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What does any of this have to do with Adventure Port?

Comparing apples to oranges. Fury required and entirely new entry plaza. I mean demoing everything about the old plaza and starting new, but with a (mini) copy of Cedar Points entry. They repaved and redeveloped a parking area. If I recall correctly, they also added a new toll plaza and widened the main road into the park. Kings Island demo'ed a roller coaster, clear cut a few acres of forest and rethemed a pretty dead area of the park. Their coaster has high elements vs Furys low elements. Intimidator 305 is the closest comparison here, but we did get the improved GiGa because they learned from the mistake they made at KD . All that being said...we got a great coaster that had an intended purpose before. That's not uncommon...I have a theory that Avalanche/whatever it's called now was supposed to go to ki and AE was supposed to go to KD. The themes fit the areas better. But we got the better coaster with AE. My personal rankings of the 5 GiGas I have ridden: fury, Millie, Levi, Orion and Intimidator. But I enjoy them all except Intimidator. A responsible business develops a budget according to needs and appropriates money where it seems they will get the most bang for the buck. And they try to stay within that budget. People seem to get the word budget confused with the word cheap around here an awful lot.

I am interested to see what the timeline will be for a new rollercoaster at Kings Island. Obviously, Kings Island is not going to get one next year (unless it is a small rollercoaster like with what Canada’s Wonderland got this year). Instead, it appears Cedar Point and Dorney Park will get the new major rollercoasters in the Cedar Fair chain for 2024. So what about 2025? On ParkFans, there are numerous pictures of survey markings a stakes that have appeared in the past couple weeks all over the Volcano plot of land at Kings Dominion. These markings would coincide perfectly with a new 2025 rollercoaster, which seems to be what will happen. Similarly, there are a ton of markings at Canada’s Wonderland, and they are also rumored to get a major new rollercoaster for 2025. If both of these parks get major new rollercoasters in 2025, I am skeptical any other Cedar Fair parks would also see major new rollercoasters that year. Maybe it will be 2026? I guess there is still a chance for a 2025 new rollercoaster, but we would expect to see some sort of survey markings two years in advance of a major addition. For 2025, we would have to see survey markings before the end of the summer. If a new rollercoaster is planned for The Vortex plot of land, these markings would be quite obvious. However, if a new rollercoaster is planned elsewhere in the park (like Action Zone), we may never know until active construction begins. For example, for Mystic Timbers and Orion in 2015 and 2018, since most of the would-be construction zone was in the woods, survey markings were mostly hidden. However, some markers were spotted behind The Racer late in the season in 2018. That being said, 2026 is looking increasingly likely, but I wouldn’t rule out 2025 yet. That being said, I have heard that Kings Island’s next rollercoaster is more likely to go in Action Zone than The Vortex plot of land. I can see why this would be since Action Zone has not received attention in what will be a decade next season. Coney Mall, for comparison, last received attention in 2019. Nearby Area 72 last received attention in 2020. Rivertown last received attention in 2017. Oktoberfest/Adventure Port last received attention this year, which was long overdue. If we go based off what areas are “due” for some attention, Action Zone has been waiting the longest (2014), which is followed by Planet Snoopy (2015) and Soak City (2016). I would expect these three areas to see the most investment over the next several years.

Poor man's GiGa? 35 million ain't poor to me.

Why in the world the park doesn't use the audio on the lift hill is a mystery to me...and why they don't have the soundtrack music on the break run with a narrative to the effect of " welcome back, test subjects thank you for the contribution to the Orion project*

Not really a “ride review” (maybe this thread should be renamed just Adventure Port Reviews) but can I just say HOW WONDERFUL it is to sit and eat a (finally) great meal from Gill and Grain on the patio at Enrique’s while INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC THAT MATHES TGE AREA plays just loud enough to hear over the Banshee screams. OMG I feel like I’ve finally gotten the park I’ve dreamed KI could be. Next???! update. It might cut into the “premium vip experience “ right across the way, but really wish there were a few rocking chairs or Adairondacks on the Mercado patio by the water for sipping yer drink. Picnic tables aint meshing with the vibe of the cocktail!

Literally begging y'all to stop seeing Cedar Fair as an unchanging monolith who has always done things the same way and always will. People at the top have changed heavily. You just described how KINZEL ran CF. We're a full decade past that era.

It's been almost 4 years since Orion was first announced and 3 since it opened and we are still having this debate?! lol just be grateful we got a $30 million investment when there are parks in the chain that haven't gotten a new coaster in nearly 20 years lol. Also this thread is an Adventure Port thread not an Orion thread. There is already a thread for Orion talks lol.

One thing for sure is that the budget for Adventure port was mostly well used! But just because things are budgeted, doesn't always mean it was budgeted well; and if that's someone's perception, that's their opinion. Just as they neednt get too upset with perceived shortcomings, we shouldn't get too upset with negative viewpoints; just present our positive outlook when possible.. Im tired. Having recently taken a spin on Six Flags St. Louis' mine train & Silver Dollar City's mine train.. though both actually decent & fantastic.. I did appreciate Adventure Express in certain ways for both! Ours is somehow less painful than Thunderation despite the clearly more computerized design profiling. Also, NEVER take AE's seats for granted compared to the earlier mine trains :p

Diamondback consistently is rated higher than Orion in many coaster rankings that are not enthusiast driven. Almost everyone I talk to, whether they are an enthusiast or not, like Diamondback better than Orion. Diamondback line is typically longer than Orion, although some of that can be attributed to the bins versus no bins. Fact of the matter is we got Orion as CF essentially paid for a design that couldn't be built at the intended park, so they did the minimum they could to make it a "giga" and could put in another park as it was a hyper intended for CGA. KI just happened to be the logical place for such a coaster. Had that original design been able to be constructed at CGA, perhaps our giga that would have came a few years later would have been more what people were expecting...

I also consider KI to have the better overall ride selection over Carowinds, especially on the coasters. Carowinds has a top heavy line up whereas I think KIs is more balanced and higher quality. Carowinds doesn't hold a candle to KIs water rides and wood coasters.

After a number of years of not traveling due to many circumstances I decided to take a week off and do a midwest trip, starting at Worlds of Fun and ending at KI this upcoming weekend. After some further thought I removed the center part of the trip and forewent my planned trip to Adventureland in Altoona, IA and decided to spend an extra day possibly at WoF. So, I headed out Monday morning on my way to KC to visit a park I used to call my home park, and one I hadn't visited since 2011 (the year that not a single park in the chain got anything right for opening day) and hadn't ridden anything at since 2008. I arrived around 4pm on Monday with intention of staying until what I thought was the parks 7pm close (found out this week is the first week of 8pm weeknight closes) and yes the unfortunate truth is..... much like SFOG and SFA.... those early close times are a needed thing. My first impressions upon entering the park and with my first associate interaction while getting my FL+ wristband was "OK, maybe that was just an anomaly and others will be better" and unfortunately it was no anomaly. Before I get into the park, I am going to break down the major coasters and give everyone who has not gone an idea if they feel the experience of enduring the park is worth the credits. I wont touch on Spinning Dragons as... even though Ive ridden it years ago and Loved it... it is not a ride that is easily ridden alone without creating unwanted situations in the station when being seated with others and as a result my days of riding those types of coasters are sadly over. Moving onto Patriot, their B&M invert that opened for the 2006 season, its a good small to mid-sized ride with nice elements and it is infinitely re-ridable. It was my first ride Monday when I arrived, and I remember thinking to myself after getting off "Wow, that was a lot more intense in the days before I rode Raptor and Banshee". Going around the park counter-clockwise, the next coaster is Timber Wolf, a Dinn opened in 1989. Let me say right now that even though this has received much work from GCI in the past few years... including completely removing the helix to install a single not quite 90 degree turnaround that the train meanders though painfully slowly... the fact that this turd needs RMCed isn't even up for debate. On to Mamba, a Morgan hyper opened in 1998 and that I rode (terrified) on her opening year. I still Love this coaster, maybe its partially sentimental as it was my first hyper, but it rides like a smooth Maggie and it DOES have the same 1-3 magic seat as I found out Tuesday, The back half is once again great now that they have mustered the intelligence to turn the B brake off, with the same great air as Maggie without the destroyed thighs since the bunny hills are hills and not pyramids like Maggies. Boomerang.... yeah it has one that I walked right by about a dozen times that sits right next to Zambezi Zinger and I kept walking every time I passed it. I cant review Zinger because its not open, and as a result I will never be able to review it because I wont be back. Last but DEFINITELY not least is Prowler, their GCI gem back in the woods of Africa that is the #1 coaster in the park. This was the first time Id gotten the opportunity to ride, as I didnt ride it for the very brief time I was there in 2011, and I ended up riding it many times when I was there. It could use a bit of re-tracking, but its really not bad and its still worth multiple rides like I did on both Monday and Tuesday. For those who wish to take their chances on the park, 5-2 is THE seat on that coster!! And now..... the park. Im not going to go too far as the facts are things aren't going to change until it gets bad enough for them to GL the park. Growing up in Des Moines, IA and being a silly kid/teen who didn't appreciate coasters like Tornado and Outlaw, I considered WoF to be my home park and went there much more often than I did to Adventureland in Altoona. What I can say now is that I wish Id gone there Monday and Tuesday, and spent my time at Adventureland instead. Aside from the entire Zinger debacle which is whatever.... CF wants to blame supply chain issue yada yada but regardless the entire thing was handled like ish.... the general operations of the entire park were dismal, nearly as bad as CPs atrocious operations on Saturday May 19th this year. Don't get me wrong, I understand training new ride ops, and I understand the fact that a good amount of the time it's the guests themselves that make dispatch times slow, but as slow as the park was both days I was there stacking of ANY kind is out of hand. The entire vibe of the park is just "off", again I have to compare the feel and everything to that of 2004-6 era GL, and after the purchase of a vintage Orient Express t shirt became a big process it didnt need to become I had had enough, and what was supposed to be an O-C on Tuesday turned into an O-430 :-(. I left feeling very disappointed and honestly sad, remembering what my "home park" used to be and what its become... some of which I understand is beyond the parks control as they cant control what the area the park is in has become... and while I am happy for them getting Zinger finally, I really do now understand why its been 14 years between Prowler and it. Edited to add.... I am still making the best of my vacation and coming down to the area for a long weekend, and Im looking forward to some time back inside KI. The next thing I am going to say needs to be taken in the right way.... in other words don't everyone be "fanboy"ing up when I say this because nothing is forever... as of this time, on this day, this season, KI is the best operated park Ive been to in the chain in years without a doubt so for now associates be proud and happy but DON'T rest on your laurels, keep it tight, right, and squared away.

The anemic “marko (cargo) polo (loco) aint really working to jazz up the crowd. Wish there were 3-4 upbeat songs timed to the ride cycle that played to create energy. Also a pre-recorded “welcome to Cargo Logo, on behalf of the arrow shipping company, we ask that you choose your shipping container quickly so the goods can soon be on their way to the destination. Our route is loco, so please keep you hands, feet etc in your s shipping barrel to ensure the goods arrive safely. Thank you for choosing Arrow shipping for all your cargo needs!” Actually all 3 rides in AP need pre-recorded spiels played loud enough to hear to keep the theme. Can you tell I’m at the park doing steam of conscious posts lol)

I'd love to see Action Zone rethemed back to Adventure Village!

It's also worth noting that between June 2014 and June 2019 (around when Fury 325 and Orion, respectively, were being fabricated), steel prices increased by more than 30%, which is not trivial. Parks have budgets, and like it or not those budgets drive cap ex decisions. Would anyone honestly prefer they not build Orion at all because they couldn't fit a Fury 325 clone/equivalent into the budget?

I have to say the Flying Eagles look better than ever with their current paint scheme at Carowinds. The cycle there is short and ends just as you get good dives going. Carowinds has 17 flat rides now including Carrousel, Drop Tower and Dodgem. I don’t understand why a park with such lower attendance than KI warrants the number of flats KI SHOULD have. It also got the better Giga. BTW a trip to Carowinds is a waste of money if there is any rain in the forecast. I was down there last Sunday. It thunderstormed from 2 to 3 rained another hour and they closed the park at 4:30 after the rain stopped. The sun was out at 6. They were scheduled to close at 10 This is the third time in a month that the park has closed early. That’s how bad the attendance is there. The park wasn’t even crowded before the rain. Fury was a one train wait on a Sunday

Ricochet would be a good name too, but it’s taken. I like this idea tho. The Cartridge factory is very unique to the Kings Mills area. It would fit in at Rivertown with some minor adjustments to The Beast sign, exit and fast pass. I can picture it now: "Warning: Do not enter. Mandatory and ongoing lockdown is in effect for the Miami River Cartridge Company. Repeat, do not enter."

What are your guys' thoughts on this? I'm terrifically glad because Holiday World needs more family coasters, especially with the closure of Raging Rapids!

I bet Carowinds is behind the Western & Southern open moving to Charlotte

The Nashville Zoo is getting a Vekoma family boomerang racer. https://old.reddit.com/r/nashville/comments/zw2lxv/found_on_rrollercoasters_nashville_zoo_may_be/

Three side. Look! Only 1 portion cup… for a side that makes SENSE in a portion cup!

I really like the music playing around Adventure Port. It really does fit the theme of the area. However, I have not heard any music yet in the “ruins” area, or Adventure Express’ and Sol Spin’s entrance plaza. This may have changed recently, but it would be cool if there was a soundtrack in that mini sub-area of Adventure Port too.

I said this a while ago but it was a missed opportunity IMO not to rebrand Invertigo to Screamin Demon when they rebranded Flight Deck to The Bat and debuted Banshee in 2014. A repaint wouldn’t have been necessary considering some of the old Demon logo was blue-ish:

Or rename it Screamin Demon like in my concept from a few days ago

Everything, At the end of the season I plan offering up a sacrifice to the Head. I hope it will bring us good fortune on the next coaster.

While it's true that Cedar Fair will never let Kings Island be bigger or better than Cedar Point it is true that they have made some great investments at the park. They have just changed the market to local instead of destination. To be fair KI is still a bucket list park for enthusiasts but probably less for vacationers. That has pros and cons. Cons are that CP will always get better new coasters Pros are we don't have the insane wait times CP has. Also to be fair, the management of the park in 2004 was Paramount and they are the idiots who axed both our antique car tracks and gave our flying eagles away to Carowinds in the first place! If it wasn't for a bad move on the part of paramount, we wouldn't even have this discussion thread right now lol

I too think that Orion is too similar to Dback however it's still a great ride and no it's not as good as other Gigas but it's still a really good coaster....the complaints usually are that they could have done better and I hear you they could have but they gave us what they gave us and at least we have a giga of some sort. A "bad" giga (if there is such a thing) is better than no giga. Furthermore Orion is better than the coaster it replaced (Firehawk) so to me that counts for something. I say let's be thankful that Cedar Fair gave us the giga coaster instead of scraping the design altogether whenever it was clear it wasn't going to CA great America. Now back on topic, the zamperla flats aren't as nice as some other manufacturers however they fit well in the park, visually look nice, and fit the budget and seeing as the whole idea came together last minute, I think it's safe to say that originally 2023 would have been the down year with no new rides (just Dback repaint and Red Racer Re-tracking jobs). I really hope they have something good to follow this up with next year (Phantom Theater 2024 pretty please!) I personally think The Vortex replacement is coming in 2025 but who knows. Regardless I'm glad they spent some money and made a nice small investment instead of doing nothing basically.

I know this is an unpopular opinion. While KI has a world class line of roller coasters and Orion fits that category. We were just not going to get something the exceeded MF. Sorry, it is just how I see it . . right or wrong.

I think for the money or cheaper, we could have had a giga that favors speed over the hills and floater air we have on Orion AND Diamondback. Orion as a speed demon without all the high hills would have been a better option to separate itself from Diamondback and not be referred to as DB2.0 as many guests call it lol As a result of two coasters providing the same floater air, many compare Diamondback and Orion as roughly the same experience. At Carowinds, you don't hear many say that Fury is the same experience as their hyper Intimidator 2.0 lol.

The 3 million dollar disparity between Fury 325 and Orion ultimately should not make THAT big of a difference with the the length and layout. However, with the design of the layouts, it appears that the designers intended for Fury 325 to focus on low to the ground maneuvers and Orion to focus on more massive elements. Much of Fury’s track length is spent relatively low to the ground, which requires a lot less steel than huge elements because less support columns need manufactured, which allows for a higher track length within the budget. Orion only has a couple low to the ground elements. To an extent, I understand why Orion focuses on massive elements. Without massive elements in the very back of the park, it would not be as visible to guests or onlookers, so it would not be as impressive of a “advertisement” for guests already in the park or for those driving past of the park. Also, I think it is very important to point out that Mike Koontz mentioned in Kings Island: A Ride Through Time that Kings Island could have made Orion more like Fury 325 and more intense, but it was his desire to make it more family-friendly than Fury 325. Personally, while i do like Orion, I scratch my head at this explanation because a 300 foot drop already scares away a lot of the family. The same guests that ride Orion would ride Fury 325 if it were at the park instead of Orion. Also, while Fury 325 may be a little more intense than Orion, it is no Intimidator 305, and it is still very much a crowd pleaser. Even with a slightly smaller budget, Orion could have been on a similar level to Fury 325 or even better than it depending on the elements selected and intensity.

Not trying to be “that person” but it’s been three years since Orion came out and eight years since Fury 325 came out. The constant complaints about how much money is spent on what attractions are getting old.

So, in other words, Orion is right in line with every giga built by Cedar Fair with the exception of MF. Orion is a good, high-capacity, reliable B&M roller coaster, and you consider it a "poor man's" investment? My goodness. I have second hand embarrassment at the spoiled entitlement.

Orion built in 2020, cost 30 million to build. Now let’s compare it to the other giga coasters built and adjust their price tags to what they would’ve cost to build in 2020 based off inflation: Millenium Force built in 2000, cost $25 million to build. Would cost $37.5 million to build in 2020. Steel Dragon 2000 built in 2020, cost $52 million to build. It’s expensive price tag is because it was built to withstand earthquakes. Would cost $78 million to build in 2020. Intimidator 305 built in 2010, cost $25 million to build. Would cost $29.75 million to build in 2020. Leviathan built in 2012, cost $28 million to build. Would cost $31.64 million to build in 2020. Fury 325 built in 2015, cost $30 million to build. Would cost $32.7 million to build in 2020.

Came up with a new concept of an Action Zone retheme. This would involve the demolition of Congo Falls and the addition of a screamin swing called Serpent's Flyer. Also Invetigo gets rethemed into Screamin Demon. It pays homage to the old screamin demon that stood very close to that same spot and was also a shuttle coaster with a vertical loop. Drop Tower gets renamed to Falltrum and has an enclosed building built at the base of the ride. The queue would be enclosed and themed as well. Banshee would be repainted, and Bat would get an updated queue (out with the metal chain link fences and in with wood fences along with new theming). The SOB station and queue would also be demolished. Timberwolf would remain, but would get chairback seating to downsize the venue and make it more profitable for more up and coming artists as well as make the venue nicer and more comfortable for concert goers. Once again just a concept idea.

Firehawk? While Ik it was technically built at Geauga Lake in 2001, it was CF who relocated it and opened it at KI in 07.

The Endeavour is definitely the poor man’s enterprise and KI got the cheapest version. At least it looks good spinning at full height from a distance through the (few) trees. I’m happy to see budget spent on well thought out theming. But the trade off was rather junky Zamperla rides. Zamperla needs to stick to kiddie rides IMO They couldn’t find enough in the budget to build shade structures. I think KI loves ti torture guests in the blazing sun. Many of the queues and most of the midways are bare.

The clip only mentioned one arrest, a 19 year old. I think the policy is unfortunate, but general annoyance and the instances of fighting has been down. I've always contended that the problems aren't with the <16 year old crowd... it is the 16-19 crowd. I say if you're of legal age and you're in a group that has caused a disturbance: Make a PUBLIC display of it Name and mug shot published Ban from Park Fine them maximum amount allowed by law Maybe even spend overnight at Mason PD ie- make the penalty so extreme that it gives someone a moment of pause before acting out on emotion. Kind of sick of wrist slaps with no sting...

It always comes back to large groups the real issue but nobody seems to understand that

So this all but confirms that Adventure Port was a last minute decision as many here speculated. Not that it takes away from the final result. Even though the area was heavily delayed, it is a very welcome addition!

Some of the answers that have been asked here in this interview with Mike Koontz.

They look great, but they’d look better next to the International Showplace.

Then the capacity will be awful for the majority of people.

There is fastlane. I used it twice today.

The truth is, I could care less, I won't be back to CP probably for a few years, not because I don't love it, but I want to experience other Cedar Fair parks. For the other guy, who says I ain't telling the truth, just to make him feel good, we will just say it doesn't have problems and it's flawless

Like I said I was there 9 days straight, we tried at least once a day to ride it and it was either not running, or quit running while I was in line. I ain't lieng, got no reason too. Sure, tons of people rode it I'm sure in that 9 days, but getting one ride on it in 9 days, I wouldn't call running smooth IMO

Thank you! I’m so f’n tired of people saying anyone with valid, constructive critiques should basically shut up and be happy that’s the park is “giving us something new” like it’s a gift, not a capitol investment. Some of these critiques are “wish list items” true, but many are based on proven track record when it comes to lack of long-term maintenance of their own investments. I’m the first any time I see Mike Koontz in the park, or any other leadership-which is often, to praise their efforts and thank them for their sensitive and obviously passionate leadership, but I’ll also be the first to make observations here as to things I think are realistically achievable to continue to make KI the amazing place it is. So “at the end of the day” my 8 year old will continue to say-unprompted as we were leaving last night with fireworks going off, “to a lot of people KingsIsland isn’t much more than a than a theme park, but it IS more dad!” darn! That kid gets it!

People’s complaints usually do not stem from intense hatred for the park but rather from their passion for the park. I have not seen a single person on this forum or anywhere else comment that, as a whole, they do not like Adventure Port. People are just offering their critiques on the area because they want to see Kings Island be the best it can be. As good as Adventure Port is as a whole, it is not perfect (nothing is), and they want to see the park improve what it can. We have already seen the park fix some of the audio and theming on Adventure Express. Why can the park not fix the rest of the audio and theming on the ride?

@TombRaiderFTW You're forgetting one last one: "Orion isn't a real giga coaster. Its only 287ft tall with a 300ft drop, which is bare minimum"

I can name several: * Will Racer ever run backwards again? * Bring back Son of Beast but have RMC build it * What will replace Vortex? * Reopening the International Restaurant permanently * Bringing Phantom Theater back * Putting a coaster over the front gate

The waterpark closes at 7 so really there’s no reason to keep the train open past 8. When they used to stay open later, there would only be a few people riding it. I’m sure they’d rather have those conductors staffed somewhere else for the remaining 2 hours that the park is open.