Losantiville Mining Co.

I love the changes! Some more fresh paint would do wonders for QCSC, especially around the station and the shipping containers.

The changes look really nice, although I wonder what would make it look better that isn't a full retheme. Some trees/foliage in front of the fences and more paint on the shipping containers would probably help out.

I really like this line of merch! I don't know what it would be considered besides varsity vintage, but the colors are really nice and go well together.

The 2025 Kings Island Park Map has been released! See it here: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/directions https://qr1.be/SX1M

Oops! I jumbled my thoughts, sorry about that. The guests being on the other side of the counter in this specific location was what I found questionable. The former Skyline on International Street (in all of its glory) seemed to work very well, I just think the building in question would need too many modifications to become cafeteria-style. The park would be better served starting from scratch if they wanted to change this building's service style IMO. Also, which location is this picture from? I really like how it looks!

Part of me wonders if Snake River Expedition (and everything on Adventure Island) didn't last because they were kinda hidden from guest view/were a trek to get to. Carowinds could use a calm family attraction since they don't have anything like an Antique Autos or a railroad, and since Boo Blasters and the Carousel are the only slow-moving/calm family (non-coaster) attractions outside of Camp Snoopy. The park could still put a coaster over the island, the station would probably just need to go where Ripcord is. This, an antique cars attraction in their Dinosaurs Alive! plot, next year's water attraction, and a coaster in the Ripcord/Nighthawk plots would all fill out the empty parts of Carowinds really nicely. I'm not terribly hopeful for the paddleboat's return, but it would be really nice. In this same spirit, I think Kings Dominion could do well with a train attraction — especially if they find a way to connect it to their Soak City and have two stations. Put the station where the go karts were and have it run back through the woods. These dreams would be better suited in another chain, but I'll keep on hoping.

I don't know how well the cafeteria-style line (like at Enrique's) generally works out for Skyline, but I think it might be a little too much for this particular building since it's laid out to only have order/serving windows on the front/back sides. That setup might also drastically reduce the kitchen space. A good short-term solution would be to place a ton of benches near the pick-up window and remove the fence that blocks said pick-up window. The gate can move and still block guests from entering the line, but people would be free to step away from the window for a moment. As for long term (in this building), I'd vote to keep the line and counter service layout, but have it set up more like Potato Works is. Keep the line as it currently exists, the order window is where your green is, move the pick-up window to the top side on the right (your red), put a TV displaying order numbers/status next to it, and place a ton of benches along the path next to Scrambler. Have associates pour drinks after ordering like at Potato Works (issues with ice/syrup/carbonation are something that needs to be fixed throughout the park, so don't worry about it). Moving the order pick-up to that side of the building better directs guests toward the Skyline Pavilion and its beautiful covered seating while getting the window itself out of the sun and taking guests away from Dodgem's exit pathway. Now, move Skyline into the KillMart building (which is slightly smaller than the Brewhouse building) with another restaurant and maybe you'll have a better cafeteria style setup. In there it would be more like a small food court and could have some tables inside and outside.

The restroom renovations will be very welcome, whether there were really any "upgrades" or not. I'll personally be using them just because that is probably the newest and cleanest they'll be. I watched some finishing paint going on the KI Trading Company yesterday, and now that the trucks have moved I can officially say the little part I can see from the webcams looks really good. I'm glad to see that the tree between the Trading Co. and Build-A-Bear appears to have survived the renovation as well! There looks to be a little desk table or something next to a planter sign (across from the Trading Co.), would anyone like to guess what that is? It could just be a little work table for the crews out there today, but the sign next to it makes me think it has another purpose. I wonder how the crowds will be at noon since it'll be Good Friday. I think I'll have fun either way! edit: It was plywood on top of two trash cans (probably to make it a work surface)!

I was just wondering about the ordering kiosks. They seem like they would help with the order customization issues, but maybe not the speed issues. The kitchen optimization definitely needs to be fixed, as @silver2005 described. That stand could do with a good re-working either way. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Order Window restaurants (Skyline, Potato Works, Tom+Chee) need to implement order numbers with a screen by the pick-up window that displays what orders are ready. The "platter menu" system has worked wonders for Coney Bar-B-Que and Jukebox Diner and I think order numbers would do just as much good for Skyline and stands like it. The park also already uses a form of order numbering in the Brewhouse, so I think the POS system should be able to support something like it.

The Eiffel Tower elevator is running! Hoping for lots of tower views this season

I've been seeing some of the pictures and videos looking at the Nighthawk plot, and it looks like the land bridge from the Thunder Road area (across from Thunder Striker) to the Nighthawk pathway has been completely removed. This could either be a good sign for those of us wanting the Carolina Sternwheeler to make a return, or it could just be for something else that would require the removal of the pathway.

The wood fence looks much nicer IMO. Definitely better than the chain link fences I've seen surrounding the Nighthawk plot at Carowinds.

Just re-read this and had a thought: a better system would be to stagger the start of half of the shows 2yr runs. That would at least change things up from year to year. Maybe we'll see some better variety once we're further out of the post-merger shake up. I'd personally welcome an expanded run of Phantom Theater Encore, Country Crossroads, and Hot Blooded. The decades shows (Motown, 70s On Demand, and Totally '80s) always felt like a nice and easy way to entertain everyone too.

That description is remarkably blunt! I thought it was another fabrication when I first saw it, but now I can see it's real. Very interesting to see this considering the lack of other communications from the park. Link to the park website below for the source. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/rides-experiences/monster

I would've thought the permit for that would be filed with all of the other permits for the area. It's something that can be easily assembled, but the permitting seems like a step that should've taken place sooner than now. On the note of purchasing meal plans, it's cheapest to buy online. I wish there weren't extra fees for doing so in person, but that just seems to be how it is. Don't get me started on cashless systems either — they're easier for businesses that use them but that's about it.

I think they could almost certainly fill out the International Showplace

To expand on this, I think it's somewhat fine for the park to be putting some things out through the Facebook groups, but that number is small and the circumstances are super specific. Proxy-posting to generate hype among passholders and park enthusiasts? That's fine (although anyone doing so should be paid in some way). Proxy-posting to communicate official changes? Bad. Very bad. That's how you end up with situations like this. I really appreciate and commend Jim's FAQ and hype posts, but there's a reason why official accounts exist. The lack of official information about policy changes, height requirement adjustments, and ride removals are a massive sign of a poorly operated PR team. Speaking from my (frankly limited compared to some, but still substantial compared to most) PR experience, there are a number of massive issues that would benefit the park if they got resolved. I mentioned the big three, but misinformation (like this) spreading showcases how the lack of communication can/does hurt the park's image. Nobody necessarily needs to generate buzz around planting new grass these days, but it does not take much time or effort to snap a few good pictures of something, choose one or two, caption them, and make the post. It takes 30 minutes max. to make a one-off post — excluding time for anything that needs to be approved or checked by others. Blog posts posted to the park website should probably take about an hour, but that is more because of the amount of information most people would like to communicate through that medium. If anyone else has PR experience or opinions on the matter, I'd be interested to hear your takes.

Ah, so that's what I was missing in my process of wondering. I hadn't paid much attention to any of his other work before this post so I hadn't noticed. Thanks for the (correct) info!

Maybe not an Easter event, but I think there are other holidays Kings Island could get a small event sponsor for! If Carowinds Spring Break days can be "Sweetened by PEEPS", maybe the Food & Wine Festival can be "Savored by [cheese producer]"

It's kinda easy to copy/paste an email with its signature, I don't know a good reason to do that though. I don't think the park really needs to respond, but it would be nice to put something up IMO. It would at least answer the question of why there are some fences up around it. One big shrug from me right now

I'm personally looking forward to just having all of my favorite park food back. This year will hopefully be one where I get my eating habits (both timing and what I'm eating) back under control, and visits to Kings Island will be my respite from whatever new territory I venture into that week. Some specific things I'd like to do: Try something from almost every dining location that's on the meal plan. I don't particularly enjoy chicken though, so that is off of my menu. Find the best hamburger/hot dog/LaRosa's pizza in the park. Track my "spending" habits through my meal plan. I did this last year, and got down to a price per meal of ~$3.93 (42 meals across 6 parks) and a price per drink of ~$0.61 (57 drink plan cups across 6 parks). I don't know many places where you can get a good meal for $4.50 these days! Have my comfort foods in the park and rate the quality of each plate of food. Last year's ratings were almost entirely "Good"s and "Great"s, so I'm looking forward to more this season! I don't know that there is space for a new bar, but I wouldn't put it past anyone to find the space. Action Zone has one near Congo Falls, Oktoberfest has one in the Festhaus, Adventure Port has the Mercado bar, Coney Mall has 21&Colder and one next to Jukebox Diner, Area 72 has a beer cart, Rivertown has one next to LaRosa's and another next to the train station, and Soak City has one next to First Aid and another near Coconut Cove Cafe. Planet/Camp Snoopy won't ever get one, which leaves International Street as the only area without a bar. We'll have to see what happens!

So it turned out to be a false report. Now I'm curious as to how something like this happens. Did a Guest Services worker read something wrong and think they were being asked about Xtreme Skyflyer? I haven't seen a screenshot of a correction email, but there probably is one out there somewhere. On the other hand — and I'm purely speculating — if the email was not sent via official park channels, how did it end up on Facebook? I think this is the type of thing that warrants some kind of post from the park. Even something like "Family thrills on the Monster are expected to return later this season once our maintenance teams complete their work to keep this 70 year old ride running!" would be better than nothing IMO. No offense meant to anyone who posted about it but an email with the proper signature is often trusted when it comes to these things, and this one turned out to be false. (I also replied believing it to be true)

With just a little over one week until Passholder Preview and Opening Day, I thought now would be a good time to kick off a centralized 2025 food discussion! From freeze-dried blue ice cream to the first full season of the new Shooting Star Cafe, what are you excited for? What will you be eating first? Will the Rivertown Freestyle or Refresh station by the arcade ever be open?

I'd like to imagine this one stayed more because the stand was renovated, but my "don't take it down" theory is getting some more evidence lol

What this tells me is that we may still see a ton of surprises throughout the next few months. Experience as much as you can while you can, I guess. Also, has anyone yet made the argument as to whether or not a small flat ride can be considered a "family thrill attraction"?