hawaiianfish

I did this during a trip to the park in May and I was pleasantly surprised. My primary reason for going was to have a meal in the International Restaurant, which is a real treat. The breakfast itself was pretty decent, and for me, the characters were a nice little bonus for photo opportunities (one free photo per party is included with the price of the breakfast). My only complaint was that I could not buy advance tickets online, which I believe are only offered for Gold Passholders (I live in FL and only make it up to the park about once per year, otherwise I would have a Gold Pass). There were only a few other tables occupied when I was there, so advance tickets were not really needed - it would have just been an extra convenience. I am curious if demand would be higher when school is out (which I expect it would be). Like an earlier post said, it's nice for what it is. For being a seasonal theme park with a light emphasis on characters, I thought they did a good job and hope they continue it. Now if they would only offer more meals in the International Restaurant - that would be even better...

Has anyone seen the KI episode of Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica? From what I understand, it aired during Season 1 and was episode 5 entitled "The Platypus". Does it contain really good footage of KI? I love both the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family KI episodes, and was curious about purchasing the Newlyweds episode if it contained a decent amount of good footage. If it does not, I do not want to waste my $16.99 on the Season 1 DVD for 3 minutes of footage and a bunch of other episodes I will never watch again. Does anyone who's seen it have any thoughts?

I rode X back around New Year's Eve in 2002. I headed there soon after the park opened and only had to wait about 30 minutes. I actually thought it was a pretty smooth ride. As for the ride experience, I have to day that I think it is the most incredible steel coaster experience I have ever had. Hopefully, Eejanaika doesn't experience the same problems that X has, so that we'll see more of these type of rides built in the Eastern U.S. It really is incredible.

I'm really glad to see other posters agree about restoring the theming in Oktoberfest, Rivertown and International Street. Hopefully, CF is listening or the general public will reflect the same sentiment.

Yes, that's correct. It is in Middletown off of Route 4. For most of it's heyday it was known as Lesourdsville Lake amusement park, renamed Americana Amusment Park in 1978, and changed back to Lesourdsville Lake for the 2002 season - its final season. It was actually a very nice little park, located around the perimeter of the lake (the lake being Lesourdsville Lake), very much what one would consider a classic local amusement park. They had a sky ride that went over the lake. Quite infamously, at least one skyride car fell off the ride sometime in the '90s. I remember having to cross train tracks before getting into the main entrance. They also have a really great coaster there, the Screechin' Eagle, which I believe Jerry Couch (who owns the property) intends to keep. He is in the process of selling most of the other rides in the park. The Eagle is a John A. Miller designed out-and-back coaster, and features more airtime than I have ever experienced on another wooden coaster. Part of this is due to the fact that the train's restraints were classic restraints similar to The Beastie's (nope, I won't call it the Fairly Odd Coaster). Excellent, excellent classic coaster! This one really deserves to be preserved or relocated to a place where it will run more often. More people should get the opportunity to experience this fun coaster. They also had two other coasters, the Serpent (a steel wild mouse type ride) and a kid's coaster. The park had a large picnic area, which was one of its primary ways to get people to come to the park (at least in later years). If you want to learn more, the Southwest Ohio Amusement Park Historical Society (yes, I know it's a mouthful) maintains a really good tribute site. Just Google "Lesourdsville" and it's the first link.

Here's what I would like to see: 2008: -Refresh International Street to make it more "international". Bring back a French pastry shop, a German clock shop, etc. - anything else that would make International Street a little more international. -Change setup of Festhaus to serve some of the best, authentic German food (hire a German chef). They can still serve LaRosa's Pizza, but German food needs to be served in the Festhaus. Restore the fountain outside Festhaus, so it is no longer just a giant planter. Add a new show inside the Festhaus complete with a German band, dancers and polkas, etc. -Agressive landscaping, park beautification work 2009: -Reopen the International Restaurant as a very classy (not TGI Fridays) sit-down restaurant. Restauarant should serve a variety of Internation foods. -Add a new German-themed flat ride to Oktoberfest -Some type of new coaster. Perhaps a new mid-size wooden coaster that has some nods to Coney Island's history. 2010: -Retheme Tomb Raider so it has a more Rivertown-like theme. Remove ugly, giant rock facade from entrance -Relocate Italian Job to somewhere else and retheme to ensure it fits to wherever it's relocated to -Restore former Antique Cars and Italian Job site to restore landscaping and add some type of family-friendly ride (perhaps bring back Antique Cars) 2011: -New enhancements to Nickelodeon Central -Enhance Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad to be more than just a form of transportation to Boomerang Bay 2012 (KI's 40th Anniversary): -Remove Bubba Gump's Shrimp Shack. Add another new German-themed Oktoberfest flat ride -New rides/slides for Boomerang Bay -Major new coaster for Action Zone or Flight of Fear/Firehawk area of park -Special fireworks for 40th anniversary

I would agree that Cedar Fair has never really risen to Disney quality theming, but I do think they certainly pay attention to it as evidenced by Silver Bullet at Knotts, Xcelerator at Knotts and this year's Maverick at Cedar Point. I would simply like Kings Island to get back to paying attention to being a park with themed lands instead of individual themed rides stuck in odd places. I think a great example is The Beast. The Beast is not an over-the-top Rivertown themed ride, but when the queue was built, Kings Island clearly wanted to make it fit into Rivertown. Contrast this with Tomb Raider that has giant ruins-type rock stuck in Rivertown. You can clearly tell that the powers-that-be completely disregarded the fact that it was in Rivertown. Also, some point to Cedar Point as an example of Cedar Fair not investing a lot in theming over than their Frontier Town. I would like to remind everyone that Cedar Point (to the best of my knowledge) has never marketed itself as a "theme park". Cedar Point has always just been a great amusement park on Lake Erie that happens to have one themed land. Kings Island, on the other hand, has always been sold as a "theme park" from the day it opened in 1972. I think Taft originally even conceived it as a sort of Disneyland of the Midwest. Lastly, I think Dick Kinzel is a smart guy. And I think he realizes that Cedar Point and Kings Island have coexisted just fine for 35 years now. I do not see him making Kings Island into a Cedar Point of southwestern Ohio. I think he understands that Kings Island and Cedar Point have coexisted for 35 years by offering a different experience (and the fact that they are separated by a 4 hour drive). Here's hoping anyway...

Whatever Cedar Fair does with current theming, I think the key for them is to really think about it in a very long-term sense, which is something Viacom and CBS certainly did not do - they thought "Sure, we could put the adventurous Lara Croft in Rivertown" and "Bubba Gump in Oktoberfest - sounds like a great idea!". I'm actually very encouraged by the theme of Firehawk in that they really put some thought into the rides and features around it - in this case...a military base-type theme. Does this fit with the Coney Mall theme? Not really, if they in fact have long term plans to expand this area of the park, they may be thinking of a military base-type theme for an entire land. Who knows? In either case, it does appear that they are putting some careful thought into their decisions.

On TR:TR, I don't see them spending a ton of money to re-theme it. If anything, I see them giving it some type of generic adventure theme. My real hope, however, would be for it to be rethemed to...get this...something that would make sense being in Rivertown! Here's hoping the era of ignoring the integrity of Kings Island's themed lands (other example, Bubba Gump in Oktoberfest) is over!

I think everyone should be looking not so much for a quick opening, but for all of the problems that have plagued this coaster to be fixed and/or mitigated. If that happens, and SoB can finally run reliably and smoother than it has in the past, I can certainly wait a little while for it to reopen.

I think I miss the Smurfs Enchanted Voyage (I don't remember the original Enchanted Voyage) and the Antique Cars the most. To me, they are rides that really set Kings Island apart from competitors. Sure, antique cars by themselves are not unique, but the placement, landscape and overall setting of KI's Antique Cars really made it a fantastic ride. You could tell that the early park planners had a really good understanding about what would make the park very aesthetically pleasing. As for park features, I also really miss the ivy walkway from HB land into Rivertown.

Good point about the train, I forgot about that one. I do agree, however, there should be a little more to the train than just a means of transportation to Boomerang Bay.

So does anyone else think that something Cedar Fair should focus on over the next few years for Kings Island is a little greater ride variety? Let me explain. I think Kings Island has a great collection of coasters and flat rides, but when I think about rides that, say, my retired parents would want to ride...there's really not that much. I think Kings Island will make great strides this year with restoring a lot of their live entertainment, so that will obviously appeal to a broad audience. As far as rides go, however, the only ones that come to mind are Eiffel Tower, the Carousel and Scooby Doo & The Haunted Castle. Beyond these, you have to step up to some rides that are in the little faster, (very) mild thrill category like Monster, Dodgem, Scrambler, Wild Thornberries or Zephyr. I realize I am likely in the minority here as a lot of people in this group probably fall under the "bigger, faster, taller, crazier" demographic. And don't get me wrong, I love thrill rides as much as the next guy. I've ridden 154 coasters in 40 parks. I just think that from a business standpoint, it does not make sense to not offer more ride alternatives to folks that are not like you and I. I'm also not suggesting that Kings Island needs to go and do a major "slow ride" expansion and add 10 new "slow rides" in the next 5 years. I am merely suggesting that I think it would a smart business decision if KI added a "slow ride" or two in the near future. This is yet another thing I find sad about the removal of Les Taxis (Antique Cars) for Italian Job: Stunt Track. Beyond the aesthetics (which are a complete disaster - the nicest thing I could say about the aesthetics of the area is that they are now abysmal), the ride removal removed another option to a demographic that opens their wallets and has an impact on the business. I do think the market for this demographic is there, and should not be ignored. I'm curious if others think likewise...

Anyone else think that the choice of these logos is interesting? Clearly, each of the five former Paramount Parks look like they will be using the Cedar Point font for their logos. I personally do not find this surprising since all 5 parks were acquired at once, it makes sense that Cedar Fair would want to apply a similar marketing strategy for all five parks and brand them in a similar way with the same fonts and logos. What I wonder about more is if Cedar Fair will use this same font and logo for the rest of their parks. If you go to Michigan's Adventure web site, you will see that Michigan's Adventure also uses the same font as Cedar Point and the five former Paramount Parks. I found it kind of hard to tell with Dorney Park, but I think it looks a little different. The other parks - Valleyfair, Knott's Berry Farm, Worlds of Fun, Geauga Lake are all using unique logos on their web sites. I personally don't think they will change these fonts and logos, particularly for Valleyfair (since it matches the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company font) or Knott's (since this park has pretty well established unique identity). It will be interesting to see over the next few years which aspects Cedar Fair will apply consistency to each of their parks, and which aspects they will allow each park to remain unique. Regardless, I don't think we will be seeing the same cookie-cutter, sanitized, pre-fabricated nature of the Six Flags parks.

I think Kings Island needs to refocus itself a little bit on being a true "theme park". I would agree that Cedar Fair has not gone all out when it comes to theming at a park like Knotts Berry Farm, but I think they at least try to maintain some sense of theme with their installations. For example, the Xcelerator is themed to be a '50's car and is in the Boardwalk section of the park. Similarly, the Silver Bullet is lightly western-themed and is in the Ghost Town section of the park. These are both completely Cedar Fair installations and have at least paid some respect to the existing theme in each respective area of the park. If we contrast this with Kings Island under Viacom ownership, we have seen some of the most gross disregard for theme in the last 10 years. Here are a few examples: 1) Bubba Gump Shrimp in Oktoberfest. I do not recall any German themes in Forrest Gump 2) The de-theming of the Festhaus, which now serves LaRosa's pizza, has giant QTV screens and is basically another arcade 3) Tomb Raider in Rivertown. I do not recall Lara Croft visiting any river towns in the midwest in either of the Tomb Raider films or in the video games 4) The de-internationalization of International Street. The last true remnant of International Street, La Patisserie Francaise became a Starbucks a few years back. I am not suggesting Kings Island hold onto the past. For example, while I personally love the Hanna-Barbera characters and I miss them when I visit the park now, I actually think conversion to Nickelodeon Central was a good thing. The current owners of the HB intellectual property (whom I believe is Turner's Cartoon Network) have not done enough to keep the HB characters in the public consciousness. Here are a few areas, I think the park should focus on restoring: 1) Oktoberfest - I think Kings Island should reflect the local culture of Cincinnati. Since Kings Island has a strong German heritage, I think Cedar Fair should make sure that out-of-town visitors get a feeling for this when they visit the park. All you have to do is look at Busch Gardens Williamsburg (now Busch Gardens Europe, I believe) to see how a German theme can be successfully pulled off in a seasonally-operated theme park. 2) Rivertown - All you have to do is look at the facades in The Beast queue to see that you can successfully install a major thrill ride into a park (The Beast) and yet still pay respect to the theme of the area that it is in. Again, Cincinnati was and is a river community. This area of the park should reflect that more. Tomb Raider looks terrible here. 3) Coney Mall - This area has the most flexibility and has probably been the least tainted themed area over the years. This area should continually focus on retaining the feel of Coney Island's main midway. 4) International Street - Do you think visitors are confused as to why the park icon is the Eiffel Tower? I think they are, and it's because International Street does not set any type of stage for the Eiffel Tower. If International Street had more of an international flair, with the different shops representing different countries, suddenly the Eiffel Tower as the park icon makes a lot more sense. I don't have a lot of passions for the other areas of the park, but Cedar Fair needs to really think about what they want their product, in this case Kings Island, to be. Cedar Point is only 4 hours away and is a near-perfect representation of a traditional amusement park (only themed area being their Frontier town). If they can restore a true sense of theme to Kings Island and represent the local culture of Cincinnati more, I think this will be in their best long-term interests to attracting families and people of all ages. Will Cedar Fair really focus on this? Only time will tell. I don't see how they could get much worse than putting Bubba Gump's in Oktoberfest. Don't get me wrong, great food at Bubba Gumps - it just does not belong in that area of the park.