Kings Island 2016 Discussion Thread

[ginagirl2020]

My Daughter and I had a great time preview night and opening day.   Our first ever Beast night ride was just incredible, with fog and luckily for us no lights on in the helix.

 

The new entrance looks great, but I think it should be sponsored by an auto insurance company as the merge down from the gate to parking is going to be a problem.  

 

Liked the new swipe card system for games and was glad I was still able to get the buy one get one Ring Toss bucket deal with my Platinum Pass.

 

Fountains for filling water bottles.  Did they have these last year and I simply overlooked them?

 

Given the number of kids and adults that play soccer I was not surprised to see that the soccer goal game was popular.  Definitely going to try that next time.

 

Didn't The Racer cars have logos on the front before?   Also the ride operators were measuring the distance between the front of the car and the lap bar with a small metal rod.  I can't remember this before.

 

Can't wait to go back going to be another great season!!!

 

Yes, they had the water bottle fountains last year. I believe that was a new feature added then. :-)

[malem]

Although musical revues typically aren't my thing, I did enjoy Hollywood Nights. It was interesting to note which franchises were highlighted, briefly flashed on the screen, or omitted. The show's cold open with the 20th Century Fox fanfare is weirdly ironic.

[TopThrill]

Was there on Saturday in the morning, Diamondback for early ride time and was about 50 minutes.  Banshee's line was moving quicker and only waited 25 minutes around 11:30am.  Looked like The Racer was using two or three queue's,  Around noon the food lines started to lengthen, was in line at Juke Box Dinner when the cash registers when down.  In a way the crowd level looks close to a Saturday in October.  Parked on the south side of the lot and when leaving was not about to use the south exit, there was a endless line of cars coming in from the new main parking entrance.  So we use the north exit. 

[TheBeast1116]

How much are the souvenir cups this year for single or if you buy 2 or 3 cups??

[Delirium13]

Just some quick observations from Opening Day, and I apologize if some of this has been mentioned already:

 

- I'll go ahead and just get this out of the way: I'll echo the comments about terrible food service. Long lines everywhere. I eventually settled on LaRosa's in the Festhaus, but if this becomes standard I won't be "settling" for these line again. No, I don't have a dining plan and don't plan on it. Simply unacceptable.

 

- Are the "Beast Containment Area" signs in The Beast's line new this season? They stood out to me in addition to some other little bits of theming I hadn't ever noticed before.

 

- International Street music... sigh... For that matter, changing the music in a lot of areas of the park would be inexpensive and would do so much for park atmosphere.

 

- I'm joining the pro-Automated ride spiel camp. Not a fan of of the ride ops on the mic and have heard borderline inappropriate/unprofessional things spieled on more than one occasion (including yesterday). It just needs to go.

 

- New construction area promises for an interesting summer. Hoping whatever it is, they preserve as many trees as possible.

 

Negative things aside, the park looks great as usual, and it was awesome to be back. Looking forward to a great summer! 

[Magenta Lizard]

I took this picture of one of The Beast Containment area signs last year during Haunt. That was the first I noticed it but by no means would I definitively say it was when it was added. I just was paying more attention while looking for the gravestones of retired rides.

[dragsterguy21]

Was there on Saturday in the morning, Diamondback for early ride time and was about 50 minutes.  Banshee's line was moving quicker and only waited 25 minutes around 11:30am.  Looked like The Racer was using two or three queue's,  Around noon the food lines started to lengthen, was in line at Juke Box Dinner when the cash registers when down.  In a way the crowd level looks close to a Saturday in October.  Parked on the south side of the lot and when leaving was not about to use the south exit, there was a endless line of cars coming in from the new main parking entrance.  So we use the north exit. 

Haha I got to the gate at 8:30, I ran to Diamondback, walked on. Then I went to Banshee and waited for 20 for the rope to drop. Walked on that. Then I went Panda Express at 11, waited 20 min vs 2 hours. I got a lot done opening day and miraculously avoided any line longer than 40 min (Diamondback at 3:00 and Banshee for front row at 8:15).  

[malem]

^ Was that you who was chatting with the KIC group at the right side of the front gate, before running ahead to Diamondback?

[APE]

Opening day was a miserable mess for me, and it was my fault. 

 

My wife had her gallbladder removed on Thursday, she was told that she needed to get up and walk around by the weekend. With the nice weather we decided to go to Kings Island and let our 2 1/2 year old ride some things and get some food. I knew it would be packed with the weather being as nice as it was but when I checked at 11:30 with some friends and looked at the webcams it didn't look terrible. When we got to the park I guess is when everyone arrived. I added the meal plan to our passes. My son didn't eat much of a lunch and we were there during which time he typically naps. Missing a nap usually isn't a huge deal for him but with the lack of food it made him irrational. He threw a tantrum the entire time. I tried to snap him out of it with rides but only managed to get him on one. We decided to get food and every place had at least a half our wait. We went to the Festhaus since it has the biggest area to deal with. Lines were stupid long and my son was getting annoyed with the show ( I don't blame him). We decided to pack it in and leave sometime between 2 and 3. During the battle with my son at the Festhaus I lost my pass (yay I get to pay a $15 replacement fee). I am sure our next visit will go much better and maybe this time I will be able to actually use the food plan. 

 

I will be taking them up first thing in the morning after breakfast next time to avoid these issues with my son. My wife and 5 month old daughter (her name is Millie, can you guess why?) had a good time walking around so that was good. 

[dragsterguy21]

^ Was that you who was chatting with the KIC group at the right side of the front gate, before running ahead to Diamondback?

I never chatted with anybody from KICentral however I was near the right side. I met a guy from ACE and the kid who got there at 7:30 that was on Kings Island's twitter. I was wearing a Fury 325 shirt with just the green and yellow eyes of that helps.

The tweet https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/721307233028583424

[RollerColt]

Opening day was a miserable mess for me, and it was my fault. 

 

My wife had her gallbladder removed on Thursday, she was told that she needed to get up and walk around by the weekend. With the nice weather we decided to go to Kings Island and let our 2 1/2 year old ride some things and get some food. I knew it would be packed with the weather being as nice as it was but when I checked at 11:30 with some friends and looked at the webcams it didn't look terrible. When we got to the park I guess is when everyone arrived. I added the meal plan to our passes. My son didn't eat much of a lunch and we were there during which time he typically naps. Missing a nap usually isn't a huge deal for him but with the lack of food it made him irrational. He threw a tantrum the entire time. I tried to snap him out of it with rides but only managed to get him on one. We decided to get food and every place had at least a half our wait. We went to the Festhaus since it has the biggest area to deal with. Lines were stupid long and my son was getting annoyed with the show ( I don't blame him). We decided to pack it in and leave sometime between 2 and 3. During the battle with my son at the Festhaus I lost my pass (yay I get to pay a $15 replacement fee). I am sure our next visit will go much better and maybe this time I will be able to actually use the food plan. 

 

I will be taking them up first thing in the morning after breakfast next time to avoid these issues with my son. My wife and 5 month old daughter (her name is Millie, can you guess why?) had a good time walking around so that was good. 

 

Sorry to hear that APE! Yeah I've traditionally avoided opening days due to the madness. Sometimes it's fun to just walk around and take pictures though. I'm hoping to get out to the park sometime in the next month or so. I've missed it all!

[Hoeter]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that the park MUST do something about the old South Exit.

A. It looks like an entrance. I saw (and heard of) many cars entering there. That's dangerous, and someone is NOT going to have a best day ever there. Perhaps soon.

B. You risk your life, limb and property trying to

exit there if cars are entering the parking lot from the new tolls. Plus, those coming in mistakenly think you are trying to cut line and try to cut you off. Even with a police officer, I and Scooby nearly got hit. I'm not sure, but I think the driver was texting on top of that.

I'd suggest closing the south exit and removing its signage, but the park's exits and traffic problems wouldn't allow that. Getting out of that lot at 10 PM is worse than 90 percent of the parks I've been to. That's sad.

This needs fixed. And soon.

 

Warren County and/or The City of Mason needs to take care of the traffic light situation coming into the new entrance from the north.

 

No turn arrow on the light at all.

 

If traffic remains the same volume as it was Friday afternoon when the tolls opened, it's going to be almost impossible to turn left at that light.

 

I ended up going down to Western Row, turned around and approached it from the south.

[rond]

 

Was there on Saturday in the morning, Diamondback for early ride time and was about 50 minutes.  Banshee's line was moving quicker and only waited 25 minutes around 11:30am.  Looked like The Racer was using two or three queue's,  Around noon the food lines started to lengthen, was in line at Juke Box Dinner when the cash registers when down.  In a way the crowd level looks close to a Saturday in October.  Parked on the south side of the lot and when leaving was not about to use the south exit, there was a endless line of cars coming in from the new main parking entrance.  So we use the north exit. 

Haha I got to the gate at 8:30, I ran to Diamondback, walked on. Then I went to Banshee and waited for 20 for the rope to drop. Walked on that. Then I went Panda Express at 11, waited 20 min vs 2 hours. I got a lot done opening day and miraculously avoided any line longer than 40 min (Diamondback at 3:00 and Banshee for front row at 8:15).  

 

Unless you count the hour you waited for Diamondback (at the front gate). But its only human nature to treat that as a freebie

[teenageninja]

I can't wait until the park is open during the weekdays and the stupid entrance is going to back Western Row and Columbia up even more than they already are.

 

They should have had all of the work completed by the beginning of April.

[diamonbackandbeastlover]

It is a lot of work, sometimes good things take time. You can't blame construction crews when they had the winter to work and only a few good months to really work hard. this project isn't supposed to be done till the end of next year or this year, I can't remember exactly.

[TheBeast1116]

Plus it will all be worth the extra time once they finish all this construction stuff.

[diamonbackandbeastlover]

Just looked it up and the Kings Island Drive part of Imagine Western Row should be done in December of this year. source: http://www.imaginewesternrow.com/projects/kings-island-drive-improvements

[disco2000]

I can't wait until the park is open during the weekdays and the stupid entrance is going to back Western Row and Columbia up even more than they already are.

 

They should have had all of the work completed by the beginning of April.

 

We can blame politicians on this lol (but there is some truth).

 

Very few are willing to do what is right for the overall good - if they would have shut Kings Island Drive down between Western Row to the new park entrance the day after the park closed in November, such improvements would have been finished before the season started.  People still could have got to Great Wolf Lodge and other businesses via the north and yes some would have had a little extra to drive for those that used Kings Island Drive, but any extra time going around for the locals will be more than lost sitting in traffic while KI is open.

 

Politicians wouldn't do that as it may upset a voter or two, so construction workers had to maintain traffic during the winter months and everyone going to KI will deal with the delays of such construction occurring during park season.  I can assure you the traffic counts on Kings Island Drive are higher in the summer months than the winter months!

 

Why did KI annex to Mason?  You think they would have had a say.

 

Unfortunately, even when it is finished, problems will still exist (those I referenced earlier).

[Nicolasz]

Does anyone know from prior experience to know how crowds will be this weekend? Will the park be dead or be like this past weekend?

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[Melody]

How much are the souvenir cups this year for single or if you buy 2 or 3 cups??

The green cups were $10.99 if you buy 3 or more .... can't remember the middle price maybe $12.99?.... and then $14.99 for one.      The orange cup was $24.99  

 

Orange cups are a MUCH better deal in my opinion because if you get at least 10 refills during the rest of the season it's a better deal. My friend and I both purchased the orange cups and both got 2-3 refills just on preview night. Walking around I saw hundreds of orange cups and only a couple green ones.

 

Neither of us got a discount on the cup with our gold passes. In past years I did... so not sure if I was supposed to or not?

[Magenta Lizard]

Assuming the weather is nice, it will be similar. However, being open to the public on Sunday too this weekend probably will spread the crowds out a little.

[Hoeter]

14 minutes to pay for two slices of pizza at LaRosa's. I paid, tossed, and left.

It was stone cold by then. I had told the cashier. She shrugged. In front of me? Two people buying refillable cups. Pitiful.

Now at Putz's Creamy Whip.

Saw this posted to a group on Facebook, Old Photos of Cincinnati and your posts about Putz's came to mind.

Putz's Trolley from back in the day when it was off of Spring Grove Ave.

[jdf21972]

Did anyone purchase or locate those nano coasters from CoasterDynamics for sale at any gift shops in the park ?

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[TheBeast1116]

Oh I forgot about those! How much are those nano coasters? I'd love to get one sometime!

[Magenta Lizard]

I didn't, but I definitely will be on the lookout for them once I'm at the park by myself.

I'll admit that with my poor memory, this information is probably worthless, but I seem to remember them being $25-$30

[medford]

I've briefly read (on here) that there were headaches for folks coming from the north, trying to turn left into KI's new parking entrance last weekend.  My son and I are going camping this weekend, so my wife is having her sister watch our newborn Saturday morning and she plans to hit the park for a few hours with our almost 4 year old daughter.  I'm not sure if she'll be able to hit ERT or not (w/ young kids its often slow going, plus she's not sure if she could convince here sister to come over that early).  If she does do ERT, how much of Planet Snoopy is open?  Our daughter just hit 40" near the end of last season, don't know if she's grown up to 42" yet or not (though I think that only opens up SR&R IIRC from when our son made that journey).  If she does make it in early, is it worth the effort?  Mom didn't get to ride any rides last year (note the newborn mentioned above) so she's looking forward to some rides on Woodstock Express, Viking Fury, Scrambler and everything else she can ride on with our daughter.

 

If she doesn't hit ERT, but say aims to get to the park around 10 - 10:30 just as traffic is at its peak, she should find an alternate route to approach the park from the south?  Is there an easy way to do that coming to the park via I-71 S if that is the best plan?  It may have just been 1 or 2 complaints, perhaps not a big issue at all, typically we are mid-week people in the evening when traffic into the park is minimal, but I'm coming from the south at that point, so I'd like to find the best approach for her.  She's a teach and off in the summer, so we arrive separately in the summertime.

[CoasterOhio]

I was looking into CoasterBob62's video on YouTube... he showed the soccer game in action and I honestly do NOT like how close those soccer balls get to the track (even with the wide angle lens of the GoPro he was using with the shot. The soccer balls were just too close to my liking, it's an accident waiting to happen...

 

The link brings you right to the moment i'm talking about within the video.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Always love Coasterbob's work. In person, if the person kicking isn't bending it like Beckham, it seems harmless.

[CoasterOhio]

^ Nice avatar.

[teenageninja]

I expect there will be nets over that soccer game before too long.

 

Funny thing is I was almost fired in 2009 for being under the helix without a hardhat.