robintodd

I'm one of those that look at CP and KI cams every morning. Interesting things are going on at the KI cams this am. 1) Crews are quickly tearing down Snowflake lake to complete the task before the weather hits this weekend. They are almost 2/3 of the way done since starting on Wednesday. 2) Zephyer seems to be taken down all the way to the ground (2 cranes are on the pad). I've never noticed this in years past hopefully it's just a routine 10-20 year maintenance. Would be interesting to know if CP's is doing the same thing. 3) Action on the Monster pad. About 4 employees with what looks like an arm for the ride were there this am. 4) The lights on the Eiffel Tower are still up. If I remember correctly these are usually down by now. I'm looking forward to seeing the snow on the KI cams later this weekend.

The park is perfectly right to fear "incidents". Most of the negative press happened on Grad Nights. I was going to the park back then it was more about drinking and drugs in the parking lot in order to "enhance" enjoyment of the park. That being said I must admit the amount of that kind of activity seems significantly less nowadays. Best example I can site is the lack of "teen dance clubs", malls and other places teens would interact etc. Seems like teens are more into staying home on their devices rather than being out in public. Finally, in my opinion the LAST thing KI needs is an attendance driver. With the advent of social media and the number of vlogs/podcasts there is no shortage of "what's new at Kings Island" news without the park needing to do anything. Back in the 80s and 90s it was important to get the word out about Kings Island but nowadays, anyone who is interested in theme parks knows or can easily find out about KI. I don't understand why some people complain about how crowded the park is by "giving away the gate" yet still want to see more marketing to drive attendance at an already busy park. Does it really make sense to market a park and when people come from out of the area and find the park so crowded that it affects their experience in a negative way. KI is unique in that not only is it in the middle of a populated area but it's a wealthier area than most parks are surrounded by (I notice this by noticing the neighborhoods and houses when driving to KI vs CP). I still maintain the park could not add anything new for 2-4 years and NOT see a drop in attendance. If they decide to up the price of season passes then it may make sense to market the park once attendance is an issue but until that time they will be wiser to spend money keeping up with the people in the park rather than attacting more people to an already crowded park.

I've not seen anything on the boards about the "New way to play" for the midway arcade. This was taken from the (several) digital ad boards thorughout the park. The 2 things I didn't capture was the claw pulling up a fastlane pass and a 2026 Gold Pass. Something is coming to the Midway Arcade, didn't know if anyone has any further information on this. (Pics by me).

This is not a good idea without extreme precautions. I would suggest refusing entry for anyone who seems intoxicated and NO selling of liquer for that night. I remember the grad nights. So much alcohol in the parking lot. Most of the "grads" would come into the park drunk. Some of the worst stories came from grad nights (including Tower Johnny). KI get's plenty of attendance without resorting to jr. or sr. frat parties (in my opinion).

Just got back from the park and am pleased to report that broccoli beef is BACK at Panda Express!!!! (seems as it was addedback last week). It's not on the menu board but they were making a fresh batch at 9 and said it's doing very well.

Smart move. Props to those involved.

After seeing the "DEMO LOOP" from the IAPPA show with Maestro and No Legs Larrys, I wouldn't be surprised if that was continuously shown in the lobby where the queue is. Seem to tell the story and be about 15 minutes long. (of course I'd much rather have what was done before.):

Went last night and had a fantastic time. Here were the highlights: 1) The meatloaf burger at Juke Box was fantastic. Unlike the other offerings they have a meatloaf burger displayed (unwrapped) and when you order they grab one out of the hot box behind the counter! Definitely the same quality as when it was at the Brewhouse and it's nice to get fries, onion rings or both as a side. 2) Tinkers show is FANTASTIC (I saw the 2nd show, extremely long line(s)). It is a broadway style "review" with fantastic sets and props. Definetly more money was put into this than previous shows and is by FAR (in my opinion) the best Winterfest show they have ever had. I put it on par with Phantom Theatre Encore. So much energy and Santa no has a much bigger part in the show and the addition of Mrs. Clause is a welcome addition. I got a little teary eyed when the did the "in the mood" number, it brought back such great memories of Woodchopper's Ball Revue. Another favorite part was the TAP NUMBER!!!! Nice to see a couple of nods to the choreography from the tap number in PT Encore. 3) The park looked fantastic. Nice to see the Trolly not runnng along Coney Mall, always seemed to be more of a nucance than anything. 4) Cannot wait to try the 2 new Fry options at potato works. They look really good. I'm going to have to make extra trips down so get all the food options in this year (the turkey ball looks better than last year's version). 5) The parade was like last year and continues to be a must see for me. The energy that is put into the event is amazing and I can't tell anyone involved with pulling it off how much I truely appreciate the effort. 6) One noticable deletion was the replacement of the plastic old time figures in front of Antique Cars (I didn't see any on top of Juke Box either). There are new lighted trees there so I'm afraid they won't make a comeback. If they are no longer going to display/use them (I didn't see them anywhere else in the park). I hope they sell them online, I would love to have one. All in all it seems to be an upgrade from last year. I'm sure there are things that may show up in the weeks to come (crossing fingers for the return of the plastic old time figures somewhere else in the park). Well done to all involved and will be looking to return several times this season!!!!!!!!

In addition the ability to see how "much time is left" before your next drink/meal. that would save alot of confusion.

As some of you may know the first thing I do every morning is check the webcams at CP and KI. This season has been interesting watching the transformation of Snowflake Lake on the Towercam. It has been left on so everything can be seen. Since Monday I've seen at least 10 people working every day, 11-12 hour days including this morning getting it ready. As of this am they are almost done with the 1st layer of plywood. Not sure how many layers there are (I would guess 2 along with the "cooler" layer of panels. Also of note, looks like the 2x2's and plywood are all new this year or at least they all look like they came packaged from a lumber company. Not sure if they use new every year (seems like they would re-use every couple of seasons) and if it's true they re-use the lumber that may point to Snowflake Lake returning for the next couple of season. Either way kudo's to those working on the project along with the rest of the team, looks like most halloween stuff was down by mid-day on Monday. It's been interesting seeing the transformation in real time and it certainly looks like they aren't "cutting costs" in this aspect of the transformation. Well done by all involved and can't wait to see the park for the first time in the 2nd week of November today.

Don't forget the Moose, the one that should have told you the park was closed

I never recall seeing a floral clock, rather it was a floral representation of whatever attraction for what was new that year.

We also saw Fangs on Friday, wanted to see it because consistanly it is the best show in any park and I always look forward to the Red Garter Saloon Rock show. Wanted to see it Friday to catch it Saturday as well, and we decided not to catch it Saturday because the show was sub-par in our opinion. The sound was not on par with previous years (balance was way off) and just not the same intensity. Don't get me wrong we enjoyed it (KI needs something similar) it's just that we weren't blown away as we have been in previous years. I would suggest hitting the second to last weekend. Seems as though the last Sat/Sun is always crowded. Get there Thurs, it's less crowded and stay however many nights you want. We stay 3 because it acts as an insurance policy in case of bad weather. Maybe we'll run into you next year! Cheers.

My wife and I were also there Thusday - Sunday. We always go the last weekend, been doing it for 26 years now. Thursday as mostly a wash out. Friday the park attendance was VERY light. Never saw more than a half hour wait for SC all day. Expected it to get busier at night but it never did. I put it up to trick or treating. Kids may love CP, but the love candy more Saturday was completely busy. 90+ minute wait for SC. Only stayed till about Noon on Sunday just to get a last walk around the park. The main thing that stuck with me was the mazes. With the exception of Cornstalkers 2.0 (we didn't go thorough Slaughterhouse) but the other 4 all had changes/updates to them. I found the $10 worth it. Lines were 45-60 minutes so the crowd didn't seem to mind the cost either. The biggest change was they took the shower scene with the bugs out of Eerie Estates and replaced it with spiders and webs??? Didn't go thourgh Cove because the line was outrageous (no maze access required) and also skipped Bayou because it's a hike just to the walk through. All in all great trip but think we'll be doing the second to last weekend from now on. Tomo's inside Breakers was closed for the last weekend (happens from time-to-time) and we both really look forward to that dinner.

It's very nice. Web cam views are much larger.

Up here at CP they have had Thursday's for the past 3 years or so. They keep doing them up here even with very light crowds. That would signal to me the keeping them at KI. Up here with the wind and low park attendance the only coasters running were Maverick, Corkscrew, Iron Dragon and Mine Ride. Decent line for Conjuring but no other out or indoor scarezones/mazes were open. 12 Rv's, 6 cabins and only about 50 cars in the parking lot for Breakers this am. Should be a good day.

They also stated that it will be replaced with a different show. I don't believe Winterfest is going anywhere. People spend plenty of money there. I see several boxes of cookies being carried around, plenty of people skating, buying the specialty hot chocolates and pulling out credit cards at restraunts. There seems to have been several misses this year. At the beginning of the year people were talking about cutting hours and or days and instead we got extended hours (sundays till 11 for haunt) added days (thursdays) and an additional weekend after Haunt. (strange that if you are expecting anyone to admit missing those points you'll only hear crickets...) We are fortunate enough to have enough of a population around the park to keep it going with little to no competition. Kings Dominion competes Bush Garden Williamsburg an hour away. We have no major park that close to us. We compete against animals inside their shelters in a zoo and drive-through attractions. People during the winter tend not to drive too far away from home. If you want a sign of Winterfest going away I believe the first sign will be when Ice Skating is not offered one year. It takes ALOT of money to do that and since they have already seemed to drain the fountain in preparation for Winterfest, I think it's safe to say Winterfest is safe for the foreseeable future.

They are working around the base as well as 6 square black pieces of metal. You can see it from the Orion webcam. Plus there was a trick and a van parked there this am. My guess is they may have it ready for next weekend (Columbus day weekend) since it will be the busiest days of the fall seaon.

Activity around the Monster this morning. No sight of the arms back yet, but movement none the less.

Went Saturday and Sunday and over all I would say this event is better than last year. Overall hard to judge how people are taking to being charged for the mazes on Saturday because from what I understand the Toyota guests got wristbands for the mazes and the park was packed all day. Got there at 6 and was told to go over by the old Timberwolf entrance (behind the smoking area). From there they had you go to whre Invertego was and had it roped off at the restroom across from Amazon Falls. It was a nice large area and having access to a restroom and water fountains while you waited I thought was very thoughtful. At about 6:15 several people were going around checking to see if anyone wanted to purchase an armband for maze access or if they already had a ticket and needed an arm band. Since the tickets were only $10 for a Saturday I went ahead and got them for myself and my grandson (14). We decided to wait on the Conjuring till another night, but did get through all the mazes. Here are my thoughts on the mazes on Friday: At 7 we went directly to Order of the Dragon which had a very small line. I think because it was new and not many people knew about it. The pathway to the maze and the props outside are a nice touch to set up the atmosphere and the outside entrance is amazing. As others have stated I think it may be best to wait until it gets dark outside to give your eyes time to adjust because it was pretty dark. If the lighting was 10% brighter I think the scares still would have worked and you could see and appreciate the work and detail of this maze. I definitely would love to have a lights on walk thorugh of this. The faux cave walls and other details were fantastic. Lots of neat stuff to see and very much worth while. Next we went to Alien Abyss. Very short line (10 min). Pretty much the same without the spinning tunnel. The dark part of the maze is still the worst part and continues to log jam the walk through. In my opinion, this one needs to be the one replaced next year if they replace one. It's old and tired. After that we went to Kill Mart. Short line again (15 min) and over all a little upgrade from last year with 2 (I think) new animatrionics. I always enjoy this one as it has a simple premise that's easy for the scareactors to play off of. Next was Hotel St. MicHELLe. LONG line about an hour. Not sure why but the line looked as long as it did for a normal busy haunt night. Didn't notice anything new, still a nice haunt although I do miss the bed bugs lighting effect from a few years ago. Went to Cornered and it had a decent (30 minute) line. I do like the way it is set up this year with starting at the invertego side and ending at Drop Zone. Seems cleaner and uses the amazon falls queue better. Seemed a better experience than last year. Finally went to Slaughterhouse which was a walk on around 10:15. Great as always and again seemed to be a better experience than last year. For the most part I feel the major "improvements" seemd to be mostly things haning down from the ceiling to bump into and go around. Almost like that was the way they were trying to "enchance" a maze on the cheap. Seemed a bit overdone. A new thing I also noticed was they seemed to be moving away from the bright light in your eyes to help mask a scareactor. Moving instead to using darkness to mask them. Finally rode The Beast at 11 and amazing the difference it make to ride it on a (nearly) new moon in a crisp fall evening. Just absolute bliss and why I continue to love The Beast. Entering the helix tunnel the second time still has about 3 jack hammers, not sure why but hope they address it in the off season. They don't ruin the ride but with as smooth as it is it just seems more noticable. Saturday we went with my granddaughter (10). Didn't do the mazes since she doesn't want to do them yet but the lines for the mazes were considerably shorter than on Saturday. That being said a thunderstorm passed just southeast of the area around 2 which closed down the coasters and seemed to have people exiting early. Rode a couple of rides and unfortunately I forgot my lantern (will try those spots out next weekend). Watched NyteWalkers and this season is the best version of the show I've ever seen in my opinion. The premise is better, the third guy doesn't dissapear, the music is better, they background video is better and at one point all 5 performers are moving on the ramps at the same time, it's simply amazing and hypnotic. The ONLY complaint I have is the same one I've always had with this show. Why on Earth do we need to see "jacked", shirtless devil and company on the screen during the curtain call. It's so distracting when the performers are taking their bows. Focus should be on them, having the wall off in my opinion would be better so people can appreciate the performers making their final bows. Overall the show is so enjoyable and worth the trip on it's own. Well done. Finally I did notice something I haven't seen mentioned. The Royal Fountain has a different song each time playing that has the water, lights, fire and pyro synchronized to the music. It is absolutely INCREDIBLE and a show upon itself. I feel this is what was intended for the royal fountain to do when they refreshed it. It is absolutely a MUST to see and simply put something that is much appreciated because it is obviously a cost they could have avoided to save money, but instead they quitely put in something that is a can't miss. Hope to stay till close next weekend to see the finale. Definitley and upgrade from last season. Over good job on improving the overall experience from last year. Nice job to all involved will certainly be making it out at least once each week this season.

Three more that I found. These are back at Potato Works: This one is at Juke Box: And I believe this was a Coney BBQ: All photos taken by me.

Preliminary reports this morning mention a "big piece of metal" in the seat with the man who was passed out. Seemed to be part of the seat?

I've always felt that Rick didn't come to KI from California just to watch the show. I believe he had plans with him back then.

I've been to KI a couple of times now since the announcement and the line for Boo is always to outside the building. The "ghosts" in the trees is a nice touch, not sure if they are the current "boo" ghosts leaving the park or new ones coming in....

Said should infer when I mean could injfer. We'll see when haunt get's here. I would think there would have to be a limit on these because the Conjuring has a limited capacity. Either way capitalism will rule the day, the stockholders must be appeased. I hate that. Corporations no longer care about their employees or their customers, just the stockholders who are often NEITHER an employee or a customer. As far as the "sold out" situation I think what happened is management changed their mind on the price. Maybe a 59.99 will be offered without Conjuring or express lane. They recognized the problem and the quickest way for the IT department to "stop selling them immediately" would be to just put them as "sold out" because that option is probably already on the system (as we saw with Coasterstock). I'm sure their IT Department took a hit when the cuts were made. I think Disney may be interested in that land for their new park.