Kings Island is a beloved amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio, and they’re celebrating its 50th year anniversary this year in 2022. And we will talk about the top Kings Island rides for kids. My name is Eric Sztanyo from Keller Williams Realty and teamsztanyo.com, where we are helping you find your home and strengthen your family. In this article, we are gonna talk more about living in Cincinnati and all the fun things that you get to do here. If you guys don’t know anything about me, I’m a father of five kids. I have 4 boys and 1 girl ages ranging from 11 9, 6, 4, and two. And this year for Christmas, I bought our kids for the first time Kings Island rides gold passes. And so we’re going and having a ton of fun as a family. And I’m trying to figure out the ways to hack the system and have the best experiences at the park itself. So beyond the top five kids’ rides that I’m gonna share with you, I’ve got three pro tips as a dad that are gonna make your experience at Kings Island rides fantastic!
Let’s get into these top five Kings Island rides. And as you guys know, what we’re looking at specifically is the planet Snoopy area of Kings island rides. So this is kind of the kitty land. It’s been different things in the past. It’s been the Hanna-Barbera land, it’s been the rug rats over the years. But right now it’s all peanuts and Snoopy theme rides. I haven’t been to the park in a number of years and coming back, I am really impressed right now with just the way the park is run, how clean it is, and the employees that are working. I mean, typically when you think of an amusement park, you think of high school kids who like don’t care to be there and it’s poorly run.
Whoever’s managing the park right now is doing a wonderful job. Service is really high. The Park’s really clean. We’re really enjoying our experiences there. Now I will probably make different videos for other rides in the park or reviewing the water park as well. But since I’ve spent quite a bit of time already in Planet Snoopy, this is the first I wanted to make. So let’s just jump right into the top five rides in my opinion, in planet Snoopy.
#5 The Kite Eating Tree
Is the Kite-eating tree. Yes, it’s a very weird name, but this is a great ride. It’s kind of like a mini drop zone, if you know that ride at King’s island, it’s a huge tower with like a donut on it and just a straight free fall. This is very similar to that, except you’re kind of on like bungee cords. So on Kings island website, they have a scale of the thrill level of a ride. This one comes in at three bars and for kids, you only have to be 36 inches tall to ride this ride. And it’s easy for parents to go on the ride with them that’s approachable, even for young kids and you can ride it as an adult with them to give them a little bit of a thrill. So I love this ride. It’s easy to ride with your kids. It’s not too hard on your body as an adult either, which is fun, but it gives kids that experience of looking up and being higher over everything. And then having that drop where you’re getting those tickle bellies and having a good time. This comes in at number five on my list.
#4 The Woodstock Gliders
The Woodstock gliders. Now I’ve gotta say I’ve gotta sentimental spot for the gliders. I remember being a young kid and going to my first kind of amusement park fair type atmosphere and going on a ride very similar to this where you’re basically going around in a circle, you’re in kind of a glider, so to speak, but you have control over the wind, a little bit of steering this big rudder sail. Basically, as you’re flying through the air. I love this one for young kids. Again, it’s approachable for them. And the other reason I like it is they get to feel it. They get to have some control over the ride. It’s not just a ride where you’re sitting there doing nothing. You get to actually move the rudder from side to side and feel like you’re moving through the air. It’s just a really, really fun ride, enjoyable for kids. And you don’t have to be that tall to ride it by yourself as a kid. So if you have a younger, shorter child, you can ride the ride with them and your older child can ride the ride by themselves.
The other thing that’s great about this ride is it’s often not a very large line because there are a lot of different cars, so to speak, to get into the line goes pretty fast. When you’re going to a park, you’re obviously trying to ride as many rides as you can. This one to me, is pretty high on the throw level, enjoyable, not too jerky or anything like that. It’s just fun. And you’re gonna get into it really fast.
All right, now we’re getting to the top three rides in Planet Snoopy, and I’ve gotta say these are all pretty close and they’re all very good rides.
#3 The Flying Ace Aerial Chase Roller Coaster
The Flying ace aerial chase roller coaster. Yes, it’s an actual roller coaster. You have two in the area. You have the Beasty, which is now called the Woodstock express that one’s wooden kind of rattles you around a little bit. This one is a roller coaster where you’re sitting down and the track is above you. So your legs are hanging. It’s a much smoother and really fun ride. And this is probably gonna be your child’s maybe first roller coaster ever. It’s approachable for them. It’s really fun. It’s fast. On the thrill level, It’s a 4 bar thrill level ride. You have to be 46 inches to ride this as a child.
All of these rides in Planet Snoopy are gonna be somewhere between your 3-year-old kid, probably or younger, cuz you can take your 1 and 2 year old and ride even the lower thrill rides up to probably like 6, 7 years old. You might have some kids older than that who wanna ride them for sentimental reasons. But I will say this ride, the flying ace aerial chase, my 6 year old’s like “yeah, I wanna ride that!” Whereas my 4 year old, she’s not quite old enough to, she’s not quite tall enough to, she wants to ride it, but she’s not there yet. So probably you’re looking at like 5, 6, 7 years old as a sweet spot for this ride.
#2 Race for your life – Charlie Brown Log Ride
Number two on my list for favorites at Kings island rides for kids is the Race for your life -Charlie Brown log ride. This is a classic and oldie, but a goodie. And I got a few tips on this. The reason I really like this ride is it’s like you get in this log and there’s no buckle. There’s no like thing that’s coming down. So it feels a little bit wild and dangerous, which I think is great that it brings that excitement factor up for you as a kid, you’re like “Oh my gosh, I can like fall out of this thing.”
And then the whole tube is like a big metal track and it’s a pretty long ride. So once you get in it, you’re having fun, you’re knocking the walls. It makes this big metal clunky sound. It’s really fun to do with your kids. If you have a littler kid, they can sit on your lap. Whereas your older taller kid can sit by himself in the front or the back. However they want it.
This ride is perfect for those hot summer days at Kings island rides cuz you’re gonna get a little bit wet. You’re gonna cool yourself down, but I will say this on those hot days, the line tends to get really, really long. And so I have a few good experiences on this ride that if you can do it when the weather’s a little bit cooler or maybe after a rain or even the first time I took my older boys, this was several years ago now, but we did it as like the last ride of the night and everyone was gone and nobody really wanted to do it. We rode that thing probably like 6, 7, 8 times in a row because there was no line. It kind of lets you out. You just gotta circle back and do it again. So if you can knock it out several times in a row, this has happened to me a few times with this ride. If the weather’s just a little off or if the line is lower, it’s just so much fun. And my kids got off. They’re like “Let’s go do it again!”
And the one year we did that, we did it as the fireworks are going off over the Eiffel tower. So we’re going down the log ride on the big splash, fireworks are going off, just a magical, great, great memory moment.
#1 Surf Dog
And the number one Kings island rides for kids in my opinion is Surf dog. Surf dog is awesome! It’s literally like this giant surfboard slash skateboard that it’s like a mini rollercoaster and you’re on a wave and you go kind of up and down and come back around and wave and it rotates as you go. You can ride this with your kids. It’s super smooth. It’s super fun. There’s a pretty good thrill level. If they’re on the side and they’re looking up, that’s the highest they’ve ever been. They’re looking over to the side, you’re getting that great tickle belly.
It’s just a fantastic ride. I could ride this one over and over again. This one to me stacks up with the rides in the whole park. Especially if you have back issues and you can’t do a lot of the like rough rollercoaster, this one’s just really smooth and you’re gonna get those huge smiles from your kids. It also loads a lot of people on and off at one time. So the line moves quickly. This is my favorite ride for kids at Kings island.
Honorable Mentions
The line is the Launcher.
Really fun ride. Cause you’re laying down in your belly. You’re kind of flying through the air. I like that one.
Bumper cars are a classic.
Kids love it. They don’t know how to drive so they’re probably just gonna spin around in circles, but they love crashing into things so that’s always a fun one
The Boo Blasters On Boo Hill.
Now that is a very, very fun ride. It’s air-conditioned, which is key where you’re kind of riding a ride and you’re shooting these ghosts. But I will say it is dark, like really scary. There’s this character called boosifer, like instead of Lucifer. And there’s an evil-eyed skeleton with red eyes. So it’s a risk. If you take your young kid in there, they may have nightmares afterward. You might like the air conditioning. If you like the scary thing and all that great for me, but it’s not on my top five rides, especially for younger kids.
Tips As A Dad
I wanna give you my top three tips as a dad of five of how to make your day at Kings island. Amazing. This is beyond going on like nights and weekends or after rain, which is that’s a pro tip for sure in terms of getting a lot of rides in at an amusement park, but specifically for you parents, with kids and young children, I wanna give you my top three tips.
#1 Tip is short visit
If you can do it and you’re not traveling here for like an all-day weekend excursion, but you have the gold passes or a season pass to King’s island. Just go in shorter intervals, go in two to three hours. That’s it. That’s all you need to do. Try to find those off times. You don’t need to make a full day of it cuz that’s when everyone breaks down and is tired and whiny. You don’t want to do that. Just give your wife a break or maybe your wife can go and you can take a break, take a couple kids. (I have five kids.) So just don’t get overwhelmed by the kids where it’s impossible. Just go for a little bit at a time and have fun and then leave while you’re on a high note. And then be like that was awesome. We should do it again. Yes. Plan the next trip a little bit down the road.
#2 Tip is cram your kids’ mouths with food before you go!
# 2 tip is to cram your kid’s mouths with food before you go.
I don’t care if they say they’re not hungry, do whatever you can give them a little protein, little peanut butter, some vegetables, something good right before you get into the park. I always pack a snack so that when we drive there, right when we get out of the van, right when we’re heading into the park, I’m like, “Okay, eat this, drink this ” so that they have a full belly. I mean one of the number one things that’s gonna cause your kids to break down. You have an unenjoyable time is they’re hungry, they’re tired. they’re hot, they’re whining. So try to get ahead of that by eating early and often. And then before you feel that hunger, let’s say you’re there for a few hours. Whether you’re buying something in the park or as the cheap parents who, pack things, you guys know who you are. You’re that too, where you got the cooler in the van. You’re gonna walk out of the park, eat another lunch and then go back in, do that too, but make sure your kids’ bellies are full. So they’re not breaking down cuz they’re hungry. All right?
#3 Train on contentment and gratitude
Kings Island or any place that’s like desired and built for pleasure and entertainment and to spoil your kids. As a dad, try to use those opportunities. I actually give a pep talk to my kids before we enter the park and say, “Hey, I’m looking to have a lot of fun. I’m excited. We’re here. I hope you have a ton of fun, but here’s the deal.” And I’m making a deal with them. I make an arrangement that says, if you begin to complain, we’re gonna leave. As long as the kids are being thankful and grateful, we get to keep doing rides. But if we ever we get to have bad attitudes or we cry a lot or we’re not grateful, that’s when we leave. If I hear whining, if I hear complaining, if I hear like, “this line is too long” we’re just gonna go.
But if you are thankful and happy and content and you are enjoying the time here. We’re gonna stay here as long as we can and have a good time. Is it a deal? Make the deal. We shake on it.
I mean, there’s so much stuff, right? There’s like food and sites and rides. And everybody’s got something that they don’t have. And that could be a terrible experience cuz that can be jealousy and coveting and breaking down. Then you leave. you spend all this money for this amazing parking and then you leave frustrated and everyone’s mad at each other. No, no, no. You gotta get in front of that as a parent and say, we’re gonna have a great time and we’re gonna enjoy these rides. I’m not gonna buy you toys. We’re not gonna play arcades. I’m not gonna buy you food. like give them that expectation ahead of time and say, if you’re thankful though, we’re gonna have a great time. We’re gonna ride these rides. We’re gonna go home. We’re gonna come back and do it again if you’re content. So that’s my pro tip number three.
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