The Cincinnati Kids

Since I'm clearly stuck in re-runs from my childhood, here's another YouTube clip related to our activities today...

Can you believe it's been almost 45(!) years since that episode first aired? Obviously a lot has changed at Kings Island, but the Eiffel Tower and International Street are still recognizable.

With that, here's the latest edition of the Saiki-delic Awesomeness Review...

Diamondback

The three of us rode this coaster first, and the boys would ride it two more times before we left for the day. It is a hypercoaster with an initial 215-foot drop, reaching speeds up to 80 mph. Other hypercoasters we (though not necessarily me) have ridden include Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America, Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm, Bizarro at Six Flags New England, Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Millennium Force at Cedar Point. (J) good drops, fast and fun, but not better than Goliath = 9; (Me) I didn't get sick, but once was enough = 8; (M) similar to Raging Bull, best one at Kings Island = 8.

Overall SA Rating = 8.3

Mystic Timbers
A hybrid wooden coaster, like Apocalypse at Magic Mountain. (J) fast, but not that fun = 7; (M) pretty fast, but the ending is lame = 6.

Overall SA Rating = 6.5

The Beast
The signature ride of Kings Island, "The Beast" is the longest wooden coaster in the world. (M) long, goes through several tunnels and the woods, uses the topography well = 7; (J) a long ride, fast, not that good = 7.

Overall SA Rating = 7

Vortex
With hardly any lines, this was the fourth coaster that the boys managed to ride within the first hour we were in the park. (J) fun, pretty fast, nice drop = 7.5; (M) rough ride = 6.

Overall SA Rating = 6.8

M and J are on the left (top) of the first car

Firehawk

The boys had a longer wait for this flying coaster. Instead of lifting the cars so that the riders are initially facing down, Firehawk drops them onto their backs. (M) definitely different, blend of Tatsu and X-Flight = 8; (J) not better than Diamondback, but better than Vortex = 8.

Overall SA Rating = 8

Banshee
After lunch and another ride on Diamondback, this was the next coaster M and J checked out. As soon as they came back into the station, they closed Banshee down since a storm was approaching. So we waited inside Festhaus for about 45 minutes (air conditioning and outlets to charge our phones!) until the rain stopped. (M) smoother than Batman at Magic Mountain = 8; (J) fun = 8.

Overall SA Rating = 8

Invertigo

Once the rain let up, we were back out in the muggy weather. Ugh. We definitely got our money's worth out of the free refill souvenir bottle today! (M) bigger and smoother than Boomerang at Discovery Kingdom, not that interesting = 6; (J) similar to Boomerang = 7.5.

Overall SA Rating = 6.8

Flight of Fear
The wait for this one was longer than the others, but at this point there weren't too many coasters left to try, so the boys just bit the bullet. It's a "dark" indoor ride, so there's air conditioning. Luckily I found a place to wait near the exit where I could feel the cool air, too! (M) magnetic launch, couldn't tell which way was up, uncomfortable shin bar = 8; (J) doesn't want to comment anymore = 8.

Overall SA Rating = 8

The Bat
After one more ride on Diamondback (and more sitting in the air conditioning for me), the boys ended their day with "The Bat," a steel suspended coaster manufactured by the same company who designed Ninja at Magic Mountain and Iron Dragon at Cedar Point. (M) starts off like Ninja, but then accelerates suddenly = 7; (J) still not cooperating  = 7.

Overall SA Rating = 7

Having checked off all of the big roller coasters except for "The Racer" (which neither one was that keen to ride), M and J were ready to go back to the hotel around 6:00PM. Since we have a long drive back to Chicago tomorrow, I'm especially glad they didn't want to stay until the park closed at 10:00PM! This mama is tired!

For your enjoyment, here's another YouTube video of the full relay sequence through the park...

...that's the way we became the Brady Bunch!