Timchat2

I absolutely agree. It would be a perfect early-season event. After the expanded ambition of the Golden Celebration season I was hopeful that 2023 was the season we'd finally see it happen again.

I agree. I LOVE seeing the park put some more thought into how the colors of the ride interact with its surroundings.

I'd imagine we'll see a version of Let's Get Wild from Kings Dominion. It looked be very well-received there.

I suppose it is easy enough to consider Festhaus and Viking Fury as "extensions" of International Street.

Jingle Jazz.

I believe A Peanuts Guide to Christmas has been performed outside by Joe Cool's Dodgem School in previous years. Holly Jolly Trolley has been stopping in that general area more recently. Maybe Peanuts are moving back outside again?

https://www.kingsdominion.com/events/november-nights Kings Dominion will be doing what appears to be preview nights of some WinterFest shows and activities before the official start of the event. It would be fun to have this at Kings Island.

We really enjoyed NyteWalkers. There is so much to absorb that we liked it more and more with each viewing. My only complaint is that the audio system doesn't feel like it puts out much bass. A nighttime show like this should have a full sound to match the energy of the cast and the visuals. As for the other shows, it is GREAT to see a full live band return to Monster Rock. With a cast of veterans and newer performers it is back to its classic high-energy self. Terror Rising is already pretty solid, so hopefully any missing elements will enhance the show all the more. I liked having the extra energy of the live guitars and dancers. After the Golden Celebration further elevated the level of entertainment at the park this summer it's great to see the ambition continue into Haunt!

The only featured items that appear to be available in the evening are the specialty drinks around the park and the dessert items at Sweet Spot.

Another vote for Dent Schoolhouse. It's probably one of the best produced houses you'll find outside of Halloween Horror Nights. The sets are ambitious and very complete (as in no blank walls) so you really feel like you're in each environment. But like others have said it is less of an evening since the experience (minus the wait) is about a half hour. Land of Illusion is a good bet for an evening of Halloween fun, even if it isn't quite to the quality level of Dent. The Haunted Trail is indeed impressive in scope.

It appears that The Drums of the Dead set is being repurposed for Terror Rising. The Off the Rails set is also transitioning to NyteWalkers, including what might be the addition of a long trampoline run like the original NyteWalkers at CGA along the front of the stage area. Since this show likely won't feature live singing like Off the Rails this should provide even more space for the stunt performers.

Yikes. The finished product was already pretty shocking relative to what the area was before. I can't imagine if we didn't even have the splashdown and its little waterfall/stream.

Cedar Fair seems to be getting better about balancing their "clean" look tendencies in a way that is less sterile than it might have felt before. Hopefully we'll see more character and detail in the landscapes. Things like the beer stein topiary outside Festhaus and the clock show go a long way towards giving the park its personality.

Kings Island had some real powerhouse shows in the 80s and early 90s. It's great to see some of that ambition resurface in the last few years with WinterFest, Grand Carnival and now the Golden Celebration!

As much as I have enjoyed many of the shows in the Festhaus, I definitely agree. I don't know the history of shows at the venue since it opened in 1982 but I assume it had a traditional Oktoberfest-style show at some point? Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Das Festhaus can be a great example of how food and entertainment can coexist, even if shows in recent years haven't been quite the scope of its glory days. (Apologies for digressing away from the thread topic of Haunt but Festhaus and Oktoberfest are very ripe for an overhaul that captures the German spirit in a way Cincinnatians would surely love.)

Each year at WinterFest I think about how Charlie Brown's Christmas Spectacular should have been in Festhaus and Tinker's Toy Factory should have been in the Kings Island Theater. I feel a little bad at times how the Tinker's cast up on stage giving their all to a bunch of guests indifferently eating Panda Express and chicken fingers. Tinker's would feel more like a proper show at KIT.

I wonder if the pre-2020 plan was to have a version of "Home for the Holidays" spread out to the other WinterFest parks after debuting at Knott's. If so, I hope it can still happen.

Does International Showplace have much of a lighting package at the moment? Presumably that will have to be stepped up considerably for Nytewalkers. The show itself should be pretty solid, assuming it follows to template of the CGA production. While I enjoyed the total package of Off the Rails (stunts, singers, dancers and a light "story") Nytewalkers should be more like the traditional All Wheels show with a focus on stunt performers accompanied by dancers and a high-energy soundtrack. It should indeed be an upgrade from Haunted Homecoming. I'm sure the performers had fun (or at least I hope they did) but it wasn't the strongest Haunt show.

I'm hopeful that the larger layout of the Off the Rails set will help Nytewalkers avoid the constrained feeling that Skeleton Crew had. Admittedly the setup is smaller than Nytewalkers at CGA, which had a fairly wide layout since it is set up the plaza area behind their Carousel Columbia.

When I saw the scope of the set for Off the Rails I was hoping this meant we would get NyteWalkers from California's Great America. It will be awesome to have another large production at International Showplace for Haunt!

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/haunt It appears the lineup has been posted. Hotel St. Michelle is listed along with the new Area 72 zone, Alien X. We're also getting two new shows Nytewalkers (presumably like the All Wheel Sports show at California's Great America) and Terror Rising.

The set pieces for Monster Rock have appeared recently at Festhaus, so it looks like the show will return for 2022. Hopefully the live band will return as well!

That would be wonderful! Honestly walking around International Street with that post-show music playing with a heart full of Kings Island love has been one of the most magical experiences I've had at the park outside of WinterFest.

It's a small thing but I really enjoy that they have been playing a bit of the Fun, Fireworks and Fifty song with the closing announcement this week. I'd love to see the original music show up more often like this.

That's awesome news! An expanded run would be wonderful but I'm happy to have it back in any form!