July 27, 2018

Kings Island

Welcome to Kings Island.  It wasn't until recently that I noticed that we seem to visit this park annually even though it is about 10 hours away.  We figured it is because KI is literally on the way to anywhere we are road tripping to in the summer.

When you go, you have to ride the Bat.

This is an endangered breed of coasters and honestly they are just a lot of fun.

Banshee has really grown on me.  The pacing of the ride seems almost perfect anymore.

The fact that I can usually score numerous front seat rides is also a plus.

So I have grown taller over the past few years and Drop Tower is really not that comfortable anymore.  The harnesses were obviously not designed for taller people and then the seat belt makes that even more obvious.  I still "fit" but the harness digs into my shoulders.  We'll see how much longer I am able to ride this.

Delirium on the other hand has some of the most comfortable harnesses.  This ride is so much fun and the long lines seem to point out everyone else thinks so too.

Congo Falls.  An inappropriate amount of wetness.

So I have to admit that while I despise Boomerangs, I really like Invertigos.

Adventure Express is still one of my favorite mine trains.  I wish it didn't beat the crap out of me, but I guess that's a small price to pay in order to experience that final lift hill tunnel of awesomeness.

Racer was running well today.

Flight of Fear is always a great ride, even with the complete stop at the mid-course brake run.

Firehawk is fun, but I don't think it's a very comfortable ride.  I imagine that's why there are not too many Vekoma Flying Dutchmans out there.

So after convincing the seat assigner that I honestly cannot fit in the backseat of a cart (I'm too tall) I finally got a good ride on Vortex.  Oh sure, it's far from smooth, but when you can actually fit into your seat, it sure makes a lot of difference.

I wonder how much better Windseeker would have been if it had been placed somewhere in the park where there was actually stuff to see.  It probably has the worst placement of any of this style of rides in the chain.

If they could just make the tunnel portion of this ride longer Backlot Stunt Coaster would be perfect.

I love the Beast.  People just don't build them like this anymore.

Night rides in Row 17 are still the best thing to do at this park.

Mystic Timbers is still running well.

Night rides on Mystic Timbers are a lot of fun too.  Not to the level of the Beast yet, but still a lot of fun.

DiamondBack is just fun

and while the splashdown is pointless on the ride itself, it sure makes for a great photo off the ride.

Gravity was performing in the Kings Island Theater

This is a new Cirque style show and it was really well done.

You know me, I cannot pass up a shooter ride.  I kick butt on Boo Blasters.

I know that Zach's Zoomer is basically a clone of Woodstock Express, but it feels so much smaller here with the tall coaster mountains all over the park.

Surf Dog is a lot of fun.  I seriously want one of these at WOF.

I'll take one of the Aerial Chases while you are at it.

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown is a great log flume and you will get wet.

Why thank you, I am having a great day.

Time to head up into the tower.

This is such a great park

and for once it wasn't a million degrees outside so I could actually enjoy the park without melting.

Until next time Kings Island

July 26, 2018

Cedar Point Shores


Welcome to Cedar Point Shores - Cedar Point's waterpark.

This tube slide complex is called Crosscurrent.  Honestly all three were fun.  The big slide in the middle really launches you across the catch pool

The purple, orange and blue slides are all body slides called Perch Plunge.  My favorite of the three was the orange slide.  It seemed to move a lot faster than the other two.

On the same tower as Perch Plunge are two more tube slides called Wild Walleye.  Both were relatively slow compared to the other tube slides in the park.

Riptide Raceway is a downhill head first mat racing slide that starts off with a tube portion.  It was a lot of fun.  The tube at the beginning really accentuates the speed you're going.

Point Plummet is a collection of 4 drop capsule body slides.  I liked how the park loads all for and then launches them at the same time.  It really helped move people through the line quickly.

On the same tower is Portside Plunge.  One featured a camel back double down hill and the other had a straight down hill.  Both were a lot of fun.

Cedar Creek is the lazy river in this section of the park.  I found it to be a nice long relaxing float.

Part of Cedar Creek circles one of the kiddie areas called Waterin' Hole.

The park only has one large family raft slide and it is called Storm Surge.  If anything that is something the park could use - some of the more modern large raft slides.

The Lily Pad Walk is pretty impressive.  It actually had several paths to choose from.

Great Lakes Cove is a very large activity pool with floating animals and water geysers

SplasH2O is the park's large water fortress.

Lake Erie Nor'easter is another collection of 3 tube slides.  These slides really surprised me with their random waterfalls in the middle of the slide.  The tubes are pitch black and then all of a sudden you get smacked by a waterfall.

Breakwater Bay is the park's wave pool.  It had some pretty impressive waves.

The park has another float river called Runaway Rapids.  Through out the course you will encounter water falls, water hazards (like these dumping buckets), geysers and even a wave machine.

I was impressed with how long it was.  It took awhile to float around the entire course.

This was our first time visiting Cedar Point Shores and it definitely won't be our last.  This is a fun little waterpark and I think being able to watch so many rollercoasters while floating around or riding slides made it that much more enjoyable.