I honestly don't think Dinosaurs Alive will be moved. I feel as though the dinosaurs will be removed after this season, and then the path will be used as a Haunt like everything else abandoned at Kings Island hahaha

So do the dinos get tarped up or anything in the winter?  I took a jaunt through there last season with my son for the first time in years, and they're looking ragged.

I doubt it. Half of them don't work and last time I was there I noticed a painful "mosquito tone"

Does anyone remember if Dinosaurs Alive was marketed as part of the 2016 Annual pass last fall?  There has been speculation for a while now that the contract for Dinosaurs Alive was supposed to last 5 years.  It opened in May of 2011.  Which means by the end of this month we will be in the 6th year.

So some have said that the contract for DA was renewed, but is there any confirmation for it?  Would they shut DA down at the end of the month if the contract wasn't renewed?

If it wasn't renewed we would see some of the dinosaur being taken out already probably. And it looks like they re-arranged the "admissions" computers for it.

Yeah, if DA opened in 2011, and was indeed a 5 year contract that wasn't being extended, they would be gone already.

In respect to DA moving, I have a hard time seeing how the makes financial sense.

 

I'll admit up front that I have no idea what kind of profit margins they make off that exhibit.  I do know that it was an up-charge the first season, then was modified (season 2?) to be a benefit to gold pass holders at no additional cost.  That tells me that the novelty of the idea wore off, which doesn't surprise me much, it was cool to walk thru the 1st time, but the 2nd, 3rd, etc... times it losses some of its charm.  At no upcharge, its not a bad place to walk thru, cool off and take a break and young kids probably enjoy it a bit more; I'm sure they make a decent chunk of change thru the store at the entrance/exit of the exhibit.  Do they make enough off the merchandise to make it worth the ROI to relocate the whole thing?

 

Its one thing to get ride of the exhibit to put in place something else that will bring more people thru the turnstiles, its another thing to relocate all of the dinos, re-run all the electric, put down more stamped paths, etc..  unless the ROI was strong.  I have a hard time believing they've make enough money off merchandise to make it worthwhile to relocate the whole thing to another area of the park.

 

I'm not sure what is to become of the dinos when their agreement runs its course (perhaps another 4 years if the post a few pages back on this thread is true), it they are at that point KI's to keep (or more likely purchase, perhaps at a significant discount) it would be cool to re-use them as props for a ride around the park; they'd be great along WWC and even the train.  From that aspect, moving a handful of dino's would work well and could allow for retheming of 2 attractions, however, moving the whole exhibit and expecting to make a similar ROI as they did in its first season doesn't seem likely.  But I'm just an observer, not someone with working knowledge of the financials behind the deal.

There is likely no need for the contract to be renewed to continue past the original expiration.  Most contracts include a clause which will allow them to continue based on some periodic length of time.  For example a building lease can go from a 3 year guarantee period to month by month.  The 5 year contract was likely a required minimum and now the park can decide if they want to keep it or remove it as they wish.  The reason I was wondering if the park marketed Dinosaurs Alive as part of the Annual Pass was I just suddenly realized I wonder if they originally planned on removing it.

 

Assuming it is true I doubt the idea would be to move the dino's to earn money directly from admissions to the attraction.  I suspect the idea would be just to keep a popular family attraction.

Since the dinosaurs don't work properly and it's been five years, haven't they depreciated so they are not worth much?

I don't think the argument that having DA next to the kids area is a good enough reason. I'd imagine the park would rather want to spread out its younger audience attractions across the park instead of only having them confined to a single area. It's better for families that way.

But if the land that DA currently sits is more suitable for building a coaster than the Rivertown lot, and they want to keep it, it could make sense to move it. Think of it this way, if it costs $1 million to move DA and do the site prep for a new ride at the current DA site, but costs $2 million to prep the rivertown site for a ride, it makes more sense to just move DA. And those are just hypothetical numbers before anyone tries to get technical. The DA site appears to be an easier place to put a giga though.

I'm not going to complain about what Cedar Fair decides to do with Kings Island. Lets try to figure out what Cedar Fair has installed that was considered a bad addition. I thought Valravn would be a waste of money but this weekend I saw how nice it fit in the park. I was actually impressed with the way it looked. However I am not a fan of dive machines personally so it was meh. However the GP loved it

@fryoj: If that were the case, then the park would just invest the money into a new family attraction and just scrap DA all together. Logistically, it does not make that much sense to me. As previously said by other members, the spectacle of DA wore off already. Why spend $1 million dollars to move an old attraction when you can build a new one for that price?

I frequently walk the DA! trail to get extra steps in. They have done some repairs to the dinosaurs. Most, if not all are working better than they have in years.

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And scrapping DA is still a possibility. We really don't know what kind of business it does. Personally I felt it was a waste of time and space from day one, but I'm not the target audience. If it's still profitable, they may see the value in moving it, refurbing it, or just keeping it like it is.

And scrapping DA is still a possibility. We really don't know what kind of business it does. Personally I felt it was a waste of time and space from day one, but I'm not the target audience. If it's still profitable, they may see the value in moving it, refurbing it, or just keeping it like it is.

you can always send them to Great America  

But if the land that DA currently sits is more suitable for building a coaster than the Rivertown lot, and they want to keep it, it could make sense to move it. Think of it this way, if it costs $1 million to move DA and do the site prep for a new ride at the current DA site, but costs $2 million to prep the rivertown site for a ride, it makes more sense to just move DA. And those are just hypothetical numbers before anyone tries to get technical. The DA site appears to be an easier place to put a giga though.

I see where your coming from in this post but I do agree it'd be easier just to remove DA then go through the trouble of moving it and there is no evidence for this being a giga. If it is a coaster I would much rather see a terrain coaster then a giga which would fit in nicly in rivertown. I'm sure we will get a giga but I'm not convinced it will be next year. Keep DA and put In a nice terrain coaster and I think the GP would be happy

https://twitter.com/KingsIslandPR/status/729770481902030848 I think it is safe to rule out DA moving with this tweet.

If you build it, they will come....

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B&M STRATA INVERTED AQUATRAX YES, YES!

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There's only one coaster it could be, remember that.

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Go the distance.

Man, I don't want them to rip out all those trees to put in a baseball diamond! What are they thinking?!

(For humor-challenged, that's a joke)

There's only one coaster it could be, remember that.

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And that coaster is...?

Man, I don't want them to rip out all those trees to put in a baseball diamond! What are they thinking?!

(For humor-challenged, that's a joke)

I was trying to come up with a cornfield themed coaster myself. lol

Y'all are way off. They're putting in a new haunt MAIZE.

 

Pardon my corny joke.

Leaked teaser video for Kings Island's newest coaster!!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8n9fp28OkYE

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Leaked teaser video for Kings Island's newest coaster!!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8n9fp28OkYE

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Was this perhaps inspired by my latest Instagram post?

^Indeed it was

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