Sometimes when I look at a photo of Monster like the one above, I appreciate how complex the ride is, especially considering the time from which it came. I realize its complexity is also kind of its downfall in some areas, but really its such a fascinating hunk of machinery for how old it is. I will be glad to hear all the little motors whirring in sync again next season!

It'd never fly today with the (good and justified) safety standards, but I'd have loved to see the painted ground return. Were the red fences in the background replaced for a reason or were they just a casualty of time? I've seen them in so many early KI pictures and think they look a whole lot better than the black bar fences currently found around the park.

I'd be happy if they put a pause on adding more mini-lands in favor of focusing on improving the original areas of the park. Area 72, Adventure Port, and Camp Snoopy are nice but I hope we see an Old Coney, an Oktoberfest, and a Rivertown expansion/refurbishment before the park carves them up even more. Some of my previous iterations for this area included a new flat ride in the Saltwater Circus plot, but I've been really set on a 2-level indoor restaurant or a small pond surrounded by a lot of nature (to make up for the lost Swan Lake). After some measuring, I've found that a 1 story building around 8,000+ square feet could fit there and could be larger depending on the footprint. It'd be half the size of the Grand Pavilion at Cedar Point (16,000+ square feet on the ground floor), but you'll be hard pressed to find a space for something of that size at Kings Island that could also fit into its surroundings. A flat ride might do well though.

Monday 12/15 was a great night to see the Christmas lights with snow completely covering the ground. The crowd however was very low but park management did a great job tonight. They kept the park opened for the advertised hours.   Racer and Flight of Fear were operating all night.   Racer was just operating the red side and the blue side still has snow on the tracks.    Mystic Timbers, Soap Box and Sol Spin were closed.    The train and Shake Rattle and Roll closed early and most of the outdoor entertainment was canceled.  They also quietly closed down the duplicate restaurants earlier in the night (pizza, burgers). But there were rides open until Park close and restaurants open until at least 930.  

The Schwarzkopf type monster is a trade-off.   It is quicker loading because all gondolas load at the same time, but it does not have as high of a range of motion of their arms so it’s a bit less thrillIng ride