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2014 marked a landmark year for Kings Island. Several fun and interesting things happened to shake things up throughout the season. Here is my top 10 ways Kings Island shook things up in 2014 10 – Skeleton Key When Kings Island began offering an augmented experience in the Haunt mazes for an extra charge many of us quickly blew it off. The mazes were historically not bad, but not good. A solid mediocre. Why would you pay extra for an extra room or two? Those who dared to brave the Skeleton Key experience were in for a real surprise. Not only were the mazes ramped up for the 2014 Haunt season, but the Skeleton Key experience was definitely one to write home about. People who had the Skeleton Key seemed to all have agreed to a pact that they would not spoil the secrets to those who hadn’t experienced it. The Skeleton Key rooms grossed you out, took you out of your element, surprised you, and harped on your worst phobias – all of which are a recipe for an amazing Haunted experience. 9 – Dog Days By 2014 we were used to one – and only one – dog ruling the midways of Kings Island. For the past several years, Snoopy has been unleashing his family-friendly mischief on Kings Island’s Planet Snoopy,but now he’s not alone. In 2014 we saw the debut of the inaugural Dog Days at Kings Island. Every Saturday in October featured special activities for both man and man’s best friend. I imagine that we haven’t seen the end of this super popular event . 8 - Dinos After Dark It has always been widely accepted that Dinosaurs Alive closed at dusk and the Audio Animatronic dinosaurs simply went to bed. That was, of course, until Kings Island invited guests to check out what it would be like to see the dinos under the cloak of the night. Armed with only a flashlight, kids and adults alike traversed through the woods full of growls, suspicious movements, and eerie silence to see Dinosaurs Alive in a way that has never been done before. Those who braved Dinos After Dark got an experience that they’ll never forget. 7 – Kings Island Kicks Cancer After parting ways with the controversial Susan G. Komen foundation, Kings Island repackaged their August charitable event into Kings Island Kicks Cancer. Guests were invited to kick mini soccer balls into the fountain for a chance to win a car. The proceeds from this event supported the Cincinnati Dragonfly Foundation, Pink Ribbon Girls, and Melanoma Know More. A total of $186,000 was raised for these three organizations. 6 – World Records A-Plenty photo credit: wlwt.com As part of the Kings Island Kicks Cancer campaign, three world records were set in three subsequent weeks, all of which to create awareness for their respective charities. First, roughly 200 heads were shaved – symbolic to the hair loss that is often associated with Chemotherapy cancer treatments – to create awareness for the Dragonfly Foundation. The following week a total of 2,148 patrons participated in a record breaking attempt to host the most people apply sunscreen simultaneously to create awareness for Melanoma Know More. Finally, 1,821 people simultaneously applied lipstick to break the record for the most people to do so. This was done to create awareness for the Pink Ribbon Girls, a local organization that supports women fighting breast cancer. Since then, all three records have been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records. 5 – The All Season Dining Plan The one thing that is rough about being a season pass holder is the cumulative cost of food at Kings Island over a season. We’ve all spent well into the 3 figures or more on food. I don’t even like to think about it. Rumors started circulating that Kings Island would be adding an all season plan shortly before its announcement. This rumor seems to come up every few years, and the prices guessed were otherworldly. At a price of below $100, people were shocked at the good value. Good form, Kings Island. Good form. 4 – Milestone Rides The Beast – 50 million riders, The Racer – 100 million riders, Diamondback -10 million riders, Banshee – 2 million riders (in an 11th hour push). These numbers come up at times, but they sure did fall into place quite a bit for the 2014 season. News outlets all around the world reported on these milestones (good job, Don) and Kings Island became the focus of attention in countries across the globe for a brief second each time. 3 – Announcement – New Flying Scooters!! The year 2004 left a gap in both our souls and Kings Island’s ride lineup as the classic Flying Eagles were unexpectedly packed up and shipped to Carowinds. It took ten years, but at least part of that gap will be filled in 2015. Typical Kings Island announcements come in August. August came and went and most were convinced that the park simply wouldn’t see a new ride next year. It wasn’t until the second last day of the season that both members of the media and everyday guests were invited to the Festhaus to be the first to hear what was in store for 2015. Not only did we hear about a new set of Flying Scooters (Woodstock’s Gliders) but also another new ride called Snoopy’s Space Buggies. It didn’t stop there. International Street Candy will be completely gutted and rebranded as The Sweet Spot, the largest Starbucks in the TriState will call home to Kings Island, and more! Oh yeah, and there will be a full-season petting zoo! Half the fun of being a Kings Island fan is always looking forward to what’s next! 2 – Exit Stage Left – Ed Alonzo / Enter Cirque Imagine photo credit: fansofkientertainment.com We all loved Ed. He made it clear that, although he loved Kings Island, 2013 would be his last season there. The only information we would get from the park was that “something big” would be replacing him in 2014. In the early spring, Kings Island announcement on their Facebook that Cirque Imagine would debut for the 2014 season in the Kings Island Theatre. No one knew what to expect: would this be our own version of Cirque du Solei or would it be a cheesy carnival sideshow? Those lucky enough to happen to be at the park on May 23rd to attend the impromptu preview show were left speechless. It was one of those shows that you couldn’t explain to someone else; just encourage them to go see it for themselves. Cirque Imagine became a staple for the 2014 season and many of Kings Island’s most loyal guests saw it a dozen times or more. 1 – Banshee’s Debut This one’s not surprising. When Kings Island announced Banshee in August of 2013, they knew they would have a hit on their hands… and boy did they! Guests lined up for hours to be some of the first to experience the world’s longest inverted roller coaster. Banshee proved to be what everyone had hoped – a smooth, thrilling ride that easily fits into any coaster enthusiast’s top 10 lineup. So many awesome things happened at Kings Island in 2014 that it’s hard to rank them in a manner that makes everyone happy. Do you agree with my list? Would you add or remove anything? Your thoughts and input are appreciated. We’ll see you in 2015!!

Fury 325's turnaround has been topped off! It's 157 feet tall and reaches a max 90 degree angle. Image from Carowinds' Construction Cam https://www.carowinds.com/online-fun/webcams

MF is not super intense but keeps up what it has for pretty much the whole ride. I-305 on the other hand pushes you to the limit for the first half or so of the ride and then backs off substantially. I am hoping Fury 325 is more like MF than I-305 but I will find out for myself at some point this year Voyage has its good years and bad. I have had some amazing rides on it and some painful ones. It really depends on how much track work it had in the previous off season. If its a good year, I'll be in the back row hands up (if it is there, otherwise I will be in the last row available) If it is a bad year I will be spending far more time on the other two fantastic woodies at HW.

One more track piece until the turnaround is topped off! Image from Carowinds Construction Cam. http://pixelcaster.com/live/carowinds/camera1.html

Banshee, by a mile. While it's well-documented on here that I'm a huge Kings Island enthusiast, I think I've been coming to KI the last few years mostly for sightseeing and sentimental reasons. I wasn't even all that interested in Banshee, to be honest. I came to Kings Island to run the 5k in May and decided to give Banshee a try. Completely blown away. Haven't been that pumped for roller coasters since I rode Vortex for the first time in 1992 (when I was 19). Banshee seemed to almost literally turn the clock back for me. Love the location, the theme, the trains, the lift hill, all the elements, the sound, and the gift shop. They truly hit it out of the park, in my opinion.

That guy in the Banshee picture, He sure looks like one cool guy.

This could be considered as a small announcement, but I'm happy about it! Personally, I love Heinz way more than Red Gold and am glad for the switch back. Coke AND Heinz now??? I love it. http://cpfoodblog.com/cedar-fair-ketchup-partnership-change/ (fixed link) Thoughts?

Carowinds just finished the turnaround just now. Looks amazing!

Alright, here is the last video from July 24, 1980. I put together all the random scenes. You'll see the entrance, shops, singers singing "YMCA", brief views of Zodiac and Tumble Bug, day and night views of the fountain, and even a person selling those neon glowing strips at dusk that were so cool. I am glad this website exists, and I am glad so many people have enjoyed my dad's video. Time to put this tape back on the shelf. George

Meanwhile, Edison brown cylinders from 1897 still play happily today. And I have books that are nearly 200 years old...

Both the park and the cast have been very clear that Cirque will be back next year. Welcomed news!

My first reaction to the news was sadness because the Kings Island Resort was part of Kings Island history - and I fondly recall it being featured on The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. But the resort is closed and will be razed. That is the sad reality. However, as an MBA who works in the financial services industry,I am very, very disappointed that there is no opposition to building apartments in a commercial district. With 300 apartments across the street from KI, how congested will traffic be? What if the apartments attract residents that don't appreciate park guests across the street and do things to make them unhappy or complain at civic meetings that the park is too loud and they want to make changes to it? At worst case, what if non law abiding people move into the apartments and break into cars in KI's parking lot? I think that it is a very, very bad decision and will have a negative impact upon Kings Island and Mason. I think that the land should be used for something else commercial. But that is just my opinion.

I hope that the banking on the turnaround turns out to be as fun of an element as it looks like in the renderings.

Wild that the turnaround is that tall. This is going to be a truly unstoppable coaster.

It is my understanding that many ideas come from the park level. Once they decided to roll with it other parks may jump on board if they like the idea. Often if an idea works well, they'll spread it to other parks in subsequent years.

A pretty good lineup Ryan. It's a good demonstration of how Cedar Fair is trying to bring more fun to the park by using what resources they already have. I am looking forward to what future seasons have in store! The one question that I would like to know (which I realize I might not get an answer.) Where do the ideas come from? Example: Dynos after dark. Did an individual park come up with it? Someone at corporate? Questions like that are ones that intrigue me.

They have dropped the Season Pass Preview Night from the marketing materials since the end of the season. All things are possible, but I'd be comfortable guessing that they don't intend to let all season pass holders into the event.

Heinz is to Ketchup as Hellman's (Best Foods in the West) is to Mayo. And French's as to Mustard. Bounty to paper towels. Accept no substitutes.

I put ketchup on Fries, Burgers and Meat Loaf. That is it. The folks that eat it on everything, especially Eggs, make me ill. Mayo is nasty. Nothing but a blend of fat and oil. It is great for removing grease/oil from the skin. Once had a Dr use it to clean a wound before stitching.

Johnny Rockets had Heinz the entire time...

Thank goodness. I hope Six Flags is doing this, too.

If you fire straight up, it will come down at its terminal velocity, which is considerably less than the speed at which it exits the gun. It can still do plenty of damage, though. Hopefully the individual who fired the gun in this case is found and prosecuted.

Maybe it was an indirect tension laceration. She was standing, and bullets cause shockwaves. Leg skin is tight to the muscle when standing, so I can imagine skin breaking elsewhere from the 'snap' of the skin reacting to the bullet's entry. This is gross. But it seems logical. It might also be the cue ball effect, where tissue and such get "knocked" out the other side, while the bullet stays inside. This makes me cringe; but it's fascinating in a "makes-ya-think" kind of way. (Not a medical specialist of any kind.)

I just hope it isn't unstoppable. And people were worried about being on WindSeeker for 3 hours, imagine 3 days on this thing

Dang, that's unfortunate. Glad it was only a leg wound, and not a fatality.

That would be fantastic. CP does have an abundance of them, Perhaps they would share some with KI.

Don't forget the link! EDIT: fixed

Isn't every movie made in the past half-century pretty much formulaic?

That would be a good question to ask the park 513-754-5700.

The Zoo has virtually the same weather as the Cinci area's largest amusement park...fewer rides, too. Terp, known for notin', not nothin'.

^ Most digital video you "buy" and store locally is locked into a particular DRM format. If the vendor goes out of business or changes their technology, you're left storing useless bits. I wonder if an iTunes digital video purchased in 2015 will be playable in 2045.

That's true, to a point. But I don't think physical copies are going away completely any time soon. America is an enormous market, and a lot of America is very, very rural. There are lots of places where the only options for internet are dial-up, which is far too slow for streaming video, or Satellite, which is very expensive and usually has data caps, making it unsuitable for streaming. And as a content creator, you don't want to simply eliminate that large portion of your market. So for that reason, as well as people like you and I that like to have tangible copies of the movies and music that we purchase, I don't see physical media going away completely in the foreseeable future. Maybe when we get to a point where affordable broadband is available nationwide, though, as that would blow away the biggest reason for continuing to sell hard copies. As for the other piece of that puzzle, the people who have reliable internet access but simply prefer physical media: For me personally, I won't outright refuse to buy a digital download, but it is definitely a much tougher sell. I won't, however, pay for something that I "own" but can only stream and not download locally (such as a movie on Vudu). If I'm paying for something intangible, I want to at very least make sure I can make a backup and that I can continue to use my product even if the vendor goes out of business. Obviously this wouldn't include Netflix, since I'm not "buying" those movies, it's more akin to an unlimited rental service. That's usability even if the company goes under is precisely why so many people cling to physical media. And probably exactly why the movie and music studios want so badly to move past it.

At least one poster here has ridden that seat many hundreds of times. Can you say back seat of Tornado at Stricker's Grove x about 3? Years ago, they ran two trains on that ride. Manually controlled. It was always...amazing. Dispatches were swift and smooth. And I never saw an operator back then under an age I perceived as 70--but was probably more like a hard lived 55+.

Incredible 10 countdown. Thanks,

It could happen, depending on the speed and angle of the bullet.

One of the Cedar Point live webcams is now pointed in that direction: https://www.cedarpoint.com/online-fun/live-video-cam/camera-1

Like I said, I'll have to ask the park.

Hmm, I'll have to ask if other parks' Platinum Passes renewed by the end of post season will be accepted for the preview night. Presumably not.. Oh well.

We had a slight panic the other day, my daughter wanted to check out some old VHS-C cassette tapes of me from when I was a child. We found that the VHS-C converter we had was no longer working. Went to Kroger, didn't have one, went to Walmart, didn't have one, went to Best Buy, didn't have one, went to Radio Shack and finally found the place that had one, and yes, only one. The person at Radio Shack informed us they no longer made the converters and the only way to really find them is on eBay and other second hand online stores.

Welcome to KIC!

That is very true, but there are, of course, exceptions. It is very rare nowadays for downloaded music to be wrapped in DRM. Amazon and Apple don't use it in their marketplaces I know for sure (on music only - other content from these sources DOES have DRM). Movies almost invariably are (which is also why the only digital copies I own of movies were bundled free with the physical disc). If you want to get really nitpicky, most DVDs and Blu-Rays have DRM, too, it's just a bit less volatile since the devices to play this content do not necessarily have an internet connection. Plenty of online game retailers don't use DRM (GOG and the Humble Bundle are examples of this). Probably the one exception for me is Steam. I get a lot of games on Steam, which are wrapped in DRM. I'm not sure why I make this exception. Maybe it's the crazy sales they have a couple times a year. It's almost like, if Steam goes under, I've saved so much money by buying through them as opposed to buying the same games elsewhere, that it's almost still worth paying for an "indefinite rental". Of course, with Steam, you can put the client in "offline mode" but even then, they are still tied to that PC and you will only be able to play them for the lifetime of that computer.

Had a KI dream last night to ring in the new year! Went to the park with my little nephew who just turned 40in tall and we went over to The Racer and got to ride it! First the coaster started before everyone's seatbelts were fastened, next while going up the hill it looked like a new themed ride was added to the X-base! So I was excited now to get off The Racer and to get on that. The rest of the ride on The Racer went fine until we hit the break run at the end... (This is the part where things get strange...) we are about to hit the break run when we see a train is already on it, the breaks were also 2 bars in the middle of the track that raised up. So we smack into the car in front of us and a worker says sorry we have been having issues all day with the breaks! So after that we got off the ride, we headed to the new ride in the X-base. It had no line, and boats that looked like Lightning McQueen. I was tring to wrap my mind around how Disney would let them do such a thing. Anyways we got on the boat that fits 4 across and has 4 rows. Their was a strange seatbelt and you had to put on and some 3D glasses. Well the ride starts off with playing music and you seeing model cites floating on water, a bit later their is a screen with a a short video of baseball being played. Then the screen and music stops and your just riding a boat around on the water. It felt like something wasn't right. So we keep riding about and the music starts again and then shortly after the ride was over. I got excited thinking Maybe more stuff like this will be coming to KI soon (except working right)! Well as we got out of the boat, the park workers were talking about how the park has been hacked by North Korea and they have been messing with break timings and what not. So a long time passes after that and the park is open until 1am that night. Well right at midnight while im in International Street, the Eiffel Tower sends out a big donic pulse which being to close to it will knock you down. So I got knocked down and then it sends out ghosts that will attack and harass park goers! Well I start running then! I start heading back by Vortex and wanting to get away only to find they keep coming at you and don't stop! So I then I head for Planet Snoopy and luckily find they have a save zone which is lit up and has a big cross on it. I head in their and stay in their for a bit. Apparently this was a new thing added, and every night that every night that their open until 1am they do this ghost thing (atleast that's what other people were saying). then I realized my brother is waiting for me out front, so I leave the safe zone and run as fast as I can! Lucky me the tower needed to recharge so I had 20 seconds to run to the front. No sooner than I step threw the exit their was another snoic wave that followed. The End!

Supposedly about Wendy's and its breakfast retrenchment, this is one of the most insightful short business interviews I've ever seen, with major implications for all business, including the amusement business: http://mobile.bloomberg.com/video/why-did-wendy-s-quit-the-breakfast-wars-bhp0RH2gT2ivJk_BEymf~A.html

I would have added in the awesome Coasting For Kids raising all the money that it did for those who need a little bit of fun after illness. This year changed many lives, some we may have met, others we have not, but it all makes a big difference.

Sigh. Why must Haunt, driven by SafeAuto, mar the park the rest of the year? Hasn't it done so enough already? I tell you, it's frightening.

Millennium Force intense? With the exception of the overbanked second hill, it is to laugh. I-305? Now that's a different story. Intense is one word for it. In my humble opinion, that is the single most overrated steel coaster in the USA (as Voyage is to wood). Moral of the story? Only YOU will know what YOU think of a ride. Ride. Then decide.

Bah humbug.....

I submit another contributing factor. All summer, Kings Island is a thrill seekers paradise with big coasters, mediocre food, generic and 300% price-inflated merchandise, carny games, and choose-your-decade musical revues. Fine. It is what it is. But to say, "This December, Kings Island will be open.... without the coasters!" That isn't likely to get anyone too excited because it leaves mediocre food, generic and expensive merchandise, carny midway games, and standard musical revues. Granted, that's changing one season at a time. But I still don't think we're at the point where "Kings Island Without The Coasters" is likely to be a hugely successful marketing push. Parks like Busch Gardens have wonderful food, beautiful theming, detailed gardens, extravagant entertainment, local craftsmen, and animal encounters all year long. It's not a tremendous stretch to imagine Busch Gardens Without Coasters. The park markets to history buffs, garden enthusiasts, families, grandparents, and travelers all year round. It also happens to have some great thrill rides. But especially up to a few years ago, to suddenly market Kings Island as a family destination where entertainment and dining and unique retail options are the highlight would be a 180-degree about-face from Ride Warriors and tasteless burgers and musical revues the rest of the season. It would feel disingenuous and I think it would be. Again, that's slowly changing. Still leaves the tremendous manpower, salt, snow plows, staffing, and inconsistent weather as MAJOR hurdles though.

That's an excused absence, if there ever was one.

I remember when HoliWood Nights and Coastermania ended up on the same day. People were upset that they had to choose. Hash tag first world problems.