Joshua

I love Defunctland and Theme Park History. Could you imagine if there were a channel of similar quality dedicated purely to Kings Island and/or Cedar Fair parks?

I have all of the franchised restaurants near me, so I usually only get Coney BBQ, Chicken Shack, and on some occasions, RHFG.

This is something I have been craving as well!

That commercial brings back memories! However, there were a few years when I didn't attend Kings Island and it probably wasn't until 1998 that I finally got to ride FOF.

I am not opposed to an extra path/expansion to X-Base, but it would require more incentive for guests to travel. In its current state, X-Base is just a single ride and its current path takes guests past various rides and shops. If X-Base were to significantly expand and more flats/shops were built on this new path, it would make more sense. But then we get into the aforementioned service roads, terrain, and Banshee, and the justification for cutting into new land when current land could be utilized.

Could it be to give each park a unique branding of rides and further inspire guests to travel between the parks?

I read this article the other day and found it worrisome and somber. In the golden age of film, Paramount Pictures was part of "The Big Five," a group of major film studios that also included MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. (no mention of their Warner sister, Dot), and RKO Pictures, the studio that produced King Kong and Citizen Kane. (Universal, United Artists, and Columbia Pictures were known as "The Little Three.") Today, RKO is practically nonexistent and the majority of its filmography ended up in the hands of Turner Broadcasting, which eventually merged with Warner Bros. MGM is on its death crawl and has been for quite some time. Its Pre-1986 films also ended up in the hands of Turner/WB, while Fox distributes everything Post-86. Currently, it con-finances its films with other studios. And everyone knows about Fox's sale and acquisition by Disney. Signs of Paramount's struggles haven't gone unnoticed. For a time, its catalog titles were being distributed by Warner Home Video and they have continuously floundered their IPs. (They could do so much more with Star Trek and so much better with TMNT, for example.) A few years back, like Fox, Paramount was to be sold, but Viacom canceled it. Thus, the studio limps on, hopefully to a better fate than MGM and RKO. It's not all bad. I haven't been this excited about the Mission: Impossible franchise since the Brian DePalma film in 1996 and for once, they have produced a Transformers film that was actually good. Also, I've enjoyed many of their smaller films, such as Arrival and Annihilation. What they need to do is dust off Star Trek for a big screen return, acquire some other major IPs, and, in response to Universal/Blumhouse's huge success with last year's Halloween revival, shovel out whatever money it takes to clear up those Friday the 13th legal battles and bring Jason Frickin' Voorhees back from his watery grave to slash up the box office. (Also, you know, original/new stuff wouldn't hurt either...) To bring it all back to the park, a lot of the blame goes to Viacom. They simply didn't care. Had Paramount Parks been around longer and had a history of success prior to the merger, Viacom might've properly invested into them instead of brushing them off to various subsidiaries. And it's also possible that things would've been better had the merger never happened at all. It's hard telling. In retrospect, the biggest conceit might've been purchasing a pre-existing, non-film related park, turning it into a movie park, and selling it to a general public that doesn't care about movies apart from their casual thrill on Friday night. While Universal Studios and Disney Parks are accessible to anyone, there's no arguing that they are built for and geared towards movie/television experiences brought to life. That's part of their magic and those parks are built from the ground up to create those experiences. Paramount's amusement parks already existed, each with their own fanbase and patronage that had little to do with films. They had to work with property that already existed with rides that had themes non-specific to an IP, apart from those struck from Hanna-Barbera. For the most part, that's the way it remained even in Viacom's tenure, an amalgamation: half-movie theme park, half-general fun amusement park with Paramount decorations loosely stickered onto the Taft/KECO legacy still fresh in the general public's eye. The attempts to truly immerse riders into theatrical experiences were few and far between. What many consider to be their best attempt, Tomb Raider, came far too late into the game and, honestly, it shouldn't have been the first with that amount of effort and immersion. (Unfortunately, I never rode TR:TR with its original theming, so I am going on what I've seen and hear about it here.) Still, given a number of factors, up to and including the way those Tomb Raider films were conceived, produced, and handled, as well as their "**** in the wind" longevity/public appeal, it was most likely -- an unfortunately -- always doomed to fail. While it's sad to see another one of "The Big Five" falling from its monolith, it's amazing to see Kings Island continually rising back to their's, as CF corrects past mistakes and honors KI's legacy with acts such as overhauling I-Street and bringing the Antique Cars back. Hopefully, Paramount will do the same. P.S. It's silly, but the more I think about it, the more I realize my favorite thing Paramount brought to KI was not Top Gun nor the Mirthmobile nor even Marc Shaiman's score from the Addams Family playing majestically when you first strolled onto International Street. Those things were amazing, but what I love most was the Wings restaurant. They actually themed a buffet to the 1927 silent film, the first to win an Academy Award for what is now called Best Picture, and then played it on a continuous loop on the monitors while you ate your grub. That's actually pretty stinkin' incredible if you ask me!

Tower Gardens. Like the pond, it's nice having that area for the natural beauty. If the park actually keeps up with that beauty, that is.

I also like the sidewalks. They make it look like an actual street.

Knowing what some of the towns around here are known for, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. Heck, years back, when I moved back from Columbus, the first thing I saw was a man driving his car down the sidewalk, over grass and driveways, as if he didn't know he wasn't on the road...

I would like to see another event similar to last year's Peanuts Celebration.

Not too shabby! How much did they give you for "In park cash?"

I honestly don't recall FUN Perks. What sort of rewards were offered?

Have I missed something? Isn't the area still called Coney Mall?

As much as I'd hate to see it go, I wouldn't be surprised if it's removed within the next 10 years to make way for whatever becomes the next major addition to Action Zone.

The tiniest thing sends folks into a theory frenzy. I imagine if KI's Instagram page posted a historic photo of, say, Kenton's Kove, the comments would light up with speculations, like "OMG! KI is bringing back the Keelboats!" Then the bloggers chime in. And the Youtubers. Then come the "Is Kings Island Bringing It Back?" articles. It's a madhouse, I say! It blows my mind that I still hear that "Vortex is sinking!" myth. I've heard that one since the 90s.

The general public has a way of overhyping themselves. The media usually gets all the blame and, don't get me wrong, they do deserve some. But at the same time, a lot of people don't bother to cross reference articles, check for validity of source, or, in most cases, read past the headlines.

IIRC the first ever preview night was for those who purchased/renewed their Gold Pass by a certain date. Now it is essentially Opening Night, but I believe its busyness comes from its popularity and the stronger public awareness it might not have had during its initial debut.

The public has always viewed KI and SC as part of one unified experience. Personally, I think that's the way it should be.

Honestly, getting entry into every Cedar Fair park is a massive perk. The Platinum level is targeted to a specific kind of guest, one who travels a lot and visits multiple parks yearly. There's no reason to add any more perks to it. Also, here's a big "nay" to getting rid of the Gold Pass. People love it. It's very popular. It's profitable for the park. Also, if there's one thing that angers consumers, it's making them pay more for less.

Ha, very true! I'm reminded of that Talking Heads song, "Flowers." "This was a Pizza Hut! Now it's covered with daisies. You got it, you got it."

Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do with this? Personal Christmas decor, for use at the office, or to place presents under next year?

I am not sure how I feel about this. It's nice going into Wolf Pack and somewhat reliving the past. At the same time, I find I hate seeing more and more buildings sitting vacant and tacky the majority of the year only to be used as mazes two months in the year. Some of the mazes are fairly underwhelming. Personally, I'd rather they repurpose and go all out with those venues instead of adding more.

Admittedly, I have been in there only once since they removed Phantom Theater. Boo Blasters just didn't cut it for me.

The main season. I can go whenever I want, particularly when it's less crowded.