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How would you choose to handle the queue line as the hill slopes further down toward the ravine? Keep it flat with landfill and overhangs, or put it on tiers with stairs like Diamondback and The Bat? A queue like The Beast's could also be considered "tiered" if you consider all 3-4 parts of it (including the ramp) as an individual "tier". Are you thinking the ravine would also host an actual water feature at its lowest points? I like the idea of adding an artificial creek (maybe it could even flow from a new lake under The Beast) if they can make it look better than Diamondback's splashdown. While it does its job well, the foliage around it is so sparse and it looks more like a bare concrete basin than a "natural" water feature. Does anyone have a photo of Vortex's lower queue that was allegedly under the station? I thought someone shared one a while ago, but can't remember the who or the where.

Looking forward to riding this when I visit in 2026!

At Six Flags Over Georgia they have character meet & greets for the Monster Mansion dark ride, so fingers crossed we get one for Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare as well! 🤞

I hope they do expand the path in that area when they do build a new coaster. Ever since WindSeeker was put in, it created a major bottleneck during those final years of Vortex.

I created my own station for the ride as well. The entire queue line is indoors, The Double sided lockers are located at the 2nd floor, at the right. The queue ends to the dual sided lockers that leads to the waiting area for a pre show.

Thank you. From recollection of around 2018 and prior I never recall seeing the arches barricaded at KI. To me it looks trashy like some of the legacy six flags parks Ive been to. I agree that Canada has the most pleasing appearance of the three, but that bridge is a pain to cross. KD's version is surpassed by ours with our refined look with the decorative white pilasters vs KD's fence. However, this is subjective.

I have been wondering how a queue could work for a Vortex replacement and I mocked up a sorta idea of a queue line with a double sided locker system and metal detectors (like Siren's Curse). The station of the coaster would be higher than usual allowing for a bunch of open space underneath the station that would be used for the double sided lockers, the exit gift shop, on ride photo booth, and a merged queue that would also feature a "pre-show" for the ride. The coaster model I have is a modern Vekoma launch.

My best guess is that the open arch is to allow light and a view out on the fountain from the control room, while the closed arch(es) are where the water pump mechanism(s) live and don't need the light or the view. The 2011 Google Street View capture actually shows all three arches being open. You can see the evolution between the three Royal Fountains below. The aforementioned 2011 Google Street View capture from Kings Island. The 2015 capture from Kings Dominion. You can see how their fountain pump house was different than Kings Island's as Taft and their park designers refined International Street for their second park. Lastly, here's the same view from Canada's Wonderland. Their pump house is located under the bridge in front of Wonder Mountain and (I believe) services both the Royal Fountain and the pools at the bottom of Wonder Mountain. I don't know where the access door is for this fountain, but it is certainly the grandest of the three versions of International Street.

I don't know why, but when I saw this picture I thought of Kitty Claws at Holiday World 😂

Thinking a meet and greet with Puppet Larry from the Encore show is a no brainer.

I photoshopped some nonsense after thinking of meet and greet characters. Do y'all think we could see an Arpeggio meet and greet like this (Or Maestro or any other PT ghouls for that matter)?

If anyone has 20 minutes to spare (or speed of the video 2x like I always do) it’s worth it:

I couldn't find a specific topic so I started this. Admin, if there is one, please merge. I've often wondered: when you look at The Royal Fountain from the entry plaza, you can see the pumphouse below The Royal Bandstand. There are three arches facing the fountain, but only one is open, on the right. Do the other arches open? Is it functional or decorative? If decorative, why not open all three?

Holiday World’s Firecracker is more than a spinner—it’s a revived Calypso with roots at Americana near Cincinnati. A true time capsule ride. https://themeparksbydon.com/holiday-world-firecracker-calypso-ride-history/

Another change resulting from this merger: all of the Dining Plans and Drink Plans have been updated! It looks like they're mostly the same with new logos, but this is another step towards Six Flags actually looking like one company instead of two stacked in a trenchcoat.

Does anyone have some good photos of various Fun & Safety Guides from different parks? I keep seeing the KECO and Paramount era ones in Kings Island home videos and really want to know what those (and others) look like up close!

I'd think the "dropped objects" and slick floor issues might be fixed with some transparent panels or nets (they're more likely to install nets) attached to the top of the deck, would they not? If it works well enough over the pathway under Diamondback then I'd think they could also work for the Eiffel Tower. There's probably also a solution for blocking the walls, but I think they'd be fine as is to start back out. The elevator access is by far the hardest to fix, but it's not impossible to complete. I feel like it could be part of a park improvements year where they improve the park with little things instead of one major addition. While both elevators could probably be retrofitted to access the 50' deck, I think the park would only choose to install it for one of them. The cafe idea would be nice, but I don't think it would work outside of special occasions since the most they could feasibly put up there is a snack cart and some tables. Maybe bump that Sunrise Tour price up a little and include "Breakfast on the Eiffel Tower's 50' Observation Deck" as a perk. Does anyone know what the observation decks on the Oil Derrick at Six Flags Over Texas are like? It's also an Intamin observation tower, so I'm curious as to if it has 3 decks as well or just 1 or 2 at the top.

I came up with a mausoleum concept for Banshee's queue. It goes over the main part of the queue that is usually first to open up when the line gets longer

Bringing this topic back for those of us who are still on the larger side of life The variation of height and weight are definitely a factor in calculating how well someone will fit into a ride seat. For example, one of my issues is with how some of the B&M seats pinch my legs on the sides. I think the seat size limit for a lot of coasters is around 275-300 lbs depending on how you carry your weight (speaking from what I've seen and experienced). Some RMC seats and other seats like those on Flight of Fear are even more restrictive. Fat Tested Travel on YouTube completed a walkthrough of Kings Island this past year. He goes around to all kinds of parks to squeeze into ride seats so us larger folks will have a better gauge of what we can do. IIRC he's about 375 lbs and was somewhere near the limit of riding/not riding. The most forgiving coasters were The Bat and Snoopy's Soapbox Racers, and maybe also Woodstock Express. Those Arrow restraints seem to be really good for fitting into since he also did Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood. I'd love to see more test seats put in throughout parks like Kings Island, especially for the wood coasters. It would be harder to accomplish but could improve guest experience by assuaging some fears about fitting into a seat.

Please, I’d love to be able to see what things look like at 50ft

I wonder if there's something Kings Island could do to revitalize that little section of the area (specifically from the DB Trading Post over to the log flume) outside of just putting up a sign that says "Rivertown". A sign would be nice, but it wouldn't help in the way the area needs. It's a bit of a shame that the seating around the Snake Pit/Tom + Chee booth was expanded into the back of that planter only for it all to become a bar that doesn't need any seating. The loss of that foliage isn't too bad, but there's still something off about it. I think it would do just fine as a dining location again, though. That way the tables might actually serve a purpose again.

I mean KD invited Clint Novak as well as Brian Sterowski who are both highly regarded KD influencers and aren't hesitant to criticize the park when things aren't great.

They should do this at KI but wouldn’t invite some who are among the bigger influencers and most trusted voices with fans. And as a result, the relationship between the park and these influencers would remain the same: not the best.

Apparently a meeting took place at Kings Dominion with the new CEO John Reilly with multiple KD media influencers where the discussion was about the future of the park. I really hope we see one of these at Kings Island as its no secret that the relationship between the park and some of the bigger media influencers haven't been the best lately.

I was going to do a wait and see and renew my Gold Passes in April in case of any bait-n-switch. But for me, it was a no-brainer when we got all parks and my renewal was only $99. Just too good to pass up. I guess they would get us if they remove or restrict Halloween Haunt (more), Winterfest, or even Soak City. But even if I only had park admission and free parking, $99 is a good value. Just don't anymore up-charges or removals KI.