CoastersRZ

The placement would be curious if they are needed soil core sample locations. Orion’s maintenance track, station, and queue are all in the way. Unless they are testing to determine the soil bearing pressure to relocate one or some of the maintenance buildings located at the Front of Area 72 to free up room there for a new flat ride.

Looks like a really great parade! Was the park operating when the parade was happening? I didn`t see a single ride running from Valravn, to Power Tower, to Top Thrill or even Corkscrew the entire length of the parade.

I wonder what kind of construction delays they are facing. Especially since this is the second time they have had to push the opening. And to not list a new opening date. I wonder what kind of management agreement they have with KI to operate the property. Ie, are they paying KI a flat fee, or is KI getting a flat fee plus a percentage of the sales.

News article here: https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/kings-islands-camp-cedar-delayed-again No new opening date has been announced yet.

I believe that Planning and Design is now based out of Charlotte, NC, not far from Carowinds. They used to be based out of Cedar Point.

Speaking of Canada`s Wonderland, they just announced they are being given permission to open. July 5th for pass holders and July 7th to the general public. https://www.canadaswonderland.com/

My one experience with using mobile ordering in 2019 was a flop. I tried it at the Festhaus, and the app said the food was ready, but I stood by the drink stand for twenty minutes waiting on my food. Would have been quicker for me to go through the normal line than to do the mobile ordering. Has anyone gone to Disney World and done mobile ordering at their quick service locations. I know that they were pushing most food orders at these locations through the mobile app. This got people out of the long lines to order the food. I haven`t been down to Disney World since 2013, so I cannot attest to how Disney does mobile ordering. I will hopefully return their in Spring of 2022.

I think Flight of Fear`s line length is partly as you mentioned, its low rider capacity. But it is also an indoor roller coaster, which means the indoor queue, station and ride are all in air conditioning. What other ride at KI besides Boo Blasters has that. As far as new ride additions, I would love to see a new flat ride added back in Area 72. Give kids that are too short for Flight of Fear and Orion something to do while waiting on older siblings to ride those rides. While not a high capacity ride I would love to see some classic flat rides added to the park, particularly in Coney Mall. A ride like Music Express would be a good fit, as would an S&S Swing ride.

Are the issues with Lightning Rod`s reliability still occurring this season after they did the refurb work to it in the off season?

I suspect that the delayed opening is more a result of construction delays more than anything. I know several projects we have going on at work are facing issues with getting LVLs and LSLs for wood headers in wood construction of multi-family projects that are delaying the projects/forcing details to be redesigned to use more readily available materials so as not to impact the schedule as much.

One can hope things improve at KI and the park adds hours instead of cutting them like they have been doing. I hope they bring back the benches in the train station. Makes it nicer to wait for the train when you have small kids in tow with you.

I just don`t get them saying that they are closing two hours early for labor issues. The employees are already there. Its not like they are cutting out an entire shift. Seems to me more like a way to save on labor costs to improve the bottom line then a shortage of workers. Guests can`t spend money in a closed park... And keep in mind that they already cut one hour off the beginning of the day this year (and last year). Closing at 8pm sure makes it hard for people that work until 5pm to enjoy the park after work.

And do not forget to check out Barnstormer! It is a fun ride, that is easy to miss as it is kind of in a tucked away corner of the park. Obviously Blazing Fury is a can`t miss classic as well. As others said, take in the shows. They are top notch. Outside of Kings Island, Dollywood is one of my favorite go to parks. It is the only other park besides Kings Island where I have had a season pass in the past!

Please cite a source. Thanks.

And that was located just a stones throw away from that location. The next planter area towards Antique Autos from that planter used to have a fountain in the middle of it. There also used to be a fountain on the front side of Outer Hanks, prior to its conversion to Bubba Gump.

I am kind of surprised that the park still has the banners above the entrance. I would have thought they would have upgraded to an electronic ribbon board by now.

What do you mean that you think SF has been handling this better than Cedar Fair? I agree that Six Flags has added operating days, while Cedar Fair has paired back their operating days and hours.

I think that the press release was worded very carefully for a reason. I am glad to see Fun Spot Atlanta adding a coaster. That park is home to some former rides that used to operate at Coney Island (Carousel and Swing A Round). Too bad Coney`s owner decided to throw in the towel on the rides, instead of investing in them like the owner of Fun Spot seems to be doing...

Yes. There comes a point where the park has to weigh the maintenance cost of a ride verse the return on investing in other existing attractions/new attractions. Sometimes, the cost of upkeep on a ride does not justify the expense. There isn`t enough return on investment/ridership to justify the cost. Look at The Racer. The park has spent money on upgrading and maintaining it because it is one of their classic rides. And it has good capacity. Vortex likely needed an expensive overhaul. One that park management deemed did not justify the expense. Keep in mind that Vortex was designed in the late `80s. Way before computer aided design programs were around. Compared to today`s latest and greatest scream machines, Vortex was ancient. Yes, I was sad to see it go. The only thing that bums me out is to see such a prime area of real estate at Kings Island sitting behind a tall fence with just grass planted on it. I do wish they would have saved some of the trees behind LaRosa`s when they took it out. I am hopeful that in the future there will be a new attraction(s) in that plot of land that will continue to thrill guests for years to come.

I just remember being at the top of the Eiffel Tower, in the same spot for nearly an hour + to get the photos from the tower that you see in that gallery.

But keep in mind that Worlds of Fun has already stated that they will not be having Winterfest this year.

Yep. BoddaH1994 is correct. This was announced for last year, but was never implemented last season. I wish rides would make a return at Coney sometime again. Don`t know if that will ever happen with current ownership...

https://kicentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Episode-16-Jeffrey-Siebert.mp3 Host Robbie Zerhusen (CoastersRZ) is joined by Brad Perdue (IndyGuy4KI) on this episode of the KICentral Podcast. On this episode, we have special guest, Jeffrey Siebert. He was manager of communications and guest experience from 1999 to 2005 at Kings Island and is currently Park President of Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We discuss his time at the park, and where he went after leaving Kings Island. Enjoy! Robbie

Not everything needs to be chocolate. I find both Orion and Banshee to be intense. Not in the out of your seat causing bruises on your thighs as your body slams into the restraint like with Voyage, Steel Vengeance and even Maverick. As I have gotten older, I have learned to appreciate the smoother yet intense rides. Don`t get me wrong, I love the above mentioned rides, just I think they are almost too intense. I have nearly grayed out on both Banshee and Orion before.

Why do you think that B&M rightfully warrants the bad rap? I think B&M are fun rides, that are very repeatable. Parks love them because they have good capacity and normally good uptime.