Roller Coaster Guide to Kings Island: Every Coaster Ranked
Kings Island in Mason, Ohio runs one of the deepest coaster lineups in the Midwest, anchored by the longest wooden coaster on the planet and a 300 foot class giga. This guide ranks every major coaster in the park and gives you the practical details that matter once you are through the gate: height requirements, where to sit, and when to ride.
1. The Beast
No coaster on earth does what The Beast does. Since 1979 it has sent trains through 7,361 feet of wooded Ohio ravine, a ride so long it needs two lift hills, ending in a double helix tunnel that feels genuinely out of control. Daytime rides are good. Night rides are the best coaster experience in America, full stop.
- Height requirement: 48 inches
- Best seat: back row
- Best time: the last train of the night, no exceptions
2. Orion
A Bolliger and Mabillard giga with a 300-foot first drop and a top speed of 91 mph. The drop is world class and the speed hills float you out of your seat at highway-and-a-half speeds.
- Height requirement: 54 inches
- Best seat: front row for the view, back row for the drop
- Best time: rope drop or the final hour
3. Mystic Timbers
A Great Coasters International woodie packed with 16 airtime hills that never lets off the gas, plus the famous question: what is in the shed? The finale answers it.
- Height requirement: 48 inches
- Best seat: back row
- Best time: first two hours of the day
4. Banshee
The longest inverted coaster in the world at 4,124 feet, with seven inversions and a dive loop that plunges into a ravine. Smooth, forceful, and relentless.
- Height requirement: 52 inches
- Best seat: front row, left side
- Best time: evening, when the crowds shift to Rivertown
5. Diamondback
A 230 foot B&M hyper with classic floater airtime and a splashdown finale. It runs three trains and eats its line all day.
- Height requirement: 54 inches
- Best seat: back row for the whip off the drop
- Best time: anytime, waits stay reasonable
6. Flight of Fear
An indoor LIM launch coaster that fires you into a pitch black spaghetti bowl of track. Disorienting in the best way, and air conditioned.
- Height requirement: 44 inches
- Best seat: front row for the launch
- Best time: midday, when the heat peaks outside
7. The Racer
The 1972 racing woodie credited with launching the second golden age of coasters. Simple out-and-back airtime, doubled.
- Height requirement: 48 inches
- Best seat: back seat of either train
- Best time: anytime, it rarely builds a long line
8. The Bat
An Arrow suspended coaster that swings freely through the trees, one of the last of its kind anywhere.
- Height requirement: 48 inches
- Best seat: back row for the biggest swing
- Best time: midday, often close to a walk-on
9. Adventure Express
A terrain-hugging Arrow mine train with tunnels, theming, and a famously anticlimactic final lift hill. A perfect warm-up ride.
- Height requirement: 44 inches
- Best seat: front half
- Best time: midday filler between the big three
10. Queen City Stunt Coaster
A launched family coaster themed to a car chase, formerly known as Backlot Stunt Coaster, with a helicopter scene and a surprise second launch. More fun than it looks.
- Height requirement: 48 inches
- Best seat: front row
- Best time: early morning or the last hour
Also worth knowing
Camp Snoopy covers families with Woodstock Express, Great Pumpkin Coaster, and Snoopy's Soap Box Racers, a modern family boomerang that is a real first coaster.
First-timers guide order
1. Orion at rope drop 2. Banshee 3. The Bat 4. Adventure Express 5. Flight of Fear at midday 6. The Racer 7. Mystic Timbers late afternoon 8. Diamondback at dusk 9. The Beast on the final train
Enthusiast order
1. Orion, then immediate re-ride if the station is empty 2. Diamondback and Banshee before 11 am 3. Mystic Timbers and a daytime Beast lap around lunch 4. Flight of Fear, The Bat, Racer, Queen City Stunt Coaster through the afternoon 5. Diamondback at sunset 6. The Beast at close, twice if the line allows
Thoosie