FUN&ONLY!

It looks like the asphalt was either redone or seal coated behind the Eiffel Tower and maybe in Rivertown as well. Although I would rather Kings Island replace the asphalt with anything but asphalt, the touching up is nice as the asphalt was not looking great as of recent.

From the webcams, it appears new colored concrete was poured today around the new Adventure Express entry plaza.

Kings Island have the nicer “Disney” trash cans in Adventure Port. I hope Kings Island puts decals on them with an Adventure Port logo like at Aeronautica Landing or the Boardwalk. Also, I feel like many of the other trash cans in the park have had their decals removed. Most do not even say Kings Island anymore. I would like to see Kings Island put new Kings Island logos on each trash can or area specific logos, but it has been like this for at least a year. It would be cool if Adventure Express’ lift(s) got programmed like Mystic Timber’s lift to go along with an audio sequence or even a whole show sequence (on the final lift hill.

I don’t mind too much if it is not part of Adventure Port as it would not add much to the area, but it would have been cool to see the banners hanging all the way down that pathway. I do hope that we still see the banners around the area, though.

Does anyone know if the Airbrush stand is actually going to be a part of Adventure Port? Right now, the map lists it as being in Adventure Port, but the colored concrete does not even extend all the way to it, and its color scheme does not fit the theme of area at all.

To be fair, the one set of temporary mental fences around the right side of the entrance has been there for at least a year. Kings Island could at least have installed a nicer more permanent fence. Even nicer temporary fencing like the fencing surrounding the temporary VIP Louge would be a huge improvement.

All of these temporary metal fences everywhere is a bad look and makes a poor first impression for guests. If Kings Island thinks that the main entrance is really that flawed from a security standpoint, then I think Kings Island should look to a more permanent solution and renovate the whole front entrance plaza. The temporary metal fences have really overstayed their welcome in my opinion.

Does anyone know if the Firework and Drone Show is coming back this year. Carowinds recently announced theirs along with Worlds of Fun’s announcement last year. When does Kings Island usually announce their Firework show?

There looks to be a lot of new speakers in the queues for the new rides as well in front of Enrique’s. I assume there are additional speakers in Adventure Express’ queue line and around the whole area. Obviously rides usually have speakers in their queue lines for communication with guests and for FunTV’s, but there are A LOT of new speakers for just a few FunTV’s (which usually have a sound bar for the sound anyways). The sound system setup in the queues honestly reminds me of Mystic Timbers’ queue, which plays an IMAscore soundtrack throughout the entire queue. Seeing these updates makes me really hopeful for a custom Adventure Port soundtrack! Atmospheric music really enhances the feel of any area by helping set the theme. Edit: I just realized @KIghostguy already mentioned this. I guess I am just really excited.

I could see a new water park addition along with a new Planet Snoopy addition. It is of note that the theater in the back of Planet Snoopy is not hosting any shows this year. Maybe Kings Island could demolish the theater and build a brand new food hall or add new rides. Kings Island was conducting guests surveys about Planet Snoopy in 2021 after all, and they even asked people about a new dining hall.

There are two Fenton Rigging cranes in the parking lot today. Fenton Rigging has done many rigging projects with Kings Island before. I wonder if vertical construction on the new flat rides is going to start soon. Yesterday, I saw a truck carrying one of those massive shipping containers in the parking lot, which could have honestly been part of the shipment for the new flat rides. The shipment also could have been a number of other things, though. People used to go to Panjiva to look up recent shipments to Kings Island (and other parks), but I don’t know how to see Kings Island (or any parks) on the website anymore without purchasing a subscription.

The removal of Pipeline Paradise actually opens a lot of room for expansion. If the employee roadway can be adjusted like it was when Tidal Wave Bat was built, Kings Island could expand Soak City a lot. Maybe Cedar Fair can give it a more local name like Miami River Shores or something.

The mapmakers probably just did not update it.

I have seen on the Kings Island Season Passholders page on Facebook that select Prestige+ Passholders got an invite to media day for the Boardwalk at Cedar Point as an enhanced Pass Perk. That is a pretty cool perk in my opinion. Maybe other Prestige and Prestige+ Passholders will get invited to Adventure Port’s Media Day.

I think the building is for Sol Spin’s machinery, but it also looks like it will also house one of Sol Spin’s operator booths. I hope Kings Island gets creative with the building and paints it to fit in with the theme of the ride and area.

Trees can take over just like all of the trees that have grown in behind Banshee where Son of Beast used to be. Just look at the picture. The reality is, if a ride goes and does not get replaced, its former plot is just going to be an empty field.

I have heard the same rumor. I also recall driving by the park a month or two ago and seeing a train on The Bat’s lift hill, and with that testing schedule, Kings Island seemed to have thought the ride would open with the park. Whatever the issues are, they seem to be unexpected. A lot of people are also claiming that The Bat, Drop Tower, and Delirium are being closed intentionally for staffing issues, but those rumors are doubtful as there are already crews assigned to these rides. There also does not appear to be any significant staffing issues, and if there were, I doubt these three rides (all decently popular) would be the ones to close.

I hope the current lights are only temporary too. They do not look good. I was thinking that Kings Island may be waiting to put up the new banners around the area until the new rides are installed because there are probably going to be big cranes moving throughout the area that would interfere with the banners that hang over the midways. Edit: This Amusement Today article from November (page 24 and 26) mentions that there will be theming hung over walkways, so I would expect the banners to happen at some point. Also, the article confirms that Sol Spin will be the larger 48 passenger version of the Zamperla Endeavor. https://95a87e.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/issues/2022/202211ii/assets/downloads/AT-NOV-II-2022i.pdf

I really do like the attention to detail on the buildings, but the roof of Enrique’s/The Mercado really does not fit the style of Adventure Port. Even with aging applied to the buildings, I still feel like the roof will feel out of place. I am still holding out hope that the roof will get addressed, but I am pretty doubtful at this point. Roof aside, I think Adventure Port is shaping up to be a really nice area.

Would you say that it has broken in more compared to last week? That makes sense. Red Racer was running many solo runs today. Hopefully, Kings Island gets Blue Racer’s other train up and running soon.

It is racing now. Usually it does not start racing until right before 12:00 PM when a new shift is scheduled to arrive.

The chaperone policy at least gives Kings Island a way to kick people out that seem up to no good without them actually having to start a fight or something. There’s also no policy that can prevent people from trying to sneak into the park with a gun. Hopefully, Kings Island increases security around the perimeter of the park.

Hold the “hired chaperones” responsible for any misbehavior by their “clients.” If a kid acts up, and you are their chaperone because you signed up for this service, then you should both kicked out along with all the other kids who will be “chaperoneless” because their chaperone got kicked out.

I wonder if the chaperone policy will become a seasonal thing like Kenwood Towne Center’s chaperone policy, which is only in effect around Christmas. By the way, their policy is a joke as underage children can just enter through stores like Macy’s and Dillards instead of a main entrance. Back to Kings Island. I could see the policy being in effect in in April and May and then again once Halloween Haunt starts as those are the times of year when the crowd can be a little more “rough.” Some Saturdays also can be a little crazy in the summer, so I could see the policy being turned into Saturdays only or weekends only at some point. I highly doubt the policy will also be in effect for Winterfest as the crowd around that time of year is completely different.

I wonder if the policy will apply to weekdays once weekday operations begin. I could definitely see it applying on Fridays, but I personally don’t think it it will apply to days Monday-Thursday as those days really don’t have many problems.