Kings Island

My strategy is get there for early entry and hit in this order Banshee, Diamondback, Beast, Firehawk. Then maybe Flight of Fear (if it's open). Then ride everything else at my leisure. Never miss Adventure Express(always a short wait) and Boo Blasters either. All the coasters there are worth riding, in my opinion. KI is a great place.

Thanks for the ideas & in-put. This will also be a test to see if our renewed passes (one with all day dining)function properly. KI will surely meet our 'need' for rides until CP opening weekend!

Pro tip: If you're gonna ride The Beast, do it in a middle bench, never over the wheels.

...unless you're in front.

:)

Note taken Jeff

I've found the front seat of any given wooden coaster car to be the smoothest, least lateral-shimmying seat, with it being worse as you move toward the back of the car. This is mostly due to the physics as the front wheels follow the track, and the rest of the car follows the front of the car, with the rear wheels banging back and forth more. I'm curious as to why you claim the middle is better.

Because at the end of the day, the cars seem to rotate around the center of the themselves in terms of movement. At our event last year, I did one in each seat, and the middle bench was the only one I could comfortably stand.

I went for my first time last year and I rode almost every roller coaster (I am returning again to finish up those I didn't make it on). My favorites, and the ones I suggest you ride, are Diamondback, The Beast, Banshee, and Vortex. There really wasn't a coaster there that I did not enjoy, all of them were very good and these are the ones I want to ride again. Have a great trip!

Bring headache meds if you plan to ride Vortex. The winningest lineup of coasters there are Banshee, Diamondback, The Bat (best suspended ever), Flight of Fear and maybe The Beast if you're on a middle bench and it's running well.

I found Vortex to be surprisingly comfortable for an Arrow looper, but I never understood that sharp(very sharp) turn before the MCBR.

Jeff do you think The Bat is better than Big Bad Wolf? I haven't ridden either (Iron Dragon & Ninja are my only suspended coasters) but BBW looked special and I'm sorry to have missed it.

Big Bad Wolf was a great ride (I have a guide wheel from the last train of its last run, oddly enough), but the pacing was a bit broken up and it shook all over the place like Iron Dragon. The Bat is the one that Arrow finally got right.

The Bat always did look fun to me. I cannot wait to ride it this summer!

Funny. I guess it's appropriate that "the one Arrow got right" (the coaster today known as The Bat), is named after the one they totally screwed up the worst, which was the original "The Bat".

The circle is now complete.

We love The Bat. One trip at the end of the night, there was no line whatsoever, they let us marathon The Bat for 5 rides without leaving our seats. We did change seats a couple of times. Great time, the best suspended coaster I have ever been on. Sure is a long walk to get to it though.

To be fair, it was called Top Flight Deck Gun for all but one year. :)

Just curious, have any of you saying The Bat at KI is your favourite Arrow suspended been on Vortex at Canada's Wonderland? I've heard many people say Vortex is the best one, but I haven't been to Kings Island to compare. Based on the videos of The Bat I've seen, I have to say Vortex is better. They have virtually the same layout, though Vortex is taller, faster, longer (track length), and goes through trees, over a lake, and over our mountain centrepiece, but it is shorter (time). All I can say is that Vortex is way better than Iron Dragon!

Originally I thought I was going to go to Kings Island this year, but now it doesn't seem like I'll do much coasting at all... Once I get the test results back, I'll know for sure if I have to have some minor surgery, but it seems almost definite. But I guess that's for another topic... Enjoy Kings Island on my birthday!

I've been on both, and I have to say I do like Vortex at Canada's Wonderland just a little bit better. They are both excellent rides, but like you said, vortex has just a little bit extra speed and height to give it the advantage.

I did forget AE..Man I feel bad, it's a good ride, it's a way better Arrow Mine train than CP that's for sure, it just sucks literally most theming isn't working, and what is working is only working in shambles as of last year.

Vortex in 71, that's the best seat on that ride for sure btw, forgot to add that.

Beast middle car, yeah, agree w/ Jeff. I rode one time in the very last car, last row...I felt the trachea in my neck shake, never again. But seriously, ride it last at night and don't look at POVs or anything. The ride experience is way better, and the only good ride experience after you learn the layout. Seriously it's flat and boring like 70% of the ride or so, ride it in the daytime more than a few times it gets old fast, then the night rides get somewhat bland too. I mean I guess maybe because I'm less than an hour I frequent the park I get a tad jaded, but seriously, it's a bunch of flat track with a few turns.

If you do stay for fireworks btw, you can be on Windseeker for Fireworks it's kinda cool, if you like Windseeker lol. Aside from that being at the fountains during the show is pretty neat having the Tower lit up with em going off. You may notice the music is the same as the CP fireworks show they did out on the beach this summer, that's because it is :D

All great tips/ and thoughts! I'm just looking forward to riding my first coaster of 2015 season. I guess my plan, as of now, will be enjoy whatever I can that day! I will do my best to do daylight & night-time on The Beast! And this blue soft-serve everybody raves about-is it a special flavor?