Voicetek

That was awesome! Just curious, did you manually grab these frames, or did you have some sort of automated process that grabbed a frame every so often?

Not that it bothers me at all, but perhaps they could change the name of the auction. Maybe they could call it "Early Riders" auction or something. First riders is a bit misleading regardless of how you feel about it. It's still pretty cool that you get to ride it before the general public and be a part of a good cause in the process.

Here is the link to the processing hours on their website: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/tickets-passes/season-pass-processing-hours

I spent many, MANY, summer days at both Americana and Fantasy Farm as a kid. When I was a young child in the 80s, my family had season passes to Fantasy Farm. We'd visit there often in the summer and on the weekends. I just remember some of the unique things they had there. They used to have these caves you could walk through, and there was this house with statues of the 3 bears. I remember my family having a birthday party in that house for one of my cousins. They also had these paddle boats that were in a pond with a bunch of crazy snapping turtles. I remember riding those once with my cousins and getting stuck out in that pond. The ride op had to pull us back in with this long pole. For whatever reason, it felt like the safety regulations were kind of lax there. I don't know, maybe it was just me, but it sure seemed like it! The whole place was just an interesting place to visit, a completely different experience than one you'd get at Kings Island.

Screechin' Eagle was a great coaster, but it sure was rough! I used to ride it all the time as a kid since we had season passes and were there all the time. I remember one night inparticular that I rode it and it was so rough that it slammed my head into the side of the car I was riding in. I've never had such a headache before! I'm not sure if it was always this rough or if they ended up refurbishing it at some point, but there was a time in the early 90s where it used to beat the heck out of you...literally!

My wife, niece, and myself will be there on preview night! Looking forward to riding Mystic Timbers in 4 days!

This same thing happened with the MyDisney app last year when we went to Disney World. My wife and I went to install the app again so we could use it on our trip, but it was no longer compatible. We were still using our Galaxy S4s at the time and unfortunately still running Android 4.0. I guess if you want to keep up with the latest theme park apps, you have to keep your phone upgraded as well, which can be tricky.

This theming is fantastic, I'm definitely impressed. Too bad they'll still be blaring Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga throughout Rivertown. Now if we could only get the music to enhance the atmosphere of the various park sections, then we'd have it good. Hopefully that change will come too.

Since I first registered as a KICentral member back in 2012, I've shared bits and pieces of my KI story in various threads. This is a neat idea for a thread and I really enjoyed your story. So because of that, I'm going to give you all a semi-condensed version of my Kings Island story. I was born in September 1980, so I was fortunate enough to grow up in the park when it was strictly Hanna-Barbera Land. My earliest memories from the park are riding The Enchanted Voyage (yes the original one BEFORE it was the Smurfs) and attending Winterfest while being pushed around in my stroller. Since I was so young, I can't tell you the actual dates, but even at such a young age I can still remember enjoying the park and being excited by it. Moving on from there, I've got extremely fond memories from the 80s growing up at KI. We were extremely fortunate to have a pass every summer and visit many times. As a kid, I absolutely loved Hanna-Barbera Land. I loved everything about it: The rides, the music, the characters - just the whole atmosphere. Here are some memories I have of that area. First and foremost the dark ride. I loved the Enchanted Voyage and even the Smurfs Enchanted Voyage. I think my early experiences with these rides contributed to my love of dark rides for my entire life. I still remember the smell inside - classic dark ride/boat ride smell! I also remember riding the trains you had to crank with your hands, I remember Scrappy's Farm, the Hanna-Barbera Carousel (I always rode Scooby Doo or Jabber Jaws!), and of course many other classic rides from the area. One thing that sticks out from my early days in the park is how awesome the train ride used to be. I loved riding the train and seeing the pioneer villages and the fort and the indians shooting and stuff like that. It was so cool how well it was themed. There are so many memories from that decade in the park that I can't possibly list them all. Let's move on to the 90s, shall we? This, for me, was a great decade in the park. It was during this time that I would learn to love roller coasters. Let me explain how that happened. Ever since I could remember, I was terrified of "large" rides. This included every coaster except The Beastie. I would not get on one to save my life and no one could convince me otherwise! However, when Adventure Express was introduced, it was just too cool not to ride. I knew there were no "drops" so I decided to give it a shot. Once I rode it I was hooked! I loved it and I wanted more! From there my next adventure was The Racer. I told my dad one Saturday before we were headed to the park that I was going to ride The Racer. He didn't believe me. He told me that if I did ride it, that he would buy me an Adventure Express hat that I had been wanting. Cool, a bribe! Well, we made it to the park and, just as I had promised, I rode The Racer and loved it - and I also got my hat! One particular weekend my family was in line for The Beast. Even though I was confident enough to ride The Racer, I was still a little iffy about this one. My plan was just to wait in line with my family and then step through when we got to the loading area and just wait for them. Well, we got to the loading station and I went to step through the train. I was having trouble with my footing, so I sat down for a sec to straighten things about. Just as I sat down, the lap bars came down and locked. I was trapped! Looked like I was going to get a ride on The Beast whether I wanted to or not! So, I rode it and ended up really liking it and that's when my love for coasters took off. From there I conquered other coasters like The Vortex and King Cobra and then others that would be added in the future. I was hooked! This decade was also when I moved into my teen years. These were great years and I visited the park with my friends and made memories that I'll keep for a lifetime. I also got to witness the transition from Hanna-Barbera Land to Nickelodeon Central. This was a sad time for me, but I loved the Nicktoons, so it was sort of bittersweet. This was just such a great decade at the park that I couldn't possibly list all the memories I made there. Fast-forward to today, I'm 36 years old now and I'm getting ready to visit the park in a couple weeks to celebrate the 2017 season. I'll be taking my wife and we'll both be enjoying the park together. Looking back at the last 3, almost 4 decades I've visited the park, it's amazing to me how many memories I've made and how many I'm still making. One of the first dates I had with my wife was a visit to the park, we visited while we were dating and now we continue to visit after we're married. I've taken my niece and nephew and I've watched them grow up there and move from kiddie land to the big rides. In a few short years I'll be taking my own kids there and we'll be making all new memories together as a family! It's amazing to me how a local park can become such a big part of your life. You can look back and see how it was a big part of shaping your past and you can look to the future and know that it will be a big part of that as well. There are lots of feelings associated with it too. I can think back and remember smells and sounds and partially relive how I felt in that moment in time at the park. I'm excited for the new season and everything that it's bringing. I'm excited to get back to Winterfest and experience that once again. So, here's to Kings Island and everything it has to bring us in the future!

My wife and I, and maybe my niece, are planning on coming out for the preview night. I really hope that most people will have the sense not to shout out what's in the shed, but unfortunately, some people are ignorant and don't have respect for others. I will be dodging spoilers like the plague, and I've got half a mind to show up on the 14th wearing earplugs until after I ride. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't cross paths with some jerk whose mission in life is to spoil the fun for everyone else. I've met people like that, particularly when it comes to movie spoilers, so I know they're out there.

^Makes sense when you look at it from that perspective

^I guess I kinda get that. However, seeing a billboard advertisement for an amusement park attraction as the themed entrance sign, sort of pulls you out of the theming. It's like, "Hey come check out this authentic run-down sawmill in Rivertown, but oh by the way, it's just the new attraction at our amusement park." Maybe it's just me, but it sort of pulls me out of the element a bit.

I'm wondering why they had to specify "Kings Island" on the ride sign. Don't we know where we are? It's not like the other signs in the park say "Banshee Kings Island" or "The Beast Kings Island." I'm wondering what this is all about? Could it be that there will be other Mystic Timber coasters installed at other Cedar Fair parks?

I'm honestly kind of excited about the theming of this ride. It looks like it should belong in Rivertown, unlike some other attractions (I'm looking at you The Crypt!). Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing everything completed when I visit during the preview night. I'm counting down the days now, just a few more weeks!

^I've wondered the same thing! What did happen to him? Haven't seen him on here in forever.

Just curious, is it still called Coney Mall? I vaguely remember them removing the sign a season or two ago. I can't remember if they put it back up or not.

It would suck if KI introduced this now since I already renewed my season pass for this year. If they were going to have this as an option, it would've been nice if they would've offered it by now. Oh well. If it works out and they offer it again next year, this might be something to look into when renewing for the 2018 season.

Sounds (and looks) like you had a good time! Disney is an awesome place to visit and one of my favorite vacation spots. Glad you got to check out Expedition Everest. That ride is amazing and how about that theming in the queue? It feels just like you're in the Himalayas and that realistic-looking yeti museum starts to make you question whether or not it's actually real, or just something put together for a theme park. Looking through your pics, it looks like you got to check out some other amazing rides/attractions. Glad you got to experience all the magic that is Walt Disney World! Thanks for sharing this with us!

It would be cool if they could add a Christmas theme sort of like how Disney changes the Haunted Mansion over to a Nightmare Before Christmas attraction. I know we'd never get anything this elaborate, and I wouldn't expect an entire re-theme of Boo Blasters, but it would be cool if they hung some basic decorations around the manor/mansion and, like someone else mentioned, put Santa hats on the characters. Heck, it would even be cool if they could change up the music to some instrumental holiday music. I'm not really looking for any of this to happen, it's just fun to speculate. I just think Boo Blasters could be an interesting holiday attraction with very little effort or investment.

Movierail? What????

I'm not saying that I didn't love the ride, in fact, I was so blown away by it when I first rode it, that I kept wanting to ride it over and over again. I was just saying that this concept art made it look like the ride was completely indoors. In fact, it kind of reminds me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. I do wish, though, that they'd revamp AE a little and bring it back to it's original glory. It's such a shell of what it used to be, that it's sorta sad.

^Yep, that's it! I remember staring at this image and imagining what the ride would be like once I finally got to ride it. Gosh, this picture doesn't at all represent the ride we actually ended up with lol.

Yes, Scooby Doo was a downgrade from Phantom Theater as its approach was to minimize the theming and make it simpler (and cheaper?) to maintain. However, even though Scooby Doo and Boo Blasters are almost identical, Boo Blasters comes across as way worse because of it's total lack of a recognizable theme, and a story/plot that is almost non-existent. Even though the props and theming within Scooby Doo was simpler, at least it had some appeal with it's recognizable characters and story. I think this helped to create some kind of connection between the ride and the rider. In my opinion, there is no connection that exists today. Everything is so scaled back and "generic" that, for me anyway, there is nothing that excites me or appeals to me about riding the ride except the fact that it's KI's only dark ride. That's it. Here's hoping something is done to improve that space very, VERY soon.

I would say Mystic Timbers, hands down

^ Ha, thanks! I've been a Scooby Doo fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching the cartoon and still love him today. He's one of those classic characters that never get old!