Roller Coaster Trip August 2025 - King's Island

It’s been a couple years since my brother and I have gone on a roller coaster trip. Back before COVID we had done a roller coaster trip of some kind every year. This typically consisted of us and some friends spending 4-7 days driving around the country trying to ride as many roller coasters as we could.

This year we decided to make two stops, first at King’s Island (outside of Cincinnati, OH) and second to Cedar Point (in Sandusky, OH). We left on Wednesday bright and early at 5:30 AM to make the almost five hour trip to King’s Island. We timed it well and only took closer to four and a half hours.

Upon arrival we locked most of our belongings in Matthew’s car and applied sun screen. On the way in it was determined that ordering the gold pass for 2026 online was the best course of action so I did that. Matthew had already purchased it online so we used it to have our parking covered. Not an ad but for 125 bucks you get entry into all Cedar Fair and Six Flags (now all are Six Flags) locations until the end of 2026.

When we got to the gate with our digital passes added to our wallets they scanned correctly but we needed to have our pictures taken then and there. This was all very simple and we breezed into the park no longer even having to take anything out of our pockets.

First up on our list was Orion, a giga coaster¹ that came out in 2020 and due to that and other life things I had not yet ridden. Unfortunately we were there early enough that it was not yet open so we had to find something else for the time being.

Our actual first ended up being Diamondback a hyper coaster². It’s not the tallest, fastest, or the steepest drop but it is a lot of fun. Next we walked across from Diamondback to Mystic Timbers and rode that. Mystic Timbers is an aggressive little wooden roller coaster without being inaccessible. This is my favorite ride in the park and I can’t say enough nice things about it. For instance, the ride experience is excellent, the theming both visual and audio is great, and the surprises at the end give me so much joy. #WhatsInTheShed

We rode The Beast which is a classic wooden coaster that seems to have been updated to smooth it out. It was a fast exciting ride through the forest. One of the best wooden roller coaster experiences out there.

From there we decided to head over to Orion and wait the 45 minutes. It was definitely worth it as this new-ish ride is excellent. It’s tall of course but because it is more modern it has a train similar to Diamond back with clamshell restraints³ . Which I prefer to the lapbars on the Millennium Force for example. This ride is made by the same company as Fury 325 at Carrowinds which I think is my favorite roller coaster. This is not quite that ride being a little smaller and just slightly less interesting. I do really enjoy it and it is more than worth the wait. We liked it soo much we rode it again right away.

Next up was Banshee a steel inverted coaster with seven inversions a tie for the most on an inverted coaster. It has vest harnesses which are way more comfortable than over the shoulder ones. For a while The Raptor at Cedar Point was my favorite roller coaster and this is just so much better. It’s smooth, does a number of different things, including a 100 foot long zero-g roll, and is exciting throughout. We rode this three times in a row as there was next to no wait and it is a great time.

This next one is the most uncomfortable ride but has a special place in my heart. Adventure Express is a hybrid (wood and steel) coaster with a train theme. It is not a very comfortable ride and I think it may have gotten more uncomfortable since the last time I was there. The thing that still gets me is the animated figures that are part of the final chain lift hill that takes you to the station. It’s such a weird choice to have them up there throwing bows for some reason. Honestly, and it hurts me a bit to say it but most people should skip it. I’ll ride it again next time just for the memes.

Near there is Racer, a wooden out and back roller coaster that originally debuted in 1972 as the world’s fastest with a top speed of 53 mph. Since I was here last the ride has been retracked resulting in a very smooth ride. This roller coaster is back to its glory. The experience really lets you see why people would have been excited about roller coasters when it came out. Riding poorly maintained wooden roller coasters can make you question why anyone would subject themselves to the experience. This must have been what it was like and it’s a beautiful thing. Since there are two tracks (one for the red car and one for the blue) we had to ride them both. The blue side was the better ride but the red one was certainly not bad.

There was some rain showers at this point but most rides were still going. We made our way back over to Diamondback and rode it two more times. Again just a good sized coaster with some fun airtime hills.

Then the rain started coming down pretty good and we had to wait for it to pass. Once it did, we went back to Mystic Timbers and rode that two more times. After those rides we had heard all three songs that play in the shed and only two of the three monsters. Upon leaving the ride we decided to keep trying until we see the tree. Ofcourse the very next (and third in a row) ride we get the tree. It’s not essential to get them all but it is fun to do as the ride is great and it’s a silly little extra achievement.

When all was said and done we had gone on sixteen rides! I think if we were really trying we could have had quite a bit more. Definitely were not the most efficient in our path through the park.

This was a really enjoyable day at King’s Island and I would recommend anyone who likes roller coasters to check it out. These are some great roller coasters and the riding, queueing, and quality are hard to beat.

This is day 47 of #100DaysToOffload.