Rivertown Rider

Welcome and congrats on the job!

I think an RMC is likely. It would complement what they already have.

Great blog. I have always been interested in learning more about the original Bat. Great job @Shaggy.

According to the KI site it looks like a show "Twas the Plight Before Christmas" will be held there.

My last coaster of the regular season ended up being Beast. My actual last ride ended up being Boo Blasters. It was even cold in there.

I liked the layouts but I must have missed the bathrooms for X-base.

While I figured they would keep part of the structure I am excited to see what happens next. I would agree that I hope they have plenty of Freestyle machines available as well. I am still holding out hope that we get something like Canada's Wonderland's Backlot Cafe which has multiple choices like standard American, Greek, Indian, Italian, Kosher, and Mexican food options at respective kiosks. These are there dining plan options according to Canada's Wonderland's web site: 1. Gluten Free Chicken Fingers with Fries 2. Signature Burger (The Wild Bison Burger) with Fries (Upgrade for $2 extra) 3. Classic Burger with Fries 4. Mediterranean Chicken Burger with Fries (Upgrade for $2 extra) 5. Backlot Veggie Burger with Fries 6. Bombay Butter Chicken with Rice, Papadum & Chutney (Gluten Free option available) 7. Aromatic Curried beef with Rice, Papadum & Chutney (Gluten Free option available) 8. Spicy Vegan Potato Curry with Rice, Papadum & Chutney (Gluten Free option available) 9. Meat Lasagna with Garlic Toast 10. Vegetarian Lasgna with Garlic Toast 11. Spagetti & Meatballs with Garlic Toast 12. Cheese Tortellini, Choice of Sauce with Garlic Toast 13. Chef's Special with Choice of Sauce and Garlic Toast 14. Chef's Special Veg Option, Choice of Sauce, Garlic Toast 15. Chicken Burrito with tortilla chips 16. Vegetarian Burrito with tortilla chips 17. Beef Burrito with tortilla chips 18. Quesadillas with tortilla chips 19. 3 soft tacos with tortilla chips 20. Taco Bowl Salad with tortilla chips 21. Chicken Caesar Salad (pre-packaged) with bread stick 22. Greek Salad (pre-packaged) with bread stick 23. Greek Chicken Gyro Dinner w/ Greek Salad, choice of rice or potatoes 24. Chicken Soulvaki Dinner w/ Greek Salad, choice of rice or potatoes One thing I feel like KI is missing out on is variety in their food choices. While I doubt this one would have Mexican food because of Hank's practically next door it would be nice to have the American section (presumably the Smokehouse's current menu) along with some other different food options like above and preferably indoor seating.

Google Earth has the mostly completed Smokehouse from April of this year (the majority of the shell is there). The building itself is about 145 ft wide. The length varies from just above 40 ft in the narrowest spot to about 116 ft at the deepest spot. According to my rough calculations adding everything up it is actually just shy of 11,000 square foot. About 7,000 square foot of that is the indoor area including the kitchen (100 foot wide X 70 feet length). If the area of this new markers is 140 foot wide and 50 feet length that gets you to the 7,000 square footage. 140 foot from the edge of the fence by Scrambler takes you just shy of the half building mark of Potato Works. That still leaves you another 30 feet width to put seating. The interesting part is if it is only 40-50 feet deep that gives you about 65-75 feet behind the presumed Coney Smokehouse building and the Tower Gardens area which would give room for either a small flat or perhaps the Antiques. That is probably a stretch but it is something to think about.

Part of the reason I've read for them taking it out is high maintenance cost so I don't think it will probably come.

If you were in charge at Kings Island and wanted to add a new flat ride, what would you add and why?

I think it would be more likely for Palace to get scooped up by somebody. While I couldn't see Cedar Fair wanting the whole company, Kennywood and Lake Compounce would be nice additions to the chain. As far as Sea World it will be interesting to see who ends up with it. Disney could use Sea World Orlando for the close proximity and turn Williamsburg into Disney's America but I doubt they would want the other locations.

I think with Brad's interview with Mike Koontz today that we can rule out a buffet coming to this new restaurant if it is a restaurant. I am hopeful though that they do it similar to Harmony Hall at Carowinds and Backlot Cafe at Canada's Wonderland and have several different kiosks that you can get food at. Even if they did a Smokehouse BBQ theme you could still have fresh burgers and chicken sandwiches. While I don't think it fits the Smokehouse BBQ theme you could also put a kiosk in there for Skyline. That would allow you to keep the Skyline patrons from backing onto the Midway and if you had indoor seating in the new restaurant you could tear down the Skyline Patio. They do have a Winterfest show in the Skyline Patio this year but as @SonofBaconator shows in the previous post there would be plenty of room to put the Antiques there including some of the Tower Gardens area.

Great interview. It surprised me how candid he was on certain subjects. I've never gotten to go the International Restaurant so I look forward to doing that.

One thing I have also noticed is that there are two trailers immediately behind the Coke Freestyle store. These weren't there in August but I first noticed them starting in late September. There is also a taller fence beside them (on the Adventure Express side) that wasn't there before. There was already a smaller fence but this taller fence is in addition. It could just be for construction but it seems strange that they just shoe-horned two trailers in that space. I wonder if maybe they will tear down all or part of the Carnival prize building and put another path to the X-base area there. You could easily fit a couple small flats there (like the Huss Breakdance that we have mentioned previously) along with hopefully a bathroom closer to Flight of Fear.

A couple shots from the Tower: From the ground: Thru the fence: With relation to Dinos there really wasn't anything noticeable. They did add a couple small dinosaurs. I don't know if they were left over from the gift shop or what.

The roof is almost halfway gone. I'll try to post pictures later today.

I'm here today so I'll try to take some good ones.

I would agree that they view Kentucky Kingdom as competition but I also agree that they compete with a lot of things in the area whether it be the Reds, Bengals, Zoo, or FC Cincinnati. Competition does help keep them improving the park though.

It did appear from the ground level that there was a hole in the roof but it wasn't that large so they could always patch it.

I looked thru the small holes/gaps in the fence yesterday and the building has been completed gutted with the exception of a couple areas closer to the Scrambler. It is amazing the progress they have made in a week. Hopefully we will get an announcement soon on if they are completely tearing it down or just adding on to the building.

So I saw this video on YouTube and in the comments he mentions a Huss Breakdance. While I realize that it should all be taken with a grain of salt the Huss Breakdance that Cedar Fair purchased on their European trip has still not found a park yet. Originally it was thought that perhaps Worlds of Fun's 2018 addition Nordic Chaser was going to be it but it sounds like that ride does not spin. I found a video of the Breakdance that Cedar Fair got from Holiday Park in Germany and it would be a great fit for KI. This along with a couple other flats would make some nice additions next year and this should even be able to fit on the old Flight Commander pad or even go over in Oktoberfest.

I would agree that this would not be a good fit for KI. I think the park has done a good job in recent years of adding more high capacity rides and I would like to see that continue.

The space to the left of Flight of Fear and to the right of Adventure Express would probably be a good location.

I think eventually a giga will take up part of the land but I think they will also put some flats and hopefully a bathroom back there as well.

I would happily pay the upcharge as well. The desserts alone make it worth it. I'm starting to lean towards them just tearing down the Attitudes building and rebuilding from scratch.