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Honestly, I don't really care if it looks like a castle or a theater. I do kinda wish they changed up the front a little besides some new paint and exterior details. But as long as the inside of the ride is good, the exterior doesn't really matter to me. And the GP will just see an abandoned/creepy building and think it's cool. The actual ride experience is what really matters. But I will say I really do like the new look of the castle/theater facade entrance! I like the maroon-ish color. Can't wait to ride this!!!

Prague's National Theatre has a stone bridge leading to that theater believe it or not.

I for one am hoping that they bring back in an on ride photo of sorts, I think that is a nice souvenir that is something you can take with you for cheap

I've never rode Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare yet... 😉

Nice upkeep of foliage, trees, tables, trash cans, and paint all help guests feel so much better in a park. What's sad here is that — just as Matt Ouimet said — not enough industry professionals seem to understand that fact. Some things can't be immediately helped, but change can happen over the course of a few years. Something Kings Island really needs is a renewed interest in trees and foliage. Little displays like the floral calendar, carousel horse, and season-marking Eiffel Tower display (behind the Grand Carousel sign) are really nice. On the other hand the Floral Clock has been broken for a while, the Eiffel Tower topiary often looks like a... well a... poorly kept topiary. The park could also place some non-foliage-based displays if they don't want to put strain on the gardening teams. If I had to choose three areas of Kings Island to plant more trees, it would be Camp Snoopy, specifically near Franklin's Flyers Rivertown, specifically near Diamondback's entrance and near the path at the area formerly known as Swan Lake Vortex's plot (this one is very specifically foliage that a new coaster would go around and/or that would compliment a new coaster) Action Zone is somewhere on this list, but I would tie any new trees and foliage there directly into a larger area redevelopment rather than somewhere as a quick fix. I'm sure there's a worry about obstructing some sightlines and getting trees too close to coaster tracks as well.

From the KI History Facebook group. Figured it was worth a share. From the Smurf’s Enchanted Voyage:

Monster is getting it's arms!

A little disappointed they're still keeping the stone bridge. Sorry, but this is a THEATER not a CASTLE. Name me a theater/opera house that has a castle bridge.

New small look from KI’s instagram story which confirms there is a built in extended queue (which I hate short term because I am dreading any long wait times) but I know that the Boo Blaster’s queue did spill out frequently during the busier days, so this should save the employees from having to bring out temporary barriers.

Looks like the facade is still being worked on. Curious to see the finished project!

Peanuts 500, Charlie Brown’s Wind Up, Joe Cool’s Dodgem School, and Snoopy vs Red Baron are the only rides I’ve not ridden in the history of Kings Island. I also rode Grand Carousel, Off Road Rally, Scrambler, Monster, Linus’ Beetle Bugs, and the Log Flume before Kings Island at Cincinnati’s Coney Island. The original Kings Island Dodgem there, too!

People really thought the queue would be next to showplace and the station would be where the brake shed is? Tbh they should've kept the old Rivertown Mining Company building and used it as the queue kinda like how Maverick used WWL's old station. Now it's just cattlepins with tarps as shade structures which doesn't scream "rusting/old west" to me.

Come on Herschend...

It will also be ironic to me if they do a half job at fixing ours up when they had all the parts of the CP one to work with. Theirs even had the bottom skirting. I like that ours kinda has a green and white color scheme at night but I agree hopefully they can reuse or get new lights because 2024 alot of the bulb sockets near the center on the arms were empty and the center pieces hasn't had lights for a VERY long time

@Hawaiian Coasters 325, all great points! I'm glad you are able to now express your opinions without fear of reprisal of when you were employed. If I were in charge (lol), I'd put more trees around Diamondback, but near the splashdown, I'd use native plantings that dont distract from the splashdown. Until junkyard coaster is removed, I'd add fast growing and easily removed...think white pine, redbud, Mimosa etc. When junkyard is gone, reimagine with existing large trees, fountains, topiaries and shade structures. The whole area from the tower to Vortex plaza needs to be redone. Heck, how about some push up ginko trees while we are at it Poor Peanuts area. I don't see how it ever objectively won best kids area... besides smoothing up to voters. Back to Rivertown. It has good bones, but needs an overhaul. I think you can keep the flume in peanuts, but smooth the transition. Redo the queue for Diamondback and either change the name or make the story fitting. We do have native timber rattlers and they are forest dwellers. The current tie in seems to be with western Diamondback rattlesnakes which are desert dwellers. When I first moved back from Phoenix, I thought that was the case, or KI was somehow tied into the Arizona Diamondbacks. Neither of which makes any sense since a desert in ohio or a team out west when the Reds are just down the road. Fix the aluminum box by utilizing it to potential ( new ride, paint it to be less of an eyesore, use projection mapping) and use the grassy area behind it. Rework The Beast promenade and widen the exit path... ideally, push the entrance back closer to slaughter house to where the outhouse is. Thank you for listening to me Ted Talk.

Imagine how nice it would have been if it looked anything like the art they used to advertise it.

I've said it many times Camp Snoopy feels unfinished. You can tell by looking at the concrete in the area. It's a mess of old and new concrete with some brownish stained concrete in different areas. The area over by the "new" sign near the flume is pathetic imo. It should've been all the brownish stained concrete kinda like in Adventure Port the year prior. Also why on earth does Kidzbop play in that area when they could be playing Vince Guaraldi music there? Soapbox Racers queue was done fairly well imo with the wooden posts, lighting, and decor but the whole area should have gotten that level of detail. They could easily have swapped out the metal ride fencing at the flats with wood fencing like other parks but chose not to. They could've done more wood light posts with lanterns (like Adventure Port) but chose not to. They could've added more trees to eventually become more shade, but chose not to. They could've added more "camptivities" to the area (ie scavenger hunts, craft parties, dance parties, and even bonfires as the sun goes down), but chose not to. They could've added a better soundtrack/playlist to the area but chose not to. Notice a common denominator? Goes back to my rants in prior threads.

From a thrill rides standpoint- the RMC makes the most sense. Even though KD has Twisted Timbers, what BGW is “proposing” is completely different enough to not rally draw any comparisons. A giga on the other hand doesn’t seem needed right now. Even though it would be a completely different experience from Pantherian, I think people would be quick to draw comparisons. I honestly think Tampa would get a giga first and is arguably more deserving of one: Florida’s tallest/fastest/longest coaster is extremely marketable in a state with so many large parks.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14T8rv9Ln86/ Pictures of monster pods on their way to KI!

I saw a tweet that claimed [almost] nobody from the Cincinnati area has been invited to the Media Day preview: is that true? I'm not going to put much stock into it, but I've also only seen a few content creators with the invitation boxes — none of whom live in the tri-state area. The first person I saw with one was Marcus LeShock, the newscaster from Chicago; then I saw Kerney-cation, who live in Cleveland; and then I saw Jonny Amusements, who lives in the Sevierville area near Dollywood. Would it be normal to send one of these packages to local news agencies? It's been so long since they've done this and I can't remember what happened with the Mystic Timbers packages.

Also hats as well! I am confident that the ride is going to do fantastic and we will see merch of all sorts. Side note I wonder why there wasn't much merchandise (if any) of the original Phantom Theater ride? (Well at least from what I remember.)

I will be upset if I get to the park next week (!!!) and they aren’t selling plushies of the characters. Also figures and a flashlight toy and other unique stuff like that.

I hope they really milk the hell out of this ride with merchandise ,it would be cool to have a Maestro talking Christmas ornament to compliment my haunted mansion Christmas ornament

I really love the packaging of the invite box. If there’s any merch that requires packaging (doubtful for this season but there’s some cool merch opportunities with this) I hope they use a similar aesthetic. The Haunted Theater logo is a deep cut, I wonder if that’s concept art from the 1992 ride.

Owen Varga on the KI Season Pass Holders group on Facebook shared his media package and here's what he said about the secret message: I think it's probably better viewed in person, but either way it's a nice little media package!