KIfan73

That does look fantastic…they should hire you to do the maps for the park, too!

Evidently, yesterday must have been a popular day to visit the park! I got in right at 9, so I took advantage of the ERT. Positives from this trip: It was great having The Beast for ERT for a whole hour. Pretty much all walk-ons. The park looked fantastic. I had a Cinabon, and it was awesome…the girl that waited on me was really nice. Waterpark addition looked really nice. The floral clock was starting to come together! Negatives: Long lines very early in the day, well before noon, for everything-would have been a great day for Fast Passes. Pizza went to $8.19 for one slice (with breadsticks), the two-piece deal for around $6 something was always my mainstay. Got in line at the former Hank's to get a salad..after 10 minutes of the same person being rung up and the line not moving, I decided it wasn't worth it and left. Seemed to be understaffed. No shows at Festhaus during the week at all (from what I gathered on their website, but not before my trip). This was a real bummer for me. I thought it was pretty nice to have a live show to watch while I ate lunch/dinner. With Diamondback and Invertigo down, no shows in the Festhaus, no show in the KI Theater, and no show in the Int'l showplace, the park just seemed a bit "off". I would really feel for the family who chose their lone day to visit the park as this day. Even if you're not into all of that stuff, I think it's nice have them going on while you're at the park, and would probably somewhat help with the lines on the rides. Some random pics of the park:

I usually visit during this week (at least for the last 5 or 6 years), and it's always been up and running. It may seem silly, but I'm really not going to be happy if, for some reason, it's traditional operation is not in Kings Island's future plans.

I really hated to hear that the Gold Pass lot was gone. I've had relatively uneventful parking experiences for the last several years.

I'm going this week, so this is FANTASTIC news!!!

I actually think there may be more of an impact if something similar to the sketch above was built over both ends of Kings Island drive.

Thanks for that very interesting anecdote! Wonder what could have been?

Probably depends on whose routine they're talking about. An appendectomy would be routine for a doctor, but not for the patient having it done!

Was SoB operating during Halloween Haunt 2007? I was trying to remember my last ride on SoB, and I believe it was in October of that year. Also, it was pretty far into the evening, not long before closing.

That is a fantastic story. Thanks for sharing that. It also makes me think about how much the world has changed since then.

I can think of some rides at Kings Island that had designers that must have been ahead of their time.

You might need to add some other options, as Paramount didn't operate the park very long (I'll let potential future contributors to this thread provide the details).

But isn't the fact that Kings Island looks like it's on "ground level" actually an optical illusion, as it is actually the second floor, with the first floor actually being hidden utility tunnels?

33 years old. Same age as i am. It was initially built 33 years ago, but I wonder how much of it is still 33 years old?

I wonder just how old The Beast is....

Just came across a pic from 2008:

^Great question. I want to experience running through the park, but missed past opportunities.

In other news, after being on life support for some time, math died today.

If you were born anytime beginning at midnight on 1/1/98, it could only be a tick longer than 8 years.

It probably won't involve sticking orange stamps on a sheet, in exchange for rewards... KIFan73, of a certain age....

I think similar (authorized) videos of parks would make great promotions/commercials.

Beautiful park!

Enjoy the ride, dislike it's placement.

I think that if 2012 maps were available of similar quality of the 1972 map, they would be framed…maybe in 2012!

I had my 1972 map custom framed. I had it for awhile before I took the plunge, but wow, was it worth it.