LondonFreak

Or a line for a new food stand. lol

I have never waited more than 30 minutes for Banshee, Diamondback, or Vortex. I remember waiting in lines for Vortex all the way to the Juke Box Diner, and the line went quick. Vortex, Banshee, and Diamond back are good at cycling people off and on the rides. I also am impressed with Mystic's load/unload times, as I have only waited an hour max for that ride, even when I have been told the queue is almost two hours long. Banshee and Diamond back have also been quoted to me as two hour waits, when they are less than 20 minutes with several queues open. Vortex had a line last Saturday, but we waited maybe 10 minutes. The Bat is also one that is almost always a walk-on as well.

The Fastlane is worth it if you go on a Saturday in June or July. But splurging for all season? That depends on what you ride, how often you go, and if you go on a crowded day or not. Also, if you are planning on going to the waterpark, there are a few things on the Fastlane Plus there as well. Like I said, Fastlane is great for some, but bad for others. It is a know when you are going to be going and what you want to ride to make that determination!

There are several B&M Coasters that have the tracks filled with sand in the hollow track pieces due to noise. I have heard that GateKeeper is has portions filled with sand as well, but I do not know if that is true or not.

Chaos was new last year. They would probably just relocate it!

Thanks!

This space has been cleared for quite a while. I looked at some Google maps satellite images, and that has been a clearing for a while. Now, they have gotten a little larger, but these are older clearings. Link to the images is below. https://www.google.com/maps/search/kings+island/@39.3435127,-84.2596378,633m/data=!3m1!1e3

The Arrow trains make Vortex iconic. The trains actually are one of my favorite details about the ride. Although, some upgrades on them would be nice!

Are the specials on the dining plans? My bf and I got the dining plans for this year.

Probably some sort of ride servicing facility or for pipe work or electrical work. That is a very small area to clear, and kind of far away from most of the clearing. Plus, one of the ride boneyards would be in plain view of a new coaster if it went out that way. It would be awesome if they are laying out the new coaster out that way though! Could be wrong though.

Would they be able to put it that close to The Beast without leveling the land? I know that much of The Beast had naturally rugged terrain.

I think that it would be awesome to see any sort of dark ride in that building or an indoor coaster. KI lacks dark rides. It would be nice to have that A/C in the summer!

Cedar Fair rotates their large park investments. One year, Cedar Point will get minor upgrades, and KI might get major upgrades and a flat ride or something (i.e. 2019). They really seem to try and avoid opening two coasters in Ohio in the same year as well. This is because KI and CP are now meant to compliment each other. Not to even mention that Kings Island is one of their major focuses (i.e., we get a lot more new rides rather than hand-me-downs from other CF parks). Also, CF basically bought their only other park that was major competition in OH at the time (they shut Geauga Lake's amusement park down shortly after acquiring KI). Now that Cedar Fair has both major Ohio amusement parks. There is no way they want to give up their Ohio monopoly. Especially with the influence that KI and CP have had on the amusement park industry. It also gives Cedar Point bragging rights. Kings Island has cyclical large investments, but Cedar Fair pumps significant amounts of money into KI every year. It seems to go in 3-4 year cycles. It goes coaster/thrill ride (Firehawk from a closed amusement park (2007), WindSeeker (2011), Banshee (2014), Mystic Timbers (2017), and B&M mystery coaster (2020), then we get renovations, flat rides, and major improvements in the years we do not get major thrill rides. This does not apply to Soak City, as they do major upgrades more sporadically.

I agree with the shade idea. Also, half of the people walking on International Street are too busy on their phones or looking at everything else around them rather than ahead of them. People running into the trees are just flat out doing out of their own stupidity!

I tried out the meal plan last season on a day where I was going to be there all day, and it was $30 for a meal every two hours. I ate a lot that day and rode little (it was pretty cold and windy that day, so many rides were down). This year, I purchased a meal plan and retained my drink plan. It seems to be worth it for the meal and drink plans.

The bathroom "dead zone." My friend and I were talking about that today. My boyfriend swore that there was one near and then could not remember where it was. Also, were they working today? We did not see anything from WindSeeker or Racer today. And we tried to look through a couple of holes and separations in the fence. As far as we could tell, there was no activity. This was around 12ish-4ish today.

Thank you! The paint still looked super vibrant and newer than three years old. Then again, like I said before, I could just be mixing up my years at the park. I have been there so many times in the past 12 years, that they all blend together!

I was wondering the same thing! My I went with my boyfriend and two of our friends today. I liked the pedestals that used to be in the fountain, but I also liked how the new fountain looked. I wonder if they will bring them back for a 60th anniversary?

It looks like the Scrambler got a new coat of paint this year. Or is this just me mixing up my years? I remember it being purple, silver, and green, and now it is blue with silver cars and purple and green detailing. Even my friend who worked on the Monster, Dodgems, and Scrambler for 6-7 years noticed the change this year....

Cincinnati.com posted an article last October (2018) that included plans filed in August of 2018 with the Warren County Recorder's Office had the plans for the remainder of 2018, as well as for 2019 and 2020. B&M is definitely working on something at the park, because they were on the filing for a project to be completed within that time. I believe that this might be the Notice of Commencement that is floating around in several threads on this site. Thank you, public records for helping us decode the the likelihood of us getting a giga in 2020! It will DEFINITELY be a B&M coaster with the filings already in place. Link to the article is posted below. They even cite KIC! Cincinnati.com Speculation about Giga

It can be pretty easy to see what the park is looking to do. The permits and trademarks filed, to my knowledge are no longer under the control of Cedar Fair after they are filed. This is because if you have to file a permit, it normally becomes public record. This is probably why the permits are very vague. Anybody can request a copy of a public record, so it is almost impossible for the park to keep anything a secret for too long. I know that is how the Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati.com journalists got the information from the Warren County Recorder's Office from a proposal or a permit filing. The park may not like it, but they cannot do much other than use code names to an extent.

Thank you again, robintodd!

I think that Cedar Fair has really been good in the thrill department for KI. Yet, within the past few years, the theming is beginning to return. I hope to see this trend continue, as CF parks seem to lack theming.

I could see them using it as a sign piece. I could also see them using it for a Haunt decoration (maybe the ride graveyard). There is a reason that they saved just that one piece and the rest of the track has been cleared out...

Yes! Mostly because there is a lack of shade and A/C! I also think we need some more thrilling flat rides. Delirium and Drop Zone (I know, technically a tower ride) just do not always cut my "flat ride" fix. But WindSeeker is wonderful at night!