Voicetek

Not sure how the Crypt building alone does any of these things. The Crypt building does not lengthen the park's operating calendar by 30%, Halloween Haunt does that, with or without the use of the Crypt building. Yes, using this building would eliminate the need to construct another structure, but wasn't "Haunt" existing before even without the use of this building? My point is that using this building or not using this building isn't going to make or break "Haunt." It will do just as well even when that building is being used as new, season long attraction.

I know that this info has been stated again and again. But I, like many other in this forum, are not satisfied with it. Regardless of what they say, using this massive building for an attraction that only lasts 1-2 months out of an entire season is a waste. Such a great building, such a great space. I feel like to much emphasis is put on "Haunt" and not enough on the regular operating season. I'm with everyone else...use it for a year round attraction or tear it down and put something useful in it's spot.

I'd love to see some type of hybrid dark ride coaster. Reading all the info on the Magic Kingdom's new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride and seeing pics and everything kind of makes me wish we'd get something similar to that. I'd love a coaster that would go in and out of enclosures where there would be effects/animatronics/etc. There could also be some type of story line involved. Think of Adventure Express, but updated and more advanced/detailed. It would also be cool if one of these interior enclosure sections would contain a launch similar to what Maverick at Cedar Point does. This is all just wishful thinking, but I feel it would be a unique addition to the park.

^ Well that pretty much sums it up. I totally agree with everything in this post. Safety should always come first, even before the rights of park guests. If it looks like it could be dangerous for them to ride, then they should be turned away. It's not worth risking someone's life over a few minutes of fun and a cheap thrill.

I've always worried about something like this happening on Diamondback. I doubt that it ever would, but you can't help from keeping thoughts like that from running through your mind as you're hanging completely forward right at the the top of the hill. I know I've always said that I'd feel 100% safer if there was a secondary system such as a seatbelt. I know you probably don't need it, but I know for a fact that it would ease my mind. Supposedly you can ride this ride with no restraint and come back safe and sound? I'm not sure I completely believe this. I know on that first hill, just as you're about to go down, you're sort of hanging there looking straight down. I'm always falling forward with all of my weight on the lap restraint. I find it absolutely impossible to lean back in my seat when you're hanging there at that angle. I don't know, I just don't see how a second type of restraint could really hurt anything. I'd say I'd rather be safe than sorry! Nothing wrong with being too safe, is there?

You used PowerPoint to make this picture? That's a pretty impressive use of PowerPoint. I was unaware that you could do stuff like that with PowerPoint.

Here's my "updated" version, more purple and black, looks less like the "Hash Slinging Slasher." That's an awesome render! What did you use to create this?

I, for one, loved Winterfest! I think we need more events like this over the winter/Christmas season around the area. Yeah we have the Festival of Lights, but I think we could do with one more. My fiance and I go to the Festival of Lights once every year, it's kind of become tradition. We don't go for the animals or even the lights necessarily (although that is a nice draw), we go mainly for the atmosphere. Around the holidays there's nothing like getting all bundled up and walking around in the cool winter air, hearing the sounds of the season as Christmas music plays in the background, taking in the sights of all the lights, grabbing a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and having a seat and just being engrossed in the atmosphere of the season. It's just something about the whole experience that makes it feel like the holidays. This is something that, if done right, Kings Island could cash in on and I think it would be great. It would give families another option to add to their list of traditions. I know if KI reinstated Winterfest, we would add that to our yearly trip to the Festival of Lights and those activities would become tradition for us every year. Also, as many have mentioned, you'd have to have live entertainment. It doesn't matter what, just something Christmas/holiday related. The Festival of Lights usually has a show with the Madcap Puppet Theater. It is a black light puppet show and it is always fun to watch! KI could definitely do something like this, plus if they added some type of musical show then they'd really have a hit on their hands. I do feel like 2005 was a bad year for them, but I feel like one year wasn't enough of a test. They didn't give it much of a chance. If I remember correctly, that year was one of the worst years for weather in December. I think since they had already invested in creating decorations and all, they should have let it run another year in 2006 to see if it would do any better. If not, then cancel, but don't do one year and call it quits. I feel like Winterfest deserves another chance and hopefully we'll see that happen one day.

I'm with you Raptor Guy...I have church on Sundays too. Hopefully coming after church won't be an issue!

So like, rides involving cats or kittens or perhaps with a feline theme? Not sure if KI has any of those

WindSeeker and Firehawk kind of freak me out. With WindSeeker I feel like there is nothing between me and the ground all those stories below my feet. With Firehawk, the few times I did ride it, I felt like I was slipping out. I like rides with a secondary harness system. I like my lap bar and my seat belt lol. I know it's probably a psychological thing, but hey, whatever makes me feel safe, right?

Awesome! So how will we get access to this event if it's free? Will there be passes or something that we'll have to get ahold of between now and then? Maybe some type of registration? This sounds like fun!

Just to clear things up, I'm not sure if the family got back on the train or not. I saw them get off and they were not escorted into Soak City. We sat there for quite some time. It was a good 5-10 minutes. By that time I wasn't really paying attention. All of a sudden the announcer came back over the speakers doing their usual narration and the train began to move again. Not sure if the family got back on or what. I just thought it was weird that we'd be dropping people off at Soak City at 10:30 at night to get stuff from the lockers.

Yeah I'd rather not go on a Saturday either, but we both work and that prevents us from going during the week. At best we can sometimes go on a Friday night, but Saturdays work out the best for us.

I heard some of the score from the Transformers movie while walking back to the Flight Deck loading station Saturday night. The track is called "Soccent Attack." It's a great piece of music and I was actually kind of surprised to hear it. I actually love instrumental music at theme parks and I wish it was something that Kings Island did more often and in more areas.

So my fiance and I decided to take a trip to KI Saturday evening since they were open until midnight. We got there around 8:30 so we had a good 3 1/2 hours in the park. The first thing we noticed when we were pulling into the park was how full the parking lot was. It was definitely a crowded night at the park. So we went on in and went through the gates and we noticed the Kings Island refillable sports bottle stand set up to the left of the fountains. We decided to pick one up. It was only $9.99 and we got free refills all evening and boy did we make use of that! We're looking forward to our 99 cent refills for the remainder of the season. So for the first ride we hit up Adventure Express. This ride is a great guage for how crowded the park is on any given night. If AE has a line, then the park is definitely crowded! The line went out to where the entrance sign is. We thought, "What the heck," we had just gotten a refill on our drink so that would give us time to relax with some ice cold cola. As always, the ride was great fun! Next we decided to just take it easy and stroll down Coney Mall. We passed an arcade and decided to go in for a bit. I noticed a claw machine with some Marios and Yoshis in it and decided to give it a shot. I went to the token machine and put my dollar in and waited for my tokens. Out came two tokens and I stood there waiting for two more. I waited, waited, waited....then realized tokens were now TWO for a DOLLAR not four for a dollar! What in the world KI? Anyways, I proceeded to the claw machine, put in my two tokens, positioned my claw, and pressed the button. The claw went down and up came a Yoshi! And an amazing thing, the claw actually gripped it as it yanked it up and swung it around to the drop. I claimed my prize and we decided to move along to something else. We finished our walk down Coney Mall and stopped for another refill then decided to head towards Stunt Track. We arrived and saw the line....nevermind. The entire queue was full so we moved along. We headed down towards The Beast. By this time it was 10 and the fireworks were going off. We stopped down by the Diamondback splash down and watched them for a few before walking around towards The Beast entrance. When we got there, the entire queue was filled on that too. It would've probably eaten up the rest of our night waiting to ride. What ashame. I was looking forward to a nice night ride on The Beast. Maybe next time! We decided to take a night ride on the train instead and got to the station just as they were loading! We boarded and off we went. And this time when we rode, something interesting happened. Please fill me in on this as I was not familiar that they did this. When we arrived at Soak City (it was almost 10:30 and Soak City had been closed for quite sometime now) the announced over the speakers that if anyone had anything in their lockers that they could get off and get it out. Anything in the lockers? The water park was closed. Are you allowed to leave things in those lockers the rest of the night? I was not aware of this. I assumed that you had to empty the lockers out before you left Soak City at closing time. We sat there on the train and waited as one family got off, walked inside Soak City and emptied their lockers in a water park that had been closed for 3 and a half hours. This was new to me. I had no idea they did this! You learn something new everyday! So we got off the train and continued into Planet Snoopy. We decided to take a ride on the Kite Eating Tree since we had never tried it before. It was a nice little thrill and the line wasn't long at all so it was a good choice. Next, we walked into the Snoopy Shop (whatever it's called) and looked around a bit. After that it was into Boo Blasters to blast Boocifer away! My fiance and I stood in the lobby/queue area and discussed all the minor upgrades that could be made to really make this a unique ride. Perhaps I'll have to start a post sometime so that I can list all my ideas. One though would be to create a Boo Blasters mascott character and have him mounted where the Maestro used to sit. This character would be an animatronic and would explain the history of the manor and why you want to blast the boos. This would be similar to what Disney does in their queue lines. Just one minor thought I had. The ride was fun and I ended with a score of 1,700! We exited Boo Blasters and decided to head over to Action Zone. When we got there we looked at the fencing that is blocking the new 2014 attraction area and noticed some new additions. Now I haven't been on the 2014 thread in quite a while so this might not be new news, however, on the trees they have little signs hanging that says "No Camping." Also, you can see where they added a new sentence to the original signs on the fence that talk about the screams and such. This new sentence talks about "evil activity" and you can see where it's just a sticker stuck over the original sign. Quite interesting I thought. I'm sure you all have seen this already, but I thought I would mention it. So we took the long journey to the Flight Deck loading station and as always it was a walk on. We boarded and had an amazing night flight. That's such a nice little ride and it's ashame that it's kind of underrated. By this time it was 11:45 so we decided to grab one more refill and make our way to the park exit. We took our time and enjoyed the sights on the way out. We walked to our car and left the park. It was a crowded night, but all in all we had a great time. Hopefully next time though, we'll be able to do more coasters!

The air was cool and the weather was rainy, definitely a great day to take advantage of minimal crowds at the park. I should've thought of that! Glad you had a fun trip!

It's really frustrating to walk onto International Street and hear music from current pop/rock bands like Katy Perry, Lada Gaga, etc. And then when walking through Planet Snoopy and into Rivertown hearing the same stuff, even stuff like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. This music just doesn't fit at all! I really miss the magic of International Street with the big, emotional classical music scores. Even better, I loved walking into Hanna-Barbara Land and hearing the theme music to some of my favorite cartoons like Yogi Bear, Scooby Doo, and the Jetsons. This just set the mood to the entire place and I remember how my excitement levels rose when I was getting closer and could start hearing the music fade to something new. I knew I was about to enter a new area/land and I started to anticipate all the fun I would have in that area. Such a shame that it's just all pop/rock music in every square inch of that place. I just feels like one big land now instead of many different ones. Hopefully some changes will be made.

Here's some new news about a re-opening and expansion... http://www.thrillnetwork.com/content.php?r=3382-Kentucky-Kingdom-announces-expansion-secured-financing

I agree, I thought it might be kind of fun to just sit on the shore line in the shallow water and watch the movie. I didn't necessarily feel the need to float around in the deep end, I just mainly wanted to be in the water. Also, some of the people were so far out in the deep end that they were behind the two screens. It just all seemed a mess. Maybe they should've called the Beach and gotten some advice on how to run one of these things. Here's hoping the Dive-in movies at Soak City gets better and more organized with time.

Well, my fiance and I decided to give this Dive-in movie thing a try. We got to the main park at around 7:30 and decided to spend a couple hours in the park before heading over. So we walked into Soak City and started heading back to the wave pool where the movie was. There were lots of people there, which we had pretty much expected. The first thing we decided to do was look for a chair. As we were looking, I noticed that there were a ton of people lining the edge/shore of this gigantic pool. I thought, "huh, that's weird" and continued to find a chair. We were successful and found 2 chairs together. As I sat down I noticed the line again. Then I also noticed that 3/4 of the pool was empty. I was thinking to myself, "I wonder why the people are just standing on the edge and not wading into the pool?" I figured that the water was probably pretty cold. So the movie started and I was still trying to figure out what was going on. I then noticed that the entire edge of the pool was roped off and people were being filtered into the deep end of the pool. Then I realized that this was a line! I line to the wave pool! Just about that time, my fiance asked me if I wanted to go test the water and maybe get in for a bit. I said yeah, but I think that's a line to get in. She was like, no way! There's no line for the wave pool, you'll just go on in. And I said, no go look...see the ropes! We were so confused. So we looked around and found someone working the event. We decided to talk to them about it and find out what was going on. This was the response we got.... She said, "Oh yeah, this is a line to get into the wave pool. The only section of the pool that you're allowed to go into is the deep end where it has lights." She continued, "I think they're letting more people in though in a little bit." So I asked, "So the people who are already in the pool, do they have a time limit? Will they make them get out in a little bit so that more people can go in?" She said, "Oh no, once you get in you can pretty much stay in as long as you want." What in the world? So basically once the 1/4 section of the pool hit capacity then no one would be allowed in unless someone decided to get out. But they weren't regulating the time in the pool and they weren't forcing anyone out. So basically, everyone standing in the line waiting, most of them would probably never get in. I was so ticked at the execution of this thing that we just grabbed our stuff and left. I feel like this was horrible advertisement on this whole thing. I understand that it was dark and they wanted to be safe by only using the lit end of the pool, but there were a couple of things that they could have done better. First thing, they could've made it clear in the advertising that it was "First come first serve, Limited space in the wave pool" but no, they said come on out and watch a movie and float around in the wave pool. It sounded like the entire pool would be open. Second thing, they could've regulated the time people could stay in the water. If they only had a limited space and they had a line a mile long, then someone needed to blow a whistle every 15 minutes or so so that another group of people could get in and enjoy the pool too. I could've cared less about the movie, but I think it was mainly the principle of how things were handled. I'm all about safety, but you've also got to make people aware of how things are going to be executed. We saw a ton of people leaving, even the lady we talked to about the whole thing made a comment that a lot of people were packing up and leaving. Hmmm...I wonder why? We only talked to one person and I took it in good faith that she gave me accurate information. Maybe they were setting a time limit. Maybe they were cycling the people through. I don't know. I didn't stay around to find out. Did anyone else go to this tonight? Did you see anything different? Did you notice if they were handling it better as the night went on? I also understand that this is the first one and perhaps they will work out all the bugs as time goes on. Maybe I'll give it a chance later next month when it's running a bit more smoothly.

Just imagine of HD camcorders, personal computers, and sites like YouTube existed back in those days. Oh the footage of the park that would have been preserved for generations to come! Oh well, at least we have some video documentation from that time period. Better than nothing I guess!

I really enjoyed this video. I watched the whole thing and found it to be very informative and entertaining. The only thing I didn't really care for was the script/dialogue of the host. Some of the wording was pretty hokey and made those parts feel amateur-ish. Other than that, a really great documentary with great footage!

I don't really care for the fact that they show rides that aren't at Kings Island in a Kings Island commercial. Now I know we all know better and none of us would expect to see those rides at the park, but still, what if someone had never been to KI before and really wanted to ride a ride they saw on the commercial? I know it makes sense from a business standpoint to shoot one commercial and re-brand it for the various parks, but I still don't care for it.

I've seen other old video clips of old amusement parks and I noticed that people dressed to go to amusement parks like they were dressing to go to church. It seemed like people just liked to fix up and look presentable every time they went out. It was a different time back then.