Shaggy

Most of today's bands/performers/musical acts are contracted through an outside "promoter." For instance, Live Nation is a concert/act promoter. Many promoters, have their own venues. That, or they have contracts/agreements with independent venues to bring their acts there. Those contracts can differ, depending on the facility and are often financially complex. Successful venues often use very current technology - not only the staging, lighting and technical needs of today's acts - but also event admissions technology such as mobile barcode scanners, live analytics data, and database-driven sales feeds etc. Many of those venues also have contracts, or agreements with successful ticketing software/distribution providers (i.e. Ticketmaster) Kings Island (TMK) does not have a contract, or agreement with major concert promoters (outside of Spirit Song - which I'll get to in a bit.) So any concerts they *may* do (at this point) would likely be, one-offs. Kings Island does have a contract with Ticketmaster to not only sell and distribute tickets - but to also supply the software and ticketing equipment on site (such as Boca printers, dumb terminals etc.) Because of the infrequency of concerts, there's not been a need for KI to invest in the costly ticketing technology themselves. That infrequency is due, IMO, to a number of things... competition from other venues (better & larger facilities/better options for inclement elements etc.) Also, the "face" of concerts has drastically changed in the past 40 years. Most of today's performers are heavily reliant on theatrics... so they travel with their own stages and massive rigging so they can distract audiences with light shows/hydraulic lifts/scenery changes/fire and special effects etc. Such performances are best seen at night - or in a darkened venue. Timberwolf wasn't really built for that - it was built for static performers and bands. Demands of artists play a role as well - and KI simply isn't in the business to cater to most of today's intricate tech-riders themselves. Spirit Song is a low-risk, successful event that has proven to be a large draw for decades. The performers are more traditional "static" performers that don't rely heavily on theatrics or complex tech-riders. Its a "festival", so it is an admissions draw to the park for an entire weekend. Because of the nature of the concerts, and the fact that it is at a family-oriented theme park - its a huge draw for churches and youth groups across the Midwest. A great portion of ticket sales are to large groups that are maintained, and return, year after year. There's a built-in base of buyers that help guarantee that it's a success. Now, I am not privy to what type of a contract SS's promoter may have with KI... but I'd guess its a simple 4-wall, where they are essentially just renting the venue and KI only retains the profits from park admissions and concessions. It is my opinion that the reason Timberwolf still exists is literally because of Spirit Song. The event is obviously a large enough draw that the park continues to see its merit (As recent as 2020 - which was cancelled due to Covid.) And as long as Kings Island deems the facility's use for Spirit Song as a viable use of the "real estate", then Timberwolf will continue. Also, as long as SS's promoter deems the facility adequate, then KI will likely just "maintain" it rather than heavily re-investing. If the park deems the land's use better suited for something that can be better marketed, or produce a larger return on investment, then it will be removed. If they are faced with a costly renovation or remodel (in order to maintain some sort of standard for future use) then they'll run the metrics to find out what the better monetary use is. As of now, its costing them little to nothing to just sit there... and its tucked away in a spot that isn't really prime midway real-estate. I do not think the land clearing seen this season is reflective of anything related to a removal of Timberwolf - I think its just a simple clearing of foliage overgrowth.

Hidden Mickey! ;-)

Then there's Huss vs Hoooz. ;-)

The mere fact that the name "Gerstlauer" is continually mispronounced "GerTslauer" in that video undermines any potential credibility IMO. ;-)

It was time for Vortex to go. A dagger to the heart of sentimentality, but its time had passed. ;-)

Yeah, its pretty evident there was mis-information in that USA Today article. I'm glad it got shared, because its a good example of how the press can misconstrue their reporting about parks. Bottom line, there's no factual information that any such thing ever occurred on The Beast.

Interesting. Any idea if it was a local article or something printed through AP? On a related note, I personally can recall a large article on coaster safety that appeared in Popular Mechanics in the 1980's that featured coaster accidents. It covered, in great detail, information about the West Edmonton Mall Schwarzkopf derailment, the Lightning Loops incident etc. I still have it somewhere in storage. When I was a teen, that article was the trigger for me to understand that those sorts of tragic stories sell.

Scattered throughout the decades, there's been a few collector gems pop-up for sale at KI. During the Paramount Era, they commissioned hand painted replicas of the lead carousel horses. Also, there was some original International Street art that was sold in a very limited capacity. Unfortunately, unique artistic representations of KI are pretty few and far between. Which amazes me, because in each of those cases they sold out afaik.

Glad to see KI again stepping up their exclusive merchandise game. The pin collection, the Nano-Coasters, the Coaster Cut Outs, the Ornaments, the calendar are all great pieces for a collector. Although these train models look a bit "rough" (as is the case with most resin models of any sort) I am very glad to see these and have made my purchase. I'm still wishing/hoping for CoasterDynamix Statix trains of Orion, Mystic Timbers, Racer, Banshee and "The Bat" (original please), as well as a much needed return to the large souvenir park maps. (I mean seriously, if CP can do it every year for 30 years straight, why cant KI?) Baby steps, I suppose ;-)

For posterity, I was a Beast Crew member (many, many moons ago) and can tell you we were all made aware of the potential hazards with the ride when in driver training. We were given examples of accidents that HAVE occurred in its history, so we knew what to look for and how to handle. Not once, in my time working there - or in training - was there ever any mention of someone being mortally injured by The Beast. However we were warned that people HAVE hit their heads on the trains, broken fingers and hands in the helix, busted lips, had heart attacks etc. Unfortunately, those types of things DID happen (rarely) while I was on crew. I saw and handled a couple of those types of instances personally. However, with the exception of one case, the injuries occurred to people that ignored and challenged the safety warnings. They were all treatable and relatively minor injuries. Perhaps the story is confused with another? In the 1980s a young teenager did get partially decapitated on a coaster at Kings Dominion when they stood up on the Galaxi. It made national news. (Side note: the growing issues and concerns with persons standing on the coasters (not just The Beast) is why the individual orange lap bars took the place of the buzz bars on PTC trains at many parks. But this was after many, many years of operating without them. The more recent addition of seat belts also was a result of concerns about guests breaking rules while riding.) FYI - I've never personally understood the fascination with these types of hearsay "stories." I once had a barber SWEAR he was at KI in the late 1980s on the day The Bat crashed into a concrete pillar, fell off the track, and killed people. He was adamant that it happened. There was so much wrong with his story, but when I tried to correct him - he got very defensive. You would have thought I had killed his first-born. After that, I learned to just roll my eyes and not engage with such stories when they are told directly to me. There's no use arguing.

Coastermania has, traditionally, had a much higher capacity allowance than most enthusiast events. I've been to several Coastermanias over the years where there were upwards of 2,000 attendees. Its worth noting that interest in Coastermania, and attendance, usually flexes based on a new coaster. In "intermediate" years between coasters, attendance tends to dip. I don't know the KI Coasterstock capacity, but I'd not be surprised if it is 1/3 of Coastermania's allowance. Given that, and the fact that Orion is still essentially a new coaster to most... its no surprise demand for CS tickets was incredible.

So, ever since I first saw the Brady episode as a kid, something bothered me about the episode... they didn't show Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal. In 1973, the new (and heavily promoted) attractions were the Bayern Curve, Flying Dutchman, International Street Restaurant and KCKC. All were included as a headline attraction in brochures, pre-season news articles and advertisements. The Brady Bunch episode was filmed the week of August 20th 1973. Both the Flying Dutchman and Bayern curve appeared in the episode... but KCKC did not. As a matter of fact, that entire area of Rivertown was completely omitted from the overhead shots. They did film near it - the Canoes and Rivertown Pizza Parlor... but no KCKC. (The Rivertown Pizza Parlor was also new that season...) It never made sense to me that they wouldn't feature, or at least show, the largest new attraction at the park that season. It seemed to me they'd want to showcase a eye-catching new attraction. Well, today I finally found the answer... Turns out, there was a major delay with the construction of KCKC... not sure what the delay was, but in August 1973 the ride was still under construction. A newspaper article states that the park was actually considering waiting to open it in 1974 (the same year they opened Lion Country Safari.) However, it appears it DID open in fall of 1973. Here's a blurb about it from a news article dated August 5th 1973... Fun to discover new things!

I agree with this, generally speaking. When it comes to generic kids rides (flat rides, etc) No matter the name/theme, children will either want to ride a kids attraction - or not. Heck - most kids/parents refer to standard attractions in terms of what they are, or do... "Momma, Daddy - I want to ride the airplanes!", "Jimmy, do you wanna go on the motorcycles?", "Little Emily loves the merry-go-round." etc. etc. etc. At most of today's parks - outside Disney and/or Universal - the names and themes of rides is mostly a secondary overlay. Licensed characters only play an important part on story-driven, or character-driven attractions (dark rides, flumes etc.) Now, there's something to be said for the costumed characters themselves. Young kids DO want to "meet" certain characters at parks (and many "big" kids too! LOL) Also, I think the licensing of characters plays an important part in the ability to market and sell merchandise. When KI was built, Taft's interest was to capitalize off the immense popularity of the HB characters they owned. That's the main reason KI exists on the scale that it does. HB was a HUGE, necessary draw in those formative years. IMO, as the seasons passed, KI developed enough of a solid reputation that they outgrew & outlasted the need for the characters on whose backs it was built. Its also worth noting that its all very generational. For me personally, as an adult, I will always feel there's something lacking at KI without the HB characters - because they were such an important part of the park in the years I first visited. For those adults that first attended KI as children in the Paramount years, they likely feel there's something missing without the Nickelodeon theme. When/if the day comes that the Peanuts leave KI - kids that have first visited KI as kids with those characters may always reminisce about them. But that having been said - most of us... no matter what it was called at the time - remember our childhood rides on the Scooby Doo... errr... Beastie... errr... Fairly Odd Coaster... errr... Woodstock Express... Finally... outside of non-kids coasters or theme-driven attractions, most people (enthusiasts and KI buffs excluded) don't remember the names of the attractions either. For instance, I was recently privy to a conversation where the persons were talking about how KI used to have a "big log ride" and a "small log ride." In reality, they were remembering Kentons Cove Keelboat Canal and the Kings Mill Log Flume. Had I spoken up and corrected them on the names, I guarantee neither would have registered with them.

My speculation would be that, like the deal with Hart, they will be required by the state to re-invest a fair amount of the profits back into the physical park.

@IBEW_Sparky - All good

Don't count on that. As I understand, Hart is taking a back seat and will be a financial partner only. I have heard he will no longer be involved in daily operations or management of the park. Well... you asked... ;-) Let me qualify... what follows is my general perception. I don't have any formal insight or first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of the park. That being said... Kentucky Kingdom continues to be viewed by locals in much the same way it was under the Six Flags leadership. There still exists a negative connotation among many in Louisville. Some perceive it as a troublesome park where unruly teens, and lower-class individuals go to hang out and cause trouble. (Not my opinion necessarily - just look at all the comments on the WHAS11 news announcement of the sale.) Louisville has always had an established culture clash - East end vs West end. Families and persons that live and work on the Eastern side of the city are - generally speaking - of a higher economic scale and prosperity. KK is widely considered to attract many lower economic class individuals from the West end of town - mostly because it has traditionally served as a draw for teens and those of a lower working class. This is due, because of its low admission and season pass rates coupled with the fact that it is on a convenient, direct, bus line from the West end. Add-in the fact that historically, there have been some really serious, and seriously public, issues at KK. Under SF, the park had crime - including incidents of rape, drug use, theft, gangs and fights. The "accident" that occurred so many years ago was the straw that broke the back for many. Obviously those things are well within the past, but they dealt a devastating blow to the reputation of the park. It was during this time that Holiday World seized the opportunity to build its reputation as the safe, family friendly option for the Louisville market. The Kochs family oriented commercials, ads and billboards were a declaration of being the "good-clean" option. Among locals, Kings Island has always been, and will always be perceived as a destination, top tier park. Its considered a "BIG" park with the "BIG" rides and attractions. It also is perceived as an expensive park. A lot of locals consider it to be the park at which you take a vacation - multiple days - with your family or a group of friends. Its an excursion, whereas KK is seen as a much smaller "half-day" park. (Side note - Both Kings Island and Holiday World strongly advertise in the Louisville Metro area. Commercials, and billboards, as well as discounts through fast-food and grocery stores.) I believe Hart entered into the most recent "new" Management agreement with the state for two reasons: (1.) He again saw the investment potential and (2.) He cared about the park itself. However, I also believe his intention was ALWAYS to re-sell the park... again. He is a businessman first and foremost. Its no secret that when he sold the park originally to Premier Parks (later Six Flags) he had leveraged the installation of major rides and costly infrastructure to the tune of a great deal of outstanding debt. Premier was gobbling up parks left and right, and seeing the skyrocketing attendance rates at KK (AFAIK, KK's highest attendance was the year they installed Chang) they jumped at the chance to buy - assuming a lot of that debt. When Premier became Six Flags, the company initially invested heavily in branding KK and spent years paying off debt. But then, little by little, any revenue the park began making was thrown into the big Six Flags bucket... and the overall quality suffered and re-investment was virtually non existent. By its final years, SFKK was making a profit - but never got to keep it - and had no real way of "growing" its bottom line. As mentioned before, there was no need for SF to heavily re-invest in SFKK when it was pulling the vast amount of business from local, regular attendees with season passes. When Six Flags pulled out of KK, they took the high-ticket rides with them infuriating the state that was left with basically a junkyard of rides and run-down buildings. In the new agreement with Hart, the state became the "owner" of the rides, land and structures. They required Hart to re-invest at least $4 Million in the park each season. This was done, as a reaction to lessons learned with the Six Flags pullout. Couple all these challenges together - and the result was that the current Kentucky Kingdom was operating season-to-season. Hart did re-invest heavily and breathed a new life in the park over the past several years, however never to the tune of success he originally had pre-Premier. With the onset of Covid - that obviously crippled the parks ability to further operate. As I understand, he furloughed all full-time staff (with the exception of essential people) back in the fall. Herschend became interested in the property (it remains to be seen who approached whom.) Further staff was permanently reduced in January - likely in preparation for the deal. However, it appears there was a great deal of back-and forth before the deal was finalized... even as recent as last week. I personally believe that had the deal not gone through, KK likely would not have had the ability to reopen this season. It will be interesting to see what Herschend has in store for the park. As you said - the landscape of the parks in this region has changed. Even Holiday World's grasp on the Louisville market is not what it once was (it is my opinion, the park completely lost their footing and direction with the passing of Will and then the family ouster that followed.) They still pull heavily from Louisville, however the "word on the street" about HW is not nearly as glowing as it once was. I think HW could be in a venerable place should KK be converted to a much more well-received, and perceived park. My hope for KK is that Herschend builds it into a "niche" park. Its never going to be a park on the scale of Kings Island, it simply doesn't have the logistical ability to. However, they can easily fill a gap - the need for a safe, fun and entertaining place for locals or those traveling up from Nashville, Down from Indy or Cincy or west from Lexington. I perceive it more on the lines of a modern-day Opryland (minus the Opry.) I expect the re-investment stipulation by the state still exists - so they will definitely sink money into the park (but not necessarily in the form of large rides.) I suspect (hope) that they were smart enough to not incur any outstanding debt in the way Premier did, that way they can begin operations with a nice clean slate. As far as the extended seasons and the potential for Holiday themed events - that is likely key. Louisville has nothing of the sort - with the exception of a Christmas Mega-Cavern drive through event (which is so popular it causes major traffic back-ups on the Watterson Expressway) and the Halloween event at the Zoo (which ALSO causes major traffic back-ups on the Watterson.) Remember, this is being spearheaded by Craig Ross, a VERY smart man with a great deal of experience. When he was GM of Kings Island - he led the park into the expansion/addition of Nick Central and the achievement of the first "Best Kids Area" Golden Ticket Award for the park. That, in itself, tells me his focus will be on changing the reputation, and the focus. It could get very interesting, but boy o boy a big challenge lies ahead. I personally feel this is very good, exciting news for the park.

For clarity - my "not yet" was in regards to the post saying it was official. I posted that because, as I understand, the Herschend deal has stalled several times. So until it was formally announced to the media, and by the state, it wasn't official. :-) As far as admission rates, I would suspect they will increase naturally over time as investments and offerings increase. Right now, they have to remain sensitive to the market and not rock any boats.

Not yet.

Half right

Absolutely correct. The rough spot was "THE JOLT" I mentioned. It was actually the pitch of the turn on the top of hill #3 (the hill following the largest drop.) The momentum of the trains was such that when the cars reached the top of the high speed turn, the cars "bucked" to the right. This caused riders to experience an intense jerk to the right in the seats - car by car. During the entire event - as our trains arrived back in the station each time we completed the circuit, we were literally asked by staff about "the jolt" - and it was pretty obvious it was worsening as the event continued... train by train. Knowing they had the passholder event that night, the abruptly shut it down and began modifying that area of the ride to lessen the strain. The park knew by the end of the media event that a major modification was unavoidable, but they had to save face and open it - at least briefly - that night for passholders. I don't ever recall seeing so many maintenance, technicians and KI Management monitoring a ride on a passholder night. BTW - when I attended the passholder night, I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and took a picture of the techs working on it - scrambling to get it open. FYI - during both the media event, the passholder night and in those weeks that followed the reopening - a Wooden Coaster Maintenance member was staffed all day in the field to specifically monitor this area of concern. If they saw an issue, they would call the station with a code "term" created specifically for SOB - that only they and the lead ride ops and area managers knew. That "term" meant they had to shut it down immediately and indefinitely. They used this secret "term" because, by then, it was such a story that outside news people were listening to KI's communications radio channels.

As far as the announcement day, I was there and the whole event was basically a mess from an organizational standpoint. It was so bad that the (then) brand new GM (Tim Fisher) fired the park's Head of Public Relations following the announcement event. There was a bit of "chatter" online about that because, quite frankly, she was very unkind to enthusiasts in her history at the park. As far as the reactions of SOB from enthusiasts... It was pretty evenly mixed. Opinions online were not nearly as volatile as today's web-based "opinions," but there were definite hip-hoorayers and nay-sayers. You have to remember that back then, there were basically 3 main "enthusiast" platforms online - URC, Coasterbuzz and Rec.Rollercoaster. Rec.Rollercoaster was the "harshest" of the three... Coasterbuzz skewed more Cedar Point, URC more KI. With Millennium Force being built the very same year, that drew immense comparisons between the two. It seemed enthusiasts were team MForce or team SOB... at least the vocal ones. There were probably more champions for MForce overall. There was also a bevvy of comparisons to the original Beast and its legacy. There was a lot of speculation about the loop - and a debate about whether the steel support structure qualified it as a "wooden loop." Side note: the loop - probably the most debated part of the ride - ended up being the most redeeming part of it. At first, the reaction was kind of one of awe and excitement. Most simply couldn't believe they were building something of that scale. Also, people generally loved the theme. The initial logo was a bit underwhelming, but then by January they changed it and people loved the much improved final version. Later, the delays, very public construction issues, temperamental operations etc, prompted the tide to turn from excitement, to frustration. Lots of things such as the initial media day, enthusiast events, ERTs etc all got cancelled or converted into "construction tours" only. Its worth noting that, as far as I was told, the "designer" (Werner Stengel) never rode SOB or to my knowledge even stepped foot inside KI after it was built. SOB became a PR nightmare and the park really had to save face - there was a LOT of chatter about that among enthusiasts. I was very much camp SOB. I loved the concept, was excited by it, and daunted by its sheer scale. I personally felt it was a MUCH more ambitious project than MForce (or the bevvy of other coasters that were installed that year.) I say that because steel coasters were growing in size and scale - and were a proven "safe" investment. It was pretty much a given MF would succeed. SOB was a much bigger gamble - and for taking that challenge I will always applaud them. The final thing I'll say, and I've said it MANY times before. SOB never, ever, operated for the public as intended. Those of us that were lucky enough to ride on Media Day, were the only ones that got to experience it as designed. It was really something else - the height, speed, loop, overall scope. Oh it had its flaws ("THE JOLT!!!) but it was quite the rush. However, literally by the end of the media event, it was already tearing itself apart so the park shut the ride down and began the ongoing re-profiling and "neutering" of it. Had SOB not had "the accident" in 2006, I have no doubt in my mind that today it would have been a steel-tracked RMC hybrid. I truly wish it had made it that far. Imagine what a ride that would have been.

I seems the person "tweeting" for KK is doing so emotionally - and in a seemingly erratic way. My personal take is, the owners of the park were preparing press releases, they pulled back due to a complication internally... but the local "In-park Tweeter" had already proceeded with the tease campaign. I have no idea if that is indeed what happened, but I've been in the professional world long enough that I have seen similar circumstances arise in my own line of business. Marketing pulls back on PR or press because a business, administrative or contractual decision delays them.

Does that surprise you?

‘Bout time. Delay, delay, delay...

It appears the larger circles are their park properties I believe, the smaller the tourist spots (Stone Mountain etc) The oddity is Alabama Adventures location... if indeed its included.