Tr0y

The only weekdays CGA is open. Is on April 7th, 8th, and 9th if you're trying to avoid weekend crowds. I'm guessing that could be spring break for the area though? Boysenberry festival ends that weekend as well.

I'd like to see KI get some of those unique flat rides CGA has, especially those Schwarzkopf rides.

California’s Great America has announced its farewell season for 2027. The farewell season will commence in March and conclude on Labor Day: https://www.sixflags.com/blog/santa-clara-theme-park-will-celebrate-final-season-in-2027 Santa Clara Theme Park will Celebrate Final Season in 2027

I think about that mentality of those at the park level and It has seemingly rubbed off on corporate with all the layoffs and cuts made. Ironically what’s the need for full time staff if the general public “Will come anyways.”

So far Disney has been weathering quite well. People pay for experiences. And Disney for the most part, puts guest experience to the forefront. Anytime I’ve dealt with Disney’s customer service, I never get the vibe that I'm dealing with a lawyer ready to point out whats written in the contract (TOS). I genuinely get the impression they are there to try to make things right, the best that they can (The customer is not always right). That’s not saying I’ve had bad experiences with guest services at SF. They’ve always been professional from my interactions. I just get the impression I’m going to be told “Sorry the TOS says this.” Another thing, like you’ve mentioned, is cleanliness. The majority of my visits this past season, Kings Island especially, has been dirty. Dirty ables, floors and restrooms. I typically visit the park on weekdays, I can only imagine how bad it is during the busier weekends. I’ve never had any thought of needing to watch my step in a Disney restroom. Nor have I ever had to search for a table at Disney because the ones nearby were dirty. What I would like to see King Island do for the future is focus on the experience from a guest perspective. Cleanliness, and beautification / cohesiveness theming of the park. If major investment is an option. Screw the market surveys and focus groups. If you can’t build a coaster that provides a great ride experience based off market surveys then you shouldn’t. Have the guts and instinct to build something else that will provide the best experience with the budget on hand. You don't need records or spend a lot of money to produce a ride that provides the best experience (Mystic Timbers > Orion). Also, with that said, there needs to be a better understanding of the product (ride/coaster) and what it does well at and what it doesn’t. A giga coaster with a bunch of floater airtime hills isn’t it (Orion), neither is a water coaster with one hill and slow slide turns (River Racers). The design input for Orion seems heavily influenced by Diamondback, and I would be willing to wager a lot of money that River Racers was green lit by folks who have never ridden a water coaster before.

This is great to see. Local competition will only drive nearby parks to keep up with the investment.

The International Street Restaurant does get booked for private events, so maybe there isn’t a known availability yet. Or, new for 2026, the International Street Restaurant will become a mock stage for Tik-Tok and Facebook videos. 😜

United Parks and Resorts was sold to private equity back in 2009 (The Blackstone Group) and since then, they have seemingly survived. Compared to today’s Six Flags they’re doing a whole lot better with a stock evaluation at roughly $34 a share.

I've only attended haunt twice this year. I did none of the mazes (Wife doesn't like scary). I couldn't convince friends with kids or family members with kids to go because of the "Haunt" aspect of the park. I've beaten this horse, but the park should pivot to a classier, fall decorated (spooky), family friendly atmosphere. During the daytime the haunt props sit out in the open and instead of looking scary it looks tacky if anything. They can put up decor that can be easily tweaked between the fall / winter seasons. Much like what is done with Abandoned in Rivertown. With RGB lights, trees that are already hung with lights can be changed to fall colors at night, (orange, purple, etc..) then come Winterfest have their colors changed again. Making changeover much simpler. The fog machines should be removed from midways and can be left to designated coasters to add to the "spooky" feel which also enhances ride experience. Keep the gore and roamers in the haunt mazes and continue to upcharge on those. I've said this before. Haunt is the only time of year Kings Island contradicts itself with being a “Family Park.” And I’m routinely told, “Families spend the most money.”

Prices went up as expected once the sale ended. That said, I haven't renewed yet. I'm still weighing my options. The 20-meal and 30-meal plans are still good value in my opinion. My holdup is whether or not I want to go with prestige and do unlimited. Being able to travel with the meal plan and also redeem 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) is enticing. However, forking over $600 to a company with a track record of switching things last minute doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence.

Sounds like you've had a summer full of fun! This year was the first time I've been to Kentucky Kingdom. So here is what I got from that trip: -Woodland Run -Windchaser -Lightning run -Kentucky Fyer -Flying Fox

Im having issue uploading photos from iOS. I keep getting an error code that says: Sorry, an unknown server error occurred when uploading this file. (Error code: no decode delegate for this image format `JPEG' @ error/constitute.c/ReadImage/746)

They were two clicks before if I’m not mistaken? Also the with the additional lighting being needed, maybe this offseason they can install lanterns like what Steel Vengeance got shortly after being built. It would be a nice touch versus flood lightning. I cant get photos to upload for whatever reason so here’s a link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcpbaHMmzWp/?xtok=MW56Mmp6dDVjY2JtdQ==

Personally I was more in the camp of not wanting AF1 for KI. Although the ride is rated highly in the GTA. The ride itself has low capacity and there wasn’t really a good place to put it at Kings Island without it seemingly being out of place. What I mean by that is how does the coaster fit cohesively within an area of the park without being gaudy. Beautiful parks like Dollywood, and Busch Gardens don't stack coasters on-top of each other for the sake of having a coaster, those coasters more of less flow within their respective areas. I understand the notion and feeling that “KI hasn’t been getting anything” but in reality Kings Island has been getting something new almost yearly. 2020: Area 72 and Orion. 2022: Park’s 50th birthday with a lot of refurbishments around the park. 2023: Adventure Port and 2 new rides with Sol Spin and Cargo Loco. As well as a much welcomed refresh of The Adventure Express 2024: Camp Snoopy and Snoopy Soap Box Racers. 2025: River Racers 2026: Phantom Theatre Opening Nightmare Yes, none of these outside of Orion have been major thrill rides, but a lot of people have been missing the major details over those years. Kings Island’s crown jewels, I.E. their wooden coasters have been receiving major overhauls over those years. Not just simple new track but entire sections of coaster being torn down to the foundation and rebuilt. The Racer was finished and repainted and here soon enough so will The Beast. The Beast itself will almost be entirely new if rumors are true and the remaining track sections are completely this offseason. That can’t be cheap.

Magic ruined!