Rivertown Rider

Here are some pics from tonight

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

In that first pic it looks like the Race For Your Life building is being painted red. Also one of the observation areas on the flume is painted yellow. While I realize concept art doesn't always mean it is definitely changing that will be a nice color change. I'm also curious to see if the restrooms also get a refresh. That area between Camp Bus and Linus Launcher would be a good place to add another restaurant if both of those rides were relocated elsewhere in Camp Snoopy or Planet Snoopy.

One of my favorite parts of Winterfest is seeing the love that the flats get this time of year compared to many of them being walk-ons during much of the year. Cargo Loco and Sol Spin both add a lot of energy to that area of the park. As has been mentioned by others the area between the Eiffel Tower and Rivertown LaRosas is pretty dead so some more flats in that path would be great. The Backlot queue could easily be reworked to add some flats.

I got to ride it three times earlier this year. My wife was a little over two months removed from surgery so we did the noncycle seats when she rode with me. I also rode once in the cycle position by myself. I actually liked it better in the noncycle seats. It isn't as good as Guardians but it is still a fun coaster.

My wife found that there are some new items over at the Kings Island Gear site including two new Made To Thrill posters. I am happy to see The Bat version 2 finally get a poster and also to see the new AE one. I believe the two NanoCoasters are new as well. https://www.kingsislandgear.com/collections/new-arrivals

Better yet, send the Seabreeze ones to Carowinds and bring our original ones home.

There is a new Adventure Port ornament as well.

^ I could see Palace being interested in any of those especially Dorney with them already owning other parks in PA.

Cargo Loco and Sol Spin both added a lot of energy to that area of the park in what was kind of a quiet and dead area of the park during past years of Winterfest. Hopefully they continue that trend as they figure out what to do with Action Zone in the next few years.

We went up for a few hours last night and the park looked fantastic. The only show I saw was at Festhaus as we mostly just walked around. It was very nice to see the lines at some of the flats and those rides getting some love. Every indoor food venue appeared to be packed as well. As the park looks at improvements over the next several years adding more indoor eating venues needs to be a priority. They should also look to add some additional flats as well. Both of these things would improve Winterfest even more.

I also took some pics tonight. With so much progress over the last few weeks it will be nice to watch the progress throughout Winterfest.

I would love to see them keep Congo even if they got rid of Invertigo. If they could get creative with the land around the area they could potentially put something like Copperhead Strike. Regardless Action Zone needs a lot of love.

Since the park seems to read these... Why doesn't the park bring back the Flying Eagles from Carowinds? (I know from Evan's book they have tried but it never hurts to ask again.)

After exiting The Racer today I saw one of the AE cars from the second train down close to the Carnivale float tent. The rest of the second train was up on the transfer track. Hopefully this means we are getting close to two train ops again.

I think this a great new addition for the park and think the Camp Snoopy area will a great transition to Rivertown. I am happy that it appears that it will be a family attraction instead of a "child required" attraction. I would love to see them completely refurbish and repaint the existing bathrooms in Planet Snoopy to fit with the transition to Rivertown. If they did that then everything on that existing half fits in with the theme/color-scheme other than Linus Launcher which you could either repaint (maybe burnt orange and green instead of purple and green) or move elsewhere in Planet Snoopy. Some things I am curious about the area are in the screen grab below at the 37 second mark you can see two buildings that don't currently exist. One is a green-roofed building that borders Woodstock Gliders and another is a White/Tan-roofed building over to the bottom far right hand side next to the Kings Island logo. I know others have suggested a campfire burgers and hot dogs location and either of these could be a great location. The other building could be a snack stand, arcade, or family restrooms.

My prediction is a Camp Snoopy renovation with a new dining location along with a family coaster. I expect the amphitheater to be torn down.

Worthy of note in the press release is that KI and CP were actually up in attendance.

While something like Big Bear would be great, a nice Gravity Group coaster like Kentucky Flyer would be great in that space where the theater was. The measurements for the railway coaster work out perfect for that space, though. I am hoping improved dining comes to that area as well.

Cargo Loco also has super high capacity so it is similar to Zephyr and Shake, Rattle, and Roll where it clears out the queue every cycle.

It does make me wonder if August 10 will be the date that all of the parks (other than CP's expected August 1 date) announce next year's additions.

The Larson product I would want is a Tilt-a-Whirl not a Larson Loop.

Never really thought I'd ever see Screamin' Demon and Air Supply in the same paragraph.

The interesting thing about Boo Blasters is do all four parks with Boo Blasters work together to re-do each of their rides to Phantom Theater. If they did, it could make it more economical for all four parks.

Yes it should definitely work.