WoodVengeance

I think it primarily depends on Kentucky Kingdom's budget. Although you can consider KK to be a competitor to Kings Island, Kentucky Kingdom is a much smaller park that doesn't have nearly the same amount of attendance that Kings Island has. That park also has a strict height restriction since it's located right next to the airport, so I don't think a hyper would really be feasible and that's probably one of the reasons we haven't seen one built there. There are still several coaster types I can see replacing T3 that would make sense for the type of park Kentucky Kingdom is, but I'm unsure whether the T3 replacement (if it's even a coaster at all) will have much of an effect on Kings Island's next coaster. I'd be willing to bet we'll probably see Vortex's replacement before T3's, but time will tell.

The 24-seat model can be used for permanent installations, like Scream Extreme at Kentucky Kingdom

It's quite possible. Kentucky Kingdom already has Lightning Run and Storm Chaser, both of which offer unique coaster experiences that Kings Island doesn't have an answer for. Unlike Kings Island, it's very apparent Kentucky Kingdom doesn't have a budget for something like a B&M or Mack. Also, it's a much smaller park so I imagine capacity wouldn't be as important either like it would be for Kings Island. It's important to note that Herschend just acquired Kentucky Kingdom only a few years ago and it's still unclear how much they want to invest in the park. If a coaster ends up in T3's spot (which even then there's still a strong possibility it might not be), I can easily see it being something like an RMC Raptor, Gerstlauer or new-age Vekoma. It's also very possible that it could be a waterpark expansion, a flat ride or nothing at all. Time will tell.

Beast just went down

I'm still on-board with the idea of merging Action Zone and Oktoberfest together in creating a new themed area of the park. Probably might be a few more years before anything happens in Action Zone though.

At least it's not limited to just the rides in Adventure Port like a certain "other park" would have done

I remember Mystic Timbers's construction was shown on a live cam. Same went for GateKeeper, Valravn and Fury 325 at other parks.

I do think an extreme spinner would probably be a more marketable attraction compared to a standard multi-launch. As of 2023, There is only one Mack extreme spinner in the country and it's a considerable distance from Kings Island. The only nearby spinning coaster is going to be Wild Mouse at Cedar Point, and that's a family attraction that doesn't compare to the size and cost of an extreme spinner. Although I do believe that an extreme spinner would be the best realistic candidate for a new coaster, it is important to note that a large portion of the general public aren't as comfortable with spinning rides. It's not as much of a problem for flat rides and Wild Mouse since those rides are much smaller in both scale and cost, but when you put spinning into a potential $25-30 million attraction with inversions and launches, it could be seen as too much for the general public. I do think having a magnet like Time Traveler may tone down the spinning a bit to make the ride a bit more comfortable. From a business perspective, however, it may be a safer option to just go with a standard mack multi launch to appeal to as big of a crowd as possible. Although it wouldn't be as unique of an experience as an extreme spinner, a standard multi-launch that focuses on hangtime, inversions and ejector airtime would still complement the park well and would be different enough from a ride like Maverick to justify its placement in the same state.

I agree. I got the chance to ride Copperhead Strike last year and I thought it was really underrated. The ride experience would complement Kings Island very well.

Ride to Happiness apparently has a capacity of 700-800 riders per hour, though that could be the result of it only running two trains. Though it isn't a spinner, Copperhead Strike at Carowinds runs at a theoretical capacity of about 1200 riders per hour, which is the same as Mystic Timbers and Beast, although I can't confirm how often Copperhead reaches that hourly capacity of 1200 rph. If they gave KI a spinner with three trains and an hourly capacity that compares with something like Copperhead Strike, it could be a good fit.

With the news coming out of Dorney Park, it seems we are already looking at two new potential coasters coming from Cedar Fair in 2024 (if you count Dragster 2.0 as a new coaster). Not to mention that other notable parks like Carowinds and Knotts are also on the waiting list for a new coaster as well. It's still somewhat possible we could get a new coaster next year, but it's starting to look more likely that we'll have to wait an extra year or two. Not that I'm complaining, Dorney deserves a new coaster far more than Kings Island in my opinion and it is nice seeing Cedar Fair starting to invest in their smaller parks again.

I know there was brown test paint on Diamondback's supports a few weeks back and was discussed in another thread.

Not perfect, but it should give a good glimpse of what the lift hill and supports should look like after the repaint. (Original image is from CoasterBuzz on Pinterest)

One of my main concerns with repainting Diamondback was if they went with the yellow lift hill again and seeing it fade out again within a few years. The brown should blend in a lot better in Rivertown and should look nice for a lot longer compared to the original color scheme.

If they do move the cams, that might at least tell us that whatever is happening over there is significant enough to where they would have to move the cams.

Yeah, looking at the webcam there still looks to be a bit of snow still left on the track. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Had a dream last night where Diamondback used the international street royal fountain as its splashdown.

I would imagine Kings Island would have chosen the colors already, unless they're doing what Kennywood did with Phantom's Revenge and are having a public poll.

Maybe a better term would be renovation, not expansion.

Given how fast KI managed to repair The Bat after the derailment earlier this year and the repainting of the trains, I think it's safe to say KI plans to keep The Bat around for a while, which is good because I really don't want to see that coaster get removed.

Banshee and Bat could fit well with an Oktoberfest theme, though the other rides there like Drop Tower or Delirium might want to see a retheme to fit in the area.

I feel as though if Kings Island were to get another launch coaster, it would probably be best to have something unique about it that stands out from the other two launch coasters in the park (besides the use of LSMs). Although I do feel the surf coaster could fill that niche well, I feel it might be better to go with a model like the Mack Extreme Spinner or a launched B&M Wing Coaster that could probably offer more in a layout than a Surf Coaster. However, Pipeline is currently the only Surf Coaster confirmed as of now, so I think it is a bit early to say what the Surf Coaster is capable of layout-wise. And yes, I do agree that an Extreme Spinner would probably be the best candidate for a new coaster that isn't an Intamin or RMC.

It's a possibility, though I don't think it will be the next coaster Kings Island adds. The Surf Coaster is a model that B&M just introduced, and Kings Island (under Cedar Fair) isn't the type of park that adds all-new coaster concepts. In addition, we don't know how successful the Surf Coaster is going to be just yet. Maybe it if becomes successful in the future Kings Island might add one, but for now I think there are other B&M models that have higher odds of being added for the park's next coaster.

Big Zamperla year for Cedar Fair

Looking at the concept art, it seems the area that held the VIP area/the ladder game is getting removed.