brenthodge
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Posts posted by brenthodge
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12 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:
Have you talked to Mr. Kootnz about your ideas? They sound fantastic!
Would love to. Last time I saw him was Camp opening day. He seemed a bit preoccupied Lol
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I think they actually should keep this area “reserved” for this type of event. It lends itself really well to this and honestly gives the area more “ROI” potential that allows them to justify better landscaping and furnishing. I don’t think it ALWAYS needs to be festival central, but it will be interesting to see if they leave a lot of this as is and roll into CARNIVALE. They could just keep it on into fall with a “BBQ AND BLUES” or other fall type festival, then just add the hooks on toP of the red trusses and wrap them as candy canes.
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Night lighting package looks nice for BSAcres. Subtle shifts that look like a sunset. Franklin is placed too close to the edge in his tower. There are three lights installed seemingly just to illuminate him and he’s so far in front of them they do nothing but create a strong backlight that makes him hard to see. How hard is this stuff? Entry along log ride really dark. Wish they hadn’t taken out the footers from the old signs, but used them to mount posts for string lights, and use added and existing lighting from Winterfest to project “light through the trees” to make that darker entry feel more immersive. Even if the overhead string lights twinkled like fireflies. Purple metal wall had nothing done to it. Would’ve been easy to repaint and add false “dorm doors” with lights above them with characters names on them as “campers” again… not a super expensive way to bring more to the area.
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Is one week a good time frame for how long an animated statue of Snoopy waving a flag lasted. First time back since last Friday. Notice he’s not moving or flagging. When so much got cut from this build, it would be nice if the very few elements that did make it lasted a bit longer.
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4 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said:
Per @IndyGuy4KI's picture above, there will be more seating.
I mean “not dining seating” like benches and adairondak chairs scattered around.
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Seems a bit all over the place. Is it about thrills? (coaster logos, but only a few). Anniversaries- those coasters have milestone years this year. Camping out under the stars? Making summer memories? It just didn’t seem to all come together. “Remember the Thrill” would’ve made sense for coaster anniversaries. Summer images of things under the stars - picnics, fireworks, campfires would’ve been good images for Under the Stars. And can we move on from drone blue ice cream? It just seemed a bit unsure of what story it was telling. Which is unfortunate after two pretty strong years.
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4 hours ago, PKIVortex said:
It was Adventure Awaits. At the end of the day was the song name they used.
Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk
Should been the name of the show. It barely referenced Adventure Avaiting. Great song. Hope they keep it “in storage” and cycle it back through in a year or two.
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4 hours ago, Kenban said:
I got a ride in the back row. Overall I enjoyed it, the ride is very smooth and looks fantastic. The restraints are very comfortable, there is no seat belt. It’s basically what I expected. I want to try it again in the front but I figured wait until sometime later in the season. The back does not really go up the spike much and I am wondering how the double up on the spike is from the front.
I really like the appearance of everything in camp Snoopy. But it does not feel like Camp Snoopy. At other Cedar Fair parks it feels like you’re leaving one land and entering another, at Kings Island it just feels like more Planet Snoopy.
I am happy the park received the “land” and the coaster. The Vekoma family suspended, now called Woodstock’s Air Rail, might have the best paint job in the history of the ride. But I hope the park receives something more in Camp Snoopy. Because it needs less concrete and more rock work, a water feature, and more trees.
Agree 100%. Great theme, great tie into Rivertown, great paint job on Air Rail. So many missed opportunities. Took out footers from Planet Snoopy that could’ve been used to hold the Welcome Happy Campers wood sign posts that got cut. Did no replacement of modern concrete planters that could’ve had a “wood” overlay to look more like benches. Just left and Painted over unused lighting electrics in the old theater instead of designing a lighting package that enhanced the immersion (projecting light through trees and “day into night” lighting changes. Could’ve pretty easily pulled KiteEatingTree and a rethemed Space Buggies into off road vehicles, along with a redressed snack/beverage stand to make a more cohesive entrance. Was hoping for more seating added to the new areas outside of dining tables. Love the music though. Nice change from KidsBop.
feels like it got to about 75% and the stuff that got cut would’ve really elevated the experience.
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6 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:
That does look good and the side looks small. Do they have any healthier sides? I know it's a kids area, but I'd love to have roasted vegetables as an option.
Slaw, veggie sticks, potato salad.
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7 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:
The Cheesy Mettwurst at Pigpen's Mess Hall is an all beef hotdog topped with a cheese sauce and bacon bits. It is very good and on the dining plan. Probably the best meal I have had this season. I do wish the side portions were not so small.
Cold sides are huge by comparison.
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Odd that the Candy Canes have been reinstalled (minus the curved tops. Dont seem necessary just for lighting as each one is almost right besode an existing light rig that has room for additional fixtures.
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26 minutes ago, Tr0y said:
Had the coveted grilled chicken sandwich at Jukebox Diner for lunch.
Was it not served with the logo filler paper or did you remove it? Im liking the new plates. Makes it look a wee bit more upscale and the smaller portions stand out more not lost in a flapping sea of logos. Looks good.
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5 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:
Yet, many will ooh and ahhh next week when it opens.
Concept art is just that, a concept. It generally is more embellished than the actual execution. Kind of like how McDonald's advertised a perfect Big Mac™ and what you get as not so perfect.
It's definitely going to be an upgrade that is surely needed...I'd put forth the entire kids area needs an overhaul as this enhancement is going to highlight just how ghetto Planet Snoopy really is.
That’s two different things. A styled shot of a Big Mac still has the core elements promised. Will your lettuce look that crisp- no, but they don’t budget cut the seeds off the bun, they just don’t hand place them with tweezers. For this- lots of themed elements were cut and they still use the images showing them. Are they deal breakers? No, but when this project was mostly redressing and decor with two capitol additions, it’s unfortunate when a lot of that decor and theming was cut. Maybe it will be amazing what’s been added since… yesterday by next Friday and I’ll be totally wrong.
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13 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said:
Wasn't there supposed to be a tunnel to crawl through out in front?
So much has been “modified” from this it’s disappointing. Outside of the new coaster, It was already more of a style over substance redo with mostly redressing of existing areas. Now that so much of the style has been cut, I feel it’s a pretty weak finished product.( at least as it looks like it’s going to stand next week at open.
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1 hour ago, Rivertown Rider said:
Today's progress
Does the carpet match the drapes?
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6 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:
Wasn't it stated earlier that Coney BBQ no longer has hush puppies? And at a cursory glance, @brenthodge, without the paper it appears ( to me) that the portions are meager compared to with it.
I ate at Grain and Grill yesterday and tried the soy beef and garlic potatoes. The potatoes were quite good and the rest of the sides looked tasty. But, the beef had a chemical taste and I could see lots of blood vessels. The shrimp looked good, as did the pork, but I don't like shellfish and pork tends to have chunks of fat, so it wasn't for me. As with Chicken Shack, the tenders looked very small and did not appear hand breaded as advertised, rather they looked like standard Sysco issue elementary school tenders The staff was friendly and efficient there, as always. But I think I will stick with the three side items meal as it never disappoints.
I think Grain and Grill has potential but is still finding it's way. They advertise locally sourced food on a regional map with a star. I think they should proudly feature the local sources to the public. Or are they doing what Aramark did with their University of Kentucky contract, which stipulated a certain percentage of food has to be sourced from Kentucky, so Aramark used Coca-Cola as a local source since it's bottled in Lexington.
Also, it's supposed to be International Cuisine and healthier. What countries do the beef, pork and chicken represent? The only obvious menu item is that represents an international food is the Greek salad from my viewpoint. The others could be obvious, but without knowing, it's just another food option. And what health benefits come from these options?
Of note, it was the shortest food line in the park with the hoards of school aged children on field trips. Since it's supposed to be "healthy food" they avoid it and go for the more well known foods.
They may be out from time to time, but as you can see, I got one yesterday. It was crunchy outside, fluffy inside… perfect. And if you read my original post, the no paper pic was after I ate half of it (making it the size of the portions we’ve seen this year) my before and after should’ve been before I started eating for a true comparison.
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I was looking while at park yesterday, I still don’t understand why they didn’t push out just a little more to include Kite eating tree in Camp. It blends perfectly with AirRail, makes thematic sense and would provide a great “gateway” into the area. They could’ve clad over the drink/snack stand with wood and minimal theming to make a “Camp Canteen” to frame the entry and dove the ribbon of stamped concrete a bit further out with some rocks and landscape on both sides. They could’ve reused the footers from the PlanetSnoopy signs for camp style signs or the “welcome happy campers” posts instead of the cost of removing them and doing an odd little circle patch job in the concrete. Have to wonder how much closer to the concept art this area would be if we had the money they spent on painting AirRail only two years ago to just repaint it again. Poor long term planning seems to have wasted money there.
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On 5/16/2024 at 8:05 PM, KIghostguy said:
I think they missed a spot…
Yeah. The whole area is a mess, and the little strips of stamped concrete to “theme” the ground only add to the mush mash.
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This is crazy this year. It’s all over the place. Today - pretty quiet (maybe that’s the secret-when crowds are low you get the A portion-drops to B as attendance increases) got heaping helping of burnt ends at Ciney. Love no portion cuo- makes it look like a real meal. I took off the paper to show how much better all the food would look without the giant flappy aped that falls apart under the food. That was after I ate sone, so it would make their lean portions not look so lost and tiny. The new square plates are so much better than the thin “boats” Why is this so hard folks?
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2 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:
I'm not the target audience for this addition. But I will withhold judgement until the area is finished.
I remember last year people here were wringing their hands and there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth about Adventure Port. But most everyone was impressed with it when the park opened. And they continued doing things after the season started (not talking about the new flats and updated roller coaster). There were many opportunities for AP enhancement that have yet to be realized.
I think that most would agree that even a low budget upgrade to the Camp Snoopy area would be much better than what was there. I hope they absorb Planet Snoopy into camp Snoopy in the years to come.
I feel like they maybe tried to spread the budget a bit too thin to include more area and in the process lost sone of the detail that was originally budgeted for the core part of the project. My youngest is pretty much out of this demographic now anyway, just feels a bit jumbled with sone missed opportunities.
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16 minutes ago, silver2005 said:
I'm assuming they didn't do the water elements depicted in the concept art?
Ha ha. You need to ask? We are lucky we got the flagpole (though that’s about all we got from the concept)
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So many missed opportunities to actually make an immersive themed environment. Old concrete planters that’s could’ve been replaced with rock- had wood veneer added or even stained the concrete. Old corrugated metal wall- what’s it hiding? All lighting just painted brown instead of switching to a more rustic wood post. You can tell this was super low budget. But then Linus launchers got a brand new sign, yet Woodstock Air Rail still has crappy mesh awnings instead of a wood pergola cover. This project seems all over the map as to where money got spent.
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10 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:
I’m more talking about the 3 week run of the show in the big theater…. things along those lines. Meanwhile, Carowinds keeps adding and adding to their music festival. They’re doubling down on something that Kings Island wasn’t competent enough to market while our park is barely meeting the status quo.
Oh, and let’s not forget that they couldn’t handle the lofty concept of a chicken sandwich that they had marketed.
Some parks do what’s easy and some parks do what’s right. It’s up to the public to decided which side each park is on.
It’s the three week run of the outsourced bubble “toy trade show” show that gets me after the past few seasons of entertainment that was actually getting somewhere. The chicken sandwich thing is just laughably bad!
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9 hours ago, silver2005 said:
Maybe put it at mutliple locations? Could Chicken Shack or Coney BBQ pull it off?
I think the challenge is it needs a "grill", not a fryer. Maybe when they redid CShack they should've factored that into the kitchen. area
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Kings Island Food & Wine Festival Reviews
in Kings Island
Posted
Looks great, but it’s more like a Wine and snack mini festival. I think calling it a “food festival “ is a bit of a stretch. The entertainment seems great and the decor looks very well done. It reducing the days results in a stronger event I’m all for it. I’d even be ok with Carnivale only on weekends if it wasn’t as thin and lane as last year.