medford

Middle of the week is pretty slow, though once the water park closes down (7:00 still?) lines fill up quickly for a couple of hours until the people start to exit the park for the evening. There are some meal deals (or at least there were last year, not sure about this year) for gold pass holders. the Festhaus had a whole large pizza, salad and 4(?) drinks for a decent price (relatively speaking) If you're going to go in the morning, might as well take advantage of the early ride times and get to the park at least 30 minutes before it opens to the general population. Might as well check the ride heights for your kids, if you haven't done that in past seasons. I'd imagine the 11 & 12 year old can get on most anything they want, the 7 year old might be a question mark. I'd imagine it would put a hole in your heart to see your kid wait in line, only to be told by the ride op that they need to grow another 1/2". If they're quesitonable, get them measured up front at the begining of the day for a wrist band so they don't have to be measured at each ride again. And if they're questionalbe, teach them how to stand on their tip toes and hold their heads up without obviously trying to extend the last 1/2". If you can stand the heat, the hottest days middle of the week are generally pretty light on crowds. We two days last summer in the evening when the heat index got up into the 100s. With all the rides and trees, there's generally a nice breeze blowing thru the park so it never feels as hot in the park as it does outside, but the lines are really, really short. an hour and a half is a pretty good distance, but if you have a pass, might as well take advantage of the random days in the summer when time presents itself a quick trip

Except for the thousands of people every day who don't believe the rules apply to them or simply don't care. That goes beyond just smoking, King's Island has trash cans all over the park, designated areas at each food station to deposit your trash, yet there are still numerous litter getters roaming the park sweeeping up trash customers were too lazy or too indifferent to toss away themselves.

Invertigo/face off was testing as I drove home last night. I didn't notice any test dummies (or humans for that matter), though at 70 mph from 71, it could have been easily missed.

Its been touched on, but as easily as I can explain it: Its much easier to tend your shop when your present and active there every day. The family that owns 1 park, and sees success, is likely successful because they are there every day, they live in the community that the park serves, they have a solid feel for what their customers like and want. They see small problems and nip them in the bud before they become large problems. They have a close relationship with the people they hire, know their families, know their struggles and dreams, know what they're good and and where they struggle. The family that owns 2 parks, often seperated by a large distance can't be in the all parks every day or even week/month, therefor they have to hire people to manage these ventures for them. Small problems creep up and are overlooked until they become big problems, its significanly tougher to understand the markets they serve, they're not as familar with their employees, it becomes tougher to retain them, its harder to put them in position to succeed.

This, this is your answer. We took our 2-3 year old son on that a lot last year when he cleared the 40" hurdle in early summer. My Wife & I both grew up with that ride being called The Beastie, so we continue to call it that even thru the name changes. Our son, who can't read yet, so just calls everything by what we call them, asks to go on The Beastie. I doubt we're the only ones, which is likely what happened with esquire's husband. He was with a group of people that had spent almost a decade calling it the scoobie doo, so they referred to it as the scoobie doo and it sticks.

I miss the backwards racer.

I agree, Terp! Believe me, if I could slow down my little girl's growing up, I would! She's 3, and pushing 40 inches tall. She is so excited to go to Kings Island! We will be there opening day. I'd love to be able to slow down time while we're there so I could watch her enjoy herself for even longer. I prefer the slow lane.. you can enjoy life more in it. As we learned last season, the 40" height is a pretty big mark for kiddie land. The Beastie and several other rides open up to them. Nothing beat watching my son's face riding Viking Fury last year when he was 2/3. Make sure to teach her to stand feet together, head up and back straight for the height check. Stuffing some tissues into her shoes wouldn't hurt either

Based upon the new CEO's "talking points" it seems that KIs next major expansion will be more family oriented. Action Zone is the last major area that hasn't seen major improvement in the last decade, and it seems natural that a decision on SOB and adding something to that area would be the next move, however, perhaps a family style transition beyind X-Base involving the dino's could be in the works. I don't know how long they can get away charging $5 a person to walk thru Dino's Alive, but they could certainly use those Dinosaur's to theme some sort of family attraction. A "guided" boat ride thru the woods with the dino's spread out could work pretty well. I'm thinking something similar to what they have at Animal Kingdom. Or you could use the terrain behind DA, both natural and what you can make by pushing some dirt around to create an upcharge "adventure" track with drivers taking you over the terrain, steep hills, etc... in some sort of landrover or hummer style vehicle. I'm not sure where, but I know something like this exists at other parks. Then there's a decent size empty building sitting by The Beast now, that could be a spot for a decent family attraction. The tower gardens are in need of some TLC, not much space, another place you might be able to do something with. Could they install some zip lines in the forest behind the park? There are a lot of different places they can go. I'm not sure much can be done with the Action Zone until a decision on SOB is made. SOB limits a lot of what you can do if it remains standing, however if they tear it down, there is a lot of different directions they could go with that.

I would personally hope not, due to some lunatic may bring in a gun and or a knife, wanting to kill a person, or persons at KI. If some lunatic wanted to do some real damage, what they had in place last year wasn't going to stop anything. We came in about 1x a week in the evenings with our 2 year old son in a stoller. We had a diaper bag packed underneath his stroller with some snacks and water for him, as well as a change of clothes in case he had an accident, plus towels if we were planning going on the log flume ride. I figure we did this approxiamently 15 times last summer, maybe a handful more than that. Never once were we asked to stop so they could examine the bag under his stroller. I'm not sure anyone even noticed there was a bag under his stoller or not. Now, I highly doubt we fit the profile of anyone they're looking for that could/would cause trouble, but last season leads me to believe that was mostly there for a show of security, more than actualy security. At Disney, at least 2 years ago, we had to pull out his diaper bag every time we entered the park so they could visually inspect it.

Everytime I see the lines for that thing (It still amazes me how slowly the line moves) I thank God that my 3 year old son would rather ride Boo Blaster, The Beastie (or whatever its called today), Viking Fury, or basically anything he's tall enough to get on than that thing.

The Zoo certainly does well based upon the attendance I saw last year in my 1st (and last) ever visit to the fesitval of lights. We thankfully got there about when they opened, when we left, the line just to grab a parking spot was beyond belief. King's Island could turn a profit if they did it right. It doesn't have to be the King's Island that we love during the summer to be successful, shut down all rides w/ the exception of a few flats that are very family friendly. Make admission prices low (and free to season pass holders) and charge tickets for all of the flats to keep lines down. Forget about trying to have ice skating in the fountains, weather's way to predictable, move it inside. Focus on the lights and food, entertainment, seasonal shopping, a visit with Santa and a train ride to the "north pole" aka Soak City.

I wonder if there's an app for that now?

Dippin' Dot guy's twitter says they're painting SoB blue and re-opening it later this summer.

My guess is that history kind of dictates that the coaster will be included in the cost of a ticket, while DA can be passed along as an upcharge experience. Have they ever announced the long term plans for DA? My hope is that they will expand behind SoB or X-Base and have some sort of Dino land with those interspearsed around a new set of rides/attractions and walkways.

Yeah but the roof looks to be at a steeper angle in the older picture. I"m sure that's just the angle the picture was taken at in each picture that gives you that illusion. Just think about how they'd have to alter (either raise or lower) all the support structures w/n the building including how it ties in w/ the chimney in order to alter the angle of that roof? Not only would that be relatively costly, I don't see what benefit would be gained by doing so.

Thanks, I didn't realize that, I was under the impression that the lake was removed long before Vortex. Learn something new every day.

Since The Bat was a hanging ride, and The Vortex is a sit down ride, I guess we can expect "Son of King Cobra" to "pop" up any season now.

Its my understanding that the water around The Beast stunk to all high heavens, hence the removal. Looking at that picture, makes me wish they'd put in some sort of pond/fountain system back there. I wonder how many people have asked why the heck there's a water wheel by the station.

I always remembered the slide being in that area, but have seen a lot of pictures this offseason where the slide was over by The Racers (I assume its original location) so I assumed my memory was failing me. Nice to see a picture of the slide in the location I remember as a kid. I think something like that would still be a hit in kiddie land, I know my son would love it.

Good question. How many season pass holders come on a weekday/saturday/sunday afternoon but jet before dinner and don't come back to the park. How much money is lost b/c they can find better (and cheaper) options 5 minutes away and aren't around to purchase their smurf cone or an extra T-shirt, or whatever. smurf cones are about the only thing in the park that I've heard people crave. They need more items that are "must haves" to your KI experience.

a 3 hour drive each way, I'd plan for a tank and a half of gas, ie you're going to fill up on the way home. Of course depending on the car, mileage, driving habits, tank size, etc... you might be able to get there and back on 1 tank. which direction and what time you come could also make a difference. Try sneaking thru northern Kentucky in the morning at rush hour could leave you in a decent size backup. Parking, plan for 10 (can you come in/out several times a day for 1 price?) Souveniors, they aren't cheap, from ride pictures to t-shirts, to glasses, or whatever. Personally, I skip all that stuff, maybe a T-shirt, but I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. If you want some ride pictures, a couple of t-shirts, etc... I'd plan on anywhere from $50-$100+ depending on your tastes. Food isn't cheap either, but you have options. You can pack a lunch in your cooler, leave and come back and eat for pretty darn cheap. You can leave, head to a local sit down place for lunch and come back (do you have to pay for parking again?) and eat at a mcdonalds (are they rebuilding the one they tore down, or is it gone forever, I assume they're rebuilding it, McDonald's don't tend to go out business, but don't know) like place for $12 or so for 2, or go for something a little higher in price scale in the area. There's nothing in the area I'd consider high end in the immediate area, but in addition to the McDonalds that may or may not be there, there's a popeye's chicken, skyline chili, Chipotle, Bob Evans, Perkins, some mexican place I can't remember, Wendy's and a few more. If you're willing to drive 10 minutes or so, your lunch/dinner options open up quite a bit, but would take away from your time in the park. They talk about upgrading the food in the park; we shall see. Based on last season some stuff is pretty good; some is merely edible, some I wouldn't even try, anyone's guess what new management will bring to food quality, it hasn't been KI strong point in th past. Inside there are several local chains, but their quality isn't as good as what you'd get at an actual restaurant. LaRosa's pizza, Skyline, Subway, chic-fil-a (obviously not on Sunday, I haven't eaten this in the park to know how it compares to regular store). You can buy one of the sovenior cups, and get cheap(er) refills on pop, small cups of water are free all over the park. I don't think anyone mentioned this, but there are a number of attractions that are upcharges as well. Dinosaurs Alive, the skyswing, the Sling Shot (those names are probably wrong, can't recall their actual names), plus any sort of games that you might play. The swing & slong shot things can be rather pricey ($15-$25 a person IIRC, don't know if the website lists the prices or not) if that is your thing. Dinosaurs Alive was like $10 a person or something, I only did it once, its kind of neat, but I had a kid with me, if I was your age, it would be an easy skip. All told, you can get by inside the park for $100 or less for 2 people depending on your eating habits and what you like to do. You could also spend upwards of $500 depending on what you by, how many games you play, how many upcharge rides or fast pass purchases.

1) I assume they were being sarcastic about moving the wave pool. 2) even if it comes back, it will be under new managament, likely thru some sort of bankruptcy with the season pass holder being at the back end of the receivership line, meaning that money is gone forever, you're just wasting money if you pay a lawyer anything. Heard this morning that their season pass was $90. No wonder they couldn't survive. For $90 you could go across the street and get a similar water park, plus a huge thrill park. I would have thought their season pass would be more down in the $40-$50 range.

in 533, the floor looks more orange (and black) in comparision to the yellow jackets. I found an old picture in standbyme's photo thread from the winter where the floor of the monster clearly looks yellow & black.

I thought I've seen an old picture of the monster, perhaps at the park's opening, where the floor was painted yellow & black? Am I imagining that, if so, when was it repainted? Would be nice to see them paint it again, not that I'll ever ride as any high spinning ride makes me want to deposit my lunch somewhere.

Not that it relates to the picture above, but I wish they would (could?) turn the one train back around. I've heard the reasons why they can't, I'm not sure how popular the backwards racer was/would be, but personally I enjoyed having a reason to ride each ride for the different experience it would give.