Ride Warriors Coaster Weekend at Kings Island 5/9/09
Written by Jason & Janessa   
Sunday, 10 May 2009 00:00

diamondback2Kings Island made it pretty hard for us to avoid visiting this year.  The addition of a 230’ B&M hyper, an ERT event and cheap flights pushed us over the edge.  Like our previous visit we flew into Louisville, which is about two hours away.  We arrived in Cincinnati a little after noon on Thursday the 8th and went right to the Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse for a rib lunch.  We’ve visited this restaurant before and we’ve even had a slab shipped to us.  It was a great way to start the vacation.  After lunch we checked into our hotel.  We decided to spend a night downtown at the Westin.  Our afternoon activity was a trip to Jungle Jim’s International Market.  We had recently seen a special on the Travel Channel and figured we’d check it out.  It’s an impressive grocery store for sure.  After a quick nap we went to Morton’s for dinner.  Our local Morton’s has been closed for 6 months or so while a new one was being built and we missed the tastiness. It wound up being our most disappointing meal of the trip.  Not that it was bad; it just wasn’t as good as we’ve had in the past. 

Friday was sleep in day.  After getting ready we checked out of the hotel and grabbed some lunch at Skyline Chili.  A couple of Cheese Coneys and a side of chili cheese fries is a lunch that I could eat on a regular basis.  We also treated ourselves to some ice cream at Aglamesis Brothers.  Graeter’s is a big deal in Cincy and it’s damn good but we believe that Aglamesis Brothers is even better.  The zoo was our main activity for the day and it didn’t disappoint.  It’s not in the same league as Omaha but its collection of exotic animals is impressive.  They’ve got some crazy looking rhinos, a Sumatran and Indian rhino to be exact, a couple of white lions, a ton of nocturnal creatures, some strange cats that I don’t think I’ve seen in any other zoos and an long list of primates.  Shortly after we left the zoo it started to rain so we drove out to the burbs and checked into our hotel.  We scored a room at the Sheraton for $45/night on Priceline and you can’t ask for a better room at that price.  This Sheraton also had a Coco Key Indoor Waterpark but at $30/night we decided to skip it.   

Friday night, Janessa and I were in the mood for German food and found a couple of local options.  We chose Mecklenburg Gardens and we’re glad we did.  They have a great beer list and the food was pretty good too.  The afternoon and evening was pretty much a rain out but it cleared around 7pm or so and we didn’t have anything to do.  We checked the park schedule and found that it was open until 10pm.  I was sure that the showers would have kept a lot of cleared the park out.  Upon arrival we found an empty parking lot and then an empty park. 

We went right to Diamondback and the wait was about 20 minutes.  The ride op directed us to a seat towards the middle of the train.  We were thoroughly impressed with the ride.  The air time was unreal and first drop was one of the best I’ve experienced.  While at the top of the lift we noticed that Beast was covered in a fog and this gave us a good reason to go and ride it.  The shortest line was near the front and this was only a five minute wait.  Like all of our previous rides it felt like we were going to accelerate right off the track.  The constant gaining of speed just doesn’t feel right but it’s great fun.

 

We crossed back to the front of the park to try Son of Beast.  It was closed during our last trip so this would be our first attempt.  I was worried and so was Janessa.  We’ve heard that this ride was one of the worst and we were prepared for a beat down.  While waiting our turn it apparently started raining but we didn’t notice until we had pulled out of the station.  The rain combined with the possible beat down couldn’t be good.  Well the drop was totally insane.  The rest of the ride didn’t have much of a punch though.  The bottom portions of the rose bowls had some decent positive g’s but that was about it.  We weren’t injured by the ride at all and we were both surprised by how smooth the ride was.  The stinging rain was certainly memorable though. 

 

We were hoping for a night ride on Flight Deck but it was closed so we hopped on Drop Zone instead.  There was still a light rain but it wasn’t hard enough to send us for cover.  Drop Zone was a walk on and it still scares the crap out of me.  It’s still the top drop tower in my opinion.

 

It was getting close to the 10pm so it was back to Diamondback for a couple of rides.  The first one was only a 5 minute wait and we rode in the very back.  This ride blew the middle row away.  I was pulled out of my seat 5 or 6 times.  The back row also offers up a little surprise at the end.  If you have your arms up your outside arm is probably going to get soaked.  We still had 5 minutes before the park closed and this time we got the front row on the last train of the night.  Not as good as the back but it was cool to get the front row view.  It was a different kind of air time and it just didn’t pull me out of my seat as aggressively.  Either way all of the hills before the mid course brakes are dangerously awesome.

 

It was time to get some sleep since the actual event started bright and early Saturday morning.  Since we’re big fans of sleeping we skipped most of the morning ERT and showed up around 9:30 for a couple of rides on Backlot Stunt Coaster.  Beast was open for Season Pass holders so we got a quick ride on it before the park opened and then prepared ourselves for the incoming crowd.  Right after 10am we scored a solo ride on Shake, Rattle & Roll.  Next up was a front row ride on Racer with a one train wait, a walk on ride for Adventure Express and a one train wait for the front row on Flight Deck.  After a quick lunch at LaRosa’s we took a quick ride up to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  We walked around for another hour or so taking pictures and what not and then we decided to head back to the hotel for a break.  We also had to head to the nearest mall because the forecast for night ERT was chilly and I needed a sweatshirt.

 

Saturday night – Janessa used her internet research skills to find us a tasty Italian restaurant, which lead us to Ferrari's Little Italy.  Ferrari’s is now added to the list of Cincy restaurants that we’ll recommend.  Great atmosphere and great good.  After dinner we went back to the hotel for some layin’ around time and then went back to the park for night ERT.

 

We got back to the park around 9pm and found long lines everywhere or at least the rides that we wanted to get on.  We eventually wound up at Lazytown Sportacopters and after two laps we decided to get a little dessert at Graeter’s.  ERT on Diamondback started right around 10:30 and we were near the front of the pack.  Using the knowledge that we gained a day earlier we headed for the back of the train.  After 8 laps we’ve decided that row 13 is best.  It’s the front of the 2nd to last car and the air time is ridiculous.  We made sure to compare it to row 15 and the even numbered rows in the back.  Once it was determined to be our favorite we stuck to it for several laps.  The park was offering free onride photos and we scored one of those before the system locked up.  The park actually emails the photos instead of printing them, which is an idea that I really like.  Another perk that I forgot to mention was free drink wristbands.  So it’s a free event that includes free stuff.  It’s hard to beat a deal like that.

 

After sleeping in on Sunday we stopped by Skyline Chili and Aglamesis Brothers Ice Cream for lunch again and then headed back to Louisville.  Since our flight didn’t leave until 5pm we spent the afternoon at Churchill Downs watch the ponies.  It had been a long time since either of us placed a wager on horses so we only bet the last race.  Janessa bet according to name and I bet according to odds.  I won.  Next time we’re in Louisville we’ll be spending more of the day at the track.  It’s like the Fenway of horse tracks.  There’s a lot of history there.

 

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