FUN&ONLY!

Here is my review of Cargo Loco and Adventure Express as well as my thoughts on Adventure Port as a whole. During this review, I am keeping in mind that not everything is necessarily 100% finished so far. For starters, I thought Cargo Loco was really fun. The ride is very quiet, and the barrels can be checked quickly by the ride operators since there is not really a restraint. The presentation and theming of the ride are also on point. The queue line is on the short side but well themed. I do not think any of the speakers in the queue line were tuned on yet, but I hope that the speakers play themed music once they are activated. Overall, Cargo Loco is a great addition. With Adventure Express, I absolutely love the new entry plaza and theming in it. I also really enjoyed the posters and props in the queue and station. The theming is on point. Again, the speakers were not turned on in the queue or entrance plaza, so I cannot comment on the music selection. When it comes to the actual ride experience, I like the additional props and signage throughout the ride as well as the station master spiels. I also liked the audio in the final tunnel was more audible. I know Kings Island is probably still working on it, but the effects in the final tunnel were not great. Many of the statues were at least not lit up at all, but I assume this will be addressed soon. I also was sad that the audio is the station is still very quiet. There is a whole new station master spiel in the station or at least the old one has returned, but I could barely hear it. Overall, I really did like the new Adventure Express, and I hope Kings Island addresses the broken effects soon. Moving on to the area as a whole, I LOVE the theming around Adventure Port and the overall aesthetic of the area. It is just really presented well. I especially love the physical props placed throughout the area and the details painted on the buildings. The Coca-Cola Marketplace, especially, looks really nice (the park just needs to replace one of the lightbulbs). I am not crazy about the the brown roof of the Mercado and Enrique’s or the unthemed exterior of the restrooms building, but these shortcomings do not detract much from the area in my opinion. I do feel like the theming is a little bare in the open space beyond the planter and seating in front of Enrique’s, but I hope the hanging flags over the midway do happen in that area. Once again, the speakers around the area have not been turned on yet (outside of the Mercado’s patio), so I cannot really comment on the music selection in the area. Also, is it just me, or should there be sign hanging from that one pole in front of Enrique’s. These are just nitpicks about an area that may not be complete. Like I stated above, I really do love the new area so far. The pictures below are from the Coaster DAD. I cannot wait to see Adventure Port once it is all finished and ride Sol Spin!

I saw this on Twitter. Not a fan at all of ads like this, especially on a ride in a place where I believe a themed poster used to be. I always preferred Cedar Fair’s method of advertising on the FunTV’s instead of physical props and posters around the park. I guess this is what needs to happen to bring in advertising dollars when half the FunTV’s are not maintained and do not work. Speaking of things not working, Mystic Timbers’ theming is in a sorry state. One of the TV’s in the queue showing the video cameras is out. Additionally, a lot of the shed effects are broken, and most of the flickering shed lights are not on. Also, I have not heard the audio spiel on the stairs leading into the station in over a year. Moving over to Area 72, the audio on the Werd Radio car is broken. Also, I feel as if the soundtrack in the area as a whole needs to be turned up as it is kind of hard to hear. Also, I do not get why the gate leading into the pre-show building on Orion is closed half the time. I get that it may be guests that are flipping the gate, but it should not be that easy for guests to do. I unfortunately did not check to see if the lights that had been broken in the meteor had been fixed or if the soundtrack was playing in Orion’s station. On a positive note. I do like that the Bud Light Seltzer stand has been reskinned to fit the theme of the area better. Please know that these complaints are not meant to bash Kings Island but to bring awareness to areas that I know Kings Island can do better in. I love the attention to theming around the park, but theming is really only effective and valuable when it is working properly. Kings Island has restored broken theming and effects like with the Adventure Express overhaul and brining back the Festhaus glockenspiel, so there is no reason why these effects that worked just a couple of years ago cannot be restored. I just want Kings Island to be the best park that it can be.

A lot of people seem to have had a hard time spinning the barrels on Cargo Loco. Apparently, some of the barrels were tighter than others, and that is supposed to be adjusted. I had the chance to ride in one of the “looser”barrels, the potatoes barrel, and I was able to spin so much that it hurt (in a good way). Hopefully, the other battles are like this soon.

https://jobs.cedarfair.com/kings-island/jobs/18191?lang=en-us This is really good for Kings Island. There is currently a waitlist to apply for a seasonal job as all seasonal positions have been filled as of now. This also means that there is no reason for staffing to be bad this year around the park or Soak City once all the local schools are out for the summer.

I am honestly pleasantly surprised with the level of theming in Adventure Port so far. I hope Kings Island keeps it up.

I really do not get the decision to go for the lower capacity Zamperla Endeavor. If money was an issue, Diamondback’s repaint or The Racer’s retracking could have been pushed back. Theming could have even been cut to budget for the larger capacity model. It doesn’t really make sense why Kings Island went with the lower capacity model. I think it is either a deliberate business decision (Fast Lane sales will probably increase with such long lines) or Kings Island had to settle for the lower capacity Zamperla Endeavor to get it open in time for the season.

I hope Kings Island puts Adventure Port decals on the trash cans around the area like with the trash cans at Aeronautica Landing at Carowinds and the trash cans at The Boardwalk at Cedar Point. Just putting the Adventure Port logo seen on the construction walls would look really nice. Also, while I sound like a broken record at this point, I do hope that Kings Island puts up the banners around the area. That would make it way more immersive.

If there are soft openings of the rides, I still hope there is a big “Grand Opening” of the area once the area is finished. Kings Island needs a media day and official grand opening to really get the word out about their new investment.

I feel like Kings Island has gotten a little “cheap” this year with food operations. Places like Coney Bar-B-Que and Chicken Shack have slimmed down their offerings while places like Enrique’s and Grain and Grill are nickel and diming guests for queso, guacamole, and sauces—all things that used to be free. People can say that it is fine because the meal plans are still a great value, and that is true. However, for all the guests that do not have a meal plan, some meals kind of seem like a rip-off.

What is making me doubt a Memorial Day Weekend opening is that Kings Island has not yet announced an opening date for Adventure Port. For Carowinds, Worlds of Fun, and Knott’s Berry Farm, they announced the opening dates of their new attractions weeks in advance.

This section of the midway is open. About where Adventure Express’ old entrance was, the walking pathway has been temporarily re-routed through the Mercado patio and Enrique’s Also, while I really like the new sign, there is only any signage in one of three entry points into Adventure Port. It would be cool if when (or if) the banners are hung around the area, they read “Welcome to Adventure Port” or something by the Coney Mall and International Street entrances into the new area.

@BoddaH1994 said the repainting of Diamondback would resume in August when Kings Island is closed during the week.

I think they are working on the bust of the head (like the ones on the final lift hill of Adventure Express) that is going in front of the Adventure Express entry plaza. There is a foundation poured for it, and it is also in the concept art.

Did the music sound more custom or was it just more thematically appropriate song choices? Either one is an improvement, but a custom soundtrack would be REALLY cool.

Those are really some beautiful trees. I hope they were relocated, especially since the park lost some trees this off-season.

That’s really too bad. Seems like a big oversight on Cedar Fair/Kings Island’s part.

I tried to find any similarities/differences between the 24 and 48 passenger models, but there are not many visible differences besides the solo and side-by-side seating. Kentucky Kingdom’s Scream Extreme (24 passenger model) at least has a similar foundation style to Kings Island’s Sol Spin with it not just being one massive concrete pad, and, while these pictures do not make the comparison apples to apples, Sol Spin appears to have a larger foundation than Scream Extreme, so maybe Sol Spin will be the 48 passenger model. Notice how the actual foundation in the middle extends into the outer ring on Sol Spin but not on Scream Extreme.

I thought so too.

What’s crazy is that Kings Island may be getting the exact same low capacity ride model as Kentucky Kingdom with more than three times the annual attendance. Skylab had a capacity of 60 riders per cycle. 24 riders per cycle is pathetic in comparison. People are also going to be scared away from the ride if they have to ride it solo because they will not be able to sit next to anyone.

Unfortunately, it is just “concept art,” so it may not be accurate in regards to the current plans. I really hope the text in the Amusement Today article is a typo because the 24 passenger variant would not have great capacity for a thrill ride like this. That would be really unfortunate for Kings Island.

That’s too bad. I wish Cedar Fair would have purchased the 48 seat model for more capacity. Even Six Flags has purchased the 48 seat model. What’s odd is that a November edition of Amusement Today mentioned that Kings Island’s Sol Spin would be the 48 seat model.

I do not think the concrete is “stained” necessarily. The concrete mixture itself is a different color, so I do not think Kings Island could just “stain” the Mercado patio without removing all of the concrete and pouring new concrete.

It seems like the brown roof will not be changed at this point, but I suppose there is still a chance. Unfortunately, I also think the shade structures on the Mercado patio are not going to happen as the support beams likely would have been built before the concrete was poured or foundations for the support beams would have been poured before the concrete was poured. I guess anything is possible, though, considering they just ripped up some of the newly poured concrete.

One interesting change that Kings Island made this past week was that they ripped out part of the plain concrete from edge of the Mercado patio bordering the midway and replaced it with the colored concrete of the midway. I really like this change. It makes the midway seem a lot less like a bottleneck compared to before even though it is technically the same size. Before, it seemed a lot tighter than it was. I attached two Kings Island Central pictures for reference. One is from April 14, and the other is from this past weekend.

Adventure Port is looking really nice. I especially like the theming in the queue for Cargo Loco and around Adventure Express’ entrance. I do hope that before it opens, the banners from the concept art are put up around Enrique’s. That is the one part of the new area that looks a tad like a “concrete jungle” in my opinion.