Hawaiian Coasters 325

Now what I wish they would do is expand the men's restroom up there so its not just one stall anymore.

I agree with that and I think another place would be in Planet Snoopy. I had a concept years back that involved demolishing the Planet Snoopy blue ice cream stand as well as the Snoopy grill there, Tom&Chee, and Cornerstone (the associate cafe) and build something like Harmony Hall or LazyBear Lodge at CW there. Make it 2 levels with a basement and have the basement be the new Cornerstone for employees.

I don't want anything with the letters B&M associated with The Vortex plot. Give me a Vekoma, Mack, Intamin, or HECK give Zamperla a shot but please no B&M!

^^Not that many people believed Orion would be another Fury 325 when it was announced. Even when the layout got leaked and people with engineering minds and Nolimits2 accounts mocked up the layout most people knew it was going to be more like Leviathan than Fury. Most people thought it would be another Fury back when the KI giga was just fanboy talk on forums and subreddits mainly bc CF historically outside of I-305 made their next giga taller than the previous one and loved to shoot for records. So that's kinda why it caught many people off guard when they decided to go giga at KI, but chose not to go bigger than the previous ones.

I don't see why not. KI and CP used to host grad nites I believe CP hosted one up until like 2017 or 2018 (correct me if I'm wrong). I don't remember the last time KI did. I think KI should host one. It would be a great opportunity for local schools around here. I'm just wondering if the park is scared to host it bc of past "incidents" involving school age kids making front page news at the park and they don't want that to potentially happen and ruin grad nite.

I believe it was a mix of both. Yes there was a pandemic and a heavily restricted season Orion's inaugural year. At the same time when people did in fact get the chance to ride it outside of like the first weekend, the reviews that came in on social media were mixed. A lot of people (including me) praised the ride while a large number of people (including the general public not just coaster enthusiasts) were underwhelmed and prefered Diamondback. If the reviews were on the level of lets say Fury 325 or Steel Vengeance we probably would've seen a huge bounceback in people flooding to the park to experience Orion in like 2021-2022 post restrictions but we did not see that and I think a lot of that has to do with the mixed sentiment about the ride which didn't really draw people from far outside of the general market to experience it. I think in Mr. Koontz and the big wigs in Sandusky/Charlotte's mind when planning this ride was "We could get the same ROI on a 300 foot coaster that appeals to a broader audience as we would a Fury 325 style ride that breaks records while only spending 30 million instead of 35-40 million." And I think they found out that it doesn't quite work that way. Im not saying Mr Koontz and them regret building Orion, but I definitely believe the whole "family giga" idea came back to bite them a bit. Im honestly wondering if there was any pushback from those within the park/corporate in the planning meetings on the whole "family giga" idea or if everyone was fully on board. Personally if I was in those meetings I definitely would've fought back against the family giga thing and pushed for something more thrilling or even record breaking.

The more I think about it, I think a ride like Big Bear Mountain named Shooting Star themed around the drive in display at Winterfest would fit very well in that area of Coney Mall. Imagine the theming opportunities they could have. I would honestly love a 50s themed coaster to go along with Jukebox Diner.

Also the fact 2027 is the 55th anniversary of KI and Over TX is building Tormenta for their 65th anniversary and Fiesta is working on something for their 35th anniversary next year. Also Mystic opened for KI's 45th. I wouldn't hold my breath though as the chain is in so much debt and every project (yes including whatever Fiesta Texas is building according to Jeff) was planned either before the merger or the early days of the merger. It wouldn't shock me one bit if outside of the 3 major delayed 2026 projects and Fiesta Texas that we don't see much more capital outside of park improvements or smaller flat rides.

Years ago I went to Holiday World around July 4th and they had an all you can eat buffet cookout in their picnic area. I think that could be something KI could look into and they could sell tickets to it with a discount for those with a dining plan.

I believe 2017 was the last time KI hosted dive in movie nights. However, they hosted the "Island Nights" glow party with ERT on select water rides in Soak City in 2018 and 2019. I believe 2020 they were going to introduce a new "Summer Nights" event in Action Zone, but Covid messed that up and that whole concept was shelved and never revisited. I also would like to see Coaster Camp Out return in some form which was held up until Covid.

That's my thing here. I often wonder that if the CGA coaster happened and with the eventual pandemic soon to come would we still be waiting for the next big thing after Mystic Timbers to be added and would the old giga thread still be going with the constant arguments about one and the paint concepts? Tbh Im glad we got Orion for that reason!

I've always said that KI's 4th of July event should be more than just "come for what's already here and stay for a bigger firework show". Add specialty food offerings, have special activities and entertainment geared towards the holiday. Give the locals something that would make them decide to spend their 4th of July day at KI rather than their local July 4th festival. Bc locals can go to KI pretty much anytime over the summer, but they can't go to a local 4th of July event any other day. Also since Soak City usually gets the most crowded on the 4th, I wouldn't mind spreading some of the "special activities and entertainment" over there. Like set up a stage and do live bands over there. I also think doing some sort of camp fire/s'mores thing in Camp Snoopy as the sun goes down would be kinda cool. I believe Knotts used to do something like that as part of Summer Nights. Like imagine spending your day in Soak City then coming back after the waterpark closes and seeing special camp activities and campfires/s'mores going on. As a kid I would've LOVED that.

Do you know anything about that soundtrack and was it discussed being used on the lift? I also think some sort of "mission accomplished" soundtrack on the brake run would've been cool. Kinda like the old "Awesome Great Job folks!" thing used on the Italian Job brake run back in the day.

Wonder if @DonHelbig can answer to why this soundtrack wasn't used on the lift. I mean he was digital marketing manager at the time.

My 2026 "wishlist" for KI: 1) New music in the park. While I think Area 72 and Adventure Port should keep their own soundtracks I think it is time for a reset on all the music in the park. The jazz on I street is outdated and just doesn't work with I-street. I want the orchestral soundtracks back. Or maybe since 2026 is the 250th birthday of America, celebrate that with patriotic music on I-street like what is played during Tricks and Treats in Coney Mall. Speaking of Coney Mall, it is time to ditch pop music there and do a custom soundtrack. I think you could split it into two areas. If you want to keep jazz in the park, you could have it in the front half of Coney Mall near Racer's entrance. Then in the back half by Jukebox Diner and Antique Autos, have 50's/60s style music playing. In Rivertown, please ditch the bluegrass covers of pop/rock songs and do actual bluegrass/country songs. Sorry, but as someone who likes rock music, hearing a bluegrass cover of "Enter Sandman" just makes me want to puke lol. In Snoopy, it's time to add a custom soundtrack for Camp Snoopy. I say move the playlist that plays in the Soapbox Racers queue line and have it play in the rest of Camp Snoopy. I just think it is a missed opportunity hearing Kidzbop in that section of the kids area. If you want to have Kidzbop in the Planet Snoopy section that's fair, but have it cut off right around the Snoopy's Boutique and transition to "Camp Snoopy" music. Finally for the rest of the park, I think pop is fine, but change the playlist. It's been the same list of songs the last couple of years so I think it's time to add more and maybe remove a few current ones. 2) More limited time special events. No I'm not talking about Food and Wine or Carnivale. I'm talking about pop up weekend events like the park used to do in the past. Like food truck fridays, dive in movies, etc. I also really would like to see the park bring the color run 5ks back. I don't understand why the park doesn't do that anymore. They could get some local organizations to sponsor it and/or have it raise money for a good cause. KI already does the JDRF walks and the A Kid Again Family Festival so they still do stuff like that, but I think a family friendly fun 5k in the spring time would be perfect. I like the color run idea as it really adds to the fun especially at a park like KI. KD still does Run and Ride so it's not like legacy CF has abandoned events like this. I also would like to see Grad Nites brought back (which tbh would kinda sting to fairly recent HS grads like me who didn't get a grad nite at KI). Multiple legacy Six Flags parks do Grad Nite and I believe I saw somewhere Carowinds is doing one so I think doing a grad nite would be great. 3) More New events: Now I'm going to talk about actual seasonal events. While nothing is confirmed, I'm willing to bet Carnivale is not coming back so something needs to go in its place. Obviously other parks in the chain have introduced "La Viva Fiesta" and while I think that would do well at KI, I want to see KI do their own take on a "Summer Nights" event. Like Cedar Point has Boardwalk Nights and Knotts has Summer Nights. Even Worlds of Fun calls theirs "KC Nights". So I think a custom event for KI would be perfect. I think "Island Nights" has a good ring to it and KI has used that name before, but in Soak City. Another event I'd like to see come to KI is some sort of Kids event like Kidzfest at Canada's Wonderland which is very popular there. Worlds of Fun also introduced their own version of Kidzfest and it seems to be doing well there as well. It would be a great way to show off our large kids area. When it comes to timeframe I think Food and Wine should be moved to late April through Memorial Day. That just makes more sense as Food and Wine feels more like a spring time event instead of a summer event. Then hold Kidzfest in June and Island Nights in July/August. Then Haunt and Winterfest during their normal timeframes. 4) A New Indoor VIP lounge: I know I'm not the only one who thinks this, but our VIP lounge is an embarrassment when compared to other parks in the chain. Plus with more people buying the prestige pass, a glorified patio next to the dumpster and restrooms is not going to cut it. It's time to take a page out of Kings Dominion and move it indoors. I personally think the best location for it would be the International Restaurant as it is a large indoor space with a great view that isn't used that often, but there are some obstacles that would likely prevent them from going that route. The next potential location is the Antique Photos building in Rivertown. The final location I thought of is the Graeters building. Idk if it is just me, but I don't usually see that many people in Graeters at KI. I personally wouldn't mind them moving Graeters somewhere else in the park like Rivertown and converting that building to the VIP lounge.