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According to Kings Island via Twitter, the Wurlitzer band organ is back at the carousel and is operating! Very exciting news. Alas, I'm at another park today. https://twitter.com/KingsIslandPR/status/490184620923977728

This, my friends, is probably the most incredible news I've heard about KI all season! In my book this rivals the Diamondback and Banshee for incredibility! Great job, KUDOS KI!!!!

Slowly Kings Island is becoming what it's supposed to be.

I will probably be going to the park tonight now just to take pictures and videos of this to share. A twelve second clip is fantastic to listen to, but I could listen to this for hours. THIS is what an amusement park sounds like. Beautiful old nostalgic noise

That's great! I totally understand the whole ride anxiety thing. I gained a bunch of wieght over the winter and while I haven't been able to ride many of the bigger rides this year since my ride buddy is only 6 (just one more inch to grow until Banshee though!!!), I lived in constant fear of the whole "2nd click" ordeal on Racer and Beast for the first few visits this summer. Finally though I just decided that I don't care anymore and to stop letting it ruin my fun time. On the upside, all the walking this summer must have done me some good because I can second click myself on Beast for the past few weeks.

I am happy to announce that I was able to fit on any ride at Kings Island with almost no struggle except for WindSeeker, that one was a little annoying for whatever reason. Banshee I could fit any row. :3

Cedar Point is surprisingly dead for a July Friday. 10min for TTD, 30min at Millennium Force, 1hr at Maverick, lots of station waits.

Looks like a trip to Carowinds next year is in my future. Sent from my iPhone using Taptalk

Or the interaction with The Voyage?

^Thanks! A few thoughts from my trip on Wednesday: The park looked, as you can tell from the pics, fantastic. The landscaping everywhere looks great, and it seemed like every square inch of the park was spotless. How you can keep that much acreage that clean is a truly mind-boggling feat. Even though the park looked relatively light crowd-wise from the pics, the lines for everything mounted up very quickly. You can see the empty Bat queue in one of the pics. That was shortly after 10:00. By noon-1:00 the line was backed up to at least the halfway point of the queue. Reminded me of 1993. As you can also see from one of the pics above, the FastLane pass line was really long. Maybe a FastLane for the FastLane line? I am also wondering when, if ever, the park would offer a FastLane for the food lines. It sounds like I'm joking but I could seriously see that taking off. The line for every place to eat in the main park was huge. I love mornings at Kings Island, and I also like breakfast foods (especially oatmeal), so I was really glad to find it at Starbucks! It's really good if you're a fan of oatmeal. Don't know if this is a new thing or has been there for awhile. I really like how many places in the park offer the 10% discount for Gold Pass holders. I used it a lot.

I like having no loose articles. It makes the line move quicker.

How about when people cant find the courtesy to hold the exit gate open for you or anyone behind them? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

She's told the wrong thing by an employee. She gets mad. She tells Guest Services at KK, they clarify that the employee was wrong. She still takes to FB to try to embarrass the company. KK posts on their FB what the rule is, which was exactly what she wanted. She's still not happy. Ed Hart calls her and apologizes and said he wanted to add more rocking chairs to the nursing areas. She wants to make it clear that she can do whatever she wants when it comes to this so she's seemingly "offended" by this statement. I'd bet you anything that she's the type that never tips at a restaurant because there's always SOMETHING wrong with her meal or service. The manager comes out and apologizes and comps her meal but she still calls the corporate office.

For those of you who haven't been around long enough to know about the band organ PLEASE go check it out in your next visit. You'll see why it's getting the praise that we're giving it.

Indeed. Hopefully this is the start to sprucing up the area next to it, this is fantastic news and well worth the wait

Was at the park this morning with my daughter, rode The Carousel, and it sounded awesome!!!! Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using Tapatalk

I was really looking forward to this when the park posted that they were working on it during the off season. I was disappointed when the band organ was no where to be found when I rode the carousel earlier in the year. I am so excited to see and hear this in action. It is a wonderful bit of nostalgia. I am so glad that Cedar Fair and Kings Island have taken time to restore this wonderful piece of work, which is actually older than the Carousel itself! It actually dates back to 1918. The Carousel dates to 1926 and operated at Cincinnati`s Coney Island. I am so excited to get up to Kings Island and check it out! I can`t wait.

Oh, to hear it again! Soon. VERY soon. Thanks, Kings Island!

No problem. I live in Indy--2 hours away--so I tend to check these forums if I'm planning a Friday visit. I have now been on 3 Fridays this season and every one has featured rides with a minimum wait. I believe the last Cirque show is at 7. My kids loved it and I suggest you check it out!

I work with a lot of young people around the age of the person that has been terminated by KK. Just from my experience I don't see a young person taking the initiative of walking up to a mother in the process of breastfeeding and telling her to put it away or go to a bathroom. Now may a manager have promoted them to make such a confrontation? More than likely... Still important business lesson this young person has learned. Poo flows down hill and management will rarely fall on the sword, instead they will sacrifice a random associate. Well played New Kentucky Kingdom, no mater what you say or do you still cannot get out of your own way.

I was surprised to hear the guy on the bullhorn next to Banshee's queue say that fanny packs weren't allowed. I would have thought that would have been secure enough. With that said, the park seems to be doing good job of letting people know before they get in line what they are and aren't allowed to have.

Really? Banshee? Top Thrill Dragster? Gatekeeper? Methinks your statement overly broad at best.

Haven't done one of these in awhile....the weather looked great, and haven't been to Kings Island since May, so I went for it! These are just some general pics from around the park. Everything is looking great right now! Enjoy! Isn't this always the best feeling?

Well, the obvious clues begin on Day 60... "...we STEEL ourselves for what lies ahead..." Then again, by now, a steel coaster is pretty clearly what is coming...

I don't know for sure they're listening to us, but I did notice a couple things yesterday I hadn't so far this season. First was the return of the flames on BLSC. I know others had mentioned them showing up on and off, but it was the first I personally saw them. Second was that there were atmospheric sounds being played through speakers on Adventure Express. I rode it twice on Tuesday and several times earlier in the season, and if they were playing anything then it was so quiet as to be unnoticible. This time I clearly heard the sounds of blowing wind throughout the first half of the ride, and creaking wood sounds (making the structure sound perilously close to falling down) on the lift hill mid-ride. Then the whooshing "wind" again. I was hoping it would mean the effects on the final hill would be loud enough to make out over the mechanical clanking of the lift, but it was as muffled as usual.

Based on the blueprints that were leaked, I created a concept of what Fury 325/Centurion/Whatever may look like.

Let's not cast a judgement on a state based on some derelict people. No reason for that. I loved my times in Kentucky...and the people are fine. We are from Ohio...and there is nothing of worth said about us. A red state no less in a majority of the regions. Most cast the same limelight on us. Backwards people...flat As whatever...boring state. Sucks. ( I love it here though brethren.) Let kk suffer their consequence s and let's leave the people of the region out of the discussions. Let it be known that I have have no political denomination. They are of the same cloth to me. Both sides.

I didn't want to be greedy, but I was thinking, "Ooh- Tower Gardens, too, please." also.

Perfect storm here. Uncoordinated PR misfiring and requiring multiple releases to get across simple messages; Employees seemingly (and admittedly) untrained to handle situations that federal law requires; Yet employees are somehow empowered enough to approach breastfeeding mothers (either revealing that employees are not well trained in the law and rules, or the parks rules are out of step with the law); Possible homophobic slurs aimed at a guest and from a man who may have been representing the park and / or city of Louisville. --- And in terms of that last one (and maybe a few of the others), I made a very divisive comment a number of years ago - before the idea of a resurrected Kentucky Kingdom was even on the table - that the park's name had been a part of its downfall. No one wants to say it, but states names come with their own list of preconceptions and misconceptions. A park called Ohio Adventure probably would not draw too many folks from Chicago, right? Or even Pittsburgh. The idea of "Ohio" is not romantic or engaging for most people. Fine. And like it or not, a park called West Virginia Kingdom would probably have a different attendance statistic than an identical park named Grand Adventures Park. Kennywood is more marketable than Pennsylvania Acres. It is what it is. Perception is reality, and I – as a liberal Ohioan from the Columbus area – can't see myself making a trek to "Kentucky Kingdom." Is it psychological? Sure. Unfair? Ungrounded? Biased? 100%. Kentucky Kingdom could be the nicest park in the world for 10 years, and in the 11th year when I heard about a fight between some teenagers, I would say, "Yep! I knew it would happen! Kentucky Kingdom!" That's not fair of me, but you can't undo those stereotypes in one day. The very name Kentucky Kingdom comes with its own baggage (not the least of which being its previous life) and the stories above are now tied to my impression of Kentucky Kingdom, which was itself already bound to the stereotypes I have of Kentucky. Homophobic slurs in the water park, rough clientele, lax security guards... I should be surprised, but I'm not. Let the hate mail begin, but I know I'm not the only person from Cleveland or Columbus who gets second thoughts about a park called Kentucky Kingdom. Sad but true. And yes, I know MANY wonderful folks from Kentucky, and many FANTASTIC posters here who are from Kentucky. It's not an attack. Again, I recognize that Ohio Adventure would come with its own baggage. And notice, there is no Ohio Adventure park... No West Virginia Kingdom... No California Adventure... Okay, well, that's different.

Nor do I believe any of the problems could be described as strictly "mechanical." As far as I know, the first smoking event (that was publicized as a "fire" even though there were no flames) was a burned out induction motor (which I would qualify as electromechanical at most) and the second time it went down was due to a blown electrical box on the outside of the building. From what I can tell, what is needed is an overhaul of the entire electrical supply system of that side of the park (including Action Zone most likely) if not the entire park. I think this is probably already underway.

I will go to Carowinds and ride the giga coaster next year.

Kings Island posted a short video on their Facebook page with some nice audio: https://www.facebook.com/visitkingsisland I like what I hear!

https://twitter.com/KingsIslandPR/status/490149106329718784 They confirmed on their twitter earlier that it will be used for haunt!

I'm wondering....at KBF there is mention of a maze last year where the participants could actually get lost in the structure. I'm not familiar with what was there last year....hmmm. that would kind of explain dead ends. I'll check out KBF from 2013 on the web and see if it was an endless maze in their lineup.

Fanny packs can interfere with the operation of the restraints: * They can shift...or be removed. * They are more crushable than most torsos. Note it is large people who are typically those who were not adequately restrained and prematurely exit the ride. Being fluffy is part of that.

Bottle? I'd divine it's the orange stuff that comes with the fowl.

https://twitter.com/cedarpoint/status/489827900745469953 Remember to use the hashtag #CPBigNoodle to discuss our beloved pasta at its current home.

To make such a request is rather selfish, don't you think? Oh, the irony.

How isn't it helping?

And people are taking selfies with it. Up there, that would not be possible. Kraft and Cedar Fair know what they are doing.

I enjoyed thr bread with the sauce.

Especially when the ride ops disparage the rides they work on, as has happened on recent visits while riding zephyr and hearing the ride ops say, "Welcome to Zephyr. Yeah we know its not the best ride, but you can go ride WindSeeker next, since it's way better" Sarcasm or not, it's being said publicly with a microphone attached to them, so perception is reality.

Glad you had fun. I did not think you would be at Kings Island yesterday. But you guys were there, even if it was just on your phones.

Yet another reason for automatic spiels.

Which always worries me. I'm always concerned that onride one of those phones will get vice versa.

You're welcome. If more people would update it with accurate times, it will begin to provide semi-accurate estimated wait times when user data isn't available. I wish people would bother, because it's really a neat little app.

Somebody made my today. I was driving by KI and checked Ride Hopper and someone put in wait times and they even looked accurate. I was so happy.