FUN&ONLY!

I think Kings Island does need to do an overhaul of their kids area, and I think the Camp Snoopy theme would be a great fit. Over the last couple of years, Kings Island’s current Planet Snoopy has started to show its age in my opinion, and parts of it look kind of dated. On the other hand, The new Camp Snoopy at Carowinds looks really nice and way more aesthetically pleasing than Kings Island’s Planet Snoopy with the wooded theme, the brick pavers throughout, and the waterfall. The only advantage Kings Island’s kids area has over Carowinds is more unique rides, but the area itself is in need of a nice refresh or retheme.

With Kings Island’s 50th anniversary coming up in just over a year and the park still having its original front gate and entrance plaza, what would you like to see in an updated front gate and entrance plaza? The park could build a completely new entrance like Cedar Point, Carowinds, Worlds of Fun, or use a completely new design. Kings Island could also keep the same front gate and the International Restaurant but upgrade and theme the facade and build new ticket booths and a new season pass processing center. Share your ideas below! https://www.the-lake-effect.com/Cedar_Point_Kings_Island.html http://matthunterross.com/kings-island https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2020/07/31/reopened-cedar-point-park-sandusky-ohio/amp/ http://blogs.uww.edu/thrillseeker/2018/04/05/carowinds-3-25-2018-trip-report/ https://www.worldsoffun.com/tickets-passes/daily-tickets

Judging based on pictures, it looks like it will be the standard Premier Rides trains with Comfort Collars like what can be found on the new Skyrocket II’s and West Coast Racers. If you zoom in at the top of the trains, you can see the strap for the Comfort Collars.

I think the problem here is more of the trains than the actual ride. The ride structure itself can likely easily be fixed after this incident. The real problem is the new trains and whatever caused them to derail. They need to figure out what went wrong with the trains in order to get the ride back open. Hopefully these new Premier Rides trains can function as intended and stay on The Big Apple Coaster, improving the rough ride experience.

I agree with you. The last few years, particularly after GCI re-tracked the turnaround, The Racer has been pretty comfortable. I have even noticed on some days the the queue has been spilling out into the midway. Speaking of the queue, though, I think Kings Island should maybe reconfigure it because they only ever use one side nowadays instead of having two separate queues for each side, and sometimes the queue is overflowed when it is only half filled.

I guess you’re right, but judging based on the pictures it looks like Kings Island is probably going along removing and replacing smaller sections of track at a time instead of just removing and replacing all the track at once.

I am a little confused with the track Kings Island is replacing on The Racer. I know they said they are replacing track from the bottom of the first drop through the fourth hill, but are they replacing the whole continuous stretch of track or smaller segments within this stretch?

It has always felt so magical walking onto International Street during Winterfest! This picture is from 2019.

In order for people to be truly protected from COVID-19, there needs to be herd immunity where the people around you are also protected with a vaccine. If someone gets the vaccine, there is still a small chance they can catch it from others they are around if they have not been vaccinated. By choosing to get vaccinated, you are not only protecting yourself but others whom you know and strangers who you don’t know.

That would be great to have at Kings Island next year! Capacity would not only double but good rows could be made available again on many rides. I also hope Kings Island brings back Diamondback, Banshee, Backlot Stunt Coaster, and Mystic Timbers’ third train. The wait times for Mystic Timbers and Diamondback especially were extremely long.

I personally find the current non-themed Action Zone appearance to be better than the old Paramount Action Zone even when it first opened. I feel like the old theming like the pavement in the center, the signage, and the colors used on the rides was a little tacky. I actually think Cedar Fair’s additions of the seating area, Banshee, and repainted rides have gone a long way. However, I think there are still parts of Action Zone like the area by Xtreme Skyflyer and The Bat that would benefit from a little bit of TLC.

If they ever were to add back an ivy tunnel, I feel like that would be the best place for it. I don’t think one would work between Planet Snoopy and Rivertown like there used to be, but I could see one leading into Rivertown from that walkway behind the Eiffel Tower. They also already put up a temporary light tunnel there during Winterfest if I recall correctly, so why not install a permanent one?

I voted Action Zone which I believe needs a complete overhaul. I think Oktoberfest is fine, but it would be nice if they added more flats and renovated the Biergarten. I think Coney Mall and Rivertown are fine, but I think Planet Snoopy is starting to show its age. I think the next area revamp will probably be a transformation of Planet Snoopy into Camp Snoopy. If we are talking smaller sections of the park, however, I think the walkway behind the Eiffel Tower needs a lot of love. Right now it is just cracked pavement with no trees. It would be nice if they added pavers back there and maybe added in a permanent large ivy tunnel.

While that is a possibility, I think North Carolina and Virginia have the better chance of shutting things down again compared to Ohio. Remember that Kings Dominion and Carowinds did not open at all this season because of restrictions while Kings Island and Cedar Point were allowed to open. I think that Cedar Fair wanted to have a Taste of the Season event at Kings Dominion and Carowinds simply to open the park to passholders and prove to the governors that they can operate an amusement park safely during the pandemic, so they will be allowed to open in the spring. Also taking into consideration the days of operation for Taste of the Season, there are not many weekends of operation which shows that Cedar Fair’s main goal with this event was likely not to turn a huge profit but rather to get people in the park again.

I agree completely with what you said. Carowinds still looks nice for its guests inter event, but it has like 20% of the lights it usually has up for Winterfest. I hope Winterfest can return next year with all of its lights and live shows.

I wonder if Kings Island has The Racer on some multi-year re-tracking and upgrade plan with each year one part of the ride being re-tracked. The past two years, the turnarounds on both sides were re-tracked and now almost everything from the base of the first drops to the turnarounds will be re-tracked. Now the only large sections with old or original track that will remain will pretty much just be the sections from the turnarounds to the brake runs. Also of note is that The Racer received a new LED light package in 2018. With all this considered, it really looks like the park is committed to keeping The Racer updated, and I hope they continue doing so. Could Kings Island be re-tracking The Racer right now because they plan to paint the track soon back to its original colors? I could see them possibly re-tracking more of The Racer next offseason before restoring it to its original colors and maybe even restoring the original color scheme of the trains all for its 50th anniversary. I know repainting The Racer is on the park’s long To-Do list, and I am sure long-time Kings Island fans would really appreciate it! Source for repainting The Racer being something Kings Island wants to do: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2019/may/readers’-mailbag-what’s-happening-in-2020-gold-pass-ride-nights-and-more Also, @DonHelbig, whatever happened to the Reader’s Mailbag blog posts? I really enjoyed reading those every week!

This is really exciting. Does anyone know if it is 500 feet of new track on each side or total? Also, is this being done in-house or by GCI?

For those holding out any hope of Kings Island opening for a Christmas event, Scrambler is already having its cars taken off, and it is a ride that is usually open for Winterfest.

Thanks for sharing @gforce1994, and if you can get pictures that would be even better. This is really interesting, and it is probably for Adventure Express’ anniversary next year. I wonder where the Kings Island got new Arrow track manufactured.

Seriously? That is pretty cool! I could see this being the start of a complete renovation for 2021. I could see the rest of the track being painted red or the new track being painted brown to match the old track. If you have any pictures, that would be great!

I saw this on Coaster Nation’s Facebook, and I genuinely want to know what this is about because the post doesn’t really explain anything. It says Adventure Express was re-tracked and new special effects were added, but I find this highly unlikely to have occurred within the last week. If anyone has ridden it today, has anything actually changed?

I would love to see Adventure Express get some TLC for its 30th anniversary next year. It would be nice if they brought back the old station soundtrack and fixed the final tunnel.

In what direction were the markers heading, and do you have any pictures?

It looks like Carowinds will have Winterfest or something similar! I would think that Kings Island would also hold a winter event this year if Carowinds is holding one especially being a larger park and already being open, but with it being this late into the season and no work being done at all, I don’t see it happening. They usually already have the fountains drained and the Eiffel Tower closed by this time every year for Winterfest.

I could see the building possibly being torn down to make way for something new in 2022, Kings Island’s 50th anniversary season. Whether it is a new restaurant, museum, throwback ride, or nothing at all going there, I could see a lot of attention being directed towards Coney Mall in 2022. I would also love for the Coney Mall sign to return and for The Racer to be repainted.