Paramount's Kings Island

Was in Paramount's Kings Island on Saturday, April 22 from 12 noon to 8pm when the park closed. (Worthwhile) rides closed were Son of Beast and Face/Off...

I was in Cincinnati with a group from my high school for a music field trip and we had our competition in the morning and spent the rest of the day at PKI...

After arriving, my group decided to head over to the "ActionZone" where Drop Zone and Delirium are. We decided to queue for Delirium first. The line was average, so we waited. After 30 mins. of queueing and approx. 3 circuits from boarding, it broke down. Crap. So, we headed to Drop Zone...

Drop Zone is the highest and fastest Gyro Drop on earth at 315 feet and 65mph. The line was packed and we queued for about 45 mins, maneuvering about 1/2 way through the mazes and it broke down. Apparently it was in launch sequence and some kid had a panic attack...isn't that was the E-Stop is for? Anyway...we decided to wait until it was fixed. Luckily, 1/2 the line left so we had about a 15 min. wait once it was fixed. They fixed it, and we got to ride it. It was amazing. The rush when you are dropped is indescribable. True bliss. So, after that we were going to head towards Flight of Fear...

Upon entering the "Coney Mall" section, we decided to eat. Half the group went to Bubba Gump's and half went to the Happy Days Diner. I went to the Diner. The fries were good and the burger was mediocre. We then went to Racer instead of FoF. We rode backwards, and it is a Classic Out-and-Back ride. Very nice airtime. Overall great woodie, however I prefer Screamin' Eagle at mah home @ SFStL.

After that, I got a call from my director who wanted to ride Sling Shot but everyone was too chicken. So I agreed, he payed so it was cool [8D] but the queue was like two hours. So he agreed to hold the place and I went to go ride stuff.

Went to Adventure Express. It's a mine ride, neat theming but like most mine trains, crappy layout = crappy ride.

Decided to try for Delirium again...waited 30 mins., was supposed to be in the next circuit when it broke down. Crap. Decided to wait. They fixed it, we boarded, it broke down again. 3 times. Never got to ride it. Crappiest repair system / team ever. I decided just to go wait out the 15 remaining mins. for Sling Shot...

Sling Shot was amazing. They have these in about every park but I'm too cheap to pay for them [;)]. The head-rush from the freefalling was dominant! I recommend it!

After, decided to head towards FoF. We had to go to meet at 6pm for an awards ceremony which was to last 30 mins. We went to FoF and queued for about 1 hour. Excellent theming, have seen pics but its better in reality, and the ride was awesome. Very tight turns and awesome layout (considering the space and being a dark ride). Don't think it was worth 1 hour of queue, but it was overall great fun.

5:45, had to go to the ceremony. It lasted 1/2 hour, decided to go to Beast / Vortex.

Decided on Beast. 30 min. queue, not bad, with minor theming. Great ride! As you know, longest woodie in the world and amazing ride! Great airtime and neat banking in the tracks.

After that it was 7:45 and they closed off Vortex, so we headed back. I got some good 'ol Subway for dinner and exited the park around 8:05.

Overall a decent day. I was mega pissed that Son of Beast was closed, but apparently it doesn't open until May sometime. Face/Off ended up opening around 6:15, but the queue was way too long to waste on it. Been on one before, nothing special about them.

Here is my complaint to the park... down time. Delirium broke down 6 times in total that day. Drop Zone broke down 4; 2 of the times leaving people stranded 315ft. above the ground for periods of 15 mins. Maybe I'm just used to SFStL having maybe 1 or 2 breakdowns per week total, but are these rides being properly inspected and maintained? There was a recording for Delirium and Drop Zone that it had broken down. If they know that it's going to break down enough to create a recording that tells you, shouldn't they just fix the problems beforehand? Whatever, maybe it is life and I have just not noticed it at any other park before.

I had a lot higher hopes for the park, but it was an overall good experience. Kind of hard to navigate the park, it is a decent size and just random paths. Oh well. Hope anyone else that goes has better luck!

Sounds like you had an ok time despite the breakdowns.

that's strange...PKI's rides don't break down that much. Everytime I'm there they all work, except tombraider..lol, but glad ou had fun!

Hehe unfortunately we didn't get to do Tomb Raider...but it was closed until 2 anyway.

But alas, it was great fun.

Oh, and no matter how many times it breaks down or how long the queue is you HAVE to ride Drop Zone. Period.

Argghhh, im actuall annoyed for you dude, HUSS giant top spins look absolutely amazing in my opinion.
Shame Son Of Beast was shut but i've heard bad things about it anyway.
At least you got on The Beast eh?
Must have been a highlight.
Nevertheless great report The Elf Himself!

its always good to try and make the best of a park visit.