I LOVE VISITING KINGS ISLAND!!…read more This was another great visit to Kings Island with the family. This place just keeps delivering. The kids area is extensive and incredibly well done, with rides and attractions that work for a wide range of ages. It's clear they've thought about the adults too: plenty of shade and comfortable spots to wait while the kids burn off all that energy, which makes a huge difference on a long day (or a short day, you know!) One of my favorite traditions is lunch in the Festhaus. Being able to cool off, catch a show, and enjoy LaRosa's pizza is always a win. The pizza itself is great (as always), though I'll admit the pizza/breadstick combo is a little odd. The breadsticks are pretty doughy and don't have much flavor. Not terrible, just not the highlight. The true star, though, is the blue ice cream in the kids area. It's pure nostalgia, genuinely delicious, and the long line proves I'm not alone in thinking that. Even better, the line moves fast, so it's never a dealbreaker. Pizza and blue ice cream are a must for me every single visit--no exceptions. Kings Island continues to be a place we look forward to coming back to. Great for families, thoughtfully designed, and full of those little traditions that keep pulling you back year after year.

Not a great experience. In town & had a few hours so we used our Cedar Point pass to cruise the…read morepark for the cold night of May 1. Totally nuts here. Parking was almost full at 5. The lines were double the app estimates! The eateries were hilariously unprepared w/ lines out the door. Half the employees the need working only half the counter open at the BBQ place being used. 20 mins to get food. Then you go over to check out & there's 4 registers open but only 1 at a time is ever occupied since only 1 order comes out every 30 secs. So 3 workers are staring at phones! So poorly organized. Our Mac & cheese was so cold we couldn't eat it so had to go back & request another which had a 5 mins wait for another batch. Ice was piled up on every drink dispenser to laughable levels & again there's still 3 check out girls "picking their nose" just 3' away. We left early b/c it was pretty awful.

+ Staff. Amazingly helpful. Everyone friendly. I can't say enough how awesome every staff member…read moreis. - Price. Everything is insanely overpriced. $20 dollars a day for parking. Weekend lodging costs $75+ vs the weekday. Especially considering that it is... - Dirty. It's old and it shows. Built in early 2000s and the last renovation was 2013. The room was spotless, but you can smell the mildew. Carpet + waterpark. Good thing we had a balcony, so we could air it out. The water park itself is filthy. They took the MRSA scare from years ago seriously by just adding more chlorine. The chlorine fumes in the wave pool burned my eyes before the water got to my knees. That, plus the water flow, has eaten the concrete of the lazy river. The smooth concrete ends at the waterline, both my husband and I skinned our knees. The water is never changed, only recycled. It all has a brown tenge to it. Many of the large tube slides have dark streaks on them, originating from the water spigots. It just highlighted the obvious priority, as most hotels have, money vs customer health. Can't close shop for a weekend to power wash or to change the water seasonally. These, plus my 9 yr old child could not play with her dolls nor wear her mermaid tail in the shallow end of the baby pool, are the reasons we won't be staying or visiting here again. I do understand the possible dangers with both (toys and a tail in water) and life guards were polite about it, but we have done both in a public pools for considerably less money.

This was actually my 3rd time at this GWL and my second time I've stayed overnight…read more Don't shy away from this place even if you're an adult without kids. There's plenty of stuff for adults too!

I will say the most friendliest staff ever we just pulled in on Monday as we were walking our dogs…read morethe bartender Misty offered them a pup cup they absolutely loved it and before we knew it it was 8:00 p.m. and we were just chit chatting away we had the loaded chicken nachos which was amazing and Misty kept our drinks full and cold. She was telling us about all the new things happening and about the live band this coming Friday which we will for sure be there along with all our friends and family. Misty was so friendly and welcoming and was smiling all night she truly made our evening better than we expected we have found our #1 spot and will definitely be recommending!!

Great campground for visits to Kings Island or other Cincy attractions. While located just off…read moreI-71 its easy to get to, our site was close to the pool so the only clue we were in an urban area was a tall Speedway gas station sign. We got a great pull through site right next to the pools. The pools were wonderful, very clean with a nice large kid pool and a separate pool with food/drink at the 21 and over pool. Bath/shower houses were immaculate and in good condition. One shower is larger than others, wish they would add a handicap sign on that one to encourage that people with mobility issues get first priority. There is room for a stool or bench in there to make dressing easier. Site was pretty level and everything worked great. We have a sticker on our camper that says WE ALWAYS LEAVE THE CAMPSITE CLEANER THAN WE FOUND IT. That wasn't possible here as it was totally clean when we arrived. We made sure it was when we left I enjoyed a day at the pool while the family used the discounted KI tickets. Great stay!

This ride hurt! I never felt so much like an old man than on this one and I swear I think I got…read morewhiplash. This one beat me up. Line was long. By far the longest wait. Inside was cool and loved the atmosphere. We rode it in the evening and it was so dark and jarring that it was hard to enjoy myself. I survived and I would probably ride it again now that I know what I was in store for.

This ride is super hyped up where the wait on a weekend in October was longer than expected and the…read moreride was short and in such a tight space. It's an interesting ride for the concept. Not my favorite ride at Kings Island.

My favorite B&M invert!…read more Tip: Ride it immediately after a rain shower. The ride seems to go even faster afterwards due to the slick track!

I used to love this ride so much as a kid but as an adult this ride is so rough. Once I rode…read morebanshee and I had a massive headache when I got off and had to leave the park. Another thing that happened was when my son first turned 52 inches tall (which was during Covid) we went to Kings Island to ride Banshee for the first time. When we got off he loved it so much that he said that he wanted to do it again. I said ok let's go but this time we should take our face masks off for the picture. We got off to get our picture and the lady working there said that she couldn't give us our picture because we had our masks off! So I responded with "so you wouldn't even give us our picture if our masks blew off" she responded with "yes". My son started crying and said that he never wanted to come here again during Covid so that's what we did.

So, if you don't want to get too beat up on this ride, try not to sit in a wheel seat…read more I love the theme for this ride, although on my most recent ride, the audio on the first lift hill didn't work. :(

this the absolute best ride of all time with its impeccable theming, delightful crew, clean areas,…read moreand immersive ride elements!!

The Twelve Days of Yelpmas Day Twelve…read more I didn't get enough coastering in down in Florida so on the spur of the moment I decided to drive down to Kings Island Winterfest. I knew there would be three coasters running and expected Mystic Timbers to be the star of the show. It took awhile to get on, as it was sitting idle after several test trains right after rope drop so I decided to knock out The Racer and Flight of Fear first. Then when I got back to Mystic Timbers it went down shortly after I got in line. So it was back to the supporting cast. Third time was a charm, though. I ended up barreling through the woods five times on Mystic Timbers. It hauls pretty well through the cold air but wasn't quite as marathonable as I expected. Don't get me wrong - MT is a blast but as far as Great Coasters International rides go I was hoping for a little more White Lightning airtime and a little less Renegade intense laterals. That's just my taste for elements and the quick side to side motions were probably exacerbated by the fact I was a single rider going crashing into a stranger every time Mystic Timbers did a sideways whip. MT is definitely smooth enough for a wood coaster but it kinda doesn't matter when the turns are that hard. Still fun, I rode it 5 times but eventually I found myself desiring another ride on The Racer which I didn't think was gonna happen. The ride ops were on point. Much better than the laggards down at Busch Gardens Tampa. And the theming is cool but I can take or leave it. I like the cheesy 80s music appearing to play from a cassette on a vintage boombox better than the video screen in the shed. At least it's something for the dead time on the brake run. I recommend Mystic Timbers even if it wasn't quite the masterpiece I was hoping for.

For today's review, we have Mystic Timbers at Kings Island. Now, on paper, you look at this ride…read moreand are like "Oh, typical GCI, nothing special." WRONG, WRONG WRONG WRONG. This is one of the best wooden coasters EVER!!!! I'm serious, this ride is so freaking awesome, it's in my top 10 overall coasters! So yeah, we're in for a TREAT with this ride! :) First we sit down, get our seatbelts on and lapbars down and th.... oh, the train dispatched before I could finish my sentence! Yeah that's typical, Kings Island ops are amazing! Anyways, we have some small dips and turns before heading up the lift hill. We are told by some speakers to turn around and to go home back to our video games. But since we're f*cking stupid, we don't! We then hit the drop and into a big left turn, so far this isn't anything special. But don't worry, the real madness begins now! We then drop off and have a SHARP moment of ejector air. Yeah, I preached about how Prowler and Thundehread have airtime better than some RMCs, yeah, Mystic has that as well. We then hit two back to back bunny hops which provide AMAZING ejector air. We then hit a s bend that hits us with some good laterals with EVEN MORE AIRTIME! Along with another curved hill. Yeah, you get the idea. This ride has a lot of amazing airtime with laterals thrown in. Prowler has this as well, but Mystic adds the insanity that Thunderhead provides, making this the overall stronger ride. We then turn into a tunnel that provides some exceptional laterals followed by more airtime. And you do NOT slow down. You are just FLYING through this layout. After some more strong airtime and laterals, we hit one last double up into the brake run. And then.... THE SHED!!!! Yeah, this ride has a mini dark ride section, SWEET! So we enter the shed and we hear some music play (if only it was Justin Bieber or Misha, THEN it would be scary). After the train ahead of us leaves the station, the lights start flickering and we move forward. And a screen shows us a TREE MONSTER who attacks us, and then back in the station. So yeah, that's Mystic Timbers. Sure, the Shed scene isn't that great, but I do appreciate the fact that it exists. It still adds on to the ride and makes Mystic Timbers stand out even more. And on top of that, THE RIDE IS FREAKING AWESOME! This is seriously if you took Outlaw Run, Thunderhead, and Prowler, and combined them all into one coaster you get Mystic Timbers. This is easily my favorite GCI (Sorry Thunderhead) and my 2nd favorite wooden coaster (Only Behind Voyage). So I obviously recommend riding Mystic Timbers. It's the best ride at Kings Island and one of the best coasters ever made! Final Score: 100/100 Opened: 2017 Built by: Great Coasters International Last Ridden: August 9th 2025

If you're a taller person, definitely sit in the front row of a car as the back row has a lot less…read moreleg room.

Blood-suckers in the belfry…read more {{ begin roller coaster history lesson }} This Arrow suspended coaster has been around since 1993, yet it's gone by three different names during that time. When it debuted, this swinging coaster was called Top Gun, after the Tom Cruise movie of the same name. The station was heavily themed to look like an aircraft carrier (fun fact: Kings Island enlisted the production designer from the actual film--John DeCuir--to create the station and queue area for this ride). You'd be able to hear Kenny Loggins 'Danger Zone', 'Mighty Wings' from Cheap Trick, or the signature riffs from the iconic theme song by Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens........until 2008. When Paramount gave way to Cedar Fair, all Top Gun-related crap went straight out the F-18 window and the ride was re-named "Flight Deck", retaining the concept of taking off from a military aircraft carrier but dropping the copyrighted stuff (including the killer soundtrack played in the queue line). This name stuck for 6 seasons until Kings Island decided to re-theme the coaster once again, this time as a throwback/homage to a suspended prototype coaster that existed back in the 80's, also called The Bat. {{ end lesson }} The ride experience itself is pretty enjoyable. The Bat remains 1 of 5 coasters on the planet where the carriage hangs freely below the track, which allows the cars to swing up to 90° in either direction as they navigate turns. It's got some decent speed (51mph), and the spaghetti-like twists of orange track and dark grey supports makes for a striking visual. Not overly extreme, but definitely not tame. Of course it all depends on where you sit.....to me, it felt like the front row gave more laterals (side to side G-forces) and an overall better ride. However, The Bat's biggest drawback is the absolutely insane amount of walking it takes to get from the ride's entrance to the station platform. No repetitive back-and-forth queues here, just a single never-ending line that stretches deep into a sequestered corner of Kings Island. When crowds are light, it could easily take you 7+ minutes of continuous walking thru the forest terrain before you reach the station. Exercise sucks. While similar to Vortex at sister Cedar Fair park Canada's Wonderland, The Bat offers slightly milder thrills, a shorter drop and lesser top speed. It's still a fun coaster credit, although the ride's general atmosphere has been greatly hampered ever since the Top Gun theme crashed and burned (pun fully intended). And that overly-lengthy queue is about the most inconvenient thing ever, no joke. § front row or back row § : front row is the way to go on this one!

This drop tower is so unpredictable, which makes it fun! Always funny to hear kids try to countdown…read morebefore it drops, and be wayyyyy off!

When I visited Kings Island with my wife we did many of the rides and this one is not one of my…read morefavorites. All they do is take you up high in the air and drop you and you wait in line for that so it's not anything exciting that is take you high up in the air and drop you so not too fun comparison to what they have