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We are working with KIE to migrate their whole gallery over to KIC's main site. Don't fret, it won't disappear.

Very sad, I wish that their photo albums would be saved online (they won’t be). Their photo gallery is very well-organized and easy to navigate! A great look at the park in the mid-to-late 2000’s.

In a post update from our friends at KIE: https://www.kiextreme.com/forums/index.php?/topic/7073-kiextreme-is-closing-monday-june-14/ "It’s been a heck of a ride, but all rides eventually reach the final brake run. 18 years after the first idea and earliest plans for the site, originally intended to be a photo gallery using the name PKI Pictures and evolving throughout 2003 into the full-fledged fansite Extreme PKI, launching during the busy final months of 2003 and rebranding to KIExtreme in 2007, the time has come. Sometime this upcoming Monday, June 14, 2021, KIExtreme will be closing its doors for good. This final decision comes after a lengthy period of considering the site’s future. In the age of social media, fans of Kings Island and other amusement parks around the globe have taken advantage of the convenience of these platforms for the rapid sharing of information, news, photos and videos. Kings Island itself maintains active social media profiles, embracing the direct reach to consumers in the same way as virtually every park, ride designer, and event in the amusement industry has done. While my opinion is that the traditional fan site approach still very much has a place for itself on the internet, as activity has slowed on KIExtreme over the years and news updates are now mostly just parroting what has already been delivered by the park directly, via social media and live-streaming new attraction announcements, the simple truth is that the time, effort, and costs involved with maintaining this site are, after thorough review, simply not viable anymore. As most people have probably noticed on the front page, the site has been undergoing preparations for renovation for some time now, but after two years of slow progress and technical hurdles, the next generation of KIExtreme is ultimately not to be. My personal passion for Kings Island has not wavered, and is not a factor in this decision to close. I will continue to support the park and contribute to fan communities, but the time has come to wrap up KIExtreme. Kings Island will be celebrating its 50 anniversary next year, and I am excited to see what is to come. I hope you are too! Until the site officially closes on Monday, the Photo Gallery, History Gallery, and Forums will be staying online. Check out photos from the start of my journey with digital photography in the gallery, the original catalyst that led to the site’s creation. Explore the rare historical photos dating back to 1972. Read back through forum posts, taking a ride through the history of the site itself, from the early days through the exciting peak period of time when construction began in Rivertown for what would become Diamondback, and all the speculation, rumors, and excitement every time a new concrete foundation was spotted. I’m posting this now to provide a full weekend to enjoy the site for the final time, and that’s not all. I still have one batch of photos, from Halloween Haunt 2011, that got lost in time for a while and will be uploaded as soon as tomorrow as the site’s final update. These will appear in the Halloween Haunt category of the Photo Gallery, so on this grand finale weekend, keep an eye on the Last Uploads section of the gallery for Haunt 2011 and anything else that could accompany Haunt in that batch of photos. It’s been a heck of a run with KIExtreme, but the future for Kings Island and park fans is a bright one. Ride on!"

I hope to make it there this week so 2 things are almost certain. Don't get used to it. RFS will close down at least the day I am there. WindSeeker will have intermittent down time as whenever I get within 100 yards of CM it shuts down.

Well lookie here, Don must've seen all the speculation and decided to play off on it lol

^Emergency KIC meet up confirmed.

Hell must’ve frozen over because rivertown freestyle is open today!

Crowds are on the thin side for a Saturday, probably heat and inability to just jump over to Soak City to cool off is a deterrent to many. They knew @King Ding Dong wasn't there today, so they opened that Freestyle

Unfortunately, this isn't the first park fan site to shut down and unfortunately it won't be the last either. Social Media like Facebook and Reddit sites are taking over and has a bigger audience. It allows people to only have to use one platform for all of their interests instead of several. Personally, I find forums like this easier to navigate and find information. Facebook and Reddit is filled with dozens of the same questions every week as apparently the GP do not know how to use a search function LOL. How many posts per week does the KI Season Passholder page get asking the same thing: "What is the best day to go to the park"; "What are the wait times today"; "Should I get a Fast Lane for a Saturday"; "What are the hours of the park", etc. Certainly the layout and organization of a FB page contributes to the constant barrage of people creating new posts asking the same things over and over again, but it is clear very few people use the search function of FB before asking a question. Contrast that with a site like this that has a wait times thread, so it is easy to find and people can post and see right there. We don't have to scroll through dozens of the same question asked 50 different ways and 100's of responses to flip through. The layout and organization of a forum is generally better organized and easier to navigate and find what you are looking for, but apparently the GP likes them some FB lol. I don't know the numbers for this site, but my observation is that the number of new members and posts per year have probably gone down in recent years as the FB groups and Reddit sites have grown and people start going to those sites. They look at it as being able to get the same information as they can get here, but instead they can get it in one platform that they get information for all of their other interests and thus one less app or site to have to navigate and use. Hopefully this site is one that can continue to stick around in the ever changing landscape of social media opportunities to find information.

This is sad but I completely understand. For example Pointbuzz is darn near dead yet the Cedar Point reddit is alive and doing well. I'm sure there are facebook groups too but they usually get toxic so I don't bother. The exception to the rule so far seems to be this very site. King's Island has a reddit too but it does not seem to be very active.

There was PKI Asylum, then KI Asylum that was the original home of the music pack that I inherited when they closed, and I remember a PKIGuide way back in the day, like 2002, no forums but detailed writeups. I think TR:TR was the last feature they did before fading off.

That it was. It was a family of enthusiasts split between a number of sites, but we were all still family. I remember going to PKIunlimited for the Forum, KIextreme for the RCT recreations, and PKICentral for the galleries. At the time, I began mainly on PKIUNLIMITED before they ultimately merged with PKICentral. I recall there being a fourth fansite for KI but I can't remember the name. Anyone else here who remembers? (Gosh were getting old)

In a normal year the dry park is pretty dead on a hot day like this. Everybody goes to the waterpark. Even summer 2019 I got a walk on on Beast at like 2pm on July 4th. It did not get busy until about 8pm when the waterpark closed. Holiday World does not do waterpark reservations and this very same thing happened on June 4th this year. I got 5 rides on Voyage before the water park closed.

They knew I went to CP yesterday so it was safe to open it up!

Before I was a member here, I used to flip back and forth between (P)KI Extreme and here. I think PKI Extreme was the first site I stumbled on and I remember it looking cool (and IIRC, the pictures were more organized), but I ultimately ended up here. Though lots of people go on social media (Facebook,Reddit) for their info these days instead of discussion forums), I feel like I've gone the opposite direction. Aside from having a LinkedIn page, watching Youtube videos, and looking at Smogon (Pokemon site)'s Twitter feed (I don't have a Twitter account anymore), I think this is the only "social media" (if you want to call it that - I think of it more as an online community) that I am a part of. It's unfortunate that the pictures will be taken down from that site when it closes Monday, perhaps @IndyGuy4KI and KIE could work out a deal to host said pictures here in their own separate galleries. It's sad that KIE is closing down, but I'm glad KIC is still here and (hopefully) thriving.

They should start selling marker flags in their gift shops

I’m not going to lose any sleep for an executive quitting his job due to a pay cut (assuming that’s why he quit). I’m sure if he stuck with the company he’d probably end up with an even bigger compensation compared to his 2019 pay. Most of the time executive compensation is related to company performance so it shouldn’t have come as a shock an executive in an industry heavily effected by economic downturns would experience a pay cut.

Thanks for the healthy competition back in the good ‘ok days, @PKIDelirium!

Not asking for a specific coaster but rather asking for specific experiences. Do you want hang time like Copperhead Strike? Do you want it to haul like a raptor? Big inversions? Tight inversions? Ejector? Floater? Etc? Pick your poison

Yeah, that was me if it was after the 2:00 show. I did not realize that was you I spoke with; good to see you again! BTW, I love that show - I've seen it 3 times already. EDIT: Also, in answer to the above - no, I did not hear of any fights; I left right before close (which was 8 PM tonight).

I think I talked to you for a brief moment at Busker Jam after the show, you asked me if they’re doing a meet and greet I think. Sorry I couldn’t talk, had some stuff I had to do with some other shows.

^A certain member that used to dwell here from Xenia would know where all the wheels are.

Yep. There was one my Diamondback today. I thought about playing, but I didn't. Also, had a great day today; finally got to see all of the available shows and I think Busker Jam and Center Stage Live are my favorites. In addition to seeing the shows, I rode Orion twice (Row 2 and Row 9 (I think?), in the inside seat closet to the entrance and the outer seat closet to the entrance and my first ride was actually forceful in the inside seats!), Delirium (super relaxing- I closed my eyes for almost the whole ride), The Train, Mystic Timbers (got the tree, but the main projector wasn't working (main screen was obscured), so we only heard it and saw the side screen), WindSeeker (great view of Orion and Vortex's field), Zephyr, and Boo Blasters (got stuck in there towards the end; it's actually a decent dark ride IMO and I enjoy seeing the iPod still there after all these years). Though I did not ride Flight of Fear (ran out of time and the line was crazy most of the day), I did see some of the theming and saw a symbol in line that I had seen on the bottom of Adventure Express's station opening weekend. There were also allusions to other rides like The Beast, Son of Beast, Mystic and of course, Orion with their opening years along with a symbol and location marker. On a final note, the Rivertown Coke Freestyle was open(!) @King Ding Dong and I got a Vanilla Coke before riding the Train.

Those are fighting words @FUN&ONLY!

Looks like KI is watching these threads…. As they just put out a feature on Twitter about the offerings at Juke box Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From the webcams, Kings Island looks decently crowded, but it does not look absolutely packed like it has on some days this year. On another note, Rivertown Freestyle is open.

I loved their galleries of old park pictures. I was hoping one day to use their photo gallery of the Paramount Story tiles to figure out which one was which. I'm gonna have to go on there before Monday and save as many photos as I can.

Although it would be cool to have the 50ft observation open for the 50th anniversary.

The 50ft deck would be excluded from the ADA because it existed before the act. There are multiple reasons. When it rained it became very slick and there where always people slipping and getting injured m, also teens would throw stuff from that level at people down below. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have not seen them at CP or KI this year.

Fast forward 13 years... The park added some elevators where there weren't some a couple years ago, and now the International Restaurant is in semi-regular use, including functioning as an actual restaurant for Winterfest. I'm curious where that leaves things re: the 50-foot platform, if the park were to build some other way of accessing it than the existing elevators. I do like that cafe suggestion that @hans1208 mentioned in 2008.

I always heard the deck was closed because of ADA issues. The only way to access it is via stairs, and it would be expensive to build a stop for the elevator there, not to mention reduce capacity. @calakapepe you are correct, John Harter fell from the interior of the 275-foot level. He climbed over the fence on the 50-foot platform onto the inner emergency staircase, which he used to get to the inside of the top.

calling @KIghostguy who has researched that topic extensively.

Ended up wondering into Jukebox Diner last night to just look at the menu and glad I did. Not only do they have a monthly special (Turkey Ruben currently) but I noticed a patty melt on the menu I had never noticed before. Since it was on the meal plan I got it and it was fantastic! I used to get LaRosa's pizza, Skyline or Panda Express about 4-3 years ago but recently I've been looking exclusively at items I can only get at KI and have not been disappointed. I think KI should do more to point out the new menu items available every year as well as maybe a blog post on the "monthly specials". For example, the dip at Brewhouse, Special at Jukebox diner, etc. Chef Major has really upped the game and I'm eagerly looking forward to the first chef's plate of the year.

I just finished the book today. I was very impressed with the level of detail and depth of the history. You didn't skip anything, you even included the bad things that have happened in the park. I was even more impressed to learn that you are a high school student who did all this work. I hope you got some good school credits for this. Maybe that even counted as your term paper. I'm hoping to attend that virtual event in the previous post. Hopefully maybe you can even do some updated editions in future years.

Poor thing. It's a wonder how he got by at all last year.

I had the chance to visit Six Flags Great America in 2019 and agree that Goliath is an incredible coaster. It packs an insane amount of thrills in a relatively compact footprint, and even though it's on the short end in terms of duration, it was probably my favorite coaster at that park. However, I'm personally glad Kings Island got Mystic Timbers and would choose it over Goliath. I really enjoyed the park, though it definitely had its flaws. I think visiting some other parks in the country has really made me appreciate having Kings Island so accessible growing up... it really is a top tier park.

It would be cool start w a dark ride like building. W a story, then the lift hill..

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

Funny that you mentioned that... the last time I went through Madame Fatale's (3 weeks ago?), there were 2 Scareactors working the queue line (aside from Madame/the announcer guy with chains around his neck) in the room where the "demon bat" is. The guy got me good as I wasn't expecting him to be there (as there weren't any scareactors working the lines previously) and then he was "worshipping" The Bat when it moved, IIRC.