SonofBaconator

Let’s assume KD and Carowinds have successful year round operations and the chain decides to expand this practice to KI, they would need another indoor attraction of some kind. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is debuting Dar Koaster which is sure to help with the cold winter months along with the already existing Verbolten (which the majority of that ride is indoors or covered anyway.) Unfortunately, our old ride building isn’t big enough to fit a coaster, perhaps an indoor drop ride similar to tower or terror but that’s really the extent unless they bring back a top spin.

I think it would be cool to make that back half of Coney Mall the BLSC path become its own section. After the park added A72 and announced Adventure Port, I’ve become interested in the idea of smaller sections that focus more on a specific story. If they take the back part of Coney Mall and retheme it to something new, they could accomplish that. Just a thought

When I walk through Coney Mall, I feel like I’m in two sections. The 1st section is the part by the beginning of Racer and ends at Zephyr. After that, you have the second section that goes from the Killmart building to WindSeeker and over to Backlot Stunt Coaster. I know this is all one section (and from a rides standpoint, BLSC and SRR are Rivertown rides), but I always felt like the back part of Coney Mall was it’s own section for some weird reason. Am I alone in this feeling?

I’m honestly fine with it being absorbed into International Street. If you want to get technical, International Street branches off to KI Theater, Boo Blasters, Tower Gardens, and the Carousel so I wouldn’t think it would be a stretch to include a Scandinavian swinging boat ride and a German themed dining hall into that mix with the internationally themed buildings. In fact, I argue tying Feathaus and Viking Fury into International Street fits better

My takeaway: Oktoberfest is a great concept that served for many years, but looking at it now it does seem like something new was bound to replace it at some point. Allowing for the section to breathe a little bit more and focus on an overall story vs a single event that happens in September makes sense. That being said, I’m excited for Adventure Port. It gives me Safari Village vibes, which was unfortunately before my time. I like how essentially the area complements Adventure Express. I think the biggest complaint people had was what exactly did a burrito shack, a Viking ship, a mine ride, and a slingshot really have to do with a German festival? This new concept pretty much corrects that. I think that Viking Fury and the festhaus will just be tied into international street as that makes more sense. The two new rides that they are bringing in are callbacks to classic Kings Island rides that inhabited the same area, so in a way it seems like they had never left. People have been wanting more flat rides to come to the park and I think this is a great way to do that. i’m excited to see what enhancements will be done to Adventure Express. Will the que have props and scenery to it like Mystic Timbers? Will there be changes to the tunnels? Will there be more things for people to see along the right? The sky’s the limit. I think this also gives you a sense of the direction things will be going in the future. Oktoberfest always seemed like it was just the in between section between Action Zone, international Street and coney mall. It seemed like the identity had kind of slipped out over the years with some parts of the area reminiscing safari Village with Adventure Express and then you have other aspects like the festhaus in Viking fury. This rebrand makes it truly its own thing. In a way this also allows for coney mall and Action Zone to do more their own thing. We could possibly see Action Zone getting a similar overhaul in the coming years. I’m excited for these changes and I look forward to seeing these next year!

Everything has been announced, but out of curiosity…what is one ride that you would like to see open during Winterfest that hasn’t yet? I’d say operating one side of The Racer is a possibility. It would be cool to see 4D theater return as a seasonal indoor attraction that could feature a holiday overlay.

I’d like to think Action Zone would be closed as there isn’t anything to ride in the winter. I think the focus would be I-Street, Planet Snoopy, and Coney Mall/Oktoberfest. I like to think they’d close Rivertown to allow for maintenance on Mystic Timbers and the train after Winterfest.

I wonder if the train will do the 12 days of Christmas again or be different. Busch Gardens Williamsburg has done an awesome job with their train ride: https://buschgardens.com/williamsburg/blog/christmas-town-villages/

I think KI would have a similar approach to operating in the winter months as they did with Winterfest where Planet Snoopy remains open as well as other family attractions. There would need to be more indoor options available for guests though. If the park ever decides to remain open on weekends between operating seasons, it would be advantageous to look back at the Crypt building in Rivertown. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is putting a small coaster into their building, so it might be something to look into for KI if the opportunity ever presented itself.

This raises a few questions: How much of a discount on admission will there be, if any? Will certain parts of the parks be open and others closed during certain days? Will it just be attractions running or will it be like Winterfest where there are events going on with some rides remaining open? Will Seasonal Employees become full or part time? Will the parks add attractions down the road to counter cold weather in January-March?

It is visually appealing. It would be fun to see one at our park

I still think Banshee’s marketing strategy was the best in how there were clues and different things put in place to throw people off before the reveal itself

It would be cool to see a Peanuts Parade someday

We’ll get something when we get something

I wasn’t even able to drive at that time so the joke’s on you!

Not so much a ghost story as it is an oddity: In 2011, during what was I believe the last Saturday of the season in October, I experienced something strange. I carried around my small digital camera to take pictures and always kept it in my pocket. While riding Firehawk I saw something fall from the train and hit one of the concrete footers, instantly getting smashed to bits; for the brief second I saw it before it got smashed, it looked like my camera. After reaching into my pockets when we got back to the station and I found my camera still in my pocket, safe and sound. While exiting the ride, I shouted “did anyone have something fall out of their pocket during the ride?” People began fumbling around in their pockets to be sure they hadn’t lost anything but no one claimed to have dropped anything. Like I said, ghost story? No. But it was odd because I could’ve sworn I felt my camera slip out of my sweatpants pocket before seeing whatever I saw smash into the concrete footer.

Entertainment plays a big role in this. When you add new shows every season, it gives people something different to do. I’m willing to bet money some fans paid the park a visit for the sole purpose of seeing Phantom Theater: Encore. The same can be said for Haunt and to an extent Winterfest- Haunt has something different nearly every season which keeps things fresh and Winterfest always seems to add something new into the mix as it ages. I hope this becomes a trend in the rides department too. We already saw theming brought back to the train ride. Maybe we could see some thematic changes to rides like Backlot, and Adventure Express, and so on to encourage people to come back and check them out. I still think the alternate shed endings on Mystic Timbers was a genius move because it encourages re-rides so people can try and encounter every finale.

Not to get off topic but what was the original Winterfest like?

I know a lot of people who think that, I myself used to, but I don’t think CF really does that anymore, if at all. People didn’t stop going to Cedar Point because Six Flags Great Adventure got a taller model. Cedar Point likes to add record breaking rides because it draws in business, but more often than not if the ride experience is great, people don’t care as much about the records after a while. Steel Vengeance broke a ton of records when it came out but even though some of those records have been broken, people will still ride it. All I’m saying is, I don’t think KI is bogged down by CP when it comes to deciding whether or not to add certain things to their park.

I prefer the vest restraints myself. OTSRs hurt my head going through inversions- I will always wonder what Vortex would’ve been like with Vest Restraints

IIRC, the ravine is about 30ft below at its deepest. I think a mini dive focused on inversions would be fun whenever Vortex gets eventually replaced:

I do wonder if the demolition company is related to the SOB station considering Wolf Pack didn’t reopen this year

Would you want to see seasonal overlays (Haunt & Winterfest) for some of our rides? If so which ones and in what way? I’ll give an example: Putting Halloween props along the BLSC route by the police cars, altering the billboards, altering the mid course launch scene, etc (just random examples I came up with)

A lot of people tend to forget that most park was essentially themed to the greater Cincinnati area when it was built. The Coney section was the old Coney Island, Oktoberfest reflected the German heritage, and Rivertown represented what the area would’ve looked like in the 1800s. It was never really themed to the Wild West, yet people tend to throw it in that category for some reason; perhaps Diamondback? Sidenote, there’s a bit of irony in Diamondback and Copperhead Strike. Eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes are typically found in the Southeastern United States such as Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas where as Copperheads are found across the Midwest as well as the North and Southern parts of the US.

My thoughts are that he might be trying to put in a shopping/night life district in that part of the area.