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Fox 19 did a fantastic story on Gary Wachs, who was recently inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame. https://www.fox19.com/2025/12/03/how-kings-island-was-born-founder-receives-hall-fame-honor/

2025 Ridership for the Top 6 Rides has been posted. Note doesn't include the additional rides The Racer and Mystic will recieve during WinterFest, so I expect Mystic Timbers to probably pass The Beast before the end of the season.

There is some stuff that I think they could overlay between Haunt and Winterfest- for example how the Rivertown scare zone gets repurposed for Winterfest. You could keep the drive-in that you see for Winterfest- just put it up earlier and just play classic Halloween movies instead, so it’s less effort to switch over come Winterfest time.

I'd have to disagree with the thought about budget appearance. Adventure Port is very well done. Camp Snoopy is well done. The new part of Soak City spruced up the area. I don't think they skimped in the appearance, the aesthetic is good. It's just that the areas they did do are small.

The Feshaus was packed when we went in there this evening. I rally enjoyed the new Tinker`s Jingle Bell Ball show. We also checked out the new Charlie Brown show which was standing room only. Given the cold weather, the crowds seemed decent. We arrived right at 5pm, and left shortly before the parade started. The kiddos were getting quite cold after a ride on the Scrambler, so we headed out before catching the parade. As always, the park looked beautiful. We didn`t get to the train this evening, but I know last year the lights were looking kind of sad along the route. I still miss the White Christmas Express from Winterfest 2005. There weren`t as many lights along the route, but it had a story, and actors/somgers along the way (think a soldier returning home from WWII. They should do something to spruce it up.

It seemed somewhat dead for opening night, then again it is Black Friday, colleges were playing, and it was cold. Started to pick up as we were heading out after about 2 hours. Something felt lacking. Not having the dark ride (Boo Blasters/Phantom Theater) open hurt the appeal a bit as most people would flock there for warmth… but that’s a temporary issue. I still argue the train needs a change- the lights along the ride were starting to show their age. It’s a shame the park doesn’t have nearly as many dark rides at once did because something like tomb raider/the crypt or even the action theater would have been a welcomed ride for people trying to escape the frigid cold.

There was a time when Kings Island had four indoor ride through attractions operating at once. Flight of Fear, Tomb Raider or The Crypt, Action Theater, and the kids dark ride all brought something different to the park, and together they created a level of variety that made the indoor lineup feel complete. When you compare that to today, where Flight of Fear and Phantom Theater are the only true indoor rides, it is easy to see how much that part of the park has shrunk. A third indoor attraction would not be unusual for Kings Island. It would simply move the park closer to the variety it once offered. Phantom Theater is a great addition, especially for families, but it cannot represent every type of indoor experience on its own. Kings Island used to offer several different styles of indoor attractions at the same time, and there is still plenty of room for something with a different style or tone. An interactive ride, a more modern concept, or a lighter themed attraction would fill a space that the current lineup does not fully cover, and it would give guests another option that fits outside the coaster focused offerings. This is where Action Theater naturally comes up. The original ride is gone and the inside is now used for a haunt, but the type of attraction that once operated there filled a role the park no longer has. Kings Island already has many haunted houses, so using that space only for seasonal events does not bring much to the main season. If the park ever found a way to bring back Action Theater in some form, or create a new indoor attraction with a similar purpose, it would reintroduce a style of experience that is currently missing. Adding another indoor ride would not repeat the past. It would simply expand the lineup in a way that feels natural for Kings Island. A new attraction inspired by the spirit of Action Theater, or a completely new concept altogether, would round out the park in a meaningful way and bring back a type of variety that used to be one of its strengths.

This is a very well-done story! It is wonderful that Gary has finally been inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame, an honor he has long deserved.

I’m not trying to sound cynical, but I’ve seen front yard Christmas displays that look better than what guests watch on the train. I’m not saying there isn’t any physical effort being put in putting up the lights around the route but it’s been the same thing since 2017. Paramount went through the effort of pouring concrete footers and putting up huge billboards and having a show scene.

Swap the cars between engines and slap a wreath on the smokebox door: voila

Went last night and had a fantastic time. Here were the highlights: 1) The meatloaf burger at Juke Box was fantastic. Unlike the other offerings they have a meatloaf burger displayed (unwrapped) and when you order they grab one out of the hot box behind the counter! Definitely the same quality as when it was at the Brewhouse and it's nice to get fries, onion rings or both as a side. 2) Tinkers show is FANTASTIC (I saw the 2nd show, extremely long line(s)). It is a broadway style "review" with fantastic sets and props. Definetly more money was put into this than previous shows and is by FAR (in my opinion) the best Winterfest show they have ever had. I put it on par with Phantom Theatre Encore. So much energy and Santa no has a much bigger part in the show and the addition of Mrs. Clause is a welcome addition. I got a little teary eyed when the did the "in the mood" number, it brought back such great memories of Woodchopper's Ball Revue. Another favorite part was the TAP NUMBER!!!! Nice to see a couple of nods to the choreography from the tap number in PT Encore. 3) The park looked fantastic. Nice to see the Trolly not runnng along Coney Mall, always seemed to be more of a nucance than anything. 4) Cannot wait to try the 2 new Fry options at potato works. They look really good. I'm going to have to make extra trips down so get all the food options in this year (the turkey ball looks better than last year's version). 5) The parade was like last year and continues to be a must see for me. The energy that is put into the event is amazing and I can't tell anyone involved with pulling it off how much I truely appreciate the effort. 6) One noticable deletion was the replacement of the plastic old time figures in front of Antique Cars (I didn't see any on top of Juke Box either). There are new lighted trees there so I'm afraid they won't make a comeback. If they are no longer going to display/use them (I didn't see them anywhere else in the park). I hope they sell them online, I would love to have one. All in all it seems to be an upgrade from last year. I'm sure there are things that may show up in the weeks to come (crossing fingers for the return of the plastic old time figures somewhere else in the park). Well done to all involved and will be looking to return several times this season!!!!!!!!

The park looks absolutely great. There are even more lights this year than previously. There are lights in the trees. There are lights on the shrubs. There are plenty of live Christmas trees. So far this year, I have been to both Dollywood and Busch Gardens and I think Kings Island does the lights better than either one of those. The lights at Kings Island are the most immersive being low on the shrubs at eye level and above you on trees. The only park I have seen with better lights was Carowinds but they have destroyed that event thus year 2 things that I noticed missing this year are The plastic (purposefully tacky) retro decorations in Tinseltown. They have been replaced by the cartoony trees that were previously in Planet Snoopy And none of the trees are up-lit this year on the train ride That is definitely a downgrade. A lot of live Christmas trees are big 7/8 ft trees. I do wish that since they go to all the effort to get these quality trees that they would light them properly with more than 50 lights on a tree One thing I do not care for this year is the change in music. Gone are most of the songs that Winterfest has played every year and i associated with the event. Plus, the the music is being broadcast at rather low volume this year. Finally Songs of the Nativity got a sitdown venue This also is the time of year when the food actually is good instead of just edible Overall this is a great event, and it is my favorite Christmas event because of the immersive lighting

Now if they'd also take the "Kings Island" off the Mystic Timbers sign. Like, you don't have to remind me what park I'm in guys...

Oh yes I'm agreeing with you!

No charge on the facade, yet...

ML Designs created a concept of a Vekoma Ghostrider with an extended layout in The Vortex plot and it actually fits pretty well!

It’s a shame that none of the Winterfest maintained their synchronized lights over the years

Winterfest, definitely was chilly! Got into the park as turnstiles had opened, first thing we did was redeem our Fast Lane and use the restroom. We checked out the merch shops on I-Street. The former KI Collections (I can't remember what they named it for this event) had Orion and some other merch for $2.00, plus 70% off Christmas decorations. Throughout the night, I noted that there was a lack of Winterfest merch as in years past and there wasn't a shop completely dedicated to Christmas decor (thankful for that). We then headed to Enrique's for the Mac n Cheese bar. The line moved quite slow, so I took the opportunity to join the wifi. Pictured below is who Winterfest/Halloween Haunt is sponsored by . The food was just okay. Plenty of options, but I felt like mine became soup after they had drenched my tots with queso blanco. We rode Racer North and then made our way around the park. The park mostly looked great. One thing I had noticed was sound in the park was very off. Some areas were real quiet, while some weren't. The giant LED tree in Coney Mall had a rectangular section just glitching out, that was fun. The pathway between Coney and Rivertown by the open plot where Vortex still should be, felt lackluster. Would love for something to revitalize that area, maybe an arrow looper? We ended up going to see What The Dickens. It was a good show as always....love that the same jokes have survived including the Six Flags bit! We then made our way to Tinkers. To be honest, the best part of the show was the set. I struggled to hear any of the words that were being sung. I did like that Tinker played a bigger part and Poindexter took the background more. We rode Racer South and then joined the parade crowd. To me the parade lacked energy, the sound was awful....only coming off the floats (maybe it was an area sound issue, not sure how it was elsewhere on the route), and it is unchanged. I think the parade needs to be updated a bit. We wanted to grab a ride on the train. It was the train with some lights. They didn't play the 12 Days of Christmas...which in a way was better, since the lights don't match up with the song as you pass along them. But yeah, some lights. It's pretty embarrassing to have these beautiful light displays that only half of them work properly and the ones that the half work have only half of the halfs working. I get that it's not necessarily a priority to the park, but there's an entire season after Winterfest to work on the displays (I'm sure there's a point where some staff wonder what to do or could have a 1/2 hour here and there to work on lights). It's just sad. Pic below for an example of one of the brand new displays dead. After the train, it was time for food. I wanted Coney BBQ and a 9:15 (when I could get my 2nd meal since I ate at 5:15), there was no turkey or any of the festive foods. How nice that they didn't prepare enough for opening night. We then decided to try Chicken Shack....doors were locked. So we settled on Festhaus. I got lackluster chicken tenders and fries (they didn't have any of the festive foods). While there, we caught the show and it was great! By the time we finished eating, we strolled I-Street. I picked up a King Kobra Coasterdymanix ride car for $5 at Emporium because I bought something else in the store (a pack of trading cards). Headed out for the night after this. Noted the sign (pic below) with a QR code to have the event voted for in the USA Poll. I'd give opening night a solid 6/10. Could have been worse, but definitely could have been better. If you go to any antique store, you're likely to find these blow molds.

Holiday Lights at Kennywood has better lights than Kings Island or Carowinds. Synchronized to the music throughout the park. If you enjoy lights and holiday music, you’d love Kennywood’s event.

Winterfest 2025 has officially started! A quick note: I normally try to use the special names (or close to those) for everything, but I won't do that here right now. My brain needs a little break after Thanksgiving I thoroughly enjoyed my night — despite the cold weather. We parked in some really good parking spots and proceeded through the left-most security gates. It was so nice to be able to use those. International Street looked beautiful in the daylight and felt nicely full of decorations/stuff. Kings Island sometimes has problems with having either too much or too little in an area so this was a nice balance. We stopped into KI Essentials and the KI Trading Co. and found a nice mix of Peanuts, Christmas/Winterfest, and general KI park merchandise. Definitely an improvement over the same-old stuff we saw in every store during the normal season. It was interesting to see how much I recognized as coming from either the Snoopy Boutique and the Emporium. The KI Trading Co. was especially interesting since they had some new metal can decorations ($7.99/each or 4 for $25). There was one for Orion, The Racer, The Beast, Diamondback, Adventure Express, Mystic Timbers, Flight of Fear (I think), Zodiac, Flying Eagles, and Firehawk. I'd have bought one if I wasn't on a no-buy phase right now. Sweet Spot's food offerings looked good. I noticed they haven't gotten another shipment of Boysenberry Jam though. The French Corner appeared to have two items available with the Dining Plan while the Cinnamon Pull-A-Part Bread did not have the dining plan indicator. Next, we watched the Tree Lighting Ceremony. I noticed the "lighter" prop was an ornament again, though I feel like the one from last year was larger and had the Winterfest logo on it. I miss the days of having the big light switch but understand that it was probably more relevant when Lykins Energy Solutions was an event sponsor. We also noted that Snow Flake Lake is itself missing a sponsor this year. In past years it's been sponsored by Kroger and/or Hershey, but this year it is without a sponsor. Winterfest feels like the event to have sponsors within (but not attached to the name), so I wonder what happened with those. The ceremony itself felt a little wobbly, but that was almost certainly because of it being opening night. Like a lot of KI shows they could've used some help with singing at different dynamics to allow the melody/solo parts to stand out, but again it was the first show of the year. My phone also showed that other shows also began at 6:30: I would've expected a little more showtimes offset from the Tree Lighting. Our next stop was to the Artisan Village. There were a lot of wonderful vendors out there, be sure to pay them each a visit! I particularly enjoyed Theme Park Art by Allen's shed where he looked to be working on a new Marathon Turnpike painting. Those vendors put a lot of time and money into their work and would love for you to take home some pieces! I've also heard the vendor fee is higher for Winterfest, so every sale would help them make some of that money back. Go find some wonderful holiday gifts for your families! After looking at showtimes we decided to go to Enrique's for the mac & cheese bar. The line was out the door and took about 30 minutes to get through. We noted that they were actively working to get the other serving line open, but there was no chain across the entrance to said closed line. The options looked to be about the same as last year and were well-enough sized portions. The soda fountains each had a massive amount of ice sitting on the drip tray. I wish the park would have someone go around to clear that out before it started to drop ice onto the floor. The dispenser also seemed to be out of spoons — a utensil some might want to use for their macaroni or tater tot concoctions. Proceeding out the door and over to the Festhaus was a little bit of a doozie because there is no door to go from the back of that enclosure to the Mercado patio. You have to go through the separately-enclosed bar area and then exit to the patio. The Festhaus was insanely packed full of guests with all tables full and more in lines and standing around to watch the show. I enjoyed Swingin' Into Christmas from the table we eventually found, though it would have been nice to have either some standing tables or at least someone to make sure the pathways were clear of strollers and other items. Next I went and used the restroom in Action Zone. I noticed that the big ice block with snow angel indents was missing while the inflatable snow globe was set up next to Coaster Connection. The restroom itself was nice and clean, but could've used some heat for the hand dryers or just paper towels instead. Moving to the other side of the park, we saw that Tinker's Jingle Bell Ball had long lines to go in both sets of doors. I'm a little curious now to see how Tinker's Toy Factory is doing down at Six Flags Over Texas with their 40th Anniversary "Largest Holiday In The Park Ever" event. It was a little darker as the night went on and International Street looked even more beautiful! The Boo Blasters signage are still up (contrary to our speculation) and no other exterior modifications seemed to be visible. The new Charlie Brown Christmas show and What The Dickens had show times listed on one sign and "NO SHOWS TODAY" listed on another. I hope they get those sorted out before too long. Brewhouse looked busy (as always) while Potato Works had no line. The 12 Days of Christmas train ride had zero line as they were trying to fill every available spot on both trains. We got to the line right as the green engine was on its way out of the station and the blue engine immediately pulled into place. I really like the fact that they decorate the train cars for Winterfest with the garland and bows. Something I wish the park could/would do would be to either pre-record the train spiel so it's consistent and clear. We experienced some things that detracted from the overall train experience and it was scuffed to say the least. Our announcer said the spiel, although it was a little hard to hear for a couple of reasons. There were quite a few lights out throughout the entire ride with multiple individual display pieces completely dark. The music sequencing was off even more than in previous years. The two 12 Days of Christmas tracks were each cut off by the next song playing and we were onto Frosty the Snowman before we'd even made it to the 12th day. The Reindeer Stables display (on Fort Coney) had about half of the lights on. I was very sad to see that the Old Town was entirely dark with no decorations to be seen (seen at 1:40 in this video from 1982 https://youtu.be/czgAGxYrRWM?si=jWFqQqrPdiINxREG). The last odd thing about our train ride was that we were stopped beside Mystic Timbers for a few minutes while we waited for the other train to depart the station. I don't know if the trains were running fast or if filling each train was going slow, but it would be very nice to see timing improved in the near future so this doesn't happen too often. To round out our night we headed back around the half loop of the park beginning in the Rivertown Arcade where I noticed that the Walking Dead game booth was off and that there was still a sign telling guests to go to the Coney Arcade to redeem tickets. This section of Rivertown is just begging for an indoor venue and some additional things to activate the space during Winterfest. Maybe they could look into a light show with trees in What's Left of Swan Lake like (I think) there was in one of the previous iterations of the event. We got to enjoy the second half of Jingle Jazz. I thought it used to face toward the Arcade instead of toward the pathway, but that might just be my memory. Shooting Star Lane was nice to see brought back, though I noticed that they removed some items that were present last year. The entrance gates on the Rivertown side were set up better than before. We saw that the movies they show were actually drastically shortened (justified) and cut out the entire part of It's A Wonderful Life where George Bailey never existed. It went straight from Clarence and George jumping in the river to George coming back from the edge. I was fine with missing the parade since it seemed to be the same as in previous years. That being said, I hope it sticks around since it's a staple of the event! Overall, some things I'd like to see improved or changes that could be made: The park desperately needs more indoor seating spaces and indoor activities. Between the Festhaus, Brewhouse, and KI Theater(house) there are a lot of people trying to fit inside than those spaces can really hold. The International Restaurant buffet would probably help, but it can only hold about 160 guests. An indoor show venue in Rivertown and some kind of warming tent or another big indoor restaurant would go a long way to at least providing an illusion of choice. The 12 Days of Christmas train ride has grown stale and its lights are failing. It needs some new life breathed into it. Leaving the Old Town without lights or decorations is a massively missed opportunity since there's documented evidence of how nice it could look! This staple of Kings Island's Winterfest deserves better than it has now and I hope it can be improved for 2026. Make Shooting Star Lane its own named area on the map. The area is so nicely decorated and is so different from the generic Winterfest Way (where now they only have the three religious setups that don't get lit until closer to/for their respective holidays). Bring back Everest the Elf! I know he's probably broken but I want him back! Move Yuletide Follies to the International Showplace or put some benches in front of the Bandstand. Anything would be better than standing there the whole time. I can understand that part of the Tree Lighting Ceremony is that you should be able to turn around to see the Eiffel Tower light up, which is why I suggested using the other open venue. They can use the Bandstand as a little home base for the roaming band/characters and/or a spot for the school ensembles the park is offering a venue to play on. Thanks for reading and Happy Winterfest!

I think some of this might be part of a roof repair. The spacing of the lines feel like they're either for patches in the roof seams (?)(I don't know how that roof was done) or for something like solar panels as was suggested in another post. The width of each line seems a little too wide to be anything besides that. BryanJay, you might be right about the electrical and ventilation work. It's probably time for some upgrades, especially if the new ride will need more power than SDatHC and BBoBH with the new features it's supposed to have.

No show times in the app, of course. But at least they had time to add yet another pop up ad begging people to buy a pass.

Opening night, here we come!

A number of the Six Flags parks have been posting statistics about the 2025 season via social media, in particular ridership totals: Worlds of Fun - 5,674,255 Six Flags St. Louis - 5,909,044 Six Flags Over Georgia - 6,862,186 Kings Dominion - 10,668,737 Carowinds - 12,445,245 Six Flags New England - 15,017,076 Kings Island - 22,858,387 Canada's Wonderland - 25,832,308 Cedar Point's Wrapped post doesn't provide specific ridership numbers. In the chain-wide Wrapped post, Knott's Berry Farm is shown as the most visited park. The top six visitor cities were also included:

They were having a Winterfest Media Day either yesterday or today. I think it might be today because I saw posts with all of the specialty food posted today.

Thank you for posting this! Interesting that Carowinds beat out KD by only about 2 million rides. After all the way that KD has been cheated out of investment while Carowinds has got heavy investment with this relatively minor result.

Rivertown Expansion V2: Most of this is the same as before, but now with better visuals and a new reason for being. For its 50th anniversary season, the world's longest wooden coaster receives new surroundings and brings some of the old Rivertown back to life. What this expansion trades in quantity of attractions, it gains in long-term beauty. I'd love to see a small food stand — like Rivertown Potato Works but smaller — added somewhere in there as well. The mystique of walking down a dead-end path to The Beast would be lost, but I think this expansion would be better than nothing. These photos could serve as inspiration for what the new additions could look like. Image: Bob Joiner / KICentral; the old Rivertown | The bottom of the photo shows the old Rivertown Reel amphitheater. The lake under KCKC would serve as the basis for the new lake. A new gazebo next to the lake might also be a good option for smaller shows like Jingle Jazz. This would also be an opportunity to add a few more trees and shrubs back next to the railroad tracks. Image: Bill Rinehart / WVXU; Kemper House in Heritage Village, Sharon Woods Park | New Indoor VIP Lounge or other building. This style would play into Rivertown's "History of Cincinnati" theme. Credit: Google Street View; Rivertown Junction at Dollywood | New Indoor/Outdoor VIP Lounge. This kind of building would be closer to the VIP Lounge at Kings Dominion and would include some outdoor seating for the nicer days. Credit: Google Street View; Wilderness Theater at Six Flags Great Adventure | New Outdoor Amphitheater. This would provide a venue with covered seating and the potential to be somewhat enclosed for Winterfest. Credit: Google Maps; Red Garter Saloon at Cedar Point | This building would be a good basis for a new indoor entertainment venue and is about the same size as the Rivertown Arcade. Its smaller stage would provide a more intimate environment for shows.

The neon one? If that's the case, it was last up 2017/8....hasn't been back.

That’s a good idea actually. Dollywood makes the swap out in a matter of days by having some easy swaps like this

Yes, however they never even went up for Haunt this year. They're usually a carryover from Haunt, just programmed and themed differently. If they weren't put up for haunt, then I don't think they'd have the time to put them up between haunt and winter fest unfortunately.

The lampposts being brought back would have been so wonderful, a big missed opportunity for sure.

I believe the permit shows just the cost of the renovations to the structure and not the whole project.

It's also cheaper to keep most of the castle. I'm hoping that Sally Dark Rides will help save this new ride from feeling like another "budget" addition like so many have expressed the last few major projects to have been. What we've seen so far gives me faith, but there are a lot of things that could still go wrong.

I really hope the day go back to something similar to what the ride used to be, but I understand that the current entryway is more “grander“

I think a Big Bear Mountain style coaster would be a great fit in The Bat area if/when Six Flags decides to retire it. Have it utilize the terrain and run through the forest. Give it a "Dark Forest Adventure" style theme. If not The Bat area, the area in between The Crypt building and The Beast would work. I would prefer to see a multi inversion focused coaster on The Vortex site mainly due to the departure of Vortex and Firehawk and Invertigo's future being likely up in the air.

Maybe they could render it orange and blue so we could see what a Vortex homage would look like.

My wish is that if the park was really willing to spend the money, they could theme the train ride around 'The Polar Express" and play the music from the film and have some scenes set up along the way!

@Orion-XL200 Heck, you could have a company sponsor the train ride for Winterfest too if it’s a budget thing to try and allocate some funds to the train. I don’t think anyone would be confident in voting it best holiday event if not all parts of the park aren’t 100%- and that goes for the train too. They don’t even decorate the locomotives with lights or wreaths.

Order of the Dragon dominated all of the Kings Island mazes, It's Knott's scary farm level good.

Have fun everyone who gets to go.

A snippet of the new products for Winterfest in the North Pole Mercantile. The red and white hoodie definitely feels like a nod to Banshee merch in the lettering.

I’m cautiously optimistic with John Reilly coming in as the new CEO, but there are a lot of challenges ahead he and the company are going to face before anyone can break out the party streamers.

And why are there two dozen different kinds of concrete surfacing? And that extra seating area for the mess hall, seems like that, and the turf for it, got relocated to build the pavilion by the Carousel...

Camp snoopy is “sort of” well done. There’s so much they could’ve easily done to make it feel way more complete. Starting with, why isn’t the ride themed to a tree not in the area themed to camping in the outdoors?

The ongoing roof work has spread to the other half of the structure.

I feel like both of the figures shown at IAPPA would stretch that $900k number. Surely, that’s just for one aspect of the project.

I've been questioning this permit for a while. Is the $900,000 supposed to be the entire cost? It seems very, very cheap for a complete overhaul. I'd expect this project to cost in the neighborhood of $5M - 10M. Maybe the amount shown here is for the exterior work? That seems about the amount it would likely cost for the entrance overlay...

After seeing the "DEMO LOOP" from the IAPPA show with Maestro and No Legs Larrys, I wouldn't be surprised if that was continuously shown in the lobby where the queue is. Seem to tell the story and be about 15 minutes long. (of course I'd much rather have what was done before.):

While I do think the additions were very well done and were needed it feels like the thought behind each one was less thorough than before. I'll praise the park and a lot of the things it has done until my fingers grow weak, but that doesn't change the fact that a large enough amount of others online have questioned those recent choices for me to have doubts. I wholeheartedly agree with the fact that these mini-lands were done very well and helped improve them compared to what was there before. Part of my worrying is that there will be visible gaps in the thought process behind Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare like there were with the other additions. Adventure Port and Camp Snoopy opened more than a month after the season started. Both Orion and River Racers were the smallest version of their models (giga coaster and water coasters) possible. Not all has been bad, though. Mystic Timbers remains one of my top rated coasters and has a great break run experience. The park added two amazing new restaurants and brought back the Antique Autos. Orion revitalized Area 72 and gave KI a veritable speed machine. The entire 50th Anniversary celebration hit the ball out of the park with its care and grandeur. Adventure Port and Camp Snoopy each took a dead area and breathed new life into it. Splash River Junction was a very good upgrade to Soak City alongside some much-needed restroom and facility renovations. The new Carousel Pavilion has provided a nicely shaded spot for guests to eat and a new venue for smaller shows. What we've seen from PT:ON so far has been absolutely amazing! The animatronics look really good and show that a lot of care has been put into the development of the new ride so far. My phrasing might have been better said as to call those additions "vastly allocated" instead of "budget" attractions. A lot of good was done with some things falling short in each project. Remember when members of this site were wondering about the rest of the roof not being red on Enrique's? I really like the smaller approaches for less money, I just wish the park management (or whoever's left to do this sort of thing) would take a little more care to ensure that these major additions open on time and do more of what they set out to do. One thing I'm really excited to see is how much more colorful this new Phantom Theater might be compared to the original. I really liked how vibrant the new sets and displays that were shown off at IAAPA were!

They did a good job with the theme and appearance of Adventure Port. But they definitely skimped on the rides in that expansion Instead of a quality 42 person Huss Enterprise they have an uncomfortable, low capacity knock off that doesn’t even tilt 90°. Plus they didn’t even purchase a lighting package for it. The barrel ride is one of the lowest quality versions of this type of ride They also skimped on the little bit of cost. It would’ve required to have provided shade in the queues to make the customers more comfortable. So its a trade off In the case of Adventure Port, they put lipstick on a pig. It looks great, but that’s the best thing that can be said about that area.