Date:5/28/2024
Destination: Mason, OH
Goal: Kings Island
Distance: 55 Miles
Means of Travel: Driving
Potential Credits: 1
Special Note: Child-Appropriate Blog Entry
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| Image Description: An inclined length of brown roller coaster track holds an empty train of ten coaster cars, each one colorfully painted in a scheme inspired by a Peanuts character. |
Last fall, Kings Island announced that we were getting a new Planet Snoopy revamp for 2024, turning the boring southern half of Planet Snoopy into Camp Snoopy with a new playground, new restaurant, new theming, oh yeah and a new credit. And if we're speaking freely, I was okay with it? I wasn't sure if I was renewing my pass, I barely went last season. But the thoosie bug got the best of me, ultimately I got one, and the next thing I know, there's a new family coaster opening up at my home park and I get to ride it!
2024 was not a good year for innovative new coasters in the States. With a miniature dive coaster looking like the best new ride for this year, we were dealing with a slew of smaller coasters, relocations, and rebuilds of older rides, and a lazy strata refurb that didn't even work, there wasn't much I was excited for to the extent I was looking forward to say, ArieForce One or Copperhead Strike when they opened. But it opened over Memorial Day, well after the start of the season, and I did not want to go wait over an hour in a hot queue line full of screaming children.
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| Image Description: Jarrett, a 30-year-old white man with green eyes and sandy brown hair, flashes a peace sign in the Kings Island parking lot. He wears a purple Iron Gwazi shirt, a teal Hawaiian button-down top unbuttoned over it, a khaki backpack, and a blue Cedar Point Marina hat. In the background, Drop Tower, Eiffel Tower, and Invertigo are visible over the tree line. |
The Tuesday after it opened, I decided to meet my buddy Connor at Kings Island after both of us got off work to snag this credit and ride a few things. The drive down wasn't as smooth as it sometimes is. I'd accidentally bumped the passenger mirror of my car getting something out of it and I had to deal with Dayton drivers with only one mirror, so that was no fun. And then you always have the idiot that has to go ten under the speed limit on a single-lane road, so that was fun. But I managed to make it down there at roughly the time I had communicated it to him, so I'll take that.
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| Image Description: Camp Snoopy plaza, with a large Peanuts flagpole and Snoopy dressed as a scoutmaster at the center. To the right, a brown cabin-like building reads "Pigpen's Mess Hall." In the background, a large building that was once an amphitheater reads "Beagle Scout Acres" on the sign. |
Connor met me at the gate and we headed to Camp Snoopy, not knowing if Soapbox was going to close early. And while it's not immersive by any means, it is cute and well done. The new playground was a huge hit, the theming and new colors are pleasant and cute, and who doesn't love Snoopy??? Like, how do you not???
I have not ridden a Vekoma Junior Boomerang before, there simply wasn't any opportunity, or even a deep desire to, before this season. Then out of the blue, not only does the market I'm in get two (Snoopy's Soapbox Racers and Good Gravy), but then I planned my upcoming SweDen 2024 region trip that features two of them as well. So I've taken a weird interest in this little coaster type, and I was kind of curious to ride it.
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| Image Description: Behind a wood and wire low zone fence, a length of brown coaster track wraps around. Behind it, a spike of the same track rises into the sky nearly vertically. Beside it, a wooden watchtower structure holds a sign for Snoopy's Soapbox Racers. A statue of Peanuts character Franklin Armstrong stands holding a mic as if to provide commentary of a sporting event. |
And Franklin! So glad to see him represented in Planet Snoopy now!
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| Image Description: A covered queue tunnel of wood and wire low zone fences on either side, topped with a wooden roof. Families wait down the corridor, which has a few steps at the end. |
I was dreading the wait, but fortunately, they only had four switchbacks open. Most of the queue is shaded, and they play Peanuts jazz music, so while it might not be themed it's far from a miserable experience. Not necessarily a few trains' wait when you're on a single train coaster type, but not as bad as it could have been. Connor and I were able to use the time to catch up, given I hadn't seen him since last summer. We had a minor breakdown kill twenty minutes, but before we knew it they sent a test run and let riders on.
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| Image Description: A wooden station with a colorful coaster train parked on the platform, with each car themed as a different Peanuts character. The segment of platform on either side of the train has dropped down a few feet. |
It was time to ride! I wanted the front because I wanted to see how the airtime was on the little wiggly hill, but we were assigned the eighth car, Lucy, and I wasn't going to be that miserable thoosie loser to ask for the front and wait on a kiddie coaster. Let's get going!
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What a cute ride! Snoopy's Soapbox Racers is my new #1...in Planet Snoopy. I ended up pleasantly surprised by how engaging this ride was. You aren't just farting around aimlessly, like some of my other favorite family coasters it actually does stuff and provides an actual ride experience.
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So what is that ride experience? Let's break it down! To start things out, the platform floor descends away from either side of the train, which is a nice little happy way to start the ride akin to a B&M floorless or dive coaster or similar. You start pulled backward out of the station, in an experience that feels eerily familiar as a full-sized boomerang looking forward down the drop. Franklin starts announcing the race and it drops you forward and through the station. You hang a hard left, not I305 at all but with similar energy letting you enjoy the speed you just gained. The train then hops over the station in a fun little floater hill, with just enough mild airtime to give you butterflies. It turns right, not unlike the first turn from the station, and then you climb the spike. But after that, this layout is so freaky backwards. Not being able to see where you're going isn't a new feeling to any coaster enthusiast, but on a kiddie coaster it was super fun and different. I was calling back in my head to Expedition Everest's pitch-black backwards tunnel moment with the weak floater in the backward helix. After the weird backwards just-barely-noticeable floater, you barely roll back up the lift spike and are gently lowered into the station.
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| Image Description: An on-ride photo frame outlines Jarrett and Connor's on-ride photo. In the top, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie all concernedly watch a soapbox race in front of camping cabins while sitting on logs, with the Kings Island logo present. In the bottom right, several trees display the Snoopy's Soapbox Racers logo. In the actual photo, Jarrett and Connor sit in the number 3 blue Lucy coaster car. Connor smiles while holding the black lap bar, Jarrett puts his hands up. In the bottom left, the date May 28, 2024 is marked with a copyright logo. |
All in all, I think Kings Island created something pretty successful. This is a coaster that can be part of almost anyone's day at Kings Island. It's tame and mild enough for younger children who are just growing into their coaster legs, yet fun and quirky enough that two grown men can ride it and enjoy it. The restraints are nice and accommodating even for a fat adult like myself, I had no trouble fitting into it as a 5'10" dude that weighs 270 pounds, a stark contrast to any of the other Planet Snoopy coasters. Would I wait 45 minutes and a breakdown for it again? Probably not. But in the coming seasons, as the appeal of a shiny new ride wears off, I could see myself popping into Planet Snoopy to take a spin on this.
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| Image Description: Jarrett, Connor, Grant, Ashley, and two children all lean in on a train bench for a group selfie. |
Because I have such wonderful friends, my buddy Grant and his family were there as well. So Connor and I met up with Grant, his girlfriend Ashley, and their two children and rode Backlot Stunt Coaster and the train.
Afterward, we split and Connor and I went to Brewhouse for dinner. Me trying to cut calories for my upcoming Sweden trip, I got a fish sandwich with no bun and did kind of a portion-controlled fish and chips with tater tots and dipping sauce.
I hadn't ridden Mystic Timbers all season, and the wait was minimal, so we elected to do that. This ride is so fun! The line was nice and short so we did it twice and had a great time! I always love getting the best night ride on Kings Island's best wooden coaster, we were getting tons of speed and tons of airtime and I was reminded of how much I missed this since I last rode it at Winterfest.
On the way out, it began to sprinkle and heat lightning a little, but we got out of the park no problem. I couldn't be out too late, needing to be at work bright and early the next morning.
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| Image Description: A nighttime shot of Camp Snoopy, with Woodstock's Air Rail and other kiddie rides lit up in the dark. A Welcome To Camp Snoopy sign decorated with little yellow Woodstocks lights up to the right of the photo. |
Kings Island finished first with this addition! It brings life to a section of the park that needed it. I always loved the Camp Snoopy of Cedar Point better than our own, so this was nice to see the Peanuts Gang take to summer camp here on the home turf. Am I the target audience? Nope. Will I spend a ton of time here? Probably not. But I'm glad it's here, both as a place to take peoples' kids other than where I am, and just something cute to make me smile at my home park.
I mean, having a new shuttle coaster operating in your home park is better than not? Am I right?
