purdude86

I think it's a tough question. I think dark rides really round out a parks ride collection and can elevate a park as a whole, but an individual dark ride is not going to have the huge impact on attendance that a big coaster or even a thrilling flat ride would have. It can influence people's decisions on where to go but they don't really think about it as a whole. Also to keep them going strong after years it takes a lot of upkeep and money. People keep pointing out how great they can be an using examples of rides like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean or Spider-Man at Universal. But these are far from affordable to a park like Kings Island. Haunted Mansion would cost $45M to build today,, that's almost double the biggest investment the park has made. Also as mentioned above it can be hard to really get a good story across if it's not well known to sot hat can hold stuff back. This is where Kings Island could at least have a step up. With Boo Blasters practically in Planet Snoopy it could easily be converted into a Peanuts dark ride which would be well known and liked. Also fans of the park would love to see a return of Phantom Theater. Would be great to see two true dark rides in the park. Especially they could do interactive with Peanuts and classic one where you just ride through with Phantom. I do think that Cedar Fair has done well with some of their recent ones like Voyage to the Iron Reef and Knott's Beary Tales could be good. I like the idea of building stories for areas of their parks and could attach that to a ride. I think Mystic Timbers could be a good foundation for a dark ride akin to Iron Reef at KI. Can see elements of its theming throughout Rivertown and could even connect The Beast into it. Could put it where The Crypt was. I do hope to see more parks add them in, really think Cedar Point could use one as well to round out the park.

I agree. I don't see Disney spending the time or money, especially right now, to converting the theme of this attraction. It would be much more intensive than just replacing the animatronic characters. None of the sets, nor really the mountain, as a whole fit with Princess and the Frog. So they would need to essentially gut the entire ride and rebuilt it from scratch, and preferably do some rework of the exterior as well to fit in more with New Orleans setting. This just does not seem feasible, nor likely for an attraction that is well loved. I understand that Song of the South is a controversial film but Splash Mountain as stated has little connection to the movie aside from the attractions main three characters. They didn't include any questionable material from it and a vast majority of people that ride it don't even realize that it is connected to the movie. While I would love to see a Princess and the Frog based attraction, about the only reason for it to go where Splash Mountain is would be it's location next to New Orleans Square to be incorporate into that section.

i agree with Congo likely going with Invertigo. The two of them would provide a good size plot for a new coaster. Plus Congo Falls doens't seem to have huge ridership.

I don't think KI should get a front gate coaster or change up the entry too much. Need to keep the "entrance reveal" of the park with going through a tunnel opening up to International Street. However I do feel like it could get up dated in some manner with a more spruced up entry of the type and a new restaurant on the second floor.

The concept with the track changes looks interesting but this exact layout looks pretty dull honestly

I'm mixed on the new trains if that's what they are like. Prefer the t-bar design and open feel, not a big fan of OTSRs especially on a coaster that doesn't have any inversions. However, the current trains are a tight squeeze for tall people. They were by far the most uncomfrtable train for me at the park, and any I can think of in the midwest at least

Agreed they have a lot of other options to pick from with a more reliable track record. Plus i don't foresee any major new additions the next couple years after all of this. Could reach back out to them if some of these new coasters do well. But while I do love hte Intamin's I've ridden, Cedar Fair can get similar coasters to pretty much any of their models from other manufacturers like Premier and Mack.

Agreed a Raptor coaster would be great. And an off the shelf model would probably keep cost down more. It would be an amazing and affordable coaster for a park like KK and their smaller size would also help with the riders per hour.

It's a hard choice for me. Diamondback is a fun coaster with lots of great airtime and our first really huge coaster in awhile. Banshee gave us another great looper and filled a gap that was a bit of an eyesore in that area of the park and brought a lot to Action Zone. I overall went with Mystic Timbers though because it is a fantastic thrilling coaster that also provides a ton of great theming to the area. The ride itself is even themed pretty decently, and as much as some people hate on the shed (and it was a little anticlimactic after the hype), it is still a great use of the break run to keep you in shed and entertained while waiting. The plaza area also looks fantastic and even provides some backstory for that area of the park. Would love to see Cedar Fair continue with this level of theming for future additions. Feel like it's a perfect amount for a regional park like KI.

Hope to hear some good reactions for the park when they reopen. Haven't been in years and want to go back but was always hesitant because of all the operations issues, was afraid to go and pay all the money and have half or more of what i wanted to ride not operate.

The park always looks great at night but the extra splashes of color during some events really enhance it.

Since they announced its closure I felt the same. Think a nice size dive in that spot with the lift in the same spot and the drop looking out towards the front. Could have the initial loop up come up where the batwing was. Agree it would be a gp crowd pleaser and think it would look great in that spot too to keep the picturesque nature of that spot. Most of the other ideas I’ve seen I think would be great but would t provide the same skyline view that Vortex had.

Mack just makes what they're directed to. The ones in the US are weaker but they have shown that they can make the fast intense ones too. Coasters like Blue Fire and Helix would be great additions. I would love an Intamin Blitz like Maverick but I don't feel they have improved their record enough but could with their new installations but can't see CF going back to them just yet when they have other options. Hagrid had a lots of issues and downtime when it opened (though that's to be expected with all the systems in play and working out the bugs), but if it can sustain it's operational capabilities now as well as Pantheon and the Velocicoaster perform well I could see them possibly become a viable option again.

Yea. I like the site but it is pretty much a catch all for news and rumors. They are usually pretty good at noting what is a rumor but I wouldn't really take anything from it as just a fact.

It might have been a tv edit then. I just remember there hardly being any footage inside the park itself, compared to Brady Bunch spending the whole episode around the park.

Saw the Partridge Family episode for the first time last year and it was so disappointing. Only a few minutes of the episode actually take place in the park. It opens with them performing a song in front of the fountain and then a couple very quick montages that last at most 20-30 seconds each. Most of the episode takes place at the hotel. You hardy see the park in it. The Brady Bunch one was a much more successful park episode i felt.

I don’t think they’d be the same level as Intamin honestly. They had some issues with SV but seems to have gotten ironed out a bit and a small delay with Railblazer but they have been consistent once ironing out stuff. Plus the company has a good track record overall. Intamin had a lot of issues that were also ongoing across the board with the chain and with other companies too.

One homage I’d love to see for a replacement coaster there is a station reminiscent of Vortex. Loved its look and felt it was an iconic part of the ride.

I could see Busch Gardens Tampa get one for the Sea World chain. Since they just got Iron Gwazi I wouldn't expect it for awhile but since they lack a traditional hyper in the park, or anything with good floater air. I think it would round out there line up well too.

I can see many water parks not opening this year since they usually have shorter seasons anyway. Plus not opening water park areas of other parks, like KI is that many fewer staffing and employees to hire, train, and pay and less areas to worry about restrictions and cleaning protocols for.

I agree a bit. Enjoyed the ride but always felt the layout was weak. Liked the premier and first drop and loop. Outside of that it was just a few helixes back to back

I can't wait to get out more and get back to normal but we will probably ease into it more. The big thing for me is I ant to try to build up a little extra for an emergency fund just in case we get a second wave in winter like is speculated. Want to be ready financially so don't want to go crazy spending money right away. I am greatly looking forward to IB reopening though. I really hope this new company can get the park more reliable on operations though. I haven't been to the park in a very long time and one of the big reasons was the spotty operations Id always read about on trip reports. Was afraid to make the long drive up there and spend the money to go then have half the rides I want to go on be closed. Always just talked myself into KI saying it was closer and had a lot more for the same cost, but really wanting to go back and experience the park and atmosphere again.

Would love to see more trees planted in general. I think that is one of the things I love best about the idea of a dark forest theme. It would necessitate planting a lot of trees to give it a forest vibe. I like he spooky theme in general but trees is definitely a big perk. Weeping Willow trees like those scattered around would be great for the vibe too.

Would love to see Adventure Express get a Black Forest re-theme to fit in better with Oktoberfest. Like the name Dark Forest Express but would recommend just changing it to Black Forest. Prefer the name Expedition but Express could pay homage to AE Mostly I'd keep it as is just plant more trees and theme the tunnels a bit with German related stuff and expedition supplies. Can add some sort of legend that could be told through signs in the queue to theme the final lift hill tunnel to. I'd build out the theming of Oktoberfest more too. Change Hanks Burrito Shack back into a more Bavarian look, )same with any other building around the pond there). Even if they kept the food the same have it's aesthetic fit the area. I'd also remove/relocate Slingshot and put a new flat ride in it's spot. And probably not feasible but ideally remove the ladder game and Coke stand int hat spot and add a second flat to the area. The two I would add would be a tilt-a-whirl or tea cups ride themed to wooden kegs and bring back the Der Spinning Keggers name. The second would be a musik express type ride like Hurricanw Cove at Marineland themed to the Flying Dutchman. I would kind of connect the area into Action Zone as well and give it a dark forest theme as people have suggested. but keep them separated to a degree. I would take the pathway running alongside Delirium's queue and put an arbor tunnel there like used to be over on the Rivertown Hanna Barbara border. It would fit both areas but keep them separated a bit too. Maybe add one along the path behind Festhaus leading from the Kings Island Theatre to the main entry area too so to get into the forest area you have to o through a wooded tunnel. Just have to rename and do some new paint for some areas and ideally plant more trees. If they kept Invertigo it could be renamed Spectre but I would remove it and Congo Falls to add in a new coaster. and ideally remover Timberwolf too for expansion. If Timberwolf left especially I would add a custom RMC there. It would have the intensity to match the thrill level of the area and keep inversion with the removal of Invertigo, plus the wood structure would help maintain the theme of the area. This would also allow room likely for another flat ride too. The rest of the areas I think have decent theming, just feel the park as a whole could use some more flat rides. Some other small changes would be to gut Boo Blasters and theme it to Peanuts to fit in with Planet Snoopy and give it something fresh. It could be themed to holidays and take scenes from the specials (or pick on like Great Pumpkin. With it being in the kids area I'd keep it as an interactive ride too. Then I would put a return of the Phantom Theater where the old Action Theater is now. Make it look like a big rundown concert hall with the grass area in front looking rundown and unkempt too to build the atmosphere. Think this could fit Coney Mall area while keeping it hidden a bit to not look bad for the rest of the area with it being hidden within Racer's turnaround. This would be more of a traditional dark ride where you just go past scenes like the original PT.

I agree the launch isn’t everything but if it’s a weaker launch would be lower speeds and not as intense of a ride overall. I much prefer the quick transition or Maverick and many RMCs to the hang time of stuff like Copperhead Strike. They all have fun aspects to them but I prefer the more intense fast moves.