Delirium13

Sorry for the double post, but this is one of the things I had hoped would change once Ouimet took over. Hoped that since he had come from Disney, that perhaps he would at the very least want the parks to embrace the theming that they already had. I'm still waiting. Probably my biggest disappointment with Cedar Fair's management of the park.

Give me a professionally done auto-spiel, preferably themed if it suits the ride, over having someone yelling at me over a mic any day. And, as several have pointed out, some rides - such as Flight of Fear - have themed, pre-recorded spiels, but you can't hear them. It's really not that hard. There are far too many mic'd up employees yelling nonsense at you all over the park, it is annoying and unprofessional. Other than the perennial annoying spiels already mentioned here, I can remember a couple years back a few employees, including the one spieling, talking/joking about Robin Williams' death. It wasn't exactly the most respectful conversation to say the least, with the person on the mic ending it with "Rest in peace, Rest in peace." And even if it hadn't been disrespectful, is that really what Kings Island management want their guests listening to? I doubt it. Another pet-peeve of mine, is the ride-ops on some of the older/less thrilling attraction referring to the ride as "the best ride in the park" or something along those lines in a (very obvious) sarcastic tone. Nothing screams "Best Day Ever!!!" like your employees making fun of the rides they're working on for all the guests to hear. Others have already touched on the more important potential issues that it could present legally, but that aside, it just comes off as unprofessional and really cheapens the experience at the park (kind of like hearing Katy Perry on International Street).

Nothing to add except... If it does indeed end up being a GCI in the woods, I couldn't ask for a better addition to that area of the park. I've wanted to ride a GCI for years. I love Kings Island's classic wooden coasters, but they've needed a modern wood coaster for a long time. A giga would've been terrible in that location and for that area of the park.

Magenta Lizard, thank you for all of your pictures, they are appreciated! Whatever this is, I appreciate the meticulous tree clearing, as opposed to what we've seen on other projects. (See: Diamondback).

Who do you think, on average, spends more in the park? Thrill-seekers, enthusiasts, and teens or families?

That's funny, I have a park hopper from 1999 too. Does anyone know if there's there any way to tell if it has any days left on it other than going to the gate? I'm visiting Orlando again in October to visit that resort up I-4, but would be interested to know if I could bring this park hopper along and catch rides on some of my favorites at the World. Update: Called Disney, I'm out of luck as far as theme park admissions go, but apparently there is still a possibility of having credit available for water park admission? As much as I'd love to return to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon, I think I'll just be staying at my resort for this trip. (Staying at the brand new Sapphire Falls at Universal, pretty excited!). Got a good week of Disney last summer. I'll return when Star Wars land opens.

Can't believe these were posted over 9 years ago now. Time flies. Very cool pictures and great to see again.

Maybe these "keys" will make up some of what the new ride will have? The Diamondback ones show the drop, and the splashdown. I have not seen the Firehawk snap yet, but possibly flying? For about the 8 millionth time. The park's Snap Chat is filled with various bits of "hip millenial" social media lingo. The "major key" thing is nothing more than an attempt to gear the Snap Chats toward that specific audience. It's got nothing to do with keyholes or splash downs or ride interactions. http://time.com/4172848/dj-khaled-keys-to-success/ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/arts/music/for-dj-khaled-snapchat-is-a-major-key-to-success.html http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2016/01/dj_khaled_is_taking_over_snapchat_one_major_key_alert_at_a_time.html There's also Urban Dictionary if you're interested in further explanation. I won't link to that though since this is a family friendly site.

New Details Released: Universal Orlando Blog: Full Details Revealed for Relaunch of The Incredible Hulk Coaster

Hopefully Universal can learn from Disney's Shanghai problem for their new resort in Beijing, but I just don't know if China is going to be the gold mine that both companies seem to think it will be. I guess they've done their research. Time will tell.

What a shame. What worries me most is the effect on the domestic Disney Parks if this park isn't a huge success. They seem to take a hit for poor performance at the International Parks, regardless of how well they're doing.

I don't even think it's a red herring. I think it's just a picture of Diamondback. Next we'll be speculating that a picture of pizza from Rivertown Larosa's is a hint that we're getting a new Italian themed section of the park, home to Pepperoni: The Ride.

The FUN TVs in the Boo Blaster's queue just scream: "We don't even care about the theme in here anymore." Nothing says "Haunted Castle" like a couple of flat screens playing crappy alternative music.

I don't have any knowledge of this from personal experience, but from what I've seen on this board over the past couple of years, the same music that used to play on Kings Island's International Street plays in the less grand entrance plaza of Worlds of Fun (or Valley Fair, can't quite recall). And at least at one point was played on much lower quality speakers. Terpy can be of more assistance on answering that though because I believe he was who posted about it originally a few years ago. But seriously, if Kings Dominion can do it, Worlds of Fun can do it... why am I still hearing Firework by Katy Perry when I walk by the Royal Fountains... or the beautiful new Funnel Cake stand in Rivertown? At the very, very least playing better music on International Street just seems like such a no-brainer to me. Can't believe we're going on about 7 years of generic pop music now... Give me atmospheric music and sounds. I don't want a continuation of music I was listening to on the radio driving to the park. If they want to play the pop music in the park I say keep it in Planet Snoopy and Action Zone. The other areas have so much more potential.

I haven't had a chance to ride Adventure Express this year but that is all awesome to hear. I'll definitely check it out next time I visit the park. As I and others have said before, Kings Island isn't Disney or Universal, but taking care of the theming that they do have makes a world of difference. Adventure Express is one of my favorites at the park and hearing that it got some TLC makes me very happy. Areas that I'd like to see improved or fixed: Glockenspiel on the Festhaus. Fix it, build a new one, whatever needs to be done. AREA APPROPRIATE MUSIC. Perhaps one of the easiest and cheapest fixes they could make and would make a world of difference. I hate to sound like a broken record on this topic but I will continue to bring it up until it changes back. You don't have to be all that old to remember a time when International Street played majestic music and movie themes, Rivertown played country, etc. instead of the same tired pop songs in every area of the park. In fact why not change up the music in the ride queues too... Scary atmosphere music at Banshee and The Bat, for example. I could go on, but I think you get the point. At the risk of stating the obvious: Boo Blasters. If it's on its way out (and I believe it probably is) fine, maintain it to whatever extent is needed for safe operation and then replace it and properly maintain the replacement... However, I think the level of maintenance it currently appears to be getting is embarrassing for the park and the customers deserve a whole lot better. Hopefully whatever replaces it will be properly maintained. I may be getting into general park improvements now, but I think this is relevant to theming and park atmosphere as whole: Use your vacant buildings (for more than just Haunt) or bulldoze them. Put Plants vs. Zombies or some similar new experience in Action Theater. Do something with the Tomb Raider building. Quit building ugly sheds for Haunt mazes. I love Haunt and understand that it makes it easier and may be more cost efficient... but it's extremely tacky. They managed to put a Halloween event on for years without permanent structures (at least that were in obvious guest view), why can't they go back to that? Comes across as that house that leaves its Christmas lights up year round. Sure the set up is easier each December, but it looks bad the rest of the year. Embrace nature's natural theming. This is of particular relevance this year. Only tear down trees, get rid of water features, etc. when absolutely necessary for construction. Follow The Beast model of construction as opposed to Diamondback. Natural landscape can be a huge element of a ride experience, again, see: The Beast.

My thoughts: I don't think a giga is going in that spot, nor do I want one to.

If there's something to announce, they'll likely announce whatever it is just in time for 2017 season passes to go on sale.

Just some quick observations from Opening Day, and I apologize if some of this has been mentioned already: - I'll go ahead and just get this out of the way: I'll echo the comments about terrible food service. Long lines everywhere. I eventually settled on LaRosa's in the Festhaus, but if this becomes standard I won't be "settling" for these line again. No, I don't have a dining plan and don't plan on it. Simply unacceptable. - Are the "Beast Containment Area" signs in The Beast's line new this season? They stood out to me in addition to some other little bits of theming I hadn't ever noticed before. - International Street music... sigh... For that matter, changing the music in a lot of areas of the park would be inexpensive and would do so much for park atmosphere. - I'm joining the pro-Automated ride spiel camp. Not a fan of of the ride ops on the mic and have heard borderline inappropriate/unprofessional things spieled on more than one occasion (including yesterday). It just needs to go. - New construction area promises for an interesting summer. Hoping whatever it is, they preserve as many trees as possible. Negative things aside, the park looks great as usual, and it was awesome to be back. Looking forward to a great summer!

Love the looks of that ride. Looks extremely fun.

I like the old entrance a lot more. It had that "old" Rivertown feel still, but I guess this fits in with "new" Rivertown. That turn of the century settlement along the Ohio river that had that giant steel roller coaster towering over everything. I'm sure once it turns back into the woods towards the ride it'll feel the same again, but not a fan of the new entry point. Hopefully the move is for a good reason.

^ I 100% agree. Even though I said "not every second of our lives needs to be spent in front of a screen" (as I look at a screen), I have no problem with some screen-based attractions. And I would love to see something like Carowind's Plants vs. Zombies put into our Action Theater. The screen in the Action Theater also doesn't require me to wear somebody else's sweat covered headset on my face.

Not that I needed any further convincing because I've hated the idea from the start, but I got to try out my coworker's Samsung VR headset today at work, and while it was cool for personal use, the thought of putting on a used headset at an amusement park, "cleaned" by a ride op, in the heat of summer honestly makes me sick. Not sure what else can be said that hasn't been said in this thread already about this unsanitary, unsafe, and just overall idiotic idea. Not every second of our lives needs to be spent in front of a screen.

Hopefully by "creative" he isn't referring simply to their ability to find new places in the park to build permanent Haunt structures...

I don't ride either that often, but I personally prefer Vortex to Firehawk. However as to the question of which you should ride first, I'll go ahead an echo everyone's sentiment that Firehawk first thing in the morning will save you a ton of time. If you wait until later in the day you will probably wait at least 45 minutes to an hour in what I consider to be one of the worst queue lines at Kings Island.

Great article! I was young, but I remember all the excitement and mystery surrounding TRTR very well. Such an ambitious attraction for a seasonal park, and it wasn't just "good for a seasonal park" it was just a flat out great themed attraction. I always found it a little sad how this ride that opened to such fanfare, after months of buildup had its closing announced by a single Tweet. Of course, by then it was just a shell of its former self, but I still loved riding the Crypt, if only to experience that amazing queue line and remember what once was. I wish the park would give a well-themed attraction another go. The upkeep of Tomb Raider's effects left quite a lot to be desired, but the failure of the ride was (in my view) the ride system and then the complicated licensing issues. I doubt we'll see anything on the level of Tomb Raider, but theming goes a long way and, as I've said many times before, it's what always made Kings Island stand out compared to many other seasonal parks. Again, thanks for the great read and a trip down memory lane of one of my favorites.