Magenta Lizard

That’s awfully presumptive. If I could get married this way, and my fiancé was into the idea as well, I would love it. I’ve always wanted a fun wedding, and one where I’m not the center of attention. Not all women want the same things any more than all men do.

*Candlelight park

Wow. I’m not entirely convinced this /isn’t/ me in that video, because it looks so much like I did at around 15... but I don’t recognize the girl on the left so it’s unlikely.

With what I’ve seen so far, I think it is most likely that the other side of Racer is going to be opened to foot traffic and the whole area is going to be considered part of Coney Mall. I think X-Base, which was never fully fleshed out, will be phased out as an area considered separate from Coney. I just can’t imagine a scenario in which it could come off of Oktoberfest, as appealing as a new Bavarian Beetle or coaster based on Krampus might sound

They have not given any details of the route yet, but the parade acts as the kickoff for the street party along International Street in the evenings of Grand Carnivale. Thus, I have imagined it would basically travel along one side of International Street, around the base of the Eiffel Tower, and back along the other side of International Street. I personally believe the floats will come from and be stored in the backstage area at the end of International Street, to the right of the front gates as you enter. The access for it is between the ladies’ and mens’ restrooms. That is not to say the new structure being built out there couldn’t be for storage, but I also don’t think it will be the right spot for float storage unless it is long-term storage after the shows are over this summer.

I wouldn’t say “never.” There was a King mascot at the park and cartoon in their advertising early on (like the 70s) I believe. It is odd they don’t play on it more these days, though. Or the “Island” part for that matter....

According to the website, coneys come with fries

When I was looking from Racer, I thought I saw something coming from the ground that looked like vertical bars with another, arched bar at the top. It was hard to determine the actual size of the structure as I was on the move on the ride at the time. I haven’t seen any photos that seem to show this. Was it something already back there related to Dinos? Am I just losing it? Here’s a crappy rendition of roughly what I think I saw: edited to add: I may have been seeing what the Wild Gravity video described as “the wooden structure” because it seemed to be in that area but it really appeared to me to be yellow tubular steel not wooden square beams. I guess I’ll have to ride again Friday and see what I can see.

I ended up at the Brewhouse for all three meals I enjoyed at the park this weekend. Visiting it at all this weekend was not my initial intention, typically I would have waited a bit for it to be less busy and for the kitchen staff to get up to speed. But it was so cold, I really just wanted to sit inside for awhile somewhere on Friday evening. I didn’t have super high expectations for the food or service due to prior experience at Reds (food was usually middle of the road, and service was often painfully slow), because it was opening weekend with their new menu, and because they were being pretty slammed with customers. The line for ordering /felt/ like it was going slow, but the employees working the registers actually were doing so pretty smoothly for it being so early in the season. It was when the food started coming out that things started being truly impressive. Other members of our party, who went through the line just before me, had their food delivered within moments of my sitting down. Mine followed a very short time later. In the past, when Reds was using this same ordering and serving process, I would have expected at least 15 minutes longer wait for the food and possibly up to a half hour on some occasions. The food itself also exceeded my expectations. Usually when I went to Reds I was one of the few in my party who actually ate the chips. They were ok, but I wouldn’t say I usually enjoyed them, exactly. The tater tots at the new Brewhouse are a very welcome change, and because of the speed of food delivery, they were fresh, crispy, and tasty. The first meal, I got the BBLT (a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato that earns the extra B from the quantity and quality of the bacon). I absolutely love bacon! I could probably give up all other meat fairly easily (I’ve always naturally tended more towards vegetarianism) but bacon is my true love. This was piled with many strips of around 1/4 inch thick sliced bacon, cooked to perfection (which is unusual for places to get right, bacon is often over- or under-done). The bread was thick sliced and had a lot of flavor, and the lettuce was a flavorful mixture of types that didn’t include boring iceberg. The tomatoes /looked/ like they would be really good, if I liked eating raw tomatoes, but unfortunately I don’t. After such a good experience Friday (and since the appeal of sitting inside to eat was still strong due to the cold), we ended up eating at the Brewhouse twice more on Saturday. For lunch I had the Big Dog. It is a large, split and grilled, smoked sausage, on a nice thick flavorful bun. They put on beer cheese and beer mustard (I didn’t taste the mustard much, but the cheese was very good), and a good amount of sauerkraut. I personally like sauerkraut quite a bit, and can eat the more vinegary varieties with enthusiasm even though a lot of people find them off-putting, but this wasn’t like that. It was sweet, mild, and added a lot to the flavor of the dog without being punch-you-in-the-face kraut-y. For dinner, I got the Three Pigs, which are three pulled pork sliders with BBQ sauce. I don’t have as much to say about them because honestly, the park has been doing a very good job at pulled pork in various locations for awhile now, and these were pretty much the same as I’ve come to expect. As with lunch, the tater tots were fantastic. There were only two small suggestions that I would give, I can’t even call them complaints. The pickles that came with nearly every plate are bread-and-butter/sweet pickles rather than the expected dill, and most of the people at my tables (including me) would have preferred dill. Also, in the past, people were able to substitute a different side from the chips that came with everything at Reds, for a small upcharge. There are several new sides at the Brewhouse that sound interesting, but the only way to try them (at least so far) is to pay full price to get an extra side in addition to tots. The entrees are so big and filling, most people are not going to be able to eat all of that, so are probably less likely to want to pay full price for a second side.

We always called them “sippers”, but yeah, lack of a consistent, unique, name for them makes researching them difficult. Found this Cedar Point version of the Orange I mentioned but I still can’t find any pics of Fred

Maybe they’ll relocate the maintenance buildings that line Coney Mall back there and build the coaster closer to Racer? Or open up a path connecting X-base and the end of Coney Mall. Dunno.

This just made me realize Rivertown is actually on the opposite side of the park from the river

Aww, those grapes near the roofline are adorable

This is what Scooby looked like. Still searching for a Fred

There were red Fred Flintstones, and brown Scooby Doos too. Orange oranges . As I recall, the grape ones tasted best but it was hard to turn down a drink shaped like Scooby. I always tried so hard in my childlike way to save these containers and my mom always ended up throwing them out eventually.

A couple weeks ago, I had a dream that I was riding the recaR sdrawkcaB again. I was so happy.

I’m as certain as I can be without inside information that there will be construction teasers at the park when we’re allowed in Friday. However, even if there aren’t I would find it impossible to be disappointed, with a full new year at the park, new ride, new shows, new theming, and new experiences, all stretched out in front of me

Welcome home to Kings Island!

Very interesting idea! Welcome to KIC @Tom Hapner!

It looks like the line for the new ‘tiques is seven days and a few hours (somebody had to make the joke, why not me?)

I feel like we’re currently lacking in green

It actually doesn’t surprise me to see KI focusing more on entertainment, due to the popularity of the Cirque shows and all of the entertainment at Winterfest, along with the current emphasis on nostalgia (shows used to be much more of a selling point for the park). The thing I would be most interested in the park adding is roaming entertainment. There have been at least a couple attempts on that front in the past few years (the KI Five, the KI Paint Department improvisational drummers) but for reasons unknown to me they fizzled. I personally enjoyed those attempts quite a bit so I don’t think “lack of quality” were the reasons they apparently failed or were cancelled. The roaming entertainment at Winterfest has also been quite enjoyable.

“What a day!” (btw, will it be ok for us to “enter” more than once if we come up with more ideas?)

I feel like the fact it is on early ride time is going to make the t-shirt giveaway a bit of a nightmare. Hope I get one tho!

Yes, the sign is new too