OHIO: Kings Island Amusement Park

Record breaking coasters? Tick. Eiffel Tower replica (one third of the size of the original in Paris)? Tick. Awesome funnel cake? Double tick. For part of Joe's 30th birthday celebrations this time two weeks ago we decided a trip to a theme park was in order and so began the start of our road trip.

Kings Island located just north of Cincinnati, Ohio is America's second most visited seasonal amusement park just behind it's sister Cedar Point. It's known for being the home to many world breaking attractions, some of which titles still remain. One of which is the Racer, which during the 1970's often considered to be the attraction that triggered interest back into the roller coaster industry. Like the Racer at Kennywood, PA two cars (unfortunately one was only working on our visit) race alongside each other around the track. While it might be a wooden coaster, it certainly gets your heart racing. 

Speaking of wooden coasters and one of my favorite rides of the day happened to be on The Beast . This coaster is not only the longest wooden coaster in the world, but also the longest of all coasters in America with a grand travel time of around 5 minutes. When it opened back in 1979 The Beast was the longest, tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world, and while it may have had over 45 million riders, it remains a pretty exhilarating ride.

While i'm not the most experienced when it comes to riding coasters, there's plenty to ease you in at Kings Island, I mean there is 14 of them after all. Take the suspended swinging coaster The Bat (2nd and 4th photo), the Backlot Stunt Driver with flames and helicopters (awesome ride), inversions galore upon The Vortex (a rough ride I will admit) to my favorite - Flight of Fear.

Flight of Fear is one of those coasters where if i'd of known what was going to happen, I probably would never have considered riding it. A launch start, track going everywhere - rolls, twists, corkscrews and breaking, and in the dark. No thanks. But my word, it gets your blood pumping. After that ride, I think I really did earn that funnel cake with huge spoonful of strawberries - delicious!

Are you a roller coaster lover? What's your favorite theme-park to visit?

View Larger Map  |  Get Directions  |  View Bird's Eye

Where to find Kings Island?

6300 Kings Island Dr,

Mason, Ohio, 45040

PS. If you want a tip - download the free Kings Island app, not only will you get wait times for the rides, maps and extra info, but they have some money off coupons for things inside the park.

LIFE: 30 Days Wild #3

So here rolls out the final part of the #30DaysWild challenge. This last part actually sees me getting out of the burbs and travelling through the countryside between some of America's big cities which made a nice change. It's always a welcome sight seeing cows and horses when you haven't seen them for months on end. The countryside smell, not so much - I'm a proper townie these days can't you tell?!

Day 21 // stuck inside a hospital for hours on end made me welcome the sight of a fluffy cloud afterwards

Day 22 // poppy appeared in my wild patch

Day 23 // my little Eastern Tiger Swallowtail has been in and out of my garden for the last month or so, always too fluttery for a picture but this time she settled long enough for a quick snap!

Day 24 // Wednesday saw us driving to Kings Island, and in the rather warm midday Ohio heat, the shade from the old trees was much appreciated between rides.

Day 25 // lusting over this vertical garden at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens.

Day 26 // Taking Interstate 71 across Ohio to Pennsylvania we had a quick stop at a rest stop right in the middle of the countryside. Hay bails and all.

Day 27 // Totally missed this day - crazed dog and a kids party to blame.

Day 28 // Pretty blue skies, fluffy clouds and green fields along the Ohio Turnpike.

Day 29 // First sweet peas of the year picked, fresh from the garden.

Day 30 // morning working in the veg patch and picking some fruit & veg fresh from the garden

Missing only one day on my first of such photograph challenge I think was pretty good. #30DaysWild has certainly made me more aware of what nature is around me, that you don't necessarily have to be out in the wild per say to enjoy it.  Which in turn has made me even more grateful for my garden and having a park (even if it's more of a playground) close by. And even if you're just travelling through the countryside, it's nice to see and appreciate it. It's encouraged me to get learning more about the wild flowers, the birds, the butterflies that pass by, being able to put names to things is always an advantage in my book.

If you missed the first two parts to #30DaysWild you can find them here and here.