Kings Island

Visited: August 7, 2026

Attending: Just Brian

Never forget

When the Buzzed Bars Coaster Club decided to have a birthday bash at Holiday World in August, I decided that I would attend, and also that I would drive. Mostly because it’s a pain flying to anywhere near Santa Claus, Indiana. But also to give me more control over my comings and goings. I left after work on Thursday afternoon and drove to Lancaster, Ohio. (Note to self: that’s really too far to drive after work.) If I had driven directly from Lancaster to Santa Claus, I would have arrived much too early. So I decided to stop at Kings Island, as I would be passing right by, and I wouldn’t have to pay.

The last time I was at Kings Island, it was mobbed, and I only stayed a few hours. This time, I knew I only had a few hours, but since it was a Friday, the place wasn’t nearly as slammed. It was, however, amazingly humid with a threat of rain all day. In fact, a storm right outside Columbus slowed down all the traffic, and resulted in my arriving about 20 minutes after opening.

The last time I was here, I rode Mystic Timbers and Diamondback early, then Racer and Adventure Express later. So I decided to focus on the coasters I’d skipped last time. I also made the arbitrary decision to sit wherever the groupers put me, rather than asking for front or back rows. I had no reason for that, but the groupers did seem to be taking their jobs seriously, so I figured why not make their day a bit easier, since I was solo.

Orion

Yeah, it's a giga. I said it.

Orion is the maligned giga, partially because it’s shorter than 300 feet (in height, not drop), and partially because it just kinda feels like a hyper in layout. I wanted to believe it was better than that, and in some ways, it was. I ended up in row 3, on the left edge, kind of unusual, but that was how I was rolling. The first drop was more impressive than I remembered, with several seconds of weightlessness. That may have been because it’s been a couple years since I’ve ridden a giga; I don’t know. I’ve been a little cranky about the second hill because it tilts off-axis, in a way that I feel like is trying to mimic an RMC-style element. Which is completely unnecessary. It’s the second hill on a giga; just let the floater happen, right? However, I guess I’d never sat on the left edge of the train before, because getting dipped that far is kind of an unusual experience. I’d still prefer the airtime, but the left edge actually makes the twist seem justified.

The turnaround is just a turnaround, but the speed hill after that was excellent, still my favorite hill in the ride. The floater camelback that followed was also pretty good, but I could feel the trim hit just a little bit. The helix is gigantic and pulls some actual G’s, but it annoys me because I wish it were just about any other element. Two pops, then the brakes. It’s annoying that a giga should feel too short, but there we are. It’s also annoying that there was a distinct rattle. I don’t normally complain about the B&M rattle, and it wasn’t really bothersome in row 3, but the fact remains that it shouldn’t be there. Even my seatmate (a regular KI visitor, but not a coaster enthusiast) commented on it, unprompted, so I’m sure I wasn’t imagining things. Bottom line: it’s a decent ride that should be much better than decent.

Banshee

I love a lift hill that goes through a loop

Banshee is nowhere near Orion, but I went there next anyway. Doug and I really liked Banshee during our 2022 visit, and I hadn’t gotten to ride it in 2024, so I wanted to give it a try. I got assigned row 5, right edge. I hate getting a blocked view on an invert, but right edge is OK. Right away, I noticed that it didn’t seem to be running nearly as fast as I remembered. The first two inversions seemed a bit lazy, to the point where I could almost feel the pull of gravity. The final zero-g roll, which I remember as being very whippy, was almost languid. And unfortunately, there was a noticeable rattle, which I didn’t expect from an older B&M. It was still early, so maybe Banshee wasn’t ready for the day yet. I still enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as good as I expected.

Bat

Bat may or may not be the best suspended coaster remaining, but it's the most photogenic

I decided to do Bat next because it’s near Banshee, and I didn’t get to do it last time. I’ve also ridden Vortex at Canada’s Wonderland since the last time I rode Bat, so I was curious to see if my opinion had changed. I got a middle seat again, but it didn’t really matter, because Bat was going all-out. There’s a limit to what a suspended coaster can do, but Bat had a good drop, nice directional changes, and swung all the way out in the spots where it’s supposed to. I noticed when we hit the brakes that the cars were swung all the way out, something I’d only noticed before on Vortex. I don’t know if Bat runs like this all the time, or if it was a matter of a full train, but this was an impressive run. I’d say it was on a par with Vortex, if not a little bit above because of the terrain. A very pleasant surprise.

Mystic Timbers

It's hard to get good shots of Mystic Timbers, OK?

At this point, a little bit after noon, I started to believe that my time was limited. I could see some dark clouds moving into the area, and I suspected they’d end my visit. I really wanted a ride on Beast, but the park app said it was a 30 minute wait, and I doubted I had that much time. Besides, a daytime ride on Beast isn’t the best way to ride Beast, and at the time of this writing, I have some hope for a night ride opportunity this weekend. So instead I headed for Mystic Timbers. Once again, the fact that Mystic’s entrance is hard to find worked to my benefit, as there was barely any line.

And I’m really glad I did. I got yet another middle seat, and once again, it didn’t matter. I suspect the full-train effect was at work again, because this coaster was hauling in a way that I’ve never seen it haul before. Mystic is a twister design, built for speed, especially in the back portion of the run. I enjoy it, but I’ve never had the experience that would make me call it the world’s best Gravity Group. Today, I had that experience. The speed in the twister section tossed me around in a way I only associate with El Toro. It felt like a rocket all the way through the course, and positively slammed into the brakes. The shed, of course, remains pointless, but I didn’t care. I needed a minute to decompress from what just happened. Definitely my best ride on Mystic Timbers, and I can see why other people love it.

After that, I thought about Beast again, but decided not to. A light rain had already started, but I hiked back over to Bat to check out some t-shirts I’d seen in a shop over there. Unfortunately, they didn’t have one in my size. The rain also hit torrential levels, which was either fortunate that it happened while I was inside, or unfortunate that I was trapped there for the next 15 minutes or so. However, being the 21st-Century person that I am, I was able to check the radar on my phone, and determined that a break was coming soon, but also that this break would be my only chance to get out without getting soaked. Fortunately, that worked out, and I made it back out to my car, sans merch, but also comparatively dry. From there, I made it to Santa Claus at an appropriate time to check in to my cabin.