alluna

Zach, these photos are awesome! I love the old school/new school photo and 'snake skin' the best. Is it April yet??

There is another webcam situated between The Racers that a local news station supports (I'm guessing it's thiers) for weather updates at Kings Island. I'd grab the addy for you right now but I'm on my phone. If you google 'Kings Island webcam', I bet it would come up. Not the most interesting of cams at this time of year...

Great pics, guys... well, for a rainy day, anyhow. I was spying on the Diamondback and racer webcams today and started getting nostalgic. Soon. Very soon.

Wondering if they took out the snakes, monkeys and such. I know the answer is probably 'yes', but those were so much fun and I'm hoping they were generic enough to stay....

Awww. I'm really hoping the lights are on when we go....

Wow, and lucky for everyone else, it landed at your feet!

Mine too, there must be a tag open somewhere.... I totally agree with this. It isn't an easy job to promote something, be completely on-board with the new projects, and honestly answer questions from the public at the same time. It must be equally frustrating having the same kind of questions launched at you about SoB and Scooby. Being vague or skipping questions all together can become a necessity when your job is on the line. On that note, we should start brainstorming some fun questions about the park that they are likely to answer instead of the Hardball stuff. At the least, it will be interesting to find out some quirky park details.

Teehee. It just makes it funnier because it's a water park. When I pass by those hairy-backed dads, I, for one, will not be 'bare-ing in mind'! I love it! Is this not everyone's favorite new past time?!? DB Catch of the Day...On our way in the park we guess how many flip flops, cell phones, hats and coins will be in the net. Closest to their guess gets some kind of special in-park treat.

Thanks for posting the pics. It made me think of a great plus to the whole Planet Snoopy change (yes, besides new paint jobs and theme). The other day, I pointed to a strip mall and said to my kids, 'Hey, see over here where the Elder Beermans and bank is? Yep, that used to be all fields. Can you believe it? You could see all the way to those trees over there. No parking lots, no nothing.' To which my kids replied something like 'You're old, mom.' and 'Mom, that must have been a long time ago...' Now I'm looking forward to that golden moment in April where they point at Snoopy's snowy white head and go, 'That's where Runaway Reptar used to be!' Guess what I'll say.

Sad..but true. I like what one poster put in another thread (i can't remember who it was...) about taking the kids to peek at the blue paint on The Beastie and show them the Kings Island website with all the new names, brainstorming what all the rides will look like.

It should be alright. The policy states that you should not take photos/video of other people in the park, just your own family. If I tape the back of my son's head and screams going down the slide, I don't see a problem with it. Except having to put music over those screams. I understand that coasters have no-camera policies, but cameras are given free reign at GWL from every instance that I've seen. Edit: found this bit in my research: http://askamom.greatwolf.com/questions.aspx?sort=&page=&questid=229&parid=21&catid=104 Wish it was just as lax for coasters, but I guess it's for the best what with cameras getting dropped/landing on folks. ;p

Thanks Diamondback :D

I have a question, to add to the mix. I bought season passes for the holiday, but didn't get Gold. Is there a way to upgrade when we go to process on site? Mebbe I should just call and figure it out, but the phone is all the way over there.

Poop. I'll make up my own tips and clearly not bring up this question at the media event. Like it or not, a good portion of school-aged kids will be crestfallen. Kids love Snoopy, sure, but the issue is switching from Sponge Bob. If Snoopy moved into a theme-less kids area, it would be a non-issue. I guess the answer here was that kids won't like it until they've ridden the rides and gotten reprogrammed? Instead of pretending the situation doesn't exist, they could at least have said 'Snoopy stuff is 10% off at our online store! Buy them a stuffed Snoopy!' Bleh.

So they're plopping a coaster in the middle of a college campus? Am I following along correctly? I clearly went to the wrong college. I wonder if clown colleges have stuff like this...

I'm on board with the water ride (no pun intended!). I wonder if they sold off the other log flume...

Hey gang. I did some investigating today about the new Triple Twist slide over at GWL. They presented a family with a certificate to be the first 'official' family to ride the slide on the 26th, but after some poking around I found out that the slide is open right now for anyone who is staying there. I also found this gem of a blog from the guy that helped build the slide and has posted photos: http://waterslideservices.blogspot.com/ We're on the same boat as most people when it comes to the price of GWL, but putting back some money for a few months is enough to pay for the room. We get there early the day before around 1 pm, party at the waterpark until check-in, throw our stuff in the room when it's ready. We have the rest of the day to play around, and the next day after check-out we throw our stuff back in the car and enjoy the waterpark and magiquest for another day until late into the evening. So for two days of messin around and a hotel room, the cost isn't that bad. I put more money saving tips in an article on Examiner, but I don't want to be spammy by posting the link here too many times. It's in my profile, though. Next week I'll be going to the Lodge and taking my waterproof camera down the Triple Twist and posting a video at the Examiner site. Going to try to do daytime and night time to catch the special effects lighting at it's best. For that I probably will post a shamelessly promotional link. Is anyone else as excited as I am or am I just a waterslide freak?

Best. Answer. EVER. Makes you wonder if they're going to wait until the day before the park opens to announce Scooby's replacement is, even if it's only Boo Blasters on Boo Hill or something of that nature. Mebbe I'm just being cynical., but with the hype they put on really fantastic new rides, it sounds like keeping this one under wraps means it's not that great.

GatorHead, Thanks for the link to the other post! I really opened this thread to brainstorm creative ways for parents to acclimate the kids to Snoopy. I'm not looking to debate the degree to which kids will miss the characters. CoasterRZ, if you're talking about some lost 'magic', then that is what I'm referring to here. The deal is that kids have come to KI expecting the Nick characters, while at another park such as Coney Island, they have not grown up with Nick characters there, and don't expect them. They are fully capable of enjoying an unthemed park, I don't deny that at all. Children who are 5-9 years old, for example, who would clearly remember the NU, are who I'm talking about here. It's not that kids don't appreciate a park that isn't themed at all, it's a matter of helping them to appreciate one that is going to be different from what they've come to expect. I was just looking for some clever ways that parents might use to emphasize Snoopy. Thanks, though.

Has anyone tried out that character breakfast? We've done character meals at Disney so I'm afraid the bar has been set kind of high for this kind of experience. Is it worth it?

WooHoo! I nearly cried when we walked up to the ticket window last year and they told me my youngest was considered an adult ticket (he was 6!). They grow up so fast... I gave him a big hug and told him to get a job already.

Well, as long as we have Family Guy already thrown in. I say...Monty Python theme. I Don't Like Spam! (Wild Thornberry's River Adventure) Travel through the trees in your own spam cart? Smoosh (Plankton's Plunge) Giant foot that raises up and comes back down with a loud 'smoosh' sound. African Swallows (Lazy Town Sportacopters)- Guests pedal a coconut-laden African swallow for a right jolly view of the park. Musical Mice (Blue's Skidoo) - Children ride in large wooden mallets that raise and lower on their command to squash the delightfully squeaking mice underneath. Silly Walk (Bikini Bottom Bash) - Do your best crazy strut through the waterworks. Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog - (Jimmy Neutron's Atom Smashers) Kids wait until the count of 3, (Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out!) then crash together a variety of holy hand grenades and killer rabbits. Dead Parrot - (Danny Phantom's Phantom Fliers) A high flying adventure where kids can do their best zombie parrot impressions.

I totally understand this line of thinking, and I believe that after the initial disappointment, kids may not care much in the years to come (who knows, mine are still complaining about the switch from the Paramount theme). Maybe the toddlers and some preschoolers won't care, but the older school-aged kids will. It would be nice to offer parents a few tools to help make the transition a little easier. I think it's a solid concern for many anxious parents who are anticipating a scene where they walk into the park and cringe for the inevitable reaction that could range anywhere from slightly disappointed to absolutely horrified.

Blah. I did my campaigning for the Mason vote. Toledo is on their own. It is really disappointing that some communities can't appreciate and understand what their assets are and how to maintain them. Hopefully the residents make as much of a fuss as we did.

Hey gang. Okay, so some of us have properly brainwashed our children with the classics. When I found out my kids didn't know who Popeye and Gilligan were, I was horrified. Thanks, Netflix. We have now moved on to become Beverly Hillbillies and I Love Lucy literati around here. But some parents haven't had the chance to introduce oldies-but-goodies like the PEANUTS gang to their little ones. Competing with the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon can be tough. For kids coming off of a Nick U high last year, what are some good ways to get them pumped for Snoopy? My predictions are that this year will be the toughest sell for kids on Planet Snoopy. Next year I don't think they'll care as much... kids adapt pretty well. But for parents, I'd like to post a few ideas in an article to help them celebrate the new area instead of lamenting Spongebob's quiet exit. So far my ideas are watching a few of the videos, but I know there is more to Peanuts than a few holiday specials. Any suggestions?