The Big "O" Vacation Part 4

Saturday - June 6th

I finally get to ride the Beast!

Part 4 - Kings Island

We were so exhausted from the day before that I wasn't even looking forward to riding coasters. We showed up to the park just a couple minutes after it had opened. The first ride we headed to is the World's Tallest Wooden Coaster! I wasn't sure if this was going to be a good thing or a bad thing. I've read many reviews that claim this coaster is very rough and unpleasant! We waited about 20 minutes for front car second row. I was actually starting to get that over excited feeling I get on some of my favorite coasters! The Son Of Beast station is really high off the ground so the ride begins with a drop immediately out of the station. The lift hill is steep and massive, at the top we began our descent down one of the most exciting first drops I have ever been on! The ride speeds through an exciting giant double helix! The ride had it's rough spots, but was nowhere near as bad as it was described. Our ride on Son Of Beast didn't even compare to rough rides we've had on GhostRider or Mean Streak. Sarah and I were both very pleased with this coaster and I'm glad to put it in my #3 spot of best wooden coasters!






Now we were excited to ride some more coasters so we headed over to Flight Deck. I think I'm a some what of a fan of Suspended coasters. I love Ninja and I liked Iron Dragon even though it was super slow. Now it was time ride one of a more extreme nature. Flight Deck did not disappoint! We blasted through the coarse swinging wide on every single turn! The ride was short, but very good!





Invertigo was going to be our next coaster, but the line was already long and the coaster wasn't even open yet! Adventure Express was our next coaster. I knew to expect it to be much better than any Arrow Dynamics Mine Train I've ever been on before, but I didn't know it was going to be incredible! Adventure Express uses it's terrain to it's full advantage! The rides begins with a helix and tunnel and continues with hills and curves along the hillside! The theme wasn't too great, but that fact that it had any at all was a +.





After that we walked over to Racer, but skipped it because only one track was open and the line was long. We headed into the X-Base to check out Firehawk and Flight Of Fear.

Firehawk was only operating with one train and had a long line so we decided to ride Flight Of Fear first. The ride had some good theming and a mildly entertaining story. The ride itself was extremely exciting! I was expecting a ride in completely darkness, but there were several multi-colored lights inside the building. The fact that there were no shoulder restraints made the inversions much more comfortable.

Here is a clip of the launch!



After that we headed back over to Racer. We rode Red Racer first. It was a great out and back coaster with great airtime on all of the hills. Red Racer was actually really smooth for an older wooden coaster, but we didn't get a race so we jumped back in line for Blue Racer. Blue Racer had the perfect amount of wooden coaster roughness and a little more "bite" than Red Racer. The ride operators still were not racing the coasters then :(





Now we were feeling kind of hungry so we got some really good pizza at LaRosa's Pizzeria. The pizza was just how I like it! Cheesy and Greasy!

After that we got in line for Backlot Stunt Coaster. I wasn't sure what to expect of this launched family style coaster, but thought it couldn't be bad if the line was long! The coaster was very fast paced and fun with great theming and a nice pitch black tunnel section! The park almost had the Los Angeles theme down perfect but they forgot to spray paint everything!





After that we got in a long line for Vortex. Luckily the line moves fast so it didn't take us too long to ride this monster! I always thought Vortex had the most interesting layout of all the Arrow Dynamic loopers so I was really excited to finally ride it! The ride was much smoother than the other Arrow Dynamic loopers I've been on, but just as intense! The Batwing was a lot faster than the one I'm use to on Viper.







After Vortex we walked over to Firehawk and got in line. The line was even longer than before and they still only had one train operating. Sarah and I decdided we weren't ready to wait for it yet and we headed over to the brand new Diamondback.

Diamondback had a really long line but we stuck with because I read it moves very fast. In about 20 minutes we boarded the train for a ride that can only be described by one word... AIRTIME! Every single hill was packed with out of your seat air! The ride was buttery smooth and still intense enough to steal my heart! Yesterday Maverick was our favorite coaster but it didn't last long because Diamondback is both our New #1 Coaster!







After all that excitement it was time to ride a coaster I've been excited about for 10 years! Beast was next on our list and I was more than ready to finally experience it myself! The entrance to the ride was a bit lame and the only part of the ride you can see from the park is the lift hills! The rest of the ride is buried in ground or covered by the forest!

The ride had a bit of over average roughness and a lot of trim breaks, but the experience was epic! The train racers through it's massive course rushing through undergound tunnels and flying by trees. Even though I've seen many videos of this coaster I still didn't know what to expect! It was worthy of claiming my 2nd favorite wooden coaster!





After Beast we headed over the 1/3 scale version of Sarah's favorite structure the Eiffel Tower. We got to see a good view of the park as well as those hidden coaster layouts.



While up there we noticed that Firehawk had a much shorter line so we headed for it next. When we got there the ride was closed! I stood in front of the entrance for about an hour until it reopened.

The transition from sitting down to laying down was a bit jerky and we left the station on our backs! You couldn't really see the track until the pre-drop at the top of the lift. Then we were twisted over into flying position! This was the scariest part of the ride for me. The rest of the ride was packed with intense turnovers and inversions! The highlight of the ride for me was the constant change from being on my back to my stomach! Riding Firehawk makes me want to ride Nighthawk at Carowinds to compare layouts. When we returned to the station we layed there for about half an hour to be individually evactuated from the train. I don't think Firehawk reopened for the rest of the night.

Here is a quick clip of Sarah being help out of the train.



Now we wanted to see what a kid friendly wooden coaster was like so we headed over to the Fairly Odd Coaster. When I think of kid friendly coasters I don't think wooden or suspended coasters and Kings Island has both. While standing in line we heard all the little kids bragging about how many times they've ridden the Fairly Odd Coaster today. Sarah and I took up the last two car and were the only people on the train without children!



It turned out to be a great little ride! I wish we had a wooden coaster of this size in California because it is an easy introduction to the world of wooden coasters. I was intemidated by them when I was younger so I know my niece and nephew will be.

After that we headed over to the super fun Avatar: The Last Airbender. We prefer the circular seating on Survivor The Ride at California's Great America but Avatar: The Last Airbender was still really fun to ride! I wish every park had one of these rides because I like them as much as I like most coasters!





After that we went on the other kid friendly coaster Rugrats Runaway Reptar. This coaster was a bit more thrilling that the other, but it was also pretty rough! The track is so compact I was worried about hitting my feet on the track below!



Our next ride was on the K.I. & Miami Valley Railroad. The railroad took us through the woods which is the only way to see the White Water Canyon rapids and then over to the Water Park.

When the train returned to the station we rushed over to Diamondback for another ride! This ride we were towards the end of the train and surprisngly got the same great ride!




By now it was getting late and it was now or never with Invertigo so we headed over there. For some reason the line for Front/Back was shorter than all others so we got the best seat with the least wait! Everytime I ride an Invetigo coaster I says "It's my favorite Boomerang," but I say that everytime I get off Déjà Vu too, so... ?



Invertigo gets credit for being the only coaster of the trip that left me completely disoriented after ridding!

Everyone who helped us plan our day at Kings Island highly recommended a "night ride" on Beast so we had to check it out! While the coaster was great during the day it takes on a whole new attitude at night! The train roared through the dark forest and into the pitch black tunnels!


Now the park was closing soon so we headed towards the front of the park to watch the fireworks! We ended up more interested in the Eiffel Tower though!


Sarah and I had a much better day at Kings Island! We both left with the same #1 coaster Diamondback and Sarah left with Kings Island being her favorite park! Thanks for reading and have fun!

Today's Ride Rankings

16. K.I. & Miami Valley Railroad
15. Rugrats Runaway Reptar
14. Eiffel Tower
13. Fairly Odd Coaster
12. Avatar: The Last Airbender
11. Flight Deck
10. Adventure Express
09. Racer
08. Flight Of Fear
07. Invertigo
06. Backlot Stunt Coaster
05. Vortex
04. Firehawk
03. Son Of Beast
02. Beast
01. Diamondback