Kings Island Review

Kings Island is (now) another Cedar Fair park, like Cedar Point. It’s a particularly beautiful park, with stunning International Street at the entrance, a huge street-length fountain, and a 314-foot scale replica of the Eiffel Tower at the hub. As for thrills, Kings Island has ’em – big and bigger. If I were to rank Kings Island among the parks I’ve been to this summer, I’d put it way above Carowinds and just below Cedar Point.

Kings Island is laid out in a hub-and-spoke pattern, sort of like Disneyland. The circle is complete in this version, with lands to the right and left connecting directly to the main gate. This means you don’t have to walk to the Eiffel Tower to get to the rest of the park.

Kings Island

Let’s take a look at what Kings Island has to offer. We’ll start with International Street and continue clockwise around the park.

International Street

Similar to the typical “main street” entrance that Disney popularized, Kings Island has an international street. As you browse the shops and food offerings, the storefronts resemble architecture from Germany, Switzerland, England, Spain, and France. It looks extra lovely at night when the whole street lights up, as well as the fountain down the middle. It’s definitely one of the prettier parks in the Cedar Fair family, chiefly due to International Street.

Conversely, if you turn around and look at the entrance gate/building, it’s straight out of the most boring part of the ’70s. The bottom floor has the entrance gates, bathrooms in the park and outside the gate, locker rentals, an information desk, and a very run-of-the-mill gift shop. The upper floor seems to be some executive lounge/event space. And at least part of it seems to be a restaurant, though it doesn’t show up on dining lists or maps. Who gets to eat there? How do you get in? Is it worth it??

The rest of the street has nicer shops, even one Ohio-centric one. Then there’s a Starbucks, Skyline Chili, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Cinnabon, Chick-fil-a, and funnel cakes, as well as a proper Graeter’s Ice Cream shop, a LaRosa Pizza restaurant, and The French Corner featuring sandwiches and crepes.

Kings Island considers there to be three attractions on International Street, which is stretching it a little. The Eiffel Tower at the end, the Grand Carousel behind it to the left, and Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, which I would say is more properly in the Snoopy kid’s area, but it does back up to International Street to the right of the entrance. (And don’t sleep on this version of Boo Blasters! It’s in a proper spooky castle and is a much better ride than the one at Carowinds.)

Action Zone

Directly to the left of International Street is called “Action Zone.” Despite the lame name, it features some fantastic thrill rides. The park’s three inverted roller coasters reside here, which means the cars hang from the track above. The Banshee is a fantastically swoopy inverted coaster, Invertigo is a small shuttle coaster, and The Bat is a fun old-school suspended coaster tucked way back in the woods.

There’s also a 315-foot Drop Tower, Delirium, a giant frisbee/swinging & spinning pendulum ride, and Congo Falls, a simple shoot-the-chute/get-you-soaked ride. The two extra-fee rides are in this area, too – Slingshot and Xtreme Skyflyer. Every park practically has the same two.

Food options in Action Zone are the popular Chicken Shack (more on that later) and a soft-serve ice cream spot.

Oktoberfest

The area immediately around the large German-style Festhaus dining hall is called Oktoberfest. Inside the large, air-conditioned Festhaus, you find standard theme park fare like burgers, pizza, and chicken fingers. They also serve vegan burgers and salads. The other side of the hall features a Panda Express, plus there’s a Bier Garten with alcoholic drinks. There’s also a stage, so I imagine during non-Covid times, there is at least sometimes live entertainment.

To keep on with dining options, outside the Festhaus (closer to the Racer) is Hank’s Mexican Grill, which looks pretty good and a touch on the healthier side.

There are only two attractions in this area, Viking Fury, a swinging ship over a lake, and Adventure Express, the park’s mine train coaster.

Coney Mall

Coney Mall is a straight strip that looks the most like amusement parks or fairs from the late 1800s. And this area indeed pays homage to an older park, Coney Island, that Kings Island was built to replace. One large wooden coaster, The Racer, borders one side. Then there are several flat rides: walking south from The Racer, there’s the Monster – an octopus ride, a Scrambler, Dodgem bumper cars, the Zephyr swings ride, Kings Mills Antique Autos, Shake, Rattle & Roll troika spinner, and a WindSeeker tower swings.

Around the corner is the small but terribly fun Backlot Stunt Coaster, considered to be part of this land (though that’s a stretch – it just doesn’t belong anywhere else.) And there used to be the Vortex roller coaster back here, but (thankfully) it was removed in 2019. That one gave me bruises the last time I rode it.

Coney Mall is where you’ll find all the pay-to-play games where you can win cheap stuffed animals you then have to tote around. For food, there is a Subway, Skyline Chili, a snack & sweets shop, a large Coney BBQ restaurant, and a terrible Jukebox Diner backed by an ice cream counter. See below for what I thought about my lunch there.

Area 72

Tucked behind Coney Mall is Area 72, with two of Kings Island’s best rides. By walking under the tracks of The Racer, you enter a top-secret testing facility with guard gates and military-style hangars. In one hangar is Flight of Fear, a very popular indoor coaster. Through another is the world-class Orion, the best roller coaster in the park.

There isn’t much else back here except Meteor Canteen, featuring gourmet hot dogs and two single-occupant restrooms. An industrial-looking stage is opposite the snack counter, and occasionally I came across an otherworldly dance party.

Rivertown

Rivertown, looking properly swampy and backwoods, is home to the park’s other best rides! The Beast, a perennial favorite, is a wooden roller coaster that hugs the terrain and maintains the record for the longest wooden coaster in the world. Diamondback is a huge steel coaster that is only bested by Orion. And Mystic Timbers is a newer wooden coaster with a great ride and a silly/spooky shed show at the end.

There’s also White Water Canyon, the park’s river raft ride, and the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad, featuring a stop at Kings Island water park.

There are a few more games in this area and one “trading post” shop. Dining includes another LaRosa’s Pizza restaurant, the large & indoor Miami River Brewhouse, Potato Works featuring freshly made fries, a funnel cake lodge, and the Tom & Chee stand with tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. There’s a stage (with too little room to stand and listen) featuring a hillbilly band that uses a broken-down car as an instrument.

Speaking of live entertainment, there are a couple of large stages in the park, most notably at the end of International Street, in Action Zone, and a theater to the left of the entrance. I can only assume they are more used during non-Covid times or maybe just for events or special concerts.

BONUS: I love amusement parks but I often seek out quieter spots for some sensory downtime. I found the perfect spot at Kings Island, in a row of Adirondack chairs on a deck behind Miami River Brewhouse. From here, you’re away from the bustle of the main drag, and you have a beautiful view of the Diamondback making a big splash through some water. In the evening hours, the spray from the coaster makes a beautiful rainbow!

Planet Snoopy

Completing our circle lands us in Planet Snoopy, the colorful kid’s area for Kings Island. The bigger family thrills come with the Race For Your Life Charlie Brown log flume, Flying Ace Aerial Chase kid’s suspended coaster, Surf Dog skate coaster, the classic Woodstock Express wooden kid’s coaster, and The Great Pumpkin Coaster. A kid-sized carousel, bumper cars, train, swings, car ride, gliders, drop ride, and five other in-a-circle rides round out the land with a fun slow-moving Woodstock Whirlybirds helicopter ride on an elevated track above it all.

For dining, there’s the Planet Snoopy Grill and several snack stops. And of course, there is a large gift shop featuring the whole Peanuts gang (but mainly Snoopy.) At the farthest end of this area, we’re back to Boo Blaster on Boo Hill, which officially places us back at International Street.

Soak City

As if those seven lands weren’t enough, Kings Island has a whole separate water park!

Parking and Access To Soak City

Soak City is adjacent to the main park but not as close to it as most of the others I’ve visited. If the water park is the main part of your day, definitely park at that entrance, which is a little farther down from the main Kings Island entrance.

To go to & from the main park from Soak City, take the train or walk on the path between the two parks. It’s a bit of a hike, maybe a 10-15 minute walk.

Slides

Soak City has my favorite slide complex, with two enclosed tube slides with big airtime drops at the end. This version also has the corkscrew tube slide, which is also fun, and the four trap-door body slides, which are definitely not. At Kings Island, they call this whole tower Tropical Plunge. One other tube slide, called Thunder Falls, is fun but much slower.

Body slides include the four leisurely slides of Paradise Plunge and the four terrifying drop slides on Tropical Plunge. To the left of the entrance is the Tropical Twister, two translucent body slides wrapped around each other. I’ve done this kind in the past – it feels like being tossed around in a washing machine, so that gets a no from me. Then there are three short but fast slides on Pineapple Pipeline.

Rendevouz Run is a face-first mat racer. Zoom Flume is a large family-style raft ride that winds down the hill and through the trees. And Mondo Monsoon is a quick drop into a giant funnel on 4-person rafts.

Other Attractions

Besides the slides, there are two wave pools, Tidal Wave Bay and Breakers Bay, pretty much right next to each other. There’s a large sand volleyball area, including a mini version for kids! And one of the best lazy rivers I’ve seen is the Splash River, with tons of get-wet elements like waterfalls, dump buckets, and water sprays.

Behind the lower wave pool is Pipeline Paradise, a surfing simulator. When it’s working, that is. It wasn’t operating on my visit.

Kids Areas

There are four separate water play areas just for kiddos. Aruba Tuba is a fun kid’s slide area with Castaway Cove next door for the smallest splashers. And Coconut Cove is a pretty lagoon-style pool for families right in front of Splash Landing dump-tower kid’s complex. This area was PACKED the Friday I was there.

Dining & Shopping

There are two spots to eat in Soak City. Coconut Cove Cafe has pizza, burgers, and chicken fingers. The Island Smokehouse has pulled pork, chicken wings, and grilled shrimp. There’s also a bar and a smoothie stand.

For souvenirs and anything you forgot for your day, there’s one big shop selling t-shirts, sunscreen, flip flops, sunglasses, toys, and even Hawaiian shirts.

Terrible Food at Kings Island

Speaking of dining options, let’s talk about food in the rest of Kings Island. I had several very terrible meals at Kings Island. By far the worst food as compared to other parks I’ve been to all summer! My first meal at Jukebox Diner took so long for the line, for preparation, and in the end, I found my patty melt to be inedible. Even the fries had way too much salt. And this counter-service spot took over an hour out of my day! I bought blue ice cream on the other side of the diner, which made up for it a little.

Later, I tried a chicken salad from the Chicken Shack near Banshee. My “salad” turned out to be 75% cheese. It was a shredded cheese and lettuce mix, heavy on the cheese, with another full half-cup of cheese on top, plus two fat chicken fingers and a wedge of toast. I ended up eating just the chicken fingers and toast and leaving the “salad” alone.

On another day, I stopped at Rivertown Funnel Cakes, and the funnel cake I received was pre-made, cold, and burnt. I ended up just eating the strawberries and whipped cream off the top and leaving the rest! I think almost all the issues can be summed up with the struggles with staffing and probably poor training. But goodness. I had one awful day of eating at Kings Island.

The next day, I stuck to third-party restaurants and ate at Cinnabon (it’s hard to mess that up!) and the Panda Express inside Festhaus. But I also had BBQ fries at the Potato Works in Rivertown, and that was pretty good too and a very generous serving. My grilled shrimp at Soak City was also good, if not super filling.

Loose Articles

You can rent all-day lockers at the park entrance and in Soak City for $20 each. Otherwise, you’ll need to stow your loose articles in a locker for Orion, Flight of Fear, Mystic Timbers, and Banshee at $2 each for a 2-hour time slot. I’m just glad it’s not $4 a pop like Carowinds!

On the rest of the rides – even Diamondback – you can keep your bags with you and leave them at the station, in a cubby, or to the side of the ride.

Phone App & Wifi

Just a word about the Kings Island phone app – all the Cedar Fair park apps are pretty useless. Kings Island’s is even more so! Ride times are entirely inaccurate and hopeless when determining whether a ride is down for a little bit or all day. I have the same complaints I’ve had about Cedar Point’s and Carowind’s apps – while it’s a decent place to store your ticket (and reservation, when those were needed), the map navigation is goofy and resets whenever you choose a new category (rides vs. dining, for example) and those ride times are just wildly inaccurate.

Unlike the smaller parks I’ve been to recently, there is wifi readily available throughout Kings Island. I remember it working more or less without a problem.

Parking/Amenities

There’s a wide parking lot stretching from almost the Great Wolf Lodge down to the far side of the water park. Parking at Kings Island costs $20 at the gate or $17 when bought online ahead of time. Preferred/closer parking is $30 at the gate or $27 online, and there is a handicapped parking lot even closer that’s available on a first-come, first-served basis.

It’s also worth noting that Kings Island bathrooms seem to be universally extra smelly. I don’t know if they need an update or don’t have enough staff to clean them, but compared to other parks, Kings Island could stand to step up their facilities. I do like that there are water fountains with bottle fill stations at every bathroom.

Most parks have nice music going on, especially at the front gates. At Kings Island, by the afternoon, I felt I had heard the same 20 songs on constant repeat! The other Cedar Fair parks don’t seem to suffer from this – I loved the classical music at Cedar Point. But Kings Island doesn’t have as deep a playlist, apparently.

Hours

Kings Island opens for weekend operation starting in mid-May. In 2021, the first day was Saturday, May 15, so I would think it’s a similar date most years. The park is open all week starting in June, then back to weekends halfway through August. Then it’s event-oriented, open most weekends through Halloween, closed most of November, and then open again weekend evenings in December.

Full-summer operating hours have been 11 am – 10 pm, with Soak City open from 11 am – 7 pm. In the shoulder season, it often closes at 8 pm instead. Always check the hours before your visit. I feel like 11 am is a bit late to open, but that might be a Covid/staffing thing this year. Definitely check ahead of time before your visit.

BONUS: on the days the park closes at 10 pm or later between mid-May to early September, guests are treated to The Royal Finale fireworks show! It’s kinda behind the Eiffel tower but I think there are probably several places to view it from inside the park. International Street isn’t necessarily the best. (Though you can get the fireworks and the Eiffel tower in the same shot!)

Events

Kings Island has several standing events throughout the year. Grand Carnivale is like a Mardi Gras parade plus an international food and music festival smashed together. In 2021, it was from July 17 – August 1. And note, the party takes place at night – 5 pm to close – so don’t plan on trying any international food for lunch. I managed to miss it entirely by visiting the day after it ended! I was so sad!

There are a few Halloween events from late September through October. Like most parks these days, they have a family-friendly celebration during the day and a scarier atmosphere at night, after 6 pm. At Kings Island, they brand this “Tricks and Treats Fall Fest” for the tame activities vs. “Halloween Haunt” for the scarier thrills. Then there’s “Hallowtween,” which I can only assume is something in between totally tame and very scary. All the events run from September 24/25 – October 31. Check out my experience at Halloween Haunt in 2021 here.

Then there’s Winterfest on select evenings from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve. As always, check the events page for what’s going on during your visit.

Tickets

If you want to visit Kings Island yourself, a day ticket at the gate costs $80. Online, you can score any number of deals – currently, tickets during Halloween weekends only cost $40. Tickets for Winterfest are $30, and discounts can be had for military members and groups of 15 or more on all tickets.

If you think you’ll visit more than once, a season pass to Kings Island includes parking costs and some food and merch discounts for around $100 per person. A platinum pass for entry to all Cedar Fair parks runs about $200. (I’ve certainly enjoyed mine!) Always make sure to check what ticket prices are online before you visit.

In the next post, I’ll discuss the individual rides in more detail and give my rankings for the best & the worst at Kings Island!