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Well, they are working today.

Close second and a tough call but freedom from those plastic cups is glorious.

Hands down the most important event of the decade was the paper cup option for the drink plan.

It's really nice now with Winterfest, the off-season can be much shorter now!

Funny enough, even after all of these years of riding and getting on the biggest baddest of what the human imagination can currently conceive realistically, I find FoF to be one of those rare experiences where no matter how many times I’ve ridden it, I still find myself brimmed with excitement when lining up for it. There is something magical about walking up into that UFO and watching those classic space themed trains take off into the darkness. The sound of the LIMs will be imprinted in my mind for as long as I live. There simply aren’t any other rides I can think of that give me the same feeling of excitement and. FoF is a unique gem for that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Was thinking the Freestyle in Rivertown would of been it, but I guess I was wrong.

My bet is on some new restaurant or food stand. On the recent Notice of Commencement, there were some food companies listed. It would also make sense to put a new restaurant in Area 72 considering they are removing the current food stand that was in X-Base.

Besides restrooms in this area, what do you think will be put here? Larger plaza maybe?

When you have a dream about riding Banshee with VortexBFForever. It was an amazing dream! You know it is also the off season when you can’t wait to be back at Kings Island! I really can’t wait to try Drop Tower for the first time in 2020! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm really looking forward to seeing Orion constructed to completion! Glad to have the fully focused cam back. (Vortex is done, take the pity party over to the other thread).

Sorry, we want a restaurant that is open more than closed.

I couldn't agree more that Kings Island in 2010 is drastically different from Kings Island in 2020. As nostalgic as I am for the Paramount's Kings Island of my childhood, I love the direction the park has taken this decade, especially since 2014. Cirque, theming and attention to details in theming, Haunt's houses becoming higher quality, Carnivale, Banshee, Mystic Timbers, Orion... It's been a good decade for the park. I don't feel like it's living in the shadow of the de-Paramounting like it did 10 years ago. It's also been such an interesting decade in the amusement industry, period. Ten years ago, enthusiasts mostly didn't know who RMC was--they were just very curious to see this new red steel track design being installed on Texas Giant. Wooden coasters didn't do inversions. Six Flags went from bankruptcy recovery to new rides at every park every year. The Kinzel era of Cedar Fair mercifully ended and the Ouimet/Zimmerman eras began. China and the UAE exploded with parks. We had *zero* operating Harry Potter areas at Universal parks and *two* operating giga coasters in the world this time ten years ago. I'm excited to see where the next decade goes.

The 2010s were probably one of the best decades ever for Kings Island. The Kings Island of 2010 vs. the Kings Island of 2019 are two completely different parks, and I mean that in a good way. Mystic Timbers, Banshee, the International Street renovation, and everything in between this decade has mostly been incredible. It's also worth noting that the 2010s were the first decade since the 1970s that Kings Island did not change ownership!

Credit: Warren County Recorder I know a Notice of Commencement document was leaked a year or so ago where we first found out that Kings Island was working with B&M, but today there is a new Notice of Commencement dated to only about a week ago. This document contains some interesting information for sure! In addition to the companies listed previously for the Orion project, other companies that were absent before are now listed like SkyHigh Erectors. More interesting, however, is the mention of new companies the park has contracted for next year including O’Rourke Wrecking Company (probably for Vortex’s demolition), Great Coasters International (most likely for more Racer re-tracking), and waterslide and pool restoration companies (maybe for slides in Soak City). There are many other companies listed too that I have not had the time to look into, but I hope you find this interesting!

How was everyone's 2019 Kings Island and Cedar Fair season?

Its probably a Coke Freestyle Train Station Fastlane. Good only Mon-Thur before school lets out.

Space Food. Any idea what that is? Gagh?

Why the …’s? Infamous reputation? Are they the ones responsible for taking out so many trees?

Drone update on YouTube from perfectperspectives. Can’t really link it because it’s against the rules

Cardinal Landscape and tree service..............

Agreed, but the ride itself is an AFC/KECO ride, not a Paramount one.

But they did a great job with the theming.

I swear all of the track work might be done by the end of February or even January if they keep this up

In the Picture of the entrance? If your talking about that I don’t see it?

Has anybody noticed that it says the project in quotations near the top right?

Late response on this. Just got done looking into adding the 2020 season FL through the app and noticed the description says 29 attractions, didn't 2019 only have 28 attractions?

Already designed and under construction when Paramount bought the park (albeit without the Top Gun name/theme).

Pizza that sits out too long is always bad. I think that’s the core of your experience. I always grab the freshest piece, even if I have to wait, and it’s superb. I stand by what I’ve said in other threads in which they load an irresponsible amount of cheese on the pizza, and that makes a big positive difference. If it sits out for more than 5 minutes it’s like day old reheated frozen pizza. I wish there was a better made to order strategy they could employ... or at least start pulling pieces that are turning brown.

It’s really the only good thing Paramount did in the park during their quest to destroy the original park. All of their other major installations are eye sores and did not match the theming of where they were plopped down. Although Flight of Fear didn’t match the theme of Coney Island they at least build it off to the side and now we are getting a new themed sub area.

I rode it during Winterfest 18 and the MCBR was either not coming on or was coming on light when I rode it. It was hauling through the 2nd half like I remember in the 90's.

I was really looking forward to watching Vortex come down, oh well....

Perhaps an Intamin themed Swiss Steak restaurant in Oktoberfest would be to your liking?

Jeff is an awesome guy, he deserves a great retirement after helping to build one of the greatest rides and parks in the world. In 2011 I took my first trip to the park and through some emails was able to meet and get a tour with Jeff. Learning all he taught me helped cement me as the enthusiast and future engineer I am today. I'm sure he will be missed greatly.

15 more pieces of track to peak of speed hill and roughly 74 more track sections to finish they need around 3 a day to be done by Feb. 1st. Any one know if Vegas is taking over under bets on this. I still can’t believe how fast they can build huge structures like this in such short time

As of me posting this you are correct that you can see some of Vortex at the top left corner... I will say the angle they moved the camera to is pretty sweet. It's the first time we can see how far Orion spans from brake run to turnaround.

It may look similar, but it will be different.

Agreed. Aside from the unfortunate placement of the venue, I think it’s a real shame that it’s not used except for Haunt. It’s an indoor venue with both heat and air conditioning. Now more than ever they could use indoor facilities. Plus there’s no doubt that there is some sort of iWerks Christmas or winter video that can be shown. This can be done no matter the weather and would be marketable as another open ride.

My favorite personal memory from the 2010s actually happened fairly early on: October 16th, 2010. It was my first time to Halloween Haunt and I was with a group of friends, and we waited 90 minutes to ride The Beast at night (everything had monster lines as it was a Haunt Saturday- Beast was actually overflowing nearly into the main Rivertown midway!). But the ride we got was EPIC. The park had fog machines along the track, and even a Beast "monster" prop in the woods before the 2nd lift. And the ride was running about as good as I think it ever has. My friends screamed so much in the cool air (it was in the low 50's) that the next day, when we went to a local short race track for a race, I was the only one of the group who could still talk. As for my favorite new addition to the park, while Mystic Timbers is great, I would personally give the nod to Banshee. Waiting 4 1/2 hours to ride it on its grand opening- and not be disappointed at all- is another memory I vividly hold from this decade. Though that same day we got in a minor car accident because someone decided to car line jump us before we even got in the park, which is a low point from this decade IMO. (Thankfully our insurance covered it and yes, the idiot who wrecked into us got in trouble for it) I also have to agree with KIGhostguy, Kings Island improved a LOT this decade to the point where I can easily say the 2019 version of the park is far superior to the 2010 version. At that is in spite of losing 2 roller coasters (3 if you could SOB which didn't operate this decade), including Vortex which was a ride I am really gonna miss. And now, in no particular order, are some "honorable mention" memories as I think of them (besides The Beast one that I feel "won" the decade): -Waiting 4 1/2 Hours for Banshee, and still enjoying the ride enough to feel it was worth it (as stated earlier) in 2014 -Visiting Kings Island on my 27th Birthday in 2017 and getting my first ride on Mystic Timbers that day -Kings Island saving our butts because the car we drove to the park had a faulty gas gauge and we ran outta gas, so they gave us some to get to a gas station in 2010 (Thanks KI!) -Diamondback going crazy on Opening Day 2019 and giving what felt like SUSTAINED EJECTOR AIR. I feel the weather may have been a part of why- it was cold and had been running all day. It felt more like Steel Vengeance than the usual Diamondback ride! --Waiting 2 Hours to ride The Beast for a 40th Anniversary T-Shirt, riding in the very very back, and getting a epic ride that felt worth it even if they were out of shirts...but they were not so I got one! Also Opening Day 2019. -Also getting to meet with KIC members and ride a few rides (including my best ever run on Boo Blasters!) on Opening Day 2019 -Conquering my fears and riding Drop Tower for the first time in 2010 with my best friend (happened same visit as the above Beast night ride, but much earlier in the day) -Discovering how much better Vortex was from 5-1, also in 2010 -Red Racer giving a glass smooth and airtime packed ride the morning of May 5th, 2012 (usually Racer is at least a little rough so this stood out to me a lot) and then it happened again on Blue Racer in 2018 -Riding Flight of Fear during Haunt 2016, and the MCBR being OFF, resulting in one crazy intense ride -Watching Gravity, my favorite show of the decade at KI, in both 2018 and 2019 -Enjoying all the Christmas lights and riding Flight of "Cheer" and Mystic Timbers with minimal wait times during Winterfest 2018 (didn't get to come to Wintefest '17 and '19 sadly) -Too many epic Beast night rides- including the one above- to list. And I am gonna stop myself here but I think the point gets across: I had a ton of fun during my first decade going to Kings Island regularly (first trip in the "modern" era was 2009 when I got over my fear of big roller coasters). Hopefully the 2020s are just as good, if not better. Orion does look like it's gonna be a promising start to the decade...

The addition of Banshee is my favorite moment from this past decade. It's my second favorite ride in the park and it brought new life to Action Zone when it opened in 2014. I watched a stream of the announcement and followed everything about the coaster until I rode it for the first time on Mother's day 2014.

Not gonna happen. It also serves as the tech services building in the basement, so that alone is grounds for it staying. The real tragedy is that they haven’t reopened it, especially for Winterfest.

Here's some FOF trivia for you... KI's and KD's versions were built simultaneously. However they were constructed in 2 different ways. KI first built the building and then constructed the coaster inside - partially utilizing the crane built into the ceiling. KD first assembled the coaster, then built the building around it. KI won - they completed construction first.