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It's the same reason many people don't like The Beast. Some people are too yellow-bellied to appreciate a good beat down.

The international workers are so important at CP. They relied on them heavily for resort, food and beverage and early and late season staffing. They also are susceptible to weather down time more than most. They've had an unnecessarily cautious rain policy for years (even before the Magnum bumping incident) and Raptor/Dragster go down often for wind. Add in the significant reduction in ticket prices, ever increasing reliance on and availability of fastlane and more and more guests having meal and drink plan... You get a reduced experience on a lot of fronts. Now add in the awful early line closure... It's just piling on. I've made multiple trips to the park every year since 2002 where we've paid to stay on-site. 2021 will be my first year making only 1 trip since back on my family trips in the 90s. The ride lineup is the best it's ever been and Breakers is a nice hotel (albeit still very expensive), but it's just not worth it to spend 5-8 nights there a year anymore for us. We are adding 3 Six Flags parks to our trips this summer, plus Hershey before our pass expires. Add in KI, Carowinds and BGW if Pantheon opens, and it's a lot of money spent elsewhere than CP.

The thing that gets me about walking by the site is not only the loss of the massive structure and the ride in action, but that area of the park feels eerily quiet now.

What I think they fail to recognize is that with all the pass add-ons, FL, etc., while bringing them additional revenue, also means that there is more demand for everything in the park than there was previously, if that makes any sense... Basically, before meal plans, a large number of people would leave the park and/or pack food and eat in the parking lot. Now with the economical add-ons or the $30 daily meal plan for a meal every 90min means that if they let 65,000 in, a larger number of that 65,000 guests are staying within the park gates riding, eating, shopping, etc. than say 10 years ago when folks would go back to their hotel or eat in the parking lot...and the current model ends up degrading the overall experience for everyone. The days when they could overprice the food to help balance supply/demand is tossed out the window now...in the past they recognized the higher prices for food would drive folks out to the parking lot, and they were ok with that because they knew they couldn't keep up with the demand if they offered dollar meal prices...but the demand has increased exponentially with meal plan offers without substantial improvements to the ability to handle it.

I went today and had a great (but long, and at some points, tiring) day! It was the first time I had been back since NYE 2019 and Orion was certainly worth the wait. Despite the crowds (or, due to the crowds, rather), I also got 4 rides on The Bat (still the best, IMO - more thoughts on Orion in a bit) and 2 on Adventure Express. Food lines were crazy, so I went to Coney BBQ as the wait didn't seem as bad compared to the others. As I alluded to, I rode Orion for the first time today* and thought it was a really "fun" coaster. Yes, there are some thrills (like the floatjector air towards the end, which seems more pronounced at night), but overall it's a lot of fun (like Lightning Racer at Hersheypark). Unfortunately, it still does not beat out The Bat as the best coaster in the park. The location, nostalgia and thrill level (my rule of thumb is the further back you sit, the more intense/thrilling The Bat becomes) puts it above the rest IMO. Also, though the night ride on Orion was enjoyable (especially the hype leading up to it from those in line), other than the more pronounced airtime I mentioned earlier, I think it's better during the day. Finally, there were a lot of rides I did not get to due to the crowds that I would love to ride next time like Invertigo, Drop Zone, Racer and Beast. Also, Delirium was down all day, which was a bit of a bummer, but these things happen. Overall, it was packed, but it was so good to be back. Also, got to catch up with friends including @IndyGuy4KI, @electricsun, @Magenta Lizard and others. It's great to be back in the park again! *Specifically, I rode during the day in Row 6 (I think?) and at night in Row 4, both times in the seat closest to the exit. EDIT: I also wanted to say I noticed the new music playing over the speakers. Though it appears to be the same 10 or so songs, I liked the inclusion of BTS's "Dynamite" and that one weird sea shanty song that apparently was popular on TikTok (the song is called "Wellerman")? Other notable tracks include "Dance Monkey" (played right before said sea shanty tune), "Levitating" by Dua Lipa, "The Man" by Taylor Swift and "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd. EDIT2: Correction: The "sea shanty" song is called Wellerman (I originally said the song was by Wallerman, which is incorrect)

What seems like forever since we have had a "normal" season at Kings Island, 2021 promises to get us back to what we remember back in 2019. This weekend on May 15th, Kings Island opened its doors for a longer 2021 season with the return of Soak City, Grand Carnival, Live Entertainment, Fall Events and of course Winterfest over the course the 2021 season. As KICental.com attended and enjoyed being back at the park on opening day, it definitely is feeling like we are getting back to pre-pandemic Kings Island. The park was booming with guests, queues were full and it was awesome seeing people being able to relax and enjoy themselves again. It is very exciting to have the coaster season back with not just Kings Island, but other parks opening back up as well. Here at KICentral we enjoy discussing on our forums not just about Kings Island, but discussions about other parks and industry news as well. We look forward to reading your trip reports, experiences at Kings Island and other parks, and general everyday discussions that our members engage in daily on KIC. Here is a look at opening day 2021 at Kings Island.

Be careful what you wish for... https://www.rockymtnconstruction.com/family-hybrid-coasters/

So this came out of nowhere. They made a family coaster model to appeal to smaller parks. Glad to see how this goes.

Its reminiscent of when SOB was SBNO for three years which made Banshee's payoff a lot better all those years later. Vortex's land will sit vacant for a while and people will talk and speculate what'll go there. The good thing is we finally have our giga so people will *hopefully tone it down some and not fly off the handle with guesses considering we're missing a traditional sitdown multi looper. *I know I was asking a lot there when I said that hopefully people will tone it down.

It was good to meet you and ride Orion with you.

Dining Pass Fast Lane+? Any takers? LOL. I wasn't at the park today, but our family had the dining plan 2-3 years, possibly 4, and finally gave up. For us, it just takes too long and things wouldn't be open when we needed them to be. Now we'll just pack a cooler and chow down on the drive home. It's not what we REALLY want, but decisions had to be made.

The crane was used to work on Delirium. Sorry to burst your speculative bubble.

Sitting at brew house drinking this blue ice cream beer.... it’s not horrible, neat novelty, but it’s not the worlds greatest fruited cream ale. That goes to sun king with their orange dreamsicle beer.

Also the fact that at night it feels dark there. Like from the ET at night, it's just a giant patch of darkness

Please for the love of everything good tell me that you actually said yes.

The Vortex was a wonderful coaster from its birth until about 2005. As technology advanced, and people started to enjoy different restraints and smoother tracks The Vortex became obsolete. I don't think it was a hated coaster, it just aged and peoples tastes changed. The skyline of KI is changed forever, and I will miss the only roller coaster to ever intimidate me.

I believe we have our next decoding topic folks Genuinely I have my wish lists but at the end of the day here are the facts: We literally just got a new coaster last year that some outlets are still saying is "new" for good reason. If the time tables are still on some form of track, I believe within 2 years we will see a food/Planet Snoopy addition, 3-4 for a waterpark addition, then 5-6 for a main park attraction. IMO we do not need a new coaster, at least for awhile. I think the park just is lopsided now with Orion (which I suspected before hand). We have a good top 3-4 lineup, but we don't really have a good support with our flat rides. Same can be said about our coasters but the last time we actually got a thrilling/active flat ride was in '03 with Delirium. I could very easily see this become the next tin box item in the park, just due to the time tables. With that being said, I'm not ruling out a coaster out right, as I believe there will be a coaster, it just might be awhile. I would absolutely love to see a RMC come to KI or a B&M floorless as honestly those are two items the park could really do a lot with. But what can I say, I'm just friends with the Dippin' Dots guy.

Ok, so after riding Orion yesterday, my answer is now a toss-up between Mystic and Orion. I don't know which one to pick as both give good ride experiences and have decent themes (it comes down to Mystic Timbers' quality of the theme vs. the Orion references and details; especially the Quonset hut!). After a few more laps on Orion (hopefully within the next few weeks) and after riding more rides at the park (only rode 3 yesterday due to crowds), I should have a more definitive answer.

rMc WoOdStOcK eXpReSs lol

A good time to post this which was made by our own @Thrill_Biscuit.

Introducing the longest... The fastest... The tallest... coaster ever built in Planet Snoopy

I don't think there is blame to be had on any person. I am hoping with her honeymoon phase this season that she can get more things changed for the better that may have been impossible before.

Kings Island... if you’re reading this... I demand my RMC

^this! The slightest blip of declining attendance will cause them to give away the gate like never seen before. At what point is a correction made and what is that correction? Is it increased pass costs? Is it truly capping daily attendance based on available staff? Or is it more of the same. Hey the gold pass at $99 brought in the guests, let's try $50. This has been their model moving forward for quite some time. What is the point of them requiring reservations if they then cannot balance the attendance to available staff?

If the staffing issues remain a major issue all season (very possible), and crowd numbers stay higher than normal on a daily basis (with so many passholders and a drastically reduced operating calendar, also possible) and the early ride close stays as drastic as it currently is... I think the result will be fewer renewals, even if they continue to give away the gate with the $99 gold pass. Overall, however, I think their calculation will continue to be that a low price point will allow them to absorb the rapidly declining guest experience without much penalty. Sad.

I’m thinking it is what they said it was. Delirium work, maybe the lift belt or boats in Congo falls, if Skyflyer needed work you’d definitely need a crane, or something with Invertigo at the top of the hills. I doubt we see anything this year and probably next year as well. It will be sometime this summer before life resumes most normalcy in over a year. I’m not just talking about Ohio, I mean everywhere.

At least when I was there this past Saturday, I don’t think it ever opened. The maintenance crew did do several test runs though. Even saw them run it without the disk spinning. It appeared to be working normally but obviously something was up or it would have opened.

Deli had aircraft cable hanging from it. I think it was open on and off last weekend but it was closed this weekend. Hope they get the ‘ol frisbee working soon!

Fortunately, I was able to spot it out with the NEW Kings Island 2021 park maps and it was evidently found at the front gate so I was able to score one last week...had no problems with that but I'm glad to report that the paper maps are back for 2021.

From my experience, the coaster ride operators have white boards they use to log the number of FL riders each hour. I'm going to KI tomorrow and I'll ask the operators if they have FL quotas. My guess is they limit the number of FL per an hour.

The long food lines is why we left. Couldn't even get a drink without a 30 minute wait. Got a great a picturE today

I feel bad for the guys in there having to deal with that.

@King Ding Dong must be at the park again...

Orion was $30M it's anything but a filler coaster lol

BUMP** Was taking pics of Invertigo earlier, and a lady walks up and asks me if that was the new Orion roller coaster.

Definitely would love to see a big time celebration like what Cedar Point is doing. A trivia with prizes you could win would be nice! Definitely should play a documentary on the FunTVs (I may be a minority, but I don't like the FunTVs lol). I also would love to see a new skywheel as well as Boo Blasters revamped into a modern Phantom Theater (similar to what Knott's is doing with their dark ride revamping it and basing it off an older attraction). I also would love to see an upgraded entry plaza (not year down the current entrance) but maybe give the building some TLC and new ticket booths and a new season pass processing center. This may be a big stretch, but I would also love them to try and reopen the 60 ft level of the Eiffel Tower and make it like a relaxing area with patio style seating and stuff. I do agree the ET needs a repaint, but not gold. I just would like to see fresh aqua/blue paint to make it more fresh. Obviously, they likely won't do all of these, but this is my wishlist for next year and maybe even the next few years (park improvements wise).

Coaster Nation is very observant and knows when the park trims a tree and cuts the grass. Unfortunately, instead of posting their observations to bring up discussions, they jump to conclusions and present possibilities as fact just to get clicks. It really makes the rest of us who support the park look bad. While the rest of us are trying to help deliver the parks message because we love the park, there is CN who seems do the opposite and muddies/distracts the message trying to be delivered with already debunked or not confirmed information. I don't think the author of these articles means any harm in any way, but I feel publishing these articles is a major disservice in supporting Kings Island.

DeWine is ending all restrictions. All of them. So, no. On both accounts.

Done and I agree, we need a break from B&M for the next few coaster installs.

Sorry but I don't want anything crossing over or coming near to The Beast's land. Orion has been the only coaster to come close and that's as far as I would like it to go. Personally whatever replaces Vortex, I hope they use the cleared land and nothing more. Vortex had a low angle lift hill which took up a lot of space where as most manufacturers nowadays incorporate steeper lift hills to save space.

That is very clever using that space for queueing. I like it

Mystic Timbers and Orion are in the middle of the park, not the back of the park.

I wouldn’t say Mystic Timbers is in the back of the Kings Island, but I do think The Vortex void needs to be filled. I also really hope another coaster is not removed before Vortex is replaced because that would leave a bad impression on a lot of fans. I could see a new coaster announced to leave right after a new coaster is announced similar to what happened with Orion and Vortex.

I am not opposing a Mack, I've mentioned numerous times how awesome Helix looks, but would people notice two launched coasters next to each other or would that even matter? As long as its reliable and has multiple inversions, I'm all for one; maybe with orange track and blue supports though.

That color scheme looks exactly like Copperhead Strike. I really like the color scheme, though, and if the ride is going into Rivertown, it fits great! Would the entrance to this ride be near The Beast?

That is almost exactly how I see a new coaster sitting on that plot of land.

My take on a Mack multi launch on the Rivertown side:

I have been censured.

I really am not sure we need another B&M right now. I think it is time to bring in Gerstlauer or Mack for that plot of land.

Unless a new model comes out I don't see what KI could get. A giga dive is still years out. The only other type of coaster that would be semi-realistic would be something like Red Force but with TDD being in the same state that would make no sense. IMO once a park adds a coaster that breaks the 300ft mark... that's it. I don't see Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland, or Kings Island getting coasters taller than their respective gigas.