BB1

It's honestly really sad that we have to have this conversation, but it is needed in this day in age. The coaster community from all across the board has been welcoming and should be a place for everyone to not have to worry about their safety. However with recent events, it's upsetting because I saw the individual at HWN, and I could have ridden in the same car as him. Safety, is, has, and will always be at the forefront of any park that you go to, the same should be said for the websites/communities that cover and discuss them too. Kudos to the individuals coming out on the subject, and kudos to the KIC team for making a statement of something that we all know is true; but is nice to be reminded of, that is, that KIC is and should be a safe place for all who are a part of it.

You know, for as much as I would hate to say it, I think a RMC ground up hybrid would make for the perfect compliment in that area of the park. You have the terrain, you have the space, you have the capacity to maybe even make a true Son of Beast (If the park would even dare touch that IP anymore) right next to the original. Maybe even have some interactivity with The Beast and make it work around the area. I'll admit, the ride would probably be cramped and there is probably better areas in the park that elude me now that would be a better fit. However, I think it would be a good way to maybe integrate the two areas of the park with classic Coney getting a new icon coaster.

I'm actually going to go a different direction with Flight of Fear. That coaster in and of itself personally could use a new area theme as it is kind of somewhat dated. Maybe have some more atmospheric affects, as it is currently one of my favorite themed coasters in the park besides Mystic. However, I can agree with Banshee as I think Banshee still has so much more potential than the park gives it. I'd love to see a redesign sometime soon to freshen up and make it more spooky sometime. (Maybe even a few trees while we're at it)

Dude, I expected The Thing when I popped in so I respect the vibe. Looks pretty neat, not a huge show guy, and honestly the shows in the fall give me the most headaches. (Although the elf show during Winterfest is very close imo) Maybe they can finally pull off something that I can enjoy, who knows.

Speculates for weeks about flags and markers, links his article for massive concepts and ideas. Then good old Mr M. comes in with some truth bombs about it being just a water line project. (I honestly don't mean to attack anyone by the way, I just simply love irony) In other news, glad to hear that they're upgrading some of the water systems. At least we're getting *some* improvements for 2021.

Not going to lie, I wish they planted more pine trees around The Beast to reinforce some of that wooded vibe they had. Maybe even bring back the lake if they could do some minor construction around the turn around. We definitely have a decent area to work with in The Vortex plot, the terrain change that they have there could be great for a Dive or launched coaster. I personally would like to see a steel coaster that could hypothetically work in the Winterfest season, as I think something like that would work to expand the capacity and line up for that season.

^Personally, I'd like to see KI start using the Dollywood model and hand out hand sanitizer before you ride. Sure, one can touch their face and etc before riding but the act helps. While I think I do believe they should spray down the cars before each cycle, I don't think it's 100% profitable as it takes a lot of time to clean and it would create a mess with the lines.

Give a KI Enthusiast a marker, said marker turns to seasonal probably pre-planned electrical demo or revamp for a part of the park that has needed it for years now. Enthusiast goes from just seeing markers, to full demo, of what had a huge line on Sunday, of The Bat. My head hurts. I'm sorry, I don't see any correlation, nor do I see the park caddy-cornering itself anymore as it needs to expand and grow. I don't think Bat is going the way of the dodo, and the markers might just be cabling to the old SOB station. We're not going to see major, or minor investments that are going to change the park too much in 2021 unless if we get some repaints. Maybe SOB station is going? Maybe we will see some lighting updated as it needs it, but I wouldn't go all out for a coaster anywhere close or a removal anywhere near this current year. We have far too many areas that already need investment, and the park knows that. I honestly don't want to be a cynic, and I get the whole let's get the thread up to 200 pages about a few flags thing is a vibe but I think that above all else, this is not what we should be focusing on as we have already like what 3 hot spots already that needs expansion or growth that are not even close to where this discussion is.

So it looks like I might have beat a few people to the punch but a few key notes from today's excursion. (I may not have, but I'm not about to search for hours when I'm lacking a few hours of sleep from HWN) They added a new easter egg in the Shed recently I guess as they have a piece of Vortex's rail laying up to the right wall of the Shed. I rode it like maybe 3 weeks ago and I didn't notice it then but it looks pretty cool nevertheless. Banshee was running 2 train ops today, with purple train disassembled with the seat backs laying up in the train storage area. My guess is that it might be back soonish? I don't know, but for those who are planning a trip soon, that's a FYI.

The funny part is that I actually dodged a semi like that two years back in PA. (And that's a story for another day)Also tripping on Roomba's happens more often in my house than you think. Also, thanks for the Orion input! The main reason I made this poll was because many of my close KI enthusiast friends have consistently ranked D-back above Orion; of which I wanted to see how the larger KI enthusiast community felt about the subject. Even myself, at 240 credits YTD, I have Diamondback at 9 and Orion at 10 respectively. (For some more context, Fury is my #2, Goliath (sfog) is 7, Mako is 8 rounded off with Diamonback and Orion). I definitely think Orion is a fun ride, don't get me wrong, but I feel like it is a tad bit too short and among other things, that trim takes out some serious airtime.

Wasn't the question but you do you.

Alright kiddies, onto the main showdown. Orion, what many Kings Island enthusiasts have been wishing for since 2015; Diamondback, the coaster that put Kings Island back on the map for thrills. When we first heard of Orion, I saw everything from excitement, to disappointment as many wanted a Fury 2.0. When we finally rode Orion, I still saw everything from it's the best coaster in the park, to some saying it still missed the bar of what the park needed. Only one coaster can truly be the King of the Island, the true Khan of the coaster line up, is it Diamondback or Orion? What do you guys think? (Ps, why can't we have both isn't an option. Both cannot be equally good)

Maybe you guys are all wrong, it's the world's longest extended disco, Son of Surf Dog! (I kid, I kid) All joking aside though, from what I know of the area and the markers thereof, I think we're looking at utility work. Now, personally speaking I'd love to see a major investment into a repaving of the parking lot as honestly it's becoming more of an issue by the day. However, knowing how the park works and operates, I would think this might just be some electrical project or maybe even a small extension to the walkway. I wouldn't invest too much time personally into the matter as 2021 is going to be a dry year for KI in my opinion, maybe some touch ups and upgrades but I wouldn't go after a mountain when there's only a mole hill.

In all honesty, I wish Coney had some more water slides to actually stand up more to the local fan fare. I don't think it's too far fetched for us to see a standalone waterpark that isn't super close to KI. (Looking at you now defunct for the umpteenth time Beach Waterpark) Currently, for a family, there's enough to draw them in for a Sunday afternoon, maybe even a season pass if you're close enough and don't want to drive to Mason. However, for Coney to actually hold up and run with the business model they have, I think they seriously need to invest in some new, fresh waterslides that are contemporary with other waterparks. Heck, even just buy some slides from The Beach waterpark, there are several very nice waterslides just sitting dormant. With everything said and done, no one could have expected COVID, no one could have expected the shallow season we are getting. I think Coney should have had a dual announcement, that yes they were selling off attractions but were expanding their waterpark with some new slides to give some fresh life to a new era of the park.

Honorary membership of the Unofficial Boomerang Bay Fan Club, duh. But seriously though that song almost describes to a t what CF did to that waterpark.

^That's kind of my point. I get if like the item is a big ticket deal, but stuff like brats and hot dogs aren't really *big* for me. I think this is one of two things: A. The park needs cash due to covid or B. A massive oversight that the park didn't examine and think through. I can tell you that I personally witnessed a few people upset over the fact that they didn't have any dining plan options.

So I guess I'll post this here as I think this vibes better around this topic. I am honestly kind of disappointed that the park didn't add any dining plan options for Meteor Canteen. I think they had a great thing going with adding a bathroom, and a restaurant, yet they didn't give us any new food items for the dining plan. Which don't get me wrong, I understand that not every location can have a dining plan option. However, considering their recent track record with adding dining plan options at recent additions like Miami Brewhouse, Coney Island BBQ and even Island Smokehouse, I would have thought an item or two would have been on the dining plan. (Preferably the brats as I can vibe with some brats and sauerkraut)

This is exactly what I have been talking about with this waterpark since SC was installed. You used to have some serious foliage at the park, then they ripped it out and put in a parking lot (Bonus points to you if you got that reference). The waterpark needs a lot of things, critically. A decent water coaster, a new set of speed slides, a new water slide complex, heck even a new kiddie area would be an upgrade to what we got. Even just some TLC in adding some new theming would do wonders for the park. I have said it once, and I'll say it again the waterpark gets attention ever so often and it is honestly upsetting as it deserves more and better options. It is what most season pass holders tend to go to and it honestly needs work to compete with local waterparks. As for @coaster sally no we don't need an Intamin Aquatrax and no we don't need a shoot the chutes either. BB1, one of the few who actually knows that waterpark like the back of his hand.

Scroll from the right hand of your screen to the left hand of your screen for the full list of symptoms. If that doesn't work then I'd restart the application and see if that works.

^That comment reminded me of something else the waterpark needs to fix: the smoking section. So we could have a pretty decent water attraction as an entry welcome but we just have a smoking section that fills the entire midway and entrance. Please for the love of everything good just keep the smoking section in a more discreet area, same for the walkway back to the hard park. I don't think they can 100% immerse people into the world of the waterpark just due to spacing and the way the road system operates. You could definitely argue for some more trees around the park as we have the space, but to be 100% immersed without being able to see out would be a difficult task. I personally say if you want to do that, just invest more with the lazy river, make it more immersive and tropical instead of being rock city USA.

Certain slides you can have your shoes thrown down behind you, others you just can't. I personally wouldn't suggest leaving your flip flops at the entrance just because someone might pick them up. There are a lot of glaring issues with Soak City, not just the branding, not just the slides, but the conceptual layout and the haphazardness of the whole park. First off, like mentioned, there is barely any shade at Soak City. When they redid the entry to the lazy river, they ripped out what could have been called the best shaded water park lazy river in the nation. The bushes hanging above, the trees, it was cool and nice on a hot summers day. Now, it's a hot mess with the water features going all over the place. Speaking of, personally speaking, the water guns and features have to go. They are a nuisance to both guests and lifeguards. Sometimes half of them don't even work, other times kids will spray people in the face for no reason. Buckets will be held, spray the lifeguards, and would take them off beat. Don't believe me? I've seen it. Lazy rivers are supposed to be "Lazy", give people like my father who is obese a place to relax and unwind because for him going to the lazy river back in BB era was much more enjoyable with the stairs and messed up queue. On the topic of the layout, the back stretch from Pine to the tube shed being blocked just doesn't make sense to me. The shed can be roped off, and that stretch is a nice way for guests who don't want to go in the river to walk around with their loved ones. Also, for the love of everything good, just add some trees. Seriously, just add some maples or some pine trees, shade up the park and make it easier for people to walk around. The slides themselves are dated, however if you want one slide to hit the can, it's Zoom Flume. It's old, it is rough, the wood is pushing the fiberglass up and needs either repair or demo. Everything else is fine in my opinion, when it comes to the slide colors I honestly believed they should have kept the colors they had in 2011 as I thought Twist and Pine's aqua colors were amazing, the new colors look dated. For what we honestly need at the waterpark, we need a water coaster yeah, but we also need a decent PROSlide tube complex. You could definitely squeeze a decent water coaster back near Pineapple and or maybe have it stretch around the Zoom Flume area. For a PROSlide complex, just place it where Zoom Flume is currently, there is a lot of topography to work with and I think they should use the valley it sits in to it's full potential. As to theming, I loved Boomerang Bay, I saw Soak City as a generic brand with no true flavor. It still honestly doesn't have a decent beach feel in all honesty. I don't want a water country usa esque country bumpkin water park, but I really don't want a generic bland waterpark like we have now. I think having a decent, different brand is essential as I personally believe that Kings Island's direct competitor is Holiday World in terms of being world class. They have a very unique theme, contrary to what we have at Kings Island. Sure, one could argue that it is X amount of hours away and they have a lot more to offer, but I think if Kings Island went for the wood record, they should also try to nab the waterpark record in some form. So, should they go back to Boomerang Bay? Why not? They have the IP, it is different and I think would work to make themselves distinct in the brand again. If not, something like The Rhine Waterpark would work well, with a German/OTR theme that ties in with Cincinnati's German heritage. Which would also tie into the International Street theme that we have in the hard park and Oktoberfest. When it comes down to it, the waterpark gets forgotten about more often than you think. We have a few repaints, maybe a new restaurant, but it was four years between major additions. Technically 12 years from the last major water slide addition to Tropical Plunge. So hopefully management can change things up and improve on what we have.

(I honestly do not know which thread is the main topic for discussion on construction updates so I'm just going to post here and see what happens.) Overall I'm pretty impressed with what they have done already, I wouldn't be surprised if by Winterfest we see a lot more of the lift tapered off. I would like to see some teasers of the queue the closer to opening day we get but I'll be happy just to see some actual theming for the first time in a long time.

(end hiatus)So just as a FYI, Hofbräuhaus has franchising opportunities that would be right up Kings Island's alley. Hofbräu Express is their quick service venue similar to what Panda Express is in the FestHaus. If Kings Island were to go with the Small Restaurant model they could just demo Hanks and rebuild it as a smaller Hofbräuhaus to fit the area and remodel the whole area to be more Germanic. (Link for those who are wondering: http://www.hofbrauhaus.us/franchise/ ) Definitely would not be opposed to loosing the Panda for the Hofbräu, just saying. (resume hiatus)

Paramount had it's ups and downs. I thoroughly enjoyed the additions like Boomerang Bay (duh), Top Gun & Flight of Fear. However other additions like Italian Stunt Job, Son of Beast's lack of competent construction & the odd implementation of Nick in HB Land just didn't sit right with me. Paramount was a great chain to see theming and quality in the first few years of an attraction, after that it turned sour quickly. Heck Top Gun's lower queue was rarely used and it had a ton of theming. I would say the Paramount era basically gave us the good, the bad, and the ugly in theme park industry.