—TL;DR at the end of post—

Originally, this park wasn’t even on our radar. Our Ohio trip was planned around Cedar Point, where we’d be staying Thursday through Saturday. But with an extra day to spare, and Cedar Point being closed on Wednesday, we made a last minute decision to visit Kings Island. I’m so glad we did. It honestly worked out perfectly, especially with how close both parks are to each other.

This park completely won me over. It’s one of the best amusement parks I’ve ever been to. It was clean, friendly, scenic, and packed with great rides. I don’t have a single bad thing to say about it. We got to the park about two hours after opening due to some delays, but the crowds were super manageable and the rainy, overcast weather gave the whole day a really cozy vibe.

I was able to hit almost all of the major rides. Any ride I missed was down I believe. Ride ops were incredible as well. Here’s what I rode:

• Banshee

• Diamondback (x2)

• Mystic Timbers (x3)

• Orion (x3)

• The Beast

My Rankings:

1. Mystic Timbers – Completely caught me off guard. I went in with no expectations and it completely delivered. Fast, aggressive pacing, relentless transitions, and a lot of surprising ejector. Might be the most intense ride in the park. First GCI I’ve ever been on. It’s now my second favorite wooden roller coaster after El Toro

2. Diamondback – Classic B&M hyper with great sustained floater airtime. Not much to say here. Think it’s my favorite B&M hyper now over Nitro and my favorite hyper period

3. The Beast – We rode it in the front and that second lift hill / helix section had me laughing the entire time. It felt like we were falling forever into the void. Calling this ride a journey is an understatement. Top 3 wooden coaster for me after Mystic Timbers and El Toro. Insane how this park has two of the best wooden works of art in the world

4. Orion – Solid giga and my first by B&M. Smooth and fast with a killer first drop in the back. I actually felt the speed more in the back row throughout the layout, but the front row was insane with the wind noise. Top 3 giga I’ve been on after Pantherian and Millenium Force

5. Banshee – Decent invert with some unique elements. Noticeably rough. There’s a B&M invert further north that outclasses this one easily

Even with limited time (just one day compared to three at Cedar Point), I’m honestly torn on which park I prefer. Kings Island left that strong of an impression. Beautiful, well-run, and full of charm. I’ll definitely be returning next time I’m in Ohio.

TL;DR: First time at Kings Island after a last-minute change of plans and it might be better than Cedar Point. Mystic Timbers is insane. Diamondback = smooth airtime. The Beast is a chaotic trek through the woods of Ohio. Orion’s drop in the back row is elite. Banshee’s fun with a present rattle. Clean park, chill vibes, excellent ride ops, 10/10 day.

We are staying in Overland Park and my daughters want to go to the park to play, we don’t mind driving just want to find the absolute best park for kids that will give them plenty to play with (aged 6 and 8)

I’m looking for good parks in the Kansas area. I’ve tried Shawnee Mission Park and it was amazing. Are there more parks I should know about?

My weekend trip to Iowa started in Altoona for Adventureland. I was aware of Monster and Dragon Slayer’s existence, and had probably heard the name Adventureland passively within the community, but not in any capacity that it stayed with me— that is, until my boss who lives in Iowa discussed Adventureland as a means of connecting with me. It was then that this park really hit my radar and was a place I wanted to try and hit this year as I’ve started to get more serious with my hobby; finally being old enough and having just enough money to do so.

I arrived at rope drop, as I often have this year, and immediately made my way to Monster to get the second ride of the day. Something about me is that as an enthusiast I mainly prefer floater airtime, and speed, hangtime just hasn’t really done it for me; I was underwhelmed by Copperhead strike, the el Loco model didn’t do it for me, and the hangtime elements on RMCs were never the highlights. Monster’s hangtime made me a believer. The ride expertly balances fast whippy transitions, with drawn out moments of hangtime that give such a wild sensation. Each element was so weird in the best way, the finnish loop is fantastic, the immelman is profiled so sharply that it doesn’t feel real, and the trim before the wave makes the wave (the element just before the corkscrew finale) the best part of the ride for me, the way you take it slow enough that it gives sideways airtime has to be what I imagine west coast racers first element feels like. Nowhere to go but down from here but that was A- OK because how can you beat near perfection.

Next on my to-do was Flying Vik- 45 minute wait for a kiddie coaster? Yah I think I’ll skip for now and check out phoe- phoenix is not operating yet… oh boy, but it wasn’t a long wait before it was operational… yeah this is basically laff trakk but outside. I am not a big fan of the Maurer spinners I much prefer Gertslauer, I don’t know why but they just don’t hit for me? This one continued that pattern. They aren’t terrible but they just… I don’t know don’t hit.

After Phoenix was underground. I was actually really looking forward to this one, expecting a classic dark ride coaster like Blazing Fury or the old fire in the hole— I KIND OF got that experience. I will start by saying it has a lot of charm and definitely hits the same nostalgia spot as the previously mentioned rides… but it was definitely missing something. Using gravity to take you through the whole ride, you reach two decently tall chain lifts on your journey and then it slowly sloowwwwly desceneds down it to traverse the experience. There is no real drop, and yes I get it, it’s not going to be some big crazy ride, it’s not skull mountain or Mummy, but I was expecting at least one medium drop LIKE Blazing Fury or Fire in the Hole, and it did make the layout a bit underwhelming. For a dark ride very classic, very fun; as a coaster? Much to be desired.

Okay now that I hit those two time for Flying Viki- 60 Minutes!??? Okay let’s just head to Tornado, Dragon slayer, and Outlaw, then hit Flying Viking after dinner time when most families will have left. So Tornado was next. I got back row and I saw there was Buzz Bars! Yes! If only this could have saved the experience for me. As the Train dispatched the ride operator, who I since learned is a legend, would yell excitedly “TORNADO!” And it really hyped up the experience. The ride itself was… another story. As Cobb coasters do, the second hill was almost too tall for the coaster to traverse and required anti rollbacks, so the first drop was fun and then it lost momentum; after this everything went to hell in a hand-basket for me. Every valley slammed me violently back into my seat, every slight angle change sent me slamming into the side of the car, and the return trip ohhhh the return trip. I don’t expect classic wooden coasters to be smooth, and I feel like saying the word rattle gives the wrong image of what happens. This isn’t like a B&M rattle, and it isn’t like shaking side to side on the track? More like the way the wheels rode on the track made it feel like your butt was smacking against every crossbeam lightly and literally made a rattle sound. Not rough per say, but slowing the ride down and felt like a somewhat uncomfortable massage chair.

I was told that Dragon Slayer was the best of the 4D free-spins, and outside of the Joker clone at my home park of Six Flags Great America, these never did much for me so I was excited to see them at their full potential. I started with Squire side and already this was a wild and fun experience. Rocking side to side before one big flip it just kind of worked for me. But knight side is easily where this shines. Once I got off the knight side I knew it was my second favourite free-spin, not a high bar but it reached it.

Outlaw was next. Tucked away in the back of the park near the entrance to the water park is a small wooden coaster that looks like it wants to be a GCI so bad. I got front row on this one and whoa! I don’t know if I just got lucky with my experience on Outlaw but I found it fast, smooth, and fun. Good airtime pops, great laterals, and Buzzbars yet again! Outlaw quickly cemented itself as number 2 in the park for me.

After Outlaw I returned to ride Monster again and it was even better the second time! At this point it was roughly around 2:20 PM, I wanted to stay to experience Monster at night because I knew it had a crazy light package so I has 6 more hours before sundown. I stopped to get lunch, and then did something I haven’t really done in a long time, I rode the flat rides. Adventureland’s flatrides were descent, nothing mind blowing but fun, and I forgot how much I loved the tilt-a-whirl.

Finally the line for Flying Viking was short and I reached Coaster Completion for the day on a descent but not mind blowing family coaster. After that I rode Monster a third time and while I loved it even more, I knew I was starting to feel dehydrated and losing vision on the ride. I asked for a water cup and they gave me a full cup, with water, and ice, for free. Oh man that water hit the spot. Two cups later and it was starting to get darker.

I decided to ride Dragon Slayer a second time, not yet satisfied with my number of flips. This was the move because on my third time I flipped so much more than I ever have. It was insane and finally, as I experienced the full potential, I understood. The new king of 4D free-spins for me had appeared and I just couldn’t stop smiling.

Once I got off Dragon Slayer it was starting to get dark enough that by the time I got through Monster’s line it would be a night ride. Front row, night ride on Monster was the stuff of legends. Each time I got to ride this coaster was better than the last, and the night time experience was so magical it has to be experienced. Easily my number three night ride behind Beast and Outlaw Run.

Overall, this park has a lot going for it, some good charm, a classic theme park vibe, and a descent top three with a standout in Monster. I think this and Kennywood have the most potential with the new ownership at Herschend and can’t wait to see what they add. No Herschend park before the merger didn’t have an RMC so I’m hoping that both Adventureland and Kennywood get one because it would really round out both the parks lineup. A must-do experience in the midwest and please check out Lost Island an hour away in Waterloo while you are there!

Had a spur of the moment trip to a few parks in the northeast/midwest and just wanted to throw together a few pictures I took and mention a few things I liked from the parks I visited.

Kennywood

• This was my first time here and I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the 3 woodies still had minimal restraints that really enhanced the airtime. Thunderbolt was the sleeper hit of the day since I really didn’t expect the sheer amount of good drops on that ride. I was also super impressed by Steel Curtain, possibly since I had somewhat low expectations but I felt like it carried speed super well through the layout.

Six Flags Darien Lake

• I wasn’t expecting to like this park as much as I did, I think I’ve just seen it hated on and had super low expectations. For me, Viper is probably one of my favorite Arrow loopers and Tantrum was a pleasant surprise. You can definitely feel the new trackwork on Predator and I was not expecting a Dinn like that to give the airtime it gave. Superman was also a lot more forceful than I thought it would be but I also think it could definitely use some love to smooth out the track in certain areas.

Waldameer

• Nice family park with Ravine Flyer II as the star of the show. I actually didn’t like it my first ride since I wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as rough and loud as it was, but after a few more rides it shot up to a top 5 spot on the wooden roller coasters I’ve ridden. Wacky Shack was also a pleasant surprise that I didn’t expect from a park of this scale.

Cedar Point

• I’ve been here a few times so I really came here mostly to ride Top Thrill 2 and Siren’s Curse. The former I was actually a little disappointed with, I definitely enjoy the backwards launch but I think riding it made me a little sad in feeling like the truly amazing launches are disappearing from parks and aren’t going to get replaced, so I was probably a little harsher on what I expected from the ride. Siren’s Curse however was a different story, I think it’s a very good edition to the park, to the point where it might be top 4 for me in the park, which is insane at Cedar Point. I think it symbolizes a larger scale return of new age Vekoma to the United States, which I’m hoping will spark more competition in the markets here for the better.

King’s Island

• I also had been here last year and I’m glad to see that I remembered this place fondly for a reason. I think King’s Island has my favorite ops in the Cedar Fair/Six Flags chain and I love the way that the park handles its landscaping mixed with a really good selection of rides. Diamondback is probably my favorite B&M hyper and I’m just shocked they nailed the floater airtime for a full 4 seconds just to have a final second of ejector at the end of most of the hills.

TIL that this roller coaster was sold to Wonderland Amusement Park in Amarillo, TX and is still operating today.

Credit to source who developed a computer simulation: https://rctgo.com/downloads/view/nightmare-boblo-island.16398

My dad and I just spent by far our longest day in a theme park since I got into the hobby. From 10am to 11pm, 13 hours of straight coaster riding with just an hour total of food breaks. My god. This first visit to the park did things to me.

Operations were amazing. It was packed to hell and back but the lines were moving fast. These 40-60 minute lines could've easily ballooned into 3 hours if the ride ops weren't out there killing it with 3 trains on most rides. Lines also got much more tolerable after 7pm and I even got a singular walk on on adventure Express, most other lines being 20-30 minutes at that point.

Food was great, Miami River Brewhouse slapped, best theme park burger I've ever had. Blue ice cream was an iconic treat. Panda Express for dinner was quick and what you'd expect.

People were lovely. I made a new friend on the beast and everyone was friendly and chatty with my dad and I in line.

The coaster lineup is phenomenal. Without Steel Vengeance it would top cedar point, imo. Smooth, well maintained, great rides from top to bottom, with even the worst being kinda alright. With one very blue exception.

This park was amazing, as everyone has told me it would be. A truly great coaster collection, amazing vibes, and great operations despite the crowd levels, love love love!!!

Now it's time to talk credits! I rode 15 coasters, picking up 12 new credits, and only skipping a few kids coasters. Here's the breakdown:

Orion: My final North American giga, and an underrated wrap up to the collection for now! My morning ride in the back row was whippy and floaty, just like a baby Fury. At night, we rode in the rain and it stung so bad I had to close my eyes, which consequently made the ride absolutely insane, and every drop hit like a truck, might have to close my eyes more often on coasters. Also it's the best giga in Ohio ;)

Diamondback: Better than Orion, not a hot take I feel. Every single hill gave amazing floater and not a single element felt too slow or forceless. Great positive Gs in the valleys as well. The drop off the midcourse gave insane airtime and the final splashdown was like Apollos finale on crack. Love it. Maybe new top 15 material.

Banshee: This is my new favorite invert. If montu is the perfect whippy invert, this is the perfect graceful invert. Every inversion was smooth, filled with positives, and some even had hang time which was a wonderful surprise. I do not like B&M OSTRs, they're only a few shakes better than slcs for me, so every other invert has that going against it, but not banshee. This was my dad's favorite ride in the park.

Mystic Timbers: I didn't really understand this on my first go. Aside from lightning racer and invadr, this was my first big GCI, and I couldn't get what it was going for. I rode Phoenix for the first time last year and El Toro this year, so I was under the impression that elite woodies thrived on ejector airtime. And mystic timbers just has none. On my second ride I understood why. Timbers is every other great thing about wooden coasters. Laterals, speed, whip, and it's the top of its class in all those categories. Full on airtime hills would've slowed down the breakneck pacing and changed the insanity of the ride.

The Beast: Daytime - rough and weird, but it felt great to ride a legendary coaster and fly through the woods . The length is truly incredible, and the final helix slaps

Nighttime - A religious experience and probably the most fun I've ever had since I got into coasters in 2022. It was still mostly the same ride, but the sense of speed in the dark made it feel like the fastest coaster I'd ever ridden, and the pitch black tunnels felt otherworldly. This is a vibe thing though, and the way everyone was cheering and screaming and hyping it up elevated a great night ride to a legendary one. Also shoutout to Anya if you're reading this, it was an honor to experience night beast with you. Stuff like this and the infectious positive energy of this community is why I love coasters so goddamn much.

That's the top 5. I have less to say about the rest.

The Bat: Crazy fun, just not quite as good as vortex at cw. I adore the location and the first drop into the valley is quite an experience.

Racer: A great classic woodie! For some reason this one is way better than kings dominion's, I got some genuinely solid floater in the first half.

Adventure Express: 2025 is the year of me appreciating arrow mine trains. I believe I've done the 3 best in the country this year with dahlonega, runaway mine train, and this one, with this being at the absolute top. Great theming and a nice whippy layout, even some good pops of airtime. Very cute ride.

Queen City Stunt Coaster and Flight of Fear: now that I've done all of these clones I can safely say I'm glad they only infested 3 parks. They're not terrible, but man those trains suck. Premiere needs to outsource their train designs, they've never been able to do it well. These were my dad's least favorite rides today.

Snoopys racing railway: cute and fun, fun and cute :) Love the peanuts theming and the ride was glass smooth. Thoosies don't skip it, it's got just enough force to be a great family-kids ride.

Invertigo: I caught myself trying to talk down my real feelings about this ride bc of the general consensus among thoosies. Fuck this ride lol. Immediate bad vibes with the weird prison door airgates and awkward face off gimmick. The patch of land was unusually trashy and gross for a cedar fair park too. This thing combines the worst aspects of boomerangs and slcs to make for a nightmare coaster. Headbanging, jerky transitions, hard to brace while going backwards. This ride needs to hurry up and die. I would say never again but this will be gone by the time I manage to get out here again.

Go to Kings Island y'all!! I'm sure you don't need to hear it from me, this park is famous for a reason.

I last visited Kings Island in 2016 and remembered having an incredible time, and I'm happy to say it wasn't just nostalgia! I had an even better time on this visit.

The park does pretty much everything right. The theming is surprisingly good for a park that isn't really about that and the areas are all distinct from each other and have personality. Shoutout to the operations, those ops HUSTLE and most of the major rides run three trains. It's interesting that they focus on sending trains out really fast and don't worry about empty seats, but it seems like it works better to be honest. Keeps things moving. Also, the lineup fucking rocks. They have zero duds, and I was especially impressed with their selection of family-thrill type coasters. Most parks have kiddie rides and thrill rides with not much in between, but Kings Island really covers the whole spectrum and I think that's a huge huge plus for them.

I only had two half days there and on Saturday I was waiting about an hour for all the good stuff, so I splurged on a Fast Lane wristband for Sunday. Definitely worth it if you're willing to drop the cash, I basically walked on everything except Flight of Fear.

THE RIDES:

Mystic Timbers (x4):

I'll be honest, my first ride was pretty underwhelming and I didn't get the hype, but on every consecutive ride this thing absolutely ripped through its layout. So many fun pops of airtime and it doesn't let up for a second until you hit the break run. Night rides are built different, wish I could've gotten more than one. The shed would be 10x cooler if they put it at the start.

Diamondback (x5):

The airtime on this thing is OUT OF CONTROL. Feels like you spend more time floating out of your seat than actually sitting in it, it's like five or six seconds of sustained airtime over those camelbacks. The splashdown at the end is a really striking feature, I heard so many people walking by ooh-ing and aah-ing over it. Plus I got a sweet night ride on this while the fireworks show was going off in the background. Easily the best ride in the park, B&M went stupid with this one.

Orion (x3):

I do not understand the hate for this one. It's at least as good as most B&M hypers but with an even bigger drop...what is there not to like? The airtime hits, the positive G's hit (I completely greyed out every time and no other ride in the park did that to me), and I didn't find it that short either. I feel like thoosies think if you're gonna build a giga is has to be the most groundbreaking and the most legendary or "what's the point" but like. Maybe it can just be tall.

The Racer (x2):

Far better than expected. Rides like a dream thanks to the retracking but still has that classic woodie charm. Both sides were racing on Saturday and I chose Red, and when I came back to collect my other credit on Sunday they were only running the Red side. So fuck my life I guess.

Adventure Express (x1):

You never know with these old Arrow rides if you're gonna get "janky but fun" or "God please help me" but this one definitely falls in the janky but fun category. It's like something out of Roller Coaster Tycoon. I rode it in the evening and thought the theming was especially charming with everything lit up.

Flight of Fear (x2):

Most overhated ride in the park by a mile. Yes, the restraints are ass. Yes, it comes to a complete stop halfway through the ride for some reason. Yes, the wait time is double everything else in the park. But...you literally board the ride inside a giant UFO. The theming eats, the layout is forceful and SO disorienting in the dark, and both times I got off absolutely buzzing with adrenaline, so I excuse it all.

Banshee (x2):

I don't have much to say about this one, it's just a solid B&M invert. Love the first drop and that slow zero-G roll near the end, but otherwise kind of unremarkable to me. The loop going around the lift hill is a great visual too.

The Beast (x2):

Iconic for a reason. I can't believe this thing exists, let alone that it was built like 50 years ago. It must be a nightmare to maintain. The descent into the helix where you just pick up more and more and more speed before roaring through that tunnel is like nothing I've ever experienced. It meanders a lot and isn't the most thrilling thing in the world but this ride is really something special. Super bummed I didn't get the coveted night ride, but the wait was nearly two hours and I couldn't justify it. Guess I have a reason to come back!

Queen City Stunt Coaster (x1):

Cute coaster with some surprisingly fun elements (the launch into the helix, the pitch black indoor section, the dive under the queue). None of the special effects were working when I rode it. Smooth and good for what it is.

The Bat (x1):

I like that it swings. I don't know, by the time I got on this I was exhausted and had a headache so I might be underrating it. It feels faster than it looks, and there's not very many of this model still operating so I appreciate it for that. It's an enjoyable little ride and I hope they keep it around. Also weirdly the only coaster with no Fast Lane.

PARK RANKINGS:

1. Diamondback
2. Orion
3. Mystic Timbers
4. Flight of Fear
5. The Beast
6. Banshee
7. The Racer
8. Queen City Stunt Coaster
9. The Bat
10. Adventure Express

The natural park beauty, professionalism of the staff, coaster lineup, dining options, make this the best park in the country hands down.