Hawaiian Coasters 325

**DOUBLE POST** I wouldn't mind seeing the gas lamps brought back. I don't see them replacing the lighting trusses though as they serve a purpose. I think if I were in charge I would put them on the pathway between the main path and where the tables are, but it would be a singular lamp not the 3 lamp posts that were there before. Then I would add the three lamp posts in the grass areas around the Eiffel Tower legs as well as on the path in front of the Festhaus as well as by the KI Theater towards Action Zone.

They're used for the moving spotlights during the nightly firework shows.

I really would like to see the area outside the ride get some sort of soundtrack. I was thinking something similar of the soundtrack heard in this video playing outside of Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle at 2:04-2:15. I think the pathway that goes from I-street to the Phantom Theater entrance as well as down by the Great Pumpkin Coaster needs to have some sort of eerie/spooky soundtrack playing to build up anticipation. You can then move the Planet Snoopy soundtrack to the area by the Whirlybird entrance. I also wouldn't mind seeing the Great Pumpkin Coaster rethemed to match Phantom Theater. Ghoster Coaster maybe? Then turn the Peanuts Showplace into a Phantom Theater meet and greet or an actual Phantom Theater themed theater. Then move the Peanuts meet and greet to Beagle Scout Acres.

Pretty cool the Starbucks is getting in on the Phantom Theater theming. I actually was just thinking the other day how it was a missed opportunity that Starbucks wasn't doing a special "pink/purple drink" themed around Phantom Theater. Well looks like the park had the same thought! I'm not much of a Coffee drinker, but I love the look and nostalgia of the pink drink at Starbucks even though I've never tried it. Now can we get the Banshee Twist back maybe themed to Phantom this time?

^^Can he also please increase the staffing budget for the drink stands and the smaller food stands like Meteor Canteen, Pig Pen's Mess Hall, and Wishbone Grill so they can be open more often?! Drink stands specifically. It is hard to have increased guest throughput when the Tower Drinks and 2 out of the 3 Rivertown drink stands are almost always closed bc that backs up the lines at the ones that are open.

That's not acceptable and the fact employees in uniform were around just yapping and not doing anything about it makes it worse! Those employees need to be disciplined! When I worked there ride ops weren't allowed to leave at the end of the night until the entire perimeter of our ride area was clear of any trash or debris. And the area supervisors would hold cleaning audits after park close and if they found just one little candy wrapper, your ride crew failed! Cleanliness was one of the major cornerstones when I worked there and I hope it still is! I think the park needs to have this brought to their attention as I know upper management does not tolerate stuff like this. I know someone last year posted a massive rant on a facebook group of Festhaus being filthy and not long after they brought people over to clean it. We know the park reads the facebook groups. Also I think guests need to take a part in this too. When you're done eating, clean up after yourselves and throw your trash away!

^^Voyage destroys The Beast imo. In fact I prefer Mystic Timbers over The Beast. While Beast has been running better in recent years thanks to the awesome work from the Gravity Group, rides like Mystic and Voyage has that non stop action packed airtime/twisted filled ride while Beast is mainly drops, gradual turns, and straight sections.

I remember I was expecting Mystic to be named SplinterCat up until the announcement and then that night when it was announced I couldn't wrap my head around the name Mystic Timbers bc it just sounded so strange and unexpected.

I second bringing back the gas lamps on International Street! I'd also like to see pavers replace the blacktop around and under the Eiffel Tower. Also while at it, get rid of that sliver of blacktop in between Camp Snoopy and Mystic Timbers. I'm still shocked they didn't rip out that section of blacktop when they put it Mystic in 2017.

For rides, fill the empty Vortex plot with a multi launch coaster, the Crypt building with a Vekoma madhouse, Skyflyer plot with a Scream n Swing, and Action Theater with a flying theater or planeterium type attraction. Empty ride plots/buildings imo should be filled with RIDES not Haunts or restaurants. Bring in more limited time popup events and entertainment like Dive in Movies/late night activities in Soak City, Food Truck festivals, late night ERT events for passholders/coaster club members, and competitions like 5ks and eating contests. Didn't Carowinds do a hopscotch competition a few weeks back? Expand Food and Wine and make it more immersive and move it up to the beginning of May and have it run on every operating day through like before Memorial Day. Add a Brew and BBQ/Barrels and Bites Event in Rivertown in June and a Viva La Fiesta style event in Adventure Port in July. Add a Kids focused event (ie Kidzfest) to Planet/Camp Snoopy Speaking of Camp Snoopy add camp style activities to Camp Snoopy for kids to partake in like crafts, tye dying T shirts, bubble parties, etc. Bring back Spirit Song and/or other concerts to Timberwolf and focus on building it and NOT giving up on it after one year. Do a "Summer Music Festival" type of event like what Carowinds did in 2024 and have multiple stages throughout the park with Timberwolf being the main stage Bring in the Splash Water Parade Decorate the park with summer vibes style decor from Memorial Day through Labor Day like what Dollywood does for peak Summer. For example: have things like kites, pool noodles, umbrellas, etc hanging over pathways as well as air dancers.

The leading rumor is a few parks that cancelled their winter events are bringing them back. Not KD though hence why they made their announcement this morning.

Meanwhile here at KI: * the KI theater will be dark from July on which is peak summer * International Showplace dark until like mid June * Bandstand dark during the day and then Hot Rhythm Nights in the evening * Timberwolf dark for a 3rd straight season *Very little to no roaming/popup entertainment *No entertainment or special events in Soak City *Only 1 Star Spangled Night while our park up north gets a full weekend But hey at least we got an average Food and Wine Festival as well as watered down Carnivale to look forward to! Plus at least we still got fireworks every 10 pm close starting Memorial Day!

It's unbelievable how bad the park has gotten when it comes with execution, consistency, and communication with stuff like this, operations, and special events! Whoever's job it is to be in charge of execution of this kind of stuff should honestly not have a job much longer! Busch Gardens Tampa should be able to show them what happens when you don't serve quality food at one of your restaurants and the wrong people find out (Dragon Fire Grill). I'd honestly rather wait longer to be served quality food than get mediocre/poor quality food in just a few minutes. I've defended this "new" chef as he started getting into the role, but it sounds like from complaints I'm seeing on social media that the food quality continues to get worse and not better and he's been here for 4 seasons now. If the EXECUTIVE CHEF approves poor/mediocre quality food being served to paying customers then that's a major red flag! If things don't improve this year then he should probably step down or be let go as much as I hate seeing people lose their jobs. I would rather not see the park go down the BGT route and have a restaurant be shut down by the health department bc of poor management.

Since Mike Koontz (the guy who's idea it was to mess with the fountain in the first place) is gone, maybe we could all try and convince Tony (the new president) to bring the old style fountains back with the pedestals. I know the old pedestals are being used in the Orion area, but I'm sure a company can manufacter new ones.

However this is the first time we've seen the old Wolfpack walls come down. I personally think it's either being prepped for demolition or will be worked on to be used again (either as a Haunt, storage, or a new attraction in the future).

A beach themed stunt show I think can be a very good show!

If they were to move to just a drone show, would be a good opportunity to move the drones to where fireworks are launched off then finally put a big new attraction in The Vortex site

And I would honestly be shocked if Tony Carovillano isn't the same way. After all he was supervisor at Vortex during its first few years I believe. I'm honestly sure any park president who knows and understands the park doesn't want to lose any of their major rides especially when they still haven't replaced the one removed years prior.

I take anything Screamscape says with a grain of salt. Also idk if it would be the best idea to go with a prototype from S&S given the track record of S&S and prototypes as well as the reliability of recent S&S installations. Looking at you Maxx Force and Steel Curtain!

If there's another thing I think could be changed is they should turn off the music on the pathway from I-street to Phantom Theater where the ride exit is along as well as the ride entrance area and have a spooky soundtrack or even the old wind/squawk sound effects that used to play outside the ride entrance playing there. Then transition to Vince Guaraldi music when you get into the main part of Planet Snoopy.

I feel the line will be the story of this ride this whole season. I think we can expect a full queue for it everyday this season including weekdays. I even think the extended portion will be used most of the season as well. Hopefully if this is the case that the park and corporate will look at it and see the value of indoor attractions and look to do something in the Crypt building and/or Action Theater in the future that doesn't involve Haunt.

Or they could turn the old Banshee gift shop back into a gift shop and then turn Coaster Connection into a restaurant.

Kings Island opened for the 2026 season last weekend and Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare gave its first rides and brought long lines all weekend with lines reaching up to 3 hours at one point. While the focus is clearly on that along with the other exciting improvements and events happening this season, it is never too early to start speculating for the future. This thread will be used to address any rumors or speculation about what may come to the park for the 2027 season. This will also be the place to share any potential hints or signs of work on a 2027 attraction if anything is coming. One thing we do know is 2027 will be the 55th anniversary of the park. I'm going to start by saying I think a new major rollercoaster is all but off the table for a few reasons. 1) There hasn't been any signs of work on any potential/rumored new coaster site whether it be The Vortex site, remainder of old SOB site (outside of the dirt pile in the junkyard which constantly fuels speculation this time every year but never becomes anything), or the front gate area. Unless they pull a Siren's Curse or Legacy Six Flags and start land prep/construction later in the season, I think we can rule out anything major. Under legacy CF, whenever KI added a major new coaster, land prep/clearing and/or teasing started or was underway on opening weekend. 2) Six Flags already has 3 major coaster projects under construction and/or being teased: *Project Purple at GAdv *Magic Mountain's rumored thrill glider *Whatever Fiesta Texas is building in CrackAxle Canyon Also don't forget Carowinds is building a major record breaking water attraction for next year that is well under way that will likely be an expensive addition 3) Six Flags is in major debt so I doubt there is room in the 2027 budjet for a 15-30 million dollar rollercoaster at Kings Island Since a coaster is likely out of question, that leads us to a couple of other options. With the positive sentiment/debut of Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare, does the park decide to add another indoor attraction the following year? You have 2 buildings that can be used. Before Phantom Theater was announced, it was rumored the attraction for this year was going in the old Tomb Raider/The Crypt building. So do we see another heavily themed immersive ride go in there after all these years? The introduction of The Conjuring: Beyond Fear last Haunt likely throws doubts into that, but anything is possible. Then there is the old Days of Thunder/Spongebob 4D building that is currently used for Hotel St Michelle for Haunt which this Haunt would be its 5th season. Could we see the park decide to add an attraction of some type in there? We'll see. Then that brings us to the flat ride department. You have 2 options you can go down. Do you go with a thrilling flat ride? The last thrilling flat ride added was Sol Spin in 2023 and before that WindSeeker in 2011 and before that Delirium in 2003. So the park doesn't add thrilling flat rides often. With the departure of Xtreme Skyflyer last year, that space is empty outside of being used as queue space for a Haunt. I personally think an S&S scream n swing would be a perfect fit there and you could have it tie in with the spooky theme of Banshee and Bat next door. I always thought "Phantom Flyer" would be a good name for it and would tie well with the park with Phantom Theater and would pay homage to the original name of Linus Launcher in Camp Snoopy as its original name was Danny Phantom's Flyers. There are other options as Zamperla has a major catelog of thrill rides to choose from. Then you have family flat rides which the park has leaned heavily into in recent years. The question is what would you do with it? Do you do another Camp/Planet Snoopy expansion? Do you add one or 2 in like Coney Mall or Action Zone or Rivertown? Or do you do a package with a thrilling flat ride which I think would be the most likely option. Then finally we get to Soak City. The last expansion was last year and before that was 2016. With the mixed response to River Racers, do you even want to attempt another water coaster? WhiteWater West also has other slide options they could do. There's also the option of adding one of their even bigger play structures like what KD got back in 2021. There's also the very possible possibility the park just takes a year and focus on park improvements. After all, the company is in major debt so maybe they decide that KI has recieve enough new rides since 2023 that they give them the year to just focus on sprucing up the park and making it better. Banshee is due for a repaint and Bat too so if they decide to take an off year, that would be the year to do it as repainting rides does cost a pretty penny. I would love to hear your thoughts on what the park could see in 2027 and why. Let's enjoy the 2026 season, but also have a little fun speculating! Speculate away!

They didn't remove the elevator person. They removed the person standing/sitting at the base of the tower watching guests and scanning for ride requirements and helping catch prohibited items like drinks.

People would press the button on the other side all the time especially when down for a variety of reasons. And I will say it has led to "incidents" happening in the past, but I will not go into anymore detail to protect the park and other people's jobs as well as me. Good on the AP flat ride ops still being 2. The person who told me that has a long history of spreading false rumors and I'm sure you can take a guess who so I didn't believe him but I walked past the flying scooters and saw it is in single so I wasn't sure. Its cost cutting. I was told by one of the ops who worked with me when I was there.