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In honor of the construction of Banshee... here's a look at the removal of King Cobra.

For me, in order for Banshee to surpass Beast at night, it better be lit like this. Picture from RCDB. Link- http://rcdb.com/6667.htm This is Heide Park's wing coaster, Flug der Damonen, and it's lighting package.

Wanna go truly old school?

...or how about a rare look at a drained KCKC...

I have many pics of PT, most of the of the characters up close and personal. I was fortunate enough to see the attraction a number of times with the lights on, walk through it etc. I even went through the workshop that was housed inside where the characters were repaired and replacement masks and costumes were kept. Here's a picture of me (a looooong time ago....) playing around in one of the "scenes" from Phantom Theater. (It's the "Who's out there? No one's allowed backstage" scene.) Again, the pic is not great - it was nearly impossible to get good pics when walking through the attraction with just work lights on. I also have many memories of riding it. I rode it every visit of every year it was in operation. There were minor changes through the years, and many original effects bit the dust after just a season or two. In it's first year of operation, the attraction was insanely amazing. By the final years, the maintenance of it was laughable. One time, while riding, I witnessed one of the character's arm fall off. No joke... in the final boiler room scene.. one of the "How 'bout some heat!" fellas arm fell out of socket and was dangling by his sleeve.

Why are we arguing about these stupid things...I turn to this video for all of you people without a snickers in your life to watch

Ghoster Coaster anyone?

Or how about a rare (albeit blurry) look at the former Phantom Theater buggies passing by the "Pepper's Ghost" portion of the attraction.

We are just 7 weeks away from the Opening of Kings Island's new roller coaster, Banshee. So, I thought it would be cool to do "daily topic" which kind of follows all of last year's Kings Island season. I will post a picture, topic link, Twitter post, or something every day until Banshee's opening. I will try to post something new every day, but things come up and people forget things, so you never know. But I'll try. With that being said, let's get started. Today, we go back to a couple nights before Opening Day 2013, where the first signs of something new start. http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/27263-early-signs-of-2014-expansion/ And also, just 49 more days until Banshee Media Day and Scream for A Kid Again, and 50 days until Opening Day 2014!

Maybe it is one of these...

I'm going to take a wild guess and say this is what our circle will look like. This is from this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/insidethemagic

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Kings Island's new roller coaster will not be that impressively lit. And if the park's recent history of maintaining nighttime lighting (Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular) is a sign of anything, I'm not getting my hopes up on Banshee looking all that great at night, especially a few years down the road. New administration in Sandusky.

When BBOBH (actually Scooby's Haunted Castle) took over Phantom Theater, the set upon which the Pepper's Ghost effect took place was "platformed up." Meaning 2x4 lumber was used to build risers and level the floor with the omnimover track. The base of the Phantom Theater Peppers Ghost set was probably about 6-8 feet below the track so there was probably no real room for a "basement." For those that don't know... the Peppers Ghost scene in PT involved a pass in front of the Theater's "Stage" where the various characters appeared and dissapeared from view. The scene was a direct copy of the one used in Disney's Haunted mansion. The trick is achieved by having the physical animatronic characters located above an below the ride vehicles. Riders were actually staring at reflections of them on a well hidden, enormous pane of glass. This gave people the illusion that you could see through them, and they were appearing at random. It was, by far, the best feature of PT. Here are two pictures I took many moons ago while walking through the Pepper's Ghost scene in PT. It's an empty set, because the remaining characters were behind me in a darkened, unlit space (the ride was not operating and was slated for demolition at this point.)

One can always have A New Hope.

Not a single mention or image of Lightning Run or its construction site during the video or article. Which is to be the signature attraction/coaster this year. Instead the focus is on FearFall. A new drop ride at a park that had a very tragic accident with its previous drop ride. Good work Kentucky Kingdom, your PR and Marketing department are doing a stellar job. Lets focus on this new drop ride that the majority of the general public will think is the one that maimed a young girl only 6 or 7 years ago. I find this all very sad, I wish the park success, but the decisions they continue to make are very questionable.

^Yes someone knows. (Quietly scoots out of the room) Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

People are picky on this site about things. This is why I don't post any pictures or anything found on another site. I'd rather not waste my time with it or get hassled if I do something wrong. I'm looking forward to seeing these lights. I think someone mentioned it a while back but I agree with whoever it was I'd like to see strobes on the back half of the ride.

^ Exactly, not only is it a bad choice but then to promote it in one of the few news segments the New Kentucky Kingdom has had. Once again their lack of knowledge or denial of the past history of KK is baffling to say the least.

...or how about I save them to occasionally surprise folks in threads such as this ;-) LOL!

"A refill, and just 5 minutes of your time please."

Why would they put lockers in the middle of everything. That would not look good at all.

The Chick-fil-a near where I live still plays Christian music with lyrics inside their restaurant. It's kind of nice to sit, relax, and eat your food without hearing music with cursing or sexual overtones. Especially when you're with your family.

I just don't see that being a smoking area. I hope not. I hope this year they really crack down on people smoking in non-designated area, most of the time it doesn't bother me in particular (anymore, it used to choke me), but it's rude so I ask them kindly to put it out. Sorry, going off topic now.

Pretty sure I lost a couple years of my life waiting for my wife and nephew to get off of the Scambler last year.

On this date in 2009, Diamondback slithered its way through its second day of testing.

At this point, I am beyond confused as to why the park management / PR is doing the things they are doing......or not doing the things that they should be doing. I still wish Kentucky Kingdom the best of luck......... ........Because I believe they'll really need it.

^^ No, but a period wouldn't kill you.

I did it respectfully. Notice the sir at the end...you haven't seen me snarky trust me lol Must I put a winkie after everything I type

Wouldn't have to distinguish had no drop ride been installed. Such a baffling choice.

The waterpark portion will be the draw.... always was.

Peppers ghost. http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Peppers-Ghost-Illusion/ It's not the exact procedure used.... the glass wasn't at 45 degrees, but perpendicular. The "ghosts" were above you with ambient light that reflected on them casting a reflection from a large pane of glass in front of you. This gave the impression of the ghost performers were in the Phantom Theater. The process is still in use in Disney's Haunted Mansion in the ballroom sequence.

It's where Tomb Raid... errrrr.... the Crypt... errr..... was, were.... ;-)

My nickname for this place will be Los Pollos Hermanos

I remember my first ride on The Beast the year it opened. It was back in the days of the Running of the Bulls. I was with my family and freinds and met up with this guy who said he rode it lots and to ride with him. We waited for the front seat and I remember looking down the first hill and seeing that small opening way down there......It was a fantastic ride and still is today. I remember they were still building the helix cover and you would have wood slats sticking up as you flew past them. Oh yeah, the guy's name was Carl Eichelman, who held the most rides record on The Beast.

Why not? They did exactly that in Coney Mall.

Shouldn't you guys be sleeping at 2 in the morning? razmataz, yawning

Only thing is, ours would be a lot smaller than the above circle. Doesn't mean it can't look good though. Where is mrs. Mumford when you need her? I hear she is quite the gardener and could probably tell if that is what it appears is going on.

Fantastic photos, Shaggy! Thanks so much for sharing. Two comments for two of the photos: For King Cobra's demolition, it's interesting to see how carefully the ride appeared to have been dismantled, especially when compared to recent demolitions like Kentucky Kingdom's Greezed Lightnin (if the linked picture doesn't make it clear, the ride was practically torn apart in a non-salvageable way). Kings Island must've been more careful with KC, as they had the coaster on the market for several years after its removal. Regarding the Phantom Theater picture, I feel as though the ride is well remembered and dearly missed by most members of the enthusiast community, but that specific scene (the Pepper's Ghost Effect) seems to be forgotten. I find it interesting to note that BBOBH's library room was built over top where the Pepper's Ghost Effect scene was. The PGE room was substantially lower than the library is, so I've always wondered whether there remains a basement of sorts down there.

Movie posters? That would be odd. That sounds very... Paramount.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll submit a ticket on it to see what I can find out. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Thank you SO MUCH for posting that link! What a great read! The content in that thread is phenomenal! I really wish that area would have stuck around for just a few more years. I remember it vaguely as a kid, but I would have a much greater appreciation for an attraction like that at an older age.

^ I know what SOBwasaSOB said to be a fact as well. Hint: Compare the set of {all possible destinations for that track} to the set of {Carowinds and everywhere that qualifies as "somewhere else"}.

Just in time for baseball season to start. Sent from my iPhone using Taptalk

Cookout. Yummy. Good food. Good service. Good people. Terp loves Cookout!

You know what could use some textured lighting? Flight of Fear.

For those who are interested, here are examples of textured lighting.... http://www.superlativeevents.com/event_lighting/texture_lighting.php

Please KI make this happen! Got to try this at Disney World and let me just say, it was one of the best theme park foods I have ever tasted! It is a chicken and waffle bun with some sort of coleslaw stuff (note: I hate coleslaw but that tasted great with it!)and maybe syrup, can't recall if it did but it was tongue slap your brain good!

Cookout came in handy a lot this summer. Super good and super cheap.

Drove by KI tonight. The lights on Banshee appear to be LEDs based on their brightness/how pure the white-ish blue light looked. I liked it.

In reference to the picture of Backlot coaster up in Canada... KI's Backlot trains already had a good amount of fiberglass work done to them a few years ago to try and distance itself from the Italian Job theme.