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“It couldn’t possibly run during those temperatures!” ”It wouldn’t be ready for spring if they opened it for Winterfest.” Then KY Kingdom announced their event. KI ran out of excuses. As with all things, it comes down to how little they can spend without people ceasing to show up. Clearly they feel that risk. If you think KY kingdom doesn’t matter to Kings Island, it certainly does. Their success will force Kings Island to do slightly more than the bare minimum.

Ride list has been posted. Racer and Soap Box Racers added. That will help capacity.

Going off what @BoddaH1994 said, Adventure Express's minimum operating temp is 45 degrees, and as soon as the thermometer goes below 50, it runs really slow. With Racer, however, its minimum operating temp is 35 degrees. The other morning I was helping opening up Racer and it was about 38 degrees when we did our morning checks and Racer was running pretty good considering the cold temps. Having The Racer open for Winterfest is a great addition to the lineup. Also idk if this is being discussed yet, but Fastlane for Winterfest? When I look online at Fastlane, says it will be on sale soon. Considering that two coasters are now joining the Winterfest lineup, could we see Fastlane implemented for Winterfest and the end of the single rider lines?

I kind of wish The Adventure Express was open as well for Winterfest because I think it would be a pretty nice addition to the lineup and it’s not a very intense roller coaster so I think it can operate most of the time. It’s nice to have The Racer though.

From Q3 report 2024: "Six Flags today also announced the core objectives of its new long-range plan designed to deliver on the full growth potential of the Combined Company. In many cases, the new objectives represent the natural extension and evolution of strategic initiatives that contributed to the success of legacy Cedar Fair. Enhance the guest experience to deliver a stronger price-value proposition and drive demand . Identify incremental operating efficiencies that generate cost synergies and help drive margin expansion . Maintain a disciplined approach to the prioritization and activation of capital investments to realize the full market potential of each park, while maximizing free cash flow efficiency . Integrate technology stacks with a focus on harmonizing systems, eliminating redundancies, and enhancing the guest-facing digital experience. Review the park portfolio over time, to optimize the asset base , narrow management’s focus, and help reduce net leverage." (italics by me to point out the obvious) My take on this: They want to maximize attendance at all parks. The opportunity will be at legacy Six Flags parks as there is much opportunity there. However, look for a diminished experience at Six Flags parks that had high attendance prior to the merger and historically well attended Cedar Fair parks like KI and CP. Legacy Six Flags parks will need investments in hardware (more high capacity rides and perhaps more trains per coaster) and People. If they achieve higher attendance without enhancing guest experience, long term growth may suffer, or they may continue to attract crowds with a diluted experience with cheap passes, like we see at KI. As they attempt this, parks that fail to step up will be divested as they review the portfolio. Also, well performing parks may be sold off for a quick cash grab.

I’m not sure how much KK factors into having The Racer and SSBR operating for Winterfest this year at KI. Last season I visited BGW’s Christmas Town and KD’s Winterfest. KD was operating the same amount of coasters KI was for Winterfest in 2023. An hour down the road at BGW and they only had 3 of there coasters not operating out of their entire lineup. Also, Carowinds too was only operating a couple coasters. It will be interesting to see if the rest of the chain follows suit with having more coasters operate for Winterfest. Here are my trip reports: Regardless, having both The Racer and SSBR operating for Winterfest is a welcomed addition!

I remember when I was new here and KK was becoming reborn. That thread was a hot topic then. I was ridiculed for thinking the park would even survive the first season, much less pose any threat to KI At that time, I was told that Kings Island laughs about the thought of KK and Holiday World providing any competition. Times have changed, and Kings Island seems busier than ever. But I never thought I would have a Kentucky Kingdom season pass and would let my Kings Island pass expire.

Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom!

Also Blitzen's Brass Band is returning.

Not controversial at all to me at least. The entrance is the way it is to act as a tunnel gate that you walk through leaving the real world behind and entering another. Everything is probably meant to be hidden from the outside to build up anticipation.

I'm glad others found this stuff interesting. Here are the full un-cropped versions of the aerial photos I downloaded when researching the fort house. These versions show a much wider area, and include a few more years, versus what I included in my original post. Fort house is still circled in red in each of them. 1956 - Great shot of the entire land which Kings Island would later occupy 1957 1958 1960 1962 1964 - You can see the clearing for I-71 in progress 1967 1970 1972 1974 1975 1980 - A nice look at The Beast in its early days 1985 - King Cobra is visible 1986 - Real good look at the whole park here 1993 1997

If it hasn't been noted elsewhere, the official app is now listing The Racer and Snoopy's Soap Box Racers along with other WinterFest attractions like Flight of Cheer, Snow Flake Lake and Holly Jolly Trolley.

I finally got to this episode recently. First let me say I love both Tower Topics and The Attractions Group podcasts. Always interesting stuff... That house has fascinated me for some reason. At one point not too long ago I went down the rabbit hole of seeing what historical information might be available about the property online and learned quite a few things. None of that is super exciting, but perhaps a few details might be worth sharing... Based on various property records, I believe the house was built sometime between 1954 and 1956. I can't speak for or against the accuracy of the supposed agreement to not tear it down, but FWIW it was actually one of three houses side by side all along what was the east side of Columbia Rd that Kings Island left standing, and apparently used in some capacity, for many years. Each property had different owners prior to Taft purchasing each of them separately in early 1970. All 3 houses were still standing at least until 1986. 2 of the three until at least 1993. By 1997 only the one in the fort remained. Hopefully I'm attaching these images correctly... The first one is snip from a survey from 1984 showing each of the original property boundaries of the three houses KI kept around. The house in the fort is the southern most of the three plots in the red circle. The other images below are all snippets cropped from aerial photos made available online by the Ohio Department of Transportation. In each one the "fort house" is circled in red. Here is 1956. Fort house is recently built. The middle of the 3 houses is being built. No sign of the northern house yet. The old farm house further north in this photo would not survive the park opening. Here is 1957. The middle house is now complete. The fort house has added a pond. Still no sign of the northern most house. Here is 1964. The northern most of the 3 houses the park would keep is now present. The middle house has added a garage or large shed. Here is 1970, the year Taft purchased each property. All 3 houses were purchased on different dates in Jan and Feb of that year. The northern most house looks to have added an addition to back since the 1964 photo. This one is at an angle that gives a reasonable idea of what the housed looked like before the park owned them. Also of note the old farm house further to the north is still standing at this point. Here is 1972. The park is open now. All 3 homes are still standing. The older farm house that was further north is gone. This photo shows what Don described in the episode that the train did not originally come particularly close to the house. Here is 1974. Cars parked at all 3 houses. This one is angled to show a bit of the front of the houses. Here is 1975. Another one showing a decent look at the houses. Here is 1986. All 3 houses still standing and appear to still be used in come capacity. Here is 1993. The middle house is now gone. It would have been in the way of the re-route of the train for the water park. The fort is now build around the southern house. The northern house is still standing though. Here is 1997. The northern most house is now gone, only the southern one inside the fort survived this long.

I really can't see a scenario where it would or should be removed before Invertigo.The Bat still runs pretty well, and despite mentions of issues getting parts for Arrows, there are plenty of them still getting makeovers. I also think we have better plots for the next couple possible coaster projects, so I highly doubt it'll get chopped for the real estate (though that is very much PRIME real estate for a new style terrain coaster). I'd be surprised to still be looking at Invertigo in 5 years (since I mostly just look at it due to the very poor ride quality). I would be surprised to not still be riding The Bat in another 5 years. I like the odds of it outlasting it's little brother up north, Iron Dragon.

I would also be heartbroken if The Bat were to get removed in the near future. It's a coaster I try to ride every time I go to the park and I don't really mind the long walk it takes to get there. It usually doesn't have that bad of a wait and it's a pretty enjoyable ride experience even if it is a bit short. I would be shocked if it got removed before Invertigo.

Absolutely a terrible episode in my opinion.

I haven't seen any mention that this is Ohio's largest and most powerful enema attraction.