Outdoor Man

parts of it look like they are using the oil/grease as a paint color. Several of the coasters there could use a good bath and paint job. Firehawk's mask is meticulously being pulled back to reveal X-Flight.

Two opinions: 1) I-Street wouldn't really be successful open during off-season times as a shopping district. Many factors. Parking. too far a walk to get there especially when the weather is <30 degrees Retailers wouldn't "fit" during in-season dates. Only one entrance/one exit. 2) Steakhouse... at an amusement park? Not sure about that one. Coney BBQ had GREAT food... for a weekend. It's OK- its still the place I choose to use my meal plan- but the meat quality has taken a bit of a dive.

Interesting concepts and seemingly serious rebuttal.... At the depot and awaiting the arrival of the reality train.

hmmm... this all reminds me of a song:

you don't know what you're talking about- it would be like putting Vinyl Siding on Lady Liberty. Too much Friday's.

I like the new music setup. Though the Coney area music seems to be the same roll that has played for a few years- i HATE some of those songs. Anything by Sam Smith causes me to want to lunge at a speaker in anger...

Worst coaster ending since Adventure Express.

someone made mention of it on page 1- I'm not reading dozens of replies to get up to speed just to make my own comment. I hope this hire is a move towards improving what has been terrible for a very long time. The food service area seems to be where they place the least talented and motivated people.... and a step below that seems to be the ones that run the check out area. They are either too concerned with flirting with co-workers or "can't find the buttons"... there's really no in between. I, for one, am a proud family that has meal plans... because if I had to cough up $15 everytime we opened our mouths for mediocre product and lower-than-that service... I feel for Kings Island management. quality employees that are >22 years old simply don't apply to work there and unlike Disney... quality college age employees aren't beating down the gates to work there. I still think that they'd dramatically improve the overall guest experience by hiring half and paying them more. it seems like their solution has been to hire quantity. You don't hire a dozen "3's" and somehow end up with an 8 or 9. Instead of hiring 10 kids to work the skyline location where one or two of them is actually working, hire 5 and pay the same aggregate total. I don't work in the HR there- so I know there are more moving parts to it than my "simple" solution.

I would love to see the Maintenance team at KI take a couple of their trucks, lifts, etc... out into the park and randomly place them together in front of a ride, coaster, building, etc... and watch these forums explode.

VR would cause a longer longer. Not enough capacity

Manby was brought in as a operational numbers person to pull up the nose. I think the things introduced will place them on a profitable course... in 5+ years- unfortunately there is a significant level of muck to get from here to there. Intriguingly, SW and BG have mostly held an independent leadership structure. I think what's needed now is a seasoned Guest Experience leader. Look around... there's one available. I'm just going to lay a series of initials here in the event I'm right... just to say I called it. GOECL

Waking up to dust off my profile for just my third post since November. Kings Island in 2018- looking forward to the former Dodgem (& Cuddle Up) Building replacement... with a tasty Coney Island theme of the Soak City Smoke House. Dinosaur's Alive, intriguing concept- stuck around a LOT longer than I thought it would. Replacement for that, I'd love a well-themed X-Base expansion that gives an experience you'll come back for time and time again. Hope that the proverbial "giga" isn't destined for that area. It would just be a larger version of Diamondback- and thus move it towards obsolescence. Unique/Creative experience will trump a "thrill" every time and keep lines coming back.

Two things, both regarding the giant Eiffel Tree. brighter lights on the star ease up on all of the lighting changes.. I get that the light strands have a billion or so functions. choose 5, let them go longer And perhaps a New Years Eve event. other than that- for a park that is notorious for "over-hype / under-deliver"- this one exceeded all expectations. Well done, and hopefully an indication of things to come!

Went on Friday; agree with just about everyone in that it exceeded expectations. Someone made a comment a page or two ago about the Peanuts show in KI Theater. It wasn't overtly inappropriate- but have to agree... the short skirts with the flip overs................ not awful; but a kids show. Other than that- the tower lights are great for the most part. The LEDs on the star have to be the dimmest bulbs they could have bought and the pattern programming is a bit "schizo".... I would contend that it doesn't have to be in CONSTANT motion. BUT, outside of very few "preferences"- staffing seemed eerily adequate. The shows were amazing. Lights were incredible. Well done!

you haven't lived until your $15 Churro gets attacked by a team of aggressive seagulls walking through Frontierland at (Disney) Magic Kingdom.

A long time ago I was in a conversation with what at the time was a former Paramount Park mid-manager (older than the typical Dippin' Dots exec but lower than a VP at the park level). They weren't in F&B- but like most of us, had opinions. His math was simple at best but made mention of the Festhaus kitchen area that regularly employed 10 disaffected employees doing the work of 5. I don't remember the dollar amount- but instead of paying $10/hour for 10 people ($100/hour). Have the same output of productivity by hiring 5, pay them $17/hour; pay the supervisor $10 more/hour, have expectations that they actually want to supervise... not make friends. Then pocket the left over and apply to improvements. The thought was that by hiring fewer people that may be older and care about their jobs- it would dramatically improve the guest experience. His contention was that Paramount addressed Customer Service issues by throwing more staff at the problem. the issue with that is that you dilute the pool... it's impossible to reach a "10" if you can only average out a bunch of 4's and 5's in your hiring. Sweeten the pot a little, pay more, get better quality, and have expectations.

and "flavor" for the new smokehouse next summer.

They may very well be using the structure, or at least part of it. If you're demolishing a building you're not necessarily looking to "gut" it- you're just going to start at one end and go until its on the ground. Not being in construction/demolition myself- I could be very wrong.

Anyone can speculate or hope that votes go towards something; but the decision of what is going to happen to that area was probably made in 2015 or 2016. Not knocking Don- but he would have very little to do with the decision. These discussions come from people with last names like: Zimmerman, in consultation with a Witherow. Maybe a Bender or a Decker. As well as Scheid and Koontz. Then a decision is made and a guy with a last name like Ouimet signs a contract, makes an announcement and shakes hands for cameras at an annual event in Florida. Or something like that.

seriously? You said you were fixing your calendar or fixing text on a brochure. I see how it is...

A great (short) read on immersing guests into an "experience" that keeps them coming back vs mis-matching and seeing things go stale. As I read it I think of the I-Street Music, then... queue for Boo Blasters; any mystique created as you enter is lost with the "brighter-than-sunlight" screens playing "Cash-Coaster," find the hidden whatever, etc... and a host of effects that don't work. "International" Street, and probably in a few years- Mystic Timbers (which, meanwhile well-themed- out of the box, didn't fit a Rivertown theme). https://disneyinstitute.com/blog/2016/03/exceptional-service-delivery-a-lesson-from-the-jungle-cruise/?CMP=SOC-DI-Blog-LessonFromJungleCruise-03-15-16

I agree for the most part. I hope that the Peanuts license carries out indefinitely so they don't run into the habit of changing ride names every so many years. However, in a few years our youngest will be out of the kid area all together, at which point I won't care...

when did they announce the Soak City Smokehouse? Many other parks are announcing new rides, coasters, etc... KI has already announced Winterfest... A new restaurant isn't going to cause a bump in Season Pass Sales and no news outlet is going to pick up that story. I could see a small ride... but if you build another eat in area... it's not as big as you may think. And as far as a new set of Antique Cars... dream another dream- I think that one's over. Find another ship... that one has sailed. I don't claim to know anything about what's going on there. I'm content to wait until April to see it- and until May when the line goes down. I just don't see any practicality in opening a new "car" ride.

I would side with it being credible. The smokehouse is too good of a concept to be only at the water park side and there isn't really any other location for a new food option on the dry side. Kings Island is long overdue for a high capacity sit-in eating location. AND... I don't think that a new eatery would be top-secret, hush-hush news. Wonder if they'll come across any old Dodgem or Tea Cup relics during the demolition.

Kings Island (or any park for that matter) will host just about any event where the organization provides "minimums" and $$$. Key words: just about any...