cdubbs727

I really liked this and am happy it's returning! I was disappointed they didn't have it last year, and I was not a fan of the funnel cake beer that they replaced it with. Not sure you can get it in the KI area, but up in Michigan Cheboygan Brewing Company sells a Blueberry Cream Ale that reminds me of it (the Cheboygan one is slightly better).

The old generation of Kings Island kids are now adults with kids themselves. And as a parent who takes his young kids to Kings Island, I must say that options to keep the alcohol flowing make my trip much more enjoyable.

Kids still enjoy Boo Blasters. For my kids, I think it's reached the place where the Smurfs Enchanted Voyage was when I was their age -- it's probably a bit too much of a kiddie ride for them, but they've been riding it since their first trips to the park and it's got a nostalgic appeal (even if the guns hardly work and the animatronics are hit and miss).

The International Restaurant. It was such a nice break on a hot day to go inside, get a genuinely good meal (from what I remember at age 12 -- I do remember it was steak, though), and enjoy a great view. I'm really bummed they haven't figured out how to do anything other than special events at this. I also wish they would focus on the food quality and experience inside Festhaus. The pizza is usually not nearly as good as you can get at other locations, and the way it's either pizza/burgers or Panda Express just feels like a food court in a dead mall (the bar is fine, though). Bring back the German food, as others have said, and also put another show in there so there's usually one playing every two hours or so (several times we've gone and there's no show that day). It used to feel like an event to go in there and see an ice show or something truly good. Also, I feel like KI needs a fun family restaurant in Planet Snoopy. Somewhere where you can take the kids if it's raining or get them food in an air-conditioned location without having to leave the area. You could have all the kids' staples -- chicken fingers, pizza, burgers. But the selections now over there are all hot or insanely packed.

Yeah, it seemed a bit inconceivable at the time that SOB could go anywhere. They poured a ton of money into that and hyped the heck out of it. It's interesting to wonder if it would still be around had it not had those accidents...I'm guessing yes, although the loop was probably always going to cause problems. But I do think it if was still around, it would not be one of the park's big attractions...I talked to many people back in the day who were one and done on it. Had they kept SOB, would we have eventually gotten Banshee in another location? Maybe they would have tore down The Bat or it could have hastened the demise of Vortex and been put in that spot. Perhaps we would have never gotten Firehawk and Banshee would have been put in there...which might mean never getting Orion. As someone who felt SOB quickly wore out its welcome, I'm not upset it's gone. We have a much better coaster in its place, and KI has recovered nicely. And totally agree about TR:TR. It really was about as close as KI got to a Universal-style attraction. I never really understood why all the theming had to go after it lost the Tomb Raider license. Sure, you had to lose Lara Croft, which meant you had to lose the narration. But you could have probably kept the goddess, the stalactites and the lava instead of turning it into a big carnival ride in the dark. But none of that would have solved the problem of the ride shaking itself apart. I just remember going from riding TR:TR with all its theming in place one year and thinking it was the most amazing attraction at the park, and going back to the park several years later to ride The Crypt in its tamest mode and leaving so depressed.

I 100% agree on your statement about the Pepper's Ghost illusion in the big theater scene. No, PT didn't reinvent the wheel. And, let's be honest, in terms of animatronics, much of it was typical dark ride stuff. But that theater scene was impressive for a regional park; I went to Disney World for my first time right around the time PT opened, and I was really impressed that the ride pulled off a Disney-caliber effect in that sequence. It's something that seemed a bit more ambitious than what they've done since, since Boo Blasters is largely just some shoddy animatronics and cardboard set pieces. But I also think PT was a much more imaginative ride than people gave it credit for. The fact that someone cared enough to write a whole show about it almost 30 years later speaks to the fact that it had some real nostalgic appeal. And there were characters that people remembered...as opposed to Boo Blasters, which is just...Boocifer?

I'll be honest, there was a part of me that wondered if the two years of the Phantom Theater show would culminate in an announcement about the ride returning in some form. Boo Blasters getting old and could use some TLC. And with KI really leaning into nostalgia in recent years, it didn't seem too far fetched. My fear is if they did it, it would just be a reskin of Boo Blasters, using similar animatronics and reusing as much of the sets as possible (maybe calling it Phantom Manor instead of Phantom Theatre). And I don't like BB, so I wouldn't want to see that. I think that location is the most obvious place, but it's not where I'd like to see them put it. I'd rather they take the existing Tomb Raider building (or tear it down) and build a stately old, frontier-themed theater in Rivertown and install a completely new dark ride. Give it some real attention, use animatronics and some decent effects, and treat it as a big deal (maybe even call it Phantom Theatre: Encore, in an nod to the show). KI could use a really good dark ride instead of the one that's just kind of languishing.

I wouldn't be opposed to a city/state tasting lineup, so that us Detroiters can come down to Cincinnati and show you how to do chili dogs AND pizza the right way!

That seems to be a pretty anemic lineup. The bubble show is not even getting a month; there's a country show (I presume at Festhaus) and another "Rad! 80s sports" type thing I pass by at International Showplace. And fireworks. I assume new shows can be added throughout the year, but as of now there's no kids' show in Planet Snoopy, no Bandstand show, nothing with good music (sorry, country fans), and the Kings Island Theater will be empty for 2/3 of the summer. I don't like to complain -- I assume getting casts and productions together for this isn't too easy in a post-COVID world. But, ugh. A big step down from the days when I was a kid and made it a point to see all the shows.

I'm old enough to have already been of drinking age when SOB opened, and I rode it a few times. It was a cool novelty at first. It was definitely extreme -- it was fast, the loop was cool, and it was genuinely scary. But oof, even in my 20s, it was a back-breaker. I went through so much Tylenol riding that ride. I'm glad to have ridden it; I was not sad to see it go.

Narrator: It actually aged like milk.

I'd contacted the filmmaker when he was looking for help years back, and was tentatively going to be helping with some writing for it. But then I was told he was taking a more personal approach, so the help wasn't needed. But then it seemed that he got a bit too busy and, as others have said, I think COVID made things worse. A shame. I love the books that were recently written, but a visual look at everything would have been wonderful.

I'm going to be 45 this summer, and I've been doing Kings Island since I was 2. I definitely cannot do the "ride til I drop" anymore, unless "til I drop" means halfway through the day. Keeping up with my kids, I've found my feet are killing me at the end of the day, the constant rattling from the coasters wears on me by the park's closing, and headaches are a bit more common. I can still do all the rides (I did age out of Vortex a year before they announced its closure) but now I don't get upset if I only get 2-3 rides on my favorites over the course of a 2-day trip. We're taking the kids to Disney/Universal in about two months, and I'm trying to exercise like crazy to keep up my stamina for the 30,000 steps a day I know we're going to have. But it's actually been a bit of a blessing. With our kids, we have to slow down a bit anyway (although my son is 12 and does most the big coasters). And it's made me appreciate the park more. I love the roller coasters, but I also like stopping to get some pizza by the fountain on International Street, taking some time to enjoy Planet Snoopy with my 8-year-old daughter, take in a show and just enjoy the park itself. You miss a lot of beauty when you're just running from adrenaline high to adrenaline high.

This sounds like a fun little show that could really delight the kids...which makes me wonder why it isn't just going to go at the theater on International Street or somewhere in Planet Snoopy. Maybe it needs lights/sound in a way that only the KI Theater can do it. The Phantom Theater show was a lot of fun and seemed to have a nice little fanbase (I was at the final performance for last season, and the line for that last show was stretching all the way near back to Adventure Port. It was cute and funny, and my kids liked it even if they had no clue what Phantom Theater was. I understand that you probably can't keep bringing that show back year after year, but I definitely would have thought maybe they'd try to re-enlist the show's creator to see what else they might be able to dredge up from KI nostalgia (why not do a musical about Wild Animal Habitat...the Temu version of The Lion King, lol). Maybe the show will be fun; maybe it will be forgettable. I don't stop to view the shows enough for this really to be a big disappointment or anything. But a good show could get my interest.

As an 80s kid who loved the Smurfs, riding Smurfs Enchanted Voyage was a highlight of my childhood. I was so mad when they closed it down, even if, by that age, I wasn't riding it anymore and was the right age for Phantom Theater (RIP). I loved HBL. I miss the days when the Character Carousel actually had characters on it.

It's hard to say. I don't think any coasters or major rides are on their way out anytime soon, unless they ever decide to revamp the AZ area of the park and tear out Invertigo. Congo Falls, as others have said, seems like a likely candidate to leave in the next few years -- it rarely runs and even when it's open, I never see more than 10 people in line. I think the future of Timberwolf will hold the key to what happens with those rides; if they ever decide to tear it down, that's a big area for revitalizing a part of the park that desperately needs it. Other than that, I can't think of anything else ready for removal, although I do think the time is way past for a total overhaul and retheme of Boo Blasters.

Regarding the Aug. 12 closing date. We usually head down that final week of operations (we're from Detroit) because, traditionally, it's been a slow week with kids back in school. This past year, they originally had the final day of regular operations scheduled for early that week -- I believe it was the 12th or 13th; the Tuesday of that week. So, we made our reservations around that and came down, only to find that between the announcement and our coming down, they changed the hours and were now open the entire week. So it's subject to change; my guess, probably based on staffing.

Ugh, This is gross. Six Flags is the McDonald's/WalMart of theme parks, a brand known for being cheap and shoddy. I know it's a "merger of equals" (barely), but I really think it just ends up hurting the existing Cedar Fair parks. I don't want everything to get a consistent look and feel -- I want our local parks to retain their unique style and charm. I don't want constant off-the-shelf roller coasters; I want years where the parks continue to invest in the look and feel of the park and celebrate their history. I want a visit to Kings Island to feel special, not like I'm just going to any other run-of-the-mill park. And while we can hope there's good input from CF on this, I worry that this many parks just spreads them too thin and the parks don't get the love and care they deserve. Best-case scenario is another chain -- but a good one -- buys Kings Island. But who? I haven't been to the Hershey park; is it good? Universal is dipping its toes in smaller regional things in Texas and Vegas, but this seems a bit too much for them. I just have a bad feeling.

I don't know what really to believe (and, honestly, not sure I care; the personnel issues within a regional amusement park don't necessarily impact my enjoyment of said park). I find it hard to believe that upper management -- the people who would have made the decision about Don Helbig -- would be petty enough to go search out a tombstone in the park and deface it. They likely pay little attention to that stuff; the decor doesn't get them dollars. Why would they care? And if his ousting from KI was a business decision, why would we jump to them thinking it was a petty personal thing? Many times, these decisions come down to money. It's not personal. But moreover, for the people who are intent on finding something to complain about with current management, there was no way of handling this that would have avoided any griping. Not put the tombstone out at all? They're erasing Don! Put it out with his name on there? They're mocking him by having a tombstone of the guy they fired! Just let it wear off or take it completely off? They're disrespecting Don's memory! I don't know Don Helbig. He seemed to be a great guy and he's a very fun and engaging social media presence. I hope he's doing well. But some of you are taking this worse than he seems to be.

I think a big key to whatever they do with Invertigo and Congo Falls is whatever their long-term plan is for Action Zone. The area needs a retheme desperately; it's a holdover from the Paramount days that just feels like a hodgepodge. But I also think a huge key to THAT is whatever ends up happening with Timberwolf. It looked last year like there was still life left there; this year, it's kind of back to a ghost down except for random Christian music festivals and sporadic concerts. If they keep Timberwolf, I think they need to find some way to turn it into a destination, one that possibly offers more for people who aren't at the park. In that case, tear out Invertigo and Congo Falls, change it so that those are outside-of-the-park areas and make it a nice Timberwolf entry plaza, perhaps with a nice sit-down restaurant and bar. If Timberwolf stays, I think Action Zone should get a refresh, and part of that means pulling out Congo Falls and Invertigo which, IMO, just look ramshackle and off the shelf. I don't really care if they put another coaster there -- I'm 44 and starting to hit the age where I appreciate more than a good coaster --- but I wouldn't be opposed. But overall, just something to make that area of the park more of a destination -- right now there's Delirium and Banshee, and I could get behind a retheme that makes it a bit of a spookier-themed area of the park (maybe close Boo Blasters and do a new dark ride on the CF/Invertigo plot).

I think it was a miscalculation, and I think an over-correction. My Monday-morning quarterback theory is that they were afraid the stats on MT weren't impressive enough to get the enthusiasts excited (I remember an overall impression that some were disappointed the new ride was a family coaster), and so they tried to goose interest by hyping the shed. The problem? It got everyone thinking the shed was some sort of ride element, particularly as drop tracks were becoming more of a thing. When it was revealed to be just a fun little video to pass the time in the final block, people were let down. The thing is, even though MT doesn't have record-breaking stats, it's a fantastic ride. I know it's not as fast as The Beast or Diamondback, and yet the way it's designed, it feels more out of control and wild i places than those. It's a great ride, one of the park's best, IMO (and a night ride comes close to rivaling The Beast). The shed? It's just a fun little thing at the end -- it's better than waiting for the train to prove, and we've ridden it enough where now we like to count how many times we've gotten the tree/snake/etc. I think in time the ride's settled into its reputation -- people love it; the shed is cheesy fun. But the marketing was miscalculated. Personally, as much as I love the ride, I still wish they'd been able to go with the original theme of it being a derelict roller coaster, where you entered through its ruins.

I get it, but also...The Brady Bunch was 50 years ago. Kids who watched it live then are in their 60s or 70s...is that the target demo anymore? It made sense when the show was syndicated heavily and people were still watching it regularly. But in the age of streaming, is The Brady Bunch still in the cultural consciousness enough to move the needle? I know it's on Paramount+, but are people still watching it in the way they watch "newer" old shows like Friends or Seinfeld? Also, the dates that the show filmed at KI were Aug. 20-24, so it's conceivable they could still post something. But if not, I mean, it's not a huge thing. The park's only open on weekends, it's not going to bring a ton of people in. I get that there are probably areas where the current comms team could improve. But as someone who works in marketing and communications, I can also say it's easy to play Monday morning quarterback, and you also don't know how higher-ups have influenced what they communicate and how.

Maybe they're just waiting for the 50th anniversary of the airing of the episode in November. That's a good way to drum up off-season annual pass and Winterfest tickets. It's not like they did nothing with the Brady Bunch last year for their own 50th.

Also forgot to mention the bees: They were out of control. You couldn't sit anywhere and eat without them swarming you. My little girl got stung just sitting down with cup of pop (glad she's not allergic, but it didn't stop the tears). Not sure what they can do, but the way they swarm the drink fountains is a recipe for disaster.

Visited the park earlier this week and gave it a few rides (it's one of my kids' favorite rides). I felt like the sets got some care this year -- I'd never noticed the fireplace effect before (maybe I just wasn't paying attention) and I like the lighting changes in the stretch with the skeletons. But it's still such an underwhelming ride, and much of that is due to the fact that the blasters are so unreliable. I'd say 90% of the time, my blaster didn't work. Really frustrating. I know people want to see Phantom Theater come back (we saw the last performance of Phantom Theater: Encore, and I was kind of hoping maybe there'd be a surprise announcement at the end of it), and I wouldn't be surprised if KI was mulling some sort of change back to that -- you'll never get the original ride with the animatronics and things like that. But I think you could eventually see an updated take on that idea with some of the characters. But every park seems to love these shooter rides -- and I get it; there's a lot of re-ridability in that. But after visiting Universal last year and riding Men in Black, anything else seems kind of routine. I wish they'd make a blaster ride with some of that speed and spinning. The slow crawl of Boo Blasters is really dull.