BeeastFarmer

The Beast is my all time favorite, but I love Mystic Timbers. It's all so subjective. So many people rave about the Cowboy Coaster at CP, but I find it ok. But not all that. Others rave about Banshee, but I like AE (and WinterFest) much better than Banshee.

I like how some of these renderings use crowd sounds that mimic the first POV that was released of Valravn, with what I assume are park employees.

I've been to Over Georgia. They had good hot chocolate, poor operations, the majority of the rides and attractions were open. They had lights, but they looked like an afterthought. They had cut trees that were dried out and some were even completely defoliated. It was basically the same park you see in the summer, but with some Christmas lights added in and some hot chocolate stands. WinterFest, on the other hand, is like an experience with a few rides open. In my opinion, it's like comparing a Big Mac Value Meal to a full steak and lobster dinner at Ruths Chris. Both are good, but Ruths Chris is much better and experiential. (But the cost of WinterFest is not Ruths Chris level, it's more on the Applebees level.)

This was the tree lighting ceremony last year. Definitely a great way to start the evening off.

Why would The Beast need to be unleashed? I'd rather she stay somewhat leashed in Rivertown. It would be great to have another coaster themed to the story line, but don't degrade the original. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Millennium Force (3) vs. Great Pumpkin Coaster (1)Top Thrill Dragster (3) vs. Wilderness Run (1)Steel Vengeance (4) vs. Flying Ace Aerial Chase (0)Diamondback (4) vs. Woodstock Express CP (0)The Beast (3) vs. Woodstock Express KI (1)Magnum XL-200 (3) vs. Backlot Stunt Coaster (1)Banshee (3) vs. Cedar Creek Mine Ride (1)Valravn (2) vs. Adventure Express (2)GateKeeper (2) vs. Blue Streak (2)Vortex (4) vs. Iron Dragon (0)Maverick (3) vs. The Bat (1)Raptor (2) vs. Invertigo (2)Rougarou (2) vs. Corkscrew (2)Gemini (2) vs. Flight of Fear (2)Wicked Twister (1) vs. The Racer (3)Firehawk (1) vs. Mystic Timbers (3)

I think WinterFest is better than Banshee.(lol) I too went 5 times last year and didn't get to do all I wanted to do. The only thing that would bring it to Dollywood level would be to have more rides and coasters open, but I don't think that is worth the trade off of getting everything ready for Spring opening. I'm very happy and would still go multiple times if no rides we're open. In spite of a rough year at Cedar Fair, I am more excited for the future of Kings Island than I ever have been. They are doing so many things that people want and doing a great job...even if they still have some food issues and didn't give a rendering for KMAA. Lol Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

@sixohdieselrage, the story of The Beast is awesome. Mr. Gramke gave a talk at Coasterstock and I was starstruck. If I could have only heard Al Collins give a talk. Plus, hearing Dennis Speigel's thoughts on The Beast...it is so awesome to hear these folks who were so key to the birth of my favorite roller coaster. With the Great Coaster we got with Mystic Timbers, Diamondback and Banshee, I think what we get is gonna be pretty awesome. I'm pretty excited!

I'm going to sound like I contradict myself, but... I wish they would have similiar policies at the parks. One park you must have a hand stamp. Another, you don't. One park, a platinum pass gets you a FLP+ for the price of a FL but at another you don't. That being said, and I think they are getting better at this, I think each park should have its own personality. I'd like to see the chain wide uniforms go to the wayside and the standardized garbage cans etc.

Mr. Gramke is the Manager of Facilities, Engineering, and Construction at KI. He would be involved in just about any construction project I'd say.

Sorry, I had a typo. I meant to say no ice skating at Busch. I've edited [emoji3063] Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

From the comments I read, there are more upcharges at KD. One person was griping about the ice skating, cookie decorating etc. Someone else pointed out that there was no ice skating at Busch. I've never been to Christmas Town, so I don't have a frame of reference. But I will say that if KD's WinterFest is anything like KI's, it will give Christmas Town a run for the money. The only thing that I saw (somewhere) was that KD was getting 2.5 million lights vs KI's 5 million. But then again, I heard (somewhere) that KI was supposed to get close to 7 million lights this year with Tinsel Town opening but we have been told via the website it is "more than 5 million." Edit: to change the park name from KD to Busch.

Fast forward: Facing competition, the newly acquired park in Virginia is merged with Six Flags America and renamed Six Flags Worlds of Gardens over Virginia. Not to be outdone, Cedar Fair buys the new creation, moves all of Kings Dominion attractions to this new property except for Soak City. This venture fails because the park is too big to fail. Rides and attractions are relocated across the chain. Carowinds gets the Eifel Tower. Kings Island gets Batwing.

I don't think that would have a tantamount change to the overall operation of the park. I wouldn't think KI would change their hours up much but you never know. For reference (and this is just simplified math with non-specific numbers, each park has different numbers of course and different parks have different employment numbers, this is simply averaged with 9 parks and each park having 100 operating days): 350,000 hours/9 parks=38,888 hours per park 38,888 hours/100 days= 388.88 hours per day to cut 388.88 hours/1000 employees=.388 hours cut per employee If someone here who knows much more detailed information across parks could plug in numbers and add in for out of park operations, I think the number would be much smaller. I would guess the company would be quicker to close parks for weather/small attendance days and perks like end of season ERT and possibly eliminate duplicate positions.

Unfortunately, I don't see the park adding temporary padding to the train seats. Even if they were properly secured, people tend to not respect property and they would get destroyed. A cheap investment, yes but not worth it since people can be jerks.

I really wish they would add some cushions to the seats on the train for Winterfest. Of course, it was very cold when I rode, LOL.

@kingsislandfan1972, Great family memories. Looks like you had a great time with your folks. Since you asked for thoughts, I offer two suggestions: 1. Try and avoid jerky movements with the camera and avoid pointing it at the ground when you walk. 2. Maybe make videos in shorter segments instead of one long video. You did a great job showcasing your experience in the park, which is unique to all of us. I appreciated seeing it from your perspective. I enjoyed listening to your narrative of the experience and look forward to seeing more videos in the future!

I was there with my niece...and even she thought it was bad. From my adult perspective--not enough staff, very overpriced for what you get. The rooms were loud (not insulated well at all for sound), dated, in poor repair. They maximized space, which is a good thing, but the delivery of the experience was sub-par. I'm not a water park person, so I can't comment on that except to say that my niece was disappointed. Especially at Sandusky, the waterpark portion seems to be too small for the size of the resort. The staff were surly and overworked. The whole experience seemed more like a cattle herding experiment than a guest immersion experience. Granted, my experiences are very limited and it's possible that they did not represent the total GWL experience. I just left both places feeling like I had paid Westin prices but got a Knights Inn experience.

I've had the misfortune of staying at GWL in Mason and Sandusky. I'd venture a guess that a stay at the Bates Motel would be more enjoyable.

The witch and the monkey were there all three days. But I only saw one at a time, never together. Might be a troll move, might be a tease or it might just be a witch and a monkey. The only possible reference I could see is that Coney Island used to have a Land of Oz, and another CF park (WOF?) has some costumed Oz characters. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I went to Haunt this past weekend. In my opinion, the even has lost the edge is used to have. It seems much more "family friendly" than it used to. I saw many young children and an abundance of "No Boo" necklaces both nights. The music selection in most areas sounded like a backdrop to Applebees instead of promoting a spooky atmosphere. That being said, I was very impressed with the park and the effort put into the event. Coney Maul was very well done. I wouldn't mind seeing the lights and flags up all year. The music was good too. Pumpkin Eater was very nice, but I never saw the animatronic figure. IS was nice, it was great seeing the skeletons on the second floor (although the Spanish building should have Spaniards, not Central American skeletons). Maybe they can put flags of the appropriate nations next year on each building. The mazes were good, was very impressed with Chaos. Friday night, especially, the fog was great. It was very strange riding in the back of D-back and not seeing the top of the lift. Maybe the fact that it was misty both nights and the scareactors did not populate the scare zones as much as they would during dry weather made it less edgy, but I don't think so. I'm not complaining, I had a great time and got to experience everything I wanted to. I just think it has been toned down quite a bit.

I'm with you, @sixohdieselrage! I get about 7-8 down and 1 up. But I can stream ok most of the time with it. I have Philo and enjoy it. I use it on my Roku, but if there is no Philo app available on your platform, you can always download the channel you want and sign into it using your Philo credentials.

I was at the park all three days of the weekend. The smoked turkey at CB was very good. Saturday was a busy day, but I didn't have to wait very long on that day, or any of the other times I used my plan. I did notice a couple of times that dining staff had on a non-CF uniform, but I did not recognize the logo. Maybe they had agency help? Finally, the food was good. Mac Bar was very good, but I wish they had the heat on at the Biergarten patio. Mac and cheese with toppings tend to cool down very quickly. LOL

Yeah, it's a great day to be here! Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I'd like to see the park do what KD did for the 40th--they renamed/themed The Grove (I think that is what it was called) back to Candy Apple Grove and (I think) The Congo back to Safari Village. Not sure if IS had retained its charm, but it was very charming. KI could do this with Action Zone (back to Adventure Village) and Rivertown. (No name change, but bring back more themed items to the area.)