Thrill_Biscuit

I go by the park every day. It looks like it's going to be easy to find your way there. If you're used to coming from Western Row, just go about another 4,000' and make a right-hand turn at the beautifully-aesthetic intersection that leads right to the entrance plaza (be sure the park is open, and follow all posted traffic signs and drive safely).

I noticed drop-gates (or "swing barriers?). Don't seem to remember those on the old entrance plazas.

First off, do you think that it will be the last season of Boo Blasters, and if so what do you hope for in 2017? As a mere fan of the park, I don't get the feeling this will be the final year for this attraction; however, nothing is ever certain. Second, do you think that on opening day Saturday that all the props and blasters will be working like they are supposed to or do you think that they will be the same as the end of last season? I'm placing my chips on the latter; however, I've read no park updates indicating anything to the contrary. Third, what do you think will happen to all the Boo Blasters props and animatronics when the ride is retired? I think they'd probably be tucked away in a warehouse, or stacked somewhere out-of-view. And lastly, how long do you think Boo Blasters will run this year if a new ride is concieved? Do you think it will run all year, or get shut down in the middle sort of like what happened to Phantom Theater? Who can say for sure? Shake, Rattle & Roll was dismantled mysteriously before I knew what was going on (which was a glorious metamorphosis, by the way) mid-season in 2014, and in 2015, the Monster went through something similar. I'd say it's up to the park, and if/when they do introduce a new concept, it will generate lots of excitement and fun speculation until the Don and/or Greg of that time lift the veil.

I see a lot of potting soil in that video capture above... not sure if it's new, but maybe a lot of beautiful flowers will grace the fountains this year?

Maybe they'll replace it with Origins-A Back-to-the-Future Experience! Naw, maybe not. Anyway, the Back-to-the-Future franchise is so... 2015.

I didn't have time to draw the unicorns and rainbows, but I captured a corner of my screen, which happened to be on the extended forecast page of the NOAA website (weather.gov), and found this amazingly lovely observation for Warren County, Ohio:

...and, apparently, Sea World is going whale-free. Slowly.

It's good to see the good-hearted ones offering thoughts and prayers, rather than throwing juvenile, tasteless quips. May the employee's family and friends find comfort in this time of loss.

I watched a video from last season just this afternoon. Brought tears of sadness that the show's gone. Just seeing this post today brings different tears!

("Like," as in "thanks for sharing the article.") Scary. Glad all seemed to be okay afterward.

Knotty pine for me (Tb, wistfully quoting classic Warner Brothers' cartoons)... (R.I.P., Joe Alaskey)

Got my renewal done (finally) Drove by the park yesterday and wowie! Lots o' paving action, at least in the area immediately southwest of the new entry plaza. So much change happening in that area in such a short amount of time (relatively)... Can't wait for the first "boats" to come around the bend in ol' WWC, but first, opening day, then two weeks in Arizona (Tb shall sendeth much pics), and then another season of KI awesomeness.

Wow, you leave KIC for a few weeks and another "Starting to Decode" thread starts up... got some catching up to do, methinks

Nicely done!

When you feel compelled to exit at Western Row and re-enter at Kings Mills, when you can just as easily stay on I-71.

Things that go "bump" in the night... I was fully prepared to write "because it's January!"

When we lived in Michigan for a few years, there was a Canadian amusement park called Bob-Lo Island, which was serviced by boats (I don't remember if they were actually 'steam boats,' but they sailed between Detroit and Ontario). I only vaguely remember the park (I was only like, six or seven); but I do remember the commercials. I was biased towards, and held all other amusement parks up against Kings Island. If it didn't have a tower, it wasn't a real amusement park to me . I think Bob-Lo is no more as of 1994?

Thank you for that info! I think I'll reach out to B&B and/or CI see if they're doing it again this year, and plan to take my dad on such a trip. Oh, wow... I'll keep y'all posted! Thanks, CoastersRZ!

Thank you all! Sincerely, you are all the best!

Thank you, Terpy. Tears of joy. In his youth, when he first beheld the ship, my dad reacted to the Island Queen much in the same way I first reacted to the Kings Island Eiffel Tower up close, at night, lit up with such beauty and splendor, to the point that it became the landmark of my hometown on levels that go way deeper than I can say. The tower has been there throughout my life, though; but the Island Queen exploded when dad was only 9. (He left the landing to board the bus back to Mason with my grandfather, turned around and fell in love with the sparkling grandeur of the thousands of lights and tall, majestic stature that the ship boasted.) A few weeks later, he grabbed the bundle of newspapers that he helped deliver on his bicycle, and was instantly saddened by the headline and cover photo. The Island Queen was gone. This video is part of a reconciling, the details of which I won't go into, but it mirrors the Prodigal Son story in a lot of ways, and the sheer gladness and peace through which this effort was brought together cannot be described effectively enough. Tears. Of joy. He watches this every night on his 26" monitor, with what he says is a soul-cleansing power - decades of any kind of harshness faded away, and he now has something he thought he'd never see again, to watch again and again to his heart's content.

This is the stylized "video" version of the Island Queen (I've already shared still pictures of this); It is based on stories my dad told me throughout the years about how grand it was, especially at night. I created this in PowerPoint, tracing the contours from several existing pictures and drawings of the ship, then blending in several, independent animations (you can run up to 256 at a time, if I'm not mistaken), and then saving it as a .wmv (which you can do in PPT). Take a virtual trip back in time, to Cincinnati of the 1940's. Please enjoy! I drew over 300 individual shapes digitally, adjusting gradients and shadows to create the illusion of nighttime lighting. Once everything was in place, I added people (and a lot of silhouettes), trees, stars, and an inverted, stretched cloudscape to add "mist" to the river. The audio is my Yamaha portable, which allows for composing multiple tracks of different "instruments," mixed in Audacity with stock sound effects, an electronic, text-to-speech generator, and many other sound effects. I asked my dad if I could share this (his Christmas gift from last year) and he heartily agreed; knowing that there is so precious little imagery of this magnificent, historical vessel, since its accidental destruction in 1947.

I was there recently and got lost trying to find the passage back to the place I was before. "Relax, said the night man, we are programmed to receive; you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave." Seriously, though, Great Wolf is nice and big. Big enough to ride a Big Wheel through... again, naw, just kidding... "How'd you like some Ice Cream, Doc?" I can't help myself... I love a good ghost story...

When you sit at your favorite table in the Escort Drive Skyline Chili, look out the window into the winter-darkened afternoon, squint your eyes and pretend you're at Kings Island, and the Wendy's across the way is the other side of International Street... yep. The blues are a settin' in.