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May 25, 2006
Kings Island
Almost every summer of my life, I went to Kings Island. Sometimes it was with the youth group at church, but most always, it was with my parents. They loved taking my sister and me for an exciting day of fun.
Here I am on one of the children’s rides. This may have been my first visit:
My mom was always afraid of riding the roller coasters, so she would find the place where the riders exited, and wait for us there. After we rode the coasters for a while, she had her fun by watching the shows and going through the shops. Not me and my dad though; we had a blast on those roller coasters!
My dad and I would sit shoulder to shoulder in the roller coaster car. When it would start moving, my heart would start drumming. As the car crept further and further up that gigantic first hill, I would think, “there’s no backing out now.” The car would creep over the top of the hill and just as I got a peek at the very bottom; it would jerk the entire coaster down that hill at full force. I’m sure the look on my face was fierce.
Back then, there was a stand-up coaster called the King Cobra. That coaster turned you upside down and inside out and all the while, you were sitting on what looked like a bicycle seat.
The Racers are still there. These are side-by-side wooden roller coasters; one is red and the other blue; one goes forward while the other goes backward and they race. I only rode the backwards Racer once. That was an experience let me tell you!
It took me years before I would ride the Beast, but once I did, I was hooked. At one time, the Beast was one of the longest wooden roller coasters in the world. You ride up and down enormous hills, through tunnels, and twists and then right in the middle of the ride – it stops! You’re sitting there freaking out thinking that another car is going to come crashing into yours at any minute. This is all planned of course, but you don’t know that when you’re riding it for the first time and it scares the heck out of you.
Besides the rides, the food was always great. They had anything on earth you’d want to eat. I preferred either the pizza or the foot-long hotdogs topped with sauerkraut, onions, and mustard. Yummy!
I don’t know about now, but the shows used to be awesome too. You could hear singing and watch incredible dancing with lots of costume changes (which I love – it’s all about the costumes!). I think I pouted about having to watch a show rather than be on rides all day, but once I was there, I was enthralled.
My parents had this souvenir cup made and it now sits on my desk full of pens:
By the way, do you remember The Brady Bunch visiting Kings Island?
Check out my Kings Island gallery and you will see The Brady Bunch and more!
Posted by tami at May 25, 2006 5:10 PM
Comments
I checked out your gallery, and those are some really neat pictures. I've only been to King's Island twice, but I've ridden just about every major ride they have. I was disappointed when I heard that they had to get rid of the King Cobra; that was such an awesome ride! My favorite roller coaster at KI is The Outer Limits.
Posted by: Stacey at May 26, 2006 1:10 PM
When I was little, my family went to kings island. Now I am 37 and looking for a cup from kings island. It is blue (a tumbler of sorts) and has either the red and blue racers on it, or maybe the screamin demon. I am trying to find this cup to replace the one my 42 year old brother lost. If you have any ideas where to find it I would appreciate it. There is a very funny story to go along with this.
Posted by: ken vanatti at December 6, 2006 4:50 AM