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Dollywood isn’t decorated RELIGIOUSLY, just with care and attention to detail.

There's an hourly show with probably the most pyrotechnics I've ever seen in a theme park. Lots of fire, cool music and lights. Would highly recommend anyone at Haunt to try and be on I-Street at the top of the hour. Strange the park has said anything and you can't find anything about it on the app.

I have to agree with this! While I'd love more theming at Kings Island, I don't know that The Racer needs much more than itself. Thunder Road at Carowinds was originally themed to directly correlate with the titular film and had fiberglass train fronts to match. Racer fits into Coney Mall because it is a classic wooden coaster in an area themed to a classic amusement park of the early 20th century. I love the thinking that went into that Tower Topics retheme though! If we need to find a coaster to retroactively add theming to, I'd vote for Diamondback. The park could enclose the upper queue line inside a building and theme it similar to the queue Snake River Expedition had up at Cedar Point. The side that faces the pathway could even be used as a facade to bring some of that "town" feeling back to Rivertown — something that Diamondback's construction notably interrupted.

Be at HAUNT - fountain at 9 (7,8,10 11 and 12) and you’ll see.

Today marks the anniversary of Kings Island’s 2019 announcement that Vortex would be retired, and I’ve published a piece on TPBD reflecting on the ride’s legacy. https://themeparksbydon.com/remember-the-grip-Vortex-kings-island/

For as long as I’ve known about Fearfest/Halloween Haunt, one thing always alluded me – how come the park never had any ride related mazes? Think about if slaughterhouse was a maze themed to the legend of The Beast under a different name, if the former blackout building was centered around the legend of the Banshee, etc. Heck, we never had a maze around Phantom Theater (granted Phantom theater briefly was a Fearfest attraction.) The closest thing we really got were scare zones that were slightly related to the park sections like Alien X, Coney Maul, etc. Maybe that might come off as cheap or unimaginative, but I’m still kind of surprised that the park never expanded on a ride’s story through an adjacent maze.

AND then you can tie product back to the experience like “midnight desert party with exclusive viewing of the finale” from the I street restaurant from 10:30-12. I like the idea of “surprise and delight” with unadvertised things, but they need everything they do now to drive attendance and visibility to reinvigorate this post- merger brand.

I loved this segment and the idea, but I kind of have mixed feelings about this. The Racer without a theme or a story is ironically a theme itself part of Coney Mall; it was meant to pay homage to and sort of be the replacement for the Shooting Star at Coney Island. The whole Coney Mall midway is meant to be an homage to classic traditional amusement parks, specifically Old Coney. The concept is really cool, but when sticking with the theme of Coney Mall, a classic wooden coaster themed to something other than a classic wooden coaster would feel out of place, even if "The Racer" name remains. In my opinion, The Beast and Diamondback would benefit greatly from a story telling standpoint. The Beast had a theme to an old mining company, but Diamondback could be themed to an old farm being terrorized by a large oversized Diamondback rattlesnake that's taking over Rivertown. They could enclose the queue and make it look like a wood barn with tools and other props lining the walls.

They've had fifty something years to do it and they haven't. I don't think today's generation would connect with the 1920s or 1950s, whichever this was trying to portray. They would also have to maintain it it, which we all know, degrades over time. If anything, they should just lean into the nostalgia of the ride with some light touches. A huge opportunity exists in the brake shed to turn goose turds into golden eggs. (Remove some of the walls, add murals, music, etc ) If I had my choice, I would restore theming to The Beast before adding anything to other rides.

Stories are great for rides like Mystic, Beast, Banshee, Orion, and even Diamondback- and while I’m sure KI could make up one for Racer- I don’t think that a made up story would be the right fit for it. Actually, I argue that the best way to tell Racer’s story is with its history– how it sparked the second roller coaster renaissance, how The Brady Bunch rode it, how it ran backwards for a while, how it’s as old as the park itself, etc. Sometimes a ride’s history is its greatest story

Goes to show that the haunt mazes don't matter. Ditch the mazes and scare roamers and decorate religiously like Dollywood.

If you are hungry, hit up Coney BBQ tonight. They are doling out heaps of chicken strips and the roast chicken is huge. Like the good old days!

Really unfortunate what happened. But I think Stardust being classified as "intense" is a bit much. It's one of the best rides I've ever been on, but I wouldn't put it into even the top 10 of most intense roller coasters I've ridden... I've received headaches from plenty of rides in the past, including Invertigo and Vortex. But it never crossed my mind to sue the park... Not even sure how that woman is going to be able to prove her injury with how long ago it happened.

Could be maybe that they don't want to "highlight" it and have people wondering about it while its down and out for the count. Maybe I am just being too optimistic. Really hoping it gets at least one or two more seasons and that they will do the full repair when the park is closed for the off season.