cobras and Sea Serpent, I expected to experience a lot of head banging on this one. Surprisingly, I didn't. I just focused on keeping my head back and there was minimal roughness. I liked doing these elements from an inverted coaster train. I don't get the need to have the forward and backward facing seats since you do the elements in both directions on a Boomerang anyway.
Flight of Fear (1 ride) - Not a bad ride, but it was rougher than the one at KD. It also wasn't super dark, so that took away from the experience.
Queen City Stunt Coaster (1 ride) - Okay for a starter coaster. It has some nice launches and laterals. For some reason, the effects at the mid course brake run weren't operating. So, it was a little odd to stop up there with nothing going on.
Racer (2 rides, one red & one blue) - This one surprised me. It's a lot of fun for an very old, wooden coaster. When I rode Racer at KD, I got almost no air time. On this one, I got a lot of air time. We did both sides and they were both quite fun. They were even running both sides on the the second night, so we got to race. We lost.
Delirium (1 ride) - This is a nice pendulum ride. It's one of the bigger ones and has nice speed. It was a nice break from the coasters.
Rides (The Big Boys)
Orion (4 rides) - This is a very good coaster, but definitely the weakest of the giga coasters. Fury 325 and Pantherian are both much better. Front rides on this are way better than back rides. You appreciate the speed more and feel the funky elements like the sideways air time hill much better. That low speed hill is also amazing. I love the pop of air time you get from it. I agree with the general consensus that the ride is too short. It's like it's got a front half and no back half. Just when you are expecting a bunch of bunny hops or tight turns, you hit the brake run.
Diamondback (4 rides) - This is my new favorite B&M hyper coaster. The floater air time just hits so nicely. I love the abundance of hills. The helix is great, although I think Nitro's helix is a bit more intense. The splashdown is a nice ending. My right shoulder even got a little wet, which took me by surprise. Even though some people complain of a rattle, I found the ride very smooth.
Banshee (4 rides) - This is my new favorite B&M invert coaster. Unlike most inverts that are compact and forcefull, Banshee has more drawn out elements and a longer layout. It also has vest restraints, which work nicely since there is no chance of head banging. Everything just worked so well. The slow roll at the end was a great touch. I loved the hang time. The front row night ride was amazing.
Mystic Timbers (4 rides) - This is an excellent coaster that actually took several rides for me to appreciate. I would describe this coaster as a wooden Maverick. All of our rides were in the dark, which was awesome. On the first ride, we got mostly laterals and it was also rougher than I expected. You need to ride this one a little more defensively because of the looseness in the lap bar and the strong laterals. I learned to keep my arms straight and pull the lap bar a little tighter so I wasn't getting tossed around so much. The 4th ride was our best ride. It had great speed and we also got great air time and laterals. Also, the shed is not bad!
Beast (3 rides) - After doing research on this one, I knew we had to get night rides on it and we managed to get 3 of them on this trip. I was completely blown away. Racing through the woods in the darkness was awesome. The highlight was the double helix and tunnels after the 2nd drop. I did not expect that level of intensity. Plunging into a black hole and hitting that helix at such a crazy speed was amazing. It felt like the train was going to fly off of the track. These rides alone were worth the long trip to King's Island. My only gripe is that there isn't much variety. If there were a few more hills or other elements mixed in to the layout, this could easily be a top 3 coaster for me.
Conclusion
King's Island is a fantastic park. While I found the coaster collection at Cedar Point better, I definitely found the overall park experience much better at King's Island. The staff really makes a difference in the experience. I love seeing them so focused on efficient operations and making sure the guests feel welcomed. While none of the coasters made my top 5, their coaster lineup definitely changed my top 20 coasters. The Beast and Mystic Timbers were our favorites. Also, Diamondback is now my top B&M hyper coaster and Banshee is my favorite B&M invert. They definitely deserve a truly elite coaster in their lineup. ArieForce One maybe in the near future?
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