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I hated the Bandstand for so many years. Who in their right mind would stand out in the blazing heat on blacktop to watch the park’s “B” show? A lot has changed over the past 5 years, though. Since Winterfest was re-re-introduced in 2017, the Bandstand has seemed to be revitalized. The truss work that was necessary for the Christmas shows has become a permanent fixture allowing for things such as complex lighting, video screens, and more. Oh, and the stage got a huge expansion just two years ago. The bandstand has become sort of a town square for a relaxing night of entertainment away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the park. It’s now such an awesome venue to see shows after the sun begins to set. Every year for the past several years there has been essentially the same formula for the shows: live band, singer, dancers… today’s hits. It worked. This year seems to have something special to it. It literally has something for everyone! There’s modern music, there’s 90s music, there are TV themes, heck there’s even a viral song and dance number from TikTok! All of these are amplified by the fact that we have sort of a “best of” cast with some familiar faces we haven’t seen in years, more than likely because some of their endeavors are still on pause from the pandemic. Of course there is the River City Band. What can I say? You’d think it was a recorded track with how tight they are, but it just goes to show that a live band is always superior to music that is in the can. The app lists the current showtimes at 6:00 and 7:00, although as we were leaving they kicked off an 8:00 show too. The Bandstand isn’t fun until the sun goes down, so the later show that you can see, the better. I would highly recommend giving this one a try. As with all shows, it checks the one box that matters above all else: it’s just plain fun to watch. Have you seen the show? What are your thoughts? If you would have done things differently, what would you have done?

Nobody made and tested that jump before Robbie attempted it. He used the same ramps used for the jump to make practice runs between 35 and 50 feet the week leading up to the big event. Robbie could ride a bike! People that worked with his father, Evel Knievel, told me Robbie was more skilled. During the practice sessions he'd make jumps with hands in the air, do 360-degree turns in the air, go up and off the ramp doing a wheelie... it was quite the show he'd put on. Robbie's landing was very similar to his father's jump at Kings Island. Evel hit the last Greyhound bus when he landed, breaking his bike.

That is good to hear. Thanks KI for taking care of this!

Did you notice the arrows shoot out now? That’s the first time that’s worked since I was a kid.

We have all shared our frustrations with the way communication was handled including myself on this topic. We have heard of additional security at the park by fellow KIC members, another call to increase the employee shortage. Further laboring the point will be white noise and the park will not put any credibility to our concerns if we do so. I know it is easy to share frustrations especially after the last year and a half. It is easy to get in a glass half empty mindset. We now have started daily operations. Soak City is open this year, we get Winterfest, and Cedar Fair survived the pandemic for us to continue enjoying Kings Island.

Good. It’s better than the alternative.

Views of the growth on the tunnel from the train!

I agreed with you until you got to the part I bolded, underlined, and italicized. If the issue/s still persist, then I don't believe it's laboring the point. Now, it'd be another thing if the park fixed said issues and the conversation was still continuing to the point of beating a dead horse. Drawing attention to issue/s that still exist/s should continue until the park fixes them and they are completely resolved. They shouldn't get a pass because they are "trying". Even moreso since the park has been caught being less than honest with us, the GP, and the media. I would straight up call it a lie, but I don't want an infraction over it. Why should they get a break from criticism? Especially when it's warranted.

Sharing a Tweet is fine, but twisting a KI employee's tweets intended message to fit the situation I felt was not in good taste.

Because calling out someone's personal page is unacceptable.

The beatings will continue until moral improves.

Wow, I got banned from reacting/liking/commenting on the parks Facebook page for referencing the early closings, etc. As someone who does social media marketing professionally, I’d love to give a shout out to the severe level of unprofessionalism being displayed by the park. Bravo.

quick transitions, multi launch, a top hat, ejector airtime, airtime at different angles, unique inversions, & lapbars.

Yeah! They are also really nice people! Especially the drummer Billy and his wife Flor who is the percussionist and also sings sometimes. I befriended Billy on FB over the 2019/2020 off-season. I always try to say hello and chat with him whenever I can. You can also tell he likes talking to people who also play drums (like I do myself). I talked to him a little bit today after I was done with my shift at tower and told him that he has the best job in the park. Trust me, I would die to be able to perform on that stage on drums someday.

The members of the RCB are about as pro as you can get. I know one of the trumpet players (who essentially put the band together), and he's played occasionally with the Cincinnati Pops, including solo work with Aretha Franklin when she performed with them a while back. He also works with the UC Band. He's one of the best trumpet players you'll see perform live. Wouldn't expect anything less. Looking forward to hearing them on my next visit. Also, I would LOVE to perform with them.

I'm really liking the changes to the bandstand lighting effects since last season (when most of the current effects were new). It's going to look great when night-time shows can happen. I caught most of the 8:00 Center Stage Live show on my way out of the park last night, and I was impressed. The band sounded great, and the large set of dancers kept the crowd engaged. It's nice to see more elaborate shows taking place on the bandstand.

I really hope Carowinds can speed up their operations. Those dispatches seem really bad. In terms of Six Flags, they usually minimally staff their rides while Kings Island has like 8 people working a ride at any one time including this year. Six Flags has done a good job keeping their parks open, but they are also facing staffing issues. Also, while I know a lot of enthusiasts were fans of this because of light crowds, in order to get night rides at many Six Flags parks, you had to attend Coaster Power Hours which was an up-charge. During these events. I heard many food stands were closed. The actual operating hours had the parks closing earlier. I don’t know about others, but I think it would be a bad look if Kings Island started charging extra to be there for the last two hours of the day.

Can you clarify this policy? Does this apply to ALL tweets (or pages as you call them) from a "personal" account? Even if said personal account is used fluidly to disseminate information about a business and tags said business in the tweet (page)? I find it confusing because all tweets are public unless restricted in some manner when posting.

Today in history (May 24th, 2021) marks the 13th Anniversary of Robbie Knievel jumping over 24 Coke Zero trucks in the Kings Island parking lot. KICentral was there, and here are the pictures we took of the event. Also, check out the other photos leading up to Robbie's jump by searching Robbie on our phots galleries page! https://kicentral.com/photos/

Yes to Dive Loop.

Just something other than a B&M lol.

I had the spicy chicken sandwich at Chicken Shack. Not impressed. No spice or heat. Kinda bland and too buttery. No Mayo for the sandwich either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The problem with operating at those kind is staffing levels is that people just won’t have a good time. Carowinds was probably less crowded when you visited than Kings Island, so it may have been enjoyable. We have seen guests complain of Kings Island and Cedar Point staffing issues, and at least both parks are trying to correct these problems. Kings Island probably had to cut hours because the employees they have cannot work more than a certain number of hours in a week due to labor laws. Now that weekday operations have started, they cannot have all workers work long days everyday like they would have been able to the first few weekends of operation. Cedar Point was probably short many more employees, so they had to actually cut operating days and hours to prevent the employees they had from working too many hours once weekday operations began. Also, can an arrow mine train actually operate with only two employees? I believe you, but I have never seen only one employee checking restraints.

I found it interesting, but not surprising when you think of it, that clearly someone had to have made and tested that jump a few times. Look at all the tire marks on the landing ramp! And yet he came up just short when it mattered, not that most realized that though!

It's pretty common. 2 years ago I was blocked for asking the attached. I know it is easier to just ignore having to answer difficult questions but that's the exact reason PR is there to handle these things. Take a look at Universals Twitter, they respond to SO MANY tweets

Yeah that's what I meant by the very next sentence lol.

@kyle2227 thanks for sharing your experience! So glad you enjoyed the park and The Beast.

Noticed lots of security at the park today. In a good way. Looked like some were being trained. They made one guy change or cover his shirt because they didn't like it. He had a group of people with him---didn't matter. Get rid of it, or leave. He found a different shirt. Another guy right behind me on Beast literally answered his phone as we were waiting to roll back in the station. The ride had stopped, so it wasn't a massive safety concern but clearly against the rules/law. He was advised by the ride op that he just committed a misdemeanor in Ohio as he and his buddy scurried away as quick as they could. Grown men both stories. But I feel like all the park workers were at least trying to take a stand.

Right. Like the new area 72 dance/DJ Event that is planned for 8pm (on nights they stay open until 10pm)… that’s literally an event that is designed to completely block the midway. (Area looks like it is going to be really tight… and likely attract the age of kids that are linked to the events of last weekend?… could be a real recipe for disaster) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

New Mystic Timers tshirt design!

Adventure Express is my daughter's favorite ride. She was also excited to see the badly needed upgrades.

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The nature of this thread ad infinitum.

App still isn’t updated. Facebook hasn’t been update for 5 days. Twitter hasn’t been updated in 2 days. Proof that none of the 3 are reliable sources of park info. Thank God for KIC.

They should get PR on the ball and get this notice out on their social media channels ASAP. With this being a holiday weekend, it would make sense to give people as much advance notice as possible so people can change plans if they choose instead of coming to the park and finding out while there the hours changed and forming a line at the "make me whole" department...

Update: the dance was The Hustle!

It was the first time that the whole park was “themed.” So think Grand Carnivale decorations (obviously not to that scale) but 70’s themed to commemorate his father’s jump near four decades before. They played 70s music and had all of the entertainment folks dressed in 70s clothes and they would do a 70s dance every few minutes. I can’t remember what the dance was, so if anyone does please remind me. The jump was nerve wracking but was incredible to see! I’m so glad I was there for it! Also, Don and the rest of marketing were kind enough to let me have unadulterated access to Mr Knievel and his staff for the sake of KIC. I got to know him pretty well that week. He had amazing stories and was a… quirky individual. I’m very happy to report that some who are close to him are reporting that he has defeated many of the demons he was battling at the time.

Fox News tells bigger lies every hour than that USA decapitation story so my advice is to take everything with a "grain of salt".

I think Diamondback and The Racer need repainted the most, but Banshee is also starting to look kind of faded. It does not need repainted right away, but in a few years, it will probably need a repaint.

For posterity, I was a Beast Crew member (many, many moons ago) and can tell you we were all made aware of the potential hazards with the ride when in driver training. We were given examples of accidents that HAVE occurred in its history, so we knew what to look for and how to handle. Not once, in my time working there - or in training - was there ever any mention of someone being mortally injured by The Beast. However we were warned that people HAVE hit their heads on the trains, broken fingers and hands in the helix, busted lips, had heart attacks etc. Unfortunately, those types of things DID happen (rarely) while I was on crew. I saw and handled a couple of those types of instances personally. However, with the exception of one case, the injuries occurred to people that ignored and challenged the safety warnings. They were all treatable and relatively minor injuries. Perhaps the story is confused with another? In the 1980s a young teenager did get partially decapitated on a coaster at Kings Dominion when they stood up on the Galaxi. It made national news. (Side note: the growing issues and concerns with persons standing on the coasters (not just The Beast) is why the individual orange lap bars took the place of the buzz bars on PTC trains at many parks. But this was after many, many years of operating without them. The more recent addition of seat belts also was a result of concerns about guests breaking rules while riding.) FYI - I've never personally understood the fascination with these types of hearsay "stories." I once had a barber SWEAR he was at KI in the late 1980s on the day The Bat crashed into a concrete pillar, fell off the track, and killed people. He was adamant that it happened. There was so much wrong with his story, but when I tried to correct him - he got very defensive. You would have thought I had killed his first-born. After that, I learned to just roll my eyes and not engage with such stories when they are told directly to me. There's no use arguing.

I went over and checked out the arcade area while visiting the park today and I think having the games gutted out there could make for a nice ride entrance. I kinda like what they did with Orion where you can get a green screen photo before you enter. I think doing something like that with a wild west theme would be nice.