bkroz

^ Wasn't it? A gigantic walk-through environment full of animatronic dinosaurs? Have you been to a zoo with such an exhibit? It's nearly existential that American children go through a period in which they are obsessed with dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are great entertainment for kids, and I feel that people will really enjoy strolling around this massive, immersive area. Perhaps stereotypical teenagers won't be interested - guess what? Everything at the park isn't meant to interest teenagers. Besides, if you owned an amusement park (which, to my knowledge, you do not), you would doubtlessly hype anything you could. A new kids ride? Talk about it. A log ride? Make it sound like the best. Marketing is so essential to this business, and this is an exciting, well-rounded addition to the park that caters to a wide, wide array of visitors. Would you prefer that they never announce it, but just have the park open with it? Or perhaps they should've left any fun or interest level out of it and simply said one day, out of the blue, "Oh, and we're getting the world's largest dinosaur exhibit. No big deal. Don't get too excited, and definitely don't buy season passes for it." Sigh. GYK, thinking that, like every addition to the park that has ever been made, people will grow to like it and never return to apologize for complaining about it before they even saw it.

The real problem (the 2006 incident) happened a mere six days after Cedar Fair completed its acquisition of the Paramount Parks. Who might've really been to blame for Son of Beast's accident aside, Cedar Fair technically owned the park, and unfortunately for them, technically is all that counts. Paramount did try to sue the company responsible for the ride's design and construction, and was unsuccessful. And I would argue - even as a fan of the old ride - that there have been "true" issues before and after that day. How many of us here have felt a little wobbly afterwards; had a sore back; not been able to really enjoy the rest of the park or concentrate at work the next day because your back is still aching; felt chest pain during the course of the ride simply from the sheer whipping and jackhammering of the trains? Maybe some people have even been seriously injured, and just not reported it... It would seem indisputable that this woman had a medical issue. We can't entirely say that the ride was at fault (and indeed, that's what the courts are for). But you know what? It doesn't matter... The ride experience was poor. I was a fan of the ride. I rode it multiple times when it was open, and would ride it again today if it re-opened. But come on... The experience could be better. It could. It's that simple. It was rough - moreso, even, than one would expect from "The tallest wooden roller coaster on Earth." The ride isn't closed soley because of this one woman. What has Terpy taught us about A and B and causality? At most, consider her "the straw that broke the camel's back" - final, irrefutable evidence that the ride had gone too far. Because even if it didn't cause the injury she claims, the fact that the public weren't surprised by her claim said a LOT about the ride, didn't it? Perhaps we'll get a better Son of Beast. Perhaps we'll get a better ride in it's place. But they won't let things get worse, and that's a good thing. Sigh. What a shame that Paramount Parks couldn't wait another year or two for the invention of Intamin's pre-fabricated track wooden coasters (which, by the way, occupy the second, third, and fourth spot on the 'world's tallest wooden coasters,' eclipsed only by Son of Beast... And if anyone could do a wooden loop, it would be Intamin...)

What I think is most important is that people know about both. You don't have to be bludgeoned over the head with WindSeeker propoganda to know it exists. Those who want to ride it know that it's there. Just because the marketing doesn't focus soley and completely on one ride doesn't mean it isn't getting out there. Notice that every article about the mystery attraction notes that it is in addition to WindSeeker, a 301' tall swing ride that travels 30 mph... etc. etc. Word is out there that WindSeeker is new, and I'm sure that the website will again highlight it once traffic starts arriving in response to tomorrow's announcement.

I just feel like if you mentioned "the new thing at Kings Island" to any locals, they'd say "Oh the swing ride?" if they knew anything at all... Recall that it is us, the enthusiast community, who is so feverishly following these developments. Granted, after the actual announcement (and depending on what the attraction ends up being) it may be a battle for attention. But right now, I don't know that too many of the "general public" know or care what's coming... Maybe I'm wrong. That's just what I imagine. I think that the marketing standpoint on this sees WindSeeker as a "thrill" ride marketing to teens, and (again, pending announcement) this dinosaur thing as a family attraction that everyone can do together. I'm not sure if that's really the way things will be in practice, though. Both seem family-friendly to me. And that's a good thing.

I must say, I feel very special having my ideas referenced on Screamscape this evening. http://www.screamscape.com/html/kings_island.htm Maybe by "Facebook," he meant "Kings Island Central." Happy to help, if that be the case! GYK, who does not have a Facebook and posted no such ideas there... perhaps someone else did!

Very true! Our antiques are gone, after all... And then there's this... Okay, that's a joke... I hardly think that they would drive any potential new jeeps back there. But I do see the legitimacy of that idea! Very much so. I'm still thinking walk-through area, but good point. I guess the thing I'd ask is, how successful are visitor-driven rides when there are actually things to look at? Like, for example, giant dinosaurs? What if the child driving becomes frightened, or wants to come to a complete stop halfway through to view the moving, roaring T-Rex? Sure they're fine when you're driving peacefully through a meadow, around lamp posts, and over a covered bridge. I just haven't seen it used as a conveyance system through a ride filled with distractors... I can't say if it would work or not, just throwing that thought out there.

Another thing to consider: if I end up being correct in thinking that the pink represents the border of a new area and not a winding individual path, then the entrance to Action Theater could easily be changed to come in from the north (the new dino area) instead of the south (Coney Mall) and just that quickly, Dino Island would fit in perfectly, becoming a second attraction for this new area after the dinosaur walk-through. Plus, one of the images I posted above shows some of the dinosaurs with a jeep in the center (very Jurassic Park). Just that easily, the vehicles I mentioned that used to be in the Dino Island queue at Geauga Lake could be scattered about, giving this new "land" a concrete and thorough story about the Dino Institute, or whatever the agency in the film / with their logo on the vehicles was called. And let us not forget, Action Theater is still not back on the Kings Island website, despite it having been said that it will be open this year. What would be the reason to remove it at all unless the film was being changed, and why would the film be changed to anything except Dino Island if the dinosaur theme is coming? And thanks for posting the footprint! As I had hoped, they are pretty much identical! The three-toes with the pointed ends... Very distinct. I think that this is looking good so far.

Because he wasn't really looking at anything. It was a fake video. There was nothing there. It was just a joke that the marketing director made as a fun piece of viral marketing. And my God, if that post doesn't make him laugh at just out insanely out there we as a community are, I don't know what could... At this point, the claim is that the way in which his eyes travel during a spoof video is a subliminal hint. IT'S DINOSAURS, PEOPLE. We don't know what kind of ride / attraction / show / experience it will be, but it's happening in the woods behind The Racer east of X-Base. It is not Son of Beast. It is not a new roller coaster. It is not a 400 foot roller coaster. The most obvious answer is that it is a dinosaur walk-through exhibit, which would be awesome, and a great, great addition to the park's lineup of attractions. Maybe it really is as simple as it sounds! Maybe it's just a fun, family-friendly attraction that you can walk through at your own leisure. And would that be so bad?!

If it is in fact a Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit (or a Dinosaurs Alive exhibit, as they call their outdoor installations), then let's hope it has half as much attention to detail as some of these photos from the official site indicate! Something like that would truly look incredible back in that area (and the lake that is apparent in a few of those pictures would also explain the body of water I alluded to having in my post above - perhaps that outline is not a path, but an outline of walking plazas, with a lake in the center. Either way, that would be a really great addition. I just hope that Kings Island could keep up the care on the dinosaur skins, which would become very faded and worn after even four or five months of Ohio weather... But the good news is, it looks as if they exhibits produced by this company are not run-of-the-mill, static-motion zoo installations. They are permanent, and well-done. Judging by the skin on these dinosaurs compared to the skin on ours (notice especially the winkles running horizontally between the front and hind limbs, which seems pretty much identical to the skin on ours), we may have found a match... P.S. Do those footprints in the final picture look familiar....? I haven't got a copy of our snowy clue close by or else we could check just how well they match...

I agree, honestly. If that's a path and someone gets halfway through before deciding that they're done, then they've got QUITE a ways to go before they get a break, much less get to the other side of the park. My guess is that that outline is the border of a to-be-built expansion, the dinosaur ride being phase 1. Again, it may even be a dinosaur area (no where near the scale or scope of Jurassic Park at Islands) just with this first attraction opening now, and maybe some other rides in the future. Because yes - the layout is incredible strange for a path or a ride. It looks like more of an inclusive border. My first thought is that the light pink overlay represents the physical area, whereas the darker red is more of the layout, with two large plazas encircling a family coaster or perhaps a body of water in the hole in the center. Just a thought.

Irrelevant, since the blueprint "planning" photo that I re-posted shows where this area is meant to be in relation to Racer - it fits there perfectly, because it was blueprinted to go there on the map. You can physically see The Racer on the blueprint, and you can see that this area is in the woods behind it. Would a Jurassic Park makeover to X-Base be cool? Maybe. But honest to God, I would sooner bet my money on Son of Beast's loop being reinstalled and opening as-is on opening day. It's that unlikely. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." How much work would have to go into changing Flight of Fear? The space ship, the building facade, the queue line, the lighting, the trains, the station, the music... There's simply no reason; no benefit financially. Besides that, Jurassic Park is already used as an entertainment property at Universal's Islands of Adventure. The price to bring it to Kings Island would be tremendous, and what would be the reason to? Would Cedar Fair truly make the area as immersive as Universal did? Would their animatronics be as impressive; their rides as well-themed? There's simply no reason for it, and it would be an undertaking that would be of unprecedented proportions for a little Ohio theme park.

If the publically released "planning" image can be believed, this (be it a new area, a ride, or a path) will likely be located next to the X-Base area, and accessible from the end of Coney Mall near WindSeeker and the Action Theater. Besides, X-Base does have a pretty concrete theme. As you can tell when passing under the arch, it is supposed to be a secret government facility that tests new flight and propulsion systems. As such, it's a logical place for the government to hide the alien space craft that they're studying, and an appropriate place for Firehawk, which is loosely themed to a government project that is testing new methods of human flight. The entire area carries the "government zone" theme with the barbed wire fences, yellow and red alert stripes, aviation marks on the ground (sometimes), radio towers, etc. Not saying that the area couldn't use more (particularly a restroom, or a way to tell if either of those two temperamental rides are broken without walking all the way to their entrances), but as far as theme, it's really not all that out there.

You're totally right. I bet that this gigantic tyrannosaurus rex and dinosaur-themed marketing campaign has been nothing more than an attempt to distract us what might be coming next year... Don may be a funny man, but he doesn't get to spend copious amounts of money on large robotic reptiles just to throw off the enthusiast community. Hahha. (Not aiming this at you, Firehawkboy) As Shaggy said in post number 3, it really probably is as simple as a dinosaur walkthrough. Those who have hyped themselves up to thinking this is a brand new B&M coaster, or a Son of Beast re-do really have no one to blame but themselves, and need to start coming to terms with the fact that this is in addition to WindSeeker and not the other way around - as such, would you expect this dinosaur project (whatever it is) to pass WindSeeker in terms of scale? It comes across as a last-minute, fun, family-aimed addition, and maybe that's all that it is. Maybe there is no ulterior motive or attempt to blindside us with the "real" project. Let's be happy with it, whatever it is!

It's almost certainly an eye... But a new one? If that eye is freshly painted and brand new, then I'd hate to see what it'll look like in 10 years...

They were built about 10 years apart. Diamondback is not even two years old. It's still being heavily marketed itself. That aside, Busch Gardens is a destination park in many ways - it caters to out-of-state travelers who come to the beach, or to Washington, D.C., or to Kings Dominion, or historic Williamsburg. Sure there are discounted passes for locals, like the Spring Fun card. But it's no where near Kings Island, where an enormous percentage of visitors come from the local or at least regional area, came last summer, and will likely come next summer. Instead, Busch Gardens caters to a lot of travelers who wouldn't notice the similarities (especially with a 10 year old ride) the way that Kings Island visitors would since they come once, if not more often, per summer and are inundated with the statistics of the "tallest, fastest, meanest ride ever to strike Kings Island." Just my opinion.

I think a B&M Dive Coaster would go great in that spot, but they are a little expensive. And the reason I don't see us getting a Dive Machine is all in the marketing - "New in 2011 - a brand new coaster that's the same height as Diamondback, but not quite as long, and goes the same speed and its 10 degrees steeper." The fact of the matter is, even the largest Dive Machines share nearly identical statistics with Diamondback, and one of the things that sets Dive Machines apart traditionally is the splashdown... Diamondback already has it. I'd die of happiness if a Dive Machine did come. I'm just saying that the marketing force might not be there. It's like if Cedar Point had Diamondback and Magnum. Both are incredibly different coasters experientially, but it's hard to market it to the general public without the similarities being all that stand out. At least, that's the way I would see it. Working in it's favor, Dive Machines really aren't that expensive. Griffon - the largest one on Earth - was $15,000,000. That's about two-thirds the cost of Diamondback. Granted, the ride would appear to use much less steel, but still. I'd definitely say it's worth that cost from a rider standpoint.

Right. Even Diamondback had only a shaking box that hissed a bit later on. This has a whole site. Dino-themed, indoor, animatronic giga-coaster with an outdoor animatronic dinosaur walk-through queue anyone? And so far, this goose has represented a ride with a water element, confirmation that the ride is dinosaur themed (because, of course, dinosaurs are the direct ancestors of birds like geese), and even that the Flying Eagles are coming back. After all, the best viral marketing to arrive at "Flying Eagles" is a picture of a goose, and mud. Absolutely. I bet Don and the rest of the crew are absolutely awe-struck at the things that their picture of a goose meant.

Regardless of what is announced, there is a staggeringly large chance that this will be an overwhelmingly negative place to be on Friday... Sad but true. Especially now that people have worked themselves into a frenzy that this may be a Son of Beast re-do. Ah viral marketing... The trick is to live up to it; hard to do when the target audience is admittedly imaginative, inflammatory when united, and expecting certain things, We shall see.

To me, the website update seems to indicate what I had been suspecting - we are being sent on a wild goose chase. And no, I don't mean to imply that that might be the theme of a new wild mouse coaster. The red paneled background appears to me to be the side of any number of the red shipping containers (as others have mentioned) from our own Backlot Stunt Coaster. Honestly, that would probably be a good thing - the effects don't work, the liscences that made the ride so involved have expired, and the audio is gone. But I just can't see Cedar Fair doing that. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." And of course, the de facto second half of that sentence, "...And just because it don't work don't mean it's broke." While a re-theme for Backlot would be reasonable, it seems unlikely. And besides, I think those Kings Dominioneers (whose Stunt Track is located in their Congo area) would be much more excited for a re-theme - the fan base there has been asking for a safari re-theme for years. But then again, it would be pretty unethical to go on a cheetah hunt. But yeah, I'm calling goose chase on this one. Too many clues that are so unrelated. Maybe when the real attraction is announced, it'll all make sense. I just can't even fathom how we could have so many clues, and yet still be unaware if this ride is indoors, outdoors, a re-theme of an existing ride, a walk-through, an animatronics exhibit, a family roller coaster, dinosaur themed, mud-themed, etc. unless at least some of the clues are nothing more than red herrings.

To see the level of animatronic that our park is willing to invest in, one need look no further than that pink bat in The Crypt. You wanna see a dinosaur moving like that as you sail past on a monorail? Just thinking out loud!

^ Wow.. Really good find. Even looking at the 'E' and 'N,' it may in fact be the exact same font. If only one of the more disctinctive letters like the R or A was in 'SOMETHING BIG.'

This may be me reading too far into it, but I could swear Don says "worlds largest animatronic dinosaur" around 20 seconds. Watch the video again and try to see it from his mouth movement. I would almost bet that he AT LEAST says dinosaur. ^it will be announced March 18th, and as someone mentioned, the video is titled "...what's coming in 2011." that's probably not them trying to be sheisty.

Something big is coming. It's official. http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/park/mud/index.cfm The theme appears to be 'mud.' It's in the URL, it's on the home page, and it's the background image of the teaser page. Also, this must be a worthwhile announcement considering that the main advertising space for season passes has been turned into a five-slide advertisement for this announcement. Again - a new coaster? Probably not. We shall see!

What Don was looking at was the proof of a map. It wasn't completed - it didn't have any of the flashy graphics that are usually positioned around the map, and it wasn't labeled. It was just the image with a list of restaurants and shops along the side. Also, I wasn't talking about 2012... How long do you think it takes to change out a movie and re-program a simulator's motions? Maybe a few weeks... Maybe.

The hanger is actually still standing at Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom - one of the few structure from the "old" park that still is. But yes, the guard tower was actually the first thing that came to mind. Humorously, it was originally used by Six Flags Ohio to denote the entrance to an animatronic dinosaur walk-through similar to what's being described here. During the transformation to Geauga Lake, it was re-used as the entrance to the (coincidentally) dinosaur themed simulator. When the ride was Mission: Bermuda Triangle, the queue was filled with rusty, wrecked submarines and airplanes. When it was converted to Dino Island, they were painted pastel orange and green and yellow and given the Dino Institute logo. The submarine also had wheels added, and voila - you got an external view of the "vehicle" you were about to ride in. And like I mentioned, the steel crate above had flashing lights, and dinosaur roars came from it with a booming bass that shook the ground. Not sure if items like that were scrapped... But they'd be nice to have scattered along the long, long walk through Action Theater's queue. They could also be used, as you said, as crashed war vehicles during Haunt and Urgent Scare. I just feel like it's extraordinarily possible that this sort of thing is what they may have planned (if indeed they have anything planned at all). It's so natural. Spongebob is getting old. They may or may not have already-constructed props for the Dino Island ride. I-Werks made both and could simply reprogram the simulators as they did each time the film changed. And it would revitalize the Coney Mall area even further. Plus, it's a movie that Cedar Fair did use at its old park, so it's a natural fit. EDIT: You can watch a clip of Dino Island II (interspersed with clips from its pre-show, which played in a separate pre-show room at Geauga Lake, but could easily just play on the outdoor monitors at Kings Island):