From: mapike@sei.cmu.edu (Mary Ann Pike)
Subject: KI trip report
Organization: Software Engineering Institute
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 20:53:29 GMT

I went to Kings Island last Friday, and I thought I post my observations
about the park. Unfortunately, since I must deal with 2 children under
the age of 5, I don't get to do things the way I'd like (no getting
there for the first ride on the Beast or riding after dark, for
example). But the Beast was awesome anyway, in the middle of the day.

The Beast is such a great coaster...the sections of it are so well
hidden by the hillsides that you never know what to expect next. And
it was really flying (I didn't notice much, if any, braking). As I
mentioned in a previous post, we got some strange up-and-down bouncing
vibrations in the straight stretches after some fast sections. Someone
I was with thought it might be because the Beast was running very
fast, but I don't know if this could cause it. Didn't detract from the
ride, though.

I rode the racer backwards, my first backwards ride on any coaster.
This was the first time in 25 years I ever almost lost my glasses on a
ride (I don't use a strap). It was pretty neat, not being able to
anticipate the ride; made it a little rough, though (I would think
that this would correspond to trying to ride a coaster forward with
your eyes shut).

The King Cobra is only the second stand up coaster I've ridden; the
other one was the ShockWave (is that the right name?) in SFGAdv. King
Cobra was much smoother...I enjoyed it a lot more than the other one.

The Vortex was yet another tame, multi-element steel coaster...with a
very unpleasant break run in the middle. It was ok.

Adventure Express (or whatever they call it) is a very bizzare
variation on the runaway train theme...rather rough, but I like the
fact that it keeps twisting and turning. That ending is strange,
though...seems like it belongs in the middle of the ride somewhere.

Since I was with a party that contained a number of children, I rode
the Beastie (nice kiddie coaster) and Scooby Zoom. What a cute ride
Scooby Zoom is! I'd like to build one in my backyard. We were
speculating on how much one of these would cost...does anyone have any
idea what the ballpark figure would be to install a micro-coaster like
this?

Other non-coaster rides...The haunted theatre is an attempt to do
something like Disney's haunted mansion...good, but not as nice.  They
have an airplane ride there like one I loved as a kid (it was at West
View park near Pittsburgh)--I don't know the generic name for the
ride, but you have a "rudder" in the front of the plane that you can
use to make the suspended car dive and climb. Tame log flume. Lots of
shows, many other popular amusement rides, great kids section, with
one of those very tall "double-dip" slides (a good, fast ride).

I like Kings Island as a park because it's not as spread out as CP. It
doesn't have as many coasters and is not "themed" as well as CP (not
as many shops and craft demos that correspond to the theme sections),
but I've had to modify my amusement park tastes to accomodate little
kids and non-riding spouses.

Hope this wasn't boring.

Mary Ann Pike   (mapike@sei.cmu.edu)    
Software Engineering Institute          
Carnegie-Mellon University              
Pittsburgh PA                                   
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster