BeeastFarmer

Saw a "leaked" 2016 park map online today. Looks like the sky swing (mini WindSeeker type ride, can't remember the name) has been moved from the back of the water park up closer to the Giant Wheel/Picnic Pavilions. Edit: to correct the year from 2106 to 2016. Thanks for the good eyes, Goble!

I'm not sure of the artist, but the "Best day of our lives" song has played twice as I was going from my car to the front gate. Had to chuckle a little at the marketing.

Not that I am in favor of this, but a brick phone comes before the latest Android/iPhone/Windows phone. I'm not personally one to try it, but it may be the future, or it may be an experiment that may fail. Only time will tell.

I laugh to myself when watching webcams...Action Zone is kind of like InAction Zone, while Rivertown is buzzing with activity. Is there anything going on in the area formerly known as Coney Mall/Maul?

Fortunately, CF via KI seems to care well for Racer (except needing paint) and The Beast. Having never been to Magic Mountain and never ridden Colossus, I can only conjecture based on internet reading that it was a shadow it its' former self due to destruction by neglect. If I ever make it to the park, I will be glad to have the current version of the ride, than no ride at all.

Granted, Racer ushered in this age--but coasters have a shelf life. When costs outweigh benefits, the owners will look at options. That's why it's important to ride and support coasters like Racer. It would make me feel more confident about the future of this coaster if it were to receive a thorough paint job (not just the que house) I'm not advocating for changes to either ride, I am just presenting my opinion of a worse case scenario for Racer.

As we saw last year with Carowinds loosing Thunder Road, icons are fluid. I'd rather have a topper tracked Racer or a (gasp) Twisted Racer than no Racer. Now The Beast-I'd have to chain myself to it. haha

RMC--please don't ever touch The Beast (except for retracking). You can touch The Racer, and maybe even put topper track on it, just don't convert it! (Like my opinion has ANY pull!)

I'm not a Haunt type person, but I want to share an experience from 2015 that stands out. I work weekends. I was able to swap a shift and get off work for closing day 2015. So after working a 12 hour shift, I drove to the area, checked into The Shaker Inn (can't remember the name of the town) and went to the park with the intent of riding The Beast as many times as I could in 2.5 hours. It was raining, so the crowds were leaving as I entered the park at 10:30. With thinning crowds, almost everything I saw was a walk on. After riding The Beast, I decided to try out Slaughterhouse. No one was in the que. While the haunt itself was campy, the scareactors were great. I then decided to try out Urgent Scare (as an RN, I just HAD to!). Every scareactor was awesome. On a night that was not at all crowded, miserably rainy, and the last night of the season, the scareactors were excellent. The ride ops and (gasp) food service folks were great, too. Overall, I was able to eat at Street Pizza, do Urgent Scare and Slaughterhouse, ride Diamondback twice and The Beast 7 times AND had 100% positive interaction with incredible KI associates. Positive outweighs the negative.

I'd be happy with the Coney Mall sign making a return.

Sorry, The Interpreter. Did not intend to leave you or others out who do not have the dining plan. Please share your experience. And if anyone has any ideas as to why this seems to plague Kings Island, please chirp in.

I get the fact that most workers do not want to be in food service, and have other opportunities, and there is only a certain pool to select from. But my goodness, take the best and make them examples and have others aspire to be like them. Motivate with raises or awards for compliments. Dismiss the elbow leaners. Or do something simple like add a cashier and open up a side for drinks only---or add drink stations (they beat me to that!)

I ate at Panda Express a few times last year, and it was mostly a good experience, besides the long wait times. However, on the last day of the season, an employee was so busy on his phone that he almost dropped a load coming out of the wok to the serving pan. That is not multi-tasking, that is being inattentive. Not to mention the thoughts of the phone and how many germs reside on it...

So, I ask platinum passholders who have season long dining-is this slow speed of service/poor caring evident in other parks in the chain, or is it Kings Island specific? It seems strange that they do not appear to do much to correct it, especially since it seems to be the biggest complaint on the list. (At least from my perspective.) For reference: Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom-minimal wait times. Dollywood-very long lines, but having only been twice, and during the Christmas event, not a fair sampling. And the employees were trying to do the best they could, and seemed concerned. Unlike the 25 minute wait at Skyline in the area formerly known as Coney Mall where there were only 3 in front of me and the workers were leaning on their elbows making orders.

I was quite satisfied with my All Season Dining plan in '14 and '15 and will probably be so again in '16. I was not satisfied with the speed of service/motivation of some workers (Skyline on IS and the area formerly known as Coney Mall, to be precise). But disappointment passes, and the positives almost always outweigh the negatives. Now, I would be really ticked if I did not have a meal plan or a gold pass and had to wait that long. It'll be interesting to see how Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Cedar Point and possibly Dorney compare to Kings Island in terms of speed of service.

Speaking of PR/hype: For those of you who were around when Ed Hart first built up the park, how did he promote it? LIke it is being promoted this incarnation? I was raised here in KY, and the park always seemed to be not that big of a deal. I don't remember any of the early 90's with the park. Then again, I don't really remember any of the KI ads, except the one for The Beast when I was very young. I used to stay up way past my bedtime to watch late night TV and the commercial always scared me.

TombRaiderFTW, I read that somewhere to, but I can't remember where. It had something to do with lessons learned from Twisted Colossus--the maintenance crews had to remove paint from the wheels nightly. calakapepe, a guess here--maybe since there will not be as much wear on the lift, they did not take the time to not paint the strip? Not being a coaster expert, I am just thinking about the distance, but the time is a factor as well.

I'm looking forward to riding this, as well as Lightning Rod at Dollywood. I do think it will increase attendance, I just wish the park would hype it up some more.

Yup, you got it!

I'm trying to post a screen shot from my phone, but I can't remember how to post a photo. It seemed easier on a different thread. I'll find the thread that discussed photo files and then post it. If The Interpreter has Facebook, I am sure he could spot it right away. Magenta Lizard, if I stated what it was about the post, it would give it away, which I am interested in knowing if anyone else spotted the mistake.

Goble, my question has nothing to do with the photo--it is the text.

Did anyone else notice the March 1 15:32 Facebook post?

Pink eye can also be transmitted via lapbars, seatbealts and other "bugs" can come from the seats. I don't think I would use these, but I will never say never. After all, I rode Vortex and went to Kentucky Kingdom in 2015, two choices I am VERY glad I made. (This is coming from a germaphobic nurse, BTW.) Edit: I had put 2016 instead of 2015.

I'd be happy just to get the Coney Mall sign back.

This makes me happy. The Holiday World model, modified, is catching on. Free self serve stations at HW, self serve stations at KK, and now dedicated refill stations at KI, which may also come to other Cedar Fair parks. *Note: Please don't crucify me for the Holiday World model nomenclature, please keep in mind my only parks as an adult are KI, HW, KK, and Dollywood.