KIghostguy

I can't say I've been a fan of a lot of stuff Disney Parks have been adding lately. This, though, is absolutely incredible. The videos are jaw-dropping; I can't imagine what it would be like in person!

I will be doing a presentation on Kings Island: A Ride Through Time for the ACE Holiday Party at Great Wolf Lodge on December 7. As part of the presentation, I will show the official book trailer!

Yes, it's sold at Emporium.

The one disappointment I do have is the flags are gone from the International Street buildings. Why was it necessary to remove them? I was so happy to have them back over the summer and now they’re gone again. So sad to see one of the “three Fs” of Gary Wachs removed yet again. At least temporarily replace them with the old green and red striped ones and not just remove them altogether.

I appreciate the park made the extra effort to add the lighted frames back instead of just leaving the rink empty like at Kings Dominion and now, Canada's Wonderland. Overall, I do prefer the pedestals during Winterfest and the fountain sans pedestals during the main season.

I noticed last night the ride safety sign has been removed.

A couple things to note from the Weatherbug camera: They have been adding the lighted frames formerly on the pedestals to the Royal Fountain this morning. The flags on the buildings were taken down and have not been replaced. There are new lighted snowflakes on the side of the German Building facing the front gate.

I’m just saying that’s what happened in this particular case.

Practical, engineering aspects come before theming. The theming was done around the completed design of the ride.

Dennis Speigel was not with the company at the time of the development and construction of Adventure Express. Both Jeff Gramke and Bill Ossim have told me the reason why it ends with a lift hill, but again, that is something I’m saving for my book. Thanks @Gordon Bombay for linking my article! You are correct. John McCann was killed in Section 2, which was the internal name for the lion section. Post 5 was a guard tower, I believe.

I think it might have been, but the article I read really did not go into a lot of detail about his work.

There are a couple of interesting Kings Island connections. The Beach was the brainchild of Walt Davis, a top Kings Island executive from 1978-1984, who wanted to...well, that’s a story I’m saving for my book. Additionally, the general manager of The Beach for many years was the sister of Dean Nahrup, who was Kings Island’s general manager from 1988-1992. Many of the slides at The Beach were built by Nahrup’s father, Walter.

They were testing the lights a week ago too. The cameras were not online a week ago.

It's interesting that, based off the Weatherbug cameras, the orange and black flags on the International Street buildings were replaced by the original country flags. Not complaining, just an interesting thing to point out because the original Winterfest switched the flags out for red and green-striped ones.

I have been told by those who would know. I don’t have specifics, but it will be something to write home about.

Did you visit the park this year? Theming is (thankfully) very important once more. Orion will be one of the most heavily-themed rides in Kings Island’s history.

I do find it bizarre that the parade is debuting at Carowinds instead of here. Winterfest 2005 was a failure, but one of the most fondly remembered aspects from that year was the parade.

It’s “Oh-ryan.” Nobody ever had any trouble pronouncing the constellation, but for some reason now no one can pronounce the coaster name!

Probably the best investment Paramount made to the park IMO. There are lots of very interesting stories from the development/construction of the coaster. It’s still a very enjoyable and very well-themed ride.

I would...but I don't want to spoil a lot of "surprises" (to people who think what he and Shaggy say is gospel) that will be in my book. I personally found him to be extremely rude and condescending to any new members, including myself, even borderline cyberbullying. He created a very toxic environment on this forum, and the site is much better off without him.

A lot of what The Interpreter peddled was erroneous/blatantly false. I would not trust a fair number of what he said, especially this fact.

The park may not have given the full stories to the public on Firehawk, Dinosaurs Alive!, and Vortex, but what they did say was not a lie. Now, the webcams on the other hand...

Right. They are putting a lot of work into that area, theming and otherwise for next year.

Not everyone...

It is related Orion construction. They’re tying Firehawk’s queue to Flight of Fear and talking out some of the lockers to put in the ride photo booth. They have to do it at some point, and it seems like that time is Winterfest.