Tr0y

With some of the ride name changes over the years you can always tell what generation of KI's kids' area you grew up in. I will always remember Race for your life Charlie Brown as: Wild Thornberry's River Adventure Flying Ace Ariel Chase as: Runaway Reptar

They’re getting ready to add additional parks to their portfolio after they purchase some from the fire sale Six Flags will be having post merger.

Yeah, having access to seating for any show is key. I've noticed during the Sounds of The Nativity Show people would stop, listen for a bit then leave. KI should repurpose some straw bales from haunt for guest seating.

I figure I'd see "riding Chad's behind" would be in a lot of people's top rides here.

If I’m not mistaken Coasterstock was originally supposed to make its debut in 2014 but was delayed to 2015 because ACE was hosting its spring conference at the park for 2014.

The Cincinnati Zoo also charges an additional $1.29 for whipped cream. These cups look familiar too. Must be another Merger in the works.

I'm okay with Coney Island being sold, and honestly who here actually frequented Coney Island more than say, Kings Island any given year? I can't even count on two hands on how many times I've been to Coney Island in my lifetime. Nobody likes change, and although it will be sad to see the historic pool go, I am excited to see what the future holds. I do hope that MEMI saves historic/existing structures and incorporate those into the music/entertainment district they are proposing to make. Two structures I would like to see incorporated would be Moonlight Gardens, and the Main gate. If you had to choose a couple structures to be saved, what would they be?

It appears at least for Carowinds they’re attempting to do something similar for Fast Lane. With the exception of it requiring to use your QR code on the band to scan.

I thought KI finished the year strong with Winterfest this season. The Christmas Lights were incredible and were probably the best out of all of the parks I visited with their respective Christmas events. Although I think a lot of people would agree, the coaster lineup for Winterfest leaves much to be desired. The food offerings were definitely a step up compared to the offerings during the regular season. My favorite meal offering being The Shepard's Pie. The second thing that came to mind after "Yum!" was "Where has this been all season?!" The merchandise has been fantastic and, in my opinion, has been that way for the season. It was nice to see merch make its way from Knotts to the park in time for Winterfest.

Stranger Danger!

The current VIP area would make a great place for food trucks

So keeping the holiday spirits up, and already have visited other Holiday events, also being that my schedule allowed I taken an impromptu trip to Carowinds. The drive down, was quiet congested with holiday travelers I assume making there way home on i77. Typically the turnpike for me is faster, but because of traffic the tolls were backed up, and this inadvertently caused me to arrive at Carowinds an hour late. As I entered the park, the first order of business was Dinner. Because of my previous experience I had this summer at the park I chose to eat at Harmony Hall, which is a smaller version of KI’s Fest Haus. One thing I noticed was how the menu was trimmed down. The BBQ restaurant from my previous visit had a variety of proteins. Now only 3 options. Not sure if that’s because of Winterfest or if that’s to be a future trend. I got the carved turkey breast mac & cheese, corn bread and gravy. The food what was to be expected, the turkey was especially moist and tender. After eating I made my way to outside to digest some of this food, and take in the scenery around me. The park was busy, with lines for Fury325 and Copperhead strike being over an hour long. Carowinds uses its Wind seeker for its Tower Christmas Tree. In my opinion it didnt look as great as KD’s or KI’s decorated Eifle Towers. However their Sky Tower ride was open and taking guest up 262ft to give you a panoramic view of the decorated park from above. I did not get to ride this unfortunately due to time constraints. For time I had available I mainly used it for riding their coasters. First ride / coaster of the night was Fury 325. Incredible ride, definitely worthy of number 1 spot in the golden ticket awards. Afterwards I rode Copperhead strike. One thing I noticed was both coasters were operating with 2 trains. This and the crowd level caused longer lines than normal, however Kings Island only operates 1 train for Flight of Cheer. I did not get to ride Mountain Gliders, due to an unruly guest in line which ultimately stopped the ride from operating and security had to be called. I could have waited, but based off time left for the park being opened I got out of line and made my way back to Fury. Doing so paid off big time. The line was much shorter, and after getting off the ride for whatever reason the Ride associate didn’t close the line at 10pm. So I got back in line at 10:04pm. As the train returned to the station to what was seemly the last ride of the night, everyone was chanting: “One more ride!” and to my surprise the Ride Ops granted our wish. I finished my night at Carowinds with 1 Ride on Copperhead strike and 4 rides on Fury325. The following day I took a quick detour to Sevierville to visit the world’s largest knife store, Smokey Mountain Knife works. For lunch I stopped at Buc-ee’s. Once back in the Cincinnati Area, I stopped at KI for Dinner and a couple rides on Mystic. I had a lot of fun during my short stay in Carowinds, to wrap up my travel plans for the 2023 season, cant wait to return there again in 2024!

Agreed, there is also those partitioned off rooms that could be repurposed.

Tis’ the season.

So during my week stay at Orlando I spent 3 days at Disney World after previously going to Seaworld the day before. Got to Disney Hollywood Studios 20 mins early to get better parking in the standard lot. First impression at the gate was how incredibly busy the park was for a weekday early in the morning. This would be the case for Magic Kingdom and Epcot in the proceeding days. The crowd would only continue to get worse from park opening as the day went on. The lightning lane was a must during my visits, as quite a few lines were over 2 hours long. During my visit, Disney was offering dining packages that included preferred / guaranteed seats at select shows. To which I took advantage of because of the crowd levels, and it was totally worth it. The prices for these buffet / family style restaurants was quite steep being roughly $65 before tipping. My best meal while visiting by far which I’ve never had a bad meal at Disney was at Topolino’s. Topolino’s is a more upscale restaurant and sits ontop of the Riviera Resort. Being that it sits ontop of the Riviera Resort, if you book your time right. You’ll get an excellent view of Epcot during the Luminous show, and to Disney’s credit they also played the show’s music through the speakers on the observation deck at the restaurant. Which was really neat. In summary I had fun at the parks, however if I had to do it all over again, being a once a year visitor. I would have chosen a different time to visit Disney world. The parks were incredibly busy, and if you didn’t stay at a Disney Resort you’d run the risk of not being able to book a spot in one of Disney’s virtual queues. Being that i was not able to ride Tron because of it. Also as far as Christmas goes, the parks in the best way I can describe it as status quo Disney. Clean, themed, and very well landscaped, with a hint of Christmas. Kings Island is much more immersive with the Christmas lights and decor. You do get to see the Christmas shows and they are fantastic, but Disney puts on fantastic shows all year long, for example the Fanstasmic show at Hollywood Studios. So in my opinion unless if Christmas is a special holiday for you, or you are a passholder. I would pick a different time of year to visit.

Yep, however Seaworld still has theirs, with Coca-Cola fountain drinks.

So for the sake of keeping this review somewhat short, I also visited couple of the Disney parks during my stay in Orlando and will be posting a trip report on that separately. 12/17 My first park to visit while in the Orlando area for the week was Seaworld. Seaworld, has changed over the years from what I remember. Which used to use to be heavily aquatic animal focus to now also providing thrills to the enthusiasts of all ages. The park and even the coasters are well themed, and had up some Christmas lights and decor for their holiday special event: Christmas Celebration. I got there about 10 mins before opening to take advantage of my Platinum pass’s preferred parking. As far as coaster lineup goes, if you are a fan of B&M’s, this is a park you will want to visit. Given that they have 4 of them with Penguin trek to open in 2024. My favorite ride there is Mako, a Diamondback like coaster that has tons of airtime. I also got to ride Pipeline the Surf Coaster. Pipeline, being a standup coaster surprised me not being uncomfortable on the boys like the other B&M standup’s I have ridden. It also provides a very unique kind of airtime, being that my feet left the board a couple times. As far as shows go, anytime I have visit Seaworld I’ve always made time to take a break and watch the Orca encounter show. The show is a bit different with what I remember as a kid. The trainers now no longer enter the water with the Orca’s. Nonetheless I’m always amazed to see the shear size of these animals up close. They also host other animal shows as well, but this was the only one I attended during my visit. I ate at two places during my visit to Seaworld. For lunch I ate at Voyages which is a BBQ joint that serves more than just pulled pork, turkey, and fried chicken. Which I cannot say about my home park. I ended up getting the brisket platter with fries. No substitutes were allowed for the side of fries. For dinner I ate at the Sharks restaurant , which provides a unique experience of eating basically next to the shark tank. I got the Filet Mignon with a side of steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes. The food and service was excellent. As dusk approached I got a better viewing of what was to be the Christmas Celebration. To my surprise the park was not as decorated with lights anywhere near as many lights as Kings Island. However the Winter Wonderland on Ice show was Disney level of production. The entire lake had trees that light up and were in sink with the show, as well as fountains. Although some of the lights and fountains did not work properly. The talent of the Skaters was incredible. Definitely a must see show if you plan on visiting during the Christmas holidays 12/21 I got up early to make the hour long drive to Tampa to visit BGT. Arrived early again to take advantage of the Platinum pass preferred parking. I attempted to take a ride on Iron Gwazi but it was down the entire time of my visit. I made a stop at the gift shop to grab my pass-holder ornament, and afterwards went to what to my surprise used to be pass-holder lounge which I was told was closed and not returning. I didn’t get to ride much of any rides or stay late for their Christmas Town due to the crowds and the fact I had to leave early for dinner plans I have made. All in all I had a fun, almost every coaster was running. Although some of the coasters only were operating one train, which caused longer lines. The Christmas lighting decor left much to be desired, compared to Kings Island.

Merry Christmas you filthy animals!

Even with those lights out, there are still more Christmas lights on display at Kings Island than any given Disney park in Orlando.

At KI you get a VIP lounge. Busch Gardens Tampa quietly removed theirs:

I received my pass-holder ornament from Busch Gardens Tampa. To my surprise, it’s made of glass!

Yes! It also does an animations using the wallet app on your iphone: RPReplay_Final1703079833.mov

One of the coolest features at Disney is being able to use my Smartwatch for lightning entrances: IMG_2462.mov

BGW still has a huge plot of land we’re Drachen Fire coaster used to be. And there last two coaster additions were Intamin’s. I think they’re more concerned about ride experience than maintenance.