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It would definitely need a more decorative building but I would put something over Cargo Loco before Monster. I do think the park needs more sheltered/indoor rides

What you have to keep in mind, is that every opinion of all coasters/rides/installations on this site are through an enthusiast lens. The general public likely doesn't see Orion as just a taller version of Diamondback. They see it as yet another highly enjoyable coaster that is the tallest in the park to date. It seems @Orion-XL200, we were typing up similar responses at the same time.

Sure, Orion isn't the best of the best....it's not a MF or a Fury (which isn't my favorite by any means)...but it is what it is. It wasn't originally meant for KI...but we got it. It's my favorite in the park and my 2nd favorite Giga. Literally the only people I see who complain about Orion are the 'thoosies online. The roller coaster 'thoosies are the most unenthused people about their hobby.

It's a little hard to see anything from the webcams, but the fence is still up and it looks like the central rotor is the only part back on the pad. I did just notice that the path between Coney Bar-B-Que and the Scrambler does line up nicely with the Monster. There is, of course, the planter separating that path from the ride, but it's nice to notice something like this in a park I already know so well!

I am already wishing for warmer weather and longer evenings. These cold, dreary days damage my inner soul.

Seems like I am one of the few true coaster nerds that really enjoy Orion for what it is. Ha! Just kidding. It's no Fury 325, and is on the shorter side of overall length, but it I love that first drop, fun elements and tons of speed. It's a great combo with Diamondback's airtime and repeating big hills. And it is very re-ridable for most everyone. I can marathon both easily which is nice. I think we are lucky to have it at our home park. Now just we need a really amazing install in The Vortex old spot...it's just so empty back there without it.

Introducing... Sir Pretzel!

I've always said that KI's 4th of July event should be more than just "come for what's already here and stay for a bigger firework show". Add specialty food offerings, have special activities and entertainment geared towards the holiday. Give the locals something that would make them decide to spend their 4th of July day at KI rather than their local July 4th festival. Bc locals can go to KI pretty much anytime over the summer, but they can't go to a local 4th of July event any other day. Also since Soak City usually gets the most crowded on the 4th, I wouldn't mind spreading some of the "special activities and entertainment" over there. Like set up a stage and do live bands over there. I also think doing some sort of camp fire/s'mores thing in Camp Snoopy as the sun goes down would be kinda cool. I believe Knotts used to do something like that as part of Summer Nights. Like imagine spending your day in Soak City then coming back after the waterpark closes and seeing special camp activities and campfires/s'mores going on. As a kid I would've LOVED that.

My 2026 "wishlist" for KI: 1) New music in the park. While I think Area 72 and Adventure Port should keep their own soundtracks I think it is time for a reset on all the music in the park. The jazz on I street is outdated and just doesn't work with I-street. I want the orchestral soundtracks back. Or maybe since 2026 is the 250th birthday of America, celebrate that with patriotic music on I-street like what is played during Tricks and Treats in Coney Mall. Speaking of Coney Mall, it is time to ditch pop music there and do a custom soundtrack. I think you could split it into two areas. If you want to keep jazz in the park, you could have it in the front half of Coney Mall near Racer's entrance. Then in the back half by Jukebox Diner and Antique Autos, have 50's/60s style music playing. In Rivertown, please ditch the bluegrass covers of pop/rock songs and do actual bluegrass/country songs. Sorry, but as someone who likes rock music, hearing a bluegrass cover of "Enter Sandman" just makes me want to puke lol. In Snoopy, it's time to add a custom soundtrack for Camp Snoopy. I say move the playlist that plays in the Soapbox Racers queue line and have it play in the rest of Camp Snoopy. I just think it is a missed opportunity hearing Kidzbop in that section of the kids area. If you want to have Kidzbop in the Planet Snoopy section that's fair, but have it cut off right around the Snoopy's Boutique and transition to "Camp Snoopy" music. Finally for the rest of the park, I think pop is fine, but change the playlist. It's been the same list of songs the last couple of years so I think it's time to add more and maybe remove a few current ones. 2) More limited time special events. No I'm not talking about Food and Wine or Carnivale. I'm talking about pop up weekend events like the park used to do in the past. Like food truck fridays, dive in movies, etc. I also really would like to see the park bring the color run 5ks back. I don't understand why the park doesn't do that anymore. They could get some local organizations to sponsor it and/or have it raise money for a good cause. KI already does the JDRF walks and the A Kid Again Family Festival so they still do stuff like that, but I think a family friendly fun 5k in the spring time would be perfect. I like the color run idea as it really adds to the fun especially at a park like KI. KD still does Run and Ride so it's not like legacy CF has abandoned events like this. I also would like to see Grad Nites brought back (which tbh would kinda sting to fairly recent HS grads like me who didn't get a grad nite at KI). Multiple legacy Six Flags parks do Grad Nite and I believe I saw somewhere Carowinds is doing one so I think doing a grad nite would be great. 3) More New events: Now I'm going to talk about actual seasonal events. While nothing is confirmed, I'm willing to bet Carnivale is not coming back so something needs to go in its place. Obviously other parks in the chain have introduced "La Viva Fiesta" and while I think that would do well at KI, I want to see KI do their own take on a "Summer Nights" event. Like Cedar Point has Boardwalk Nights and Knotts has Summer Nights. Even Worlds of Fun calls theirs "KC Nights". So I think a custom event for KI would be perfect. I think "Island Nights" has a good ring to it and KI has used that name before, but in Soak City. Another event I'd like to see come to KI is some sort of Kids event like Kidzfest at Canada's Wonderland which is very popular there. Worlds of Fun also introduced their own version of Kidzfest and it seems to be doing well there as well. It would be a great way to show off our large kids area. When it comes to timeframe I think Food and Wine should be moved to late April through Memorial Day. That just makes more sense as Food and Wine feels more like a spring time event instead of a summer event. Then hold Kidzfest in June and Island Nights in July/August. Then Haunt and Winterfest during their normal timeframes. 4) A New Indoor VIP lounge: I know I'm not the only one who thinks this, but our VIP lounge is an embarrassment when compared to other parks in the chain. Plus with more people buying the prestige pass, a glorified patio next to the dumpster and restrooms is not going to cut it. It's time to take a page out of Kings Dominion and move it indoors. I personally think the best location for it would be the International Restaurant as it is a large indoor space with a great view that isn't used that often, but there are some obstacles that would likely prevent them from going that route. The next potential location is the Antique Photos building in Rivertown. The final location I thought of is the Graeters building. Idk if it is just me, but I don't usually see that many people in Graeters at KI. I personally wouldn't mind them moving Graeters somewhere else in the park like Rivertown and converting that building to the VIP lounge.

I am so happy the flag poles are no longer there behind the sign.

As opposed to making SC a separate admission, I feel like it might make more sense to just increase the prices of season passes. Which, unpopular opinion, I wouldn’t be opposed too if it meant improved experiences.

Sir Pretzel = Pretzel Dark Rides… duh. He looks great! Archie:

I actually really love Sir Pretzel and the reasoning behind his name, he’s my favorite now because there’s no previous design from the original to compare him to. (I had a shock seeing they slightly changed Lionel’s outfit in the background and I’m hoping they do him justice (as if he was a vital character in the original)) Also RIP Bosco for real now, iykyk.

Sorry, but just no. That looks ugly imo.

There was probably some truth to that during the "make it all new and DAZZLING" Paramount days when the goal was to actively get rid of the past so the park seemed hip and new (like removing Antiques and Flying Eagles to put a new ride in that spot that arguably wouldve been way better in a different part of the park) but with the new focus on being a well-rounded, family-friendly, multi-generational park, I think the train would be safe as just a round trip ride.

I’d say you’re probably right. Maybe Archie as well!

I believe 2017 was the last time KI hosted dive in movie nights. However, they hosted the "Island Nights" glow party with ERT on select water rides in Soak City in 2018 and 2019. I believe 2020 they were going to introduce a new "Summer Nights" event in Action Zone, but Covid messed that up and that whole concept was shelved and never revisited. I also would like to see Coaster Camp Out return in some form which was held up until Covid.

I think it'd be cool if for one night they kept some of the pools open and had a movie playing for people to swim and watch. Similar to what Disney does at their resorts.

Introduction to new characters that we are about to encounter. Mr. Pretzel is one of those "friends."

And here we are 6 years later and this horse has been more than beaten to death...

I wish Christopher the best in his new role. He was always nice to me when I spoke to him at the park.

Same! They make more sense being out before the entrance gates.

Thank You, but why wait until Spring?

According to what metrics?

Exactly this. I mean it's fun to think about hypotheticals and all. But there's no way the park would spend extra money to improve Orion from a construction standpoint. I do wish the ride layout was more about speed and terrain and less with the air time and the similar Diamondback "out and back" format. It does indeed feel a little redundant to have a taller version in the same park.

^^They have lift hill audio theming already. I wonder why they don't use it?

Six Flags Mexico is opening the Speedway Stunt Coaster later this month. Linked below is a news story on it and then a video from Six Flags showing off the ride. SIx Flags Mexico Family Coaster Opens This Month Six Flags Video Looks like great theming around the ride and it's interesting that this received better theming than Soap Box Racers.

That’s a fair point- I’m sure there are quite a few rides that *could* be enclosed or covered. Cargo Loco Monster Scrambler Great Pumpkin Coaster (I pitched this idea on a different thread)

There is a custom soundtrack in the bowl, they just need OBA or way better speakers throughout the entire run to hear it better. Its actually a specific track that starts at launch and runs all the way to the final station.

Yeah I think that $350 seems fair. As with most collectibles it's only worth what someone will pay for it. Probably not a gold mine but definitely a very cool piece of history from the park!

Any updates on monster recently?

Yeah I figured that they’re not necessarily a high value item, but to me they seem like a great piece for any Hanna-Barbera collector. I mean even if it is just the gloves, it’s not too often you see costume pieces from any of the parks show up.

The lights are still in place and operating in the fountain along with the pyro:

Thanks, that means a lot.

Isn't that the truth! We might complain because Kings Island has historically gotten new coasters more often but looking at some of the other parks like Michigan's Adventure and Six Flags St Louis - yeesh it's been almost two decades since they got anything good

We’re living a different world than we used to.

That's my thing here. I often wonder that if the CGA coaster happened and with the eventual pandemic soon to come would we still be waiting for the next big thing after Mystic Timbers to be added and would the old giga thread still be going with the constant arguments about one and the paint concepts? Tbh Im glad we got Orion for that reason!

The launch of Orion was different than other new ride openings during my years at Kings Island. Everyone was working from home due to COVID-19 leading up to the opening of Orion, combined with a restructuring in marketing that led to less collaboration with these things. There weren’t the kinds of discussions there had been with previous new attractions to be able to tell you if that was considered. I agree a “Mission Accomplished” soundtrack would have been a cool ending. That’s something they easily could still add.

Orion has been successful but when it comes down to giga/hyper comparison, Cedar Point and Carowinds have a better grasp on two different rides. I think Orion gets hate amongst enthusiasts me included for being too similar to Diamondback. The large airtime hills just do the exact same thing. For example let's take Cedar Point - hyper is airtime machine and the giga is the positive g speed machine. Take Carowinds - hyper is light floater airtime and Fury is low to the ground speed mixed with some airtime. Orion suffers from not having that speed element distinction from Diamondback much how behemoth and leviathan feel very similar (so what if one of them is a little bit taller?) point is that layout wise Orion and Diamondback are both modified out and back layouts that focus on big airtime hills. Literally very few difference and that's why it gets all the hate it does. Having said that it's still my #3 in the park and it was an improvement from Firehawk albeit less unique in the lineup. So I think for me it was a more than worthy replacement and if CGA hadn't run into permits and permission issues one must consider that we very well might not have gotten a giga at all so their loss was our gain

With respect. I think there is a difference. Orion keeps it's speed throughout much of the ride and Diamondback, which I love, is more of an airtime machine. I absolutely love the speed Orion has. Sure, maybe some low to ground curves like Fury could add to that effect I agree. But I ride Orion because it hauls. That's why I love The Voyage and Top Thrill 2 so much...it's zen feeling for me going that fast on a coaster.

The flag poles could probably look a lot better out in front of the turnstiles rather than bringing them back to "block" the view of the Eiffel Tower. I don't think KI necessarily needs to do what Dollywood and Dorney Park have with a secondary park sign a little further away from the gate, but it could be fun to have a Kings Island sign made out of foliage somewhere else in the park. The 50th anniversary sign is probably one of my favorites because of its overall shaping and how the ribbons span outward. If designing a new sign were up to me, I think I would start by trying to keep it on flat ground unlike the first PKI sign (seen below) and Kings Dominion's current sign. So far my guidelines are: overall shape should compliment the Eiffel Tower and draw eyes up to it needs to be able to be modified for seasonal festivals and removable for Fall and Winter events must say "Kings Island" spaces for foliage should be included in the design Paramount's Kings Island sign circa 1993 (CoasterAce on YouTube). As one of the first (if not the first) front gate signs at Kings Island, I think this iteration did exactly what it needed to do. It certainly fits in better with all of the mature trees lining International Street, far more than it would with the current trees in their still-smaller forms. I think the reason why this setup works better at Kings Dominion than it did at Kings Island is because KD has more trees along the front of their fountain that help to build up to the berm. 2006 Paramount's Kings Island sign (Reddit). This sign solved the issue of how much the berm blocked the view of the fountains, but is a little too low for my liking. I definitely appreciate how much the current setup both allows for guests to sit in front of the sign while also raising the planter bed up away from curb-level. The fountains being set to barely on doesn't help the view, but you can see where the shape of the sign compliments the Eiffel Tower rather than being a flat line below it. If I could find a photo of this sign from Fearfest, I'd also include it to show the decorations; however, if I recall correctly the decorations were really just placed around the planter rather than anything special being done with the sign. Paramount's Carowinds front gate sign some time after 2000 (https://www.screammachine.net/parkinfo.php?parkcode=PMCS); the same sign in 2012 ("Carowinds Classic Footage - 2012" by XtremeCoasters Network on YouTube). This sign accomplishes a lot of good things while remaining incredibly simple. It's one of my favorite park signs for a few reasons. It's big and was prominently featured as the vista point at the end of the path from the park entrance, something Carowinds now fills with a giant empty stage; the sign supports are designed rather than being simply functional, especially with the three bars behind the Paramount logo; and the foliage behind it both frames the sign while also allowing it to stand out. I have a feeling that this sign and planter were removed in 2017 to make way for an expanded stage (possibly to coincide with Winterfest), which is a shame. The current Celebration Plaza area is very disconnected design-wise and there is no longer a direct vista to be seen from the main entrance to the park. After the Paramount logo was removed from the sign it did lose some of the height that made up its good shaping. I don't know that making the Kings Island sign any wider/taller would help its current predicament, but this iteration of the Carowinds sign might provide inspiration in other ways. Paramount's SCarowinds front gate sign (https://www.charlottenc.gov/CS-Prep/City-News/Experinece-at-SCarowinds). You can see here how it was decorated for the first years of SCarowinds, likely sometime around 2001-2003 since neither the old Emporium building nor the Borg Assimilator are visible behind the trees. The decorations are simple and plentiful but don't distract from the sign itself. They also add a third layer with the sign and the trees behind it. I haven't been able to find any photos of it from Paramount's Carowinds 2005 iteration of Winterfest, but this specific photo of the SCarowinds decorations looks so good. The Halloween Haunt and Tricks & Treats decorations over the last few years have strayed away from the "classic frights" genre seen below, but at least the current Haunt sign is custom-made with special effects included.

Because digital marketing doesn’t make those decisions.

Camelback Resort, a year-round recreational Mountains, has appointed Christopher Baulo as its new director of food and beverage. Baulo had served as director of food and beverage for Kings Island since 2023, where he oversaw all culinary operations in collaboration with the park's executive chef.

I collect Kings Island memorabilia...and with that said, I don't personally think you are looking at any kind of a gold mine with these. If you had something more interesting like the head, or even the vest it would be something that someone could display in their home...but a couple of gloves are not that interesting to look at. (imho) eBay will always be the final say on what someone is willing to spend on them...but my guess is at the max these would sell for about $350.00.

I love it! Anything is better than the purple Scooby-Doo castle which was good for a decade or so but by the time the 2020s came it was definitely looking worn down and an eyesore. Fingers crossed we get eerie sounds (wind effects, ghosts moans, etch) on the outside/entrance just like the original PT.

If I could imagine what the facade will look like, it's something in the lines of these theater style. Colonial mix in with Victorian style architectural facade. It fits within the british style and field with the lore of Phantom Theater.

Here’s every animatronic (except one I guess, I’m not sure if they’re counting the gargoyle as one). I’m assuming some of the head sculpts will be reused for the main characters. I wonder if them being yellow within their model means they have facial movements (Which would align with Maestro and Larry well. The two oddballs with this theory are Hilda and the Boiler Men which I assume would talk but I after this new episode I also need to remember that it’s a homage to the original versus a remake. Also if Houdelini gets a voice that will be cool.) They all look fine here, and when judging the models with the physical figures we’ve seen I’m sure they’ll look fantastic!

Richard Doyle confirmed as maestro again, interesting to see where Rick bastrup will appear in the ride, here’s to April.

Love the new precedent of announcing Curtain Call episodes in advance so I don’t have to stress about a random drop on Thursdays. Starting the new year off right.