Tr0y

I participated in this year’s Food and Wine festival. The food options were better, as well as the presentation of the food compared to last year. (Ditching the boats) The worst food item I had was the poutine fries. There was no gravy or Au jus sauce, and the curds were still cold. Everything else was good. They chose to use the Disney model of purchasing so many food items gets you a reward. With the reward being a desert from sweet spot. The desert had no name and the container was nothing special. Disney at least rewards you with a desert placed into a cup with Emile and the Food and Wine Festival label as a souvenir to take home: Here is Disney’s Food and Wine desert reward for comparison:

Yeah, you probably should get the all season drink plan. So you can get larger cups of water, and water at any location. For comparison sakes: A Kings Island Silver Pass ($120) with the all season drink plan ($36.99) is cheaper than a Holiday World Summer Card ($165).

Well, the food is cheaper at Disney than KI. KI’s platters at Coney BBQ start at $16.99 I believe? This is Regal Eagle Smokehouse (BBQ) at Epcot:

Walt Disney World uses sponsors with signage for some of their rides. I think it’s OK as along as it is done in good taste. Such as: -Test Track presented by General Motors -Kings Mills Antique Autos with Progressive signage. Heck, I think Norfolk Southern would be a great sponsor for KIMVRR.. Advertisements however, becomes tacky if you apply it all over ride vehicles and park. Im spoiled with having the luxury on visiting the park on weekdays as well as ASFL. So even tho there is two associates checking restraints. It hasn’t really affected me getting through the line. Park cleanliness is something I have noticed deteriorate this season. As mentioned the Bathroom by Rivertown Larosas smells like a walk in urinal. The park pathways look like the cicadas have stormed Normandy. Also some of the front row seats on rides are covered in cicada goo. Orion was gross.

Imagine if they asked the right questions in the park surveys and got answers like this.

Oh. I understand now, you’re mocking Themeparksbydon, and Tower Topics.

Michelin 5 star meals? Just goes to show you can’t always trust A.I. to write your post for you. Lol

Rick Purdy is his name and no he hasn’t ridden The Beast 43,002 times. Last time I have seen him his shirt said over 36,000 times. That was 2023. It hasn’t even been two full seasons and yet he added 7000 rides to his ride count?

It’s available for all the passes and day ticket.

Wow, does anyone else smell desperation in the room?

Here is my rendering of what should go into the TR:TR building: Miami River Mine Train - presented by Diet Coke

I have heard they added more decor for the parks 50th, which is nice.

Chef Special available at the park today: https://www.facebook.com/stories/101349368699427/UzpfSVNDOjk3NjQxNDI1MzM3MTE3NDc=/?view_single=1&source=shared_permalink&mibextid=wwXIfr

Who knows what SF has in store for the park. The next addition may pleasantly surprise you. I’ll use Mystic Timbers as an example. (I know I beat this dead horse) But, how many people would have want or even think KI needed another wooden coaster When the park SoB was a disaster and the park already had a world class lineup of wooden coasters with The Racer, The Beast and Woodstock express. Turns out Mystic Timbers was a great addition to the park. It had everything you would want. Great marketing/storytelling, theming to match and ultimately provided a fantastic ride experience. Its place among the GTA is what it’s at for a reason. “People don't know what they want until you show it to them.” -Steve Jobs

Ignorance can be bliss. With that said, I don’t think the folks who gave River Racers the green light have ever ridden a water coaster either.

About $110.

The 2026 attraction will replace Xtreme Skyflyer. Id pass on getting another Orion but would be all for another Mystic Timbers. What will happen is the park will look at the feedback from surveys, and choose the ride type people most voted for without taking the time to ask: 1) Why people like those rides. 2) What makes those rides so fun. Do you think people honestly filled out Water Coaster in the survey box because they rode an identical version of River Racers elsewhere? No, they went to Holiday World, rode one of those water coasters then said “Kings Island needs one of those rides!” I understand there is budgets and real life ain’t rollercoaster tycoon. It doesn't need to break records but if you cant build a quality ride experience in the ride type people are asking for, then maybe the best move is to build something else that will provide a better ride experience overall. Who cares what the survey says, build the best ride experience with the budget on hand. An example of this would be Maverick or Mystic Timbers. I would argue a $15million Mystic Timbers does better at being a wooden coaster than $30million Orion does at being a giga.

I attended Coasterstock for the first time this past weekend. Day 1: The day started out with bad weather, moderate rainfall and cold. Entered the park and was greeted by from KD’s digital marketing person. Which was odd, considering we have PR people in our park? Which they would end up showing up later during the tours. Even with the weather to the parks credit they had their coasters opened and operating. I was pleasantly surprised by the donuts being served. They weren’t the generic Kroger kind but instead were Holtman’s donuts. Chef Perez was on site as well serving donuts to attendees, he did this both days. Chef Perez is always a familiar face to see in the park. Obviously passionate for what he does. The only complaint I would have about the morning donuts was because of its location. Due to the rain there was a lot of people crammed in the Diamondback Trading Post. I think given the weather, having one side of the brewhouse open would have been better suited for the occasion. I got to ride of bunch of rides as well as finally get a glimpse of the KIMVRR roundhouse. This proceeded with lunch at Picnic grove. The food provided was so-so. If it wasn’t for eating with a friend who didn’t have a dining plan. I would have ate elsewhere, the chips were the star of the picnic. Koontz also missed this which he apologized for later. But given the rumors surrounded his retirement and likely bombardment of questions from thoosies. I cant say I don’t blame him. Lol There were a few surprises throughout the day. One being an exclusive preview to the bubbles show for Coasterstock attendees. They also had a Graeters truck hidden behind Slaughterhouse where we were given Beast Ice cream. I prefer soft serve but it was good nontheless. Best part of the first day in my opinion was the guest speakers. It was during this time that Mike announced his retirement. PTC gifted us lanyards and gave us their story with the park. Mike surprised us all by having the mastermind behind Kings Island Gary Wachs make an appearance to speak. I was impressed for the amount of respect the park had shown, Gary. There were a lot of gold tags in the seating area for this event, as well as the new park manager. Very classy by everyone involved. Finished the day by closing out the bar at Brewhouse then getting plenty of ERT rides in. 12am in the morning and Kyle from KD is serving soft drinks to Coasterstock attendees and asking us how everything has been so far for the event. Which was nice. It was apparent that he cared that this event went well. Day 2 (Mike Koontz Day): There was a banner hanging from the tower marking the day as Mike Koontz day, being that it was his last day with the park. I proceeded to walk to Scream Zone for Holtman’s donuts, no complaints. I got in some morning ERT rides followed by tours sprinkled throughout the day. Lunch at picnic grove for the second day was an improvement from the first. Closed out the day at Brewhouse again. Watched the nighttime firework / drone show which was dedicated to Mike Koontz. Kyle again, was present for the late night ERT. However this time, joining attendees on the nighttime rides. Overall, for being my first Coasterstock, I had a great time and would attend again.

They are simply using the Silver pass as a means to get you to their site because of its low price point. Then from there they can mention for as little as $35 you can gain access to Haunt and Winterfest with upgrading to gold. Which I believe most people would. It’s a pricing ladder strategy.

I think they do acknowledge their existence, just in a different way. I believe they like to use these sites for feedback and ideas and with that, there has been changes made at the park level. However, I don’t think they appreciate rumors, leaks, and some of the bad actors that are always negative. Which we are all guilty of doing, including myself here.

They advertise Silver Passes. They really don’t need to advertise, when they have influencers doing the advertisements for them for a fraction of the cost. If not for free. Which is likely one of the reasons why the communication department/Six Flags Regional PR person for our park is no longer employed with Six Flags. Speaking for myself, I get most of my park info, including things going on at the park from here, Tower Topics and Themeparksbydon. Kings Island has a high market penetration, I think part of that is because of the influencers, and the product they put out day to day is still good, and provides a great value for what they charge. With that being said, that could easily change with the restructuring going on at Six Flags.

With this new event tent / area, maybe they will take a page out of the Mickey Mouse playbook and start offering multiple festivals throughout the year. Also, given how the Mother's Day brunch sold out with minimal marketing. It's surprising to me that they haven't started offering character dining experiences inside the Internation street restaurant. You can have a buffet and Peanuts character interactions and opportunities for photos. Then for those that purchased one of the dining experiences be provided reserved seating for a show or fireworks.

If you currently have a 2025 Gold pass and have no interest in the food plan or the All park passport. You can save money by renewing to Silver for 2026. Then once Gold passes go on sale in august 2026 for the 2027 season, you renew to a Gold Pass for 2027, and they will honor the pass for the 2027 season for the remaining of the 2026 year. (Haunt and Winterfest) A $35 savings alternating from Gold to Silver every other year. While not losing any perks. So, in certain cases, yes, buy a Silver Pass. Then there is Canada...

I understand that but there is plenty of space behind Breakers Bay.

This, I rode River Racers this past Saturday while attending Coasterstock and after the hill the ride was very slow. Regardless if I rode it solo or with a friend. In true KI fashion, we got the Diet Coke version of what is advertised on the coaster manufacturers own website: https://www.whitewaterwest.com/en/blasters-slides/