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Another "wish" I have which won't happen this season and likely won't happen in the future as the ROI likely isn't worth it to those in charge is to see popular rides with very little shade get a shaded structure. I mocked up some "queue house" ideas for Diamondback and Flight of Fear (the old Firehawk queue which is used more than the current indoor queue). Diamondback's is based on the old Rivertown Mining Company building that used to be there and FOF's is based on the theme of Area 72

The Diamondback queue structure is so badly needed! It'd help bring the "town" feel back to Rivertown while refreshing the DB experience. Drawing the view back down to the ground will also help this section of Rivertown overall. If they do anything for the FOF queue I'd hope they would choose a design that keeps the trees or plants new ones nearby. Area 72 as it currently exists is so devoid of plant life that it'd be a shame to lose more.

For the time being lol. 😅

Me patiently waiting for April so I can have first dibs on rides...😶‍🌫️

If Tower Topics talks about Invertigo, they will follow up with a post. 😀

I hope to see more of these kinds of posts going forward. I agree that it is refreshing to see because it gives the feeling of the park being "human" instead of corporate. Not trying to get cozy with the idea of course, but if we see more of these kinds of posts it'll be such a breath of fresh air. Hoping they will also make a post for Invertigo too.

Only if you paid for the APP, which was fairly close to Prestige pricing to begin with.

It shows how fast time goes... yeah it has been over a month since we've seen another Curtain Call video. I'd imagine we'll get another one sometime this month. Maybe even soon?

We bought my $99 Gold Pass during the MVP Sale and — aside from my previously stated displeasures with the company — the only benefit that has so far changed for me is the inclusion of free Haunt mazes. My add-on all-season dining and drink plans have yet to be altered, I'm still getting the free entry to all Six Flags parks in North America, and the Kings Island operating calendar appears relatively unchanged from last year. Would it have been nice to have a list of all of the 2026 seasonal festivals and events when we bought the pass? Yes, but the park also didn't release that until March 4th for the past few years so nothing changed there. As a shows/entertainment person I'd also really love to know if any changes will happen there, but I would've bought my pass anyways. It seems the folks in my same MVP Gold Pass boat have made it through all of this unscathed. I also think changing the real/perceived benefits of the passes after purchase is incredibly bad. We'll never see the exact numbers or reasonings to help understand why this is happening but I imagine they would show some striking revelations.

I bought my gold season pass during the MVP sale. Besides Kings Island, the other Six Flags parks I plan on visiting this year are Cedar Point, Kings Dominion and Six Flags Over Georgia. Two of those parks are in the eastern region, so I would've needed an all-park passport anyways to visit those parks.

After seeing the new options, I am also happy to have not bought anything yet. The new Regional Gold will be perfect for me, considering all I will be doing in regards to SF this season will be KI and SF:Great America primarily with many trips planned for both and it ends up saving me a decent amount of money. Even if its only a couple hundo or less in savings once all my add-ons are placed, that will still drop the monthly or will open me up to getting things I may not get on the pass otherwise.

I explained it to you above.

So I know what I’m buying. Barely a price difference. And in many cases, like this one, there’s often confusion about what’s being offered leading up to the beginning of the season. What do you care what I do with my money? What’s the price difference? Pretty insignificant.

“Got anymore of those Curtain Call episodes?”

I really love that they posted about this. I always wonder why the park only promotes the newest additions when the supporting cast is still so strong. It's cool to see the park outwardly caring for something that makes the park unique and special.

Confirmed to be returning in 2026. Not a huge surprise, but still great to see!

I went down to Coney today to take a look at the work. I took the time to look at the vendors that had set up their displays, but my main focus was getting a look at the site. What was confirmed by Jonathan Martin, the CEO of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO), last spring: The iconic Kellogg Avenue auto gate, built in 1924, will remain. Lake Como, the manmade lake in the front if the property, which was dug out and filled in 1892 (some sources say 1896), will also remain. The picnic grove, shelters and playground will also remain. This was where Coney Island got its start in 1870 when apple farmer James Bell Parker was approached by a Cincinnati church group requesting to set up a picnic on his apple orchard. I have included photos below. Sunlite Pool: This is still a surreal visual. Once the site of the world's largest recirculating swimming pool is nothing more than a field of gravel and dirt. According to Coney Island Central, the pool was designed by W.J. Lynch of New Haven, Connecticut and was 200 feet wide by 401 feet long. The pool could hold 3.5 million gallons of water and could clean and filter 47,000 gallons of water per hour the year it opened. Sunlite Pool would have celebrated its 100th anniversary this season, originally opening in 1925 as simply the Natatorium. The name Sunlite Pool would come later in the 1930s. LaRosas Pizzeria: While it was home to Cincinnati's staple Italian eatery during the park's "modern era" (Post Kings Island), the LaRosas Pizzeria at Coney Island had originally opened in 1967 as a souvenir and gift shop on the Mall. It had replaced the old Penny Arcade. I took a visit to Coney for Summerfair in 2024 to get a look at the site. Last season the building was open for restroom use and concessions. This year it was closed with concessions being located on the patio next to the building. A quick peak in the window revealed that the building is undergoing renovations. For fun, I did a side by side comparison of this building to a photo I found in the book "Cincinnati's Coney Island" by Charles J. Jacques Jr. The photo, taken from the book, shows Bingo the gorilla from Hanna-Barbera's "The Banana Splits" entertaining people on the Mall. To the right is my photo taken at a similar angle (and similar lighting). This was taken in the early 70s following Taft Broadcasting's merger and acquisition of Coney Island in 1969 to begin the development of Kings Island. I had previously made a comparison using a photo I took last year, but the way the sun was shining today influenced my decision to recreate it. Mini Golf: The mini golf course was visibly torn up from construction equipment. MEMI had set up barrier fences to keep people from going into the area (This didn't stop some people though). I think it is safe to say that the Cincy Mini Golf is not long for this world. Moonlite Pavillion & Tivoli Fountain: Moonlite Pavillion, named after the famous Moonlite Gardens just down the Mall, was originally built sometime in the 1960s and served as the rides shelter for the Cuddle Up, Whip and Dodgem. It was renovated in 1976 and renamed Moonlite Pavillion to host special events. This was part if the initiative by Taft Broadcasting to redevelop the site as a non competitive alternative to Kings Island. For Summerfair, this was the congregating place for the vendors and crafters as well as a lost and found station. The building is being put to great use and is most definitely going to stick around. It was most recently used for a Memorial Day party this previous week: The little fountain pool on the Lake Como side of the building once featured bubbling tubes, mimicking the fountains of Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark: below is a screenshot from the 1968 film "A Dream of A Park:" This was no doubt influenced by Gary Wachs' 1963 trip to Europe. Today, however, the Tivoli fountain is gone, replaced in later years with simple cascading jets. Now it's empty and void of water, but it does not look like it's going anywhere anytime soon. On a side note, if there's one feature I would love to see revived and replicated at Kings Island from Old Coney, it's the Tivoli fountain. EDIT: A fun fact about Moonlite Pavillion/ Rides shelter is that it was replicated in smaller scale at Kings Island in 1972, housing the Dodgem and Cuddle Up. While the children's Whip ride, now called Linus' Beetle Bugs, made it to Kings Island, the full sized Whip gave its last rides on September 6, 1971 was presumably scrapped. Moonlite Pavilion's little sister building was demolished in 2017 to make way for Coney BarBQue. Rivergate and Lighthouse: Steamboat travel was a common early method to reach Coney Island, dating back to its beginnings as Parker's Grove. Many steamers would land here and deliver passengers. Steamboat captain William F. McIntyre, who bought the property from James Parker in 1886 renaming it to the Coney Island we know it as today, ferried people from Cincinnati's Public Landing to the park on his ship the Guiding Star. Eventually others joined the mix. The Princess, Island Maid and even the Delta Queen. The most beloved and remembered, however, were the two Island Queens. The river gate at Coney Island had seen several changes over the years, but the most iconic version, the one standing today, was built in 1925 using stones and rocks from the riverbank of the Ohio River. With the increased popularity of automobiles, and the disastrous explosion of the second Island Queen in Pittsburgh on September 9, 1947, guests would begin to drive to Coney Island. This would eventually lead to the problem of limited parking, a major factor in the development of Kings Island. **HERE TO STAY** Following the press release in Spring of 2024, I sent a follow up email to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's CEO Jonathan Martin inquiring about the lighthouse and river gate. In a response email, Mr. Martin confirmed the preservation of the iconic river gate. "Current plans are to save the lighthouse and storey pole near the river which marks the many historic floods." On top of this, I had received a double confirmation from an employee sitting near the river gate. She was preventing attendees from going down the ramp to the river as the Ohio River had risen overnight due to the large bouts of rain this past weekend. I had a pleasant conversation with her regarding the future of the site. Which is a perfect transition to the information I'm sure most people are interested in. Moonlite Gardens: Built in 1925 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, Moonlite Gardens was the park's ballroom. In its heyday, Moonlite hosted some of the nations biggest acts. While Moonlite Gardens was built in 1925, the current New Orleans French Quarter style front entrance was built in 1947. The old band shell and dance floor was made from wood and had seen severe damage from years of flooding by the Ohio River. The band shell was demolished shortly after the opening of Kings Island in 1972. In its later life, Moonlite was used for wedding receptions and small concerts. **HERE TO STAY** The employee I had talked to today confirmed that Moonlite Gardens isn't going anywhere. The Symphony had expressed interest in restoring the building, stating in response to my email inquiry: "The venue, its history and its use are aligned with our mission to serve the community through music." With that said, the building is apparently in sorry shape. The floor has deteriorated and is crumbling and the building was denied an occupancy permit by the Cincinnati Fire Department a few years back as a result. But from the news that was shared with me, Moonlite Gardens is slated for restoration and preservation as the new amphitheater is taking shape. Skill Games building/Hampton Court/ Moonlite Square: Neighboring Moonlite Gardens on the shore of Lake Como, this building was designed by UC architect Darrell "Dusty" Daniels and constructed in 1966. This building is a steel frame structure and a brick exterior, designed in the French Normandy style of architecture. Complete with a slanted roof and a cupola with a clock tower, this building is probably one of my favorite buildings on the site. While the building was primarily used for Skill Games for the guests, the building also housed the Group Sales offices for the park. The offices inside the building are now occupied by MEMI, so this iconic beauty is definitely safe from the wrecking ball. Sorry for the long post. I know it was packed with information, but I hope this helps answer some questions. There are a few photos that show land clearing beginning. I plan to share those as well. If need be, to cite my source, I can provide screenshots of the email I had received from the CSO last year.