Losantiville Mining Co.

I think there are actually two boom trucks, one on either side of the castle. You can see the arm of the truck on the right is nearly parallel with the castle's north parapet. They could be painting or replacing the window decals. That new concrete definitely appears to be helping the truck to get closer; although I don't think they're supposed to be putting that much weight on brand new concrete yet. It looks like that "extended queue" concrete will be more for getting guests in line off of the main pathway. Any extended queue that goes down toward the original entrance path would need to break through the wall separating that hill from the Peanuts Showplace entrance.

I'm thinking if we don't see anything 20-30 days before the ride opens then they might not host a charity event. This ride seems like it would be a really good candidate for one though. With all of the hype and anticipation surrounding it I think KI could get some good participation. There's still hope that PT:ON will be open for Opening Day, but I also still have my doubts based on what I've seen from Six Flags in recent years.

I wonder if the cherry picker is being used for fixes to the facade or if it is entirely what they're using to paint the castle. Right now it looks like it's actually closer to the top of the "gate" where the Boo Blasters sign is/was. Maybe they're working on that before they can work on the big mouth entrance. What I'd give to see something from the ground right there. About a month ago there was a comment from John Reilly on how Magic Mountain was planning to save some money in the long term by purchasing their own boom arm cherry picker, so now I'm curious if Kings Island would do the same. Most of the time I see one in the park it looks to be from Art's Rentals.

They look sad, but it's mostly because they're not in context. The lack of contextual lighting mixed with the cutout nature of the props (and the setting of each photo) are what kill the vibe. Smoke and mirrors do a lot of heavy lifting for dark rides. I'm glad the park is getting what looks to be a much higher quality attraction in PT:ON! I think SDatHC accomplished what it was going for in being a much cheaper alternative to anything at Universal or Disney. Paramount couldn't/didn't want to spend all of that money on an experience they couldn't easily replicate at their other parks so they went with an expanded off-the-shelf option. Boo Blasters also accomplished what it needed to with how it de-branded an IP attraction in the same year as a major area reskin.

To think there were so many issues with season pass complexity and unfairness when they were trying to combine pass structures in 2007 as well! Does anyone remember how the pass systems worked before and after the acquisition of the Paramount Parks? I'm doing some park history research and keep finding broken pages on the Wayback Machine that limit my findings. I'm specifically trying to find some more info about the overall Paramount Gold Pass benefits, logos for the Gold Pass/GP Speed Lane, and what those respective signs in the photo below might specifically say. Photo: Johnny Fout on Facebook

I'm seeing prices ranging from $10-$50 depending on the lot. There are lot items that are the size of medium picture frames all the way up to lot items that are 6+ feet tall. Each lot from the portrait gallery includes the tall black box that held the frame, scrim, background, and the gold detail above it all. Some of the items looks like they could be really nice for a community/school theater to have in their prop catalog, but I think the final costs might be a little prohibitive. Interestingly enough there are some items missing like the bed and the final Boocifer archway. The skeletons from the two dark rooms are also all missing. Those might be too large for the auction or could be finding a new home elsewhere. I still think that this would've been a good opportunity to give Cedar Point a quick and cheap dark ride until they work up the funds for an original concept. The park might do a charity event for Phantom Theater's first riders, so I'm not very pressed that they might be using the BBoBH auction to help pay off some corporate debt. If I could find a spot I'd probably go for one of the flat signs to hang on a wall. What this auction will almost definitely do is soothe all of the naysayers who keep commenting about how PT:ON will "just be a reskin of BBoBH" after that was a reskin of SDatHC. Maybe it'll more so be proof against them, but I digress.

Ooh I haven't been able to look at the auction site yet, so that's pretty cool! I think restoration could be possible if you have the right tools and take your time with it. Your success might also hinge on whether the Boo Blasters figures were attached to the SDatHC figures with screws, nails, or some kind of adhesive. Screws or nails should be easy to remove (and you'd also be able to keep both figures), but if it's adhesive then good luck. These were probably never expected to be separated so the adhesive could've been dabbed on or spread all over. If you're lucky it'd come off in chunks, but otherwise there will be some sanding involved. I suspect that they used screws since the gap looks so small and adhesive would have a harder time sticking to a smooth surface. Maybe I can look closer once I open up the website for myself. If anyone does manage to snag one and attempts to begin a separation/restoration process, be sure to post it! I'd love to see how they were attached and how it all turns out.

I don't have a screenshot for y'all, but Carowinds posted to Facebook saying that "Tomorrow will be an eventful day". If Carowinds releases their events calendar tomorrow, maybe Kings Island will too? We haven't seen much of what KI's new social media person likes to post, so I can't tell you if they're better or worse than the others we've had recently.

Would those be the same cutouts as the ones from SDatHC or are they newer? I don't think they're the same ones. The shape of Shaggy doesn't match either ghost IMO. The one on the left could be a modified Scooby-Doo though. I'm also curious if the figures are painted on or if it's a printed cling.

I think selling to Herschend or splitting off into its own park chain (with a few other parks) would be the only good options if KI had to be sold. Both would come with major changes to general operations and (in the case of Herschend) no more meal plans. That being said, Six Flags probably won't let it go easily. Mid-America may have been chosen to be the flagship because Enchanted Parks might feel it is the most malleable in terms of making it their own. Worlds of Fun has an established theme throughout the park that works with its name while Mid-America will need to see some extensive reworking under its new management. They have an opportunity to make the theming more cohesive in each area while they work to replace all of the Six Flags branding and IPs that Enchanted Parks can't use. I believe that's also why the CEO is speaking so much on the investment slated for the park.

For my fellow KI webcam watchers, there is now a smattering of materials sitting near the castle facade! Some of these items could be for testing nearby rides, but I'm choosing to believe they're for Phantom Theater facade work.

Concerts at Timberwolf would bring in some additional revenue, but I think the venue as it currently exists is not very appealing to modern audiences. It lacks shade, the seats are old and uncomfortable, and the guest entrance experience simply looks and feels bad with concert goers walking through park service areas. I don't think it can easily compete with all of the venues in Cincinnati, even when you factor in all of the fearmongers who swear off going downtown. Carowinds Paladium at least has a roof over the front sections of seats and a direct connection to their front gate alongside more permanent dedicated concessions and restroom facilities. It could work if Kings Island/Six Flags wanted to pour some money into vastly improving the venue, but I don't think we'll see anything long term without that. If they want to test out a new concert program they might want to start by having more events in the KI Theater. The entrance could go through the former Season Pass entrance tunnel and utilize the Front Gate restrooms (before the turnstiles) and/or the Invertigo restrooms. As for KidzBop and Live Nation, the big concert venue at Darien Lake is a LN venue so they might have a way to start that relationship if they haven't already.

I think they could've just gone with "Enchanted Mid-America" instead of wholly shoving Enchanted Parks into the name. They could also have gone with a possessive — the same thing that made both of the Six Flags names work — though I'm unsure what names would've worked best for that. Hopefully it could be an easy name change. The Six Flags Over Mid-America name is actually still visible on their train cars, though the "Over Mid-America" part is now painted to blend in with the background. Maybe someone can add that to the Theme Park Railroad History thread that's here on KIC. Whatever they do, I just hope they don't go with another AI logo like they did with the Enchanted Parks logo. The chain might refine their logos as they design 3D signage and such but I'd hate to see more AI right from the start. I also hope they keep the St. Louis Arch at the front gate. A logo that includes the arch and pays homage to the original SFOMA logo would be amazing! I'm curious about what vibes the new chain will go for as well. Will they go for an amusement park feel or a more magical theme park feel in their parks? Images from Don's article to show the arch and the original logo:

These new B&M family inverts seem to be a nice little addition for any park that wants a family-accessible option compared to their larger coasters! I think Barracuda Strike will work well for what it is and hope to see some more of this model built at parks that need new investment, like Michigan's Adventure and Six Flags St. Louis (soon to be Mid-America by Enchanted Parks).

The wait time sign will be a welcome addition, and may be the first attraction in this building to have one! I suspect the electrical blueprints were able to be released because they don't actually show much about the ride besides scene names and some figure/prop and screen locations — which most of the latter is hard to figure out if you've never seen this kind of plans. It also might be because the company completing the work is (presumably) based in Ohio (and therefore subject to the OPRA mentioned above), unlike Sally Dark Rides who are based in Florida. There might be something about the new PT's potential as a dark ride at other parks involved as well, which would explain the "trade secret" part.