Hello, and thanks for taking the time to read this latest post of Hoosier Day Trip. It has been a few weeks since the last post. I had really hoped to get post out more frequently, but life gets busy, and goes by quick. I’ll get them out as quickly as I can and hope people continue to enjoy them.
So, my latest trip was to Kings Island theme park located in Mason, Ohio just northeast of Cincinnati. Like a lot of people who grew up in the Hoosier state, trips to Kings Island were a staple of my summers during my teenage and young adult life. At one point during Kings Islands Paramount days, I was even a season pass holder. I was a roller coaster junkie, and although I had heard that there were some pretty great coasters up in Sandusky, Ohio, a two and a half hour drive to Kings Island was a lot more bearable. So, summer after summer, Kings Island was THE spot for me.
Fast forward to later in life. In 2010, I realized I hadn’t been to Kings Island in almost 10 years. What had happened? Well, life had happened. I had children who were too small to ride coasters. Also during that 10 year stretch Holiday World had grown up. Holiday World had been a place years ago that no self respecting coaster enthusiast would be caught dead in. But over time it had developed some pretty competitive rides. Add to this their free drinks, parking, and sunscreen and the choice became pretty easy to figure out for someone with small kids.
Back to 2010 and Kings Island. Taking the kids to Kings Island, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that two of my three children were big enough to ride everything, and for the most part, both of them were willing to try ALMOST all of the coasters. Our first visit back after a 10 year absence was a pleasant experience, but there were a few things we weren’t crazy about.
The first thing about Kings Island that bothered me was the prices of the food and drinks. I have been recently been referred to as….”frugal” when recently asking someone if they were calling me cheap. I’ll accept either description with no hard feelings. I’m both! That notwithstanding, it IS hard to stomach paying between $7 and $12 dollars for a refillable cup with soft drink, and additional money for refills after years of going to a place where free drinks are at every turn. But I’ll move on before someone calls me “frugal”again.
Kings Island has always had some of the greatest coasters I have ever ridden. I remember days in the past were it was not uncommon to experience a 2 hour wait for the most popular rides. In both my 2010 visit, and my most recent visit I never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride. I can only attribute this to the economy and the draw that Holiday World has pulled from Kings Island. To me this might be a good reason to consider a visit back to Kings Island. It seems to be different in that aspect than it has been in the past.
My visit in 2010 was my first back since Paramount had sold the park to Cedar Fair. In 2010, I really didn’t think that Cedar Fair was doing a great job of maintaining the park, or even keeping it clean. I am glad I gave it a second chance because 2011 really showed improvement. I will attribute this to growing pains on the part of Cedar Fair and give them kudos for what they have done. What they STILL need to do is improve the theme. It is a THEME park. Paramount had the movie thing going and that was great. Cedar Fair has introduced the Peanut characters. (crickets)………. While I LOVE Charles Shultz and the Peanuts, there is not enough back story with them to support an entire theme park. I hope they keep the Peanuts for the Snoopy area of the park, but they REALLY need to theme the rest of the park. The Top Gun ride which used to have pictures from the top gun movie splattered all over the place is called Flight Deck. It is painted grey and has no theme. My kids LOVE it, but they have NO idea what it is supposed to simulate. The Indiana Jones based ride which really was pathetic before now makes NO sense. It is just a sad coaster in the middle of a place where something REALLY cool could be placed.
My biggest complaint is the spot where Son of Beast sits….idol….Shut down…Not being used. And yet not torn down. Son of Beast is a coaster the I rode on my last pre 2010 visit. It was unsafe. It felt unsafe. I do not get scared on coasters and I didn’t like it. According to which online account you read people where either hurt or killed on it and it was shut down. The fact is it remains shut down but intact. Online sources also say Cedar Fair wants it intact because of what it contributes to the coaster skyline. This is understandable to me in the short term, but Cedar Fair really needs to figure out another use of this space.
New uses of space brings me to my final point. Windseeker. If you are unfamiliar, think of it as the swings we have all grown to love, but the swings rise to the height of the top observation deck on the Eifel tower (the Kings Island one). According to Kings Islands web site it is 301 feet, or 30 stories about ground level. My son and I rode it, and I have to say I enjoyed it. It is not as thrilling as you would think. It doesn’t really spin fast, but the height combined with the 360 degree view is enjoyable.
So that is my review of Kings Island over a 2 year span after a 10 year absence. I really think Cedar Fair is taking things in the right direction. I enjoyed my 2011 visit much more than my 2010, but they still have a lot of improvements to make. I think they could do it, and compete with Holiday World again but it will take some outside of the box thinking from management. First and foremost they need to negotiate a deal with a beverage company to bring free drinks to the park.
That’s going to do it for this entry into the Hoosier Day Trip blog. I am NOT happy it took me this long to get it posted, but thank you all for your patience. I wanted to get it out before the end of the Theme park season here in the mid west.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to see YOU on my next Hoosier Day Trip.
Andrew
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