Congo Falls

[RailRider]

Maybe the water tower is a security meassure for all the Flaming people do about SOB, incase it finally catches on fire they would have a nice water supply to put it out.

Seriously tear it down, that whole area was a joke with its layout. Hey look at all the new shiney concrete we put down, looks like an Action Zone to me.

Honestly would like to see Congo Falls moved to the RiverTown area and put out in the woods, would definately give it a better atmosphere, but Im not really a fan of the ride, especially when it is compared to rides like Jurasic Park River Adventure, Tanzanic Tidlewave, or even Journey to Atlantis. Never been a fan of the go up a hill, left turn, drop, big splash. Ohhh I think I just wet myself, nope wait just the ride...

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Flash forward to 2018 which a lot of those types of water rides are being removed. Which it wouldn't surprise me if this one goes in the next 5 years. I think they should take both Congo Falls, Invertigo, and Timberwolf out and use that space for a new parking lot coaster (not over the gate since Ouiment said no changes to the gate). Invertigo I think may end up leaving since Cedar Fair seems to be removing their boomerangs. I see Timberwolf going since the only event that is held there is Spiritsong which I think they should move Spiritsong to the fields near gwl and make it like Rock the World at Holiday World where you can bring blankets and lawn chairs and sit in the grass. Now for the type of coaster. A giga coaster imo if they still don't have one by the time they clear out that space and make the coaster go along the parking lot like Leviathan and have it turn around by the entrance walkway. If they have a giga, then a b&m launched floorless coaster. Make it basically Hulk at Universal as a Floorless, not with the same layout, but a similar idea.

[SonofBaconator]

[Creed Bratton]

42 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I think they should take both Congo Falls, Invertigo, and Timberwolf out and use that space for a new parking lot coaster (not over the gate since Ouiment said no changes to the gate). 

You lost me at this....KI has enough land that having a "parking lot coaster" is not needed. Kings Island has been a place where rides are in typically great settings....do you really think a parking lot is really the best placement for a new coaster? It'd be different if the parking lot at KI was fully paved, had more trees/shade and a great set up. 

[Stoan]

Timberwolf was always an odd addition to the park for me. Weird Al used to use it whenever he was in town (I never made it to the show).

 

What is it even used for anymore? I know they do that religious music festival once a year, but what else? Surely it can't be pulling in enough money to make maintaining that whole area worth it.

[YOULLBEBACK]

I'll never understand the hate for this ride.  It's awesome on a hot summer day.  KI would not benefit from tearing a ride down just to tear it down. 

Timberwolf on the other hand...book some shows dangit!  I'd love to see Weird Al there!

[fryoj]

Coincidentally...

 

[King Ding Dong]

Not much to maintain and if they didn’t make money off of it they wouldn’t do it.   One only needs to look at what CP does for evidence.  CP builds a venue in the CPS parking lot every year to host their event, which has to be much more expensive than what little maintenance Timberwolf requires.  The attendees are largely chaperoned as well which reduces to some degree the need for security staff.  

The same is true for SIX parks, the only concerts they hold are religious in nature. 

I have posted about this before, with the rise of digital music distribution and diminished revenue the business model of the mainstream music industry has changed substantially. Concerts used to be a part of relatively cheap “promotional tours” in support of physical media sales and with that revenue stream greatly diminished it had to be replaced with high budget, expensive, visually impressive shows with accompanying high ticket prices. Counterintuitively Christian artists still sell a lot of physical media.  

Even in the 90s free concert tickets were relatively easy to come by and radio stations would literally give away hundreds for a concert.  These days a station is lucky if they get 6 pairs for giveaways.  

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

14 hours ago, chugh43 said:

You lost me at this....KI has enough land that having a "parking lot coaster" is not needed. Kings Island has been a place where rides are in typically great settings....do you really think a parking lot is really the best placement for a new coaster? It'd be different if the parking lot at KI was fully paved, had more trees/shade and a great set up. 

True, but CF is starting to put b&m coasters at the parking lot to greet the guests as they enter. It probably won't be long until KI follows. It doesn't have to be like GateKeeper since that won't happen, but I could see it go near the front gate like Leviathan does. 

 

2 hours ago, fryoj said:

Coincidentally...

 

Yes, water rides are popular to the GP, but a lot of times the park wants you to go to Soak City to ride water rides.

 

14 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

Haha! That's so funny. I think if they want to move it to Rivertown, they could move it right by White water canyon near Mystic Timbers and make the white water canyon pathway the pathway to get back to the two and put them both there. I definitely think Congo Falls would look nice in the woods. What I know that KI replanted the trees that they took down for MT so they will grow back. I just love to imagine all those trees that were once there with Mystic Timbers there.

[silver2005]

Cedar Point's entrance also isn't surrounded by employee and admissions buildings like Kings Island's is.  KI's entrance is pretty iconic as is and doesn't need a coaster going across it, not to mention there's a lot of other buildings and paths said coaster would have to navigate around to even get to that point. 

[SonofBaconator]

19 minutes ago, silver2005 said:

Cedar Point's entrance also isn't surrounded by employee and admissions buildings like Kings Island's is.  KI's entrance is pretty iconic as is and doesn't need a coaster going across it, not to mention there's a lot of other buildings and paths said coaster would have to navigate around to even get to that point. 

Plus a lot of front gate coasters, GateKeeper, Leviathan, and Fury 325, spruced up the area. KI doesn't need an upgrade like those other parks did. IMO Invertigo is an awesome front gate coaster because you can watch people ride it while entering the park. Plus a front gate coaster would block people's views of the Eiffel Tower.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

48 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

Plus a lot of front gate coasters, GateKeeper, Leviathan, and Fury 325, spruced up the area. KI doesn't need an upgrade like those other parks did. IMO Invertigo is an awesome front gate coaster because you can watch people ride it while entering the park. Plus a front gate coaster would block people's views of the Eiffel Tower.

It's not going to go over the front gate, I said near the gate. The left side of the entrance is not employee stuff. The right side wouldn't be touched. It's not going to Pass over the gate, it will go near it. Like turn around where Invertigo is.

[YOULLBEBACK]

3 hours ago, King Ding Dong said:

Even in the 90s free concert tickets were relatively easy to come by and radio stations would literally give away hundreds for a concert.  These days a station is lucky if they get 6 pairs for giveaways.  

I worked at KI in '96 and was given several CD's from radio stations and/or promoters as I was working.  I remember thinking how awesome that was. 

[King Ding Dong]

Yep back in the 90s it was a quarterly ritual for us to take big stacks of CDs to the used record stores for credit.  These days a CD has to be autographed before we let in the house. 

 

[Creed Bratton]

1 hour ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

It's not going to go over the front gate, I said near the gate. The left side of the entrance is not employee stuff. The right side wouldn't be touched. It's not going to Pass over the gate, it will go near it. Like turn around where Invertigo is.

You're using a lot of language like it's a guaranteed thing. 

Even though I hate Timberwolf, I don't see it going anywhere currently. It doesn't make sense to remove a coaster just so a new coaster can turn around and go back the way it came...especially when that coaster still does well for itself. It just doesn't make logical sense to do something like that when there still is plenty of undeveloped land elsewhere in the park. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

I don't know why they don't have at minimum local bands and talent in Timberwolf every Friday and Saturday nights? Even high school bands could be showcased having 2 or 3 shows on a Saturday. That gives an extra entertainment opportunity for those in the park and adds to KI's offerings.

[King Ding Dong]

What kind of ticket prices do you propose?   The musicians and extra staff will want to be paid.

Next interview you do with a CF executive, I think those would be some very good questions to ask.  Why did the industry, namely CF and SIX, stop having rock concerts and only occasional Christian concerts?  

  

[SonofBaconator]

I wouldn't get rid of any of it unless there's a better payoff

[fryoj]

4 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I don't know why they don't have at minimum local bands and talent in Timberwolf every Friday and Saturday nights? Even high school bands could be showcased having 2 or 3 shows on a Saturday. That gives an extra entertainment opportunity for those in the park and adds to KI's offerings.

I'm sure the extra staffing costs, between security, cleanup, etc, would be part of the issue. A lot of local bands would do it for free for exposure, but there is still additional costs to the park. But does the park see a chance for ROI? I just don't know that they'd get enough extra ticket sales to cover their costs. 

[silver2005]

Timberwolf is probably hilariously out of date for any band to consider playing there, even for free exposure.  

Timberwolf isn't in the same ballpark as Riverbend or places like Bogarts (where smaller bands tend to gravitate). 

When's the last time Timberwolf was even updated (I'm talking top to bottom)?

How about inviting the plethora of community bands and orchestras that operate in the summer?

[Gordon Bombay]

10 hours ago, fryoj said:

Coincidentally...

 

If you look in the background of this shot (or ever find yourself in Timberwolf), you can see one of the lights from the Adventure Village/Wild Animal Habitat days. 

[Phantom Theater]

41 minutes ago, Gordon Bombay said:

If you look in the background of this shot (or ever find yourself in Timberwolf), you can see one of the lights from the Adventure Village/Wild Animal Habitat days. 

They made a little error in that post... "Congo Falls celebrates 30 years in 2018 " but then they say "Congo Falls, has been making a big slash with park visitors for parts of the last four decades". 

[Rivertown Rider]

^ Technically it would be part of four decades, from the 80s until now.

I would still love to see Congo moved over to Rivertown.  I do like the idea of it sharing an entrance with WWC.

[bjcolglazier]

32 minutes ago, Rivertown Rider said:

^ Technically it would be part of four decades, from the 80s until now.

I would still love to see Congo moved over to Rivertown.  I do like the idea of it sharing an entrance with WWC.

I don't think it's gonna happen, but I agree. There's so much concrete where it's at now, the whole "Congo" theme is completely lost. Ridiculously so, compared to how it used to be. It'd get more action in the trees at the back of the park, I think.

[dtk1378]

While I agree that the placement doesn't really fit the theme of the ride, it's nice having a water ride on that side of the park as there really isn't any other ride to cool you off in that area unless you want to just stand under the mist on the Banshee sign 

[westcoaster]

Move it tto Rivertown, set it to a lost River, and incorporate some inside buildings, and some tree top sections.

Also send it to Water Park. 

[YOULLBEBACK]

12 hours ago, Rivertown Rider said:

^ Technically it would be part of four decades, from the 80s until now.

I would still love to see Congo moved over to Rivertown.  I do like the idea of it sharing an entrance with WWC.

^Technically, not until opening day and/or it's first ride cycle will it be part of four decades.  Sorry, couldn't resist

[fryoj]

2 hours ago, YOULLBEBACK said:

^Technically, not until opening day and/or it's first ride cycle will it be part of four decades.  Sorry, couldn't resist

It has operated in the 1980's, 1990's, 2000's, and 2010's. It has operated in parts of four different decades. KI's statement is factually and technically correct. 

[MDMC01]

Personally, I like Congo Falls and it would be great if it stayed. 

At the same time, I'd love to see what it would look like (as in, a 3D modeling of some sort) if Congo was moved to Rivertown. 

Also, RE: Timberwolf... I would love it if that amphitheater used more often for local bands (or they could even have a Kings Island-produced show there!). They could have local bands do Friday or Saturday night shows there (I'd go if it was a Saturday and either included with admission or even a $5 upcharge)! They could even rope off half of the stadium as these bands may attract much smaller crowds than the headliners for Spiritsong. 

[YOULLBEBACK]

On 3/8/2018 at 11:49 AM, fryoj said:

It has operated in the 1980's, 1990's, 2000's, and 2010's. It has operated in parts of four different decades. KI's statement is factually and technically correct. 

I hang my head in shame...you are correct.