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At least we know since it's a bar, unlike drink refill stations, it will be open.

I was finally able to ride SSBR this past Saturday, and it is hilariously fun in both Snoopy car and Charlie Brown car. So much so that, being an overgrown child myself at times, I rode it 5 times in the 7 hours I was in the park, lol.

Say what you will about another bar, but IS doesn’t have any alcoholic options as far as I know. So it makes sense. Call me crazy, but a cold beer and Fountain ERT are a great way to spend an evening. This was forever ago, but I’ll always share again as it was my best solo trip to date. Great memories. That said, since it is The French Corner, I hope their adult beverage options are thematically appropriate. Wine would be the obvious choice. Which would be nice. I know the Food and Wine festival wasn’t totally well received, but I loved having a glass of wine in Tower Gardens. And selfishly, I’d love to have that option in the future because Mrs. Beastfan fan wasn’t able to partake in the wine this summer in prep for Baby Beastfan’s arrival this Haunt season. I know the increased alcohol sales bother a lot of people, but it only serves to drive revenue and as an enthusiast I can’t complain about that. I just hope that money is invested back into the park and not into the golden parachute factory this merger has created. Cheers, everyone.

Well, the ride does take 3 launches to complete the circuit so....does this mean the third "launch" of this ride will be successful?

It's a fun ride.

They were serving Mimosas earlier this season and I think one or two more specialty drinks, but I forget if they did have anything special besides the Mimosas. They also added fridge with beer to the left of the register and also added alcoholic frozen drink machines. But they did not have wine on the menu at any point this season I think.

Is it really "amazing" that a for-profit business sells things that are in demand? Also, it's a flatly absurd implication that a place cannot simultaneously be family-friendly and also serve alcohol.

LOL How many people were injured during TT2's opening year? How many people, if not for pure, dumb luck, could have been gravely injured or killed as a result of massive, heavy train components flying off of the Lightning Train this season? Even if we arbitrarily focus only on the opening season of each iteration of the ride, it's important to remember that one of the biggest issues with TTD is that it failed in dangerous, unexpected ways that, in one incident (cable fraying), caused injury to riders, and in another incident (decorative tires detached from ride vehicle), could have caused grave injury or death to riders or innocent bystanders. It is only by pure, dumb luck that the latter incident didn't have a catastrophic outcome. So while I can see how the enthusiast crowd, focused solely on whether or not a ride is open, could come to the conclusion that TT2 was a bigger "disaster" than TTD, I think from a ride ownership perspective, it would be much preferred to identify potential issues before they injure or kill guests.

Update today

Any GP folks I know or even the casual enthusiasts, still want to go to CP despite the TT2 status because they enjoy the park and what rides that are offered. My point with that it doesn’t matter the operational status of TT2 at the end of the day because there are far bigger things that matter in the grand scheme of things.

When parks have the wrong people in key positions, they miss a lot of the right opportunities that would benefit the park.

I don't think parks understand the influence enthusiasts have on park sales. Yes, there are negative comments sometimes. Some enthusiasts take not seeing the park at its peak potential personally and get extreme with their expectations. That much is very clear. How many times have you seen me on the KIC social channels promoting sweet spot sales, apparel sales, and pass sales? Same with the FB pass holders, and other channels. Parks have no problem displaying Amusement Today's awards. Who do they think votes in those polls? They may not like a few enthusiasts' attitudes or comments, but bottom line they need to play ball if they want to win awards and increase additional park sales. Considering they keep cutting budgets and such, you'd think that they'd be taking any lifeline they can get for free.

Poles have been set out presumably for the scare zones in Rivertown and Coney Mall, along with whatever is happening in front of the Kings Island Theater. The lights and rigging in Area 72 have been set up as well:

It sucks yes. I think a lot of enthusiasts are being incredibly unrealistic/unfair with the criticism on the handling of the situation. No one but the park officials and Zamperla know what conversations have happened behind "closed doors." I don't know what the conversations all included, but I can imagine that more issues had continued to be discovered/fixes not working and Zamperla was hopeful until it became evidently clear that they couldn't get it up and running for the remainder of this season. While there hadn't been a ton of testing throughout the season since the closure, it's not like there hasn't been any type of work happening. Work and conversations have happened. I'm sure there was a NDA for both parties until some sort of final decision could be made about the status of the ride. Either party wasn't required to give daily or even semi-often updates, but they gave updates when it made the best sense in regards to business, because at the end of the day, both parties are businesses. I could be 100% completely wrong and I'd own up to it if I am. I just don't think the whole thoosie attitude about the situation has been fair. It's definitely disappointing but in the grand scheme of things, I don't think it really matters at the end of the day if TT2 was operational more this season than it wasn't.

Here’s a piece I wrote for Theme Parks By Don about its closure for the season. It won’t win a Pulitzer, but I think it captures the spirit of the thing. https://themeparksbydon.com/top-thrill-2-wont-reopen-in-2024-cedar-point-announces/

Look. I am always grateful for the new things we get. From flats to slides and everything above and in between. However, I really reallllllyyyy hope that a dive machine ISN'T our next coaster. I don't have anything against them as they do give a fun experience, but I really want to see something special go in The Vortex plot. That land has had two significant slices of coaster history upon it and I would really love to see something amazing there. I've said it a thousand and one times, please please please let it be some kickin' next gen Vekoma looper! It would be something new, fresh and a nod to the past. I'm not against a dive machine elsewhere in the park, I just want to see something different take the stage where Vortex sat. I realize my dream RMC-SoB 2.0 will likely remain just that, a dream. But if anything else were to be miraculously placed where the rebellious son's station still sits ( and I am in no way assuming that the station can still be utilized-a new one could take its place ) a dive machine interacting with Banshee could be cool and it would use up the remaining plot of land that SoB occupied. Just a thought.

On a different (related) note: I know I beat the park up a lot (only because I see so. Much. Potential that it frustrates me at times when they get so close and stop) But did chat with Koontz tonight when I bumped into him at Beagle Scout Acres as my 9 year old was running around (for like the 10th time). Told him I rolled my eyes last year when I saw this area was the big addition?!!? But as proven by my kid running around - Playing tag with kids he’s never met, laughing and begging to stay even though Orion only has a 15 min wait??? They’ve tapped into something very needed. A place where kids can just be kids and play. He smiled and said, “thanks. I need to hear that” I think the bad often outweighs the good they hear, so make sure you balance the narrative any way you can.