PKIDelirium

The $600 or best offer one has vanished, either sold or taken down, but two more have appeared. One auction with a single bid at the $450 start, and the other is a $499 buy-it-now for a *preordered* kit.

There doesn't seem to be a way to access the AIM username field when editing user profile. I was trying to remove it since AIM is, well, kaput, but it's not visible.

The SoB plaques were also only sold in the offseason and by phone order only, limit one per person. These will actually be in the park for an entire weekend and with two allowed per person, so there's likely going to be people buying two so they can scalp the other one on eBay too.

Should probably blank out the email on that screenshot.

Every photo I've ever seen from even 1972 has five cars per train.

From their post:

Nah, the front gate wing coaster is just a different front gate, the rest will be underneath the parking lot.

I don't see any trucks.

Oh, so NOW you’re down with this all just being infrastructure housekeeping and possible SoB station removal. Got it.

Okay yeah that strip by the RMC has been like that since at least 2005, the "drag race" ride was there. And the dirt field behind the amphitheater has been like that since uh, like forever,

Don't worry guys, they're putting one on Old Columbia Road after burying the power lines.

Burying the utility lines on the old above-ground posts requires excavation. Removing the old utility wiring to the Son of Beast station requires excavation and removal. If they take out the SOB station and ramps while they're at it, that involves demolition... I expect it's nothing more than utility housekeeping, possibly revamping the road for a dorm (and maybe GWL) shuttle, and perhaps taking the SOB station while they're at it.

I... Uh... I can’t post an honest response to that opinion without getting banned, so I’m just gonna step back...

Could also transform Action Zone into being part of Oktoberfest because AZ isn’t really a “theme” and is only that way because of Paramount making it their “backlot” area. BGW’s Oktoberfest section is huge, and existing rides would easily work, just get new names for Drop Tower, Skyflyer, Congo and Invertigo. Obviously there would be a lot of general theme work to do, but it could be done. Landscaping would be a major factor because of Paramount turning Adventure Village into a concrete slab, but again, possible.

Since gforce keeps refusing to identify all the various markings, I found a standard legend.

The photo booth, except for maybe the foundation slab is gone. The only related structure left is the shelter like structure that used to have vending machines in it facing the midway, it was painted to match The Vortex station so it does look kind of like the photo booth from certain angles.

Why now? Maybe scheduling. There’s no Haunt to set up, no more weekday operations, no WinterFest, etc. It could simply be providing them time to do some housekeeping. There’s also now more than a full year to come up with a replacement for Wolf Pack, which is basically the only reason the old Son of Beast station is still there at all.

I recall getting a ticket and attending this with someone on one of the days in 2008. They even had Flashback: Totally 80s still playing. With some assistance in the before-everyone-had-a-smartphone days, I even managed to organize having someone screenshot the Diamondback construction cam while I was standing in a view of it from the Rivertown midway. Gee, if only I could remember who that was...

It looks like they're just tidying up some infrastructure. Those old posts on Columbia Road (both the waterpark side and the side first pictured in this thread) are quite old and honestly kind of ugly. Burying the various utility lines both over there and then on the employee parking lot and Soak City side would make things look nicer than a bunch of old pre-park above ground posts all the way down the front perimeter, and would complete what was started when they buried the ones in the Soak City expansion area and re-routed the road to accommodate said expansion. For the Son of Beast queue area, there's probably still a bunch of old phone lines, electrical, etc back there that originally served Son of Beast itself. Maybe while they're at it they're also just taking out that old infrastructure and cleaning things up. The alleged line from Invertigo's queue area over to Congo could be old abandoned Queue TV lines being removed. Heck, someone mentioned some time back that O'Rourke allegedly had a contract with the park to do something in addition to Vortex, just can't remember where that got posted. Maybe they're finally going to remove the eyesore that is the Son of Beast station? Wouldn't need any of the old power or communication lines leading back there if they're removing it, would they? Or maybe I'm just wrong and they're getting ready to build an Intamin launched single-rail wing-dive strata hybrid that runs the entire span of the front of the park, from Timberwolf to Soak City and back...

Honestly Congo might get some popularity back if they just took out Timberwolf. It's basically never used and takes a ton of perfectly good, mostly flat land. Plenty of room to expand Action Zone out with some more "high thrill" flats and maybe even a lower-budget compact coaster like a Raptor or 4D freespin. Give it a better chance to be an active area instead of a double dead-end and Congo could see a rebound. Comparatively, it doesn't take much space and is mechanically simple.

Removing a third coaster in as many years wouldn't be the greatest look, unless they absolutely had to. Even then, I could see it being left SBNO to avoid demolition costs, unless something was already slated to replace it.

I mean, it would be a good infrastructure upgrade if they were to ever build a new campground back there, could operate a shuttle service for both that, GWL, and the dorms. But for normal tram use, it just veers away from the parking lot itself too quickly. Edit to add a history tidbit relating to Great Wolf and a campground: In November 2006 when GWL construction was down to finishing touches, the marquee sign on KI Drive included a "Kings Island Campground" sign, with an arrow aiming down the new road: Less than a month (and some landscaping) later, that sign had been removed:

Unless it was just a tram shuttle service for Great Wolf and the employee dorms, I'm not sure how the route of the old road would be of any use for trams.

Fast Lane temperature check! (In all seriousness it's probably just a new fence or underground utility, seems to just be in a straight line. Maybe they're burying the old above ground power lines?)

I think it would be pretty safe to say that Cedar Fair just outright got fed up with Intamin, especially after the Maverick woes and then outright demolishing Shoot the Rapids. If they were still going to be Intamin customers, Copperhead Strike would probably have been Intamin instead of Mack.