CoastersRZ

Very true. They may run into some unforeseen obstacle that takes a week or two to remedy, which could push the opening of the ride back by the same amount. Until the ride is test running, the park can`t be certain when exactly they will be able to run it. And even then, they may not know for certain.

Yes, there is a lot that still needs to be done. Besides the painting, I`m sure they still have some electrical work to finish wiring up the ride. They still have to assemble the queue rails, do landscaping, install signage, get the trains on the track, cycle the ride and test it, and finally, they will have to get the ride certified by the state of Ohio. That takes time. Keep in mind that they have been painting the ride for several weeks (several months if you include the time they`ve been applying the primer to the track). Has KI advertised skipping the lines on Firehawk? I don`t seem to recall them doing that...

I doubt there will be any "soft openings" for Firehawk. It will open Memorial Day weekend. The ride will likely open to the media (by invite only) a couple of days before that weekend. They still have a lot of work to get done on that ride over the next four weeks!

See, that`s what I thought, except there are no pipes visible near the center concrete base. RingMaster, that open "hallway" in The Beast`s queue is where they used to have pop machines. I highly doubt that they make that into a Fear Fest attraction, as last year The Beast had quite large lines during FearFest and was utilizing both of the lower queue houses.

And hopefully, Kings Island keeps its train for many many years to come! Nice pictures Bill. I`m still not entirely sure what the center round concrete base is for, as there are no steel connectors or conduit coming up in that location. We`ll know soon enough though.

Yes, I believe today is also Jeff Siebert`s birthday. (He was actually born in 1972 too).

On April 29th, 1972, Kings Island first opened to the public, thirty five years ago to this date, for a series of preview weekends. The park officially had its grand opening on May 27th. Ironically, it rained most of the day on April 29th. Happy 35th birthday Kings Island!

Provided that your Maxx pass came from Kings Island. Here is a listing of the specific attractions that will be open from 9:30 to 10 am for the gold pass holders. I am kind of surprised that none of the perks (either the early ride times or walk on weekends) have featured Firehawk. Granted, they have only release the early ride times through Memorial Day weekend, so they might have some early ride times in Coney Mall in the months of June and July, but they just aren`t announced yet.

They started painting the supports several weeks ago (a couple weeks before the park opened in fact). And another thing that I noticed. Adventure Express is only running two trains. The third train is on one of the storage tracks (a different track then the third train was on last Saturday). This third train is covered with train covers. I wonder how long it will be before they put the third train into service. Additionally, the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad was not open today.

Don`t count on it returning at KI or any other park for that matter. Yep, Flight of Fear had some of the work lights on today, which was the exact opposite of last week when there were no lights on at all in the drum (either work lights or the normal show lights).

A brief update (no pictures, sorry) from Firehawk today. The concrete midway has been poured since the last set of pictures were taken. They still have yet to pour the concrete curbs. Work continues on the station (there were a couple of guys painting the station today). There will also likely be a sign on the Coney Mall midway advertising the ride, as there is a new concrete footing right next to the ring toss game. Also, the Coca-Cola Cool Zone structure was assembled. It appears as if there will be a row of Coke machines on the side that faces the basketball game.

While the vertical construction for that might just be beginning, they had a huge hole in that area at the beginning of April to prepare for that Cool Zone.

Firehawk is looking nice. I`m really liking the gray and red color scheme. It looks like a totally different ride than X-Flight, partly because guests will be coming to the ride from a different angle then what they did when the ride was at Geauga Lake.

No, no, no. I was replying to a post by AdventureExpressor. He had stated that: So I was telling him that that ride is still there just called the Wild Thornberrys River Adventure. I thought that was relatively apparent in my post.

AdventureExpressor, the old Kings Mills Log Flume is now the Wild Thornberrys River Adventure. The park simply renovated the ride for the 2001 season and added some thematic elements (including a pesky elephant). Most of the trough, except for the station, lift hills and final drop was completely removed and replaced with stainless steel by O.D. Hopkins.

Yep, I believe that your assumption is correct. I believe that they are giving the station a hangar theme, which will fit in well with the whole military base feel that Flight of Fear already has. They will also be painting some of the neighboring maintenance buildings (at least that was the plan as of earlier this month).

Well, I made my first visit to Kings Island back in 1985, at the ripe young age of nine months old! The rest as they say, is history. I started out over on PKIU, until someone encouraged me to begin posting on PKIC (I don`t remember who that was). So then I gradually began to post more on PKIC than I did on PKIU and then the two sites merged. I first met Bill (ZosoBeast) at a commercial filming for The Vortex back in September of 2005. Little did I know that I would become friends with Ryan and Dane and eventually become a staff member here at KIC. I`m still honored to be a staff member on this site and thrilled to share my enthusiasm for the park with others on this site and in the forums.

Well, having volunteered a couple time in the games department at Kings Island, I have gotten an insiders view of the games department. There is some skill involved in winning at some of those games. (The supervisor who was training me on the game I was working last October could make balls into the peach baskets on Coney Mall without even looking). And, some of those large plush toys they give away are not on the cheap side! And yes, you`d be surprised how much money some of those games can bring in in one day. It is rather astonishing! Which, for the record, the prices for the games have been increased. Obey the Net on Coney Mall used to be 1 ball for $2, three balls for $5. This year, it is 1 ball for $3 and two balls for $5.

Yes, I second the comments from everyone above! Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule all those times to give us construction tours of the various new attractions. Being an architectural student, I love seeing stuff being built. Your enthusiasm for the park was wonderful, even with the hectic hours. You were a great asset to Kings Island, and whoever replaces you, will have big shoes to fill! Best of wishes at your new job! Keep in touch. Robbie

I don`t believe that they sandblasted the stones. It would have created an uneven nature to the surface of the stone, not to mention taken a long time and cost some money. It was just as easy to take the stones up, and flip them over.

The Beast would always run three trains, regardless of whether it was pre-season, full season, or post season (pending any mechanical difficulties with any of the trains). Adventure Express and Vortex used to only use two trains for part of pre season and post season, to give the maintenance team a head start on winter maintenance of the trains. As you mentioned, Vortex was running all three trains yesterday, and Adventure Express was running two, but the third one was on the tracks.

The inside of LaRosa`s on International Street looked nice (new updated materials). But it was the same general layout and set up as it has always been. While there has been some construction done on Son of Beast, I don`t know if the park even knows when Son of Beast will be ready. I highly doubt it will be ready by Memorial day weekend. Other observations from my day at the park today: -Almost all the trash cans have the Kings Island logo applied to them. -As has been mentioned before, Adventure Express, Top Gun, Vortex (I`ve also heard Shake Rattle and Roll, but didn`t ride it) got seat belts this year. -The remote control cars by Adventure Express have been removed and replaced with some landscaping and benches. -The remote control boats on the lake across from Lt. Dan`s bar have been removed. Some fish food dispensers reside in that area though. -The movie posters in Action Zone have given way to posters advertising attractions at Kings Island. One includes a large Ryan (Boddah1994) for the FearFest banner. -There was a lot of new paint to be seen around the park. Most of the midway game stands in Coney Mall had bright new paint. Also, Shake, Rattle and Roll received a fresh coat of paint. -The Coca-Cola Cool Zone by The Beast entrance has been removed. This allows for a direct connection with the exit and entrance of the ride in the old location of the cool zones. It really opens up The Beast exit area, and will make walking around for re-rides easier on light days. -Several of the chain link fences in the Action Zone have been removed.

Well, I do know that one of the pr people from Cedar Point (Tony Clark) was present at Kings Island today.

No trains were present on the track or storage track. I`d say the opening of the ride is still a ways off. (Likely after Firehawk, but by how much is anyones guess).

Well, if you read the article that appeared in the Cincinnati Post, both Scooby Doo and Yogi Bear will be featured in the Endless Summers on Ice show!