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I had no idea Richard Doyle has voiced a bunch of characters! On his wiki page, it shows he has voice acted in a few things I grew up with/was exposed to as a kid: Regular Show, Lego The Adventures Of Clutch Powers, and Justice League! Wow! Thats awesome! Im amazed that the same voice behind Maestro is the same voice behind the troll from Lego The Adventures Of Clutch Powers who is quite the funny character!

I agree with this, and would like to add that Kings Island was a pass heavy park for years before we "stopped" receiving interesting things. (The park is still getting good major investment, the stoppage/slowing mentioned is simply a sentiment many have shared on here and other social media sites.) I'd argue that Kings Island is the status quo that Carowinds and other parks are being told to aim for in terms of attendance and quality, while KI/SF management are firmly content with where the park is now. This is naturally leading to a feeling of stagnation since the focus has been shifted. If the park wants to think outside of the box for new events or update their current ones then they'll need to find a way to increase guest interaction without forcing them to pay $20 each time they visit the event. Unfortunately I think the company will try to use whatever they can to pay off debt, so events that change from year to year like the ones at Dollywood are out of the question for now. Most passholders will probably be fine with lower quality because KI is their home park and is a family tradition. Families feel the price of a pass is worth it, even if they only ever visit twice. If they take a year off it might be hard for the park to regain their trust, which is why it's important to at least keep the status quo. In other news, the Royal Fountain is being filled for the season. Does anyone know how they fill it? It looks like there are a few hoses being run into it, but I feel like that would be inefficient way to fill such a large basin. There was also someone working on a few fountain sprayer nozzles earlier today. I wonder if they'll reinstall the park sign after it's done being filled or wait a little longer.

I doubt we see pass sales drop that much. In fact I think we see the exact opposite. While there may be some people choose not to renew, I don't think it'll be enough to really have an effect on attendance numbers. I don't think doing things like bubble parties, dance parties, or a cornhole tournament comes down to KI being a pass heavy park. The cost of doing things like that would be very minimal. It's more along the lines of people high up at the park not really thinking outside the box and using the whole "ok, good enough" mindset. I even think doing stuff listed above along with tie dyeing shirts and/or a sidewalk chalk drawing party in Camp Snoopy (where kids can draw on the CS concrete for fun) would be a cool idea for late May/June as kids start getting out of school for the summer.

So alas, I have my summer schedule figured out. I am committing to a Missouri trip in late July, plus, I'll be including TR's for my CP and MIA trip, and hopefully I get myself to KK this season as well. This is the furthest west in the US I've been in a while. Everything in Missouri will be new to me, so, as always, tips are welcome. Here's the likely plan of things. CP and MIA- Leave Cincy 6/13, MIA on 6/14, go to Sandusky 6/15, CP on 6/16 and 6/17. Will be spending some time re-exploring Muskegon and Port Clinton/Sandusky as well. Missouri Trip- This trip is contingent on the Reds as I want to see a game in St Louis, and with the way my band schedule works and the fact the Reds have a weekend series right after my last band concert of the summer in late July, I will be starting in St Louis, then go to KC, then end in Branson. For St Louis, along with SFStL, I will be exploring downtown. The City Museum and the Arch are high on the priority list. KC will likely be short and sweet just for WoF. I do want to ask about Branson. Is it as attraction dense as G-burg/PF? Also, for a first timer, is SDC a 1 or 2 day park on for weekday visits? I can do Dollywood in a day, but I'm infinitely more familiar with it than SDC.

The fountain is filled with a large valve and outspout near the pump room located underneath the International Street Bandstand. It looks kinda like one of those old top loaded washing machines with a middle agitator where the water fills the compartment before actually running.

There was a relocated merch stand which could possibly be the structure if it hasn’t moved, which could justify having to build the concrete expansion. It could also be entrance for an extended queue line, as I think the assumption from most people is that they’re building one. For as excited as I am for Phantom, I’m sorta dreading the opening weekend for it. Here’s hoping that the weather is thundery and horrible, so that it’s a quirky thing because there’s a thunderstorm in the ride plot, but the line will maybe only be one hour instead of 4+.

^^that honestly looks a little bit like the frame from the display at IAAPA

Opening day queue predictions. queue will extend into the Enchanted Theatre. Utilizing rope switchbacks throughout the space. Will likely be a 3+ hour queue

It looks like today is landscaping day for Phantom Theater! I still can't tell if there are queue stanchions along that new concrete, but I can definitely see the dirt mover parked next to it. There's also a trailer parked out by the exit bridge.

Ok to be fair I'd 100% back a wild mouse in the tomb raider building because Exterminator at Kennywood is a cool ride. And while I don't personally love wild mice, it would be a great fit for that space and for the family audience the park likes to appeal to. I could also see them adding one down near wind seeker if they decide to redo the end of coney mall with new flats and a refresh type of thing. Personally think the area could look nice but you know they'd have the fans (me included) complaining how they replaced Vortex with a wild mouse Other alternative is the sky flyer plot could fit one but that entire area needs a bigger retheme/refresh that plopping in a clone wild mouse isn't going to fix

^This exactly. Nice weather and KI will pull 30k attendance daily during the weekend ops. For good or bad, we are a pass heavy park where people come regardless of the product being offered...

Why would they spend the extra money when people show up to Kings Island in droves, because it is a pass heavy park? When pass sales significantly fall, they will consider doing things like this I think.

A look at Carowinds' Spring Break activities. It just amazes me that KI can't have activities like this during the early portion of the season or even during the season. Minus the Easter stuff of course as the park opens after Easter. But a cornhole tournament, a bubble party, a paint show (which the park did in 2021 btw), and a peanuts dance party would not be that hard or expensive to do.

That was an amazing event with fun activities including The Racer-a-thon. Got to tide many rides on Beast and Racer with this GOAT. Only downside was the cold rain later in day.....

I still can’t stress enough how much of a missed opportunity not having a first rider event is for phantom theater, I would argue that this would be the biggest amount of money raised for charity for any of these events we’ve done in the past given the immense amount of fans that the ride has young and old and not to mention it provides us super fans a first ride on the ride and gives us a chance to really take it all in and also donate money to a great cause. I don’t know what the reason would be not to do a ride auction unless they are running on a tight schedule and don’t think it’ll be ready on time or possibly they think it’ll be finished at the very last minute but I was really hoping by now they’d have announced an event because I had such a blast at the Mystic Timbers auction, and I feel this auction would be much more lucrative but that’s just me

Inside, in a big, high ceiling, dark building with lighting and minimal set dressing, a spinning “out of control nine cart” could be pretty cool though. I know a place that already has a tunnel- like entrance.

I attended ERScream. I thought ACE put together a nice event and made the best of the way things turned out with the weather.

New episode of “Behind The Curtain has been dropped. And on Opening Day. Go Reds. Nice interview with Rick Bastrup. Can’t wait to see more.

I went to KD for their opening day this past weekend. I have been to plenty of legacy Six parks to experience their Flash Pass system, so I knew what to expect going in. The employees working the FL queues with the new phone-based scanners seemed to be well versed in how to scan people in, but the issues arose in those guests that entered the Fastlane queue before their countdown timers had expired. The employees were letting them simply stand in line until their QR code became available- forcing those who had their QR codes ready to go to wait several additional minutes- sometimes 10-15. Both TT and Pantherian were running one train (and kept shredding wheels... again), which compounded the issue. The QR codes do scan quickly, and they do seem to have the FL queues adequately staffed. It was easy to make a reservation in the app, though like many have said I did not like having to have my phone on me. To lap Twisted Timbers, this required me to get my phone out of the locker every time I wanted to enter the fastlane queue- rather than just store my phone in the locker for several rides like you can with a wristband. For me, that is the biggest drawback. I also experienced difficulty getting the all season FL on my pass to activate- after entering the park, the FL website still said I was not present in the park. I had to go to the premium experience center to get them to manually activate my FL reservations- which took nearly 30 minutes for them to figure out. I was glad Accesso was present to work through the bugs the first day. I did receive a survey after my visit- where I also left this feedback.

I believe the reasoning for tying the new Fast Lane system to a website instead of the Six Flags app is because the website(s) can communicate with whatever server(s) better than the app. It's a bad system, but I think it's still early in development. I would much prefer it if they made FL Ultimate a wristband-based pass and gave guests a way to use FL Reserve from their phone or a kiosk (also using a wristband). Anything to get guests off of their phones where possible.

Share more on your FL experience with their new system.

I disagree with the notion of putting a water ride in The Vortex plot. KI already has 3 different water rides in the dry park with WWC nearby in Rivertown. I know for around 15 years or so WWC and Kenton's Cove coexisted, but KI doesn't need another water ride in the dry park. I truly believe The Vortex plot deserves a grand and photogenic coaster. I believe the ideal ride for The Vortex plot is a Ghostrider model from Vekoma. Its minimum height requirement is 48 inches which makes it very accommodating. It would also give KI a modern launch coaster. The layout can be customized to fit the uneven terrain of the plot that can easily include moments of airtime and inversions. If done well, it could be the stand out steel coaster of KI. Considering the recent track record of Vekoma projects here in the US, a Vekoma Ghostrider seems like a slam dunk in the making.

I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to a return of Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal in that area. It could be incorporated into Rivertown in some way.