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If they do not already have one, perhaps a tree farm would be something for them to consider. They have the land for it. They could then have a ready supply of older trees to transplant when needed.

I agree with this. The park needs no further tree removal anywhere. I'd be right happy to have some tulip poplars planted in Adventure Port. I feel like they fit the essence of the section well.

The landscaping is already in line with Six Flags. Other than Kings Island at least doesn’t allow weeds to grow all over the place. That’s what’s been happening since Cedar Fair took over. Every new installation ends up with tree removal and no replacement. Even the removal of Vortex took out a lot of trees. I guess they view trees as a liability instead of what they really are, landscaping that enhances the guest experience both visually and by reducing sizzling temps. I’m unhappy about the loss of trees across from Festhaus sling the pond. It’s one of the only shaded pathways sections left in the park. They don’t even bring in a stump grinder most of the time and leave the stumps It’s really becoming a barren park like the front half of Cedar Point Winterfest suffers because of the lack of trees KI has the least impressive Winterfest lighting out of there, Kings Dominion and Carowinds Because there are few trees trees the midways to string lights

In full disclosure, I worked for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment previously, but this is from the standpoint of a coaster/park lover—so, no bias as a former employee intended. First off, let me also say that my least favorite coaster type is without a doubt the B&M standup. I think I’ve given the model a fair shake, and rode different ones whenever I had the chance-thinking maybe some day I’d actually like one. But after Mantis, Iron Wolf, Chang, Vortex (Carowinds) and probably a few I’ve forgotten about, no such luck—I hated every single one of them. Years ago, I actually liked King Cobra at KI, so have pretty fond memories of the Togo standup. (Although, I wonder if I’d still hold that opinion if I could ride one today…) So, I was less than enthused when I found out SeaWorld Orlando’s new coaster was going to be a new model of B&M standup. But, I’m pleased (and a little surprised to say) that this new breed of B&M standup is a pretty good coaster! Visuals & Layout: Pipeline is built at the very edge of the park alongside the parking lot—just feet from the fence. It encompasses the front of the park space from the front gate thru the old festival area heading toward Ports of Call. The placement is pretty good, because the coaster action is clearly viewable as you’re entering the park and from the parking lot. I had heard rumors that the original plan was for a longer coaster that would extend over the entrance, with a new gate being built to accommodate it (ala GateKeeper at CP) but that plan died in budget cuts (and, knowing how this capital spending funding works—doesn’t surprise me a bit!). It’s an attractive coaster, and it’s placement is good for building excitement as guests enter the park. The Trains & “Seating”: Of course, there’s not really “seating” since it’s a standing coaster, but obviously you are secured into the train. The “saddle” (I guess that’s the best term) looks pretty similar to the other B&M stand ups, kind of like a bicycle seat with about the same level of comfort (so, not terribly comfortable, but ok). The main thing I hated about the other stand-ups was the head banging from the OTSRs. Pipeline has resolved this by having a hard plastic vest (kind of similar to Banshee or GateKeeper, except it drops over your head instead of connecting two sides in front). There’s still OTS bars to hold onto, but they’re so far from your head there’s no danger of banging against it. The vest was a little tight, especially around the collarbone. I’m not a particularly large person (5’8” and 160lbs or so), so don’t know how the vests would feel on larger body types. The trains are unique because they’re perfectly flat with no edges—I was surprised at what a visual difference that would make in the ride experience. The really unique difference in these trains compared to the old standup models, is the vertical movement of the seats. Once you’re locked in, your seat has an up and down range of motion of about 4” or so—that movement plays a big role in the ride experience later on. Ride Experience: Short answer-it’s fun! I’ve complained recently that it seems like every new coaster is launched and the traditional lift hill was disappearing. But, despite my Gex X old guy complaints, a launch works really well in a stand up! The launch is fast and occurs before you’re expecting it. After the launch you hit a “bunny dip” before ascending the first hill. The dip really gives you a preview of the airtime to expect for the rest of the ride-and there’s a lot of it. I never thought “airtime” and “stand-up” would be terms used in the same description, but the airtime is what really makes this coaster stand out. At least four times during the ride course, my feet completely left the floor—that’s a really cool feeling on a coaster. The pacing of the ride is good—quick and disorienting with equal mixes of positive and negative Gs. I’ve read some complaints about people saying the ride is too short. It is short, but I didn’t think it felt overly so (no more than pretty much any other coaster). Misc. Operations & Stuff: Pipeline only runs a two train operation, and there was almost always one stacked or in the station. It *felt* like a really slow loader, but I timed several dispatches and it was consistently 01:30-01:50 dispatch times—so not horrible. But, it just felt really slow. I think operationally, it would have improved throughput a lot if there there would have been a separate unloading station, instead of unloading/loading in the same spot. Of course, that would have increased the staffing needed—and, again understanding the thought that goes into labor costs & planning at SEAS, it’s not a big surprise it wasn’t done this way. The ride theming was pretty much non-existent, which is sad because the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks used to do a pretty admirable job with this. But, after Ice Breaker and Pipeline, I’d say that Cedar Point actually puts more effort into ride theming than SWF does now (and that’s a sad thing to say about a theme park in Orlando!). All-in-all, I definitely rank Pipeline as my #2 favorite coaster at SWF now (after Mako—which IMHO is an under-appreciated masterpiece!). If you’ve always despised stand-up coasters like me and find yourself in Orlando, give Pipeline a chance. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

One thing that I do not like is that they ripped out a lot of trees in that area. Though I doubt they will, they should plant trees to hide the AE station and then install more trees around the area. Though I haven't been to Kings Dominion in a while, the park had a lot of shade and was a lot nicer in that way. I love Kings Island but they need to start planting more trees instead of cutting all of them down. Pretty soon, it will look like Six Flags.

Or bite the bullet and invest in larger, more mature trees when they DO plant them. They always get the baby’s that take 20 years to add anything.

Former arborist here. Larger box(ed) rooted trees are generally slower to establish and have a higher mortality rate than 5 or 8 gallon trees and balled/burlap trees. The need more bald cypress, hemlock and tulip poplar across the park. They are fast growing larger trees. Add in medium sized trees like dogwood red buds. Add sugar maples to contrast the autumn blaze maples. I counted 14 6 foot tall southern magnolias that have been planted this year too. Even though those are "tiny" they cost a pretty Penny, even wholesale. Those would likely not live as they have an extensive shallow root system. And if they would love, it would likely cost more in labor vs material for purchased trees. I do like the idea of native trees though. That's a great idea...start seedlings in pots and get them up to 6-8 tall. Between seedlings and cuttings, you can have an endless supply.

I hope Kings Island puts Adventure Port decals on the trash cans around the area like with the trash cans at Aeronautica Landing at Carowinds and the trash cans at The Boardwalk at Cedar Point. Just putting the Adventure Port logo seen on the construction walls would look really nice. Also, while I sound like a broken record at this point, I do hope that Kings Island puts up the banners around the area. That would make it way more immersive.

Yeah, there’s only one inversion and a few overbanked curves (including coming off the first hill). To be honest, I’m not sure the inversion adds much to the ride—the best part of this coaster really is the airtime. I think adding a few more smaller hills and crests would make it more fun than additional inversions.

I am gonna venture someone is testing drones and fireworks this week and doesn’t want us to view it on the webcam. [emoji3525] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, it will be interesting to see if any parks install this incarnation of the standup. Thanks for sharing your reviews. I hope to get back down to Sea World Orlando sometime. Haven`t been since 2010!

I love that certain places are doing special deserts, but they need to 1) get a separate line for these and highlight them and 2) figure out how to get them to you since I waited in the full prep line at Enrique’s then another 5-10 minutes to have them pull it out of the fridge and hand it to me. I think people would eat this up (no pun intended) if they made it way easier to get. But on a related note. This thang is GOOD!

I'm sure someone can!

Fla weather is a little different than Ohio in February (...and March...and April). You will need it to be above 50 degrees IIRC to paint steel if you want it to last

Our KI P+ passes worked this weekend at CP for both access to preferred parking and single use FL+. I asked if this was a mistake but was assured that KI P+ benefits were also valid at CP.

Brew house has been very good this season. I’ve had the BBLT, KI Salad & Clucks in a barrel all in the past week and they’ve all been very good. They also give you 2 dipping sauce without charging extra unlike some other chum bucket restaurant on istreet.

If we get a return of Phantom Theater, I personally hope some things change; for the better. I was 5 when I rode it so my knowledge is solely based off of old POVs, images from here, concept art found in books, and so I’m in no way an expert on this stuff, just appreciate a good dark ride. I’m also going to be basing some of this off of other dark rides and my own “fan fiction” so bare with me: A more interactive que One of the first nitpicks I had about the original layout of the que was how the natural light shown in from the outside based on how guests entered the building. This could easily be fixed by simply re-angling the entry way to prevent the natural light. I think it was cool how you saw Maestro interacting with guests from his balcony, but personally I think it would be an improvement if he never turned around and kept playing his organ, never addressing the onlookers. This would make him seem more demented and “stuck” in his past state so when you do see him later on, it really makes it seem like you distributed the spirits (plus the park wouldn’t have to animate him swiveling in his chair and moving his mouth). I’d also have portraits with moving eyes that follow guests as they move through the que (this is a practical affect that can easily be done at home.) I’d put more details into the hallway where the busts are just to give people more things to look at which would take their concentration off of the busts thus making the affect stand out more when you realize the head has been following them. The ride itself My biggest nitpick about how the Phantom Theater was done comes down to how heavily they relied on animatronics. Granted when building the ride I’m sure they didn’t anticipate the park was going to be sold to Paramount and that the upkeep was going to go downhill… If you look at what Haunted Mansion does at Disney, you don’t really see animatronics until the second half of the ride as it relies on practical affects for the first half like 2d portrait scrims as opposed to having a character behind them like ours did. I’m fine seeing Maestro at the beginning of the ride but personally I felt like we shouldn’t see actual figures until about halfway through to give you that “you’ve distributed us now we’re going to materialize and wreak havoc” vibe. Again a nitpick but I’m sure that would save money and upkeep if they did this. This nitpick will probably get me tarred and feathered but I wouldn’t have the soundtrack playing throughout the whole ride. I’d have the vehicles have audio that would sync to ride to where you could be hearing Maestro talking to you. You could bring in the soundtrack when you would start to see the characters in their physical form and have it play through the rest of the ride (recall in Beetlejuice when you didn’t hear his music until he appeared with his antics.) I’ve started this before but it would be cool to see the ride vehicles swivel to face different directions, allowing riders to see something different each time they ride (similar to the shed.) Imagine the cars are numbered and the odd numbered cars are facing a scene on one wall while the even numbered cars are seeing a different scene. Thanks for listening to my nitpicking and fan fiction. If the ride comes back and is 100% like it was I won’t complain in the slightest, just thought I’d give my 2 cents.

Kings Dominion had (still has I think) so many trees and shade, except where they have added coasters and become allergic to anything green.. I still think of Kings Island back when it had a fair amount of trees. I'm not sure the reasoning as to why they remove trees within a 100 yard proximity to any coaster at Kings Island. Orion needs help with any trees, although it finally has grass underneath the coaster. Mystic Timbers' queue needs the trees replaced that died due to the pine mite but that is an easy swap out with some arbor vitae. Heck, they can drive two miles up to Sharon Nursery and stock up.

Not that huge, too small to clear the 400' top hat. And it's gone, having only been seen with a man basket attached, not lifting anything heavy on/off the structure.

I knew this concept was doomed from the start. I am 100% the target demographic for the galactic star cruiser. I hit literally every checkbox. 1. I love theme parks, and travel frequently to visit them. According to coaster count, I have visited 46 different theme parks. 2. I have children (2 girls, 9 and 11) that both love theme parks, all things Disney, and especially and star wars. 3. I LOVE star wars. I traveled to Chicago to addend Celebration, I have Star Wars memorabilia all over my man cave, I have seen every movie that has been released since I was born at the midnight showing opening day, and I am a member of the 501st legion and cosplay Darth Vader 4. I am at a point in my career where if I really wanted to, I could afford the asking price for the galactic starcruiser. With all those points being taken into account, I never even considered going. The price was simply way to high, and the entire experience honestly sounds overly structured and stressful. If it was $2000 for the experience we likely would have given it try already, but at $6,000 before any travel expenses, it was never even on our radar as a vacation option. If I, will the 4 points listed above, am not willing to visit the galactic starcruiser, virtually nobody would be willing to do so. I am honesty surprised it stayed open as long as it did.

https://www.yourerie.com/news/waldameer-owner-paul-nelson-dies/ He was a fixture in Erie for decades and turned Waldameer into a very nice amusement park for Erie. One of the best moves he made was selling the old carousel fixtures in the 80's which generated much needed cash for the park which Mr. Nelson used to reinvest into the park & the early stages of Water World. It turned everything around. There have been numerous videos of Mr. Nelson over the years. I one of them he comments how he has never had to "work" a day in his life. He will be missed by the Erie amusement & Erie community.

You could do that, but it would limit you to the types of trees already there and does not get you any net new trees.

Or just transplant trees from the wooded area behind Orion (like more where that newer building that was built during Orion's construction is so it isn't that noticeable then go and plant them in areas that could use more trees.

If there are soft openings of the rides, I still hope there is a big “Grand Opening” of the area once the area is finished. Kings Island needs a media day and official grand opening to really get the word out about their new investment.

I'm hoping for a nice eye catching lighting package on Sol Spin.

My meals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were all the same as previous years, I have no complaints. I mean, that KI Salad is a Beast!

100% guess on my part, I would say in the next few days.

But it might open on Memorial Day.

Don't expect riders today though.

I feel like Kings Island has gotten a little “cheap” this year with food operations. Places like Coney Bar-B-Que and Chicken Shack have slimmed down their offerings while places like Enrique’s and Grain and Grill are nickel and diming guests for queso, guacamole, and sauces—all things that used to be free. People can say that it is fine because the meal plans are still a great value, and that is true. However, for all the guests that do not have a meal plan, some meals kind of seem like a rip-off.

Whoever told you that must not read this thread and see people complaining about concrete stain, roof shingles, and the color of the sky not blue enough Tough crowd the internet is and someone won't be pleased...

Don't look now but VIP is back to Kinzel cups for the cooler water.