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When you go to watch BeachBlast X-Treme! and you see the last Vice President and General Manager of Kings Island, Mike Koontz, in the audience with you. Mike says he is enjoying retirement and doing well!

Hi fellow KI fans - I hope this is allowed here... I am posting this to give serious KI collectors the chance to own a piece of Kings Island History. I have had the pleasure of owning "Tag" the dog from KI's original dark ride "The Enchanted Voyage." This piece is in original working order and operated in the ride from 1972-1983. Since his time with me, he's been in storage, because I simply do not have room in my home to display him. I'd rather him go to a fellow KI enthusiast that can enjoy him so I have listed him on FB Marketplace. I'll link below. The amount I am asking is due to my desire of ensuring that whomever buys him will respect his provenance. I live in Louisville, so any interested parties would need to travel here to acquire him. Its a fun, piece! https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1497403075519022/

This feels so long ago.

You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette. Alternately, some times you have to plunge a toilet to flush a turd. For too long, alot of management at the company has been turds. Flush them out. With less passes sold, maybe they will take notice and new blood can reinvorgarate. The problem with a park like KI that is highly penetrated is that people will still come. Nostalgia can be a stronger motivator than price. KI is hurting from too much penetration.

Son of Beast was arguably the most picturesque coaster in history. I miss seeing SoB looking down from Drop Tower.

I can confirm from an inside source that a pile of dirt on the former SoB station platform has indeed moved. Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

I’m showing my tenure on this site- a long, long, time ago there was a running joke where everything was a diversion.

I often wonder what the end game was in mind with keeping the station. I can't imagine it was kept up for the sole purpose of Wolf Pack/any other possible Haunt attraction. But then again, I guess anything is possible. I just often wonder if there was ever a plan to reuse it for another coaster or even a flat ride. One tends to ponder seeing as most coaster stations get leveled long with the ride itself and those stations that are kept intact are often reused for another attraction. Also those photos on Reddit are cool. Brought back a lot of memories from my teens/early 20's riding SoB with my cousins and friends. It's almost eerie how that station just seems like it's waiting for a train to come back from running the course but never will arrive. Glad someone was able to get some photos in before the station is either gone completely or altered.

(You’re right, though. Totally nailed it.)

Passes and meal plans, etc. were too cheap. Maybe this could (in hindsight) be looked at as an over correction a year or two from now, but the reality of of the situation is that they spent years giving away the gate, handing out meal plans for a “dime,” and watched as the masses poured in. It’s not so much that the majority of passholders “abused” the situation, but it’s obvious, post merger, that that model is not sustainable in this new Six Flags reality. Seen plenty of plenty of negative reactions online about this today. These are a lot of the same folks who bragged about much “advantage” they got out of their pass, dining/drink plan, etc. Interpret that however you want. Theres a balance. At the end of the day, the situation is what it is. Between the merger and the ultimate failed strategy of passholder add-ons, cheap passes, and whatever… things have changed. The price of gold/prestige passes have, for a long time, been priced way under what they should have, market value be darned. Look no further than the returns, reaction, and overall value when it comes to attendance vs. in-park spending. Whether it’s Disney or Six Flags, less can be more if/when it comes to attendance if guest are still spending money. And in many cases, guests are still willing to renew and pay regardless. That being a good or bad thing is certainly up for debate. Trimming the fat, increasing prices, etc., I hope would/will result in a higher quality output in terms of new additions, cleanliness, added events, and more. Look no further than Haunt. Sure, it’s an upcharge now when it historically wasn’t, but the quality of the event been better, right? I mean… Conjuring? Order of the Dragon? The reported $60k investment in the new Jason maze? Not to mention the concerns about crowds, clientele, and beyond. I personally don’t want to see anyone out-priced from visiting KI the same way I want to be able to take my family to Disneyland without selling a kidney. But it’s hypocritical to celebrate the perceived value of season passes, drink and meal plans, perks, etc., and then turn around and complain about crowds, added retail/alcohol sales, increased prices, lack of non, thrilling “thoosie additions.” I don’t care for the majority of any of these changes. But I’m personally willing to let my dollar go farther when it comes to the overall park experience, given the current status of the chain as a whole. And ironically, it’s not all bad. Look at the aforementioned Haunt experience, PT:OE, certain food experiences, operations… I mean, it’s stellar. But that’s not to say there hasn’t been a handful of miserable fails over the last season or two. Because there are plenty. At the end of the day, I hate to come across like a fanny pack wearing, apologist, thoosie chud. but looking at this as an opportunity to “right the ship” and increase quality as a whole could be for the best. If corporate is committed to that. That’s a big “If.” Who knows. Shareholders are weird. Business is weird. Eh. I don’t know, gang. It’s ultimately irrelevant in the grand scheme of it all, in life, and everything. This is what’s supposed to make me happy…. More importantly, what’s your favorite seat on Adventure Express? I need some levity and optimism.

A Camden Park season pass is $160 plus another $40 for parking for those that want to say it’s too expensive.

^the park could face fines for not completing basic maintenance. Without a huge security barrier, someone could get hurt or killed as well. The ultimate solution would be to build a huge fort around it to fulfill the promise to The Beast that the park made...when he gave the land he inherited from his son when he died, the park promised never to tear the lair down.

I don't think we will ever see anything like SoB again. At least not a fully wooden roller coaster of that magnitude. It feels like a fever dream looking back at it now.

The furnace heat blaster and the flower smells were working on Saturday.

So what I'm hearing is that they should just build another fort around the SoB station 🤣 I will say that the structure already doesn't look terribly great. Even with the nostalgia and speculation surrounding it, we have to recognize that the old photo booth is in tatters, there's a "random" overgrown queue line, the fencing around the station is continuing to deteriorate, and the structure itself is rusting away. If it is to be demolished before the end of the year then I bet it'll be after the park goes to weekend operations. That timeline would allow them to bring more equipment onto the pathway during the week (or bring anything down from the station via the exit ramp). Once everything is removed from the station they can start demolishing the exit ramp and bring the rest of the structure down without having to close The Bat and Banshee.

Maybe the lightning bolts released more Ghost Notes than the newly-recruited ushers could handle. 😉

That was how I Interpretered your statement 🤣 But at the same time, it appears KI filed to have it condemned and not Mason.....

I think the construction might be for a new PFAS filtration system given that it’s right next to the water tank. The park filed a permit a while back to install a new PFAS filtration system, which makes sense since Kings Island was recently found to have high levels of forever chemicals in its water. The article below is behind a paywall, but it reveals that Kings Island was found to have levels of forever chemicals in its water 6.3x federal guidelines. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/08/21/are-there-forever-chemicals-cincinnati-water-see-map/85706338007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z1177xxp000150c000150e1177xxv003748d--60--b--60--&gca-ft=178&gca-ds=sophi

You are late to the party. Everyone knows that is the first stage of construction for Step Sister of Bavarian Beetle!

The current stage scene is smaller than the original, and is also smaller than the library scene that existed in SDatHC and BBoBH. I wish they could've scaled down the animatronics and made the room feel bigger.

Ok this is the moment I've been waiting for - My review of Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare! So most of you probably know I relocated to Seattle last year and I was traveling through the area this past weekend and stopped by the park last Saturday and got two rides on Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare. The first ride I just rode through taking in the details and the second ride I used the flashlight to play the game with the ghost notes. First of all the entrance - I don't love the repurposed castle. I feel like they could have done better with that and made it more unique and different however I appreciate that most of the budget clearly went into the ride interior vs a fancy exterior. The que was fantastic. The darkness and the lightning effects were great and really set the tone of an abandoned theater. I was worried the purple wallpaper would be almost Dr Seuss like but the dark lighting makes it look really really good. The audio in the que was loud enough to hear it over all the talking so I was able to hear all the preshow dialogue. The hallway portraits were a nice touch considering that they were a stable of the older version of the ride and are absent from the current version. They actually look much more like paintings in person vs in photos you can obviously tell they are screens. Enjoyed the dialogue loop here as well and it was also loud enough that I could understand what each character was saying The shooting element of the ride I personally found to be distracting. I played the game the second ride through but in a way every target looks the same and I actually found it distracting and hard to take in the actual rooms and characters while chasing ghost notes. I think it's a nice feature for kids who don't appreciate the artistry of a classic dark ride but I personally would probably not play the shooting game on future rides. The sets and scenes were all great and some of the little details are fun - for example I got stopped in front of Hilda's dressing room and noticed all the little fan cards on her mirror (details you miss when just riding past the scene). The did think the stage scene seemed a bit small but loved they payed homage to Phantom Theater Encore. Also, the boiler room was working full force and I love the roses scent at the end of the ride. Hopefully the park will continue to keep all these effects working. Also the original bust on the left after Sir Pretzel was really cool. Glad they were able to incorporate that into the new version of the ride. All in all I really enjoyed the ride and I'd definitely ride it every visit if I still lived in the area. Sounds like I'll have another opportunity to ride it May 2 as my sister is getting married on May 1 this year so I'll be traveling back to Cincinnati then.

I think the problem is that there's no indication that there will be any actual improvements to the guest experience next year to go along with the increased prices. Even just publishing an operating calendar, committing to continuing Winterfest, and publishing a menu for their $400 dining plan would go a long way, but I don't think it's surprising that people aren't happy about a place that's gone downhill so much over the last few years demanding more money from them. The slight increase in pass prices isn't going to help with the crowding or clientele issues, and the ruining of the dining plan just makes me think there will be even more reduced staffing and reduced availability for food next year.

I just chalk it up to the usual formula of when companies expand and get too large too quickly there are so many details that get minced along the way. And while this merger is still in its infancy and still trying to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up, this feels significantly more painful to witness and experience than the before times when CF acquired the Paramount chain. Things just feel so disjointed in a way that continues to confuse and dilute whatever image this mess is trying to cultivate. I realize there is a lot to do here and I want to believe that the end goal will be a more cohesive, polished product. But the lack of clear communication, the constant switching up on the guest and the lack of passionate and excited announcements just gives way to a very corporate focused mindset vs. a clear focus on the guest experience/satisfaction. Who knows what any of this will look like in the next 5 years. Who knows if this merger will even last that long. I just hope that whatever happens, things tighten up and improve with far less confusion/switching-up and a lot more clear communication and consistency.

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I want to reiterate that I reaaally hope coaster enthusiasts understand that this is why "[insert smaller chain park] needs a new coaster, they deserve it, it's been [number] years since their last coaster and if they'd just install a [insert ride model name], I'm sure it'd bring people in, if they'd just give [park] a chance" is not a sound business strategy. I am especially singling out how we discuss parks like Michigan's Adventure, Six Flags St. Louis, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Valleyfair, Kings Dominion, and the like. Fun Spot Atlanta existed for decades before the Fun Spot purchase and before ArieForce One. It was "their turn." They got a BIG "chance" from chain management. It brought no increase in attendance and took the park down with it. I really hope we can embrace more nuance in how we discuss theme park chains going forward.

The ride showed no increase in attendance will have parks lining up to buy it.

I did not read that the same as everyone else here. I read it as we were able to turn off the sprinkler system, and it will stay there until we are good and ready to do something with it. Structures are condemned all the time and still remain standing.

I feel it may be one of those instances where they weren't going to tear it down unless they have plans for the area, much in the same way when they took seemingly forever to tear down the coaster pre-Banshee build. I think there's a good chance something may be happening in that area, I'd give it at least a coin flip of a chance. Which also now makes me worried about Bat...

The gang and I took a very short trip up to Gurnee to experience some of what Great America had to offer for their 50th anniversary. Here's how it went. We left Thursday night to start our drive and were able to make it into the parking lot right as the drone show was ending. It looked interesting from what we could see, though that wasn't much. This was very much a "We're this close, so why don't we just go see the park at night from the outside" kind of thing, so we didn't mind not going in. After that we had some late dinner and headed to the hotel. The next morning consisted of breakfast and waiting for the park to open at 10:30AM. Our hotel was pretty much right across the street so it wasn't like we could waste time driving to the park. They opened the parking tolls around 9:45AM, we were able to scan our pass with no issues, and then we decided to forego parking in the Preferred lot since there were plenty of spots closer to the security entrance. It looked like Preferred was a "somewhat guaranteed parking spot on busier days" deal like at Cedar Point. Not the closest, but it'll be good when you need it. My first impression of the park during the day was that it has a nice skyline. We got in line for security, waited for the national anthem to play (they direct you to look at the Sky Tower flag instead of any of the other 6-10 US flags near the entrance), and then the line started moving around 10:10 or 10:15AM. Their security setup was kind of odd since they didn't seem to be enforcing a single-file line through the metal detectors like at Kings Island. We were then sent around a planter toward the front gate. The associates used park-owned smartphones to scan our passes — similar to how Six Flags America did — and the system pulled up our information much faster than it has at KI anytime this season. My number one first amazing thing I learned about Great America is that they still have paper park maps available!! It's updated for the 50th anniversary, but is still in the old Six Flags map style. They were in a little holder right at the turnstiles for anyone to grab. Carousel Plaza looked so pretty yesterday morning with the new park sign and fountain jets. We took a ride on the upper level of the Columbia Carousel and got some great views of the front of the park! This ride wasn't without its issues, though. It has mandatory seatbelts on each animal which are not very accommodating to plus size folks. I was able to have mine buckled with some help (the buckle itself was closer to my back than my front), but one of my group members was unable to fit it around their waist. I can understand why the ride has seatbelts — especially on the upper level — but there is no way the seatbelts need to be that short. All of this was an omen for the rest of the rides at the park. I managed to spot some landscapers actively working to prepare a planter bed at the entrance to Orleans Place while I was up there. We were able to check out the Maxx Force gift shop that has the original scale model of the park and the some classic Six Flags merch. Hometown Square is a fine little area with some entertainment potential. I think we passed through at the wrong time of day to get a proper look at it since a lot of the rides hadn't opened yet — the railroad didn't open until noon. I contemplated taking a ride on the Whizzer, but decided against it after seeing the line waiting for it to open. Southwest Territory was our next area. The entrance into the land takes you under another railroad trestle, and this one felt better than the entrance to Hometown Square because it didn't have a giant LED screen over it. We really wanted to ride Chubasco (their spinning teacups), but we couldn't tell if they were about to open or if there was an associate positioned there waiting for a specific time to open the ride. We ended up not riding it. The theming around ST is nicer than around the rest of the park. Their 2nd generation Intamin Drop Tower (funnily enough the same version as the one in California) had some great rockwork and theming as well. I ended up riding the River Rocker (a smaller canoe version of Viking Fury). It was shockingly tight and I had to kind of pre-position my stomach so that the bar could automatically lower enough to verify. The ride operator, Rocco, was wearing a cool helicopter hat which lifted my mood after I thought I was about to make a walk of shame. Something interesting about this ride was that the water trough beneath it was completely empty. That might be a classic Six Flags blunder. We made our way into Metropolis Plaza where, and I kid you not, the only attraction/dining location/shop in the land is Justice League: Battle for Metropolis. The blacktop pathway and unshaded outdoor queue left a lot to be desired, but luckily we strolled right past it and went into the indoor queue where we only waited 5 minutes. I took a precursory ride before the rest of my group to make sure that the restraints would fit our largest group member. It's just a basic lapbar that can accommodate large people, so they were fine. This dark ride was nothing like what I had expected. My ride description is in the spoiler box in case anyone else would like to be surprised during the ride. Heading back under Demon brought us into County Fair, Great America's largest land. I will say it right now: this land is too big for what it needs to be. Wrath of Rakshasa and Demon are so cut off from the rest of the area. Demon still has its incredibly ugly sign, which is now framed more by WoR than anything else. Google Maps is showing me that it used to be all red and was placed on top of a short wall — much better than the flame paint they have now. I'd ultimately love to see it get a better sign and some orange paint on the running rails before too long. Demon rant over. The entire stretch between WoR and the entrance to American Eagle feels very ugly and disjointed. I'd like to say that getting rid of/retheming/redecorating X Flight would help, but I don't think it will in the way I'd hope. Most of the games also looked to be closed. We had lunch at Johnny Rockets (more about this in the next paragraph) and then went over to the train station. They had a nice whiteboard sign stating when the train was expected to be in the station. I've been thinking that it'd be nice for Kings Island to have something similar, but if KI got one I'd want it to be a series of analog clocks that can be adjusted from the control panel. The railroad itself is a nice reprieve from the sun and is mostly covered in shade. There are various Looney Tunes figures standing along the route in comical poses. I noticed that they still have a water tower even with a (presumably) diesel engine. As another forum member pointed out some time ago, the foliage is overgrown and is especially noticeable aboard the train. You know it's bad when the associate has to say "Please don't touch the trees" while the train is in locomotion. Now for my rant about the merchandise. There were some fun options in some of the gift shops, but the variety didn't really make me want to buy anything. I saw a few AI shirts and a lot of generic DC/Looney Tunes merchandise. What really irked me was the near-complete lack of supply for any shirts bigger than a size large. We found a few XL and at least one 2XL shirts in the 50th anniversary shop, but it was nothing like the good size variety KI has. There were also zero magnets 😭 I collect them as my go-to souvenir to say where I've been and despite looking so hard, there were none to be found anywhere in the park. Is it something to be upset about? Not really, but I think the park is missing out Overall, I feel that Chicago's Great America is a somewhat fine park that could use some thoughtful improvements. It definitely still has that cheap Six Flags stink vibe that brings the park down in my rankings, but I would like to see if it's able to be improved with some Cedar Fair flair. Would I have preferred to stay longer so I could get on more rides? Honestly, no. The park needs a lot of quick fixes to patch up the "harm" legacy Six Flags did to it alongside some longer-term fixes that will take at least a decade to clean up. Part 2 with my thoughts on the rest of the park will be coming soon.

Wonder if it's KI, SALLY or a combo of both still making these tweaks. It seems like theres more dialogue now as well, or at least yo can hear it better. I rode it this week 2x and feel like the ending w Maestro and Larry had different lines each time - both ending with a variation of "You'll be back:"

Yes, I was so happy to re-home Tag to a fellow Kings Island fan/collector. He will be safely preserved in a private collection along with many other very special KI artifacts.

I agree with Don here. I want more transparency and park information in general. The little amount the park actually posts and informs people on social media is astounding. An example would be to look at how much we posted on social media about Grand Carnivale versus the park. If they actually posted about the SOB station coming down, we would all be thinking it was some sort of hidden meaning based on their normal posting habits.

Condemned doesn't necessarily mean it has to be demo'ed. It just means a process of rehabilitation and inspections to be done to get it able to be permitted for use again.

Kings Island just released this awesome video on social media showing the 30th Anniversary Of Flight of Fear! https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17heZ1mLr1/

Some of you know that I relocated to Seattle Washington last year and I became involved in a restoration group of a 1927 Dentzel Carousel formerly located in Chester, WV. We have more volunteers now than ever before (about 100 people in total involved) however we have hit a major hurdle. The carousel mechanism is currently stored in a warehouse that got condemned. The roof collapsed in one section and we think the carousel needs to be moved before next winter. We don't have the funds to pay for storage space and the local governments that were interested in eventually having the carousel on city park property were hit hard last year with floods and are no longer interested. The carousel is a complete Dentzel mechanism and is missing all the horses as they were sold off when the carousel originally closed back in West Virginia. More information can be found on the website but I'm hoping that someone somewhere on these forums might know of other government entities or non profits that would be interested in carrying this vision forward? I appreciate any and all leads to helping this incredible machine find a new home. https://www.snoqualmievalleycarousel.org/

I agree. There was something so magnificent about seeing that mountain of a coaster rising up in the distance as I’d get closer to the park. It was just so… iconic.

Music definitely seems better. The entrance area seems to have a track ive not heard previous to this week. The overall sound system seems to be running an underscore based on the original theme, and the in-car audio seems to be carrying Larry's voice over with individual characters having their own dedicated speakers. Sound levels in the queue seem much better as well with both characters being heard in all areas of the queue.

I think the park was more than happy to let the Son of Beast station stay for as long as they could. It didn’t really cost them any money to keep it, it served a purpose as a haunted house, and it’s mere presence kept enthusiasts speculating. Now that the building is officially condemned and all of the haunt props have since been removed from it, I think the park can’t keep kicking the can down the road and finally has to address the aging structure. If many of you recall, there is an actual house that set within the loop of the train. A fort façade was built around to hide the house, and the integrity of the house began to wear overtime to where it eventually collapsed- but you wouldn’t know it because it’s covered by the fort. The Son of Beast station, however, is 100% within the public eye as guests pass it when on their way to ride The Bat. Heck, even if for some reason, The Bat was closed and they blocked that path off you could still see the station from Banshee, Drop Tower, an to an extent the Eiffel Tower. If bits and pieces of the structure begin to deteriorate and crumble people will be able to notice that. The station itself is close to The Bat so I’m sure that the park has to finally address it. I honestly think that’s why The Vortex station was never saved, same as Firehawk’s, it’s probably the best interest of the park to tear out a structure instead of kicking the can down the road.

After seeing some reports from other parks, I'm starting to think that Six Flags is making an effort to condemn/demolish various dilapidated buildings across all of their parks. It might be part of an effort to both beautify the parks while also removing the burden of care/upkeep that might otherwise come with these structures. Magic Mountain in particular will reportedly demolish their old Laughing Dragon restaurant and one of their old sky ride stations while Kings Island is at least looking to condemn the Son of Beast station. I wouldn't be shocked to find out that this effort hits every park in some way.

Went to the park the first time this season yesterday, had a blast, Phantom theater: Opening Night was great and did it twice, first time using the flashlight and the second time just taking it all in, rode Congo Falls the first time in decades and really enjoyed it! The drop and splash were so good, you get soaked, I hope they keep it for a long time. If you haven't rode Congo Falls for a while, go ride it, you won't be disappointed! The nighttime show as fun as well.

There are some people who I consider a gift to humanity. He was definitely one of them. What an incredible life!

For Kings Island, I think it did. KD, Dorney and a few of the others were the parks that didn't get an "upgraded" Haunt but still attempted to charge. People still bought at KI, CP, Cwland. I can't remember about Cwinds. They may not have liked it, but they bought the mazes.

With BG parks having demolished and rehabbed coasters over the years, it will be fun to see what path they choose to take with Kumba. Will it get demolished and a new coaster be put up in it's place or will it get a complete overhaul of the tracks/new trains sort of like what they did for Nessie ( minus new trains on that one )? A third option of course could be that they keep the existing structure and modify it to be taller/longer/etc. I just hope whatever is coming preserves the legacy of this coaster.

Send in the Cranes.

I'm curious what this entails and when will we get more information? Such a tragedy that Kumba is closing. It's one of their best coasters but it's old and seems to have lower ridership most days I've been there.

World's second weirdest teaser campaign after the one for Project Purple.

With the Son of Beast station, condemnation does not mean it will be torn down.

New haunt in SOB station called condemned confirmed 🤣

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

GIVE IN? In our moment of denial? I think you over estimate their chances!

I felt a great disturbance in the Son of Beast revival fanboy movement, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.