marineman

Maybe it would open capacity to actually clean the ones by Orion, which smell worse than the illegitimate bathroom baby of a nursing home and a truck stop?

I have been of the mind that Boo Blasters was on borrowed time for a long while now, as is evident by what feels like a 50/50 chance you'll get a busted shooter. I honestly kind of laugh at the sudden "No!!! Not Boo Blasters!!" kinds of comments after it more or less being a laughing stock about its poor functionality for quite some time, and the abuse it took after being "watered down" after going from Scooby to Boo. It is probably past time to do something different. I was disappointed to hear such a limited re-do was in the works. Same track/layout, same basic ride (go around and shoot at, or now seemingly "collect" things in the same way you'd shoot at them), whatever. I guess I was hoping for more of a fresh ride experience entirely instead of the fourth re-skin of the same ride. I think some hope was elevated a bit by the "thrill" in "family thrill ride" that was announced earlier. To me, this is just a very casual family dark ride experience, and there's really no "thrill" here if we're being completely honest. While bright, albeit extremely cartoon-like, the new faces have a similar vibe in terms of quality to the Shaggy-now-balding-guy that's running in circles mid ride. The skeptic in me assumes it will more or less have that kind of feel still. A bit disappointing, especially since it has been years since a new release has had any real appeal to me or my family (including our elementary and junior high aged kids). That said, at least something is happening at the park, and it's likely low enough budget that it hopefully won't cause even more delays in us finally getting something for the thrill seekers in the crowd again. And, maybe it'll be a pleasant surprise. We'll see.

Well, this should probably tell us all we need to know... https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2025/08/11/kings-island-announces-impeding-closure-boo-blasters-boo-hill/85610698007/

Personally, I like the odds of us getting an RMC around the time the park has been ran into being on par with FunSpot Atlanta. A bit cynical? Yes, a little sarcastically so, but I've had a bad gut feel from this CF/SF merger since day one. That vibe is going to stay until the business proves me wrong. So far, they are not proving me wrong. CF already had us pegged as Cedar Point's family park little brother, but at least we were a flagship park in a niche chain. Now, we're just a small-market park in a massive conglomerate.

Guessing 2 or 3. Unfortunately, I would be very, very surprised if anything meaningful shows up next season. We may even get one of the couple transferable rides from SF America, which would also be unfortunate since none have any real appeal to me and my family. Welcome to the "cash cow" days of Kings Island, where our success is used to try to salvage the trash from the merger. I'll eat crow if I'm wrong. Gladly.

EXACTLY! I had a discussion with a close friend of mine about whether Soapbox would delay things. He was in the camp of no, it won't. To me, it's always full circle with these kinds of things. "Hey look - we built a coaster! Might be a kid coaster with horrible throughput, but it's a coaster. We'll revisit in another 3-4 years." No more BS to kick the can down the road. Build a flat ride, theater style interactive, or whatever in '26. Do it in whatever plot, except preferably not where Vortex sat. Then, get serious about pulling in RMC, Intamin, Mack, etc (not B&M) to build a legitimate intense thrill coaster with inversions, since we keep ripping them out and NOT replacing them. Plus, we have the fattest mid-tier, entry level, "family thrill" coaster lineup of any park I can think of. If the kids of the future can't work they way from The Beastie (no, that's not a typo, lol) to Orion with Kings Island's lineup, they never will. Both my kids just hit 54" within the past couple seasons to where they can ride everything, and we've hit a lot of other parks since then. I feel quite qualified to make this comment: we seriously don't need more in that "family-friendly coaster category.

This announcement isn't getting more exciting, either. What a dumb use of central space.

I had a buddy that worked the original for a stint that said it was SUPER boring because nobody did it. I played for free when it was raining and she was there a couple times, and I still skipped it even when it was free. It just wasn't good. I'm thinking it didn't only fail, but it was a crash and burn. Plus, KI can't even keep the gun on Boo Blasters working. I would definitely not bet on this kind of attraction ever coming back. If it does, hopefully they commit to it and don't make it a tiny circus tent attraction again. If they are going to commit and use that much space, imho there are tons of better uses for the space.

I won't say I disagree that we will maintain a high enough priority to get "something" frequently. I am past my time of having children young enough that they want anything to do with kid or low-thrill family rides. I just hope CF doesn't overly double down on this concept of making KI a family park since thrill rides are what appeals to my family. In my mind, having just gone through their young childhood lifetimes to date raising them at the park and also visiting many others, KI is already one of the absolute most family-friendly parks there is. My children never had issues finding plenty to ride, and stepping up from small rides to the big stuff. There's nowhere better. Where we slip now is in the thrill department. Even overall inferior parks have a ride or two that easily meet or exceed our top tier thrill rides - both coasters and flat. Prime example? Kentucky Kingdom has Storm Chaser that is more forceful and insane than anything we have now. Waldameer has Ravine Flyer II, which is pretty consistently favored over Mystic Timbers. Fun Spot Atlanta has Arieforce. Fun Spot Kissimee has Mine Blower (after the RMC re-track, it is awesome). Similar parks like Carowinds has Fury and Copperhead Strike, which both destroy anything we have that's similar (and frankly, nothing we have even remotely compares to Copperhead). Plus, their flat ride lineup is stellar! Kings Dominion has a handful of rides, especially coasters, that would easily beat out our top ones. Plus, with the addition of Rapterra they will have what, 6 coasters with inversions next to our current 3 (and Invertigo is miserably bad)? I won't jump to conclusions until the '26 announcement is finalized, but we're cautiously monitoring things.

I wouldn't have any issue with a family coaster going in the crypt building. I just don't think it is the right size or dimension for it. If they prove me wrong and pull it off, whatever. It would almost definitely be an improvement over the current state. I like the odds of a flat ride going inside, or it being outright removed. I agree 100% about The Vortex plot. For the love of all that is good in the world, DO NOT waste that plot with a glorified kid coaster. We would absolutely drop my family's passes for that stupidity, too.

My family will be closely watching. If it's a disappointing announcement, we will discontinue our passes after over 20 years, and we'll take a trip or two to non Six Flags parks per year until and unless Kings Island improves. To us, the park is already starting to feel stale. Another 2 years of it, and we'll move on.

The news about '26 is likely going to make this point undeniably clear.

This news is absolutely beyond frustrating. Orion is largely viewed as a let-down. Pretty much everything since then has been utterly weak from a thrill-seeker standpoint. Next year is a water coaster, and not even a good looking one if we're being honest. Now, 2026, the sixth year AFTER Orion, it sure sounds like a family-friendly flat ride. Really!?!? I've tried to stay positive about this merger, but if this is true, I'm giving my passes a break after having them for 20+ years.

Here's my take. KI has the same mindset as Phil Castellini with this very clear comment a while back when fans were making comments about expecting more for their money: "Well, where are you going to go?” Exactly what motivation does Cedar Fair have to do better? Who is going to stop going because of issues with hot chocolate? Let's keep going. What about people holding phones on rides, which literally puts us in danger, yet if you get smacked by one the park isn't liable in any way? What about people fist-fighting? Food portion complaints? Dissatisfaction with park upgrades? I saw a kid slam a soda off the side of a trashcan in line for Banshee yesterday all because they told him to make sure to finish it before trying to board the ride. It splashed at least 4-5 people, and an employee watched it happen and did exactly nothing. Whatever the issue may be. It is a business, and business is good.

I'm really hoping that our long trend of playing the safe card and having beef with half the coaster companies out there will change, and we will see a couple more risky, off-the-hook coasters show up. Let's be real, we're essentially a wood and B&M park at this point. It's time for a change, and that likely means working with the RMC and Intamin types again. Maybe wishful thinking, but I will truly be very disappointed if either of our next couple coasters feature the words "wood" or "B&M" in their descriptions. Arieforce One would easily be a top-tier coaster at Kings Island! It truly impressed me when I rode it. It was also a relatively cheap build at under $20m out the door next to our B&M additions. To my knowledge, the steel-built RMC's are proving to be workhorses, and it seems Six Flags has no hesitancy in working with them.