2012Jarrett

So if you look back at KI over the past decade or so, in 2009 Diamondback was an excuse to renovate Rivertown, 2011's WindSeeker was an excuse to renovate Coney Mall, 2014's Banshee allowed them to renovate Action Zone, last year they renovated part of Planet Snoopy. As of lately, they went back to Rivertown for Mystic Timbers. Oktoberfest is really the only major section of the park that's been skipped over, and not much has been done for it as of recently. This leads me to think that it will be the next section of the park to receive a major, major facelift. Some things they could do include... Move Slingshot to X-Base (completely unrelated, it would fit in with the theme so well over there and there's certainly space by those maintenance sheds) to open the area up to expansion. Bring back Der Spinning Keggers, not necessarily in their original form but a similar ride type. A Tilt-A-Whirl would be wonderful. String lights a la KBF Boardwalk or CP's Gemini Midway Proper area signage (maybe a giant May Pole at that little Intl Street-Action Zone-Coney T intersection?) Updated Festhaus Facade, either fix the glockenspiel or get rid of it entirely. Lighting packages. Lighting packages everywhere. And definitely the most demanded and most prominent... Adventure Express theming facelift. This could almost be a whole season of a 2-year project in this. Fix and add to Adventure Express's theming, maybe up to Mystic Timbers level. Restore the ride to its former glory so that it no longer feels neglected. Thoughts?

Wait, what's this? Is that like a replacement for a height wristband or something?

You simply cannot control a Canada Goose, they're just too horrible. Know someone who's gotten rid of one and lived to tell about it? Exactly.

Yes! That's the fourth one I heard, I wasn't just imagining that! That's certainly true!

At a coaster count of 253, this ranks at #9 combined and #4 wood (behind Lightning Rod, Outlaw Run, and The Voyage) for me. It's absolutely ballistic, theming is extremely appropriate and gives off quite the vibe, and it all fits perfectly in an awesome location. Love the airtime and aggressive tossing on the layout too, my favorite part was towards the end just before the shed where it skips along the water. Overall I think it's the best coaster in Ohio but not the best in the tri-state (that honor goes to Storm Chaser), and I really really like it. The shed? It did what the park marketed it to do, provides an interesting twist to the end of an amazing ride. It'll keep you coming back for more for sure and makes every ride special. Ride for the insane GCI though, not the shed.

Not sure exactly where to put this so here goes! I have decided to do one more thing with my construction photos and media day photos for Mystic Timbers, combining them into an inspirational slideshow showing the coaster's journey from dirt and survey stakes to a modern marvel of engineering and technology. It's two songs and still photos, but seeing the coaster take shape like that I find to be amazing.

One thing I believe is worth noting is that the projector screens in the shed can certainly be changed. Canada's Wonderland does it with WMG (goes from the dragon movie to zombies for Halloween Haunt) so for Winterfest or Haunt or any events where Timbers runs they could easily customize it. I'd love to see zombies or some guy with a chainsaw for Haunt!

The first two I believe are originals of the songs, that last one in the Coaster Studios POV I don't believe is the original of that song, couldn't find that cover when I looked for it. Think there might have been one more that was an instrumental riff (you've probably all heard it and would know it instantly but I don't know the name of that song) but I can't be sure. I want to see them add Never Gonna Give You Up just so there can actually be a Rickroll in the shed. Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell or We Built This City by Starship I could see working with that ambiance a bit too, especially the former. LOVE that radio though! It makes the ride so much fun and I like how it adds a bit of happy in the dark shed, it feels so unnatural and out of place and makes the atmosphere so much more unsettling.

I don't need to explain Mystic Timbers to anyone here, we're KIC and I know we've all been excited for it. To be honest, when it was announced I wasn't expecting much from it. However, as the wood began to take over Rivertown and just the sheer scale of some of these things in relation to others became clear, I knew we had something special on our hands. As a massive fan of some of GCI's more violent creations such as Thunderhead and SFA's Roar, I could tell this had a shot at being my favorite. When it was announced that ACE was invited to Media Day, I knew I had to do it. The initial plan was to host and ride down with one of my ACE friends who was planning to travel in from the East Coast, but she had something come up. Luckily Kat, my region's ACE rep, lives only a few minutes from me so we were able to ride down together! At rope drop, we were walked back through the park, still dark and sleeping silently wrapped in the blanket of the offseason. As we neared Rivertown, the silence was interrupted by the soft sound a uniquely creepy soundtrack, the metallic clinking of GCI anti-rollbacks, and the most unsettling-sounding lift siren ever. We entered a queue line that snaked back through the woods surrounding Rivertown, past the smashed truck as its radio very audibly crackled emergency alerts for the area; something was on the loose. In the chilly air of the morning, we waited surrounded by logging equipment, faint white lighting, and security cameras on TVs giving us the play-by-play on the sketchy occurrences in the woods. After the wait, Kat and I were in the station (which has the tiniest platform ever by the way) and ready to go! The very first thing I noticed sitting down in Mystic Timbers's trains was that the padding was harder, it's the new stuff they have on Lightning Racer. Second off, the restraints are significantly tighter than any other GCI, but it is the only ride at Kings Island where only one click on the ratchet is required. I'm not even that big and I had to yank it down with a bit of gusto to get it to lock for me. But with that, we were on! The rev of a truck's engine filled the station as we rolled out to finally figure out what's in that shed! The slow crawl through the forest at night was the perfect way to set the stage for the moment of truth. Our train engaged the lift and began climbing up over the treetops as the lift announcement played, instructing us to turn our car around. As we neared the top of the lift, the train slowed to a crawl. "Whatever you do," the voice warned us, "don't! Go in! The shed!" The lift sired chimed out as we were dropped into the first turn, which was your pretty standard GCI first drop. And then into that first high turn over the lift, I noticed I was thrown out of my seat just as violently as Thunderhead as of 2014 was doing. And diving out of it, I noticed that the rest of the hops were practically on the ground. I knew from that exact "oh crap" moment that whatever was about to happen was to be absolutely insane. And my god it was! The main ride back by the train loop feels exactly like Voyage and Thunderhead had a baby! You get violently whipped around all over the place and irreverently kicked out of your seat for the entire ride as the train hops, skips, and jumps along the forest floor. Some nice laterals in the turnaround (this ride is seriously laterals done right, not like that garbage helix on Legend) and we were belligerently rampaging our way back to the midway, getting thrown every which way right on a collision course with that shed we were told to avoid so much. Finally, the ride itself finished off the experience by dropping us down to the water, kicking us a few more times, and then rising into the brake run with an ominous building with open barn doors like jaws loomed in front of us. "Stop," the loudspeaker ordered us, "do not go in the shed. Stop, do not go in the shed." The train crept forward as the warning garbled into static. Like others, I had formed a guess for the eternal question that the enthusiast community ran with: #whatsintheshed? It changed as the season went on but on media day eve, I posted it on my Facebook. My thoughts were that Oakley (the tree character from the logo that looks like Angry Orchard) would be projection mapped ripping the walls off the shed to attack the train and then trigger a giant loud saw blade prop to fall from the ceiling spinning, stopping only inches from the ride envelope and scaring the crap out of riders. As the train rolled into the shed, it sunk in exactly what was going on. I was strapped into a coaster train in an enclosed space in which it was understood something was about to happen. And I was completely at its mercy without even knowing what it was. My knuckles turned white around the restraint and I clenched my teeth in preparation for whatever was about to happen. Shot backwards, saw blade thrown inches from my head, anything. Now I won't reveal what happened publicly (if you've ridden it, please PM me for my opinion if you want it!) but all I will say is that it's a fun little twist to cap off a ride on the greatest coaster in Ohio. It's fun, it's quirky, it'll keep you coming back for more, but it isn't the selling point of the ride. Like the ride was marketed (and yes it was), the main focus is the coaster itself, not the little shed bonus at the end. And #whatsintheshed and "ride into the unknown" (on the billboard on the gate) have a whole different meaning to them now. All in all, Kings Island really outdid themselves with Mystic Timbers. This coaster is proof that records, gimmicks, or anything of that nature is needed for a ride to be world class. Mystic Timbers was marketed as a good ride with an interesting theme and fun bonus at the end and that's all it needed. The ride experience comes from the fact that this classic traditional wood ride system was applied with the use of CAD and FEA to create a modern mechanical marvel, the perfect coaster for a park that has a tradition of pushing the wooden coaster to its technological limits and finding new ways to use the system. This is the greatest coaster in the state of Ohio and the fourth best wooden coaster I've been on, above legendary world-class wooden coasters such as Boulder Dash and El Toro. It's really violent, it throws you around, the theme is great, and the location brings it all together to complete the package. Out of 253 different roller coasters, Mystic Timbers takes #9 as the highest ranking coaster in Ohio and the highest ranking GCI. Wanting something by which to remember my new favorite GCI (in addition to the tons of free stuff they gave us for media day) I headed over to the little four-way display they had set up. Talking to employees, Mystic Timbers didn't get a custom built gift shop like Banshee because Banshee's gets no business anymore, so they set up this little display down by the old Crypt building. This will allow you to purchase any Mystic Timbers swag your heart desires but if it puts Kings Island in the red, they can just get rid of it. But for right now, it's permanent. But I bought this shirt and it's awesome. The coaster has a Snapchat geofilter even! It looks awesome! Rivertown will never be the same! Later I met up with Scott Schaffer from Upstop Media who was there to film and his friends Andrew and Michelle for another ride! Scott's great and got me some lanyards to give my girlfriend for her lanyard collection, and he even showed me his gimble and other filming equipment! McCauley Caulkin and Donald Trump ride Mystic Timbers! It was this ride that I noticed that ACE had started the tradition of dancing in the shed! After that ride Kat and I headed out to lunch with Scott Short (the other ACE regional rep over Ohio) and Dave Lipnicky (ACE VP) and I headed home for some rest in between events. All of this was free with media day! This is all stuff I bought! I love the shirt! (Special thanks to my lighthouse bedspread for the cameo in the last two photos) After hanging out at home and freshening back up a bit, I headed back for the First Rider Auction! Traffic wasn't too bad but I got there ridiculously early, early enough to tailgate the parking gates a bit. But once we got in I got to start meeting up with people I hadn't seen all offseason and it was awesome! Jennifer (WailsLikeABanshee) had invited me to hang with her and her boyfriend for this event so I met up with them at Red's Hall of Fame Grille with dinner. After, we headed for Mystic Timbers for their first ride! I couldn't tell at first if she liked it because her first reaction was to ask for a glass of water, but she later admitted it was her new #1 so that's great! We spent most of the evening just power lapping the thing! Also got to meet up with Josh (Stashua123) and Melissa (Beastie1990)! All of us went for a ride after! Met up with them and a few others and we all had a nice convo about the ride outside the gift stand. KIC meetup! Sadly this pic didn't capture the moment when Melissa almost cracked my nose with her skull getting thrown into me (which was HILARIOUS) but we had a blast! After that the sun began to go down and the night rides were on! One more ride was all we needed and it was insane! Walking out was bittersweet. I was sad that the day was done, but extremely happy to have welcomed this new mechanical wonder to the world. I know it has the brightest future ever ahead of it so long as Kings Island maintains it as militantly as it deserves to be. I was already starting to hear the lovely screech of side friction wheels on the later rides, so I can tell it'll break in quickly and nicely. On the way, we passed Sweet Spot and spotted a kid with Josh's exact shirt color, glasses, and hair inside! Wanting to be jerks, Jennifer and I ran up and tapped on the glass only for a kid that wasn't Josh to look at us like we were crazy! And that laugh right there was the perfect way to close out the day. What an amazing day full of two amazing events! Thanks so much to everyone who gifted me with this opportunity! Thank you Kings Island and ACE for Media Day, thanks to the Dalton Foundation and my donors for making the First Rider Auction a reality for me! Thank you GCI and Kings Island for installing the newest generation of a timeless ride system in my backyard. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing coaster so close to home and that'll surely make life with my home park that much more special! And a special shoutout to my ACE friend Celia for trying to make it out here, I can't wait to get you on it! And a very special "haha you missed out!" to my girlfriend for not making the effort to get down here on the grounds of "the coaster looks lame."

The drop track probably isn't possible anymore even with the sloped blocks because they're sloped at such negligible angles that it wouldn't add probably two feet to that level. All it has to do is throw in a bit of a forward gravitational force vector onto the train to gradually pull it through, not give it any actual speed. RMC does this too. The slope can be nearly negligible to the naked eye and design constraints, it won't give them enough room for a drop track from what I'm seeing.

^Yes and no. If it had a really high station like Banshee or maybe even Diamondback, it could have a substantial drop. But it doesn't, the track installed shows the exact station elevation and there's no way it could stay within rendering and have enough height for a considerable drop at all.

I think we're looking at a show scene akin to Wonder Mountain's Guardian in the shed featuring our good foliage friend Oakley from the logo.

I noticed something when I was there getting pictures on Sunday. The number on the left is obviously the pre-lift bit, notice how it pretty much dead indicates the level of the station track. This is shown to be level with the shed in the shed rendering, so that should be the level of the shed because if A=B and B=C, A=C. Now look how low that is, if that's a drop track it's the lamest drop track ever and a massive waste of money. Got the rest of the pictures I took on my blog if you're interested but that's the biggest thing from my construction update.

http://www.aceonline.org/fliers/Fall-o-ween2016.pdf There's an event at Kings Island the day before but on the 16th ACE will be having an event at Coney Island! Will any other KIC members be there? We get ERT on Python, the Top Spin, and Rock-O-Planes, buffet, a mini golf tournament, ride takeovers, and more! Who else plans to be there?

Can't wait to see this bad boy in person Sunday when I go! I plan to spend some time observing the construction and taking pictures if anybody wants to meet up and join me, maybe we could make a joint update or something? If anything someone come say hi! Can't wait to see it, though. Hoping to get some perspective on this project fairly soon.

The thing is that it would be so much cheaper to just put beams to hold the trusses from the bottom if it's just a straight shot. Footers are expensive to do and what it would take roughly 35 to do that way would take only like 6 with steel beams. They only have to do a few footers and throw down some giant pieces of steel to hold it up rather than dig a ton of footers. Now Skyrush has the really tall footers but it's all over the place. Timbers will have only a few rows of load-bearing posts that need to traverse the river, something that could easily be done with a few footers and beams as opposed to one giant, expensive footer per post. I'll be very surprised if they don't do this but in essence, yes. It's like what RFII has in that it's using a frame to hold up a structure of two-force members that can take the bending from the various portions of the two-force posts in multiple spots along the length.

^I'd guess something along the lines of Hoosier Hurricane or Hershey Comet, in that they use an I-beam spanning the water with the truss anchored into it. This can support the bending moment that would be created by multiple point loads along it.

I've been thinking about this and I think the answer has literally been staring at us in the face the whole time. What's in the shed is in plain sight. Please take a look at the 360 view of the shed, notice that aside from the station, the whole thing is held up by wooden stilts. A drop track can't go there, there's literally nothing for it to drop into. In the POV video you can see a sort of brick shaft under it, that's the station. This elevation view is probably more accurate, and there's nowhere for the track to move in it. So, what could be in the shed then? Direct your attention to the ride's promo video. Notice that while it does show the general idea of the park being taken over by twisting vines, it's just that. The vines look to be growing rapidly and all, but at the end of the day, they're just vines. Something key is missing from the ride's branding. You see trees and vines and branches take over the park, but it just looks like plants. Take a look at the logo and you'll see something unusual. Notice how the logo of the ride, the key graphic supposed to convey the mood and idea of the ride, features a sentient tree with a face that came out of a Hollywood family (one was in Wizard of Oz, one was in Lord of the Rings, the one kid that never really fit in now makes a living off of an apple ale business ) that looks nothing like anything in the promo video. Throughout the entire branding and promotional process of this ride, this sentient tree (who I am now naming Oakley and will refer to as such ) has made literally zero appearance outside the logo. Oakley is literally the ride's mascot and we have yet to see him once, and to me, that's kind of weird. My theory? The park is pulling a Wonder Mountain's Guardian inside the shed. Like, a line of projection screens running down the brakes. I feel like the ride will represent our run to escape these vines and at the end you'll end up face to face with our friend Oakley in a projected show scene to end the ride, possibly with a bit more to tie the story up, such as Oakley almost getting you and then a helicopter spraying pesticides killing him at the last second. Maybe if the park wanted to add some immersion they could add back pokers to the seats like in 4D theaters to make it feel like the vines are creeping up on you. Kind of a messy post but I think my theory about Oakley in the shed is a good one.

Was at the announcement yesterday for this. Just a thought, could Mystic Timbers have been engineered to run in this? It appears as if all the brake hardware is enclosed in the shed, so as not to have to deal with snow and ice and the like. The big issue with coasters in the cold is that they run so slowly they can't complete the circuit, but if I'm correct wooden coasters lose less kinetic energy than steel coasters due to steel wheels. I know Outlaw Run needs to reach 37 to open and closes when it hits 35 so that's kind of reasonable for the milder Decembers we've been having. And with Timbers being right next to the Rivertown station (confirmed to run during Winterfest) it would make sense to have it open.

I was at the park for the announcement yesterday, you can now see them assembling bents next to the old Crypt building. From Diamondback you can clearly see they're bents, no way to legally photograph from above though. Probably for the bottom of the drop. By the way, hi! Long time no see.

So for my big trip for 2015, I decided it was time to hit up the great state of Pennsylvania east of Ohio. I'd always seen it as a state full of industry history (Hey! I'm a poet and didn't know it!), nice non-chain parks, and home of Skyrush, which has been towards the top of my bucket list since it opened. And being the only state I haven't driven into from Ohio yet, I thought it was time to cross that border alone and knock those parks out. My plan for this state evolved through different forms involving Kennywood, Lakemont, Knoebels, Hershey, Idlewild, and Dorney. However, the final selection was Kennywood, Hershey, Dorney, Knoebels, Lakemont, and Delgrosso's. I also decided to stay with my grandparents the nights before and after to cut an hour off the offensively long, lonesome drives. Coaster Crew, one of my other clubs, was also set to hold an event on the 15th that I wanted to do at Hershey, so I structured the trip around that. Finally, after all kinds of waiting and enduring insanity at work, the trip rolled around and I left for my grandparents'! Day 0 After waking up and getting stuff to survive the trip, it was off to my grandparents' in Columbus! The drive there wasn't that bad since I'd done it before and I knew how to get there without a GPS. I always loved the view from their house. Not enough to open the blinds to get this picture, but I like it. This afternoon I also joined them in my grandpa's daily ritual of sitting down, turning the TV on, and watching bad court shows for hours on end. Judge Judy, Divorce Court, People's Court, you name it, we watched it. Introducing my grandparents to the selfie stick! After a nice dinner of grilled steak, freshly made fries, and Stella Artois, it was bed time. For I had to wake up to get to Enterprise the next day! However, it was during dinner that I found out about the Raptor incident at Cedar Point and told my grandparents. I thought this would have been stupidity, but it might have been a bad omen to my upcoming coaster trip... Day 1 So the day didn't start so well. I got to Enterprise completely prepared to get on 270 and hit Pittsburgh that morning. WRONG!!!! I didn't know you needed a credit card or utility bill to rent the car, and if it wasn't in my name, they wouldn't let me rent it. As much as this irritated me (considering how I needed to change the oil in my personal car to begin with) I just brushed it off and got on the road with my own Focus, knowing that if it blew up, I could take a dump on it, scratch it, and I wouldn't owe anybody anything and instead just have to deal with my parents. But I had a car, and I had a chance! So I got on the road to Kennywood! Pittsburgh has earned the new nickname "ArmPitt of the Rust Belt" from me. Of every city I've seen in this region in which I live, I've NEVER seen anything as awful as Pittsburgh. This is easily the red, flaky buckle of the rust belt. It's literally rusting away, the roads were crumbling, the streets were laid out ridiculously, Luckily driving wasn't that hard, and before I knew it, I was at Kennywood, and was able to use the preferred parking pass that my friend Jamie gave me at Rougarou Hullabaloo to get in quicker. Here we go! +6 here I come! Thought I'd try to start the trip on a good note with Sky Rocket. I expected it to ride like Full Throttle did, smooth, full of airtime, and some nice force throughout. C'mon, Sky Rocket, you let me down! I was expecting way more insanity out of this than I got. The trim at the top kills any airtime you might get, the inversions were nice and intense (though nowhere near as insane as anything on YOLO), and the MCBR completely ruins anything after it. Good coaster, a solid addition to the park, but not at all what I expected. Up next was Phantom's Revenge, an old Arrow turned Morgan that people around those parts still call Steel Phantom after all these years. I wasn't expecting to be blown away by this one but it looked fun. Luckily, I was wrong. Some of the airtime on this thing is insane! The first two drops aren't much to write home about but the bunny hops and terrain portion following easily makes this the best ride in the park! Morgan should've done this to Vortex at Kings Island because it's awesome! Once I photoshop the station roof out of this picture... Going up! Waited an hour for Exterminator next. And it proved to be another surprising cred! The theming on this is awesome and it spins like crazy, way better than that piece of garbage at Beech Bend! Up next was a cred with sentimental value that I hadn't even ridden! My parents lived in the Pittsburgh area when they were younger and they went to Kennywood as a younger couple way before I was even born and rode Thunderbolt. Now, over 21 years later, here I am riding it! It had National Amusement Devices trains. <3 <3 <3 And it proved to be fab as well! I loved how they had it dive off that hillside to start the ride, and then put the lift hill in the middle. This is easily my new favorite classic coaster. The rider they paired me with (you need a buddy to ride) tried to hit on me during the ride which was a bit annoying but she was still pretty nice and the ride was great fun. There's a double down or double up (I think it was a double up) that has a nice headchopper with a tree combined with a spot of airtime which is easily the best part of the ride. I loved how it was classic but still really unique with the terrain action and the two separate parts of the layout. I give it a golf clap. Didn't get any Jack Rabbit pics but it was also good fun. Long wait, but I liked how it didn't have lap bars, just a thick grab bar and seat belts like an older shoot the chutes. Not as good as Thunderbolt, but the double down off the drop with no lap bar is terrifying with just the seatbelt holding you in! And then began the most vile, offensive part of the day. The line for Racer was out the switchbacks. For a moebius loop. So I had to endure that twice in the blazing sun. The cred left much to be desired but it has a beautiful 1920's station...that's really hard to photograph nicely. But it's still beautiful. Sadly, the cred did nothing. As much as I wanted to do Noah's Ark and Black Widow, I was out of time and still had a huge drive to Hershey ahead of me, so I did some tat shopping and booked it. After a casual lunch of a sandwich my grandma packed me and hot Mountain Dew that had been in my car all day, I left the park. Final thoughts on Kennywood? It's the perfect metaphor for the whole state of Pennsylvania. A third is really nice and modern, a third is classic and nostalgic, and a third is just ghetto and disgusting. You can tell it's old, it has some charm to it, but the location in which it is is just awful. I was originally going to take smaller highways to Hershey but after texting my mom asking if the Turnpike toll was worth it and realizing it would cut an hour off my drive, I decided to go for it. So I left and hit the Turnpike. I learned that their toll roads are nothing like the ones we have out in the southern Midwest and southern Appalachian states where I'd driven in the past, but I learned that it was way easier. Just take a card, go, give it to the guy at the end, and give him cash. So much easier! Not to mention the sunset drive across Pennsylvania as the sun set behind me and turned the sky pretty colors behind the mountain was gorgeous. The turnpike is almost entirely straight, there was hardly anybody on it once rush hour passed, and while I didn't stop at them they had rest areas similar to the ones in Canada that had food and gas and the like, not just a bathroom and pamphlets like most of them. This thing has to be the best bit of infrastructure I've seen anywhere. Once I got to the hotel, woke the sleeping night clerk, and checked in, I crashed in my room with some Ramen noodles and a casual Stella while calling my parents. I laid out my clothes for the next day with my car keys and Coaster Crew lanyard, because I knew it would be a big day with the featured coaster of the trip literally on the horizon! UP NEXT: A Milestone Credit (according to some), Behind the Scenes at Hersheypark, Breaking Skyrush, Inversions with Airtime, and plenty of pictures at Hersheypark!

Thanks. So everything on the Rides and Attractions page on the haunt mini site is a go? It seems to be everything that isn't Planet Snoopy. And do they do passholder ERT on these days and when does it start if they do?

Hey, this is probably a dumb question, but they run the coasters during the haunt, right? I'm bringing friends from New England to the park on Friday night and Saturday morning in a few weeks and I want to make sure they can get all the coasters.

^I would totally second this. My guess would be to move Sling Shot over to X-Base. Paint it black and maybe put chrome on the pod and it would fit in perfectly. This would free up some space for them to reroute the Oktoberfest path around and allow them to put Flying Scooters right next to the pond a la Surfside Gliders. My next thought would be to put in a Disk'O Coaster like the Point did but we already have Surf Dog. From there, I feel like an Alp-themed Himalaya would be nice across from the Festhaus. An entrance arch at the Coney Mall, International Street, and Action Zone entrances would be nice too. Finally, they could make the Festhaus glockenspiel operational again and put some string lights in to bring the area to life at night. Having the biergarten along with a lighting package would probably make that area come to life at night.

I'd advise doing this event instead of Holiday World, Kings Island is providing free food so you don't get ravenous. Sheesh, I'm howling at these jokes! XD