KIfan73

Anyone else checking out the webcams on this beautifully unseasonably warm day thinking how neat it would be to take a stroll through the park today??

I'd say that's arguable. I flew to Orlando for IAAPA for like $29. Of course, a flight to a similar city a few days later could have cost me $450. It makes me wonder what the actual cost is to fly a jet 1,000 miles. According to this article, it looks like a 747 burns about a gallon of fuel a second...but it does also argue that jet travel is fairly economical.....

So, this becomes the new entrance, as well as an exit, also?

I have to wonder if the issue of employee safety is what really ended the trams. This is a much different world than in 1972 ( as well as up to and including whatever year they ended the trams).

I have faith that Kings Island has this new toll booth all figured out, but WOW, will that be a lot of traffic all going into that single entrance. Will the light for this entrance be at the intersection of (what I think is) the church across from Kings Island and Kings Island Drive? It is kind of unbelievable that Kings Island has operated all this time without a dedicated light at either entrance.

I have visited Kings Island around 40-50 times since 1992. I have never left the park thinking about how I wished they would fix the parking lot. If there's enough people like me, that might be why it's in the shape it is.

The main thing I took from that article was the different perceptions of those that wait in line (or queue). So much more attention to detail used to go into queues, and I can't help but think that has played a part in the enduring popularity of some attractions (and vice versa).

This is actually relevant to the new topic I just submitted. Kings Island Drive, at one time, added to the anticipation of visiting Kings Island. Anymore, not so much.

VERY interesting article. I posted it in the general Kings Island discussion forum, as I think it is so relevant. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/11/27/what-you-hate-about-waiting-in-line-isnt-the-wait-at-all/

I took this photo on November 1: This looks like Kings Island Drive's version of a year-round Haunt building. On a more serious note, this definitely does not set the right mood when you see it so close to Kings Island (especially those of us whose trips to KI in the past included the Resort). Worse yet, it still has "Kings Island" on the sign. Wonder if there's many casual park visitors who see this, read this sign, and wonder if there's problems within Kings Island itself. I think it's a real shame for the park to have this eyesore so close to it. So ironic, too, with the hotel originally being being such an important part of the "resort" vision of Kings Island.

I have heard some stories from friends that experienced ETAE. Some of them COMPLETELY freaked out on it.

Really, I was meaning the idea of building something that costs a fraction of the price of a new ride that would attract similar numbers of guests.

Amazing. Kings Island is able to draw huge crowds to its park in the fall to have people stand in longer lines for $2,000 attractions than they would for a $20,000,000 attraction. Then they figure out a way to charge even more for people that want to go to the front of said lines, and then charge even more so you don't have to fully experience the attraction that you just stood in line for, or possibly paid extra to go to the front of the line of the attraction you don't want to fully experience. Brilliant. Seriously, that is unbelievably brilliant. The scariest thing about HH to me is that they will somehow carry the concept over to the regular season (Which, in a way, they have. How many dormant HH structures are now visible during the regular season?).

Based on some of the posts above, I wouldn't be surprised if Dollar Days disappears in 2016.

A really cool article about the Carousel... http://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2015/09/06/kings-island-wurlitzer-band-organ-carousel/71642452/

To be fair, Kings Island is simply mirroring food service circa 2015. At one time, serving freshly cooked food while busting your rear end to serve it quickly was probably what you had to do to make a good profit. Nowadays it is just too easy to reheat something...there's still a lot of people that will buy it. I remember working at McDonald's in the early 90's, and there was a lot of pressure to greet people as they entered, and to move...quickly. Not sure about all of the societal dynamics, but everywhere I go anymore, everyone from management on down seems to be a lot more casual. I try to wrap my head around what my boss(es) even 20 years ago would have done had I pulled out a mobile phone and did anything on it while I was at work. Managers seem to have a lot less authority now, for whatever reason.

Is Coney Mall going to have a gravestone at HH this year? Sad if it does, but it would be joining some elite company.

Hard to imagine, as well, that if it weren't for Coney there may not be things such as...Season Long Dining Passes, Fast Lane, or even...KillMart. What a long, strange road from then to now.

Really??

Well, the "two things" could be both sides of The Racer. On a possibly related note, the "Coney Mall" sign did strangely not return this year. Could they be "going in a different direction" with Coney Mall? Hopefully this isn't the case.

This is the Kings Island nerd's enthusiast's version of the NFL draft!

I would imagine his job was to help sell a boatload of pre-paid meal plans.

I must just be too easy. Things don't always go perfect when I visit KI, but I'm always just too excited that I'm actually at Kings Island (even after all of these many years). If I lived closer and/or visited a lot more often, I'd probably be a lot more critical.

I would be shocked (given the somewhat short notice, limited amount of truly unique experiences, and timing - just when summer is winding down) if this wasn't some kind of test or data-gathering experiment for something in the future. Something tells me the park probably wasn't surprised at all by the low turnout.

Wow, that would fit in nice next to Juke Box Diner and SR&R. A huge hurdle, of course is the large and still-mostly-loved steel coaster that's already there.