Losantiville Mining Co.

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.

Funnily enough, there is a KIC discussion topic on whether it's time to retire the phrase "Vortex replacement" lol. The immediate slope of the hillsides would make it much harder to install any flat rides there without, again, installing a large retaining wall. Putting flat rides there also reduces the amount of space to put in a coaster (I'd really prefer they not cut down more trees near The Beast), so a coaster is still the best option. For those wanting a new indoor restaurant I think it'd be better to tear down Jukebox Diner and build a Grand Pavilion-style restaurant where KillMart currently is. That would also help to straighten out the midway and remove the awkward bottleneck that exists right there. Let Invertigo live out the rest of its life, replace Congo Falls with a MACK Rides water battle when its time comes, and then build another coaster stretching from Invertigo over to the Timberwolf Amphitheater (but NOT going over the front entrance of the park).

I think some short shows and a ceremony (either on the Bandstand or in the Festhaus/KI Theater if it rains) would be a good way to celebrate Opening Day. They wouldn't need to be high production or anything, just small and maybe including some snippets from previous season's shows! Six Flags Over Texas got to celebrate their Opening Day, although I have a feeling that is because of Jeffrey Siebert and his efforts to transform that park.

That'd be a good place for a facade and small building addition if they decided to use the inside of the big box as a restaurant!

My biggest issue putting any kind of large water feature in Vortex's plot is that you would need a massive retention wall to hold all of that water back from Beast Valley (or maybe it's also a part of Vortex Valley). I've tried to draw a diagram highlighting the three relative elevations that exist right there. The pink is the highest elevation right there, the orange is (approximately) the lowest (and where the ravine is), and the blue is the middle elevation where most of Rivertown sits. The light orange arrows point downhill, with everything emptying into the lower valley. I do think it would be really pretty, I just don't think it would work the best. Obviously no water feature would need to be terribly large and fill out the site like the AI had, but anything that goes there would need to take the valley and all of its slopes into account. I wonder how it might look if Beast's water feature was brought back (yes, I've heard all the arguments as to why it was removed) and a waterfall installed to allow water to flow into a basin toward the right side of the valley where you don't need as big of a retention wall. All of this to say I still think they should instead just make a new Swan Lake behind Diamondback's final helix as part of a Rivertown expansion area. BTW I think Vortex Valley would be a good name for either a Scare Zone along that path or the general area right there

Now that you mention it, the image does remind me of the 2016 website (the second image won't load for me so see below)! The new ads all look like the legacy Six Flags ones to me with how they use different fonts/stretched fonts for emphasis. The differently sized dots (at the bottom) is also a legacy SF thing I've noticed. I think it would be nice to see more photos from inside each be used for promotions (see below for this as well), but I understand that's probably because of how Six Flags does their standardized promotional image templates at the corporate offices. I wish they could've gotten a new promotional image, though. That one from August is feeling a little too overused. I'd love to see how the Silver Pass sells from year to year, especially now that Silver = home park pass, Gold = regional pass, and Prestige = all-park pass. I think it'd be better to let Silver Passes work all year with blackout dates, but maybe it wouldn't sell as well?

I thought EPR Properties are only taking on the ownership of these parks while Enchanted Parks (confusing acronym mix, I know) will be the management company. If they keep the parks where they are I think it'll be fine. I've seen what the non-Six Flags Premier Parks (the new Premier Parks company, also owned by former SF CEO Kieran Burke) has done with Elitch Gardens so their management of La Ronde will be interesting. The $10 credit for meal plans was the biggest slap in the face when I first read it. I really hope there's a way to make these parks/companies honor the 2026 add-ons. Unfortunately, Six Flags can now say that those add-ons are still valid at the parks that aren't being sold so nothing will change. It's $155 down the drain for each meal plan bought through these parks if they're not honored.

While I don't condone the use of AI, I'll admit it does look good. The scale is off, so the parking issues would likely look better by fixing that. An indoor waterpark would not have a big dedicated entrance like it does in the image unless it is open to non-guests. In that case I would position it on the other side, closer to Soak City's parking lot, therefore reserving the hotel parking for hotel guests. The parking lot entrance and porte cochere would probably go on the side facing One Team Way (an awful name for the road IMO) and use Soak City Drive as the entrance coming directly from the I-71 off ramp. There is a traffic light there and another at Columbia Road/Western Row Road, so the traffic could be split between those. I'm not so sure about needing more building setback as the parking lot would likely handle most of it, but we could check that by looking at Mason's (publicly available) building codes. The site might also need a different size water retention pond, but I think the one in the image could work. Something I'd like to note from my exploration on the Warren County property search map: only part of the KI Inn site is owned by Rivers Crossing Church. The parcel where the original hotel stood is now owned by Amerileagues Real Estate LLC, who I can only assume is a real estate company who took ownership of the parcel from the county for development. The City of Mason owns a few little narrow parcels next to the street on KI Drive and Western Row Road. This corner site is also split across three parcels that KI owns. That probably wouldn't interfere with anything too much considering what the park's other parcels look like, but it's something to consider. How would you handle the sight lines for the new corner sign seen from the I-71 off ramp? I think it would fit nicely a little further away from the corner, close to where that patch of yellow grass is and angled to be viewed from the off ramp. That brings it out from behind the traffic light pole while remaining visible for oncoming traffic.

(Prefacing with the fact that I don't like to drink alcohol anyways) Hey I'm sure that brandy is still enjoyable enough after nearly 200 years aging in a plantation house An embarrassing story indeed, but a funny one as well. Is this "jail" just a room in the admin building or where is it? I'm sure the park has something secure, but I don't know which of the admin buildings it would reasonably go in.

I can confirm, Rajun Cajun has been carefully disassembled and is sitting in parts behind its ride pad. There are also a lot of other items in that area that look to be preparing to ship out. If you'd like to go look for yourself the video is by PleaseStopVlogging on YouTube. It's some really good footage and shows off the park from the air. RC is the only large visible change at the park aside from some signage and the park being empty. Other things we know about the site is that the site is still zoned for entertainment and that Prince George's County doesn't want a data center going there.

It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to find out what festivals and events Kings Island will host in 2026. For the past two years the list dropped on March 4th, but if you check there today all you'll find are the same four Group Events that have been there since December. I'm a little surprised if they get much outdoor work done this week with all of the rain. Last time I looked at my weather app it showed pretty consistent rain all day and all night.

Massacre Manor was in the original Dodgem building (later repurposed for the laser maze and Attitudes gift shop) and was demolished to make way for Coney Bar-B-Que. CarnEvil was the maze in the Enchanted Theater next to Phantom Theater/Scooby-Doo/Boo Blasters and its space is now used for the Peanuts Playhouse theater. They've been hosting more Tricks & Treats and Winterfest shows in there lately, but for the main season it's often an indoor Meet & Greet location alongside any shows they host in it.