Pagoda Gift Shop

Yeah I can't judge because I haven't had the chance to ride either one, but from what I've read, it feels like each one was a bit of an experiment. I wonder if the fact that Kings Island has an existing dark ride makes any difference in whether it will eventually be a candidate for one of those rides.

If they don't paint Firehawk for a couple more seasons, I get the feeling we will see X-Flight come to life again before our very eyes.

According to this report the tourist being chased by skeletons was working on Sunday July 5th. I rode the ride yesterday (July 13th) and it was not. Broken again I suppose. Also, all 3 of the guns didn't work at all in the car we rode in. I'd like to see this ride get updated/replaced with a new dark ride, but I'm not sure how I feel about the recent Triotech rides that have been installed at Canada's Wonderland and Knott's Berry Farm.

I give the park a ton of credit for continuing to pursue this project. I was glad to hear the organ working again last season, but it definitely sounded like it was still a work in progress. Great job on the improvements! I look forward to listening to the organ every time I visit!

Having events that are interactive with park guests is a complete waste of the social media platform? I agree that the behind-the-scene tours are a nice thing to have, but they happen too infrequently, and really are only interesting for more of the "hardcore" fans of the park. I wouldn't think the tweet-ups are done for those of us who frequent forums like this. They are done for more of the average park-goer, particularly those who are teenagers. For those folks, the chance for free front-of-the-line passes is pretty awesome. That is going to attract a broader audience, and isn't the point to get as many twitter followers as possible? I don't necessarily think Kings Island needs to follow the same model and have tweet-ups all the time. As you said, maybe the app can fill that role in a better capacity. Tony Clark is hardly a "walking slot machine" at Cedar Point. For many he is the "face" of the park. The tweet-ups might be mostly about free stuff, but the end result is that more people are paying attention. How many park guests can actually identify someone that works at Kings Island?

I hope this isn't the case. Being followed around and "identified" by people is exactly the kind of positive social media presence the park should want. It means people are paying attention to what is going on at the park, even when they are not there. I'm sure Tony Clark can't go anywhere at Cedar Point without being identified and asked about tweet ups. I'm not sure exactly how the different parks handle social media. I know Cedar Point has a team of people that manage it, which I believe is a little different than other parks in the chain.

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?