Delirium13

Fun Fact: That vulture had a cousin down under, at Kings Island's former sister park, Australia's Wonderland. (Courtesy rcdb.com) And the Australian version: (Courtesy rcdb.com) Sorry, not trying to turn this into the vulture thread, I just remember seeing a picture of the Australian Beastie a few years ago and being surprised to find out that Kings Island once had a sister park all the way in Australia...

This makes me extremely happy that they have decided to not go through with the time restrictions. I had not yet purchased my dining plan for the season, after I saw the set times I, like others here, became less likely to purchase one (and that's not even mentioning those who already purchased one under a different set of rules, who I truly felt for). I'm a person who eats at odd times while in the park to avoid the long lines, so though dinner might have left a big enough window for me, lunch was far less likely - making the dining plan less beneficial. But now that the time restriction has been lifted I am once again most likely getting the all season dining plan.

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but Kings Island's Executive Chef is now on Twitter: @KICHEFNATE Should be interesting to follow!

Hmm, that is interesting... The way he words the statement sounds as though he was basing the popularity of the ride off of the lines it had since he follows it up talking about Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle's line. 2 thoughts come to mind: 1) Phantom Theater had twice the capacity as SDatHC. Every other car was removed when the ride was re-themed for the 2003 season. 2) SDatHC was only 2 years old when he left the park, so the fact that it was still was getting long lines isn't really all that surprising... and again with half the capacity. I'm sure he knew more about the ridership, but that's just my observation based how the statement was worded... also probably the Phantom Theater fanboy in me getting a little defensive.. But I digress, interesting read, thanks for sharing! Jeff Siebert definitely did a great job while he was at (Paramount's) Kings Island. If I remember correctly, he used to post to this site occasionally as well, similar to how Don does nowadays. Kings Island's Marketing Dept. always seems to be a strong suit of theirs. One need only look at some other parks to see how lucky we are.

I find it interesting that they list certain days as, "check website (www.kentuckykingdom.com) for operating days and hours." 2 Reasons: 1) I think it's just extremely bizarre to list it that way because I'm already on the website looking at the hours and to be told to check the website and be given the address to the website that I'm currently on is just absurd to me. 2) The fact that the last 2 weekends are listed as that just screams to me: "We'll see how things go this summer before committing to being open those weekends." I may be reading too much into it, but I find it very foreboding and wouldn't be surprised to see those days disappear off the calendar without notice.

I was actually just thinking that all of the names are pretty horrible. I particularly dislike T3 simply because I already thought T2 was an incredibly dumb name, and the new name is even worse. I'm guessing it's that hideous new paint job that brings the terror to the 3rd power? Anyway, ride names are the least of Kentucky Kingdom's worries at this point.

Still really hoping Kings Island and Cedar Fair do something about this (at least what they can), or at least make their opinion heard. I hate to think of the effect these apartments could have on the park. From whining, complaining neighbors to an increase in unwanted clientele. I'm surprised I haven't seen more opposition to this as of yet, from the park or from the residents of Mason. ... Admittedly though, I haven't been to any council meetings so I may not be completely up to date.

I think goodyellowkorn was probably spot on regarding the fact Canada's Wonderland essentially needs the bridge to avoid forcing guest to walk all the way around the fountains or the mountain. Comparing Kings Island's fountains and International Street to Canada's Wonderland's is like apples and oranges to me. I'd first start by saying that I don't consider Canada's Wonderland's bridge to actually go over the fountains. It goes over water, sure, but the fountains end before the bridge. The reason they have a bridge instead of the walkway we have is because instead of capping their International Street with an Eiffel Tower as Kings Island and Kings Dominion do, they have a Mountain with a waterfall, which goes into a pool connected to their fountains. So the part of the water (if you want to call it part of their fountain, go ahead) Canada's Wonderland goes over, does not exist at Kings Island. Our fountains end essentially where their bridge is. Kings Island is a very well laid-out park, I don't think our fountains are that hard to get around and of course I don't mind walking by them because they are one of my favorite things at the park. While I think the idea being able to walk across and have the fountains on both sides is neat to imagine, I think it would end up making the fountain seem smaller and less grand, especially when seen from the entrance.

Funny, I just ate at Quaker Steak for the first time the other night. I left... somewhat disappointed. Hard to explain, the food was good I guess, but when I was leaving I kept thinking about how I wish I had gone somewhere else. I like cars as much as the next guy, but I don't enjoy the atmosphere there. It's tacky but that seems to be par for the course for most chains these days. I would've preferred they added something that was maybe a step above Friday's, or at the least something a bit more unique. I like that Kings Island offers food unique to the region and in recent years has added their own food choices. The food quality at Kings Island has improved quite a bit in the past couple years. It would've been cool to see Cedar Fair expand on this by adding a unique restaurant (with good food) that can't be found anywhere except Cedar Point. That would definitely add value to a trip to Cedar Point.

^^ I definitely agree. I'd be surprised to see either FUN or SIX acquire any new parks anytime soon, and would much rather FUN continue to improve upon their current portfolio. We've seen so many great improvements over the past couple of years as opposed to the earlier days of Cedar Fair ownership, and I'd like them to remain focused upon continuing to improve. If some former Busch Gardens higher ups were to make their way into positions at FUN, I would be interested to see what they bring to the table. Always nice to bring in some new ideas and Mr. Ouimet seems open to that type of thing.

That's a good question, I don't know their current licensing agreement, or if there is one. If it was the Kinzel era and there was a licensing fee, I'd see you'd likely see a new name, requiring no licensing, however I'm not sure how Ouimet would approach it. I'd still think they would avoid paying any new licensing fees if possible, but then again this is a different animal. If there is a license fee required to keep the name Busch Gardens, it may still be advantageous because of the name recognition. When Kings Island was Paramount's Kings Island, I'd venture to say most people still simply called it Kings Island, so dropping "Paramount's" was not as big a deal. In terms of ownership of the Busch Parks, as hard as it may be to accept, it may be better for them to be in the hands of Six Flags or Cedar Fair, rather than SEAS in its current state. Moreso, Cedar Fair in my opinion. It seems that under Mr. Ouimet, the Cedar Fair parks have been given a bit more autonomy, so if they did end up acquiring one of or both Busch Gardens parks, I'd hope to see them allowed to operate in a similar fashion, prior to the current fiasco. Things would not be exactly as they were in the past, but it looks like a change needs to happen. If by some chance Cedar Fair did acquire the parks, I'd like to see some of the things that Busch does (or used to when they had the resources) well, and see them infused throughout the chain. But obviously I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'd much rather see Busch Gardens remain out of the hands of FUN or SIX, but with a new owner who can restore them to their former level of service and quality. I prefer more operators to increase competition, rather than just two giant ones.

That's not a completely fair comparison, with the exception of California's Great America, the parks dropped Paramount('s) which had just been tacked on in front of their original names.

Yuck... Hand dryers have always seemed gross to me, especially in bathrooms where they are placed over a counter, so all the water can blow all over the place. For me, the best public restroom has automatic sinks and paper towel dispensers. Even better if I don't have to touch a door on my way out.

Wow, I must have missed this topic on its "original run," but I'm glad to see it now. I love seeing pictures of our Royal Fountains, to me they really make walking into Kings Island so much more than just walking into another amusement park, I especially love seeing them lit up at night. Hopefully they'll be properly present again soon with the instrumental/theatrical music, rather than pop music as it has been for some reason since shortly after Cedar Fair took over...

Here it is for those without Facebook: "The planes for the new Woodstock Gliders ride opening in the spring of 2015 have been delivered. A classic flying scooters ride from Larson International, Woodstock Gliders will be located in the 14-time, award-winning Planet Snoopy area of the park." Courtesy of Kings Island's Official Facebook Page

... I'm failing to see any connection to SeaWorld as well. Am I overlooking something?

And the changes at Disney's Hollywood Studios continue... Sounds like a win-win for both parties. I'm glad the Great Movie Ride will be getting a refresh, rather than being replaced amid all the coming to the park. If all goes as planned, I should be at Walt Disney World in just over a year, in January 2016, so hopefully I'll get to ride the updated ride relatively soon.

Banshee definitely tops my list of best addition. I love its location, it replaced a problematic (that's being kind) roller coaster and a boring go kart track that had served its purpose. The queue and station areas are nicely themed, definitely beyond what I expected, and the fact that it's now my favorite steel coaster in the park doesn't hurt. The one thing I wish Banshee had more of is trees throughout its course, it would be even more incredible if it was surrounded by woods, but given that they were left with an empty field after taking out Son of Beast, there wasn't much they could do. Improved entertainment and food options are both high on my list as well. When I look at Diamondback in terms of being a great addition I have a few issues. I'll just start by saying this doesn't mean I wish we didn't have the ride or that I don't love riding it. That being said, Diamondback just screams "Kinzel Era" to me. First, its location. Whereas Banshee changed Action Zone for the better, the changes to Rivertown when Banshee was added, weren't so great. We lost a lake and so many trees, it really put the final nail in the coffin in what used to be one of my favorite areas of the park (of course Paramount Parks began the destruction with what is now Backlot Stunt Coaster). Diamondback could have blended with Rivertown so much better if they had taken care to save more trees and Swan Lake. Again, I'd much rather have Diamondback than not have it, but the reason I don't consider it Cedar Fair's best addition is because it seems that instead of saying, "We need a roller coaster, how can we make it fit in at this park?" they said, "We need a roller coaster... great it fits here. Drain the lake, cut down the trees, clear everything out of the way, we need to put this thing in. Luckily, I think new management operates much smarter than that, as evidenced by Banshee which shows how big a roller coaster can fit beautifully into a park.

^ Yeah it was in the International Showplace.

I saw it once, can't remember too much about it, but I remember liking it... I like stunt shows, it would be neat to see one return to the park. Edit: Found this video of the show while it was at Paramount's Great America. It rotated around the chain so I assume that it's just about the same. It was at Kings Island from July 15-July 27. It's not the best video, but it gets the point across.

The red isn't a problem. It would look good on the track. It would look good on the supports. As long as another color were involved. The thing that makes it look bad is the lack of contrast. It's the same reason I can't stand the color scheme of Leviathan, and its track and supports are not even identical, just very similar. Agreed. I thought the ride looked much better mid-paint job when it was black and red. Now I just feel like I need sunglasses to look at it. But like Terp said, that shouldn't be a problem in a couple seasons when it is faded pink.

I saw the stunt show once during its short run. I remember thinking it was really cool, but I was also much younger (only 7 or 8 depending on when in the summer I saw it) and not as aware of happenings around the country. Very cool video, nonetheless. A couple things I noticed, first were the movie props (I noticed the car from the Godfather and the Star Trek ship) only in the area for media day? I don't seem to recall ever seeing them in Action Zone. And also I wish they'd change the Kings Island sign in the fountains back to how it is in the video, laying down in a sloped garden, rather than the sign on sticks that it is currently. I'm pretty sure Kings Dominion switched theirs back this year as part of the 40th Anniversary improvements. It'd be nice to see Kings Island's go back that way as well.

Demolition of Snoopy's Splash Dance has begun. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/online-fun/webcams

I've been trying to like the all red paint job on T2... I mean T3... and I just can't. Red is my favorite color but that paint job is ugly. To each their own though!

Your question was answered in the two posts above yours. One would assume that a patron attending Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens is expecting to go to the park and enjoy themselves in a safe environment. Nobody should ever go to a theme park expecting to be trampled, no matter what event they are holding. That's just ludicrous to even suggest. Edit: Got bumped to the next page