SonofBaconator

I think Dorney would be sold since they just installed a Dive coaster, which would increase the resale value, and since Herschend owns Kennywood, I could see them making a push to buy them.

I never understood why they were ever covered up to begin with- they fit the haunted castle theme just as good as they did for Phantom Theater.

Any working theories? Also would they all be Six Flags or former Cedar Fair parks as well? Personally, I think our chain would sell off a park to a competitor if it was in a “dead area.” For example, Valleyfair! would be a “good” candidate because it was always in the bottom tier of CF parks pre merger.

They’re growing at a fairly large rate

Batwing should be dismantled and relocated to Mason…

During Paramount’s attempt there was a soldier that came back to their loved one.

I’ve said this nearly every year but I hope that they add more lights to their train ride. Almost every park that has a train ride decks it out for the holidays and it seems like ours always seemed to be missing something.

Do you mean that the staggered seating allows for a longer, more snakelike train?

They did use Phantom Theater props and animatronics as displays during Fearfest/Haunt in the past so I don’t think it detracted that much.

that was one of the things that I feared would go away when the chains merged…marketing is always one of the first departments to experience cuts when companies are trying to save money.

I never understood why the park never used the IP for nearly 20 years until PTE. We could’ve had Haunt Mazes, merch, etc in between 2003-2022

3 Questions: What’s one thing will you be upset if they don’t bring back? Whats one thing you don’t think they’ll bring back? What’s something you’d like changed that they didn’t do the 1st time?

on a somewhat related note, I’m curious if Kings Island Louisville/Lexington grip has eroded since the reopening of Kentucky Kingdom and if so, by how much.

B&M has made hypers with both the standard 4 across as well as the staggered seating. My question is- would Diamondback (heck include Behemoth, Intimidator/Thunder Striker, Shambala, and Steel Dragon 2000 in as well) have a different experience if it (and the latter mentioned coasters) had 4 across trains? The lack of open-airedness is a given, but would it/they ride any different?

I don’t know why the park didn’t preserve as much as possible- they could’ve made some cash selling some of the props off- even the minor ones like the old photos on the walls.

Fun fact, I was told they just slapped a fake spider over it to make it look like a spider web and called it a day.

I saw it on reddit- I originally had the images too- but then I read the comments and saw that this was taken during a camera’s down tour so I removed them. Not sure if keeping the link up makes any difference. @IndyGuy4KI?

https://www.reddit.com/r/KingsIsland/s/QpUR6QQtxR

“Built” as in it was erected- the coaster itself was built for an other park but was later relocated to Sandusky-it was never custom built for CP. If it was custom built, CP would have had three trains.

I have this theory that the park is gauging whether fans are leaning more toward family attractions or if there’s still a strong demand for a major thrill ride like the thrill coaster. Looking at the options, three out of the four are clearly family-focused: a storytelling inverted coaster like Arthur, a Jeep-style adventure ride through themed scenes, and a live-action Wild West stunt show. The only true thrill option is the large red roller coaster. That alone tells me the park is testing whether guests are ready for another high-intensity coaster or if they’d rather see something more accessible to families. If the results end up evenly split - say, each concept getting around 25% - then it’s highly unlikely the park will move forward with the big thrill coaster. Even if the thrill coaster gets around 50% and the remaining options share the other half, that still shows half the audience prefers family attractions, which would likely push Kings Island toward something tamer. To make a new thrill coaster happen, the response would probably need to be at least 60% in favor of the red coaster - enough to send a clear signal that the majority of fans truly want a major thrill ride over anything else. Otherwise, this survey is probably Kings Island’s final check to confirm whether it’s time to shift their focus fully toward the family market. My two cents.

At the very least maybe invest in walk around characters to engage with the public during halloween. https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021/04/23/photos-video-first-look-at-disneys-life-size-walking-baby-groot/

Stories are great for rides like Mystic, Beast, Banshee, Orion, and even Diamondback- and while I’m sure KI could make up one for Racer- I don’t think that a made up story would be the right fit for it. Actually, I argue that the best way to tell Racer’s story is with its history– how it sparked the second roller coaster renaissance, how The Brady Bunch rode it, how it ran backwards for a while, how it’s as old as the park itself, etc. Sometimes a ride’s history is its greatest story

For as long as I’ve known about Fearfest/Halloween Haunt, one thing always alluded me – how come the park never had any ride related mazes? Think about if slaughterhouse was a maze themed to the legend of The Beast under a different name, if the former blackout building was centered around the legend of the Banshee, etc. Heck, we never had a maze around Phantom Theater (granted Phantom theater briefly was a Fearfest attraction.) The closest thing we really got were scare zones that were slightly related to the park sections like Alien X, Coney Maul, etc. Maybe that might come off as cheap or unimaginative, but I’m still kind of surprised that the park never expanded on a ride’s story through an adjacent maze.

Since this post, Six Flags and Cedar Fair (now Six Flags) have added 4 Dive Coasters - Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger (2022), Iron Menace (2024), Wrath of Rakshasa (2025), and the upcoming Tormenta at Six Flags Over Texas (2026). I fully expect more parks are going to receive Dive Coasters between now and 2030. Will we be one of them? Considering how diverse Dive Coasters have become, I think it’s possible. Back in the mid-2000s, most were just variants of SheiKra at Busch Gardens - big drop, a couple inversions, more gimmicky. Now we’re seeing models with more inversions, some that are longer and more drawn out, some breaking 300 feet, some going beyond vertical, and even combinations of these. The range is widening, and with how popular they’ve become, it wouldn’t be surprising to see one in our future.