Pagoda Gift Shop

Jeff Gramke, one the designers of The Beast, answered this question during the Q&A at Coasterstock last weekend. The reason was because people used it as a trash can. Despite the park's best efforts they could not keep it clean, so the decision was made to drain it. It was not stated how many years the water was there. Maybe just one (1979)?

Ha! Great point. I picked out the date and the acronym but still read it wrong lol.

Giga is not an official term used by B&M. It was coined by Intamin during the building of Millennium Force. Personally I think lift and drop both qualify. The drop is more important in my opinion. Consider the reaction if the lift was 305' and the drop was 280'. Let's not forget how much B&M worked with Kings Island on Banshee in terms of using the topography of the land. The numbers may not be spectacular on paper, but this will be a 100% custom creation for Kings Island.

Somewhere...a marketing executive should be very unhappy.

In your first picture, it says "BBD 04/07/19". That would be "best by date April 7th, 2019".

Questions were submitted via Facebook and selected by Mr. Helbig. I'm sure there were probably a lot of questions about a giga, the construction, etc. but none of these were chosen by Mr. Helbig. I thought this was a pretty smart decision by the park, given that they couldn't really answer them right now anyway.

The food lines are likely to be longer than the ride lines.

You can buy this coaster model on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BF3F6M2/ Spoiler: The layout is exactly the same...and it's $15 cheaper. There does not appear to be any Kings Island or Beast labeling on the model itself, so you are paying $15 extra for a different color and a cardboard box that says "Beast" on it.

If the new coaster is not 300 feet tall, it would be a big deal for marketing. This is why despite the evidence so far, I feel it has to be taller. If it is not 300 feet, it would need to have some sort of other "gimmick" which would make it different from Diamondback. Otherwise it is just a "slightly taller and faster Diamondback". It is a very normal thing for a new ride to be compared to other rides at the same park, especially when pointing out what the new ride offers that is new.

Lion Country Giga Safari.

I'm very impressed by that drawing. Seems like the most feasible of any so far, well done @Hawaiian Coasters 325. (I hope it is not really blue and purple though )

I know, and I don't really expect them to at this point. I just like to point out the irony of the situation. The nostalgia is strong at Kings Island. I'm surprised they haven't ventured further into it by making more merchandise for other defunct attractions (although they would obviously be limited by Hanna-Barbera license restrictions). They have Zodiac signs all over the new car ride, and I bet 95% of the average guests have no idea that is a nostalgia reference.

Everything is becoming more and more fine grained in terms of ticket deals, passes, etc. Note that this deal is only good through June 15th. That means it has minimal impact on Soak City, which I would argue is a major reason many families buy season passes. They are trying to drive family attendance in the early part of the season with this deal. I personally don't think they will ever offer the pre-K pass at Kings Island. We don't have the season pass numbers (obviously), but with an included water park and the "World's Best Kids Area", I would think they are doing quite well when it comes to selling passes to pre-K families. The number of new families getting passes because of the deal would have to outweigh the lost revenue from existing families with pre-K kids.

I'm not sure how much Cedar Fair wanted Kings Island, so much as Dick Kinzel in particular wanted it. Those two things were somewhat synonymous at the time though. Canada's Wonderland and Carowinds are both located in places where the market is growing and expected to continue growing. It makes sense to invest in those areas for that reason. @BeastForever's post is pretty accurate in my opinion.

Adventure Express, Backlot, and Invertigo don't get a patch....but King Cobra does.

Maybe they will send it to the roller coaster museum, along with a train.

Yeah but it sounds like the fountain will be choreographed with the nightly fireworks and light show. It seems unlikely that they could have had all of that done prior to opening day. The more likely scenario is that they had the fountain "working" by opening day, but will be making updates until Memorial Day weekend.

I have yet to see any comments here regarding I-Street and the fountains which were not thoughtful. Not everything the park does is going to be well received, especially by the long term fan base. I think people here have pointed out positives and negative pretty equally.

I know that construction in the former Firehawk spot is somewhat expected by many at this point, but I think the truth is, they would have put that fence there regardless. At this point it is hiding an area that is still being demolished. It is unlikely anything but dirt will be there for months.

The park is closed during the week for almost another month. That is plenty of time for them to complete anything that is remaining to be tweaked. I agree that judgement should be reserved until that time. Also, thanks to everyone that shared pictures from tonight!

I think "Crowded Night" might be a better name.

I'm sad about the removal of all the full grown trees. There won't be any shade any more at any of the tables (assuming there will be tables) on the sides of the fountain. My guess is that they are aiming to improve the sight lines. The fountain will be a centerpiece no matter where you are on International Street. The nightly fireworks and light show will be fully visible from anywhere on the street as well.

Seems likely. The restaurant arrangement probably included the items being "loaned" to Kings Island.

I don't want to get too excited or overreact, but from this 1/1000th scale cartoon map, it seems obvious that this new fountain is going to rival the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Seemed like there was a lot of "dead space" in the Reds HOF Grill. I hope they remodel and can make better use of the entire building. I would expect the bar and outdoor space to remain pretty much the same.