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My 2026 "wishlist" for KI: 1) New music in the park. While I think Area 72 and Adventure Port should keep their own soundtracks I think it is time for a reset on all the music in the park. The jazz on I street is outdated and just doesn't work with I-street. I want the orchestral soundtracks back. Or maybe since 2026 is the 250th birthday of America, celebrate that with patriotic music on I-street like what is played during Tricks and Treats in Coney Mall. Speaking of Coney Mall, it is time to ditch pop music there and do a custom soundtrack. I think you could split it into two areas. If you want to keep jazz in the park, you could have it in the front half of Coney Mall near Racer's entrance. Then in the back half by Jukebox Diner and Antique Autos, have 50's/60s style music playing. In Rivertown, please ditch the bluegrass covers of pop/rock songs and do actual bluegrass/country songs. Sorry, but as someone who likes rock music, hearing a bluegrass cover of "Enter Sandman" just makes me want to puke lol. In Snoopy, it's time to add a custom soundtrack for Camp Snoopy. I say move the playlist that plays in the Soapbox Racers queue line and have it play in the rest of Camp Snoopy. I just think it is a missed opportunity hearing Kidzbop in that section of the kids area. If you want to have Kidzbop in the Planet Snoopy section that's fair, but have it cut off right around the Snoopy's Boutique and transition to "Camp Snoopy" music. Finally for the rest of the park, I think pop is fine, but change the playlist. It's been the same list of songs the last couple of years so I think it's time to add more and maybe remove a few current ones. 2) More limited time special events. No I'm not talking about Food and Wine or Carnivale. I'm talking about pop up weekend events like the park used to do in the past. Like food truck fridays, dive in movies, etc. I also really would like to see the park bring the color run 5ks back. I don't understand why the park doesn't do that anymore. They could get some local organizations to sponsor it and/or have it raise money for a good cause. KI already does the JDRF walks and the A Kid Again Family Festival so they still do stuff like that, but I think a family friendly fun 5k in the spring time would be perfect. I like the color run idea as it really adds to the fun especially at a park like KI. KD still does Run and Ride so it's not like legacy CF has abandoned events like this. I also would like to see Grad Nites brought back (which tbh would kinda sting to fairly recent HS grads like me who didn't get a grad nite at KI). Multiple legacy Six Flags parks do Grad Nite and I believe I saw somewhere Carowinds is doing one so I think doing a grad nite would be great. 3) More New events: Now I'm going to talk about actual seasonal events. While nothing is confirmed, I'm willing to bet Carnivale is not coming back so something needs to go in its place. Obviously other parks in the chain have introduced "La Viva Fiesta" and while I think that would do well at KI, I want to see KI do their own take on a "Summer Nights" event. Like Cedar Point has Boardwalk Nights and Knotts has Summer Nights. Even Worlds of Fun calls theirs "KC Nights". So I think a custom event for KI would be perfect. I think "Island Nights" has a good ring to it and KI has used that name before, but in Soak City. Another event I'd like to see come to KI is some sort of Kids event like Kidzfest at Canada's Wonderland which is very popular there. Worlds of Fun also introduced their own version of Kidzfest and it seems to be doing well there as well. It would be a great way to show off our large kids area. When it comes to timeframe I think Food and Wine should be moved to late April through Memorial Day. That just makes more sense as Food and Wine feels more like a spring time event instead of a summer event. Then hold Kidzfest in June and Island Nights in July/August. Then Haunt and Winterfest during their normal timeframes. 4) A New Indoor VIP lounge: I know I'm not the only one who thinks this, but our VIP lounge is an embarrassment when compared to other parks in the chain. Plus with more people buying the prestige pass, a glorified patio next to the dumpster and restrooms is not going to cut it. It's time to take a page out of Kings Dominion and move it indoors. I personally think the best location for it would be the International Restaurant as it is a large indoor space with a great view that isn't used that often, but there are some obstacles that would likely prevent them from going that route. The next potential location is the Antique Photos building in Rivertown. The final location I thought of is the Graeters building. Idk if it is just me, but I don't usually see that many people in Graeters at KI. I personally wouldn't mind them moving Graeters somewhere else in the park like Rivertown and converting that building to the VIP lounge.

I wish Christopher the best in his new role. He was always nice to me when I spoke to him at the park.

Same! They make more sense being out before the entrance gates.

The flag poles could probably look a lot better out in front of the turnstiles rather than bringing them back to "block" the view of the Eiffel Tower. I don't think KI necessarily needs to do what Dollywood and Dorney Park have with a secondary park sign a little further away from the gate, but it could be fun to have a Kings Island sign made out of foliage somewhere else in the park. The 50th anniversary sign is probably one of my favorites because of its overall shaping and how the ribbons span outward. If designing a new sign were up to me, I think I would start by trying to keep it on flat ground unlike the first PKI sign (seen below) and Kings Dominion's current sign. So far my guidelines are: overall shape should compliment the Eiffel Tower and draw eyes up to it needs to be able to be modified for seasonal festivals and removable for Fall and Winter events must say "Kings Island" spaces for foliage should be included in the design Paramount's Kings Island sign circa 1993 (CoasterAce on YouTube). As one of the first (if not the first) front gate signs at Kings Island, I think this iteration did exactly what it needed to do. It certainly fits in better with all of the mature trees lining International Street, far more than it would with the current trees in their still-smaller forms. I think the reason why this setup works better at Kings Dominion than it did at Kings Island is because KD has more trees along the front of their fountain that help to build up to the berm. 2006 Paramount's Kings Island sign (Reddit). This sign solved the issue of how much the berm blocked the view of the fountains, but is a little too low for my liking. I definitely appreciate how much the current setup both allows for guests to sit in front of the sign while also raising the planter bed up away from curb-level. The fountains being set to barely on doesn't help the view, but you can see where the shape of the sign compliments the Eiffel Tower rather than being a flat line below it. If I could find a photo of this sign from Fearfest, I'd also include it to show the decorations; however, if I recall correctly the decorations were really just placed around the planter rather than anything special being done with the sign. Paramount's Carowinds front gate sign some time after 2000 (https://www.screammachine.net/parkinfo.php?parkcode=PMCS); the same sign in 2012 ("Carowinds Classic Footage - 2012" by XtremeCoasters Network on YouTube). This sign accomplishes a lot of good things while remaining incredibly simple. It's one of my favorite park signs for a few reasons. It's big and was prominently featured as the vista point at the end of the path from the park entrance, something Carowinds now fills with a giant empty stage; the sign supports are designed rather than being simply functional, especially with the three bars behind the Paramount logo; and the foliage behind it both frames the sign while also allowing it to stand out. I have a feeling that this sign and planter were removed in 2017 to make way for an expanded stage (possibly to coincide with Winterfest), which is a shame. The current Celebration Plaza area is very disconnected design-wise and there is no longer a direct vista to be seen from the main entrance to the park. After the Paramount logo was removed from the sign it did lose some of the height that made up its good shaping. I don't know that making the Kings Island sign any wider/taller would help its current predicament, but this iteration of the Carowinds sign might provide inspiration in other ways. Paramount's SCarowinds front gate sign (https://www.charlottenc.gov/CS-Prep/City-News/Experinece-at-SCarowinds). You can see here how it was decorated for the first years of SCarowinds, likely sometime around 2001-2003 since neither the old Emporium building nor the Borg Assimilator are visible behind the trees. The decorations are simple and plentiful but don't distract from the sign itself. They also add a third layer with the sign and the trees behind it. I haven't been able to find any photos of it from Paramount's Carowinds 2005 iteration of Winterfest, but this specific photo of the SCarowinds decorations looks so good. The Halloween Haunt and Tricks & Treats decorations over the last few years have strayed away from the "classic frights" genre seen below, but at least the current Haunt sign is custom-made with special effects included.

I've always said that KI's 4th of July event should be more than just "come for what's already here and stay for a bigger firework show". Add specialty food offerings, have special activities and entertainment geared towards the holiday. Give the locals something that would make them decide to spend their 4th of July day at KI rather than their local July 4th festival. Bc locals can go to KI pretty much anytime over the summer, but they can't go to a local 4th of July event any other day. Also since Soak City usually gets the most crowded on the 4th, I wouldn't mind spreading some of the "special activities and entertainment" over there. Like set up a stage and do live bands over there. I also think doing some sort of camp fire/s'mores thing in Camp Snoopy as the sun goes down would be kinda cool. I believe Knotts used to do something like that as part of Summer Nights. Like imagine spending your day in Soak City then coming back after the waterpark closes and seeing special camp activities and campfires/s'mores going on. As a kid I would've LOVED that.

100% agree on using actual bluegrass music in Rivertown, although I think they could also have some of the covers still in there. I wonder if there's a rule about using license music in a park or if they just choose to go with the covers. Having some more limited-run events return would be fun and could encourage attendance. My personal choices would be for the Food Truck Festival and Grad Nite to come back. The former would work similarly to the Food & Wine Festival and the latter would work like the other Grad Nite events at Six Flags parks. Island Nights would be a good Grand Carnivale replacement. KidZFest on the other hand might push the limit as it seems Kings Island only does 2 big Summer festivals alongside Star Spangled Nights. As small as the Food & Wine Festival is compared to an event like Tricks & Treats, I'd hate to lose it. Speaking of longer events, I think it would be nice to see a little longer run for Star Spangled Nights this year for the special anniversary. maybe running it for 5 days instead of 2 or adding some specialty menu items would make it seem more special. As for this point, I think they should construct a new building for an indoor VIP lounge instead of shoving it into one. I'd place it in a new section of Rivertown as part of The Beast's 50th anniversary Rivertown expansion that I've posted elsewhere on this website. A new building would allow them to also make it two floors like the one at Kings Dominion. My issue with the places you've listed is that putting it in the International Restaurant would effectively cancel out its ability to be used for private events and for public events like the Winterfest Wonderland Buffet. It's also far too close to the park entrance to be used as a non-Special Events space IMO. The Antique Photos building in Rivertown might be a little too small for an indoor VIP lounge. I think a VIP lounge being indoors would attract more Prestige Passholders to it, meaning the space might be filled before too long anyways. Graeter's is probably the one that I could get behind, I just also think that it would be unfortunate to lose the ice cream parlor space.

typical guest sentiment. it's a fun ride experience.... and largely one you can find at most other legacy CF and SF parks... including it's own home. Nothing sticks out as a "must spend $$$" investment to go out of your way to experience.

Is this in reference to the Kings Island social or the KIC social?

Camelback Resort, a year-round recreational Mountains, has appointed Christopher Baulo as its new director of food and beverage. Baulo had served as director of food and beverage for Kings Island since 2023, where he oversaw all culinary operations in collaboration with the park's executive chef.

I am so happy the flag poles are no longer there behind the sign.

Thank You, but why wait until Spring?

What you have to keep in mind, is that every opinion of all coasters/rides/installations on this site are through an enthusiast lens. The general public likely doesn't see Orion as just a taller version of Diamondback. They see it as yet another highly enjoyable coaster that is the tallest in the park to date. It seems @Orion-XL200, we were typing up similar responses at the same time.

Sure, Orion isn't the best of the best....it's not a MF or a Fury (which isn't my favorite by any means)...but it is what it is. It wasn't originally meant for KI...but we got it. It's my favorite in the park and my 2nd favorite Giga. Literally the only people I see who complain about Orion are the 'thoosies online. The roller coaster 'thoosies are the most unenthused people about their hobby.

^^They have lift hill audio theming already. I wonder why they don't use it?

Seems like I am one of the few true coaster nerds that really enjoy Orion for what it is. Ha! Just kidding. It's no Fury 325, and is on the shorter side of overall length, but it I love that first drop, fun elements and tons of speed. It's a great combo with Diamondback's airtime and repeating big hills. And it is very re-ridable for most everyone. I can marathon both easily which is nice. I think we are lucky to have it at our home park. Now just we need a really amazing install in The Vortex old spot...it's just so empty back there without it.

Sorry, but just no. That looks ugly imo.

Here’s every animatronic (except one I guess, I’m not sure if they’re counting the gargoyle as one). I’m assuming some of the head sculpts will be reused for the main characters. I wonder if them being yellow within their model means they have facial movements (Which would align with Maestro and Larry well. The two oddballs with this theory are Hilda and the Boiler Men which I assume would talk but I after this new episode I also need to remember that it’s a homage to the original versus a remake. Also if Houdelini gets a voice that will be cool.) They all look fine here, and when judging the models with the physical figures we’ve seen I’m sure they’ll look fantastic!

Richard Doyle confirmed as maestro again, interesting to see where Rick bastrup will appear in the ride, here’s to April.

Love the new precedent of announcing Curtain Call episodes in advance so I don’t have to stress about a random drop on Thursdays. Starting the new year off right.