Timchat2

It will be interesting to how (or if) the entertainment budget cuts across the chain will show up for Haunt and WinterFest. Kings Island managed to hold onto a good number of productions and performers for the main summer season, so hopefully that means Haunt will be as close to "normal" as possible.

If it hasn't been noted elsewhere the Grand Carnivale decor is starting to appear on International Street.

I would have liked KI's RetroSpect to have a live band too, especially for the extra energy it would have brought to performances during Grand Carnivale. Also a live band allows a show to grow, tighten up and get stronger as the season progresses. But I'm guessing with the apparent budget cuts to live entertainment across the Cedar Fair parks Kings Island probably needed to streamline things a bit while still offering as many as major productions as possible. In the case of RetroSpect they must have felt that The 70s On Demand was more in need of a live band. It's possible too that 70s On Demand almost requires a band since the music appears to be totally live and the park probably didn't want to go through the time and expense of recording a full backing track. I assume part of the efficiencies that came with producing RetroSpect for five parks was only having to record music for one show instead each park doing its own thing. With RetroSpect at Carowinds, Kings Dominion and (I believe) Worlds of Fun also being band-free it appears Dorney is the exception with its live musicians . Perhaps since Dorney does not really have major shows otherwise the park decided to put more of its chips on RetroSpect so to speak.

There weren't any masks on the lift as of Friday evening.

Here is the Reuben from the Festhaus for those who haven't seen it yet: While it isn't going to give Izzy's any competition it is nice to have a dining plan item that is actually like something one would get at a Festhaus. Hopefully we see more like this in the future.

Oh absolutely. The associate even asked a pair of supervisors in the kitchen and they told her no. When I asked why she just shrugged. And I've wondered the same thing about French Corner. The sandwiches are good (but of course very small) and somehow take quite a while to get prepared.

We attempted to order the enchiladas tonight but the chicken supply ran out and they told us the enchiladas were unavailable. I asked if we could substitute carnitas for the chicken since the enchiladas are essentially rolled tacos and we were told no. Not sure why the proteins couldn't be swapped out since the enchiladas are made to order. Instead we got to try to special at Miami Brewhouse, the Mi Favorito Burger. It was pretty good!

I figured there would be some songs from Carowinds history that would be unique to the park and strike a chord of recognition for locals. Cartoon Friends does evoke HB for Kings Island fans but I wasn't sure if it does the same for Carowinds fans. Also, is that the Maestro's laugh from Phantom Theater during the Scarowinds segment? I do appreciate the acknowledgement of the Parmount era with the Top Gun segment. Fun, Fireworks and Fifty completely sidestepped anything to do with Paramount.

Carowinds' 50 Nights of Fire drone and fireworks debuted this past weekend and as you'd expect it has a number of similarities to Fun, Fireworks and Fifty at KI. In particular, I was struck by the use of the Enchanted Voyage song "Cartoon Friends" ("Those happy friends who live in my TV") during 50 Nights of Fire's segment about characters at the park. I'm less familiar with the history of Carowinds but was there ever an attraction there that used the Enchanted Voyage song?

Maybe they want some flexibility depending on weather and crowds? The times on the Kings Island website don't really line up with what we've seen at the park so far and actually would almost lead a guest to miss most of the song-and-dance segments entirely: 7:15 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:15 PM 9:45 PM All that said, it is a fun show and the cast really puts out a lot of energy! I wonder if the costumes will change for Grand Carnivale. Carowinds' RetroSpect just opened and they look to be using multi-colored outfits.

I'm not sure if the schedule is the same every evening but this seemed to be the schedule last Friday and Saturday (not sure how they label the two sets so I went with "A" and "B"): 7:00 Set A 7:30 Set B 8:15 Set A 8:52 Set B 9:23 Set A (The last two times are a little odd but the performers did mention 8:52 specifically at the end of the previous set.)

It was a unique show for the dozen or so of us at the end of International Street.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg has mostly been holding up on entertainment despite the ups and downs of its parent company. You'd hope that nearby competition would keep Kings Dominion devoted to a strong lineup. I know some weren't too excited about the general repeat of the (very solid) Golden Celebration offerings, but as we're seeing with the other parks we could have faced some significant cuts at Kings Island as well.

Carowinds' 50th (along with Worlds of Fun, which is actually getting an okay number of shows for a smaller park in 2023) came around just as Cedar Fair has been tightening the purse strings, so the anniversaries this year probably aren't going to be as elaborate as what Kings Island and Cedar Point received. The fact that Kings Island has retained so many performers for this season shows that someone at the park is fighting the good fight and sees live entertainment as something important to the attraction mix. Again, I wouldn't have expected that even five years ago. Hopefully it will continue in years to come.

Off the Rails is still just as fun as last season. It's great to have the show back! In light of the live entertainment cuts at other Cedar Fair parks this season (especially Cedar Point) , we're fortunate to have so much entertainment at the park with Grand Carnivale still on the way. Doing an informal count it appears that Kings Island possibly has more total performers than Cedar Point in their major productions for 2023, which is something I never would have expected.

Our experiences have been pretty mixed so far as well. Items like the naan bread or potatoes will often be unavailable and the proteins like the chicken can have some funky texture. I really wanted to support a non-chain park original restaurant with a unique menu but we're probably done with it too.

Any ideas when it was last working? While the ride might not be around forever it would be a nice little touch to see this return.

Did the sign for Congo Falls have actual water pouring out of it at some point? The "S" of "FALLS" is worn away on the bottom and there appears to be a pipe just inside the lower part of the letter:

I always make a point to do a slow stroll around the carousel in the evening as well. Hard not to feel grateful to have such a special place on a warm evening so close to home.

It was indeed a beautiful evening. The park has come so far in terms of atmosphere and charm these last few years, and nights like tonight really bring the point home.

We noticed the slightly odd focus on the day ending instead of adventure. I was hoping we would get a big Adventure Express "NOW YOU WILL PAY!!!" moment with the flames bursting on either side of the fountain. It felt like a natural addition for Fun, Fireworks and Fifty but I get that they were trying to cover a lot of ground last year. Still though Adventure Awaits is all sincerely presented and original music is almost always welcome.

Agreed. This feels like a "sustainable" level of spectacle considering how much time and money FFF likely cost the park. They didn't have to go as hard as they did, including a new original song, so it appears that the legacy of FFF will live on through higher production values for the nighttime shows.

The show casts really brought a lot of energy to their preview performances today with a lot of familiar faces along with some promising new talent. Phantom Theater Encore has some nice little changes as well that enhance the character beats.

That's unfortunate. The vibe around Adventure Port at night is lining up to be something special, and that's even before all of the elements are in place. Hopefully the park can figure out a way to keep some "nice things" around despite some of the guests' behavior.