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A quick conceptual sketch I did for a restaurant featuring some classic Coney design elements:

Waking up to dust off my profile for just my third post since November. Kings Island in 2018- looking forward to the former Dodgem (& Cuddle Up) Building replacement... with a tasty Coney Island theme of the Soak City Smoke House. Dinosaur's Alive, intriguing concept- stuck around a LOT longer than I thought it would. Replacement for that, I'd love a well-themed X-Base expansion that gives an experience you'll come back for time and time again. Hope that the proverbial "giga" isn't destined for that area. It would just be a larger version of Diamondback- and thus move it towards obsolescence. Unique/Creative experience will trump a "thrill" every time and keep lines coming back.

Waiting in line for 30+ minutes, only to watch a coaster go down for a hour, is way more boring.

Yes, in the form of HARLEY QUINN Crazy Coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom https://www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom/attractions/newfor2018

Island....everyone knows our next coaster is a Giga because it was in the snow! Duh!

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, but thought I'd post it here. Love seeing things like this...

I like how you designed it to look like The Racer entrance and queue house right over the sign.

Maybe one day, Coney will get a GG coaster!

I still want to know how the park will market Diamondback if a giga comes: "The tallest/fastest/longest coaster in the world to feature a splashdown" *FYI did you know Ohio is the state with the most coasters over 200ft?*

If they build a giga I will ride it no matter who builds it but I would prefer a nice blitz

The only Giga I have rode is Millennium Force it was my first intamin coaster and I liked it but I think it's overrated by a lot. I would pick Diamondback over it ANY day, now maverick on the other hand...

So you want constant downtime and safety risks? Okay then

Been there and done that a few times. What really makes them mad is when Dad’s blaster works perfectly.

Come on up to CP. During Mayfly season. Then you will swallow bucket fulls of bugs. jtro223, slightly overstating what can happen on Millie

Looking forward to seeing who the speakers will be.

That is not a bad sketch! The architect in me approves it!

Diamondback? Boring? Nah. LOL. I've swallowed a handful of bugs on that coaster. WGSG, perhaps too easily impressed.

Could you imagine Diamondback Trains on Fury? Wow!

No thanks.

You do already

Looks boring to be honest.

Back to 2018, is this still a thing?

Diamondback, the tallest and fastest coaster in Rivertown!

But that was still 13 years after SOB was built that an inversion was featured on a wooden coaster. There was still a lot of hesitation until RMC came into the picture.

@chugh43 One could argue that Son of Beast paved the way for innovation in the wooden coaster world

Son of Beast wasn't a problem because of it being over 200 feet. The problem was the people who built it didn't even know how to build coasters. They basically rushed to get it done. The Rollercoaster Corporation of America was not good at building coasters. If Son of Beast were to have been built by CCI instead, it probably would be still in operation today and would probably be better than Shivering Timbers. Also, the lift hill structure wouldn't be a wooden structure. It would be like Goliath at SF Great America where it's held up by these massive steel beams.

Here is an idea, Kings Island should have RMC make the first ever "wooden giga" RMC can totally do it! The lift hill structure would probably be like Goliath at Six Flags Great America. It could also take the record as the only inverting giga coaster.

I dont see anything coming ride wise other then maybe a restaurant. With the over haul of Mean Streak, and Mystic opening last year, KI might take a break from rides. I could be wrong. They need a new Cirque show. They have so many out there the park could do.

Do you have to sign a waiver before you watch it?

Son of Beast - The Musical!

This is something that we have been talking about for the last several months. All I can say is stay tuned...

He is the illegitimate child of the Dos Equis Guy.

Backwards Racer

I'd say antique cars since the eagles have made a return. Like I've preached before, we need more grandma and grandpa rides around the park. There aren't that many rides that elderly people can enjoy with their grandchildren aside from the train and a few others.

@chugh43 Was never on the one at KI but I just like them. Good ride the whole family can enjoy even grandparents, (except Ryan who gets extremely anxious after I told him about the SFSTL accident, big mistake), generally a nice breeze, moves the line quickly if operated well, and of course the view is great as well. The tower is cool but is just static. The utility of transportation is somewhat dubious but is a nice break for tired feet.

Actually, question about it @King Ding Dong what was the best part of it...the views you got from being up top or the ability to cross the park from the HB area to Oktoberfest area?

Skyride, no question about it.

It's been said before, but my vote is for the Antique Cars. I like Backlot quite a bit, but it's not something I would have made the centerpiece of the park. I would argue that the cars were a much more family-friendly ride that gave families more opportunity to experience the rest of the park outside the kids' area. And the trees, of course, are dearly missed. (I feel like post-Firehawk Kings Island has been very eager to take out trees without planting replacements, and to me, that's a shame. Parks that blend well with nature just have some extra charm to me that I can't quite describe. It's one of the reasons I prefer Kings Dominion.) Of course, I LOVED Tomb Raider: The Ride, but I honestly don't feel like the park was prepared for its operating costs and complexity when they got it. It was literally a Universal-quality ride dropped into a seasonal park operating on a seasonal park budget. I'd just about kill to experience its early years again, but I don't think you could objectively accuse the park of making a mistake by removing it. Still never not going to miss it, though.

For nostalgia reasons, I miss Phantom Theatre and Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal. Fantastic memories on those two. I think the biggest shame was not doing SOB right. I rode it on it's opening year, and again later without the loop. I was much younger and could handle rougher coasters much better - it was never smooth. I'm with @Bpat1983 that it could have been done better. Edit: Also TR:TR/Crypt. That's such a fantastic show building. Although I love Madame Fatale's, it could be used for something epic, no?

Flying eagles for sure. Son of Beast was just too early for its time...if only RMC was around back then, they could’ve been brought in to remake SoB into something truly awesome...while making the ride smooth and safe.

Loved the Phantom Theater!

Might be showing my age but anyone here remember Marathon Turnpike? My cousin and I absolutely LOVED having the Turnpike as well as "two" different Antique car rides. Oh, the smell those cars emitted, it was wonderful!! Not sure it was the BIGGEST mistake they made in ride removal, but if CF can maintain these cars at "all" of their locations with exception of KI, Carowinds and Knott's, surely there's a way to revive them. Interesting note.....Michigan's Adventure has Be-Bop Blvd which has electrified 1950's cars, so it is possible to make them more efficient. The Hillbilly Jalopies at Carowinds were removed in 1988 by KEC (Kings Entertainment Company), Paramount removed both layouts at KI and I don't believe Knotts ever had an antique car ride but I could be mistaken.

I don't think the antique cars were prohibitively expensive. But I am sure the Eagles were much more fuel efficient in cost per rider/ride. Which is why I am making the argument removing Eagles was a /bigger/ mistake just from a monetary standpoint. Just one way of looking at it. This is why I usually don't bother ranking things tho no one way of looking at it will be the be-all end-all reality.

I've heard several people say that Les Taxis were expensive to operate fuel wise, but how much gasoline do those cars run through in a day? If they had both Lex Taxis and the Ohio Overland Auto Livery running, and let's say they maintained 20 cars on each side, and each car used 5 gallons per day, that 200 gallons of gas per day, and lets say 3.00/gallon. That is 600/day and assuming 100 operating days, the yearly fuel cost would be 60,000.00 annually. Not a terrible number. Of course, my numbers are assumptions, I am sure there are others here who could supply correct information. But if a park like Kentucky Kingdom can run their Tin Lizzies, I am sure KI could do the same since they draw in so many more guests. Kings Dominion still has there's, not as grand as LT/OOAL but they pay their fuel, and if I remember right had 4 ride ops compared to KK's 2. And I could be wrong, but I think many of today's antique car rides have been modified for propane fuel.

I never been on them but I'd have to say The Flying Eagles as well, I walked pass them in 2001, but didn't realize how great a ride it was till years later, and they was taken out. Would have been nice if they was brought back home to KI, and North Carolina was given the new Scooters... The ride that I have been on that I miss the most is the Antique Cars/Les Taxis, never thought they'd ever remove that classic ride. Second would be the Smurf ride, it was a great dark family boat ride!

Obvious answer being the antique cars, but man, this park needs some more dark rides. Action Theater all the way! More traffic in a slower area of the park, fills the need for another dark ride, assuming it would be good capacity-wise, and the facility is still there. Bring it back!

My vote goes for The Eagles with Phantom Theater a close second (of course, I still remember riding Enchanted Voyage too). I agree that the scooters we have now pale in comparison to the original Eagles. The Eagles were by far my favorite non coaster ride because of the truly wild rides you could get. I rode them as a kid on and as I grew up they were still a favorite! They were such an adrenaline rush! As I've said before, it's tough walking past that 3 point challenge knowing what was once there.

I think the Eagles were a bigger mistake, just from a cost/benefit point of view. The 'tiques required a lot more ride ops per rider, not to mention the cost of fuel to operate.

But they had to move them to fit in IJ:ST, duh! /s

The Eagles that KI has now, while nice, pales in comparison to the original set that were at KI. The original set (which is now at Carowinds), had 10 tubs, versus the 8 that are on the one in Planet Snoopy. Not to mention, the ride originally opened at Coney Island in 1940! And it is far better than the three point challenge that now exists on the site the Scooters used to occupy.