medford

^^^ I'm a believer that the park could use another "kid" coaster, something to bridge the gap (along w/ FAAC) b/w Woodstock express and the bigger coasters at the 48". If this had a 46" height requirement, that would be awesome. One of the biggest joys I've had the last few years is watching and riding along w/ my son on Woodstock express when around his 3rd birthday, taking him on FAAC around his 4th, then adding WWC & Congo falls the next summer, The Beast, Vortex, Racers, etc... after turning 6, Banshee the following summer, then Diamondback later last summer. Its always been a joy to see him finally hit the next mark when getting measured. Seemingly, our 4 year old daughter has a little bit of "chicken" in her when it comes to roller coasters. She got on Woodstock express once w/ me last summer, and once earlier this year w/ my wife, but won't ride it again. Hoping to break her of that so we can share the same experiences as she continues to grow. a 46" coaster would give a family an additional reason to come back to the park. If you don't like getting wet, there isn't much new to add b/w 40" and 48" for most kids. The water rides as mentioned, plus FAAC; can't recall anything else. a 46" ride would greatly benefit the park.

You don't submit "rough sketches" for official review. Those things are usually at least 75% finished, if not 100% and surely show every important detail that they need to review. Plan review is not a cheap process, in fact it can be very, very expensive. They are not going to go thru the cost of submitting "fake plans" just to fool a handful of enthusiasts.

Now that you have an address, you could walk into the city of mason offices and request to see the permits for the project at the listed address on the drawing. Everything would be tied to that, if these are legit. I don't know who KIexpo is, so I don't know if they can be trusted. Anyhoo, if they could get in to see them and snap a picture, then anyone else should be able to, and its far easier to indentify what to ask for if this picture/story is legit.

There's nothing wrong with that... We're the only major CF park without one, and now we'd have to wait an additional 6 years. Of course there is something wrong with that. why 6 years? If nothing else, the new leadership has shown there is no exact time table for major coaster installations. If this is a GCI woodie, the costs won't be as high as Banshee, so we may well see a similar 3 year waiting period until we see "decoding project 2020" pop up.

That is a drawing cloud, generally used to identify the area of a revision so those don't get confused with earlier plans and know where to look on a plan and what they can ignore in terms of new changes. The "enlarged" area that this plan is identifying would be to the left of the cloud, the coaster layout is just a key plan, so its impossible to discern height or exact scale.

What you see is a "key plan" so its hard to know what the scale of this thing is. If I had to guess, it appears (starting in Zona 1A) there is an unloading zone, similar to what I saw on Renegade at Valleyfair as well as a couple of GCI woodies I've seen on Youtube. They were not using the unloading zone at Valleyfair that day, don't know how often they use it. Then there is the loading zone/station. Then you see the lift hill, followed by a double turn drop, which was an awesome feature on Renegade. Then it appears you have a couple of air time hills, a quick turn around and perhaps another double turn drop heading back to the station; some more air time hills, then perhaps a tunnel or interaction w/ the lift hill, perhaps an overbanked turn or two then the break run and back to the unloading zone. Frankly I see a lot in common w/ renegade, and I've mentioned on more than one occasion that would be my preference for KI's next coaster. I can't mention enough how blown away I was by that ride experience, my son and I just looked at each other as we got off with a "what the heck" expression on or faces; I don't think either of us were expecting that kind of thrill when we got in line. My only regret was that my wife was pregnant and couldn't experience it for herself. I'm very excited if this is true. Also, FWIW, the S1.1 on the bottom would seem to indicate that this is a structural plan, would be nice to see the rest of the plan.

Thanks for all the feedback. Still can't book anything online, or even search past the turn of the calendar year. The easyWDW site mentioned that you'd have to call this early rather than using a website, but that was in regards to the DVC, which we are not a part of, so perhaps I'll need to call this weekend and get things setup. Mostly, what I'd like to figure out before I call are approx. prices of rooms. I don't know if I can trust the current prices as a good guideline since I'm sure many of the rooms are already sold out for the next couple of months so not all of my options are available. Does anyone know of a place that will give me approx prices of rooms?

thanks for the advice, you guys are definitely selling me on the art of animation. The more I think of it, the less time I think we'd spend at the pool. If we were there for a week, a great pool would be a huge bonus, but as we're just making a quick side trip from the gulf for a night (or 2 at most) then back to the beach until we head back north, we may not hit the pool at all. Also the nursery option was a great tip, who packed do those get? I'd love to go in May or october during less busy times, but wife is a teacher, and the oldest 2 are now in school, so that isn't much of an option at the moment. I guess I need to wait about a week or two before checking availability/price then I'll make a decision on rooms. Still a little over a year away.

Thanks Shark, I didn't know about the nursery, that could be a time saver. I was thinking about the Contempory resort, which seems pricey, the wilderness lodge which looks like it has a fun pool area w/ a slide, but no monorail access (though it looks "close" on a map to the monorail and appears to have direct access to boats over to the Kingdom, or perhaps the Grand Floridian resort and spa, which is on the monorail line and appears to be moderately priced. I couldn't look for rooms beyond this calendar year on the Disney website, is it best to just call?

I've touched on this a bit in the past, but now this trip is real, but still a year or so away. We have already booked my father's condo on the Gulf Coast of Florida for early next summer for a week and we'd like to slip away to Disney for 2-3 days (1-2 nights) during that trip. We have a son that will be 8, almost 9 at the time of the trip, a daughter that will be just past her 5th birthday and a young son that will be about 18 months at the time of this trip (ie still napping). We were down there for a family reunion when our oldest was a little over 1, so from that perspective, we're used to seeing a child that age just nap in the stroller for a brief spell, but as we were down in Orlando for a full week, we only did half days at the parks so he could sleep in the afternoons at the condo we were renting, plus we didn't have any other kids pulling us in different directions. We'd plan to be there sometime middle of the week. Based upon the Disney crowd schedules that I see, I expect crowds on the 7 out of 10 scale, but are there days in the middle of the week that are traditionally better for the Magic Kingdom? At the moment, I don't think we plan to hit any of the other Disney parks unless we did go for 3 days. I know when we went 3 years ago, a 3 day pass was only a little more than a 2 day pass, and beyond that it was only like an extra 5-10 dollars a day for additional days. Anyhoo, now that that is out there, I'd like to start with the most basic question first, where to stay and when to book. Ideally, I'd like to stay on property, but that is not a must. We're about 2 hours away where we are staying, so its feasible to drive back and forth, but I think would make for an overall more relaxing, enjoyable stay if we booked somewhere with easy access to the Magic Kingdom. As I mentioned, my youngest will be 18 months, so a nap is a must, are you allowed to enter the park early in the morning, leave mid day then reenter on the same pass later that evening? If so, what would the ideal resort hotel to stay at that would provide quick access to the main park? I'm thinking a moderate level hotel, don't want to fork out the money for one of their top shelf places, but wouldn't mind something a little nicer than their basic accommodations. Having a "memorable pool" would be an added perk for the kids, not sure which places have the best pools, though I'm not sure how much time we'd spend in the pool seeing as we'll be at the beach the rest of the week with both the ocean and a basic pool to play around in. Once I figure out where to book, when is the best time to book? Thanks in advance, once I get that settled down, I'll ask follow up questions on the magic pass (or whatever they are called these days), food plans, etc...

I live in Mason. I can stop by city hall by tomorrow. Never done this before so enlighten me if you would, who do I go to and what should I ask? Walk into the building and there is a receptionist on your left IIRC. You are asking for the building department, but what you likely need is the address for the project at hand; not sure how KI handles that (unless you have the project number, which is doubtful); in order for the person behind the desk to link to the project that you are looking for. Beyond that, I have no clue, I've only submitted/paid for projects that I've been working won, I've never gone in and randomly asked for a permit for some project I'm not involved in. Keep in mind, there are multiple permits for multiple stages of work. You are probably looking for site plans this early, which may fall under the jurisdiction of the zoning department, rather than the building department. Your best bet is to ask for the public records available for Kings Island (bring their main address) and see how much help the person behind the desk can give you. Some people will walk you thru the whole process, some won't give you the time of day unless you are a very specific request. I have not dealt w/ the building department in Mason very often, so I can't really tell you about the people working the desk there.

^^^ That sounds great in theory, and I agree for the most part, but the odds of me ever making it back to Valleyfair are fairly low. The number of people who attend both KI & Valleyfair more than once in their lifetime is equally low, so in theory if there was an exact copy, it would have little affect on my perspective of either park. But with that said, by copy I mainly meant similar in style, namely a GCI woodie that I would expect KI's version to be a longer than Renegade, but the double turn drop was a unique element I'd love to see copied if KI ever got a GCI, a wild mouse would be a fun addition if it could be made to accommodate the 44" crowd and give those inbetween kids and their parents another coaster to enjoy before embarking on The Beast, Racers, etc.. and finally the kiddie coast is just that, but oppossed to the multiple hills that the Pumpkin Coaster provides, the one at VF goes for a sort of double circle effect that gives the rider some nice lateral Gs. Honestly, I doubt KI would get anything like that small coaster for Planet Snoopy, the Pumpkin Coaster is better and the flats are excellent for small kids, however I expect at some point KI will see a more modern woodie as well as a wild mouse type ride, which would fill 2 of my hopes for the park.

I sure hope not! I hadn't heard this rumor, but I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for news on that one, because if it does end up being true, I'm gonna have to make a pilgrimage. Excalibur is one of my favorite inversionless Arrows. I read somewhere (and its pure rumor, I forget where I read it, but it was definitely nothing remotely official) that the long term plan is to develop the land and extended boundaries behind Excalibur, but need approval of plans from the Army Corp of Engineering. The plan is to turn part of that land into an additional parking lot and new entrance for Soak City, not sure if that is tied into the rumors of a Soak City expansion or not. There is a good amount of potential in that park, I was surprised how little attention it seems to get in comparison to Cedar Point over the last couple of decades. A good floorless looping coaster and a good invert and their coaster lineup will be fairly complete (I heard, don't know if this is true) that they can't go much over the height of Wild Thing due to air space restrictions. I'd love to have copies of Renegade, Mad Mouse & Cosmic Coaster (kiddie coaster that would compliant The Great Pumpkin Coaster in terms of experience for little kids while taking up very little room) as well as their 'Tiques they recent installed. I'd personally take Gemini over Excalibur, but to each their own.

How much does location really matter in this case? Sure, it saves the park a few nickles when the track manufacturer is so close, but the shipping schedule is just a matter of timing so the piece arrive when they are ready to either go vertical or be stored on site somewhere. Once the first piece is shipped, the rest is shipped in order that the park needs them and no matter if that shipping process takes an hour or a day, all you are saving is cost (from the parks perspective) and perhaps some risk that a piece gets dinged up in an accident. Its not going to save them significantly much time in the grand scheme of building a roller coaster. CSF doesn't have an "off the shelf" product that they can ship to KI in 10 days once the order is placed, the manufacturing process and shipping process is all set well in advance. Location matters very little, outside of the cost benefits KI would see.

What a ham!

anyone else looking at that tunnel they're building and really, really, like REALLY wishing its a return of the floral (or vine) tunnel from several eras ago? That would make my summer.

Homestar, While not for food, I had a similar experience at Valleyfair last season. As we were leaving, we were purchasing a few souvenirs for the kids and shirts for mom & dad. The cashier asked if I had a season pass. I jokingly said "sure, but its for Kings Island so I don't think it works" I wasn't expecting a season pass discount, but the cashier kindly said, well lets try it anyways. When it wouldn't work (for obvious reasons) she called over her supervisor who said, just knock off 10%, thanks for stopping by. It blew me away, great customer service, and frankly I couldn't recommend the park enough to anyone that was in the area.

If you currently work at KI, you may want to be careful what you post on here, even if its just fellow employee rumors.

How many markers are typical for a B&M coaster? Are they typically spaced that close together? If this is a coaster, could that be an indication of a woodie?

I have yet to make it to the park this season, so haven't seen the entrance for myself, but how was this even possible? Surely that has to be at least 1 person this season who showed up to the park and didn't realize until they made the front gate that their wallet, gold pass, purse, etc.... we sitting on the kitchen table and they had literally nothing with which to either identify themselves or pay for a transaction. Surely KI has to realize that some people will show up to the park, then realize they have to pay for parking as well and think "no thanks, I'm heading home rather than nickle and dime my way thru a day of FUN. Think you are going to get those people to soften their stance and return at a later date if they are force to pay, then walk all the way up to the front to get a refund? Or as in this case, surely they had to foresee a situation that a driver would be lost and turn onto park property without realizing it, or get stuck in the right lane and not be able to safely maneuver over w/o severely disrupting the rest of traffic. As I said, I haven't seen this myself, but it surely seems they needed to put a little more "thinking" into their new entrance, I've read far too many complaints about something that should be so simple.

Based off of the number I have gathered both KK and HW have a combined attendance right around 2 million people last year. That is around the total attendance of Carowinds last year. You can say people have forgotten about HW or KK but the numbers say otherwise.I will agree and say that KI is on a completely different level than KK and HW. That is mainly due to KI belonging to a international theme park chain. Both HW and KK are independent parks. Both KK and HW will likely never truly challenge KI for top dog in the tri-state area, but 2 million visitors a year is a very sizeable chunk of the theme park market. To say that people have forgotten about HW and KK is a stretch at best. The peeps in Ohio, not people in the the parks backyards. Please go to Zanesville or Stow Ohio, check out in Batavia, or Athens and ask them if they know KK or HW is open or exists. That was my point. It would be like asking people in Columbus about Strickers Grove. Many (not enthusiast) don't know if it exists. That is all not a slam on the park. Every time I'm at KI, I see plates from both Kentucky and Indiana (as well as many others). Given the location that Ki sits, that is not surprising. KI likely is not to worried about losing visitors from Zanesville, Stow, Batavia or Athens that annually attend the park, however patrons from Indianapolis, Lexington, Louisville, etc.. that live close enough to attend the park multiple times a season... that is the threat those two parks present to KI.

I'm quoting this because I think it is a good guess from Don's recent hints (and the destruction area is right across from Reds Hall of Fame Grille, even). I worry it got a little lost in the shuffle there. I was hoping something could be worked out with Little Joe when they re-did Shake, Rattle & Roll, but alas, the car business must be doing alright.

In respect to DA moving, I have a hard time seeing how the makes financial sense. I'll admit up front that I have no idea what kind of profit margins they make off that exhibit. I do know that it was an up-charge the first season, then was modified (season 2?) to be a benefit to gold pass holders at no additional cost. That tells me that the novelty of the idea wore off, which doesn't surprise me much, it was cool to walk thru the 1st time, but the 2nd, 3rd, etc... times it losses some of its charm. At no upcharge, its not a bad place to walk thru, cool off and take a break and young kids probably enjoy it a bit more; I'm sure they make a decent chunk of change thru the store at the entrance/exit of the exhibit. Do they make enough off the merchandise to make it worth the ROI to relocate the whole thing? Its one thing to get ride of the exhibit to put in place something else that will bring more people thru the turnstiles, its another thing to relocate all of the dinos, re-run all the electric, put down more stamped paths, etc.. unless the ROI was strong. I have a hard time believing they've make enough money off merchandise to make it worthwhile to relocate the whole thing to another area of the park. I'm not sure what is to become of the dinos when their agreement runs its course (perhaps another 4 years if the post a few pages back on this thread is true), it they are at that point KI's to keep (or more likely purchase, perhaps at a significant discount) it would be cool to re-use them as props for a ride around the park; they'd be great along WWC and even the train. From that aspect, moving a handful of dino's would work well and could allow for retheming of 2 attractions, however, moving the whole exhibit and expecting to make a similar ROI as they did in its first season doesn't seem likely. But I'm just an observer, not someone with working knowledge of the financials behind the deal.

I'm hoping we now see a picture of Don literally stirring a pot (perhaps of some skyline chili) posted to social media in the next day or two.

I would imagine that its not "us" that Ki is worried about, ie the person who attends an amusement park multiple times a year. KI has a larger collection of rides and more variations, if you are at a park on a "regular" basis, your going to be at KI more often (all else being equal, like distance, which it rarely is) then KK or HW. Sure new attractions there may cause you a few less trips to KI, but that is not their big dent. What they are likely worried about, is the family that makes 1, maybe 2 trips a year to amusement parks in that area. They see a well recieved RMC or new launched winged coaster and think, why not try that this year instead and never make it to Mason. And once that happens, well maybe they don't come back next season either. Its why I expect KI will install a Giga with one of their next major coasters. KK can't build one (height restrictions), not sure if HW has the resources (though the 22.5 mil spent recently may say otherwise). It would be one more ride that neither park could offer and help keep that family coming back at least once. If the current construction is indeed a coaster, I personally am hoping for a GCI, however, the Giga makes most sense for both the short term and the long term based upon the likelyhood that neither KK or HW builds one anytime soon.