What ride did KI make the biggest mistake in getting ride of

[TombRaiderFTW]

1 hour ago, SonofBaconator said:

So do you think Sally took advantage of the recent film?

Sure, as much as smart business decisions can be thought of as "taking advantage of" something. See also: cartoon/comic book Wonder Woman getting several new Six Flags rides around the same time as the DCEU films, cartoon/comic book Spider-Man getting a few new Universal rides just before the Tobey Maguire era, etc.

[BiscyJS]

I really do hope they bring back Phantom Theater in some way but at the same time I don’t really trust Cedar Fair to pull off a dark ride. They don’t have the cleanest dark ride record under their belt. You have their rethemings to Boo Blasters (not really all that great), Wonder Mountain’s Guardian (which is okay), Voyage to the Iron Reef (which no one really cared about), and Knott’s Bear-y Tales (which seems pretty good). It does help that their most recent go at it went over alright, but they still have little experience with it. 

[SonofBaconator]

On 4/9/2023 at 6:48 PM, Captain Nemo said:

Not technically a ride, but I'd like to mention what was removed in order for Diamondback to be built. IMO Diamondback removed more then it gave with that being the entire vibe of Rivertown. DBs construction is responsible for the removal of the TRTR plaza, old Beast plaza, the lake, Rivertown Mining buildings, and pretty much obliterated the aesthetics of Rivertown. I enjoy Diamondback, but I would gladly take back old Rivertown.

Something I’d like to get people’s opinion on:

Diamondback’s grass never seems to get too long as it’s regularly cut. Would it look “junky” if they let the grass grow and let nature reclaim part of the park? Normally I’d think overgrown grass would look bad but considering Rivertown is in the backwoods area of the park, would it look more natural?

[BeeastFarmer]

9 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

Something I’d like to get people’s opinion on:

Diamondback’s grass never seems to get too long as it’s regularly cut. Would it look “junky” if they let the grass grow and let nature reclaim part of the park? Normally I’d think overgrown grass would look bad but considering Rivertown is in the backwoods area of the park, would it look more natural?

I think it would look unkempt. I understand they want splashdown views but I wish they would selectively plant trees and bushes.  

Also... Fix the hardscape. We have blacktop, concrete, and papers.  Pick one and make the area consistent.

[beastfan11]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:44 AM, BiscyJS said:

I really do hope they bring back Phantom Theater in some way but at the same time I don’t really trust Cedar Fair to pull off a dark ride. They don’t have the cleanest dark ride record under their belt. You have their rethemings to Boo Blasters (not really all that great), Wonder Mountain’s Guardian (which is okay), Voyage to the Iron Reef (which no one really cared about), and Knott’s Bear-y Tales (which seems pretty good). It does help that their most recent go at it went over alright, but they still have little experience with it. 

Definitely feel like with the recent thematic upgrades with Adventure Port, they have the chops to pull off PT/dark rides. Now, whether or not they would is a different story. But I have the utmost faith that they can. Ten years ago? Not so much. But I’ve been impressed with Mystic, Orion, and now AE + all of Adventure Port. Here’s to hoping!

[PKIDelirium]

To answer the thread title's question, I'm going to say the original Antique Cars. Paramount was bad at putting things where they didn't fit, like building IJST using less than half of that land instead of Action Zone where it would actually fit the theme of the area. Action Zone itself was meant to be a backlot, but instead they bulldozed a large area, an attraction the park itself was designed around, and just thunked it down there while leaving the rest of the property a bunch of flat grass.

Regarding Diamondback, I'm sure it would be done differently now in a more area-fitting way, but the early Cedar Fair years focused more on catching up on things Paramount had lagged on, especially the spree of building B&M hypers. Maybe if Paramount hadn't done IJST how they did, Diamondback's station area could have taken the place of the closed Rivertown Antique Cars area and crossed the pathway using the lift hill instead of the drop, without removing the lake. The return run could have been a tunnel under the midway to get back to that side of the path for the finale element and brakes.

Obviously there's no way to bring back Swan Lake as it was, but there's a lot of open grass on both sides of the pathway there, behind Showplace and also across from Diamondback that's sat vacant for a very long time now. A new lake as an entry to Rivertown could use both of those areas, with the pathway bridging over it. Diamondback's repaint is a welcome step in making it blend in more, but things like landscaping around the pool, upgrading and theming the queue, replanting the excessive number of removed trees behind the former Crypt building to better obscure the back half of the ride, there's plenty of things that can be done just with theme and landscape work to fit the area better.

(There is still a box of broken flip phones that forms the "theming" for the queue. That got old ten years ago, guys.)

[OverlandTaxis30]

3 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

To answer the thread title's question, I'm going to say the original Antique Cars. Paramount was bad at putting things where they didn't fit, like building IJST using less than half of that land instead of Action Zone where it would actually fit the theme of the area. Action Zone itself was meant to be a backlot, but instead they bulldozed a large area, an attraction the park itself was designed around, and just thunked it down there while leaving the rest of the property a bunch of flat grass.

 

You and I both agree.

[rlentless]

I definitely agree with the Swan Lake removal . . although I love Diamondback.  So I thought the return of Swan Lake in The Vortex spot would be nice.  Theming with a flat or two, restaurant, shops like they have done with Adventure Port.  Not sure of the theming but something to match Rivertown.

Then concentrate the next new coaster to be in front with the replacement of Invertigo, Congo Falls, etc if they are close to retirement.

Trust me I'd love to have a new coaster in The Vortex spot.  But I think some year soon that Invertigo will not pass inspection and be SBNO.  I don't think they can build two coasters in both The Vortex and Invertigo spots quickly.  Then we'll be looking at another empty area for a few years again.

[3dgyrat]

On 4/17/2016 at 3:32 AM, MaestroJr said:

Phantom Theater by far was the worst mistake to remove. Sure Phantom was costly, and required heavy care and maintenance. But I think the main reason why it was removed was to keep with the current rides that Paramount wanted. I rode Phantom Theater in 2002, and many things on it needed desperate TLC, (like the furnace guys arm falling off that I saw one time). Instead of repairing, they went with the cheap fix of just replacing it with a ride with far less things that needed constant care. Also all the other Paramount parks were installing similar Scooby-Doo Haunted Castle rides, so I think that Kings Island just wanted to keep up and continue with the status quo. If Paramount never owned Kings Island, who knows Phantom might still be around today. I loved Scooby-Doo 's Haunted Castle as well but Phantom is my favorite and defiantly should have never left as it was far superior and much more creative. Hopefully though in a short while we will see something similar to Phantom be brought back to the severely lacking dark ride department. But I guess a dark ride is better then none at all!

MaestroJr

I never got to ride Phantom Theater but I heard good things about it in its prime. The scooby doo ride that replaced it wasnt too bad when I was younger, but when it got close to being replaced by boo blasters it had lost a lot of its luster. Now its just terrible, its a shell of what it once was just with random neon paint splatted around on everything. Everytime I went through it last summer I saw pieces literally sitting against the wall not even where it was supposed to be. I remember being able to see behind the library room because the fireplace piece wasnt even attached, it was behind the setup next to the actual wall. I like being able to sit for 10-15 minutes and cool off on a hot summer day, but the ride needs upgraded desperately. Would love to see phantom theater put back in there, but i dont see it happening. 

[kingsislandfan1972]

Vortex but then again, I suppose it had to go eventually. 

[KIEagle33]

6 hours ago, kingsislandfan1972 said:

Vortex but then again, I suppose it had to go eventually. 

We all know she had some time left on her...