CoasterJack

I can't tell exactly from the article, but it might just be they sell off part of the land to a different developer/manager. From what I read, "There is an additional approximately 100 acres of unused or underutilized space at the base of a sizable hillside property. The remainder of the property comprises hillside open space that the city desires wants to develop for recreational and outdoor activities including down-hill biking, horseback riding, hiking, ziplining, among other uses." It seems more like while Cedar Fair is operating the 50 acres of park, the city is interested in developing some of the additional land. It could be the end of Cedar Fair management, or I could see it more just being an additional project separate from Cedar Fair's management developed by someone else.

Wanted my last ride to be The Beast, but it ended up being a marathon on Flight of Fear due to rain, which I'm still totally fine with

I wish I could vote for both. I can't stress enough how much I love that the park has spent time and resources on the last few rides. First, even though Banshee doesn't have as elaborate of theming, I really like the station, the Banshee scream, the graves, it all adds a cool feeling to the queue. Additionally, with Mystic Timbers and Orion, the soundtracks are amazing, and just the atmosphere is amazing. It's no Disney level of theming, but it's definitely one step further towards being a theme park, which I'm totally down for. Even though it's not perfect, I like how Miami Brewhouse and the Meteor Canteen both fit in to their surrounding rides respectively. They really went out of their way with the truck and reporter car, and it just adds to the atmosphere. Done well, it really adds to the vibe of the forest with WWC, and the railroad. Same thing with Orion & Flight of Fear. An example of this poorly done would be the FunTVs in the queue of Boo Blasters (it kills the environment of that room). If I had to choose one though, I'd have to go with Mystic Timbers as a ride individually, but Area 72 as a whole is far better.

I noticed this as well. It might have been because it wasn't quite 6 feet. Also the only problem about having all 4 on Orion's trains is it wouldn't work out with anyone in a row in front or behind. It might work with Banshee however since the seat design creates a wall between you and the rows in front and behind you. If I remember correctly, were there two rows between each group on Flight of Fear, or just one? I feel like this might have due to the nature of the ride being indoors, but it just killed capacity even further on a ride already known for low capacity.

I did about the same thing. Invested $1k when the stock bottomed out. I plan on keeping most of it however so hopefully the dividends will start rolling in. Might take a few years for the share price to return to normal (if it ever will).

I agree as well, the current entrance has plenty of infrastructure already built in, and it would be quite a large loss to tear it down. I mainly just see a facelift being needed in the next few years, especially on the west side facing the parking lot. Either updating it to a look more like the WinterFest entrance permanently with a more flush look like pictured above, or just simply modernizing the billboards and maybe new shingles and some roofing work would be all that's needed. KI truly doesn't need a completely new entrance plaza, especially compared to some other parks. Just needs a little modernization and/or revamping.

Depends on how many other copies are like it. I see it as a cool item that would increase over time.

In terms of regional parks, the Premier Spaghetti Bowls. The compact layout and launch leads to quite an intense experience. I especially love the Flight of Fear Clones (my 2nd favorite KI coaster), the experience can't be found at many other non-Disney or Universal. I know the queue video can be a little corny, but I have a special place for this ride.

I totally agree with this. There are countless paths and ways to travel the park and everything is centered (for the most part) around the Eiffel Tower. Additionally, I feel like the park infrastructure and supporting buildings are much better prepared than most other parks. Each owner has contributed and withdrawn different identities for the park, and while KI seemed to struggle for a bit, after Cedar Fair added some large scale investments, the park seems to have a rather diverse lineup (3 B&Ms, 2 Vekomas, 2 Arrows, 2 Premier Rides, 2 PTCs, a GCI, E&F Miller and an in-house designed and built). But nothing beats walking into International Street, the fountains, the lights, the orchestral music, the Eiffel Tower, and the coaster skyline looming in the distance. It's no Disneyland, but it's an atmosphere like no other. I could praise Mike Koontz all day, and while I do miss TR:TR and some Paramount (1st year) theming, they've done an amazing job keeping the park in great shape, it feels modern, yet also retains plenty of original charm.

I would agree with this. Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland saw more experimental rides, but overall, Kings Island seemed to receive the most attention and attractions. Carowinds wasn't nearly where it is today.

I don't see Kings Island installing another B&M or high price tag coaster for a solid 5-6 years. We had 5 years between Banshee and Diamondback, and Mystic Timbers was medium sized investment between the 6 year gap of Banshee and Orion.

I definitely think that would be cool for something different and maybe add a smoother experience, but I feel like the arrow swinging trains give The Bat part of its unique charm.

I voted Flight of Fear. Even though the current lap bars are loads better than the overhead restraints, there's still room for improvement. Flight of Fear always has a long line, and if it had an extra train, they could potentially launch after the train clears the MCBR. Also I think part of this coaster's roughness is the small claustrophobic trains. Especially for a taller guy, these trains are the least comfortable in the park, I'd even go as far to say worse than Invertigo.

This would explain why AE was closed the last few weekends.

They are relatively low maintenance rides. The trains don't experience any extreme speed or hard g forces. They should last a long time plus due to the slower speed it doesn't feel as rough. Plus they are good family coasters and fill a good spot in almost any park line up.

The Big thing that sticks out to me is the upcoming news of more track slices being available for purchase online, which will be handy for those more long distance fans or those who couldn't make it to the park in time.

I agree, I'm having the same problem

The only arcade I tend to wander into is the main one in Coney Mall. Most recent being Winterfest last year. I mainly only venture in there when the lines are too insane to bear. To be honest, most of the games were well kept and there were some pretty modern games, and decent prizes, which honestly surprised me. Has the arcade in the building next to Beast been open this year, I haven't looked yet. Sorry if we're getting a little off topic, but the small stuff like this always intrigues me. You can have the greatest coasters and rides, but I always try to pay attention to the infrastructure and you can always tell a park cares and has self pride when everything is managed down to the smallest little thing.

I agree with this so much! Regarding wooden coasters, I don't know any other coaster that has been around for this long while remaining ever so popular. Especially compared with other coasters from the era, no other wooden coaster still draws in as much of a crowd at 41 years old other than The Beast. Sure there's El Toro, Lightning Rod, The Voyage, etc, but none of those have been around for nearly as long, and Beast stands out as something different. Instead of focusing on elements, it really feels as if it's an experience unlike no other, especially during a night ride.

I've heard it's supposedly packed today. Like worse than some Cedar Point weekends. It it truly that bad? I'm considering heading up in about an hour, but don't know if it's worth the drive if it's so packed I can't ride anything in under 2 hours.

All I can say is Orion didn't have the same effect Fury 325 had on Intimidator. Screw the slight roughness at the bottom of each airtime hill, nothing will be able to beat the floater airtime filled layout of Diamondback, or the splash down. At least for me personally, Orion was a great addition to the park and all, but it's still number 3 in the park for me.

The wood planks are still present down by the first drop, and there are big tire tracks. But in terms of Banshee, it was running fine. In fact, on blue train today I probably got one of my smoothest rides ever at the park.

It could just be wood for a re-tracking over the winter. Don't know if it would involve GCI, or just some yearly maintenance on The Beast.

It would be really hard to match the faded paint as well. The drop would look off, and worse than just a weld. I definitely agree it would be much easier to just weld the existing track already in place.

And this is when I wish the Banshee webcam was up to watch the action over the weekdays