Kings Island is the park I grew up with as a kid. I didn't make it to Disney World until I was 18, so this was the epitome of parks for me until that time. It's a great park for families with their large, newly rededicated children's area. (Used to be Hanna Barbera Land, now Nickelodeon Universe. Frankly, I was disappointed when they took out all the old Hanna Barbera characters like Scooby, The Flintstones and The Jetsons, not to mention Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and the others.) The rest of the park can be fun for children too, so don't just spend the whole day with SpongeBob and Dora the Explorer. Check out the Coney Mall area, it's basically a midway with games and rides, but a whole lot cleaner than what you might think of as a typical midway at, say, a fair. As for food, if you like Cincinnati style chili (a thin, almost runny chili served over spaghetti with lot's of cheddar cheese on top and if you like, hot sauce) try the Skyline Chili. (By the way, this is a chain of restaurants, so you can get this outside the park as well. Or try Gold Star chili if you are interested, it's the same type of chili.) I believe they also still have the Montgomery Inn restaurant where you can get some good barbecue ribs. In Rivertown try the pizza place (you can also get pizza on International Street near the entrance to the park.) When I was a kid, I thought it was the best pizza in the world, but either my tastes or the pizza have changed a bit. I still like it, but it's not the best ever. Anyway, although Kings Island has changed tremendously from when I first starting going, I still enjoy myself every time. The first time I rode a monorail wasn't at WDW, it was at Kings Island. They used to have a monorail that traveled through a wild animal safari. It cost an extra $1 to ride it, but it was air conditioned and a fairly long ride. But that's gone now, in it's place are a few rollercoasters, Top Gun and Son of Beast. (By the way, unless you're a rollercoaster fanatic, steer clear of Son of Beast. It's likely to give you back pains for the rest of the week.)
A bit of trivia: Did you know that an episode of The Brady Bunch was filmed at Kings Island, shorly after the park opened? (around 1972) I think the guy who played Greg even mentions the episode in his book, Growing Up Brady. He referred to Kings Island as "A poor man's
Disneyland." But then, nothing can really be compared to Disney parks.
. They painted everything giving the whole area a "new" feel. We try to get there early for the kiddie area and then go to the water park in the early afternoon (a little crowded but warmer with a little one) and back to the kiddie area in the evening. I can't say much about the hotels in the area, we drive down and home the same day, but there are a lot, there website has many of them listed.
Great kiddie area! 
Awesome coasters too if you and hubby are up for some thrills. We usually stay at the Holiday Inn Express nearby and we enjoy it. Have a great time on your trip! 
We are staying at a residential suite hotel about 15 minutes away. It sleeps 6 and has a complete kitchen. We are paying $305 for 2 nights and 2 two day adult tickets and an additional $105 for the 3rd night. Kids over 7 are considered adults (and we thought Disney was bad) and i don't know if you can (or need to) make reservations for meals. I had to cancel our WDW trip this year so this is it. I am kindof stressing over things, because i can't plan like I do for Disney!
