Losantiville Mining Co.

I wonder if this stand will be ready in time for opening day (/s). You know it's the off-season when someone is as excited for a new drink stand as I am.

I have a feeling that the smoking area inside the gate is partially meant to reduce the amount of people leaving the park and trying to get back in. Forcing guests to scan back in just creates the possibility for longer entrance lines and increases the number of re-entry tickets that need to be issued per day. It's also probably just easier for space constraints in this context. I wouldn't be shocked if the smoking area used for Haunt (the former season pass exclusive entrance) becomes permanent.

The new Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal II will only go hard if they continue the repeating initials pattern (KCKC, TRTR, KCKCII)

I saw someone claim to know about Xtreme Skyflyer being removed via a Facebook post yesterday. While I don't trust anything strangers say on social media, the idea is there. Time to start up a new thread, I guess. Canada's Wonderland removed theirs (part of AlpenFury is occupying that plot) and Cedar Point removed theirs (presumably for whatever 4th coaster in 4 years will be going to that park (just kidding... unless...)), so it doesn't appear to be fully out of the realm of possibility. Kings Island could use the plot for another attraction (I vote for a Wild Mouse) or some expanded dining/retail (much needed in Action Zone). If Carowinds also removed theirs it would free up more of the original riverboat path in the center of the park. Is this the end of the sky flyer attraction at these parks? Only time will tell.

On the bright side, surely all of these freshly cleared spaces at each park will allow for guests to get some food, go lay out their picnic blankets, and enjoy a nice meal under the sun! What's that you say? The open land will all be behind fences with no way to access it? Well shucks, that stinks. Yet another patch of grass they have to pay someone to mow, I guess. On a more positive note, I feel like some of these removals will turn out to be painful but good cost cutting measures if the chain actually ends up investing the savings back into the parks like they should. We are still within the first year since the merger officially went through and I am mostly just hoping for myself and the economy to survive these next few years to see the reinvestments happen.

I'd move the entrance sign for Invertigo up to where the vending machines are and do something to narrow the path down a little. Also paint Woodstock Express a nice shade of yellow to match it being themed to Woodstock and his little bird friends.

I think it would be awesome for the park to have more ticketed events, but I also think it could throw off some of the balance that currently exists for season pass holders. It would be a big change to add an after-hours event that takes away some of the public opening hours. The easiest options (IMO) for generating money while not taking away from pass holders seem to be adding behind-the-scenes tours, creating separately ticketed events that can happen while the park is still open to the public, and creating new paid experiences — mostly just what Tr0y said. Just don't take currently "free" experiences and put them behind a paywall. A dead horse that I'll beat is that Haunt should be separately ticketed from Tricks and Treats for non-pass holders. Lower the day ticket price a little, create a separate Haunt ticket, and develop a (good and feasible) plan for moving guests between the two events. Universal does this, Six Flags parks with Fright Fest have a haunted maze pass (around $20-$30), and two parks have already tried something similar. I don't know why they stopped doing it, but I think it needed more planning in general. Other than that, something I'd like Kings Island to do that other parks do is having trams in the parking lot that shuttle guests to and from the main gates. Other Six Flags parks have trams and I hope someone realizes it's time to bring them back to the Legacy Cedar Fair parks.

IIRC the "cheap labor" there is a different kind (putting it euphemistically) than the "cheap labor" here in the States. Forgive me if I'm thinking of the wrong country. The overall working conditions are also a lot different outside the US since they don't have to worry about paying for healthcare out of pocket in the same way we do and their wage systems seem to be a lot different too.

Brewhouse (good), Potato Works (easy), and Jukebox (fun) are my top 3. Being a simple man, if I can get a good hot dog, burger, or fries then I'm set. I have complaints, but the food experiences are high on my list of reasons to love Kings Island. I tracked my meal/drink plan usage for 2024 and an overwhelming majority of meals across six CF parks were good/great. While the food is great, the seating areas are not as stellar. Places like Jukebox need more seating on the Backlot side, while places like Potato Works need a better system for ordering/announcing when food is ready. There have been a few times when I've been at Potato Works and cannot understand what is being said because of the partitions. It would probably behoove the park to implement some order number systems at restaurants like Potato Works and Skyline where you have to wait at a window for your food to be made. Put a TV up at the window and number each order — although IDK if the point of service system the park uses has that option — then nobody would need to rely on asking for names for orders.

I'd like to see the park at least try to paint it so it is less visible, but that might also "too expensive" for some in the budget(cuts) department

I'd be curious to see how anyone's rankings change this season now that there are at least four restroom facilities being renovated. One of them looked like it had a high cost, so it might be a total gut job (which is what some of these need), but I hope it's more than just replacing broken items and putting up new paint. I don't really have a favorite as much as I have some that I go to on my regular route through the park, but I tend to agree with what has been said here already. On the note of the front gate men's restroom I have a big feeling that it would need to be physically expanded in order for more stalls to be put in. Ohio building code states that a number of stalls can be replaced with urinals (I forget the percentages), but the total number of toilets/urinals/sinks is all based on the number of people who are expected to be in the area at normal-ish capacity. Maybe something could work if the Wheelchair/Stroller Rentals and lockers were moved around alongside the restrooms. That would probably come with a whole front gate renovation, though. If any of you have been to the Aeronautica Landing restrooms in Carowinds, I think you might agree that those are some of the more impressive facilities in the Legacy Cedar Fair parks. It's clean, has cool vibes, and fun-looking fixtures.

I think they did. I will mention, KD had their original logo in front of their fountain when I was there in August. They still use the corporate one on everything else. It would be nice to see the big Six Flags logo removed/reduced in size from the parks that could do it (Magic Mountain, Great Adventure, Discovery Kingdom, etc.). Magic Mountain has already changed their big marquee sign back to their original logo, but still uses the Six Flags logo on their website. It is somewhat likely that as SFEC continues to merge, the websites will be updated to all be more standardized (hopefully to be more like the Cedar Fair websites). Seasonal events/event logos and marketing are already being merged across the chain. I'm curious to see how the bottles, cups, maps, etc. will look once all of the parks are open in May.

If my math is correct, this year will be the 25th Halloween Haunt/Fearfest event (2000-2025, skipping 2020). Maybe we'll see something fun for it, maybe not. Dorney Park did Halloween Haunt V for their fifth Haunt. On the topic of the seasonal events calendar, I looked and it appears that last year they were released on March 4th. I wonder if we'll see them sooner or later than that.

I believe Boo Blasters is a Sally Ride trademark, so whatever goes in would either need to be a collaboration or not use any of the current BBoBH themes/IP. There would also possibly be some issues trying to fit a coaster in there due to the ceiling heights — no matter how low to the ground it is. Personally, I'd like to see another omnimover dark ride go in there. Save the coaster for an already vacant spot in the park.

The park website has been updated with attraction pages for RiverRacers and the new/renamed slides in Splash River Junction. It looks like Bluegill Lagoon is the water tower area, Riverbank Slide Out is the renamed Aruba Tuba, Salamander Sliders is the 7 new slides, and the Tadpool is a pool for the smallest swimmers. Nothing has been added yet for the new blue ice cream stand, but the pages for all of the front gate shops (KI Trading Post, KI Collections, and Convenience Corner) have been removed. Maybe they'll be renamed, but who knows. Off-season is quite exciting this time around! April can't seem to come fast enough!

Update: I've been doing some more work on my KECO park design, including seasonal events! Right now I'm working on FearFest (and a rebrand of Halloween Haunt) and getting some ideas out as a branding exercise. For those wondering, the font is CCPrimalScream (from AdobeFonts), it comes in red and in green, and it looks like the original FearFest logo without being a direct copy. I'd like to add some blood drops or textures to it so it can be its own thing, but that can be done later. The current Halloween Haunt logo uses Gill Sans Ultra Bold with modified kerning and a rough texture applied. I was directly inspired by Billie Haas' rebranding exercise of Six Flags FrightFest (https://www.billiehaas.com/six-flags-fright-fest). She has more awesome work all over her website, so be sure to check it out! The new FearFest logo in red and in green. The new logo with a (fake) sponsor. (FYI: FrightFest is sponsored by Snickers and Haunt was once sponsored by SafeAuto) And finally, the new logo in monochrome — you can't always rely on colors in your logo! Let me know your thoughts! I also have a summertime haunt event idea in the works that I may share soon.

If Kings Island put you (yes you, dear reader) in charge of one non-ride/non-coaster last minute addition to the park for the 2025 season, what would it be? Assume all of the permitting/ordering/installation is taken care of and goes smoothly. I would put some money and effort into upping the amount of trees, shade, and dedicated cooling stations around the park. That way guests who would like a cup of cold water can get one without needing to go to a bee-covered soda dispenser or spend $4 per bottle. It would also help the park in their hypothetical quest to remove water dispensers from soda machines. Maybe put one in that Rivertown refresh stand by the arcade that is always closed.

Maybe it will be the fourth coaster to be added to Cedar Point in four years (I kid, I kid — I hope they don't get another major coaster before Kings Island does)

I thought Georgia Surfer just got renamed/rethemed to Georgia Goldrusher? It would be a fun thing to see either way!

Not that it means anything, but it looks like Cedar Point is the only park in the Six Flags Midwest Region that has released their events for 2025. Every other park in this Region either has no events listed yet or they have Education Days and Grad Nite (which I think was only shown on SF Great America's website). East Region: Carowinds, Six Flags Over Georgia, Great Adventure, Great Escape, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas have all posted their events. Dorney Park still has last year's events/event dates listed. It's also notable that Kings Dominion's passes are all the same prices without Winterfest as they were with it... West Region: It looks like Knott's is the only park that has any events listed so far. I'm hopeful that the company deems Kings Island worthy of keeping/expanding it's events, but I also hope that parks across the chain don't get the short end of the stick like CGA and KD have gotten so far.

Viva La Fiesta is a similar event from Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. I'm curious to see what it will look like at Carowinds this year!

Carowinds released their events schedule this morning with some notable differences. They now have the Legacy Six Flags Spring Break daily operations for two weeks in April, a new Summerbration event (dates not yet listed), and Star-Spangled Nights and Viva La Fiesta are coming in July. As of now, neither Grand Carnivale or the Summer Music Fest are returning in 2025. The Legacy Cedar Fair SCarowinds, Oktoberfest, Tricks and Treats, and WinterFest (+ NYE at WinterFest) are all returning. Now that we have confirmation that events are being shared between parks across the whole chain, I'm eager and a little worried about what we will see at all of the parks who have yet to announce their events.

The progress on Epic Universe has been looking great! The trees are growing in nicely and all five lands are themed really well. I'm really interested to see what it looks like from the ground once June rolls around and the park has been open for a little bit.

Serious question because I don't know the answer: Is there another park in the chain that brings in the numbers/cash/positive business more than Cedar Point does? People already travel multiple hours to go to Cedar Point, is there a reason to not try to get those numbers at another park that people would travel to?

Just realized that I forgot to put the Food and Wine Festival on the topic list, whoopsie! Also, I feel the need to clarify that Dorney Park's Summer Nights is a Latin festival— more like Viva La Fiesta than the similarly-named events at Knott's and Cedar Point. It was a really cool event and I hope it returns to Dorney next season! I'd also like to see Grand Carnivale and Viva La Fiesta combined into the same event on paper, but I think they should keep their names. Keeping the names/branding would help keep the overall cost per park down and would probably save the chain from over-extending their brand recognition. Haunt and FrightFest would be good for this treatment as well! Share some of the mazes (including some of the IP ones), move the events around between parks that might need a rebrand, and maybe spice it up a little so there would be less kids and strollers clogging up the pathways (sorry to people who bring their young kids). It looks like 2019 was a really good year for events at Kings Island. There were more than a few special events advertised, Grand Carnivale was brand new, and Haunt had received five new and original attractions — each with nice theming and dedicated signage IIRC. Kings Island had an event called Island Nights in July 2019, but from what little I could find about it, it only happened on Friday nights in July in Soak City. I could've sworn there were ads in the dry park for it being a big coming-in-2020 summer event, but I've only found two July 2019 Facebook posts with bit.ly links that now redirect to the park's homepage. The WaybackMachine has nothing on it either. It would be nice to see it be a big dry park event in the near future!