Shaggy

I think you answered your own question. Once the waterpark closes each day, families tend to vacate KK. In the past, that left the later hours predominantly filled by teens. And its no secret that KK has had more than its share of "issues" with teens in the park. I'm sure its a multi-tiered decision, but I guarantee that was a large factor. As for "theme park" vs "amusement park" - its pretty clear what the Herschend strategy is with this park. Just watch their latest construction video (part 1) - skip to the thirty second mark.

I believe this to be a strategic move to further cement the changes from its past reputation as an "amusement/thrill park" to a "family theme park."

The front half of the park will obviously undergo an overhaul and retheme over the next two years. For 2026, there's not only the new Flying Fox coaster, but the restaurant (Casa Mia) at the front of the park is getting a massive overhaul. For 2027, the current 4D theater will be repurposed as an indoor coaster/dark ride that I've heard has yet to be chosen. The area around it will no doubt be overhauled - ala what they did with Discovery Cove. There's also a floating rumor that the giant swing ride (Skycatcher) may be relocated to the front half of the park. I'm sure the focus will then turn to the back half of the park for 2028 and beyond. I have also heard that the park has been eyeing what to do with the rogue/poor placement of Kentucky Flyer. This is due to the fact that its often "missed" by guests who don't know how to find it, or even know its there. If the rumor of moving Sky Catcher to the front of the park holds true, that will leave it as the only dry ride in that back side of the park. It would also be the only attraction negating waterpark expansion into that land area. It will be interesting to see its eventual fate. Finally, the Fairground's West Wing and West Wing Pavilion - adjacent to the park's entrance - are being demolished in the coming year or two. New wings are being built to replace them. That will affect the entire lot directly in front of the main entrance and will likely prompt a major overhaul to KK's entry plaza. BTW - I was at the fairground this week and got to see the Flying Fox construction site up close. Probably only about 1/4 of the footers are poured. The station foundation is present, Once the park closes their Holiday event this week, I'm sure they will begin tearing up the midway for the underground tunnel. There's lots of prep work still left, so I'm sure it will be a month or two before any sort of track arrival/vertical construction will begin.

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...

If what they show is the completed demo (as stated in the post)... you can see they didn't remove the platforms/walls that were placed on top of the original theater (Pepper's Ghost) scene. It looks as though they may be re-using the "chase" turntable as well.

KingsIslandFan1972 said: "I wonder if the original voice of Maestro will be returning to voice him in the new ride?" He is.

I am still looking for card #57 (Boo Blasters) if anyone has an extra...

I noticed that Tin Lizzies seem to be missing (although there's a small bit of what could be it's track showing - but no full circuit.) There's some sort of a farm themed car-ride, also a rotational-type ride inside one of the coaster's turns. Another smaller thing I noticed - there's a horse-racing themed statue in the fountain of the main entrance... I don't recall there being one there currently. Annnnnd.... The circuit of the new coaster doesn't make sense (incomplete) and there's no main drop shown. The layout doesn't match Flying Fox's layout in its rendering, Concept art is just that... a concept. So I don't put much merit in them. I'm not saying those rides will not be added down the road - but it was probably just a rendering of potential ideas provided by one of the manufacturers, an outside theming company, or the park's development/planning team. We'll see. I actually hope those things will come. I hope Kentucky Kingdom will finally shed its poor past, and rise to its future potential. These are good indications the people in charge know precisely what the park can be.

The Dollywood version packs a surprisingly good little punch. I'm hoping the same for this. Love that they are tunneling under the walkway.

Flying Fox Coaster

I doubt you'll miss those specific trees when riding... especially when you learn what they were removed for ;-) ...and I agree with the earlier sentiment that any work to keep The Beast running - or running better - is always appreciated.

Humor me as I trip down memory lane for a bit... Most know that the park gave behind the scenes tour to Acer's and members of Dafe when they were loading out PT late in the season after its closure... But in addition, I was fortunate enough to "play" (park personnel supervised - of course) throughout the building during conversion of PT to Scooby. Although it broke my heart to see things in shambles, junk piles, tossed into garbage cans etc (aside from the animatronics - which were all gathered into the maintenance bay in one big bunch.) it was pretty cool to actually handle the props & figures. When they cleared out PT - it was done in stages. They first removed all the figures. then removed all major props (like the cannon, gargoyle, furnace etc) Most of what remained were the wall props, signage, antiques, small chandeliers etc. Those all were literally thrown into garbage cans & dumpsters. I've got a slew of pics somewhere - but here's a handful I found on an old thumb drive. Bear in mind these were taken on a really bad digital camera - in very, very dim light. Not sure these add much to the topic - but figured some might enjoy. I think I shared some of these pics in the past - can't recall for certain. Some notes: The prop room "sword" I'm holding was very light-weight... like a blow-molded plastic or lightweight plywood. It was in a trash can and I pulled it out to fake a "chop" at a friend (whom I edited from the picture for privacy...) The other was still on the wall. If you look, you can see where the loose one had previously been bolted to the mechanical rod on the wall. The washers on the back of the handle were there to help counterweight the length of the sword as it rocked up and down. If you look closely, one of the handle "scrolls" was broken off - a testament as to how they just tossed it in the garbage during removal. As for the "electrical panel" it was all simple plywood panels with aluminum handles hinged and what equivalated to Christmas lights fed through the various holes. You could access the scene other side of it via a hidden passage... it basically masked the back of the figures in the dressing room doors on the other side of the wall. Of all the things in there - I wanted to take the "Schedule" sign home with me... Oh, I begged to no avail. I wonder if it somehow survived. But I doubt it, since most of the non-animatronic props & signage was being thrown away. Everything was filthy. Dust covered, spit on everything, gum blobs everywhere - and lots of real spiderwebs. There were hydraulic fluid stains and grease where the figures were located. So much so, I felt like I needed to shower when I came out after crawling around in there... You could tell precisely where every prop and figure had been - because when they first installed them they used black spray paint to "age" everything - they lightly sprayed all around every item to make it seem like it had been there for decades. By January, the full Scooby install was underway - and PT was a memory by then. The most shocking thing was how they just built a plywood platform over the big pit that housed the Peppers Ghost scene. Every single time I rode SDATHC as well as Boo Blasters, as I passed the fireplace scene I thought "The stage is still under here." When I first saw them building the platforms over the old stage I thought to myself "At least it makes it easy to convert back if they ever wanted to." I wonder if they will..... Most of the scenes were on platforms that were about a foot or so off the actual building floor and matched the level of the omnimover track. The height of the platforms increased as the scenes progressed in order to achieve the height needed for the Pepper's Ghost "performance" scene. There were trap doors in most where maintenance could crawl under to inspect/fix wires and electrical components that powered the figures. The figures were all on independent stands that bolted to the floor or scenic element. Their power cords then ran through holes in the floor to a cable system that ran from scene to scene. I suspect that, with today's technology and the "ghost light" added effect - they will avoid any authentic Peppers Ghost effect. More than likely they'll use large digital screens for those effects. The original was achieved (of course) by giant floor-to-ceiling panels of glass which were (from what I was told) lowered in through the roof for PT. Those large panes were used for the projection/mirror effects but there were separate windows between the guest vehicles and the reflection panels. (I was also told this was done to avoid what happened at Disneyland - where a guest shot a bb gun at the large glass panels in the Haunted Mansion and cracked one. DL later installed a second set of smaller glass panels between the vehicles and the large Pepper's Ghost ballroom panes.) When PT was removed - the large panels were literally shattered and removed. I cannot imagine they'd spare that expense, or go to the lengths required, to re-install them.

That’s a two way street bub.

God I love your optimism Don. Let me point out the key word in my original post in case you missed it… “hope.” Not happening? Probably, maybe, who knows? But please don’t negate my sentiments or wishes for KI.

So? Anything is possible. Employee parking lots can be moved or altered. Especially now that there's fewer Admin staff members on site...

Grrrr... no hybrid option for KI.... I am holding out hope for a launch coaster - ala Alpenfury (with much better capacity and a longer ride time) that would run the front of Action Zone near to the parking lot over the front entrance and back. One can dream... Oh, and selfishly I wish Phantom Theater would be kept to KI. I guess I'd be ok with KD getting one - but IMO that theme and those characters are proprietary to KI.

I have it on good authority that the facade will be an overlay of the existing exterior.

Be careful what you ask for... I bought four myself... they are $7.99 each. Expensive!

Kings Island Trading Company - in a small display box at the checkout register. My biggest gripe about KI this year is, there have been literally only a handful of items added to the KI Online store all season. For those that cant get to the park - let alone on a routine basis - its utterly frustrating. Its never been this bad in years past. These should have been posted for sale immediately. How difficult would that have been?

I'm willing to trade - I have an extra of 38 (Racer) & 54 (WWC)... I need 42 (Festhaus), 56 (Queen City Stunt Coaster) & 57 (Boo Blasters) Separately I also have extras of card #'s 39-41, 43-45, 48 & 50 for trade.

Why? Does it really make a difference that they aren't replacing the track? Personally, I'd rather them invest the bulk of capitol in the figures/scenery...

Was at the KY State Fairgrounds yesterday for something unrelated to Kentucky Kingdom... but I did manage to sneak a peek at the construction happening in the front of the park. (For posterity, no trespassing involved. These were taken from outside the park, in full view from the parking lot.) Pretty obvious what's going on IMO. They will really be shoe-horning the "new attraction" in there... Here's a photo dump... Shaggy

The original ride, of course, had a cat being scared by a giant rat... but also, there was the sound of a howling cat in the outdoor queue line.

This is correct... The new "Six Flags" has stated emphatically on all investor calls that their goal is to increase the attendance base on the flagship SF parks to bring them to a level that matches the legacy CF parks. That's why they are focused on major installs and general park improvements in flagship SF parks located in huge metro areas. Kings Island far surpasses virtually every other park in the chain when it comes to its huge season passholder base. Its essentially the litmus test by which they are trying to mirror with the other parks in the chain. Execs see no need to rock the KI boat as they view KI's formula as highly successful. Why mess with success? A major install will come... but as stated many times before... they are completely focused on maintaining the passholder base which consists primarily of locals and families. I have noticed that KI has been terrific about investing in infrastructure improvements. That doesn't read to most enthusiasts as "major", but if they had not continually re-invested millions upon millions in maintaining general esthetics, KI would be a trash park. Its actually, by far, one of the most well maintained parks in the country. That doesn't mean there haven't been disappointments along the way.... that year they added Coney Bar-b-Que was very wah-waaah.... Yes, a new Coney Mall restaurant was needed - and welcome - but even I thought it was the least interesting season in terms of new additions and improvements. (Granted, this followed a season where a new coaster was added, and Winterfest returned.)

That's all it was... a rumor. A "new" Phantom Theater attraction was not planned for previous seasons. The waterpark expansion was supposed to be 2023. It was pushed back (first by a year, then by two) when Koontz decided an Octoberfest facelift was a bigger priority. That's why AP opened late, because it was a last minute switch and rides/theming outsourcing were not contracted well in advance as they typically are. The following year, the Camp Snoopy expansion took priority, in part, to try and regain the "Best Kids Area" title. (Didn't quite pan out.) Koontz was very up-front in that no major coaster install was planned for the forseeable future. That is because they did not see a significant return on investment with Orion. BTW - For those questioning if the Crypt building has something to do with a "new" PT... it doesn't. Boo Blasters is closing early for a reason.