Kings Island is more than an amusement park. It's the reason I have my family

Few places give adults the same magic feeling they felt when they were kids.

For me, Kings Island takes me back to 10-year-old David. The distant sound of cheers. The smell of funnel cakes. The rush I feel when riding Diamondback or The Beast.

But the 52-year-old amusement park is more than an adrenaline destination for me.

It's part of my family's story.

My favorite childhood park

I first visited Kings Island when I was about 4 years old. It instantly became one of my favorite places in the world. I made my grandfather ride The Racer with me four times, twice frontward and twice backward. That was when they actually had the backward facing coaster.

My family and I then made the park a regular hangout spot during the summer. We'd spend weekends there. I'd go there with classmates. Friends would take me with their families or vice versa.

It was the anticipation I felt pre-Drop Zone (I refuse to call it Drop Tower). Or the competitive juices that flowed when my friends and I competed in the 3-point shootout. We always wanted to win a jersey but never could.

Those were among the experiences that brought me back.

It also made tough days better.

I was on a Kings Island trip during LeBron James' infamous "Decision" special in 2010. As a big Cleveland Cavaliers fan, I failed in my search for a TV. So I snuck into a bathroom and called my friend, who then put his phone next to his TV's speaker (this was pre-FaceTime).

"I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat," I heard James say, as I huddled in a corner next to a trash can.

I hung up the phone, crushed. But I at least eased the pain with some blue ice cream.

The trip that changed everything

One trip during my freshman year of high school changed my life forever.

My buddies and I went to Kings Island on a Saturday in May. I had a youth group event at my church the day before and learned one of my church friends was also going with her school the same day.

Her name was Macey. We had been friends for a while but never actually spent time together outside of our friend group at church.

She didn't even hang out with her classmates that day, choosing to ride rides with me and my friends instead.

And we had ourselves a time, screaming on Delirium. Eating snacks. She playfully picked on me while on The Beast.

Our friendship started feeling ... different.

My friends said they could tell we liked each other, which hadn't crossed my mind before. I previously "talked" to her best friend (you know, the term us millennials used for pre-dating). She did the same with my cousin.

But we started texting more after that trip. We had more inside jokes, and spent more time with each other over our friends.

Weeks later, we were dating.

Kings Island's special place in my heart

May 14, 2024, will mark 13 years since that trip. May 27 will be the 13th anniversary of when Mace became my girlfriend and our eighth wedding anniversary.

After that day in 2011, we continued visiting Kings Island, reliving that fateful day our lives changed.

My mom used to get us season passes for Christmas every year. When we moved to Cincinnati in 2014, we would just go on random week nights. Or when we just need something to do. One year, we got a season-long meal plan, and I'd just go to the park to grab lunch (I was a broke college kid).

It was our home away from home.

I haven't been back since 2019. COVID-19 messed things up for a couple years, then my wife couldn't go on rides when she was pregnant in 2022 and 2023. We welcomed our first two children those years.

But I still often reflect on those memories.

On the childhood trips with friends. On the random concerts I attended at the park's Timberwolf Amphitheatre. On going there for senior skip day in high school or eating lunch in the Festhaus. Or of all the dips into the wave pool at Soak City.

So whether you're 4 years old going for your first time, or you're taking your kids to your favorite childhood park, I hope you too make magical memories this amusement park season.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Kings Island isn't just an amusement park. It gave me my family