Kings Island: My Bloated Coaster Con XXXVI Road Trip Report - Part XIII

Okay, guys! Last stop! 

Welcome to Kings Island, the fifteenth park on mine and Christian's Bloated Coaster Con XXXVI Road Trip Report!

Christian was feeling ill, so I spent the evening in the park myself riding a few favorite coasters & taking lots of pictures.

Here we are!

Ahh yes. It's been 10 years since I've been here, and the park is only 5 hours from home!

Look how beautiful this view is! NO MORE SON OF BEAST!!

Can you guess where I went first?

:D 

Flight Deck is one of my favorite coasters ever. I LOVE Arrow Suspended Coasters, and this one is just marvelous. I believe it's one of the most under-rated coasters in the country.

LOOK at that SWINGING ACTION!

The beauty of being in a park on my own is that I can stand in front of a coaster for 20 minutes and take pictures.

Many would say that Kings Island's only hole in their coaster collection is a B&M invert. I'd honestly rather have this.

NOV 2013 EDIT: 

HAHA! Now we have BOTH! :}

*drool* 

Just look at this thing. Have you ever just stopped and LOOKED at this coaster? Magnificent. 

The team lead on Flight Deck is awesome. Very entertaining!

Amazing first drop.

Okay, that's enough Flight Deck for now.

Pretzel break!

Okay, back to Flight Deck! :}

The humble Invertigo is also quite under-rated in my opinion.

This area of the park has improved immensely with the lack of SOB.

Though a relatively weak drop tower, King's Island's Drop Tower is still a serious crowd-pleaser.

Oh! So, this is new since my last visit.

So is this.

So guess who rode Windeseeker?!

Somebody else!

Good 'ole Vortex up to its old tricks again.

Partners in crime!

This is also a new addition for me! I really like the one at Kings Dominion, so I was looking forward to it.

I really think the whole ride is just precious. 

Diamondback blah blah blah.

lol. Just lol.

Totally precious log flume. :}

Okay, let's go ahead and get my Diamondback credit!

 WAIT! IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN COASTER!

Getting to Diamondback involves cutting though Planet Snoopy, which is an AWESOME kiddie area! I haven't seen it since it was Hanna-Barbara & Nickelodeon themed, and it looks excellent!

Hey look! There's Diamondback!

I'll just flatly say that my first ride on Diamondback was bad. I sat in the very back and it rattled far worse than any B&M I've ever ridden. Super sad face credit #54. :{

*becomes distracted*

I went ahead and got my Backlot Stunt Coaster credit. It looks great & all of the effects are working!

Yeah, I definitely had a better time on this than Diamondback. It was even more fun than I remember it being at Kings Dominion! Yay for a unexpectedly delightful Credit #55 of my Year of 100 New Coasters!

Vortex looks like it has just been painted. It was radiant!

From the time I was in pre-school, I have been captivated by Arrow Loopers. Regardless of ride quality, that captivation has remained (and fortunately for Kings Island, Vortex has aged quite beautifully). 

TrOiKa!

The sun was already starting to set on my afternoon at Kings Island.

Time for one more new credit!

Vekoma flyer!! Yay....?

Here's my relationship with Vekoma flyers: I rode Stealth at Paramount's Great America in its first 2 seasons. That ride was sensational (keyword: was). I rode it last year at Carowinds and it was awful. It broke my heart to see how poorly it had aged. 

I wasn't sure how excited I should be for this, but the ride at least looked good, so I had my fun with pictures.

I must say that, from a layout standpoint, the ride is already an improvement over Stealthawk. Outside corkscrews and this helix really boost the actual flying time.

The verdict: Awesome ride! Comfortable trains, smooth ride, nice Gs! Kings Island actually got a good deal with this ride. Credit #56, my final credit on the Coaster Con tour, is a very pleasant surprise!

A nighttime ride on the Monster had to happen because it's nighttime & it's a Monster. :}

I'd never really noticed before, but the immediate area around the Eiffel Tower is quite beautiful and tranquil. 

I went back for another ride on Diamondback. I rode more in the middle of the train and I LOVED it. As sad as it is that the back seat is unbearable, the rest of the train gives an excellent ride. I got a pitch-black nighttime ride on Flight Deck, which was basically a religious experience. 

Goodnight Kings Island! I'll see you in the morning. :}

The next day, Christian and I went to the park at open and had a great morning ride on Diamondback. The next order of business was to see how Beast is holding up.

This beautiful garden brought to you by Texaco.

The whole Rivertown area is totally unrecognizable from my last visit. The car ride is gone, Tomb Raider is empty, and Diamondback looms overhead!

Beast is better than I remember, but it's still overrated. Rides like Voyage and Boulder Dash have really taken the terrain woodie to the next level, but Beast is still nice.

Had to ride this again, of course.

Vortex time!

I was a little bit apprehensive about our ride at first, but a front-seat ride proved to be a delight!

I wonder if Vortex has the record for highest corkscrews. 

I had these grandiose intentions of taking more pictures of Firehawk yesterday, but it broke down as soon as I finished my ride. Christian and I had to get our Flight Of Fear ride, so I went back to my Firehawk photo shenanigans for a bit.

Yellow train is just so sexy!

We considered riding, but the line looked long & we didn't want to push our luck.

Flight Of Fear still looks great inside.

Christian and I have been abducted!

Here's what I want to know; Has FOF always been this violent? I mean, this was probably the best ride on it I've ever had, but it completely rag-dolled us for a majority of the ride. For some reason I don't remember it being this intense. Maybe it has to do with its age?

There would be no racing on the Racer today, but the ride is running great!

If you want a good picture of Adventure Express, Racer's exit is a good place to start.

The Oktoberfest area is so beautiful and quiet. Here, the Intamin Viking Voyager is still big man on campus after all these years!

LOVE Adventure Express. If you like Arrow Coasters, Kings Island (and really the entire state of Ohio) is a great place to be. Suspendeds and loopers and mine trains, oh my!

All 5 of the Paramount-era shoot the chute rides are identical. Seeing Congo made me nostalgic for Great America!

So did this.

My childhood Invertigo may be rocking a new identity, but the former Face/Off is keeping the moniker alive!

Such joyous rides on a Vekoma Flyer and a Vekoma Inverted Boomerang really do bring me back to my Paramount's Great America days.

FLIGHT DECK ERT WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC! lol

I got a total of 8 rides on Flight Deck. Sooooo satisfying. :}

As it turns out, Christian's and my trip would be bookended with me forcing a reluctant Christian to ride an old Arrow log flume.

"This thing is tiny. We won't get wet."

"Uhh.....oops. Heheh...."

Hello Diamondback. I'm so glad that you don't suck. At least, not all of you anyways...

Epic foreshadowing! Name that park!!

We had to go back for one more ride on Beast, which of course provides great views of Vortex.

*swoon*

You know Vortex, seeing as you were born in 1987, that puts you *right* in my ideal dating range! If you wanna get some dinner or something.....call me!

What? Flight Deck? I mean, he's really sweet, but he's only 19. I just can't date guys who are younger than me. It's never worked out for me. You've got wisdom on your side. 

You're just a baby, aren't you Daimie?! Yes you are! Just a sweet baby!

Hairtime!

This is pretty much the only picture you can get of Beast that isn't from the Eiffel Tower. So enjoy it.

Last ride of the trip: Surf Dog!

I'd ridden a Giant Disk'O with a hump, but this was my first time on a Skater. It was great fun!

We did it, Christian! Our trip was a runaway success!

I'd like to thank everyone I hung out with on this trip for being awesome. I love all of you. Later this summer I'll be making Facebook albums of all of my pictures with friends so that we can tag ourselves! 

So that's it! My Coaster Con XXXVI Road Trip Report is complete, and not a day too soon! My next coaster adventure starts TOMORROW! I want to thank everyone who's read all of my updates. I am so honored that people are reading my reports. I cannot wait to keep growing Thrillography for years to come!

COMING SOON:

My Obnoxious ACE Central Europe Trip 2013!!!

:}