WoodVengeance

Congo Falls back to Amazon Falls, maybe have it sponsored by Amazon Prime once the merger goes through. (I'm kidding) On a more serious note, Drop Tower to Demon Drop. Not original, I know, but it's still better than just calling it Drop Tower. It would also help tie-in with the other "spooky"-themed rides in that area like Banshee and The Bat.

That would be great. However, we're talking about the same company (Cedar Fair) that renamed Jr. Gemini to Wilderness Run.

Considering that 2024 will mark ten years since the addition of Banshee (my, how time flies), Action Zone is definitely overdue for some sort of new addition within the next few years. With this in-mind, I think Invertigo will most likely be the next coaster removed from Kings Island's lineup to make room for something new around the front of the park. It's a rare cloned coaster model from the Paramount era that isn't really popular and also has low capacity for the type of park that it's in. Although I personally don't want to admit it, The Bat could also be at-risk as well since it's an Arrow Suspended, though I'd like to be wrong about this since I really like The Bat. If Cedar Fair needs to remove one of their Arrow Suspended coasters to use for spare parts, I would much rather see them cut out Iron Dragon from Cedar Point instead, though that's just my opinion.

Right. It also doesn't help that the only other B&M in the park also has an orange color scheme and isn't that far away from Jungle X-pedition.

That was fast! Hoping we get better footage when the next pit stop episode drops.

I believe it is a Zamperla Junior Coaster. I'm also pretty surprised that they didn't get Snoopy's Soap Box Racers as I thought the "Soap Box Racers" part was a direct nod to Knott's original Wacky Soap Box Racers. Seems that wasn't the case. Still looks really good! I'm wondering if Cedar Fair is experimenting with different types of snoopy kiddie/family coasters for their parks. Canada's Wonderland got an ART engineering family launch coaster, Kings Island got a Vekoma Family Boomerang and now Knott's is getting a Zamperla Junior Coaster. (You could also throw in Wild Mouse at Cedar Point in here too, though it's not themed to Snoopy but it is still a kiddie/family coaster) Makes me wonder if parks like Carowinds and KD get something different if they recieve a Planet/Camp Snoopy expansion in the near future.

It seems Good Gravy is already pretty far along into the construction progress. Hopefully when the track work is complete for GG, we might start seeing major activity take place for SSBR.

I had Carowinds's blue ice cream when I went last year. From my taste, the berry flavor Carowinds uses for their blue ice cream isn't nearly as potent as Kings Island's. It was far more vanilla-y with a slight hint of berry.

Sitting on the brake run like

If memory serves me right, Mystic usually ran with two trains during Winterfest from previous years. Even with that, there would still be days where the wait would still exceed an hour. It doesn't really help that it's the only major coaster open on that side of the park, and the other major coaster is all the way in Area 72. But yes, I also wish that there was some way to have more coasters open during Winterfest, but I also understand why the options are so limited in that department. Looking at both Mystic Timbers and FoF, it makes sense as to why both of those coasters are open. Mystic Timbers isn't that long and stays low to the ground after the second drop. Flight of Fear is completely indoors, so it isn't affected by the temperature outside. Anything else besides that would likely be at risk of valleying, hence why they don't run. Looking at this footage, it seems Energylandia has no problem running at least some of its coasters in cold conditions, including rides like Hyperion and Zadra. This is important to note since their Family Boomerang has the same exact layout as SSBR. I haven't seen footage of Energylandia's Family Boomerang running in cold weather, but if they do run it in weather like this, it's a pretty safe bet that Kings Island could run SSBR during Winterfest no problem. It's also worth noting that if we do get some sort of launch coaster in The Vortex plot that stays low to the ground, then that could also run during winterfest too. It would mainly depend on the manufacturer though, as I can't see B&M wanting to run a coaster in colder conditions.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Indiana Beach is using the trains they bought from Mindbender at Galaxyland.

Did this come out on android? I just checked the recent update for the Carowinds app on my phone and it looks the same.

I might be jumping the gun a bit with this comment, as it is likely this area could just be used for additional Marina parking. However, IF this land ends up going towards park expansion, then that leaves two vacant plots that Cedar Point can work with (this plot and the forbidden frontier plot). Hopefully this means Cedar Point shouldn't have to remove any attractions for future additions for a while. However, if rides like Corkscrew or Iron Dragon reach the end of their service life, then Cedar Point could still remove those rides without immediately using the land for future attractions (like Vortex at KI) Regardless, I don't think we'll see another major addition at Cedar Point for a few more years, probably 2027 or 2028 if I had to guess. They just added Boardwalk for this year and is currently in the process of adding Top Thrill 2 for next season. Although it isn't entirely a new coaster, I imagine the conversion from TTD to TT2 still cost Cedar Point a hefty penny. But then again, this IS Cedar Point we're talking about, so it is technically possible we could see a new addition sooner than anticipated if the park really wanted to.

Meanwhile management:

I could see Penguin or Mr. Freeze fitting with Congo Falls, whereas Riddler or Joker could work with Drop Tower.

One thing I've heard is that with the Peanuts IP, there is a lack of variety when it comes to which characters are represented. Most of the major rides that currently exist at Planet Snoopy are either themed to Snoopy or Woodstock. Of course, other characters are used as well like Charlie Brown, Lucy and Linus, but the main focus definitely seems to be on Snoopy and Woodstock, hence the area's name as Planet Snoopy and not Planet Peanuts or Planet Charlie Brown. With the Looney Tunes IP, however, there is a lot more to work with when it comes to character variety. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky the Pig, Tasmanian Devil, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Tweety and Sylvester, Wil-E-Coyote and the Roadrunner, and that's just scratching the surface. Personally, I don't know how I would feel about a change to the kids area, heck I'm still conflicted with this entire merger as a whole. However, I do think this is one upside of the Looney Tunes IP that might as well be brought up. As for Hurricane Harbor, I don't really know what the upside would be for retheming our water park to that. Like Soak City, it is a rather generic theme for a water park without any IPs attached.

Vekoma allegedly told Holiday World that their family boomerang would be the first to open in the states. My guess is that for Camp Snoopy, the Beagle Scout Acres section will likely be the first area to open, likely sometime in May. SSBR will probably open sometime around June, but hopefully not anytime later than that. We'll just have to see what happens.

Zamperla could be showing off a TT2 car at IAAPA, so we might know by then if they already have seatbelts installed.

I'm hoping it gets extended. With the amount of theming going into Camp Snoopy and SSBR next year, it really would be a waste to see all of that go after two years.

True, but the font and the art of the six flags are from the 90's.

Given that this is supposed to be a new company under the leadership of both Cedar Fair and Six Flags, a new logo would definitely help convey that this isn't going to be the same Six Flags. Also, that Six Flags logo has been used since the 90's, so a modern refresh wouldn't hurt.

Apparently the merger deal is supposed to close in early 2024 if it goes through, so it seems likely we won't see any notable changes for the 2024 season. I think 2025 will probably be when we start seeing minor changes at the park, like new season pass options with some Six Flags technology introduced and/or Kings Island getting a logo change and being labeled as "Kings Island: A Six Flags park" like what Great Escape does. I think we could also see Looney Tunes and DC merchandise being introduced as well in stores and as game prizes. I think 2026 and later will be when we see significant additions and changes.

Paramount's Kings Island had that problem too, where they introduced Action Zone to essentially be the "Paramount section of the park", but also went ahead and put Paramount rides in other areas too like Italian Job and Tomb Raider. Hopefully with Cedar Fair's input they won't repeat that same mistake, but we'll have to wait and see.

I do feel original theming would be better. However, if Six Flags (the new company) REALLY wants to put DC at Kings Island (which might be likely considering what Zimmermann said about the merger), the very least they could do is go with a consistent theme. For example, instead of having a themed area for the entirety of DC, maybe just have it based on Gotham City and have the rides there themed around Batman and other characters from the Batman franchise specifically. They could also implement enhanced theming on-par with what Cedar Fair has been putting in lately, so at least it would look better than the generic DC areas that already exist at Six Flags. Again, would still rather have original theming though, this would just be a compromise.

I would probably expect DC and Looney Tunes to at least have merchandise sold at the park, either through select stores or as game prizes. Not as likely, but I could also see a new Looney Tunes area, adding to Kings Island's already-impressive kids areas. (Ideally, Planet Snoopy and Camp Snoopy would remain unchanged) I think adding IPs to kids areas is fine, since they add a sense of familiarity for children and parents who are already exposed to these brands and characters. As for DC, I do agree that we shouldn't have any rides or areas themed strictly to DC. Kings Island has done a great job recently when it comes to original theming, and I feel moving away from that to focus on tacky superhero themes would spit in the faces of rides like Mystic Timbers and Orion.