Pez

If they were going to make a massive investment and redefine a section of the park removing Invertigo, Congo Falls, and Timberwolf seem to be the most concentrated section of dispensable attractions in the park. Boomerangs and Shoot the Chutes rides are being removed at other parks and Spirit Song and a smattering of corporate events don't seem to be enough to keep it around if there are plans to renovate. That being said, I don't think there are any big plans under consideration. As we have seen with the placement of Mystic Timers, they can put a Giga in places we wouldn't think about. Moreover, I'm not convinced that a parking lot Giga a'la Fury would fit the overarching aesthetic at Kings Island where you traverse the gates almost as if you're in a tunnel and come out to something wonderful on the other side.

It seems the old apartment building plans have been abandoned. It is a mystery what plans Warren County Holdings have for the property. The word "Holdings" in the business name indicates to me that the property was purchased for speculative investment instead of development. We may have to resign ourselves to looking at weeds and rubble over there for a while.

Me too. After making my post showing the transfer I checked sales history and the transfer to OHMI was recorded in 2009, so Warren County Holdings could be the purchaser from a few years ago. Either there was an unrecorded sale or it just took them a few years to file the transfer. EDIT: I checked the old articles from December 2014 about the apartment complex plans. It was a partnership with Hotel Development Services (identified as owner, and in context seems to be substantially in the same as OHMI) and Towne Properties. As such, it seems a transfer of the property was not required. The Warren Count Recorder Memos show states $6.3M was an arms length transaction, so it does seem there was a recent sale.

It appears that the former Kings Island Resort Property transfer was sold recorded from OHMI Investors LLC to Warren County Holdings for $6.3M last month.

Yea, the parcel with the ongoing construcion was never part of the Kings Island Resort. All the work on the Kings Island Resort property seems to have stalled.

Thanks. I guess I didn't notice them behind the Haunt eyes and Winterfest lights. I enjoyed the podcast by the way.

The top of the Eiffel Tower was lit up in an undulating green this evening, presumably for St. Patrick's day. I haven't seen these lights before. Are the lights new or just something they don't use that often?

No. I bear no information on this topic other than what I read in this thread. It will be a hotel in a Charlotte suburb with nearby businesses and residents who could make use of a hotel year round. By obtaining a franchise that has no particular connection to the amusement park industry, it seems Cedar Fair is interested in attracting whomever would normally stay at a Spring Hill hotel.

It makes sense that Cedar Fair would franchise a national brand for their park hotel. If they used one of their own brands I imagine it would be difficult to book in the off season or to people who are not necessarily coming to town for Carrowinds. This opens the clientele up to business travelers. I could see them doing this at Kings Island at the intersection of Kings Island Drive and Western Row, especially with the road improvements and freeway access at that corner. There is plenty of land there for a hotel this size. There is also a growing business community in the immediate area. I would love to see a roof top bar overlooking the park. I know they use some of that land for overflow parking a couple Saturdays in October, but assuming this hotel would be about the size of the hotels up by the Beach or the Comfort Suites, I don't think it would impede that. The old baseball field that no one has played on this millennium may have to go though.

The wife dropped of and picked up.

No livery. I bought some inflatable kayaks and life vests. That time I started at Rogers park in South Lebanon and went to a the Carl Rahe landing just south of Kings Island along 3C. It's about 6 miles. I think Morgans in Morrow is the nearest livery upstream. I don't know if they have any pickup points south of Kings Island. The only ones I've seen are in Morrow, and another just south of Stubbs Mill.

I had that same dream, but that river back there aint great. I canoed it and it was neat to hear the coasters off in the distance, but there really isn't anything special there. Also, Lebanon dumps something from it's waste water treatment facility into it not too far upriver. Other municipalities may do this too. I know Mason's wastewater plant is only a few miles up Mason-Morrow-Milgrove road so that may dump in there too. The river can sometimes carry an odor. I've noticed it from the monkey bar on occasion. Additionally, rivers can be dangerous, even a mild one like the Little Miami. You expect it to be placid, but sometimes it is deceptively forceful sometimes. This creates a dangerous situation, especially for kids. That river is so far from a good business plan for Kings Island I don't see them going anywhere near it.

If they are going to add a campground, I think it would be accessed from Columbia road behind Great Wolf and be constructed in the area where they have been moving dirt north of Banshee. There might already be sewer lines under Columbia. I could see them adding a bunch of those cabins like they have at CP, Carowinds & WOF more than a traditional campground.

I see your point that groups should not use the single rider line to sit together. I agree that such use of the single rider line is abusive. I do not agree with your proposed remedy of closing single rider line. The single rider line helps in two ways. Obviously, it fills the train by filling empty seats. It also keeps single riders out of the main queue where every single rider comes with an empty seat. Under normal operation, sometimes they use the single rider to fill an otherwise empty seat, sometimes not and another empty seat is created. I have not seen a lot of empty seats on Mystic Timbers at Winterfest due to the single rider line. I have not seen the single rider line abused in any of my 4 rides during winterfest. I understand your experience is different, however your concern is overstated. The ride operatins crew is fully capable of addressing potential abuses with the person at the line entry confirming that people who enter the single rider line are indeed single riders and the person assigning seats filling empty seats with single riders as odd numbered groups come through the normal line. There is a small chance of abuse, but the benefit is substantial.

As long as The Beast pulls in the crowds they aren't going to invest the money to make major changes to it. If it ain't broke .... It is a bit of a ghost town over there during the day, and as John Oliver said of Jeb Bush's froyo, "it's fine." But, it really comes alive at night and is something a lot of people have to do on their visits to Kings Island. Not only would modifications cost some cash, but it would undoubtedly disappoint a lot of people. With that said, it seems a lot of advancements have been made to roller coaster cars over the years and if there is something that can be done to make it faster and/or smoother, I'm all for it.

I really liked the slow. Finding a good vantage point is a bit tricky. Some of my view was blocked by trees.

Antique Cars makes sense as an upcoming add, but I agree that the Tower Gardens location seems a bit small. I could see it going into the Dinosaurs Alive area once that attraction has run it's course.

I suspect it has to do with traffic flow. Blocking off that section and the way they direct traffic with the cones seems to have the effect of encouraging people to park in the north half of the lot.

They announced they close the ride at 9:45. In the past, that is when they stop letting people on. Tonight, at 9:36 pm the ride opp told me they were not letting anyone else on until after the fireworks. I understand the necessity to stop the ride for fireworks.

The ride operations at Kings Island have always been very good, until tonight. Unfortunately, I just had a poor experience at The Beast. I got to about ten people from the front of the line for the back half of the train and the ride opp stopped letting people through from that line. She let the fast pass people in, then let the people in line for the front of the train fill in the whole train. Then she did it again for the next train. Then another ride opp show up and they let six people in from our line and the rest was filled in from fast pass and the front. So now I'm close enough to ask why she wasn't letting our line through. She said she had the front line and the other ride opp who was away for a couple trains had the back line. It didn't occur to her to let some people from each line through for each train. I found her reason unacceptable, but there was nothing to do about it at that point. Before the next train, the ride opp who was away for a couple trains told us that they were stopping the ride for fireworks. It was 9:36. I went to guest services to register my complaint and left the park displeased with my visit.

They were on their backs at the top of the lift hill.

Overall, I like Mystic Timbers, but if I have to choose one ride in the limited hours after dark on those long summer days, I'm going with The Beast. A night ride on The Beast is something special and a great way to end the day. The double helix is always awesome, but during the day, the rest of the ride does nothing for me. I usually don't ride it when the park closes at 8. I'm going to ride Mystic Timbers a lot more simply because the park is open during daylight hours longer than after dark.

When they get a page do they scramble around for a pay phone?

I don't know about that. It didn't open until Memorial Day last year because of some work being done, but it is usually open early in the season. My kids drag me on it when it's still way too cold.

I'm pretty sure they don't want you dealing on park grounds anyway.