[“Disney dismisses idea of building miniparks in US”]

I really question how firm they'll be on that if Universal does well in Texas. You can't tell me there isn't money to be made by building a Disney minipark somewhere like the Midwest, East Coast, New England, etc., especially if it promises Disney magic at a price point that's less than a ticket to Magic Kingdom + airfare + hotels, and especially especially if it uses IPs Disney hasn't used (or used well.) I have no concept of a Frozen minipark outside Chicago, the NYC/Boston/Philadelphia area, Atlanta, Toronto, etc. not doing well.

At the risk of tiptoeing into political territory: The Walt Disney Company and the state of Florida are already in a legal battle regarding Disney's control of the local government. Last week, Disney cancelled the move of its Imagineering team from California to Florida. Trips to Magic Kingdom are baked into American culture, the Walt Disney World complex is far, far too big to move elsewhere, and it's not in Disney's interests to start neglecting its Floridian parks... but it could also start to cannibalize its domestic WDW attendance (while still seeing a big-picture increase) by building miniparks, depending on how they're built. Why would parents pay thousands to meet Belle in Orlando when just as much magic can be found when meeting her in Chicago, and it only takes a few hours in the car?

[Adventure Port Construction Updates]

2 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I was told yesterday we should be pleased with the updates.

I believe the Eleventh Commandment will be the judge of that.

[Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser Hotel To Close]

Yeah... That was an inspired attempt to one-up the WWoHP-style immersion that seems to be the name of the game in Florida right now, but I think Disney really overestimated how much anyone wants to pay $5,000 to LARP at a hotel for two days.

I think a better use of the space would be to operate it as almost a rideless extension of Galaxy's Edge--have in-character staff, entertainment, and food, but make it an attraction to be seen and enjoyed in moderation one afternoon during your Disney trip. A plus over the average Disney hotel experience, but at its core still a Disney hotel.

[New Kings Island socks]

14 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

When did Adventure Express get RMC'd?!

I hate myself so much for feeding the hype train... but:

RMC has mentioned Outpost 5 a few times on Twitter recently. That those socks vaguely resemble RMC track is... interesting.

For the sake of being able to live with myself for writing this post, I will point out that that could very, very easily just be a stylistic choice on the part of whoever designed the socks, and nothing more. Nothing about the design implies that it's meant to be photorealistic. And I would not put it past RMC to have tweeted what they did simply to have fun with people who are tweeting at them to ask if they're doing something to Adventure Express.

Anyway, Kings Island seems to have cracked the code on how to get me to buy more merch, which is to make AE merch. Do I think the AE socks are pretty tacky? Yes. Will I be buying them anyway? Probably. Did I already buy the "I rode Adventure Express in 2023" pin despite not having ridden Adventure Express in 2023? You betcha.

[Kentucky Kingdom gets into the meal plan game.]

I think you might've posted the wrong screenshot... That one's about Kings Island's food options changing this year.

[Kings Island Prestige Pass]

It's been an issue for years.

Source: I used to work at Viking Fury.

[What is going on with The Bat?]

2 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Well it is the rumors subforum, so spitball away

Thanks! I will. LOL

[What is going on with The Bat?]

4 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Considering the new rides haven't even been delivered yet, there would be zero new load to the electrical grid...

Banshee is literally a stone toss from the new rides and it is running

Wires are hanging from Delirium

Bat had issues with track last year

Drop Tower got hit by lightning last August and was waiting for a part

 

The rides not being delivered does not mean they haven't run the wiring. Which is an opportunity for things to go wrong, for things they didn't anticipate needing fixed/replaced to need fixed/replaced, etc.

At one point in the park's history, Flight of Fear and Drop Tower were on the same circuit. FoF could not be launched if DT was running. That Drop Tower, Delirium, and The Bat would be on a separate circuit from Banshee and Invertigo is not a completely irrational suggestion.

Why would Bat's incident last year affect it today? Why would Drop Tower bring down for lightning last year affect today? Among many possibilities, the latter and Delirium's wires could, dare I say it, be answered by the idea that the electrical infrastructure needs some work.

For the record, at no point have I said that electrical issues ARE what's happening. I am spitballing. I don't know any facts.

[What is going on with The Bat?]

13 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

And yet two of the three ran until the last day of last season (exlcuding WF season LOL), with Drop Tower not running due to a lightning strike and waiting for the part...

The park was closed for a few months after Winterfest. There are new rides being added to that side of the park, which involves electrical work. I'm not sure I understand how your point is a rebuttal to mine.

[What is going on with The Bat?]

1 hour ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

I am hopeful that she will fly again. Hard to tell what's true and what isn't since the park has not released any sort of official statement, but I truly am hopeful she will be back up and running soon. I've heard rumors of track work being done and waiting for the fabricated pieces to arrive, but who knows. It's all just speculation at this point. 

As for Drop Tower and Delirium, I would like to think that whatever is going on with them is something that will be resolved soon. I would like to think that if they were not planning on reopening them soon they would have just left the seat covers on both rides, but who knows. 

Action Zone is significantly less "active" with three rides down.

I almost wonder if it is an electrical infrastructure issue. If it was The Bat on its own, then I'd lean more into the idea that it is swirling the drain. The fact that Drop Tower and Delirium are down too seems like it could be related.

Over the years, when the park has had blackouts, it's often that side of the park that is affected.

[Adventure Port Construction Updates]

I love it. That's more commitment to a theme than I would expect out of a new Cedar Fair flat ride.

[Red Racer Retrack Reviews]

It could just be the angle, but it looks to me like there's been a very slight reprofile of the red side. The hill looks slightly pointier on the red side than the blue. Which presumably would mean more airtime.

[How would you have done Dinosaurs Alive differenty?]

I think the Columbus Zoo has the right idea with it. They have a slow-moving boat ride that flows through their (fantastically themed) Australia & The Islands area and the animal exhibits within. Their animatronic dinosaurs are positioned alongside the boat trough, in scenes where various things are happening. I want to say one of their dinosaurs also lightly spritzes riders?

In doing that, there is a little more of an experience to be had. Obviously Kings Island wasn't/isn't going to install animal exhibits for the sake of a temporary animatronic dinosaur upcharge, but turning it into an experience using some kind of ride vehicle (doesn't need to be elaborate) and simple theming would have made it more worthwhile to me. The simplicity of just having concrete paths, information plaques, and the dinosaur animatronics just off the path (even with the motion activation) felt to me like a bit of a cash grab. The boat ride at the Columbus Zoo isn't a must-do, but as someone who has never been a zoo member but who WAS a passholder every year Dinosaurs Alive existed, I've definitely paid more to ride the Dinosaur Island Boat Ride at the zoo since it opened than I ever paid for DA over the course of its existence.

But I'm also not a kid (the target audience of DA) and I don't have any kids, so perhaps I'm not the best judge.

[Poseidon’s Fury to Close at Universal]

I'm heartbroken.

Poseidon's Fury was dated and cheesy, and the video projections at the end had laughable costumes, yet the experience was also very charming and family-friendly and had well-done set pieces and effects. It was a must-do for me every single time I went there. In fact, PF was the last thing I did on my last visit to Universal on November 25, 2019. I'd love to be able to experience it once more before it goes, but I don't think I'll be able to make it to Orlando within the next month.

The water tunnel will go down in theme park history as one of the coolest modern effects. I also remember being stunned at the disappearing and reappearing walls in the final room my first few times through, though I now understand how it worked. The queue and show building were also just GORGEOUS. The Lost Continent is (was?) my favorite land within IoA, and Poseidon's Fury was a big part of that. I totally understand removing it--I'm among the people who expected it to be removed sooner than it was--but it's still tough to see it go.

I really do think that it was a fantastic medium of storytelling that also was accessible to everyone without being a stage show or a ride. That's a very unique concept and accessibility to have combined in an attraction, even 24 years after its opening. For families whose children were picked by "Taylor" to be their helper, it made memories.

If there's anything to the rumor that a Legend of Zelda land will replace The Lost Continent, I'm gonna go ahead and get my hopes up that perhaps PF will be reborn as a Legend of Zelda-type walkthrough. It might be naive (read: it's almost certainly naive), but I'd just hate to see the walkthrough show concept go away. This has the same emotional impact to me as if Kennywood were to announce getting rid of Noah's Ark.

[What ride did KI make the biggest mistake in getting ride of]

1 hour ago, SonofBaconator said:

So do you think Sally took advantage of the recent film?

Sure, as much as smart business decisions can be thought of as "taking advantage of" something. See also: cartoon/comic book Wonder Woman getting several new Six Flags rides around the same time as the DCEU films, cartoon/comic book Spider-Man getting a few new Universal rides just before the Tobey Maguire era, etc.

[What ride did KI make the biggest mistake in getting ride of]

On 4/8/2023 at 11:17 PM, SonofBaconator said:

I argue the Scooby Doo movie from 2002 was partially to blame. Paramount took advantage of their hold over the Hanna Barbera IP and implemented that into the existing dark ride (that’s why you saw the HB versions of the characters and not the live action versions because that was Warner Brothers.) Maybe I’m wrong but it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that a Scooby Doo ride came out a year after the film was released.

(Bolded for emphasis.)

For what it's worth, the dark ride appearance of Scooby-Doo was actually licensed through Sally Rides, not through Hanna-Barbera directly. That's how around the same timeframe, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags St. Louis had very similar Scooby-Doo dark rides (though St. Louis's actually took place on a boat.)

[Discontinued/Extinct Coaster Styles]

I love how ominous that looks from that angle.

It's Skyline time... or else.

[Flight of Fear's Poor Capacity]

^ What he said. If you imagine riders having no loose items and being quick and efficient boarders/disembarkers, there being no seatbelt to check, and every train being 100% full, you could theoretically launch a train roughly every 30-40 seconds (approximately the time between launch and clearing a non-trimming MCBR.) That would put the ride at 1,800-2,400 people per hour, assuming it was running enough trains to always have a train waiting before the station and there was enough operators checking restraints.

Here in the real world, of course, basically none of those things ever happens, so obviously 2,000+ pph is a pipe dream.

[Discontinued/Extinct Coaster Styles]

39 minutes ago, DiamondBeast said:

Yeah, but it's not the same. You're not in a huge wash tub like car. 

I doubt a modern Virginia Reel could be made with that kind of car. Laws and guidelines concerning restraint design on new installations have come a long way since Virginia Reels last existed, and from what I've seen of them, they basically had no restraints anyway.

[Discontinued/Extinct Coaster Styles]

Of the ones on that list, I'll take the Arrow Suspended, the Intamin Accelerator and Suspended Catapult, and the Schwarzkopf looper.

It's funny to me that anyone would want the Chance Toboggan back. Those things are torture devices.

They're not on the list, but I'd add CCI wooden coasters, too. No, S&S and The Gravity Group aren't the same, regardless of staff. I don't mean to be a snob and say that CCI wood coasters and Schwarzkopf looping coasters are where coaster design peaked... but I'd be lying if I said any present-day industry players make rides nowadays that I like quite as much as either of those.

[Which coaster needs a repaint the most?]

17 hours ago, CoasterJack said:

What Flight of Fear really needs is some new trains, those would do wonders to extending the life of that ride. They might be the worst in the park in my opinion

Premier isn't offering anything better nowadays, IMO. Their Sky Rocket II trains are more comfortable once seated, but getting in or out of them is a nightmare. They're super cramped.

[2023 Offseason Speculation/Work]

17 hours ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

One thing that I find crazy is how Kings Island is not making as big of a deal about the new track on The Racer, the supposed new signature restaurant replacing Skyline on International Street, or even Diamondback’s repaint. I know Adventure Port is opening this year, but these park improvements could probably generate at least some buzz. I remember when Kings Island retracked Blue Racer’s TURNAROUND and the local news was buzzing with stories of a smoother ride experience even though it was a relatively small improvement. It also seems like there more more blog posts about retracting updates in the past. When Kings Dominion announced Grain and Grill was replacing Panda Express, they released concept art. I feel like if the park could generate a lot more buzz about improvements like these if it wanted to. Even though a repainted Diamondback might not make someone jump in their car and immediately head to Kings Island, it will at least put Kings Island in their head, and maybe they will think about visiting. I guess news stories about Kings Island “parting ways with a 27 million dollar attraction” make people think of Kings Island, too.

You're not wrong, and it's making me wonder if something is going on behind the scenes at KI, CP, CF corporate, or all 3. The late announcement of Adventure Port plus the fact that it's not looking like it'll be ready for opening day makes me think that something shifted at the last moment in 2022 that made AP happen. Racer is getting a significant retrack and not much has been said about it, which is odd for the park. The International Street Skyline and Chick-Fil-A, which have been there for many years, are being replaced with... something, and that has never been truly addressed except passively by updating the food options on the website--Coney Bar-B-Que got more coverage, despite being announced super late, IIRC. It's like every change for 2023 has taken KI by surprise.

Meanwhile, CP just had an enthusiast event where most of the announcements were, "Remember [thing]? Well, [thing] is going away!"

If the oddity of 2023 had just been limited to CP, I would sooner guess it's something to do with their new GM... but it's not. I wonder if someone at the top of the chain changed recently.

[Season pass holder’s guide to Fun Perks]

2 minutes ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

Having like a point system would be great. Something tangible where you can actually see what you are earning towards certain things. For example if you say, "earn 500 points and get a free ice cream or sweet treat" say earn "5000 points and earn a free t-shirt worth x amount of dollars". Something like that. Having either a separate Cedar Fair rewards app or having something built into each park's app with the point system visible would be wonderful.

If I remember correctly, this was basically how the original version of Fun Perks worked back in 2012... I think. I remember there being some confusion about what your point total was--I wanna say you'd semi-randomly get an extra receipt when making a purchase in-park that would give you a free cotton candy, a discount on Slingshot or Skyflier, etc.

[Overhauling Backlot Stunt Coaster?]

The part of me that remembers growing up at KI in the 90's and early 2000's loves Backlot as it is, as it's basically the only remaining remnant of that era, for better or worse. The rest of me had a daydream the other day of Backlot being removed and a new Swan Lake being put in its place as part of a reimagining of that area, in preparation for whatever is coming to Vortex's plot of land.

I like the thought of it getting a full retheme, though. Even post-Mystic, I'm not holding my breath that Cedar Fair would give it the Verbolten-esque theming it would need... but it's a nice thought.

Genuinely curious: If y'all had to choose between getting a Vortex replacement first or getting a top-to-bottom retheme of Backlot first, which one would you choose?

[Parking lot lights]

3 hours ago, RedSummit20 said:

Thats Six Flags, this is Cedar Fair..lol 

What am I supposed to take away from this? That it's a bad idea because Six Flags did it? Y'all act like Six Flags has not successfully been in business longer than Cedar Fair has existed.