SonofBaconator

From what I gather, Cedar Fair isn’t super interested in operating resorts in the southwestern Ohio region. KI benefits from the hotels in the area because they get the potential revenue from hotel guests who chose to go to the park. In addition, KI/CF doesn’t have to invest any money into the neighboring hotels since they are all owned by different companies: no spending on construction, utilities, staff, etc. I’m assuming the chain would rather spend their money elsewhere and continue to indirectly make money on neighboring hotels as opposed to putting money into a property that might or might not have turned them a profit. If anything the park benefits from not having anything to do with the campground in my opinion- they minimize the risk and still reap the reward from travelers who travel to the area.

If you go to “Places to stay”, Camp Cedar is gone. Additionally, Kings Island is gone from Camp Cedar’s website when you go to “area attractions”. Was there a break up that we missed?

Not to say we don’t necessarily need scare actors but… scares don’t always need to come from people. I’ve been places where a well timed valve going off or the sudden loud noise while no monsters are present can be just as terrifying because it lets the imagination run wild. Jump scares are fine, but they’re quick and don’t seem to last as long.

Weather is a touchy subject. There are people who are disappointed when the park closes at unscheduled times- which could affect their plans. On the other hand, there’s people who are upset if the park stays open because they feel for the employees who have to work the event. Kings Island has to do what they think is best for their guests and employees. Cold weather is different from rain. Storms can be here and gone in a few hours…the same can’t be said for freezing weather. If the park had the mindset of “these people paid, so we should stay open.” they could face potential lawsuits if they can’t ensure safe conditions for their guests and associates. I’m sure they’d rather refund for freezing weather and have their associates stay home over risking their guest’s/employees’ safety. Even though people are spending the money, the park has the final say in how they chose to operate. Foresight needs to be put into play at times as well: if the temperature is in, or around, the single digits, it’s probably not a wise decision to make plans to go to an outdoor event in the first place.

To the people who are online complaining: It cold. Stay home.

I couldn’t imagine our Eiffel Tower being anything other than the green it’s been. Did they want gold for the Golden Celebration?

Not to sound negative but I felt like there was something missing from this year’s Winterfest when I went. I had a great time but there was something missing from years past that I can’t really put my finger on.

I’m just curious. Each year there’s something new/different.

I’ve spoken about underutilized plots of land on here before. In general, I think the park had does a really good job of placing it’s attractions within the past decade. while on the subject of utilizing underutilize plots of land. I think that the Backlot Stunt Coaster land is prime real estate that I think the park will eventually capitalize on in the coming years. I think that whole Vortex back area will be re-organized to allow for traffic to follow a little better. While the antique autos are great, I am not entirely a fan of how it jets out into the midway, which I argue a re-organized area would fix this. I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to relocate Shake Rattle and roll to the green space that surrounds Backlot Stunt Coaster. This would open up the back pathway up a little bit and would allow for the park to have a little more wiggle room. I relocated SRR in my sky ride concept where I brought back the sky right ahead and run along the coney mall Midway:

Thought about the pond in the concept art vs what the pond currently looks like:

Every time I come on here, or other KI related platforms, it’s always the same thing: “Action Zone needs expansion. Rivertown needs expansion. Etc.” Let’s look at the past 5 years: In 2017, about 95% of Mystic Timbers was built inside the railroad. Fast forward to 2019, when the Antique Autos were built in a small footprint of land. Fast forward a year to 2020 when Orion was built hugging The Racer as opposed to going in another direction, which would’ve ultimately left plenty of room for expansion. Now fast forward 3 years when we’re about to get Adventure Port where two new flat rides are being placed in a rather tight space. I think that what we’re seeing is an attempt to keep everything within developed land as opposed to pushing into undeveloped parts of the property. This attempt, at least in my humble opinion, keeps people in close quarters to other assets. Look at Area 72- you have Flight of Fear and Orion next to each other, but not too far away you also have dining options and a sitting area. Now look at Adventure Port, you have two new rides right across from other dining options and sitting areas. By putting more rides closer to one another near these areas, people tend to stay longer. After riding Sol Spin, people might choose to sit down and buy a beverage at Mercado before going to Adventure Express or the Cargo Loco. These “micro sections” encourage people linger and spend more money, as opposed to being a place to pass through. I argue we could see more of these micro sections emerge. Look at the space between Coney Mall and Rivertown- they could turn that into its own micro section with a dining area and places for people to sit while maybe adding a flat or two similar to Adventure Port. The longer people stay in these sections, the longer their day becomes and I argue the likeliness of them spending money increases. Maybe I’m totally wrong, but I don’t think expanding outward is the answer- developing inward is.

Whatever the next coaster is for us, I hope that Winterfest was considered when the park/chain was making their selection. Moving forward, if they’re not already, I think all new rides should be installed with Winterfest and even haunt in mind-whether it’s an indoor attraction, a flat ride, or a coaster with more ride trains that can operate in cooler temperatures ,etc.

At this point, just tear it down and use the land for more flat rides. If they were daring, they could go further and relocate or replicate Congo Falls in Rivertown and use that strip of grass to the left of Diamondback. According to Google Earth, Congo Falls takes up about 420ft of linear space which is about the size of that plot of land in Rivertown:

It would be neat to see something like “Winter Weekends” which take place during weekends in January and February. The Holiday overlays would go away but the winter activities would stay such as the sled riding and ice rink. I’d like to see if KI could get away with having an event with little to no rides open. They partially did it when they moved the children’s Halloween event to Soak City for a while (granted the rest of the dry park was still open.)

To my knowledge, Adventure Express has 4 block zones: Station, 1st lift hill, second lift hill, transfer track. (If I’m missing one, please correct me. 3 train operations would require one train going through the course of the ride while one train is in the station and one train is on the transfer track. The 3rd train, in theory, could be waiting at the top of the second lift hill in tunnel but that would ruin the affect of the final tunnel imo. If I’m right on the total number of block zones being 4, and you want to run 3 trains, you would need to slow down the chain speed on the lift hills to space out dispatches (similar to The Beast). A 5th block could be added in the 2nd tunnel before the hill and a show scene could be incorporated (similar to BLSC) but that would require a lot of work.

https://www.chancerides.com/electric_cphuntington_train/

Would it be worth it if the park opened earlier on certain days for Winterfest or should it just say an evening event?

I’m pretty confident that they will keep the spinning barrels open for Winterfest next season and possibly even the enterprise. With exception to Orion, all of the new attractions that the park has debuted, since Winterfest has returned, have been incorporated into the event: Mystic Timbers and the Antique Autos. I’m not sure what the maintenance is like on Arrow mine trains, considering you have tubular track on top of wooden supports. I like to think they could run it with Winterfest, but I’m not an expert on roller coaster maintenance.

I don’t disagree that DB changed the landscape, but I argue TR:TR had worst placement of any ride in that section: http://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/tombRaiderTheRide.html

Adventure Express would be fun and it could fit in with Adventure Port like @MDMC01 mentioned. I ultimately voted for Racer just because it’s along the Coney Mall midway and would be easy to run considering they could either shut down one side and run it as one coaster, or do what @IndyGuy4KI said and take trains out of the rotation. Also, I think Woodstock Express could be added to the lineup.

I always include all coasters in my lists but please be realistic!

“Now when you pick a pawpaw, or a prickly pear, and you pick a raw paw, well next time beware” It’s been a while since I had a pawpaw

I might get tarred and feathered, but I would like an ending after the boiler room scene myself. I believe he talked about that in the Q&A session. Given that the last time you see Maestro is right before the prop room, and you only hear him when you’re exiting the ride when he says “you’ll be back.” I personally wish that you could physically see the character one last time after the boiler room before exiting the ride.

If you had the capital to invest in a project in the Mason area, (you can also include the surrounding area), near KI, what would you I do? This could be anything from a hotel, to an entertainment center, to parking, etc.

If they were to make any improvements to a returned Phantom Theater, I’d like to see a more immersive que.