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Interesting because in my experience the CP one tasted better. But I think we can all agree panda express is better portions and flavors outside the park. KI just has so many better options these days. The food has come a very long way in the park even from when I started going regularly in 2011

I'd love to see Kings Island get an Island Nights event, though I don't entirely know how they would make it different from the Boardwalk Nights (CePo), KC Nights (WoF), Great American Nights (SFGAm), Knott's Summer Nights (KBF), Summer Nights (DP) etc. events. The park also presumably still has all of the items for Grand Carnivale, so if they can't get another event it would probably be cheapest to stick with GC for another year. Of course, the cheapest option would be to not hold any festivals, but I think Six Flags would remove festivals from all of the non-core parks before touching KI's. Something I'm a little saddened by is the fact that it looks like California's Great America may not get to have a 50th Anniversary event this year. Both Valleyfair and Chicago's (SF) Great America have talked about their 50th anniversary and have also put out anniversary logos. California's Great America hasn't released anything. Could this be a result of them being late to the party or is Six Flags really just not going to let them celebrate like everyone else has been able to? They already didn't host any festivals in 2025, so it's easier for me to believe they'll do worse than the bare minimum for that park. At least Kings Dominion got to have a little bit of hope for their 50th anniversary this year.

That one would be so easy to expand within the current footprint as well. I think there's enough space to add at least 4 more stalls while putting the sinks in the middle of the room. Only having one stall in your front restroom is criminal.

Sorry y'all I've been busy and haven't been able to get a trip report in for when I went to Magic Mountain Holiday in the Park with my partner on black Friday. So here it goes - Started the day with an awesome ride on Viper after seeing that X2 and Revolution were both at an hour wait due to one train ops. Viper is still kicking butt after all these years and I have never found it to be that rough. It desperately needs a paint job but I did hear they recently replaced the lift chain so at least it seems they plan to keep it around a while longer. Probably the last big arrow looper left along with TN Tornado at Dollywood. Loch Ness and Viper at Darien Lake are good rides but they don't hit those high speeds and have the twisting layout of multiple odd types of inversions. Viper is the only arrow looper that actually reminds me of Vortex. We hit the magic mover up the hill and grabbed a ride on tastu which is still my favorite flying coaster. Then we headed to Ninja and rode once in the front and once in the back. Next was my #400th credit Apocalypse which I did find somewhat enjoyable after hearing lots of complaints about the roughness from other friends and enthusiasts. We then went to Gotham City and rode Riddler's Revenge, the bumper cars, the round up flat, Batman, and the new wonder woman coaster. At this point it got darker and the Christmas lights came on. We snagged a ride on Goliath and then did the buccaneer and swashbuckler flats. We knew we didn't have enough time to brave the long lines for Twisted Colossus, Full Throttle, or West Coast Racers seeing as they were all definitely over an hour or possibly even two hours. We went back to the front and revolution was walk on so we rode it and it's a surprisingly good night ride. We also did the carousel, two night rides on ninja, one night ride on Viper, and then waited 90 minutes for X2 at the end of the night (still with one train ops). Overall it was a good day at the park and we got to hit a lot of the flats that I ignored on my previous visit in 2022. We ended up riding Ninja a total of 4 times because it might be the last time I get to ride it seeing as it's definitely showing age and they are building the new Vekoma prototype suspended coaster. Ninja is my second favorite arrow suspended after The Bat at KI and it's going to be sad when they eventually decide to remove it. I think when we go down to LA for the holidays next year we're hoping to go to Knott's. I'm unofficially boycotting them until they get Montezuma's Revenge open so I'm hopeful that we see more progress on that project now that track is reportedly going vertical. Hope everyone is having a great start to 2026 and looking forward to many more exciting trips and coaster riding this year!

https://playbill.com/job/splash-water-parade-tour/0d220d86-cd54-473a-a3f7-1e5cc4ecf182 An audition notice has been posted for the 2026 tour of the Splash! Water Parade. The parade will perform at Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Over Georgia, Dorney Park, Valleyfair, Kings Dominion and Carowinds. I had sort of expected Splash! to take the place of Grand Carnivale as a summertime parade in 2026, so it's interesting to see that Kings Island isn't listed.

I think WinterFest 2025 was great! As far as rides, pretty decent lineup. I had a rare opportunity to marathon FoF a few times on slow nights. Because of that, I've ridden FoF more times during this WinterFest than at any other point period. Racer being open is an absolute win. Some of my best rides on Racer have been taken during WinterFest. And it runs amazing! Mystic Timbers is always a blast. I absolutely love our train, but going with what @SonofBaconator said, they really either need to retheme the experience or add , like, a lot more lights. As far as food, I was able to get quite a bit of the seasonal meals. Per the advise of @DonHelbig, I was finally able to try the much acclaimed Holiday Meatloaf Burger. And it really did live up to the hype! The Meatloaf Burger is a top 10 food item at Kings Island. I also tried the Honey Ham & Cheese fries from Potato Works and they were pretty good. The Mac & Cheese bar at Enrique's is always awesome and hope it sticks around. As far as lights, the park looked amazing as it always does! Kudos to everyone involved with setting up all the lights and decorations. On the subject of the Holly Jolly Trolly, good riddance! Yes it was something to do. But on busy nights it would crazy walking through Coney Mall and trying to avoid the path of the trolly. Overall, WinterFest was great and I can't wait for April!