US Trip: Kings Island

18 years.  That's how long since I last visited Kings Island.  My first ever taste of rollercoasters.  The real ones.  Sila had gone back with her friends (Lil & Vincent) 3 years ago. But if you're counting for the both of us, it's still considered 18 years.

We came so close 4 years ago, but since Sila was pregnant with Yaya, we had to ditch the Kings Island plan altogether.

This was taken when we went to Vin's baseball game in 2008. So close yet so far.

I can't believe that this was half a lifetime ago.

Kings Island, take 2 then.  Even when the idea for the trip was only transpired in February, Sila and I had already laid out plans for Kings Island.  However, 2 weeks before I left for States side, Sila emailed me saying she had a bad fall in the shower so there's a big chance she wouldn't be fit for any rollercoaster rides.  Ouch! Kesian Sila.

Every cloud has a silver lining though, and it rang true on this occasion.  If Sila hadn't gotten injured, the plan was for me and Sila to go to Kings Island together while the kids would stay at home with Vin.  Now, the plan had changed to a family outing.  Yay!

All strapped in on the 'Stow-n-Go' coaster

We are here!!!

All smiles!!!  That's how happy I was

After we had gone through the entrance, we parted ways, with me heading towards the main thrill rides and the rest took the route to 'Planet Snoopy'.  The night before, Sila and I went to check out the Kings Island website and discovered that they had Planet Snoopy, a section dedicated for the little ones.  We were questioning "Would Yaya like it?" to every single ride Planet Snoopy is offering.  There was probably 1 or 2 that we thought she would like, but you'd never know. 

Kings Island's version of the Eiffel Tower

with Yaya

The fountains

I attacked 'Firehawk' from the get go.  I had learnt about it when TLC aired a show on rollercoasters and Firehawk was one of the coasters featured.  And for a good reason too.  It was that awesome!  Before and after the ride, you are on your back with the sun in your face.  The rest of it, you're soaring through the sky.

I snapped this from the TLC show aired in March.

It's never a good sign when you have medical personnel at the entrance.  Someone had allegedly passed out due to the hot weather

Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

A clip of the ride

If you guys are coming to Kings Island (or any other parks), you ought to consider the 'Fast Lane' (or equivalent pass) . A bit pricey, but really worth your money.  You'd skip the entire line!  You could easily have done 2 rides before the people in the queue barely move a foot.

Just next door is the 'Flight of Fear' - an indoor ride and in almost complete darkness.  I would have liked it more if it wasn't for the jerkiness.

Vortex was next.  I have to let this out in the open.  When we were doing one of the loopy-loops, I started seeing black spots.  Probably for 2-3 seconds.  I guess I almost blacked out.  But everything came back to normal when we reached the end of the current loop.  It had never happened to me before.  Then I realized that it was already 3 pm, a good two hours after we arrived.  I haven't had my lunch yet.  When I told this to Sila afterwards, her immediate reply was "Zarin's getting old. Zarin's getting ollllddd".  Hahaha, there's no denying that.  And I could still hear the "chant" still ringing in my ears as I'm typing this :D

The Vortex ride (courtesy of Visitkingsisland.com)

It was time for Diamondback.  One of the rides that Sila was raving about.  I love the seats and the seating arrangement.  At the first look, they didn't look secure at all.  But this is America we're talking about, where safety is the utmost priority.  Boy, I loved it so much that I did it twice.  Awesome!

The entrance

Diamondback (Photo courtesy of visitkingsisland.com)

Snapped this from the monitor.  I should have done this for the other rides as well.

I even had time to pull out my mobile phone while waiting for the other coaster to leave the station

Hahaha.  Nak jugak tu amik gambar :D Kasi can la kan :)  [I put way too much sunblock on my face *lol*]

The last ride in my list is Invertigo.  A ride that goes in reverse midway to return to the station.  This is the first ride that I've been on that has seats that face each other.  There was a couple who were seating diagonally opposite each other, with the guy seating in front of me.  I offered his girlfriend my seat, but she said "I've seen his face too many times".  Something along that line.  Hahaha. They were so funny, picking on each other throughout the ride.

Invertigo (Photo courtesy of visitkingsisland.com)

The Invertigo ride clip

After I was done with my rides, I went to search for the others and saw Yaya riding on Linus' Beetle Bugs, clearly having loads of fun.  I learnt from Vin & Sila that she was well into her 4th ride (if I wasn't not mistaken).  Woah! Go Yaya!  She even had to be coaxed to stop for (late) lunch.

While Sila couldn't ride on the thrill rides, she did, however, accompany Yaya on the mini-drop ride.  As it turned out, Yaya was a little dare devil. So everybody got a chance to ride.  Well, except for Adik.  You'll get your chance soon, Adik :)

The Dare devil in the making. (Photos curik dari album Sila :D)

Hey Adik!

The "Woodstock Whirlybirds" with the Eiffel Tower in the background

Waiting in line for a ride on the "Woodstock Whirlybirds".

That's Yaya (and Vin's hand) - this is from a videoclip that I took

She was given a choice for the last ride of the day.  She chose the carousel.

We finally have a picture with the both of us in it.  Adik is soooooo comel! (Photo courtesy of Sila, obviously)

Vin dengan anak beranak (Vin with his kids).  Hahaha.  Yeah right. (Photo courtesy of Sila)

One last one before we left ( Photo stolen from Sila's album, yet again :) )

All in all, I had a great time.  Sila and Vin even considered getting a yearly pass because Yaya was (and is) in love with the fair (how she calls it).  We have to do it again guys!