Where Do I Start???
Written: Sep 14 '00 (Updated Aug 02 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Plenty to do....
Cons: Plenty of people ahead of you in line to do it! Lousy, expensive food!
The Bottom Line: Plenty to do, get there early, buy tickets at a discount, sneak in your own food!
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| markhalburn's Full Review: Paramount's Kings Island |
The following are two reviews of Kings Island,,, one year apart.....
Review from last summer:
"Where do I start?" That's the thought that struck me as I walked through the front gate of Kings Island for the first time in nearly 20 years...
Owned by Paramount Studios, Kings Island has grown to the point that you cannot possibly do the whole park in one day.... A dozen or so roller coasters (many with too long lines), the arcade zone, musical entertainment, and now, a large waterpark...( Where you could spend a whole day!)
While there are plenty of things to do, Kings Island hasn't figured out how to say "NO!" to someone with money to buy a ticket... By overselling the park, resulting in many long lines, Kings Island takes much of the amusement away from the otherwise awesome amusement park...
Do you get your money's worth? YES!!! There ARE plenty of rides... lots of arcades, but at popular rides, you can stand in line for an hour and a half-or more, wasting much of your day...
If you've never been to Kings Island, it reminds me a lot of Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles.
Ticket prices, at$40 for adults are outrageous... but so is Disneyland at $43... so are food prices.. $15 for a pizza that tasted like cardboard with tomato sauce... Theme park prices are out of control!!!!!
Some rides, including the skyswing (Or whatever it's called, that bungee-jump/swing ride) are extra... ditto for the stock cars that my nephews REALLY wanted to ride...
Son of Beast is an AWESOME roller coaster, as are most of the coasters at Kings Island... I rode it, Top Gun, and the coaster that you stand in,,, King Cobra, and Vortex..... Even the old Racer was awesome... and that yellow and red coaster near the front was awesome also... The old Vortex was an awesome loop coaster! Try the Drop Zone if you like that "sinking" feeling...
There are kiddie zones for the kids, and my wife, who HATES coasters! Unlike some kiddie zones, there are plenty of things for the kids!
The water park was great... there are dozens of slides to choose from, a lazy river, a wave pool, and a small surf pool, though the water goes the wrong way! You could spend the whole day in the water park... Lockers are over priced...
The entertainment was GREAT! Outdoors, a copy band called "Pop 40" had great music, a great sound, and extremely tight harmonies! You could listen to them for an hour!
Indoors, a 50's show was also awesome... in the Paramount theater...
Kings Island COULD be worth $40 if they didn't oversell the park... But since they do, the LEAST they should do is throw in free parking the next day, and let you come back free the next day...
One hot tip: Get there VERY EARLY and run STRAIGHT to Son of Beast, which had the longest line!!!
Discounts: On the side of soda cans, you can get $7 off for adults, and Kroger supermarkets have discount coupons... I suggest you use some! You can also buy discount tickets from local hotels...
Souvenirs were reasonably priced... with stands EVERYWHERE!
They could use more bathrooms!
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ONE YEAR LATER!!!
We went the Monday before July 4th... This time we spent the night at a nearby Microtel, about $60 a room,,, for myself and 3 nephews.... We bought discount tickets at the hotel for $32.99, about $7 less than at the gate,,, this also helped bypass long ticket lines at the park!
Just like last year, the ticket lines were the first of many long lines!
Kings Island hadn't changed much.... no new rides, although they announced the day we visited that "Tomb Raider" will debut in Summer, 2002....much to the delight of my 10-year-old nephew, Daniel.
I stand by my previous review, except the lines were somewhat shorter this year, mostly due to smaller crowds...not because Kings Island has curtailed sales to keep lines short.
Kings Island could REALLY use a train that circles the park to help you get around and cut down on walking!!! Or a skyride such as Disneyland or the San Diego Zoo. There IS a short train that goes to the waterpark, but we need a way to cross ALL of Kings Island!
All the great music from last year? GONE! The great Pop 40 copy band was replaced by a kareoke show and another show in the theater wasn't playing that day... I can hear lousy kareoke in a local bar, don't need it at Kings Island...
There are still tons of things to do, Son of Beast, Vortex, and Beast are the great coasters,, with shorter lines than last year...
The lousy pizza was a LITTLE better than last year... but not much!!!
$8 to park a car is outrageous!!!
Overall, I like Kings Island a lot, plenty for everyone... Unlike the highly over-rated and over-hyped California Adventure!!!
Kings Island is located on Highway 71, about 25 miles north of Cincinatti, Ohio.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
markhalburn
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Member: Mark Halburn
Location: Hurricane, WV
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 1 member
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