The Perfect Kings Island One Day Itinerary (2025) – US Travel with X

Discovering Hidden Gems Affiliate Link Disclosure

Want to know how to spend the perfect day at Kings Island?

Kings Island is a historic theme park in Mason, Ohio.

It is known for it’s roller coasters and for being featured in an episode of The Brady Bunch.

Due to it’s location, Kings Island is only open in the Summer and on weekends throughout the Fall and Winter for seasonal events.

Kings Island is currently part of the Six Flags/Cedar Fair group of amusement parks, though it was previously a Paramount (the movie studio) amusement park.

Whether you’re visiting with children or just adults, there is plenty to do to fill a whole day!

upward looking view at the base of the Eiffel Tower park icon at Kings Island

Kings Island One Day Itinerary

What you’ll want to prioritize first are the historic and record breaking roller coasters.

Currently, the most popular rides are Orion and Banshee, so I would rope drop one, then go to the other, or save the other for the very end of the day.

After those, you’ll want to do the historic roller coasters like The Beast and The Racer.

These aren’t all directly next to each other, but the park isn’t very big, so it’s fine to go back and forth a bit to prioritize the most important things first.

The rest of the roller coasters include The Bat, Adventure Express, Diamondback, Flight of Fear, Invertigo, and Mystic Timbers.

While you’re here, you have to eat.

What I love about Kings Island is that they feature a lot of the local brands that Cincinnati and Ohio are known for.

So if you’re not a local, plan to eat at Skyline Chili and LaRosa’s Pizzeria.

For dessert, have some Graeter’s Ice Cream or the world famous Blue Ice Cream.

If the weather permits, there are 3 water rides: one is a log flume, one is a raft ride, and the other is a boat ride with a large drop.

With the rest of your day, go on all the Coney Island style rides like The Scrambler, Grand Carousel, Kings Mills Antique Autos, Dodgem, and Shake Rattle n Roll.

A unique activity you can do is go to the top of the Eiffel Tower for the scenic views.

Most nights there is a firework and drone show, so definitely stay to check that out.

Some attractions close during the show, like Orion, but as long as you’re in line before park closing, you will get on at the end of the night when they re-open.

Below I have more details about each attraction, dining location, entertainment options, and seasonal events.

Rides

Now that you have a summary of the must-do attractions, here is a break-down of each ride so you can get a better idea of if you want to take the time to ride it or not.

I’m including any historical significance and any record-breaking significance to the rides where that applies.

I personally prioritize those kinds of attractions when I visit non-local amusement parks.

Roller Coasters

Here are the roller coasters at Kings Island:

Banshee – the world’s longest steel inverted roller coaster, with 7 inversions, and speeds up to 68 mph (52 inch height requirement)

Diamondback – 10 drops, no inversions, speeds up to 80 mph (54 inch height requirement)

Flight of Fear – indoor, total darkness launch coaster, that goes from 0 to 54 mph in 4 seconds (54 inch height requirement)

Invertigo – the only face-to-face inverted roller coaster in the Midwest, speeds up to 55 mph, goes forwards and backwards (54 inch height requirement)

Orion – one of only seven giga coasters in the world (meaning a height or drop of 300-399 feet), Best New Amusement Park Attraction for 2020 in the USA TODAY 10Best.com Readers’ Choice Travel Awards, speeds up to 91 mph on Kings Island’s tallest, fastest and longest steel roller coaster (54 inch height requirement)

Queen City Stunt Coaster – high speed car chase stunt themed family coaster, launches from 0 to 40 mph in 3 seconds, recently updated to a Cincinnati theme (48 inch height requirement)

The Bat – hanging coaster, speeds up to 51 mph (42 inch height requirement)

Wooden Roller Coasters

Pretty much all of the wooden roller coasters at Kings Island have historical significance, except for Mystic Timbers, which is pretty new.

The Beast – longest wooden roller coaster in the world, speeds up to 65 mph, the most famous attraction at Kings Island (48 inch height requirement)

The Racer – two side by side wooden roller coasters that race each other, featured in The Brady Bunch, speeds up to 53 mph (48 inch height requirement)

Adventure Express – 35 mph wooden roller coaster (48 inch height requirement)

Mystic Timbers – Best New Ride in 2017 by Amusement Today, speeds up to 53 mph (48 inch height requirement)

Thrill Rides

There are some other thrill rides at Kings Island that are typical at any other Cedar Fair theme park.

I personally skip all of these, but thrill seekers would obviously love these.

Delirium – a swinging and rotating inverted gondola (52 inch height requirement)

Drop Tower – 315 foot circular drop tower, with speeds up to 67 mph (48 inch height requirement)

Sol Spin – rotating sun disk that goes up to 60 feet high and speeds of 25 mph (48 inch height requirement)

Windseeker – giant swings 30 stories up in the air, that spin at 30 mph (52 inch height requirement)

Family Rides

Now for some more kid friendly rides that the whole family can enjoy together!

Phantom Theater – BRAND NEW in 2026, Kings Island is bringing back an old favorite, dark ride, shooting style game

Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers – kiddie coaster that goes forward and backward (38 inch height requirement)

Surf Dog – sort of a roller coaster that glides back and forth, while rotating (42 inch height requirement)

Woodstock Express – kiddie coaster, originally meant to be the kids version of The Beast (40 inch height requirement)

Woodstock’s Air Rail – hanging kiddie coaster (44 inch height requirement)

Cargo Loco – spinning barrels, like tea cups at Disney (no height requirement, but children must be able to sit on their own, so no infants that need held)

Dodgem – bumper cars (48 inch height requirement)

Grand Carousel – historic carousel with no height requirement

Kings Mills Antique Autos – a CLASSIC Kings Island attraction that had been gone for years and recently returned, driving old Model T’s (no height requirement, but children must be able to sit on their own, so no infants that need held)

Monster – this ride has been down for the past season, allegedly waiting on a part from overseas, with no return date known

Scrambler – just like any other scrambler attraction (36 inch height requirement)

Shake Rattle n Roll – kind of like the Scrambler, but on an elevated tilt (42 inch height requirement)

Viking Fury – swinging ship (40 inch height requirement)

Zephyr – swings (48 inch height requirement)

Water Rides

All the water rides are considered thrill rides, but I feel like they are worth considering on their own.

They are only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, weather permitting.

Charlie Brown’s Rushing River Log Ride – family friendly log flume (36 inch height requirement)

Congo Falls – boat ride with a large drop (46 inch height requirement)

White Water Canyon – water raft ride (46 inch height requirement)

Kiddie Rides

Now for the kiddie rides!

There is an entire Peanuts themed section with all the kid friendly rides.

I personally think this area was at it’s peak during it’s Hanna Barbara themed days and even it’s Nickelodeon Universe themed days.

But I actually spend most of my time these days in this area with my younger nieces & nephews and all the rides are the same, just re-named and re-themed.

There are a ton of rides here, so I’m not going to go into great detail about each one, but in general, there is a kiddie coaster, carousel, swings, bumper cars, race cars, rotating rides like Dumbo at Disney, helicopters, a railroad, an airplane, and a small bouncy drop tower.

Dining

Kings Island does not have any formal, table service restaurants.

Everything is quick service and counter service.

What I love about Kings Island is that they have some of the local brands that Cincinnati and Ohio are most known for.

So if you’re not from the area, those are the foods I would prioritize over typical theme park food.

There are also plenty of food places with your typical chicken fingers, burgers, hotdogs, funnel cakes, and other treats.

But here are the unique places that I recommend:

Skyline Chili – I recommend getting a 4 way (spaghetti, chili, cheese, and onions) and a coney (hotdog with chili and cheese)

LaRosa’s Pizzeria – this comes with 2 slices of pizza and a breadstick

Graeter’s Ice Cream – a local ice cream company

Planet Snoopy Ice Cream – this is where you can get the famous Blue Ice Cream (it’s good with sprinkles too!)

Here are the other dining options that I recommend that are a little better than just the typical theme park foods:

Grain & Grill – my absolute favorite every time I go, I always get the soy glazed beef short ribs with Brussels sprouts and naan bread

Miami River Brewhouse – restaurant quality food that you order at a counter, but they bring the food to you at a table, it’s indoors with tvs

The French Corner – the Muffulettas are so good and they always have special French foods during events and festivals

Tom & Chee – these are loaded grilled cheese sandwiches from a local company and they recently added a pepperoni and grilled cheese sandwich that I love

Coney Bar-B-Que – the mac n cheese here is the best, but as far as barbecue goes, they have pulled pork, rotisserie chicken, and other meats

Enrique’s Cantina – like Chipotle where you go down the line to build your own bowl or burrito, but be warned, they don’t serve any rice that doesn’t have cilantro in it

Entertainment

Kings Island isn’t really known for its entertainment, but they do have a nightly fireworks and drone show that is a tribute to the history of the icons from Kings Island.

There is also a bubble show inside the theater that runs sporadically.

On the main stage at the foot of the Eiffel Tower there are also occasionally shows.

Throughout the Summer, Fall, and Winter, Kings Island does some special events and festivals that each have their own parades and extra entertainment.

Seasonal Events

During the regular Summer operating season, Kings Island has some weekend festivals like Grand Carnivale (Mardi Gras) where they offer special foods and entertainment.

It’s part of your regular admission ticket and the regular park hours.

But I want to share about some more important events that are after the regular operating season.

During the Fall and Winter months, Kings Island opens up on the weekends for Halloween and Christmas events.

My favorite part of these is that the coffee and hot chocolate are included if you have the upgraded drink plan (only ICEE’s and soft drinks are offered in the summer).

Halloween Haunt

Halloween Haunt is a hugely popular time to visit Kings Island on the weekends in the Fall.

Day time is fine for children to visit and there is trick or treating and other Halloween and Fall activities for them to participate in.

Then in the evening, the park transforms to essentially an entire haunted house.

There are several haunted houses that you can actually go into, which is now a paid experience, but there are also scare actors just roaming around the park.

Usually there is quite a bit of fog and strobe light effects used to enhance the experience.

Winterfest

Winterfest is when Kings Island opens up on weekends in November and December where you can go ice skating, see Christmas shows, and experience blue hot chocolate from Graeter’s.

It will likely be insanely cold, with the possibility of snow, so definitely dress warm.

They also have tubing on fake snow and a Christmas parade with fake snow.

Soak City Water Park

Kings Island has a water park attached to it that is open just during the Summer due to the climate.

It’s included with your Kings Island admission and you can easily go back and forth between the two either by train or by walking.

One thing that is super important to know about this water park is that they don’t have any sprinklers on the sidewalks like Disney’s water parks do.

I got 2nd degree burns on the bottom of my feet in the time it took to walk from our locker to the first slide.

I saw a lot of people with flip flops and water shoes that they just leave at the entrance of each slide because the sidewalks are un-walkable if you’re barefoot.

More Of Our Favorite US Amusement Parks

Here are more of our favorite amusement parks around the US!

California

California’s Great America One Day Itinerary (San Jose)
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk One Day Itinerary
Knott’s Berry Farm One Day Itinerary (Buena Park)
Universal Studios Hollywood One Day Itinerary
Disneyland vs California Adventure: Which Park Is Better?

Florida

Disney World Hidden Gems

Michigan

Michigan’s Adventure One Day Itinerary

Missouri

Silver Dollar City (Branson)

Ohio

Cedar Point One Day Itinerary

Tennessee

Dollywood One Day Itinerary

Virginia

Busch Gardens Williamsburg One Day Itinerary

Conclusion: Kings Island One Day Itinerary

Kings Island is an iconic amusement park for roller coaster lovers.

It also has the perk of featuring some of our local foods like Skyline Chili and LaRosa’s Pizzeria.

But most importantly, you have to have blue ice cream while you’re here!

Want to know how to spend the perfect day at Kings Island?

Leave a Comment Cancel reply