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I grew up with the park almost from the beginning, so there are way too many good memories to post. KI was my second home throughout my life and my refuge for the summer. While staying with my grandparents who lived here like did as a kid until we moved to barren West Texas when I got into the third grade. I was devastated that KI was literally over a thousand miles away and would wait all school year for the summer and the chance to visit my true home and enjoy KI almost every day during the summer. Luckily my grandma was kind enough to see my passion for coasters and was more than willing to trek me up to the park and let me be at my favorite place in the world. I have seen so many changes, good and not so good. As a young kid in the 80's, the park had a bit more aura it seems ( Maybe just cause I was a kid and in awe of the park...Beast, original Bat, ect.), but it still keeps its hold on me as I get a bit older just like it did when I was much younger. I still feel like a young kid when I walk into the park and see International Street and the Tower come into view. That view never ceases to bring me back to my childhood! The last night riding the Flying Eagles before they were stole from the park is one of my best memories! So maybe it's all those trips up to the park with my grandma and the conversations we had that is one of the best parts of the experience.

While the article does say that Linus Launcher will be part of the new area, I am hoping that it is also one of the repainted rides mentioned. That purple doesn't really fit with the Camp Snoopy / Rivertown transition. I also hope they repaint the outside of the restrooms building.

Construction update blog and video that the park just posted: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2024/january/camp-snoopy-construction-update Among some other interesting tidbits, it's worth pointing out that this says Camp Snoopy will be opening "late spring 2024." Does not seem optimistic for opening day, unfortunately.

My favorite KI memory is when I proposed to my wife at Kings Island 2 years ago and last September was our wedding!

Camp Snoopy is new for 2024. What efforts has the park made to ignite interest, excitement, and anticipation since the August announcement? There's a lack of news stories, social media buzz, and blog features about the new ride, about Camp Snoopy, and all there will be for families to do. Why didn't the Kings Island communications team capture a momentous occasion -- the groundbreaking for Camp Snoopy -- by photographing General Manager Mike Koontz alongside Snoopy and Charlie Brown, all sporting hard hats and holding shovels, and subsequently share this captivating image with the Associated Press? By capturing that photo, and including a cutline such as, "Snoopy, Kings Island's EVP/GM Mike Koontz, and Charlie Brown make history at the groundbreaking ceremony for Camp Snoopy at Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio. The park's award-winning kids' area is set to unveil this exciting addition in spring 2024," they could have secured extensive earned media coverage across news outlets spanning Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and beyond. Nobody at the park or corporate team is going to notice missed opportunities like this because people outside of PR can't really judge how well a PR person is doing because they're so out of the scope. Camp Snoopy is geared for storytelling. Hoping to see some stories soon across all communication channels!

I mentioned this before on an another thread. But, I would retheme Backot so that it ties in more with Rivertown and make the area it is in more aesthetically pleasing. New trains resembling Conestoga wagons. New name would be, “Horseless Carriages.” Story would be this: One of the more eccentric residents of Rivertown has developed a way for Conestoga Wagons to run themselves and has invited the public to test them out.

Hey now - you don’t know what they were doing the day that they had the ground breaking. Maybe their kid had a soccer game. Maybe they were on a cruise. You never know.

Loch Ness Monster is getting some major attention with BGW choosing to preserve the ride by retracking it. That being said, could this be a sign of hope for all existing Arrows across the globe? Let me be clear, parks are going to make decisions based off of a number of factors such as ride popularity, maintenance, etc, so of course it’s not likely that every current Arrow is going to last for decades to come….but still, it does make you think.

I would retheme Boo Blasters into an actual Haunted House (no guns), and Phantom Theater makes its return!

For the consumer, yes - good idea. From a business standpoint, a bad sign. There’s a reason they never really did this. Now they can’t plan around the numbers, diminishing the experience for all FL people. Plus they are terribly disrupting their dynamic pricing model with this. Looks like they need revenue, and they need it now. They’re also promoting the Silver Pass, which is a first. This may indicate that certain avenues of Q4 didn’t go so hot and they are scrambling to make up ground now.