Kings Island's hits & misses poll

[Hank]

Oh pleeeeeze! Don't turn this thread into another "I love/I hate SOB" topic.

I need to make a follow-up to my previous post.....

My thoughts are mostly of yesteryear when KI had more themed areas. I realize that nothing can be forever (even Disney changes) so I shouldn't complain like I do. I appreciate the variety of rides KI has and am thankful that most are there for the long haul. It's really a couple of too bads when any ride is removed to make way for another. There is plenty of space to either relocate an older ride or construct a new one, unlike CP which is more or less land-locked.

But then, who am I in the great scheme of things? I still like the Smurfs, the Flintstones, and Heinz Ketchup!

[berlingkj]

Hits: Diamondback- it brought people to the park, right?

The Beast

The Son of Beast- Was closing it for the past season just to cover their butts?

The Diamondback 5k and Beast 10k- I heard it was ran poorly the year prior but under Don Connoly it was a very nice race. I will definitely be running again next year if they do it. One of the funner road races.

Attempt to bring back better live entertainment. I think it'll get there.

Halloween Haunt

Misses: Loss of theming. It doesn't have to be extreme, but there should international music on International Street. Basically, it should be to the point where people feel like they're actually going into different sections, like Oktoberfest, Rivertown, et cetera.

The Son of Beast's tiny seats

Expensive food

The Hangar on Flight of Fear. The walls are disgusting in there.

Removal of Antique Cars

Destruction of The Beast's lineage- Fairly Odd Coaster??? It's Peanuts now, but still. It might be under a contract or something but I wish they could make an exception

[Gordon Bombay]

Hit: Knievel's Jump

Miss: Halloween Haunt

[AZ Kinda Guy]

Starting from the year 2000....

Hits: The arrival of the Nickelodeon brand in 01, Delirium, Firehawk, switching FoF from OTSR to lap bars, the return of the ecology department, Diamondback, removal of the King Cobra, the introduction of a Halloween event.

Misses: SOB, Italian Job, the Boomerang Bay expansion, Tomb Raider, Cedar Fair gaining ownership of the park, the Nickelodeon brand being kicked out for a second tier Peanuts brand, in park food, in park entertainment, ride themeing(sp?)

[XGatorHead 8904]

Hits:

Racer, Beast, King Cobra, Vortex, Flight of Fear, Diamondback

The Eiffel Tower - It, and by extension KD's version, is the best observation tower that I've been on in a park. Much better than the ones that take you up and rotate (CP's Space Spiral, Carowind's Carolina Skytower, Hersheypark's Kissing Tower) that limit your views and limit your time up top.

The addition of the waterpark in 1989 - I would like to see something added there soon though

Winterfest

FearFest/Halloween Haunt

CF's commitment to better the quality/lineup of shows

Misses:

The removal of a lot of great family rides: Antiques, Flying Eagles, Tumblebug, Der Spinnin' Keggers, Sunshine Turnpike, Witch's Cauldrons, the monorail, etc.

The removal of the organ on the Grand Carousel

Food pricing & quality over the past 15 or so years

The discontinuation of Winterfest

The placement of IJST/BLSC & TR:TR/Crypt, which leads me to...

The loss of themed areas of the park

Son of Beast - It had all the expectations and potential to be a great thing, but in hindsight...

The decline of live shows during the CBS years - not really a KI miss, but was a PP Corporate miss that effected the park

Actually, I don't see Son of Beast any more of a miss than Diamondback... Son of Beast was extremely expensive, but accomplished its goal: Drawing visitors away from Cedar Point... And very successfully, I must add.

SoB very successfully drew visitors away from CP? How so? Just a quick Google search reveals that in 2000 CP had 3.43 million visitors (down 4% from 1999) while PKI had 3.2 million (also down 4% from the year before). The article (http://www.ultimater...010101_02.shtml) also goes on to say:

Cedar Point despite investing millions in a new monster-sized roller coaster suffered a decline in attendance. Cedar Point officials blame the decrease on the weather that kept temperatures below 80-degrees for all but ten days during its operating season. The new competition from Six Flags Ohio may also have been a factor.

Another article (http://www.enquirer....ngs_island.html) states:

The drop in attendance has cost Kings Island its mantle as Ohio's most popular amusement park. That distinction now be longs to Cedar Point in Sandusky, which drew more than 3.4 million guests in 2000. Kings Is land and Cedar Point have always jockeyed at the top of the annual attendance list for parks in Ohio.

There's no clear cut way to say that SoB in and of itself was THE reason for any drop in attendance that CP may have seen that year. I think, as the first article surmises, that the weather they had that year and Six Flags Ohio (since 2000 was the first year GL operated under the SF banner... haha banner, get it?... and people were probably curious) were likely more responsible.

Also, CP debuted Millennium Force the same year KI debuted SoB. MF is a VERY strong coaster in CP's arsenal, and is one that has seen more uptime than SoB ever has (wow... did I just say an Intamin had a lot of uptime? )

Diamondback is the only roller coaster we have that isn't set back from the main path. It's the only one that crosses over a midway.

The Racer also now crosses over a midway and has for 14 years. (sorry, I just had too!)

[CoastersRZ]

And technically, Flying Ace also crosses partially over the midway at the entrance to the ride.

[Coney Islander]

Actually, I don't see Son of Beast any more of a miss than Diamondback... Son of Beast was extremely expensive, but accomplished its goal: Drawing visitors away from Cedar Point... And very successfully, I must add.

SoB very successfully drew visitors away from CP? How so? Just a quick Google search reveals that in 2000 CP had 3.43 million visitors (down 4% from 1999) while PKI had 3.2 million (also down 4% from the year before). The article (http://www.ultimater...010101_02.shtml) also goes on to say:

Cedar Point despite investing millions in a new monster-sized roller coaster suffered a decline in attendance. Cedar Point officials blame the decrease on the weather that kept temperatures below 80-degrees for all but ten days during its operating season. The new competition from Six Flags Ohio may also have been a factor.

Another article (http://www.enquirer....ngs_island.html) states:

The drop in attendance has cost Kings Island its mantle as Ohio's most popular amusement park. That distinction now be longs to Cedar Point in Sandusky, which drew more than 3.4 million guests in 2000. Kings Is land and Cedar Point have always jockeyed at the top of the annual attendance list for parks in Ohio.

There's no clear cut way to say that SoB in and of itself was THE reason for any drop in attendance that CP may have seen that year. I think, as the first article surmises, that the weather they had that year and Six Flags Ohio (since 2000 was the first year GL operated under the SF banner... haha banner, get it?... and people were probably curious) were likely more responsible.

Also, CP debuted Millennium Force the same year KI debuted SoB. MF is a VERY strong coaster in CP's arsenal, and is one that has seen more uptime than SoB ever has (wow... did I just say an Intamin had a lot of uptime? )

Thank you for correcting my post... I'd had an entirely wrong impression on Son of Beast's initial "success."

Still, I bet Kings Island's attendance would have taken a slightly greater hit, had management not invested in SOB to compete with Cedar Point's Millennium Force. (And Six Flags Ohio.)

[XGatorHead 8904]

Still, I bet Kings Island's attendance would have taken a slightly greater hit, had management not invested in SOB to compete with Cedar Point's Millennium Force. (And Six Flags Ohio.)

You're probably right about that. But I forget which rides planning/announcement came first, SoB or MF? I seem to remember SoB announced first, but I could be wrong because of my closer ties to KI.

[CoastersRZ]

Son of Beast was announced in early May of 1999. In fact, it was reported in the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer on May 11, 1999 that "Tallest Wooden Coaster Coming."

[markr]

I recall that Millenium Force was announced toward the end of June, 1999 about 6 weeks after SOB was announced. I am sure KI was not building SOB to compete with Millenium Force since both coasters were likely in the planning stages for years. And I remember right after KI announced SOB the following was one of its statistics " Tied for most coasters in one park." I doubt they would have announced such a statistic if they knew about Millenium Force before its announcement.

[The Interpreter]

Au contraire, I bet they in fact did know. It's a small, small world...and in reality Cedar Point and Kings Island had a good natured and fun competition going on....not like those people in Aurora saw themselves at all...

[HTCO]

Hits(self-explanatory):

Diamondback- Need I say more?

Beast- World Class Woodie

Racer- Classic

The Live Entertainment- is grade A material.

Misses:

Son of Beast- Should have hired a different company, ect. ect. No need to beat a dead horse.

The Crypt/TR:TR- From a technical standpoint it was a terrible idea.

Flight Commander- Bad press due to that accident

Food Prices: Yikes... Someone at a 1 Cedar Point Drive is very greedy...

[Creed Bratton]

Going back to Hits/Misses

Hits:

Diamondback- IMO better than the B&M Hyper at another CF park in Canada.

The Beast-The only ride that I can ride during Halloween Haunt when it's freezing cold outside as the park is closing and want to ride it over and over again. (DB I have rode in all weather conditions and Beast outranks it on Halloween Haunt nights)

Live Entertainment- Seeing the park add more shows since CF took over has been a wonderful thing. I have heard multiple people speak about how much better the park is by having more than 2 shows.

Halloween Haunt- Plain and simple...I love it, love the atmosphere, love the people who go, love the FOG, etc.

Planet Snoopy- Seeing the transformation during the Off Season last year first hand was amazing!! The park did a great job promoting, being transparent with what was happening and the quality of the area has greatly improved!

Train Tour- I wasn't able to attend any of these this season but I think that it brought a new feel for the park. A feel that the park was willing to show what happens behind scenes, how the trains operate, etc.

Announcement of WindSeeker- Yes it hasn't been officially built and in operation yet, but WS has brought much needed attention to Coney Mall.

Marketing for the pay to ride attractions (especially Slingshot and Skyflyer) has improved. The park has kept the prices down for these attractions longer, so they are getting more people to ride.

Starlight Spectacular- Beautiful

Final one, I'm gonna say it you may think I'm crazy but Half Pint Brawlers- Made Halloween Haunt a huge success this season. How often do we see a show in the Festhaus standing room only? Each night, Festhaus was packed! The crowds enjoyed it. It got those of us here on KIC to talk about it, it brought converstation about the park up. I believe that it also helped increase attendance for Halloween Haunt.

Misses:

Park Areas lost their feel. (This may come back, who knows) But Rivertown doesn't really feel like Rivertown anymore, Oktoberfest doesn't feel like it anymore, etc.

Ride Theminig. If CF decided to keep the props on AE first tunnel why aren't they working anymore? (I don't want to start a debate about this because we've talked about it before) The Crypt, why couldn't we keep the lighting effects, water effects, etc. when KD's TR:TR turned into the Crypt they kept theirs?

Son of Beast- Great Idea but with the mass amount of downtime and SBNO waste of money. We could have had something better with less law suits!

Expensive food- I know that the park has to make money, but come on $15 for chicken tenders/fries/soda is a bit extreme.

Expansion of Coney Mall into X-Base. Yes, the area looks cool, but these rides often have wait times that are too unbearable. Firehawk is down a lot of the times I go to ride well it as well as the line is often 2 hours.

Removal of Antique Cars- While I'm happy that IJ/BLSC is at the park, the placement is terrible as many have said. Any CP trip that I take I have to ride the Tiques!

The picture takers at the entrance of the park--while I know this generates revenue for the park, it's quite annoying....would be better if they weren't right as you exit the gate area.

Vortex restraints....I hate OTSR on this ride.....they're very uncomfortable and the ride would be able to run with lap bars.

Invertigo- Lives to it's name....I always get a headache on this coaster and I know many people that do as well.

Final one- Quality of the parking lot. It needs resurfaced and traffic pattern needs to be more apparent.

[markr]

Au contraire, I bet they in fact did know. It's a small, small world...and in reality Cedar Point and Kings Island had a good natured and fun competition going on....not like those people in Aurora saw themselves at all...

Well, I would certainly say that it seems more than coincidental that Steel Dragon 2000 opened 2 months after Millenium Force to break its height record.

[The Interpreter]

And given the planning process, especially in New Jersey, don't you think Kingda Ka's planning began even before Top Thrill Dragster was announced? Gee, wonder how that could happen?

[Monroe]

^ Well Terpy, it all starts with some board members getting together and talking. Then one (or two) will call a friend and ask them to dinner.....oh........you got me on that one Terpy!!