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I felt a great disturbance in the Son of Beast revival fanboy movement, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

I regularly check the permit reports for Mason and I’m skipping past the 600,000 dollar haunted house investment, but I had to post about the Son of Beast station being condemned. Happy reading! LINK: https://www.imaginemason.org/download/PDFs/monthly_permit_reports/2026/MONTHLY-ISSUED-PERMIT-REPORT-JUNE-2026.pdf

Wow, I can't believe Six Flags got the city of Mason to condemn the Son of Beast station as part of the elaborate teaser campaign for an RMC! They've outdone themselves! My hopes are UP, baby!

The little things matter. They’re often what separate a good park from a great one. When the small details start being overlooked, people begin to wonder what else is being overlooked. The smallest details often make the biggest difference. Kings Island built its reputation on attention to detail. Over the past couple of years, attention to detail, and the standards that guests should expect from one of the industry’s premier amusement parks has not been there. There’s no excuse for lack of cleanliness around the park. It used to be a priority. Now it’s not. And it shows. I grew up with the park. I care about the park. The small details that are now being missed matter to me.

GIVE IN? In our moment of denial? I think you over estimate their chances!

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Thanks. I get so tired of the “guests are abusing it” excuse. You scanned into the park. You get 2 meals 4 hours apart. Unless you are acting like someone else by leaving, putting on your disguise and scanning in again (I’m sure someone has done it or at least thought about it) it’s not cheating. Getting a lid and taking it to go isn’t cheating. Sharing it with your kid isn’t cheating.

Quick note for future readers (this is not directed at anyone in this thread): As of this writing, it is not rumored that ArieForce One is coming to Kings Island--or any other park, for that matter. This idea was originated by Reddit users who heard that a park containing a well-regarded roller coaster is closing, and they got their hopes up that the coaster would be sold to their local park. It has not been announced that AFO will be sold, has been sold, or even will be moved within the Fun Spot chain. For all we know, it's getting torn down with the rest of the Atlanta park. RMC answered the question of "can AFO be moved." They did not drop any hints about it being sold/moved anywhere. No, Kings Island's PR team (or any other park's/chain's PR team) did not tell them to say that. If ArieForce One does not come to Kings Island, I don't want to see anyone express disappointment that "misleading hints were dropped" or "that rumor wasn't true after all." There is a difference between someone wishing for something to happen and rumors (which have a source close to the decision makers.) The way the coaster fan world tends to eagerly blur the lines between the two is crazymaking. Please do not set your expectations high because someone used their imagination.

Hi fellow KI fans - I hope this is allowed here... I am posting this to give serious KI collectors the chance to own a piece of Kings Island History. I have had the pleasure of owning "Tag" the dog from KI's original dark ride "The Enchanted Voyage." This piece is in original working order and operated in the ride from 1972-1983. Since his time with me, he's been in storage, because I simply do not have room in my home to display him. I'd rather him go to a fellow KI enthusiast that can enjoy him so I have listed him on FB Marketplace. I'll link below. The amount I am asking is due to my desire of ensuring that whomever buys him will respect his provenance. I live in Louisville, so any interested parties would need to travel here to acquire him. Its a fun, piece! https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1497403075519022/

I’m showing my tenure on this site- a long, long, time ago there was a running joke where everything was a diversion.

I often wonder what the end game was in mind with keeping the station. I can't imagine it was kept up for the sole purpose of Wolf Pack/any other possible Haunt attraction. But then again, I guess anything is possible. I just often wonder if there was ever a plan to reuse it for another coaster or even a flat ride. One tends to ponder seeing as most coaster stations get leveled long with the ride itself and those stations that are kept intact are often reused for another attraction. Also those photos on Reddit are cool. Brought back a lot of memories from my teens/early 20's riding SoB with my cousins and friends. It's almost eerie how that station just seems like it's waiting for a train to come back from running the course but never will arrive. Glad someone was able to get some photos in before the station is either gone completely or altered.

Condemned doesn't necessarily mean it has to be demo'ed. It just means a process of rehabilitation and inspections to be done to get it able to be permitted for use again.

In the case of KI a parking lot roller coaster. going along the old Colombia road between Great Wolf Lodge and the front gate beside preferred parking would be a fantastic location for a thrill coaster. growing up walking towards the entrance in the parking lot Face/Off was such a awesome introduction. Made the experience of walking into a park that much more memorable. Same with GateKeeper and Fury325 among others. I don’t think we need a front gate coaster like Cedar Point as the Eiffel Tower is the main focus point but a coaster by the side of the main gate as I stated above would be a very welcome addition.

If they are in fact tearing down the SOB station, I hope they also take the time and remove the old queue rails and clean up that whole area basically making the overlook area like it was when Top Gun/The Bat first opened.

Back up! FB_VID_2027701799472995025.mp4

That was how I Interpretered your statement 🤣 But at the same time, it appears KI filed to have it condemned and not Mason.....

I think the construction might be for a new PFAS filtration system given that it’s right next to the water tank. The park filed a permit a while back to install a new PFAS filtration system, which makes sense since Kings Island was recently found to have high levels of forever chemicals in its water. The article below is behind a paywall, but it reveals that Kings Island was found to have levels of forever chemicals in its water 6.3x federal guidelines. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/08/21/are-there-forever-chemicals-cincinnati-water-see-map/85706338007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z1177xxp000150c000150e1177xxv003748d--60--b--60--&gca-ft=178&gca-ds=sophi

New haunt in SOB station called condemned confirmed 🤣

I took some photos while attending Summerfair 2026 as well as the USO Concert & Swing Dance. Sunlite Parking Lot: Sunlite Pool's former location has become a parking lot to make up for the loss of parking as the new Farmer Music Center rises where the West parking lot was once located. Tivoli Fountain & Moonlite Pavilion: This area is relatively unchanged from previous years. The little fountain Pool is still there and Moonlite Pavilion is still being utilized for events. They have even started painting the front of the building. Administration Office: Coney's old administration building is still standing and being utilized by full time Riverbend staff and full time Coney staff who were retained following the park's sale. Moonlite Gardens: The historic dance hall was featured in the latest renderings for the new Music Center, indicating that there are plans for its refurbishment. Inside the building, construction lighting as been set up along the ceiling which is a sign of activity going on inside. On the North wing of the building, crews added what looks to be an air conditioning unit and electrical panels, which should point to long term plans for the space. In addition to this, looking at the park from the street, a temporary ladder had been erected on the North wing in the weeks leading up to Summerfair and the USO Concert, possibly for work on the roof, and the building looks like it has seen a fresh coat of paint (although it may have just been the light from the sun). LaRosa's Pizzeria (RIP) As previously shared, the building which housed LaRosa's Pizzeria during Coney's "modern era," which had been built in 1967 as a souvenir shop between the Skee Ball building and Penny Arcade, was demolished over the winter. It was used for refreshments and restrooms in 2024 and looked to have been undergoing renovations in 2025. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the building was reduced to rubble with only the back wall and electrical boxes remaining. Picnic Grove Restrooms The restrooms near the picnic grove, located near Moonlite Gardens, were mysteriously torn down. Whether new restrooms are built in this location or not remains to be seen, as they do plan on retaining the park area. From what I have gathered, bad plumbing may have contributed to the buildings demise as well as possibly the LaRosa's building. Famous Fairways/ Cincy Minigolf The minigolf course, which was located across from LaRosas and next to the Dodgem when the park still had rides, is now nothing more than a patch of grass among trees. Only a lone light pole remains. Flood Storeypole & River Gate Has previously shared, the River Gate, built in 1925, will remain and the Coney Island logo on top will continue to mark the site from the Ohio River. The Storeypole which marks the various floods over the years, including the 1937 Flood (79.99 feet; "The Champ"), will also remain. The pole is currently peeling and in dire need of repairs. A new Riverbend and PNC Pavilion version of the famous "Floods Come In All Sizes! They Begin Here" sign has been added. Farmer Music Center: Originally marketed as Riverbend 2.0, the Farmer Music Center is being built on the West side of the property behind Moonlite Gardens where the park's old athletic fields were located and the parking lot where the Nights of Lights display was held. To protect the new venue and its amenities from flood damage, Lake Como was temporarily drained and the lakebed dug out and used as landfill to elevate the structure. When the water fully returns to Lake Como, it will be around 30 feet deep in some areas, whereas previously it was only 3 feet. It was amazing how large it was actually seeing it in person.

I am just amazed with the quality of ride that they produced. So these comments below are just comments. There were a few things that were better about the original ride. The theater performance scene was more grand. The talking face projection in the armor The talking gargoyle. I also agree more music would make it better, especially in the very beginning where the posters are. The maestro’s organ music throughout the ride would increase the mood.

I don't think it's going anywhere. There's maintenance working on what looks like a pump right now.

Maybe the lightning bolts released more Ghost Notes than the newly-recruited ushers could handle. 😉

For Kings Island, I think it did. KD, Dorney and a few of the others were the parks that didn't get an "upgraded" Haunt but still attempted to charge. People still bought at KI, CP, Cwland. I can't remember about Cwinds. They may not have liked it, but they bought the mazes.

With BG parks having demolished and rehabbed coasters over the years, it will be fun to see what path they choose to take with Kumba. Will it get demolished and a new coaster be put up in it's place or will it get a complete overhaul of the tracks/new trains sort of like what they did for Nessie ( minus new trains on that one )? A third option of course could be that they keep the existing structure and modify it to be taller/longer/etc. I just hope whatever is coming preserves the legacy of this coaster.

I'm curious what this entails and when will we get more information? Such a tragedy that Kumba is closing. It's one of their best coasters but it's old and seems to have lower ridership most days I've been there.

You are late to the party. Everyone knows that is the first stage of construction for Step Sister of Bavarian Beetle!

Someone on Reddit was able to explore some of the station and queue area with permission by the park recently. Kinda surreal to see how overgrown it is over there. https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/s/5TGLC6ZIqK

If you think parking lot coasters look bad, try one made for flatter terrain on stilts or epic terraforming.

Spirit and Jet Blue airlines come to mind.

That is a great article Don. I love this idea. I also think the tasting cards need to come back for Food and Wine and Grand Carnivale. When we went to Silver Dollar City a few weeks ago, my whole family bought tasting cards and it was a lot of fun. Like you said, we were like, "what do we want to try next." The cards make it fun, which gets people to spend money. I have refused to purchase food at KI's events since the cards disappeared.

I guess Number Five is NOT Alive then?

Never give up! Never lose hope! Keep hope alive!

Mark Pauls has been named Chief Operating Officer of Six Flags⁠, effective July 15, bringing nearly five decades of experience in the attractions industry to the role. His leadership background includes senior operational positions with Herschend Family Entertainment, Palace Entertainment, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, and Busch Gardens, where he built a reputation for improving operational performance while maintaining a strong focus on the guest experience. As Six Flags continues integrating its expanded park portfolio, Pauls’ extensive operations expertise will help shape the company’s next phase of growth.

Let's hope we start seeing some positive changes across the chain. I have to say the past 2 weeks I have been to SDC, Six New England, Great Adventure, Enchanted's Great Escape and WOF. We really have it good at KI. Now, we can always improve and should, especially the details like the fountain spouts not working, but we are a top tier park in the SIX portfolio.

Hold the phone... I know a guy! ⬇️

I want to clarify by saying, I myself have yet to have a bad KI food experience to where I can't finish what I eat. I've enjoyed everything I've had at KI. However, I will say the food isn't as good as it was under Chef Major and over the last few years, I have seen numerous complaints about food being undercooked, food being left out under the lamp too long, food being overcooked, among other things that really take away from the guest experience. While some of that stuff is at the fault of the food employees, the fact it continues to happen despite all the complaints comes down to training/management which falls on the executive chef. Things like portion sizes, no ice in the machines, watered down drinks, machines being out of drinks is a budget thing while things like properly preparing, cooking, and/or storing food has nothing to do with budget. That's a management/training issue.

I think the problem with food is that they, as a chain, are trying to do two things, which are diametrically opposed: Act like their food is "elevated", "fancy", etc to try to get people to pay out of pocket for it Continue selling hugely underpriced dining plans because (as Disenchanted Parks is finding out) passholders will not pay out of pocket for food after having dining plans for 11 years, and raising the prices will only get the people they actually make money off of to stop buying them The thing is that a lot of the issues with food don't have anything to do with the chef or even really the park, it's corporate budget cuts due to the failure of the merger. Even the worst chef would admit that, say, selling a $20 burger that doesn't come with any toppings is an obvious fail, but the parks do it because it saves a little bit of money.

I’m not sure if it’s still like this, but the audio quality of the ride was perfect this weekend. Hopefully a fix to the furnace scene (especially the heat aspect) can be found soon. I really appreciate the commitment to fixing other issues with the ride (such as the on-and-off functionality of the second Maestro).

What’s changed is having people that know the difference between storytelling and messaging in the PR and social positions at KI and within Six Flags. You can tell the people doing it now don’t really know the park or their audience with the content that gets published. Disney Parks and Universal still do it as they’ve done it for years. They create emotional content, not marketing content. Disney and Universal routinely post content that makes people feel something: Family moments. Character interactions. Guest reactions. Behind-the-scenes stories. Cast/Team Member spotlights. Nostalgia. Vacation memories. Kings Island and many Six Flags parks often default to “The park opens at 10.” “Buy tickets now.” “Here’s a ride photo.” “Food item available this weekend.” When I was running social media, people knew there was a person behind the account. The Beast Groundhog Day tradition is a perfect example. It wasn’t an advertisement. It was a personality-driven tradition. Today Kings Island and many other Six Flags accounts feel corporate and interchangeable. Disney and Universal make fans the stars. Look at Disney and Universal feeds: Guest photos. Fan videos. Influencer content. User-generated content. Vacation stories Disney even has dedicated influencer and creator programs built around sharing guest experiences. Kings Island and Six Flags needs that. Kings Island and other Six Flags parks now operate as if every piece of content has to come from the marketing department. The smartest social strategy today is letting fans tell your story for you. They are part of the conversation. Universal is particularly good at this. When something is trending, they join in. When fans joke, they joke back. When someone posts something funny, they engage. They feel like a participant in the community. Kings Island and other Six Flags accounts feel like a digital billboard. Disney and Universal are masters of teasers, construction updates, countown content, behind-the-scenes reveals, and sneak peeks. Kings Island used to be. Epic Universe is the perfect example. Fans were invested years before opening because Universal constantly fed the conversation. Kings Island and Six Flags parks often go from announcement, construction photo, opening day. There’s no story arc anymore like there used to be. (Scroll back to Banshee and Mystic Timbers teasers, announcement, construction updates, ride opening, and post-opening content.) The biggest difference is Disney and Universal tell those stories constantly. Kings Island and Six Flags often tell people what they can buy, what time the park opens, and what ride is operating. One builds a community; the other shares information. Bottom line: PR and social media in the industry hasn’t changed. Kings Island changed from what they had successfully been doing, which was taking a page from Disney and Universal.

Let's not kid ourselves into a delusion that all was perfect from June 30 2024 backwards. The only perfect year under Cedar Fair that I experienced ( and I started following things in 2014 with multiple visits vs once or twice yearly) was 2022. Every time I went it seemed as if the park was purring along like a well taken care of Mustang GT, although my blinders probably shielded the misfires that year. Before the current lament, there were dirty tables, surly employees, no ice, no soft drink syrup and food issues. There were Cedar Fair SUPERVISORS (emphasis added to reflect the uniform) who stood around and ignored problems or worse yet, tried to maintain a "bestie" relationship with their reports to avoid conflicts. However, in 2022 around Haunt or WinterFest, things started changing. In 2023, things ramped up with the park's lack of attention to detail, midways not being washed amongst other things. The veil was ripped open and internal politics were laid bare and incompetence across different areas exposed. Then the merger news came out and was consummated mid season 2024. All appeared to be going well, and there was optimism about Cedar Fair bringing the Six Flags properties up to standard. And now here we are. My hope is that money will flow, smart decisions could be made, and the Kings Island legacy will prevail. For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. Hopefully, homeostasis will prevail and things will return to a new normal.

Here's a photo of the new Fool the Guesser (Age & Weight) game set up in the Rivertown gazebo. I'm not that upset about this structure being used as a game stand since it's only had a bench and/or an activation point in it for the last few years. The game equipment may be the same from its former location Rivertown across from LaRosa's. It looks nice enough and the name signs are 3D (not printed), so it gets bonus points from that alone. It's clear to me that the maintenance team is doing what they can with the resources they have, though I suspect that almost every budget across the board has been severely tightened in an effort to help pay off Six Flags' debt. Effects and issues in Phantom Theater have been repeatedly fixed (minus the first boiler TV), rides like Invertigo and Congo Falls have been repaired, and some park leadership have been spotted all over the park. Just today I repeatedly saw a group of people who I believe to be the top Food & Beverage leadership making their way from restaurant to restaurant. The issues with guests are more noticeable in our post-merger world. There's definitely also an issue with some associates not cleaning the spaces around them, but that can be fixed with better training and heightened awareness. We knew that 2025-2028 would be a rough patch for parks like Kings Island as the company figures itself out and pays off debt. There are a ton of little changes that can happen at the local level and I hope those can start to happen sooner rather than later. I'm not going to shill for KI/SF, but I do think there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.

At this point they should just attempt to restore the fountain similar to how it was before. If corporate isn't going to give them the budget to have a fully working dancing fountain 24/7 then they should just axe the "bellagio style" fountain altogether. Also while I understand the purpose of lighting, Im not a big fan of how the park has slapped multi color LED lighting and trusses everywhere on all the buildings and along the fountain. I personally think I-street would have a better atmosphere if they just go back to just having the white light bulbs on the buildings and the gas lamps while still lighting up the Tower and fountains in multi color like before.

Ironically, they are dancing to some programmed light and fountain show right now. Looks like it's in prep for the 4th of July. Edit: After watching a few minutes of the varying sequences, it made me really wish I saw it in person. I'm left thinking about how I would actively go out of my way to visit IS during my park visits to see a fountain and light show, much like what I did for Haunt. I can't help but feel that the lack of a show makes for a missed opportunity on the daily for both the guest experience and the ability to draw people to a central shopping and dining location in the park. The Royal Fountains certainly need a more regal treatment.

They are in a bad state and its still early in the season. I sat by them to eat my dinner from Grain & Grill. I know they are trying to save money, but these details are noticed. If they can't fix these very visible issues, what are they skimping out on behind the scenes we can't easily see? Here are the photos I took this evening of the fountains and you can see the amount of jets not working.

I hadn't been able to get to the park this year until today and I avoided this thread because I wanted a fresh experience: As someone who enjoyed the original ride for its whole run, I have a bias towards nostalgia but I get why they went with more kid friendly designs and interactive elements. I appreciate that you can just ignore the interactive nature of the ride without missing any of animatronic effects. That's a big plus to me. I assume the flashlights use a tracking system similar to the Playstation Move controllers? Mine was a blue light and there were some scenes where it didn't work at all while I could see other people's lights working. I just saw some videos of the ride where the flashlights had some real hiccups to their display. Fortunately I didn't have that at least. I like how nice the queue is but there's too much going on in there for how loud it is with a room filled with people, including kids. I couldn't hear anything Larry or the Maestro were saying. Apparently they removed a bunch of ride vehicles? The line still moved fast but that surprised me. The lack of a big pepper's ghost scene disappointed me. I did dig the animated paintings in the queue Hopefully I'll get another ride soon and I'll just not use the flashlight to take in more scenery. Today was more crowded than what I normally care for and I opted not to wait again. But I think as long as the ride is maintained properly (obviously a big concern for many people), this should continue to be a popular ride for years. EDIT: It just occurred to me why they probably removed the vehicles. Guessing each scene can only track 6 flashlights?

Don't mean to always be a "complainer" on the state of the park in 2026, but here goes again. Sat along the fountains tonight. I don't think they're on a "program" anymore.... and it appears that 22 fountain jets aren't operating. In addition, there are weeds in the mulched areas in the grass area between iStreet and the fountains. Also, the Carousel. You know, perhaps the oldest attraction in the park celebrating 100 years this season, there appear to be more lights out on the pavilion roof than work. Kings Island management: these two things should be your showcase to people entering and exiting the park, and they look like an afterthought.

Ah, I get it now. I never noticed the smaller gaps between vehicles on Boo Blasters or just never paid attention. I would like to see something about the flashlights too. My best guess is that there are cameras in each scene that spot your flashlight and a computer calculates the angle and distance (game consoles have done this for years) The same computer would also be tracking the notes and their point values. while adding the colored light to the display, while removing notes as needed and assigning points, like a video game.

The amount of ride vehicles (27) is the same as it was during Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle and Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. Where the original Phantom Theater had 55 vehicles, 28 were removed for SDatHC and BBoBH, and then half of those were moved up one space for PT:ON. There is one lone vehicle (I believe it's opera box #1) for those who are lucky enough to be placed in it. Honestly I'm shocked at how fast this queue goes when I remember waiting a lot longer for Boo Blasters. As for the lack of a pepper's ghost scene, my complaint lies more in the fact that they went with two "small" scenes instead of either one large auditorium scene or one turntable scene and a more zoomed out stage scene. The old library looked a lot bigger because it had more depth and didn't have all of the stage wings on either side. Fun Fact: if you look in the background of the stage scene, you'll see the Boo Blasters castle painted as the background with the entrance gate and fence as a physical set piece in front of it.

And they cycled it afterwards.

For July 4, a lot of buried details in the article for what to expect at Kings Island for food, drink, entertainment, decor, and fireworks https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/six-flags-parks-in-12-states-from-coast-to-coast-celebrate-americas-250th-anniversary-with-spectacular-fireworks-festive-eats-historic-thrills-and-patriotic-summer-fun-302802608.html