medford

The easiest way to do that would be to install a handful of cameras in each ride (or at least the major ones) with security watching on TV. They wouldn't have to monitor all rides at once, but if you monitored say Orion for a spell, then The Beast, then Diamdonback, etc... on days that you most suspect line jumping will occur, then you have a smaller group of mobile security that will be in the area of the ride/s that are being actively monitored. Boot the few that you do catch and word will spread quick enough that they are watching and will act. Enforce it hard core for a season and it will die down significantly moving forward.

I wonder how much of the problem is the rise of social me and young people finding it acceptable to document their rude behavior on social media for all to see.

I think its more of a policy that gives them a leg to stand on should they need to removed anyone from the park before they actually do something full on worthy of getting the boot. Ie, there are a group of 14 year olds walking around shoving each other, and cursing lowdly. Maybe they haven't done anything yet that would warrant removal from the park, but now KI has a policy that they can be proactive when needed. The 12 year old that is walking around with some friends, being respectable and polite wont get bothered by this policy is my guess.

I was in line for Banshee along with my 2 sons when the evac call came out. You could tell it wasn't a mechanical failure by the nature of the evac, they cleared out the entire que (90 min wait according to the app), I figured someone had been seriously injured or perhaps there was some sort of fire incident. Never once was it explained there was a gun threat (though I'm not sure how much of a threat it was since it was contained outside the park, but I'm ok with being overly cautious). I think this was probably a good thing, it reduced any sort of panic amongst the patrons while they still managed to get everyone out pretty quickly Beyond that, the park was crazy busy. My son had a baseball game that afternoon, so we shot down afterwords as we downgraded from platinum passes to gold passes and figured getting our new cards would take a few minutes and save us time the next time. The way they process new cards is super easy, though i do recommend they have pens available to sign the cards so that you know who's pass is who. We got dinner but the lines were so long, we decided to bail after dinner and try again in a few weeks. Adventure port is starting to take shape and looks like it will be a nice addition. Not sure why Grain and Grail was not open yet, I would have thought they could have that operational from the get go. Firs time I have had the sausage from the BBQ place, it was pretty good. I'd still prefer the chicken, but that was all out atm and I didn't feel like waiting, so went with something different.

Looks like people are riding it now; so what get it was is good to go

That would make sense. If one thing is acting up in the morning, it would then affect them from getting to and checking everything else down the line.

FWIW, we went last summer for 3+ days right after Juneteenth (just a coincidence that we picked those dates, but I posted them to give you our time frame). I didn't actually hit me that we were going there on the day after a day many (some?) companies are giving their employees a day off work. Anyhoo, I remember thinking....Hmm I wonder if this will be more crowded than usual as we drove up. We had planned on getting fast passes for a day, so I wasn't super worried about it. We arrived mid morning on that Tuesday and found crowds to be very light. Steel vengance was like a 15 min wait, maybe 25. Milly was like 10 min. Maverick was up and down, so I actually waited about 45 min for that, but everything was fairly short. On that Wednesday we went to the water park, where the lines were fairly long as a couple of the complexes were shut down. Went back to the dry side for dinner and some rides and again everything was short. Thursday we had planned on getting passes, but looking at the lines the first 2 days we were thinking maybe we could save the money and not do them. Rides were a little longer on Thursday, but not insane by any means. Milly was still a 10 min wait, steel vengance was about 25, Maverick not too bad, etc... Weather was perfect all 3 days, mid 80s, fairly sunny, no rain, etc.... Maybe we just happened to hit the right week (there was even an ACE event going on as we ran into some ACE members and learned a bit about that) As far as ops go, many of the rides didn't open up on time. I think day 1 we got there right after the 10:00 normal open time and several rides were still down. My daughter wanted to ride gemini and I don't think that opened up until around 11:00. On that thursday we in the park sometime shortly after 9:00 and again many of the rides didn't open up until well after 10:00. On the plus side, there version of surf dog wasn't technically open yet since it was still about 9:45, but the ride was ready and workers were stationed. My sons decided to get in line and make that their first ride, the workers decided to open up the ride around 9:50, which was kind of cool.

I haven't read the whole thing, and I'll assume this has been stated, but the simple answer is NO! What is your own personal POV going to show you or anyone else that can't already be seen by the parks official POVs that they put out? So why should the park allow something that could potentially bring about injury and litigation if the operator didn't follow strict guidelines? Literally the park would have nothing to gain and very much to lose. Individually, I'm not sure why anyone cares what their own personal POV even looks like. Odds are it looks bouncy and like crap if strapped to your body.

And with the fresh paint, The Racers look as good as every (well except the tunnel at the end, I still don't get why they did that, though I'm sure #reasons)

Spring is around the corner (despite the snow) and its time to bumpity, bump, bump, bump my favorite thread on this site. Just in case anyone hasn't seen these yet, or likes to look back on them like I do.

I could see that horse theme working, pay tribute to the horse industry in neighboring Kentucky. Or perhaps with The Vortex replacement coaster, you turn the re-imagined Stunt Coaster into part of rivertown and with the horse theme, turn it into a western horse chase theme with a chase down the mine shaft to get the "bad guys" after the mid course stop. At any rate, I 'd hate to see the ride go, I think its an important "tween" coaster for the kids who have reached 48" but are not too keen on heights or inversions (though with Vortex gone I don' think there are any 48" inversions left in the park)

Random thought. If, (I said IF) there is a new coaster install for 2024, or whenever the next large coaster install happens, the park should do more "mini" type announcements. Seems like when Orion was built there was a decent amount of teasers, which I wouldn't change, but maybe have a partial reveal on a couple of different dates with fun games, etc... to help drive attendance. When Orion was going up, it was pretty obvious early on that a large coaster was going into that space they were clearing, maybe in mid June after schools are out you have a "reveal the manufacturer" announcement, then in late July you have a "reveal the type of coaster announcement" the finally in August you get the POVs, stats and name of the ride. Seems like with a little creativity you could really ramp up the hype with some fun events around the construction.

If a B&M is coming to KI, and would most likely be a replacement for Vortex then something with a lot of inversions would seem to make sense. A wing coaster in that spot would also make sense. I seem to recall there being some sort of agreement b/w Holiday World and B&M about the limits of building another winged coaster in their area, I'm not sure how long that agreement was for and what it excluded, but a launched wing coaster would be cool. Thunderbird has an awesome launch. No launch, how about a 200' tall winged coaster (I believe 197 ft is the tallest winged coaster that B&M has built to date). Launch or no launch, 7 inversions would not only be a +1 gain to what was lost with Vortex but would also be a new record for most inversions on a winged coaster which would add to its marketability. I always loved how The Bat wing at Vortex interacted with the walkway in that area, so having a coaster do that again in some fashion would be pretty cool. at any rate, I'm sure there will be a rush to to the top of Eiffel Tower next spring (not to mention drone footage) to see what/if anything is going on in The Vortex plot.

I have a feeling that the 2023 improvement/change that will be discussed most is what will be happening on a certain plot of land behind a fence.

solid reasoning. At any rate, I suspect were are many years away from that building being torn down for a large coaster. I think it will either sit idle for awhile, or they will find a way to repurpose some sort of flat. Honestly, the que itself is reason enough to keep that portion of the building intact

Thanks, that was my suspicion. I'd say using that building plus the woods behind it could lead to a pretty cool family multi launch coast. Que thru the existing area which remains awesome, embarque on the ride vehicle, launch from inside of the building out into the woods and around, back into the building with some twists and turns, back into the woods and one more time back into the building to get off the ride. The height of the building could be beneficial in that circumstance as it would give more room to operate up high in the building with some slight dives to add to that feature.

I think most of the thought process behind removing timberwolf was that it was a big, largely unused plot of land. At least that was my thinking, until it was used this season. While I didn't attend any of the concerts there, if they could semi-regularly fill timberwolf with acts that people would want to come see, then I'm all for keeping it and upgrading it. Congo falls, I love and my kids love. I'd be sad to see it go, but realize it is much closer to the end of its service life than the start. While I don't love Invertigo, I'd imagine the same could be said for that coaster as well. I'm not sure what the level of ridership is for those things, Congo falls never seems to have lines. When people start speculating where the next major investments in the park can/will be, there are 2 very logical spots, the first is the old Vortex plot of land, the 2nd is/was the Timberwolf/Congo Falls/Invertigo plot of land. And a park should never remove anything until it has a plan for its replacement. Unless the structure is a physical hazard to the safety of patrons and/or employees, you never know when all or parts of it can be reimagined to something new.

How much physical space would this take up? Could something similar be done with the Big Brown building? If not in full, then in parts where the coaster zooms in/out of the building or added buildings around it? Seems like the existing building would be way to small, but have it zip in and out while using the surrounding trees in the back and you could have one heck of a solid family style ride and make use of the awesome que area.

Well then substitute Dive Coaster for whatever your preferred choice is. I tend to think KI will get a Dive Coaster either in Vortex's spot or where Invertigo stands today within the next 10 years. Whatever that spot ends up being, redoing the restaurant so you can have views of the new ride while eating on the back deck would be pretty cool.

I've spoken about my desire to revamp Planet Snoopy several times, most recently here : (I hope that link works right ) perhaps a multi faceted revamp of that complete end of the park incorporating parts of PS, Rivertown and Coney. First Planet Snoopy, Linus Launchers get relocated along with other changes in my plan above for PS. The log flume ride gets "moved" into rivertown and a boundry is set around the bathrooms outside of Diamondback that shows a clear distinction between PS and Rivertown. In rivertown, the log flume ride gets a revamp, Diamondback stays, The Beast, WWC, Mystic Timbers, etc... that area remains basically the same. However the area where Vortex once stood gets a Dive coaster addition. However, rather than using the Que area where The Bat/Vortex once stood, the entry is located back along by The Beast entrance. Rework LaRossas and the Arcade to allow for "back patio" dining and a view of the new Dive Coaster while you enjoy your pizza. Meanwhile, add more theming to the train, even if its not live action theming like it once had, more mining town fake buildings to make you feel like you are strolling thru the old west. Then eventually the big Box in the middle gets incorporated into an indoor wild mouse type experience using the exisitng que. Or perhaps something else a little more temporary as there is a decent size plot of land b/w The Beast and Diamondback for a significant coaster. With these changes intact, some of The Vortex land is now opened up to allow for multiple flats in the area. JukeBox diner is relocated to the "Scaremart" building to allow for more indoor sit down dining while the Juke Box diner space could be used for a better path connecting Stunt coaster with Coney and adding even more additional flats. Turn Coney into a "classic Flat section of the park, would fit into its current theming pretty well.

The one nice thing about Planet Snoopy is that everything is located in 1 area, which means if you have small kids you can stay in the same area for most of the day and the kids will have something to do. The down side to that approach, is that once you get away from Planet Snoopy, the options for littler ones become harder to find. Sure there are a some of the classic flats spread thru Coney, but if you are in Action Zone, is there anything for your 42" and under kids to do while older brother/sister ride The Bat or Banshee? I wonder if a Planet Snoopy makeover, could move some of the classic kid flat rides into an area in Action Zone to provide a small kids area that would entertain them while others ride the bigger rides there. At the same time, it would open up space in there to accommodate some of the things they would need if they really wanted to compete with Wildwood Grove at DW. Having been to both, there is no doubt that wildwood grove beats Planet Snoopy in quality. Planet Snoopy has more quantity, but moving a handful of older, smaller flats to another area could allow them to open things up and add the type of quality that makes Wildwood Grove stand out. anyhoo, the coaster looks nice. Since they cleared out that land, I always thought it would be for a hyper some day, interesting that they choose a family ride for this area, put some great theming with it, and it only enhances this area that much more.

A little late to this, but we enjoyed our visit. As mentioned above, we didn't do the water park, wanted to focus on the dry side for our first visit. 3.3 hours each way from my home, not an easy 1 day trip, but could be worse if anyone is thinking of making the journey for a day. It was hot, very hot, well not that hot (92ish) but very humid (112 heat index). I don't think I've sweated that much since HS football 2 a days. Jumped to the back of the park like many have mentioned in the past to start and rode The Voyage first. Fun ride, very intense, but man parts of that ride are rough. The bottom of the first drop really gave me a jolt. From there we walked back to thunderbird If you think its a long walk back to The Bat, you haven't walked to Thunderbird yet. My daughter chickened out and ended up sitting in the exit area with our youngest son while the rest of us rode it. The launch is awesome adn a really fun ride. I think i would put it ahead of Wild Eagle and Gate keeper, primarily because of the launch. We rode on the left side of the ride, I planned to come back and try the right, but we never did make it that far back again. we left Thunderbird and worked our way back towards The Voyage for some lunch. My kids decided they wanted to do Voyage again before lunch so I rode it with the 3 of them while my wife sat it out. Though every seat is a wheel seat, I moved seats hoping to find something a little less jarring (I was far back on my first ride, 3 from the back on my second). Ride seemed a little smoother overall this time, but still just as intense. I enjoyed how it acts like 2 separate coasters before/after the brake run. The boys and I grabbed some turkey from the restaurant near Voyage. Oldest boy and I each got the giant turkey legs, while the youngest went with the kids shredded turkey plan. The leg was enjoyable, very solid. My youngest ended up eating his meal, then finished off my leg, then finished off his older brother's. Must be hitting a growth spurt, I never seen him devour so much food. From there we walked to The Legend. I think I enjoyed this a little more than the Voyage, though there is a part with a continual series of left laterals that puts a lot of pressure on your hips. My wife was on the right side and the seat divider ended up bruising her left hip a bit. After that, my wife and daughter grabbed lunch while my son rode their version of The Scrambler. After my wife and daughter ate lunch, we all jumped on Raven to complete our coaster spread. I enjoyed Raven and it was probably the smoothest, just not as intense as the others. From there we came back and watched Dive, a diving show. Short show, but really enjoyable. Awesome to see that girl jump from 80 feet or whatever they said the highest platform was. My 2 youngest wanted to do the log flume ride, both enjoyed it, then all 3 kids and I rode the Legend again. From there were worked our way to the 4th of july part of the park. Everyone loved Liberty Launch, and the wife and youngest son loved Revolution (Oldest son enjoyed as well but wanted to get his gluten free pizza and preztel form the near by stand so didn't go again while the wife and youngest got a 2nd ride on Revolution) After that we went into the christmas dinner and got a family meal pizza and breadsticks. $38 for 10 slices and 8 bread sticks....way more food than we needed, especially with the oldest boy on a gluten free meal and already full. Kids wanted to get one more ride on Raven, so I rode with the 2 youngest, then we hit up some ice cream and left for home. Huge scoops of ice cream. there were a few other flats mixed in, did the indoor shooter which worked better than KI and was welcome relief from the heat. Great value on the food and being able to self load decent size cups of ice and water all day was a huge bonus. Kenzel cups would not have cut it in the heat that day. Operations definitely more slower than KI or any other CF park that I've been too. Dry side wasn't too crowded so not a huge issue, but those operations on a busy day would be a nightmare. Not sure we ever make it back again, but for certain I'm glad we made it once. Been on my bucket list for awhile.

saw the drone show last night, first time I've been there for the fireworks this year. Drone show is awesome, hardly even noticed that there were fireworks going off at the same time during parts of it. Really well done.

The Bat was running last night, one train operation. The wait was the longest in the park that I observed last night I didn't personally ride as I was running late and just met the wife and kids back there, they didn't complain of anything unusual with the ride itself.

Thanks.