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I have to say I wasn't as happy with the quality of Kings Dominion's 50th show, but I'm willing to believe that part of the issue they had this year was the fact that they haven't done many of this kind of show recently. I'm also very used to Kings Island's higher quality productions. The song from Fun, Fireworks, and Fifty was also much better than "Right Here, Right Now" IMO. Yes, it was a longer song, but it used the "Wonderful World of Fun" tagline from the original 1971-ish billboards and I really enjoyed that. Here's what I think a full-size Kings Dominion 50th Anniversary could have looked like. It has large-scale KI 50 style things mixed in with some real things that have happened at Kings Dominion for 2025. Re-use more of the 50th decorations from Kings Island, including the golden spirals and entrance I.D. sign. Replace the "Kings Island" with "Kings Dominion" on the sign. Keep the Eiffel Tower and "50". "50 Years of Fun Street Party": a full-size parade with multiple stops. Re-uses most of the floats and items from the KI version. "Volcano: The Blast Musical": a new show debuting in the Kings Dominion Theater. A comedic musical revue, similar to "Phantom Theater Encore" at Kings Island. Follows a group as they experience the 'storyline' of Volcano: The Blast Coaster with other connections to Jungle Xpedition. "Club KD": A decades show with better production value than it's 2025 KD counterpart. Features a new song written just for this celebration. Other songs include those seen and heard at Kings Dominion since 1975. Moments from the Spring, Summer, Halloween, and holiday seasons are included throughout. "Light the Night": a new 10 PM light show to end each night of the main celebration. This show takes advantage of the park's foliage without requiring vast sightlines like Kings Island has. Uses new lights all over International Street instead of fireworks. Rapterra, a new B&M launched wing coaster. Replacement for Volcano: The Blast Coaster. Panther 305, a retheme for the giga coaster F.K.A. Intimidator 305. Literally just Pantherian but with a better name. Specialty 50th food offerings available everywhere. A full Carousel restoration, including a complete rebuild of its carousel organ. On my visit I found out that this beautiful 1917 PTC carousel was in desperate need of a restoration and repaint. I also found out that it is apparently not called the "Grand Carousel". Maybe it could be "Grand" if it looked to be in better condition. A full Racer 75 re-paint. Maybe it could also include a re-working of the queue line and a new entrance building. I feel like Kings Island got this amount of work (minus Rapterra, obviously), and it would have been nice to see KD get even half of these much-needed investments.

I really enjoyed the in-house live productions in the Kings Island Theater and hope they can make a comeback soon enough! It would also be nice to have a smaller show in there for the Halloween season, like Wake the Dead! at Carowinds, Cedar Point, and now Great America as well. The venue itself is really nice, which is why I'm surprised it doesn't see more use. Kings Island could use more shows that last the entire season, and this is the place to have them. I had an idea that they could put on a show, called Coney Celebrations, that would celebrate the history of the now-closed Coney Island in Cincinnati. It could be a simple show or something more complex, but as a historical show half of the work is already done, Whoever puts it together would just need to figure out what parts to include and how to make it flow.

Does anyone know what building the Kings Island Theater (formerly the American Heritage Music Hall and The Paramount Theater) might have been designed to resemble? For the longest time I thought it might have just been one of the somewhat generic American styles, but now I'm wondering if it was designed to look like a building at Coney Island. There's one next to the Moonlite Gardens building that has the same general characteristics and made me wonder. They both have the brick detail with a black shingle Mansard-ish roof and a cupola clock tower on top in the center. Much appreciation for any answers you all can provide!

If the timing of this ride closure is so they can start working then I'd hope it would be done by Opening Day. I think the current setup of the ride also lends itself better to being Phantom Theater or another spooky dark ride. If it becomes a Justice League dark ride then it will need a lot of work beyond just adding the screens and reprofiling the castle (which I assume is what would happen with a conversion to PT). For a company trying to save money, it may be easier to convert Boo Blasters into a new Phantom Theater. Kings Island may be more of a regional park than a destination park, but I think it deserves something better than a ride most of the big Legacy Six Flags parks got years ago.

One thing Id thought id point out is when Scooby Doo and the mystery of the spooky swamp closed at SF: St Louis on 9-14-14 and the new Justice League ride opened the following June, I do not want a justice league ride and would much prefer a phantom theater ride even with the gun element but just saying it can be done quickly, I rode Boo Blasters yesterday and it’s really sad the state it’s in, only one of the three guns worked and half of the ride props where off or non functional,I will miss this ride but I’m ready for a change

Never rode Son of Beast regrettably, had the chance but was too scared and when I wasn’t scared anymore it was headed the way of the Dino

Imagine sleeping in a beach house esque bungalow in Soak City? I’m thinking something like this: People are like “Oh, who’s that? Why is there a house there?” And then it’s like “Oh that? That’s Steve’s House. Yeah he lives in Soak City, he’s been here since the park opened actually. Dude can totally crush some wings from the island smokehouse. You can usually catch him soaking in the rays on the shores of Breakers Bay, Masons own ocean, or just vibing out on the Splash River letting the tide take him where he needs to go.”

I wonder if, as the Fall events season rolls around, we'll see new maps come out for the Legacy Six Flags parks. This is about the time (also during Winterfest) that the newer maps started to make their way out at the Legacy Cedar Fair parks. They could save the rollout for 2026 and reuse the 2025 maps for Fall/Winterfest, but some like the SFOT and Magic Mountain maps, haven't even been updated from 2024's versions. The new seasons combined with the past-due release of the new park websites and mobile app(s) makes me wonder if anything else will change in the coming month. The Fright Fest event website looks terrible and is as if it were thrown together because the planned replacement wasn't ready. I'm hoping we'll see everything new begin to be released with the 2026 announcements that may be coming throughout September.

I’d venture that “golden age” actually culminated in 22 with the anniversary celebration. We thought it was the beginning of a “new era” at KI with more entertainment, a focus on park history, better food, and a quality experience. Sadly instead of it being a new chapter, it seems like now it was the end of the book.

Wow so many years later its funny how some people at the time were happy that Phantom Theater left Kings Island and nowadays most everyone is eagerly waiting for its return.

I did it at KI! It was as surreal as you can imagine setting up a tent as the park closed, riding beast late at night, going to bed to the sounds of the park after close, and then waking up in an amusement park in the morning.

This was the period of time were Cedar Fair was just slapping new trail rides in the parks without much theming. The “Golden” period of Cedar Fair ownership was after that around 2106-2017 and ended in 2020

Six Flags Over Texas will reveal their 2026 addition on September 25th. I think the giga dive will have a bull theme, since the teaser the park released had a Running of the Bulls vibe. They're also been completing a lot of improvements around SFOT including a renovation of their Palace Theater. I've been watching some of the progress that SFOT Source has been showing and the transformation has been super stunning to say the least. The two slides that will be removed at Fiesta Texas do look like they'd be a good spot for a hyper coaster. They also announced the removal of Bubba's Cafe / Bubba's Burgers which is on the other side of Dr. Diabolical Cliffhanger, so I wonder what could be going there. Maybe another VIP Lounge or a new restaurant altogether. Schlitterbahn New Braunfels new attraction teaser was interesting since it only showed underwater bubbles and said something was coming. I wonder if everything else will be announced in September? Or maybe it will be a more staggered rollout of announcements. Hopefully we'll also see some good and fun announcement signage to build up hype throughout the Fall and Holiday seasons.

Well that would be a safety violation on the maintineance crew as they can't cycle the train if there's someone in the ride area lol

I’d love to tie a hammock between 2 supports on The Beast. Perhaps near the bottom of the double helix. Imagine having a lovely nights sleep, then waking up to the roar and shake of the first train of the morning!

Like I said, I was only 6/7 years old during the 2009 season, but does anyone remember if there were rumors during the summer of Nick going away in favor of Peanuts and if a lot of people doubted it bc they just redid the Nick area 3 years prior? Just wondering as with the talk surrounding the Peanuts IP in recent weeks, it makes me wonder if history may be about to repeat itself nearly 2 decades later. In fact, I remember finding out that Nick was being changed to Snoopy that Winter (2010). I think it was during our "annual" New Years staycation that we would take for a few years at the Comfort Suites in Kings Mills and our room had a view of the park which I still have photos from that so I'll share a few. Anyways I had no idea what Snoopy was at the time, but I knew of Charlie Brown as we would watch the specials at home and in school during Library. I didn't really know Snoopy and Charlie Brown were the same thing until getting to the park that Summer and seeing all the changes to kiddie land.

I was fortunate enough (well, more like unfortunate) to get a ride on Son of Beast in 2008. Let's just say the experience was so bad, that it made me hate wooden coasters with a passion and I used to refuse riding any of them until 2013 or so. As for 2009, I was only 12 years old at the time and don't really have the most vivid of memories from that time period (other than being traumatized by Son of Beast the year prior), but I'll try my best. Similar to how it is today, the park still had a younger demographic of teenagers back then too, but without any chaperone policies in-place. Although there were a lot less smartphones, many still carried flip phones and iPods, so loose articles were still a major concern. Banshee, Mystic Timbers and Orion didn't exist yet, so the most popular coasters in the park were usually considered to be Diamondback, Beast and Flight of Fear. Diamondback was brand new with the red and yellow paint scheme before that faded shortly afterwards. Since Fast Lane wasn't implemented in Cedar Fair parks yet, Diamondback's Fast Lane line was originally used for single riders. Nickelodeon was also big at the park as well, their shows had a major presence in the park, not just with the kids area. It's rather hard to believe that only a year after that, Nickelodeon was completely scrubbed in favor of Peanuts. Several currently defunct rides like Son of Beast, Vortex, Firehawk, The Crypt, Thunder Alley, etc. still operated at the park. Son of Beast closed for good partway into the 2009 season, though that wasn't known at the time and many people were still optimistic that the ride could be "fixed" and reopen by the following season.

I have very vague memories of that summer as I was 6 (turned 7 that summer) and finished 1st grade. I was just about 48" that year and I remember bc the measuring was off at some rides. For example: I was measured with the height stick at Zephyr and was able to ride and then at Adventure Express in the station I was measured on the height scale things they had back then and was just a hare too short. I then got better shoes and measured tall enough for the 48" rides (I would not recommend doing that as ride ops do have the right to ask to remove shoes if they suspect the shoes were being tampered with). All that year I was terrified to ride bigger 48" rides like Beast, Racer, Vortex (RIP), Flight Deck (The Bat), and Drop Tower. I did end up on Adventure Express though and I remember hating it with a passion lol. I was in the process of growing out of my fear of coasters which took several years. During those days I would get dragged onto the Fairly Odd Coaster (now Woodstock Express) kicking and screaming bc I didn't like the "big" drop lol. I remember my Dad, my next door neighbor (who was a couple years older than me), and her Dad going on Diamondback and me staying behind bc I was too short and I remember thinking that was the biggest and coolest coaster ever lol. I remember going by the park while it was being built and seeing the big red crane and thinking that was the ride lol. SOB I have zero memory of it operating as nobody in my family or group would ride it as I was always told how rough it was lol. In fact, my main memories of SOB is just seeing it sit there SBNO when going back to ride Flight Deck from 2010-2012.

It was an exciting time for the park. Diamondback was and remains the most significant ride added to the park since The Beast. You have to consider that nothing of that scale had been built since S.O.B.—which in all honestly was kind of a dud—and probably Flight of Fear before that. Regardless, it was kind of cool to have two hypercoasters in the park at least for those brief couple months. The food prices were expensive but more affordable than today if you knew what you were doing. I think two slices of LaRosa's was about $5.99 or $9 in today's money. Now that would be $16.29 (with two breadsticks) which is absurd. When folks talk about Kings Island's value being higher than in the past that's really only true when speaking specifically about the gate price. The food is more expensive and the expected number of rides is fewer. The park had a larger calendar Summer/Fall in those days and there were more days during the week where someone could ride everything in just a few hours. There was much more emphasis on the kids' area in those days and the Nickelodeon IP was still much more relevant than today's peanuts. The kids area got much more attention and investment in those days and it was updated more often. There has been good and bad since then, but anyone who tells you that the park is much better now is probably not seeing the full picture. Halloween Haunt was a lot better then than it is today and it was of course all inclusive. Today's park does offer Winterfest which is a nice thing not offered in 2009. In short: Today: Slightly better rides, more affordable pass, Winterfest. 2009: More expansive Summer and Fall calendar, Fresher Kids' Area, more rides per visit, more affordable food, better Haunt, better entertainment and special events (thanks Don!).

I remember 2009, they were still doing the Scooby-Doo meet and greets and Nickelodeon was still big in the kids area. All the Paramount names had already been changed the previous year. I was in middle school at the time so I had been very oblivious to the fact that everything Paramount had been removed at that point. Oddly enough SpongeBob 3D was still in Action Theater in 2010, if anybody remembers that. I'm wondering if 2026 will be just like 2010 with all the rumors of Looney Tunes replacing Peanuts as well as the new ride replacing Boo Blasters.

2009 was a significant year for a lot of reasons- We just got Diamondback, Firehawk was in its second season, we still had SOB as well as Nick Universe and Scooby Doo. A year later, SOB was SBNO, Nick left in favor of Planet Snoopy, and Scooby Doo was replaced with Boo Blasters. As someone who wasn’t old enough to really grasp early CF KI was- I want to ask: What was 2009 like?

The only coaster that existed while I've been alive and never rode was Ghoster Coaster due to it looking lame and always having a horrendously long line for what it was. After that just Sling Shot. Flight Commander is on that list, but I have 0 memory of it despite walking down Coney Mall many times for my dad to ride Vortex before I was of that height. I also never went on the tallest slide back when the mat racers were the 4 speed slides. There also may be a film or 2 I didn't see with the motion seats.

Went to IOA, Studios, and Epic last week. 1 day at Studios, 2 days at Epic, and 3 days at IOA. It was a very fun time and I enjoyed being back in Studios and Islands. Epic was fun, but we faced A LOT of issues with breakdowns, especially the second day at Epic. Neither shows worked the first day, and Le Cirque Arcanus got cancelled when we were in it the second day. We got lucky with Ministry and it didn't breakdown while we were in line. In a way, I feel like Epic Universe is very hyped and maybe potentially doesn't meet the hype. It was good, just wasn't as great as I originally thought. They definitely need more rides, like at least 7 more things to be complete. Stardust Racers was AMAZING, and I think it's better than Velocicoaster! Monsters was a little underwhelming at first. It was kinda confusing without any real storyline. Just a bunch of animatronics in a big building. But as I rode it more, I liked it more. And because the capacity is good because there are so many cars, it's clear when they try to hide something because they put you on your back and have you look at the ceiling. I know I sound a little negative toward Epic, but it really was great! It just needs more things to spread people out. That's just my brief report, if you have more questions feel free to ask!

I'm proud to say I've ridden every ride minus the rides I can't get on in snoopy land. But yes, I've done everything My last ride I needed was Monster and I got that last year

I never rode King Cobra. Had every opportunity, but never did. As for current, still haven't ridden Sol Spin. I've been in line for it twice, but loading was very slow and it's just not the ride I feel like waiting for.