Hawaiian Coasters 325

The first time I ever went to Holiday World was in 2011 and I remember seeing videos and knowing about that ride before I went. Sadly, it was closed both days we were there which was likely a story for a lot of people who went to Holiday World when it was there lol. The next time I went was in 2015 for Thunderbird so I never got to ride it. Also fun fact from that 2011 trip. At the time, the biggest coasters I had ridden were Flight Deck (The Bat) and Racer at KI. I was too scared to ride The Beast, but the first coaster I rode there was The Voyage! I still can't believe I did that lol. I was 9 years old at the time.

Adding one of these would be so Holiday World. We know how much they love their water coasters and they have basically every type of water coaster concept except this one.

I decided to map out where I think gas lamps could go along and around I-street. I have them mapped out with the yellow dots. In my mind they would feature a hook in the center of the lamp post for a flower basket on each side and on the sides they would arms for banners to be hung. Then they could remove the ribbon banners that are on the lighting trusses and cover them with some sort of green cover like what the park does with the candy cane trusses in tower gardens. I also mapped it to where they wouldn't need to remove any trees and where people can still get to the tables.

I rode for a second time yesterday. Didn't play the game and just took in the scenery. One thing I noticed is the 2nd Maestro organ scene in the middle of the ride had absolutely no sound. Hopefully that gets fixed. Also I felt no heat blast at the boiler.

^^I'd like to see the park reopen that red roof building in some form. For those who remember, what was that building originally? Imo it would be a good location for the park to offer some sort of gem mining activity.

I wonder how much it would cost/ what would need to be done to get that water feature going again. Obviously I don't see them doing a full lake there again, but a smaller man made pond around the base of the water feature going up against the queue house and exit path kinda like the ponds that are in the Maverick and Sirens Curse lines could work.

How often would the cup dispensers be stocked? Would it be like the ice in the freestyles where mid day they're hard to find?

^^I agree with a lot of that. I would really like to see some sort of steel drum show or a "beachboys-ish cover band" show in Soak City I also would like to see the Area 72 launch party return along with Busker Jam in Rivertown. Also would like to see the paint show return to Snoopy. I've had similar thoughts about a KI specific summer event. I just think Viva La Fiesta would fit well in Adventure Port. Why not double and do Viva La Fiesta in AP and an "Island Nights" or "Summer Nights" event in Action Zone taking place at the same time. Have it be part of a whole "Summerbration" event.

Coasterstock we're waiting.....

At this point I'm hoping that in 2027 the park takes a break from any new ride and puts their capex towards live entertainment and special events. More like what Kings Dominion is doing. Great Adventure started their Safari Spring Break celebration on opening day and had multiple shows starting opening day. No reason KI can't do the same. I'm going to put my wishful thinking hat on and list what I would do if I were in charge of the park in 2027 while keeping things realistic. I will use the 2027 calendar as a reference for dates. Friday April 16th - Perks and Play Season Passholder Preview Day: I wouldn't change much from this year, but I would add some special activities like what Carowinds did. I would partner with a local charity and invite people to donate certain things towards it and would offer special rewards based on what and how much was donated. I would also hold a Q&A/presentation event in the Kings Island Theater and would show off what is new and what is coming up in the season and maybe drop a few surprises or hints about an upcoming new attraction (2028) Saturday April 17th - Opening Day: This I would make into more of an event. Think Reds Opening Day! I would start by inviting all the local High School and College marching bands and local organizations and would form an opening day parade. The parade would take place around noon and would run the Grand Carnivale/Winterfest parade route. The park would open with a special opening day ceremony right before 10 and would feature speakers like the park president, the executive chef, and more. Then an honorable family would be chosen to come up and help count down and press the "button of fun" to open the park where confetti and ribbons would be shot out announcing the park is open for the season! During the day both Hifi Honey and River City along with a few other local bands would be set up doing sets on stages throughout the park mainly the Festhaus, Bandstand, and Carousel Pavilion. I would also invite multiple local food trucks and have like a food truck festival going on around the Eiffel Tower. I would also invite a bunch of local radio stations to exhibit and broadcast live at the park that day. Saturday April 24th - Sunday May 16th - Food and Wine Festival: First change I would make is moving Food and Wine up earlier. Most parks that have food and wine hold it during the springtime and not early-mid Summer time. This would also help free up space later for more events which I'll get to in a moment. What I would do is make food and wine more immersive. Instead of being just contained to the Tower Gardens/Carousel area I would expand it to around and under the Eiffel Tower as well as down both sides of International Street. I would also add a tasting card and focus more on the food than the wine like what other parks do. I would also add more activities outside of the few lawn games and the mural painting. I would do other crafts like tye dyeing a F&W festival T shirt, decorate your own wine glass (plastic glass), as well as more games and would host some sort of eating competition or try to break some sort of record (like what Carowinds did with the whole hopscotch thing) Fridays from April 23rd through May 21st - Food Truck Fridays: This was an event the park had in like 2016-2017 where every Friday in the spring time select food trucks would come and set up around the Eiffel Tower and the Showplace. This was a cool limited time event and a good opportunity for local food trucks. Surprised this hasn't returned. May 29th (Memorial Day weekend) - June 13th Brew and BBQ Festival: This would be a new event. This would be held in the Rivertown area starting from the Carousel Pavilion and would go through the area in front of Diamondback's entrance. This event would be set up similar to Cedar Point's upcoming Barrel's and Bites event. This one though would be partnered with local breweries. Similar to Food and Wine it would be very immersive and would be family friendly where there would be live entertainment and lots of activities for everyone to enjoy. June 5 - June 20th - Kidzfest: This event would run alongside Brew and BBQ but would be held in both the Planet and Camp Snoopy areas. It would be more geared towards kids but everyone would enjoy it. While this would be hard to do, I would attempt to get some outside IPs to come and do meet and greets and stuff like what Canada's Wonderland does. I would also have Tie dyeing parties, dance parties, crafts and would also have a lego station where kids could play with legos. I would also partner with Crayola and would allow kids to use sidewalk chalk and draw on the concrete in the area. Obviosuly there would be rules and limits with it and parents would have to supervise it and the chalk would have to be either given back or thrown away when done. But I think back to my elementary school days where at the end of the school year some kids would get to write on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk and I remember getting real excited for summer break when seeing that! July 2-4 - Star Spangled Celebration Basically Star Spangled Nights, but I would make it 3 days instead of 1 and would make it a whole day thing instead of just a bigger firework show. Think what Cedar Point will be doing this year. I would bring in stunt performers along with roaming actors and stilt walkers/entertainers and would have extra live entertainment outside of the summer show lineup with some local bands. July 17th - August 1st - Viva La Fiesta Yes I would retire Carnivale. I feel like it has run its course and its time for something new. What I would do is would bring in Viva La Fiesta in and it would take place basically in the Adventure Port area and would run from there to the area around the Eiffel Tower and Carousel and would have the bandstand be the main stage. It would be a lot like the other parks that do it so nothing to really explain here. I would also bring the Splash Water Parade in as the Carnivale Parade replacement. It would likely run through July into some of August. I would also bring in some sort of 5k/color runs and would try and hold some dive in movies/afterhours in Soak City. I would also try and bring back passholder ride nights after park close. I would also bring back Coasterstock as it was under @DonHelbig as well as Coaster Camp Out! I'm not going to get into Haunt and Winterfest here. I would likely add an Oktoberfest though that would run alongside Tricks and Treats and would take place in the area in front of Festhaus near Viking Fury's entrance and would run to the entrance to Action Zone. Hope everyone likes my proposal. Just a reminder it is just an idea of mine and likely won't happen.

**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).