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KIghostguy

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Everything posted by KIghostguy

  1. I attended Dorney Park's Winter Chill Out yesterday and got to see Iron Menace in person. I am very excited for this ride! As has been noted many times before, this is something very unique compared to Dorney's competition and will definitely allow them to stand out. It looks a lot taller in person, and the colors really pop. It is shocking that they were able to fit such a huge ride into a piece of property formerly occupied by a Vekoma Boomerang! I am very excited to see the final thematic package for Iron Menace as well as for the surrounding Steel Yard land. The level of detail of what they have done so far is very impressive, especially for a park like Dorney. Kingdom Productions is doing the scenic fabrication; they did the fabrication/paintwork for Adventure Port last year. Everyone there seems very committed to the McTavish Steel backstory, and it's so awesome that the corporate XDS team developed this authentic, regional story to reflect in the park. I also have to note their Ghost in the Machine haunted maze, which we walked through with the lights on. I was absolutely blown away by it! Everyone at Dorney is so excited for this ride. I got the chance to speak to both their Communications Director and their General Manager, and they were so enthusiastic about Iron Menace, Dorney Park, and hosting this event for the first time. It really seems like this project has injected so much new life into the park. I attended Dorney twice in 2022, while I was completing an internship at Hersheypark, and thought it was very "meh." After yesterday, I walked away very impressed and excited for Dorney's future. I can't wait for Iron Menace to open and see where they go from here!
  2. The logo that was used for the 50th was probably the biggest missed opportunity of all. It would have cost them nothing extra to use the vintage logo, and it would have gone a long ways towards restoring Kings Island's unique identity.
  3. Orion is a great ride, and I am happy that we have it. It is probably (at least) top 50 coaster in the world...but we deserved a top 15 or top 10. The theming of it was also certainly a missed opportunity. The final storyline that we ended up with was not at strong as the earlier proposals.
  4. Absolutely devastating news. One of my favorite places from my childhood, and still one of my favorite places to go and show friends when I'm visiting home. Countless family memories there, especially with my late grandparents. I wish that I could buy it myself. Sadly, I don't have $6.5 million lying around.
  5. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2024/january/camp-snoopy-construction-update The park blog said that it was completed at 1:08 p.m. on Monday. I don’t get why this wasn’t shared yesterday.
  6. Already bought tickets for this. Sounds like a fun time!
  7. I have always considered "Together We're Better" from the Partridge Family episode to be Kings Island's theme song. It would be a great song to play to open the park in the morning!
  8. Sad to hear of its recent neglect. To answer your question, it is maintained by the Deerfield Township Trustees.
  9. Woodstock's Air Rail is a really cute name! Really hoping that the attention on the flume marks the return of the vintage logos on the front of the logs.
  10. This was just posted a few days ago. Some really nice shots!
  11. There is a new construction update and video covering this week's progress: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2024/january/camp-snoopy-construction-update
  12. First piece of track has arrived! https://x.com/kingsislandpr/status/1747324151919153244?s=46&t=_CJFgJAIuWrJWzFlR8tzXg
  13. Construction update blog and video that the park just posted: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2024/january/camp-snoopy-construction-update Among some other interesting tidbits, it's worth pointing out that this says Camp Snoopy will be opening "late spring 2024." Does not seem optimistic for opening day, unfortunately.
  14. I enjoyed this blog post. Is this the first year that Orion had the highest ridership?
  15. The latest issue of Amusement Today has confirmed that Gravity Group is doing the work: https://amusementtoday.com/issues/2024/202401/assets/downloads/AT-JAN-2024i.pdf
  16. I rode Pipeline when I was down there for IAAPA last month and was also really surprised! Easily my favorite stand-up coaster.
  17. Apparently, this used to be a nice sit-down restaurant. It's such a beautiful building with a great overlook over the safari area. What a waste to use it as just a (former) passholder lounge and a (terrible) counter-service pizza place.
  18. Dorney Park’s social media has been awesome this year. I’ve really been enjoying their Menacing Minute construction updates—always relevant and insightful!
  19. I took these photos on Friday--it looks like they are continuing to work on the footers.
  20. I recently found out that when Marriott's Great America (the Gurnee one) had Holiday in the Park, they ran Raging Bull, Batman, and X-Flight. The average December temperature in Gurnee (high of 34 and low of 19) is colder than in Mason (high of 42 and low of 25). Very interesting!
  21. Congratulations, Elizabeth! Looking forward to seeing the future of KI's social channels.
  22. Seriously? The sign spells Kings Island with an apostrophe. Last paragraph at the bottom…
  23. Why is the middle paragraph in quotation marks...who is talking?! Mike Koontz?
  24. Mason has a similar average December temperature to Hershey, where they run Candymonium, a B&M hyper, for their Christmas event. Given the crowds here, I would love to see additional coasters added to our Winterfest lineup. I understand that this event is for "experiences," but when you are running basically the same shows since 2017, you really should be giving repeat visitors a little something extra in my opinion. I am very glad that they opened Cargo Loco and Sol Spin for Winterfest this year!
  25. Apologies for this pretty crummy picture...but an update is better than no update. The construction fence has been pushed further out; it now runs directly against the queue for Woodstock Gliders. It does look like there has been a good amount of work done since the last weekend of Haunt. There are large tubes lying out; I assume these are drainage pipes that are either being removed or added. There is still digging equipment on site and it does look like they have started digging for the footers.
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