Anybody been Kings Island lately?

Are there many changes since the CF takeover? Is it any better than under the old(Paramount) regime?

We are planning to go there at the end of the month,so any news would be appreciated.

Wouldn't this question be better suited for Coasterbuzz...?
However, I never have liked KI and in my opinion, I don't think much has changed since CF took over...

I would think "general" is pretty suitable.

I have been fairly recently as in about a month ago. There are not many changes other than Firehawk being added. They also just recently reopened Son of Beast.

I am making a trip back down there on Tuesday the 10th of July and am looking forward to it.

But I am looking more forward to my maiden voyage on Maverick on the 28th.

Thanks,maybe you could post a report on this thread after you come back.

I'm especially interested about the food and the shows.Is that restaurant above the entrance reopened?I'm already familiar with most of the rides.We especially like the Beast.

As far as atmosphere, not a lot has changed. As a lifeguard, all operations have changed. So in short, to the general public, no, not much has changed.

I've been thinking of branching out and trying King's Island too. From what I've seen, it looks like a nice place. Cedar Point is fun, but I'd like to try some place new out.

I have gone twice in the last 10 days or so (last visit was Thursday), never having gone previously. I quite enjoyed the park, and I was able to ride Son of Beast right when it opened at 2pm on Thursday. Rode The Beast five times, which I absolutely loved. The first half of Son of Beast is great, second half a bit tame. Only rode it once as the lines were quite long after our first ride.

Compared to the two Six Flags parks I've been to this year, King's Island is quite clean and it looks like the park is being well maintained (for the most part). It has a good variety of coasters and flat rides, and for woodies simply blows CP out of the water. Also has some unique rides that CP does not have, such as a good dark coaster (Flight of Fear), Tomb Raider (another dark ride), and now of course, a flying coaster. Top Gun is much better than Iron Dragon, and Racer is a blast in one of the backwards trains. I also like Face Off, except maybe for those terrible head restraints (same as Thunderhawk at Geauga Lake). Italian Job was okay (the dark bit at the end was fun) but not worth waiting a long time for. Vortex is much smoother than I thought it would be, given it's an Arrow coaster with six inversions. :) Slingshot is pretty cool also, but I did not ride that (not sure that I would!) Drop Zone is still closed, which is too bad as I've never been on an Intamin gyro drop before.

On Thursday we were at the park from 10am through 10pm. It rained once and that's it, and fortunately we were able to wait it out in The Italian Job's station. Rode tons of coasters and overall had a great time. Definitely worth the 3.5 hour drive for me (I left at 6:00am, go to the park about 9:30am, then stayed overnight and drove back in the morning).

..Al

*** Edited 7/8/2007 5:33:53 AM UTC by AlbertY***

Weather permitting, I'd like to do what you did Albert. I want to head up down next Sunday morning, spend the day at the park, find a hotel for the night, and then drive home in the morning. From what I've heard from a friend who went recently, it's about a 4 hour drive from here. I just hope I can round up some friends to make the trek on fairly short notice.

Vince982 said:
I want to head up down next Sunday morning...

That must be a Canadian term, eh? ;)

*** Edited 7/8/2007 2:04:38 PM UTC by Loopy***

I went a few weeks ago. It was pretty enjoyable, although it was my first visit. I was in a wheelchair because I decided it'd be fun to fall down stairs and leave my ankle at the top that morning.

It's probably one of the best positive memories I have in the past few years.

If I ever get around to it (read: when im not working 60+ hours a week) I'll post some trip reports from this year, including kings island

I was there last week. On the evening of the fourth, I lucked into a ride on SOB on its first day re-opening. Owww! It was the roughest ride I ever had on Sonny, even with the new trains. Most of the rides that evening were near walk-on. The next day it was much worse, with lengthy lines for most major attractions.

One minor thing that really irritated me. The waterfall area, previously the Paramount Story, had these great stepping stone slabs that one could follow, each one naming an important movie throughout Paramount's history. After some initial resistance, I came to like the usage of that section, and although I have no problems with Cedar Fair removing the Paramount references, the way they chose to go about doing that was abominable. They basically took some kind of sander or grinder and sanded over the lettering on each of the stepping stones. The result looked really crappy and cheap.

Despite that, I still really love the park. I barely went to KI between 1985 and 1999, so I still feel like I'm adjusting to all the changes that occurred in that time period. If you've never been, it is a must visit park. Great, unique rides ('cepting Italian Job, of course), fantastic atmosphere in much of the park, and the Eiffel Tower . . . what more can one say?

On the evening of the fourth, I lucked into a ride on SOB on its first day re-opening. Owww! It was the roughest ride I ever had on Sonny, even with the new trains.

?

I've read about 50 reviews of the ride, and you are the first to say anything like that. You really honestly had the hands down roughest ride EVER on SOB? So it got worse?

I havent ridden it yet, Im just really surprised by your take on it.

Ensign Smith said:
They basically took some kind of sander or grinder and sanded over the lettering on each of the stepping stones. The result looked really crappy and cheap.

I guess I don't know what they did for sure, but to me it looked like they just flipped the stones over. Either way, it doesn't look very good.

no

Yea, it looked like they just fliped them over to me as well.

I was there June 11th and 12th. We stayed at the kings island resort. It was a nice hotel! SOB was not working yet but from what ensign smith said, I don't think it's worth going down there to ride it now. I rode it back in 2001 and it was rough.

The change I liked the most was the fireworks. I thought that they still shot them from the eiffel tower, and me and my sister were in the beast's station at night and were surprised to see that they were shot from back in the woods! The beast is awesome at night! and it always has a short line!! (if you don't go on weekends)

I enjoyed Son of Beast and thought it was relatively smooth from the front seat. Relatively meaning better than Mean Streak and Villain. I would have rode it again if the lines weren't so long on Thursday. It can't be that bad when people were clapping coming back into the station. :)

..Al

Albert you are the first person I've read so far that has said the Son of Beast was smooth...lol. When I rode it during it's opening year, man I couldn't wait to get off. I want to go again to Kings Island, but I doubt it will happen for me this year with me working 60+ hours. I only bought a pass for Cedar Point this year because of that.

Well, *smooth* is relative to my experience on other wooden coasters, which at this point is limited mainly to about five different parks (all this year, so they are still fresh in my mind). It really wasn't that bad and I was eager to ride it again. Unlike Villain, which I will never ride again unless they do some serious work to it. When I sat in the third row (first car) in The Beast, that was a hell of a lot bumpier than the first row, first car in Son of Beast, no contest.

Unfortunately I never rode Son of Beast with the old trains, so I can't say whether the new trains are any smoother from my perspective.

..Al