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!

A very fun old school family flat ride! Larger people might have a bit of trouble fitting into a…read morecar together.

It's a nice relaxing ride with good views. Not as thrilling as the park claims though.read more

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

Beast mode! Great night ride! Especially during Halloween haunt! I still wonder if it is haunted by…read morea creature known as the beast

It's a staple. I couldn't come to Kings Island and not ride the beast! They added another car to…read morethe track so when we got up there they temporarily shut it down but opened about 30 mins later. We were next in line so we waited and glad we did. I forgot how much fun it was and brought back memories of when I was younger.

The obstacle course on the lake is amazing! Always a good time with a lot of lifeguards to keep an…read moreeye on what's going on.

This place is so much fun!! The kids have a blast!! I highly suggest you get a season pass so you…read morecan stop in anytime. There is so much to do for everyone, kids and adults. It's so entertaining. They have pizza, hamburgers, chicken strips, candy, ice cream sandwiches, etc. at the concession, the ownership and management staff are super nice and accommodating. They have nine lifeguards on duty, so it's safe. They also have a Halloween Trail in September and October that your pass is good for I think. You are missing out if you don't check this place out this summer. It's just going to get bigger and better every year.

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.

In case you did not make it out to the Union Centre Boulevard Bash in West Chester, make sure you…read moredon't miss it next year if you're the local festival kind of person. The Taste of Blue Ash (late August) is always a big and very popular event, and I recently was at the MidSummer at the Meadows in Milford, but the "Bash" in West Chester was probably the best out of all of them, featuring a ton of great rides, great food, and great music in the very new and nice Square at Union Centre. The event kicked off on Friday night (Aug. 8) at 5:00 p.m., went from 2:00 p.m.-midnight on Saturday, and finished off with eight more hours in the afternoon and evening on Sunday. Food vendors were Coldstone Creamery, Jag's Steak and Seafood, Boston Butz BBQ, Papa John's Pizza, Izzy's, Bruster's, and Savannah Center, while other vendors included Cincinnati.com, Time Warner Cable, Twisted Tea, Indiana Wesleyan University, Owens Corning Basement Finishing System and several beer companies. There was also a large kids/family section with $1 games, as well as rides, and there was even a fashion show and golf exercises. The real draw for most, however, was the music. Q102 and AK Steel presented this event and Friday featured well-known Cincinnati cover band The Rusty Griswolds, while Saturday's three act lineup was headlined by David Cassidy. I was there Sunday (today), and first heard 3 Day Rule and then Kings X, while Extreme followed, although I was gone by then. I wasn't crazy about Kings X, although I really enjoyed 3 Day Rule which played songs from mostly the 80s, but many songs from the last 10 or 12 years as well. They covered top songs from bands like the Police, Van Halen, Men at Work, Journey, Counting Crows, Lit, Modest Mouse, and The Killers. There were tons of tables and chairs, while close to the stage there was more than enough standing room. Overall, I found the Union Centre Boulevard Bash to be a great event, much better than the similar MidSummer at the Meadows that took place last month. While many of Sunday's attendees were from West Chester, I recommend attending this August event next year if you are from anywhere within a 20 minute radius. Parking is very close although $5, but admission is free.

Brought to you by the same minds of Taste of Cincinnati, Party in the Park, and Oktoberfest...so it…read moreshould be a good time, right? Unfortunately, the now annual Union Center Boulevard Bash (in its 4th year, I think) has yet to stack up to the likes of other local music and food festivals. In the spirit of Taste of Cincinnati, the Bash features food stalls from West Chester's finest (disputable) restaurants. This year, Cold Stone, Jags, Smokey Bones, and The White House Inn, will all make appearances and offer smaller versions of their specialties for visitors to sample at low costs. Entertainment is not up to par at this festival, the year that I went the headliner was Uncle Kracker, this year, it's Craig Morgan. Bad and worse. If Blue Ash can get the likes of Lone Star, Dierks Bentley, and Blake Shelton, why can't West Chester get anyone decent? Admission is free and I suppose if you have nothing else to do, strolling the Bash isn't a bad option. Bud Light is a sponsor so at least you can get a buzz and enjoy the August weather! This year the Bash takes place the weekend of August 8th.