Due to the fact that my trip to Kings Island on April 13th was extremely short (less than two hours), I have decided to combine both days into one trip report.
So, on April 13th and 14th, I visited Kings Island in Mason, Ohio for their Passholder Preview Night and Opening Day. I have been visiting this park every year since 2015, and I love the charm of the park and sheer variety offered. I attended the park with my friends Matt and Jeremie.
On the 13th, we simply went into the park, grabbed dinner at Chicken Shack (a chicken restaurant near the Action Zone section of the park), and rode two rides. The rides we rode were Vortex, a looping roller coaster that opened in 1987, and Mystic Timbers, the park’s newest roller coaster that actually opened in 2017.
Fast forwarding to Saturday the 14th, we arrived at the park at about 9:00am. While the park opens at 10, they allow certain levels of season passholders into the park at 9:30 for early ride time on a few attractions. To start the year, Kings Island is offering early ride time on The Bat, Banshee, and Mystic Timbers.
We started out on The Bat, a suspended coaster towards the front of the park. From there, we rode Delirium, a pendulum spinning ride. At this time, the park had officially opened.
We proceeded to ride Flight of Fear, Backlot Stunt Coaster twice, The Beast, Banshee, and Invertigo. It was at this time that we met up with some more friends, Paul and Dawson. We know Paul and Dawson from Six Flags Great America. Dawson will actually be working at Cedar Point this summer, so it was nice to hang out with him before he heads to Ohio for the summer.
We then rode Adventure Express, a mine train roller coaster, and then Mystic Timbers three times. We decided to break off from Paul and Dawson for a little while after that, but would meet back up with them at the end of the day. Matt, Jeremie, and I went to grab lunch at the Festhaus, which is a large dining court towards the front of the park. After lunch, we headed up Kings Island’s signature attraction, the Eiffel Tower. This tower is about a third of the size of the actual Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. To put the height into perspective, the total height of the Kings Island tower is approximately equivalent to the height of the legs on the original.
Following the Eiffel Tower, we headed to what is personally my favorite ride in the park, Diamondback. This roller coaster stands over 200 feet tall and features one of the most intense layouts in the entire park.
After riding Diamondback twice, we decided to ride the park’s railroad, followed by Vortex, Firehawk, Windseeker, The Racer, Mystic Timbers twice, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Banshee, and Invertigo.
At this point, we met back up with Paul and Dawson for dinner at Red’s Hall of Fame. This restaurant used to be a full-service sit down restaurant, but has recently converted to a quick-service restaurant. Although there is a change in the service, the thing that remains constant is the decor. The entire restaurant is devoted to the Cincinnati Reds and it’s history. Although I root for a different baseball team, I still enjoy this restaurant.
For the rest of the night, we stayed with Paul and Dawson, and we rode Adventure Express, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, Woodstock Whirlybirds, Woodstock Express, Vortex, Banshee, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, and Backlot Stunt Coaster. Lastly, we ended our night on the last train of the night for The Beast.
For part of the day, the weather was rainy and overcast. This led to us being able to ride so many rides on Opening Day. In past years, the park was always jam-packed on Opening Day, but we actually didn’t wait more than 20 minutes for a ride, with most rides being 5-10 minute waits.
All in all, spending the weekend at Kings Island was yet again another fun experience. The park was beautiful as always, and the rides were fun and thrilling as always. Be sure to come out to this park when you get a chance, it’s a very nice park.