Pagoda Gift Shop

Can someone post some phone screen captures while using the updated KI app in the park? Do they wait times appear accurately? Are they sync'd with what is being displayed in the park?

Can someone post pics if they have them? I love the idea of having retro shirts. Too often the clothing stock is dominated by only a handful of rides.

This is likely all because yesterday was a complete washout. Being a Saturday, I'm sure there were a lot of people who had tickets to use and went today.

Monster is up and running again! You heard it here first...well...kinda.

The Son of Beast plaque in the ebay auction has dropped to $185...plus $20 shipping of course (the plaques are quite heavy).

Coaster memorabilia isn't exactly easy to come by. Most coaster wheels are recycled and reused these days, so getting something that comes from an actual ride is somewhat rare.

it's definitely legit. I wonder how much it will go for. Edit: Looks like it's a $250 "take it or leave it" price.

A lift evacuation....oh the humanity!

Does anyone know about how they have been caring for them during the offseason? I vaguely seem to remember that during the first offseason, the dinos were all shrink-wrapped. This past winter I know the ones at Cedar Point were just left out in the elements.

I wonder if anything will change next year. 2015 is year #5 for KI having the dinos. The other Cedar Fair parks that have them got them a year later. I seem to remember rumors about a contract for having the dinosaurs, but who knows if there was any truth to it.

If I had to guess, I think these statix models are being discontinued...or being revamped for a come back at some point in the future. A few months ago I noticed that Cedar Point had all their models marked down to $15 on their online shop. Only Millennium Force models remain available. Kings Island's site does not have either Diamondback or Beast for sale anymore, even though images of them can be seen on the category pages. The online sites are not a great indicator because they are often not very updated. However, the price drops seemed very odd unless they are getting rid of them. Edit: Cedar Fair should really fire whoever manages their web sites and online stores. You can add items to the cart which are out of stock...which is pretty messed up.

I'll point out that Cedar Point has announced the same deal as the KI one. I'm guessing they probably looked at their Fast Lane numbers for the past 2 years and saw that they had plenty of room to sell more before hitting capacity. Seems like a good experiment, especially in November.

How much did Fast Lane cost for a single person last year? I know you could find admission tickets for around $30, so I'm curious how much of a savings deal this is.

Thanks for sharing these numbers and formatting them. Reading some of them makes me wonder what the record number of rides in a season was for some of the older coasters like Adventure Express and Backlot Stunt Coaster. I'm also surprised the railroad has such low numbers. The railroad at Cedar Point is pretty consistently around 2 million riders, which is a big difference I didn't expect.

Snoopy is definitely more relevant than Popeye. Popeye isn't very marketable, because kids don't know who he is, but that's probably why Universal markets Dr. Seuss and other stuff instead. https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Parks/Islands-of-Adventure/For-Young-Children.aspx Peanuts is a good long term choice because they are less effected by time. Nickelodeon was the opposite. All the recognizable characters change every few years. They really were fortunate that Rugrats and SpongeBob had such longevity from a marketing stand point. I'm a big Avatar: The Last Airbender fan, but it would be weird if Snoopy's Surf Dog was still themed to Avatar. That show ended 6 years ago and the ride would feel pretty dated at this point. I wish Nintendo would sell their licensing for stuff like this. Mario, Pokemon etc. are super easy to market. I just wonder what it would cost...

Kings Island's kids area has always been top of the line, so you could really argue that any era since the park opened has been a great one. I might vote for 2006 and Nick Universe. That was the year they had the parade every day. I can't remember if they did that again in 2007 or it was a one year deal.

Great video, thanks for sharing. I noticed some things in it that I don't remember. I also thought a couple things were missing since it was an excerpt. I'll have to think back to the years that I really watched the video a lot to determine what "edited version" it was at the time.

You do realize you listed 6 bullets of stuff and then called it light? I think there were years that we just got new trash cans... Cedar Point majorly upgraded their petting zoo this season and it seemed like a big hit. I think it will really add to the Kings Island kids area. It's something totally different for an already very popular area. I'm very interested to see what the picnic grove upgrades will be. A rework of the entrance and pathways would be really cool. They have a ridiculous number of shelters, so that seems like a great idea as well.

Is that the Carnevil maze in the middle/top right? And there is a stage in that building also? I haven't been to any of the shows there recently, but wasn't that were Ed Alonzo's and other shows have been?

I seem to remember that shortly after announcing that Phantom Theater would be leaving, the ride operated at double speed for the last day(s) of operation. At the time, it was a bit disappointing, as it really didn't feel like the same ride.

I too hope for a new flume ride at KI some day. Under the current Cedar Fair leadership, the Timber Mountain Log Flume was refurbished at Knott's Berry Farm last year. That ride is amazing. I don't think there is an official POV, so I won't post any links, but check out that ride if you haven't seen it before.

Great video, thanks for sharing. I think you could make a good argument for 2003 being the "height" of the Paramount years. Spongebob was a big attraction then and Tomb Raider still worked.

That's unfortunate. I'm glad you were able to do all the houses except the last one before you had an issue. Sounds like the ride host did a great job. He wouldn't let someone enter without the card (which is his job), but recognized the situation as a unique case and called his supervisor. He then apologized again when the supervisors made the decision. I'm glad to see that, because too often ride hosts get a lot of blame for policies they have no control over.

I get what you are saying, but I do think there is a market out there. Just not to an extreme degree (probably don't need a t-shirt for Scrambler). Many people have been riding The Racer for 30+ years and are more likely to buy a Racer shirt than a Banshee one. I'm sure there are also season pass holders whose favorite ride might be Delirium or Flight of Fear.

I agree. It surprises me some that a shirt wasn't sold this year. I wish they would sell more apparel (shirts specifically) for older rides. Not everything, but having a shirt for Racer and Adventure Express sounds cool. Only 4-5 rides tend to get all the apparel, and it's usually overkill...like 5 different shirts for each. Cedar Point suffers from the same problem. You can't find a Mantis shirt, but they have 25 Gatekeeper shirts.