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It's time for KI to get a new front gate!


Shaggy
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the front gates would be ok in my book if they still had the old ticket sales booths in front of them. i like the feel of high quality theme & detail, but we all know Cedar Fair for being a "one trick pony" by making everything generic & uniformed to all the parks; as compared to in the past where all the parks had there uniqueness & made a visit to that park something truly extraordinary as you got something different that drew you to go visit those places in the first place.

I had forgotten about when they were in the front. Does anyone have any pics of the front gate from when the ticket booths were in front of them?

i believe that topgun93 has one in one of his "countdown to opening day" threads.

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A German theme would look great, but since the entrance gate is at the head of Intl St, it really should be focused toward American style in my opinion. The design of American Theater in KI is pretty basic (to apply to a front gate, at least), and so I leaned slightly Victorian - it references the foundation of KI (which essentially is Coney Island), parts of Coney Mall, and particularly the Carousel (the oldest ride in the park). It also would just lead to a warm, festive, and more visually appealing entrance, in my opinion, and be fairly easy to overlay on the existing structure.

See a before and after sketch.

Final draft coming soon.

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I didn't like the idea of a new (or renovated) frontgate until seeing your sketch! I love it! And as much as I would love to keep KI the way it once was, that notion is unrealistic. Change is inevitable in a world class them park. In my opinion, the front gate had an era stamp on it from the moment it was built. During that period, parks seemed to want to move away from the stigma of the old look (like Coney's entrance). Those early entrance gates are more asthetically apealing to me.

~Josh

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I really like this design, and I'll agree with one of the previous posters, it does remind me of Disney. Since the metal detectors are now gone, a revamp of the front gate area would be welcoming. If I'm not mistaken, the International Restaurant was added in 1973 so it's overdue for a remodel.

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I think since Don Helbig watches over these forums, he will probably see this, and maybe we'll have some inspiration for a new entrance next year...

I would love flags lined up on top of the entrance with all the different countries' flags.

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My personal favorite style for architecture is very contemporary. Part of me loves the idea of having the KI entrance completely rebuilt to be modern and "world class". But I also love the sketch Matt made. Although it isn't my style, it is Kings Island's. I also love jdawg's idea of having the countries flags! Just hope they don't number all of them... ;)

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What you have to remember about the front entrance too is that you have guest services and the bathrooms too that would get redone. On top of the bathrooms on the other side, gift shops and other things. The front entrance just doesn't have IR. So if the front entrance gets taken out for some reason, all that other stuff goes with it.

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Things to remember is the IR is used for various functions during the season and the off season. There are shops, rest rooms, and guest services in use in the building and if they were to tear it all down and build a new front gate, how long will it take? Can it all be completed when the park closes and it opens again the following April? If it serves it function, then why build a new one?

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I would love flags lined up on top of the entrance with all the different countries' flags.

International Street doesn't really have the "International" aspect nailed down. You think adding a bunch of flags to the entrance will help?

The true "international" aspect of IS has been missing since the mid-90's.

At this point, adding anything will help.

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In the drawing, would the turret come out away from the building, or be built into it? The reason I ask, is because it would be a bit awkward walking under a platform that, I would think, does nothing except add to the aesthetics.

The idea was to have that middle section built out, even just a couple of feet - the balcony could be faux, but the intention in the drawing was to have it working. Maybe have park dignitaries or mascots greeting guests from above as they enter (on special days), or even allow those from the IR access from the back for sightseeing, etc.

Initially, I was just trying to come up with the best design (that had some aesthetic reasoning - focusing on the park history), that would be a fairly easy and cost effective way to transform the structure.

Overlaying a new style (Victorian Second Empire) + adding some faux dormer windows and porch seemed to make sense - the existing rooflines match the mansard roof of the Vic 2nd era perfectly, and the turn-of-the-century architecture matches the themeing of the Carousel and Coney Island historical ties to the park as well. It would just make sense if they were trying upgrade at the lowest cost (as opposed to tearing down and rebuilding a whole new structure).

I would love flags lined up on top of the entrance with all the different countries' flags.

Me too. And like others have said, the true International Theme of the main drag is pretty much gone (along with much of the dedicated themeing that used to exist throughout the park), but wouldn't it be cool if they revived it ( international settings/themeing/food within their originally intended buildings, etc.). Even though the original concept is fading, it's still called International Street, and placing flags across the top to reference this is a great idea. I'll add that to the final comp.

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I don't like how blocky the entrance is. If they added more details on to it and gave more definition to the walls, such as moving some farther back and others more forward, I'd like it a lot better.

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Wow, that looks... different. Thanks!

(I also can't help but notice that the current ticket sales buildings aren't there- I always thought those were original!)

nope; to my knowledge, current ticket sales came when they took out the old ticket sales (bout the time paramount came to town).

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Nope. Those buildings were there pre-Paramount. I don't have an exact time frame, I just know they were there before then. My first year in Admissions was 1995, and I know the Season Pass building and "Big Booth", aka the Group Sales building, were there long before. The old GA booths were taken out sometime after 2004, which was my last year in Admissions. :)

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I would love flags lined up on top of the entrance with all the different countries' flags.

International Street doesn't really have the "International" aspect nailed down. You think adding a bunch of flags to the entrance will help?

I wasn't really thinking about it that way. I still think it would look cool.

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