Things that KI can improve on

[Creed Bratton]

Remember Coney Mall? It received new pavers to get rid of that awful blacktop. Other areas of the park have had the pavement fixed or changed such as the front of the park. 

In order to upgrade all of the buildings to look like the recent builds, that takes a lot of money too. Not just building but upgraded equipment too. Could they take a few years and update buildings around the park, sure? I mean they are doing that now in Coney Mall. 

Kings Island isn't a theme park....there is no story, never has been. It's an amusement park. I've yet to hear someone in the park complain that they saw an entrance to backstage areas.....if you want a theme park, Kings Island isn't your park. 

 

[mayaman2]

In defense of seeing backstage areas from the Midway, there's nothing really to do about that. The more stuff you put up, the more to maintain, and it's harder for employees to access the backstage. Especially with how much area that the park covers, it's pretty inevitable until we get the next large expansion.

[Imperial79]

Its not like they aren't updating things, for 2016 they built a whole new parking entrance.  Repainted The Vortex sign for its 30th anniversary, added new theming and a new sign for The Beast, and added a new themed roller coaster Mystic Timbers in 2017,  and didn't they repaint The Racer entrance sign a few years ago?  And this isn't everything, they have worked on this season.  The park is a lot bigger today then compared to the 1970's and 1980's.  

[LoadAndGo]

17 minutes ago, chugh43 said:

Remember Coney Mall? It received new pavers to get rid of that awful blacktop. Other areas of the park have had the pavement fixed or changed such as the front of the park. 

In order to upgrade all of the buildings to look like the recent builds, that takes a lot of money too. Not just building but upgraded equipment too. Could they take a few years and update buildings around the park, sure? I mean they are doing that now in Coney Mall. 

Kings Island isn't a theme park....there is no story, never has been. It's an amusement park. I've yet to hear someone in the park complain that they saw an entrance to backstage areas.....if you want a theme park, Kings Island isn't your park. 

 

That's it right there, it was a theme park. It was absolutely built as a theme park. Regardless, the industry is shifting to more immersive experiences every year. The GP are looking for more than just a ride. KI should capitalize on that.

 

9 minutes ago, mayaman2 said:

In defense of seeing backstage areas from the Midway, there's nothing really to do about that. The more stuff you put up, the more to maintain, and it's harder for employees to access the backstage. Especially with how much area that the park covers, it's pretty inevitable until we get the next large expansion.

Oh I completely disagree. It simply takes more planning and a better design. Take the staircase at the exit of Banshee. A simple fence or wall would have blocked that view. Everything a guest comes in contact with once entering the gate should be intentional.

 

7 minutes ago, Imperial79 said:

Its not like they aren't updating things, for 2016 they built a whole new parking entrance.  Repainted The Vortex sign for its 30th anniversary, added new theming and a new sign for The Beast, and added a new themed roller coaster Mystic Timbers in 2017,  and didn't they repaint The Racer entrance sign a few years ago?  And this isn't everything, they have worked on this season.  The park is a lot bigger today then compared to the 1970's and 1980's.  

Repainting isn't updating. Everything should be constantly getting repainted. The Bat's sign has been damaged for about half this season. That's just unacceptable. The size of the park doesn't matter, this sort of design mentality should have been in mind along every step of the way.

[Creed Bratton]

When exactly was KI a theme park? Yes it had themed lands but a true theme park would have a unifying setting/idea/theme. 

You seem to be making this a bigger deal than most ever would. Saying that things should be intentional. I’m wondering according to who? Who’s to say they didn’t leave that staircase that way for a reason?

Don’t forget it’s corporate that designs these attractions and the areas around them. It’s not like Kings Island says you know what let’s not put a wall here so people can’t see back stage.

 

[LoadAndGo]

10 minutes ago, chugh43 said:

When exactly was KI a theme park? Yes it had themed lands but a true theme park would have a unifying setting/idea/theme. 

You seem to be making this a bigger deal than most ever would. Saying that things should be intentional. I’m wondering according to who? Who’s to say they didn’t leave that staircase that way for a reason?

Don’t forget it’s corporate that designs these attractions and the areas around them. It’s not like Kings Island says you know what let’s not put a wall here so people can’t see back stage.

 

I'm fully aware that corporate handles development. That is why KI progressively feels more and more corporate. As far as KI as a theme park, the unifying theme was a celebration of Cincinnati. Each themed land, apart from HB, was a celebration of an aspect of Cincinnati. I would say KI lost its standing as a theme park during the Paramount years. 

[Captain Nemo]

3 minutes ago, LoadAndGo said:

I'm fully aware that corporate handles development. That is why KI progressively feels more and more corporate. As far as KI as a theme park, the unifying theme was a celebration of Cincinnati. Each themed land, apart from HB, was a celebration of an aspect of Cincinnati. I would say KI lost its standing as a theme park during the Paramount years. 

I totally understand where you are coming from and completely agree. 

There has been a shift the past 10 years in preventative / refurbishment maintenance in attractions around the park. I've seen it with Boo Blasters, Adventure Express, and FoF, lest we forget how TRTR/Crypt was managed. The way I see it, it comes down to budget. The park needs to refocus its efforts to revitalizing the attractions. Everything needs refurbishment that much is true but no one especially in this kind of business should blindside their own products deterioration. 

I've many times suggested to park management the utilization of a website called, Issuetrak. A one stop site for compiling/reporting and assigning proper issues on the corresponding maintenance necessary by assigning a task to a specific group and hold that group responsible until the work is complete. I no longer work with Kings Island so there is unfortunately not much I can push on their table anymore but I continue to share this site and its benefits with current employees.  

https://www.issuetrak.com/

[harveyhaddixfan]

I’d say there is some theming, but not nearly as much as say Frontier Town at CP or some parts of Knotts. Someone asked me how those 2 parks compare to KI. I say CP has bigger rides and more theming than KI. KBF has smaller rides(except Ghost Rider, it’s like the big brother to Mystic Timbers) and much better theming. I’ll even go so far to say that parts of KBF felt like Disney. A lot of the rides had different costumes for the operators to wear.

So while KI is very much an amusement park, it’s not much of a theme park anymore.

The main thing I’d like see improved is the restrooms. There’s also some “dead spots” in the park that need something whether it’s a flat, a game, drink stand, etc.


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[SonofBaconator]

I'd say it was more of a theme park during the Taft era of 72-92 where each area had its own theme. Paramount pretty much destroyed this when they didn't keep up with theming consistency as they added rides like TRTR in the western section of the park and so on.

[LoadAndGo]

7 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I'd say it was more of a theme park during the Taft era of 72-92 where each area had its own theme. Paramount pretty much destroyed this when they didn't keep up with theming consistency as they added rides like TRTR in the western section of the park and so on.

In my eyes, that was the Catch 22 of Paramount. The quality of the theming was high, but the placement and place-setting didn't make any sense. I think that reflects the mindset of the company, however. The parks were tools to promote the brand, nothing more.

[KIghostguy]

On 1/2/2018 at 0:23 AM, chugh43 said:

When exactly was KI a theme park? Yes it had themed lands but a true theme park would have a unifying setting/idea/theme.

 

Arguably, 1972 Kings Island was themed to Cincinnati, with Coney Island, Oktoberfest, etc. Of course, it only stayed that way for two years before Lion Country Safari came.

[BlondyRidesOn]

On 1/1/2018 at 11:56 PM, Imperial79 said:

Its not like they aren't updating things, for 2016 they built a whole new parking entrance.  Repainted The Vortex sign for its 30th anniversary, added new theming and a new sign for The Beast, and added a new themed roller coaster Mystic Timbers in 2017,  and didn't they repaint The Racer entrance sign a few years ago?  And this isn't everything, they have worked on this season.  The park is a lot bigger today then compared to the 1970's and 1980's.  

I think I noticed that the paint on The Racer's first drop looked fresher this season. Maybe I never looked close enough before to tell, but it looked pretty nice and bright.

[mayaman2]

1 hour ago, LoadAndGo said:

The quality of the theming was high, but the placement and place-setting didn't make any sense.

*coughItalianBacklotStuntJobCoastercough*

Seriously, right there? Really? You want a parking lot coaster in the middle of your park?

[LoadAndGo]

1 minute ago, mayaman2 said:

*coughItalianBacklotStuntJobCoastercough*

Seriously, right there? Really? You want a parking lot coaster in the middle of your park?

That area between Racer, AE, and FOF would have been great. Removing Timberwolf and putting it there would have been great. It isn't even placed well in its current location. More could have been done with that land if BLSC had just been rotated and moved up slightly.

[Gannersdaddy]

1 hour ago, KIghostguy said:

Arguably, 1972 Kings Island was themed to Cincinnati, with Coney Island, Oktoberfest, etc. Of course, it only stayed that way for two years before Lion Country Safari came.

Maybe it should have been called Bengal County Safari? 

 

[SonofBaconator]

3 hours ago, LoadAndGo said:

The parks were tools to promote the brand, nothing more.

No different than what Six Flags does with DC characters

[Joshua]

16 hours ago, LoadAndGo said:

In my eyes, that was the Catch 22 of Paramount. The quality of the theming was high, but the placement and place-setting didn't make any sense. I think that reflects the mindset of the company, however. The parks were tools to promote the brand, nothing more.

This is very much true. Didn't they used to have posters for upcoming films near the entrance? And I remember they once had a little in Coney Mall to promote the release of Congo. I even once found an Annotated Screenplay for the Charlie Sheen film Terminal Velocity in one of the gift shops. 

It always puzzled me that they didn't do more with some of their bigger franchises. At the time, The Italian Job, Tomb Raider, and many of the Nickelodeon shows were current IPs, but I'm surprised they never took advantage of Star Trek and Mission: Impossible in terms of rides. 

[whengodsaysgo]

4 hours ago, Joshua said:

 I'm surprised they never took advantage of Star Trek and Mission: Impossible in terms of rides. 

I remember seeing a museum-like exhibition of props and costumes from Titanic.  I was in love.  I also remember during either the first or second season of the Paramount years that there were Klingons walking around interacting with guests.  One specifically stopped on IS and told my school-years-BFF and me that the meat on our pizza was dead.

[Joshua]

2 hours ago, whengodsaysgo said:

I remember seeing a museum-like exhibition of props and costumes from Titanic.  I was in love.  I also remember during either the first or second season of the Paramount years that there were Klingons walking around interacting with guests.  One specifically stopped on IS and told my school-years-BFF and me that the meat on our pizza was dead.

Ah yes, but I was thinking more in terms of actual rides. The Titanic thing, though, reminds me of the Congo exhibit I spoke of in my earlier post. It had various props and/or replicas on display. I believe that was 1995. 

 

[MaestroFanatic]

I believe the way that the IPs worked was that the parks still had to pay for the right to use the Paramount IPs. If that were the case, then the bigger IPs would've been more expensive and probably not worth the price.

 

[LoadAndGo]

36 minutes ago, MaestroFanatic said:

I believe the way that the IPs worked was that the parks still had to pay for the right to use the Paramount IPs. If that were the case, then the bigger IPs would've been more expensive and probably not worth the price.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you because I have no knowledge on the subject, but that doesn't make sense to me. Why would a subsidiary pay royalties to its parent company?

[malem]

^ After the Viacom split, Paramount Parks was a subsidiary of CBS Corporation, which did not own Paramount, Nickelodeon, or any related IP.

When CBS sold Paramount Parks to Cedar Fair, a license was included to use Viacom-owned IP for a limited time. No figures are publicly known, but renewing would have required paying Viacom a significant sum. Cedar Fair, of course, elected to get rid of the IP rather quickly.

[Joshua]

But they didn't have to pay to use Paramount's IPs before the Viacom/CBS split, right? That wasn't until 2006 and then CBS immediately started to sell Paramount Parks. So that would have only affect CBS and Cedar Fair's tenure at the park. Prior to CBS, they were subsidiaries of Viacom Recreation and before that Blockbuster Entertainment, which was a division of Viacom, who also had control of what was once called Paramount Communications, as well as the IPs they own. So Paramount Parks shouldn't have had to pay to use those IPs during the majority of their lifespan. 

I believe this would've only been an issue if the IP was something that Paramount distributed/licensed from another company, but didn't produce. I believe Tomb Raider could fall under this since it's an IP that was licensed for a movie. However, I'm pretty sure the ride purely used elements from the movie.

[crizzy]

There is one HUGE improvement the park could make.  Retrack parts of Beast so KI can remove ALL the trims.  

[OTTER9919]

Remake SOB but steel

[mayaman2]

10 hours ago, OTTER9919 said:

Remake SOB but steel

Is this a troll?

[IndyGuy4KI]

On 2/12/2018 at 3:29 PM, crizzy said:

There is one HUGE improvement the park could make.  Retrack parts of Beast so KI can remove ALL the trims.  

Re-tracking is not going to change anything with the trims. The Beast has had trims since 1979. I don't ever see that changing without some sort of total track conversion.

[silver2005]

Just to prove it had trims since day 1- here is a POV from 1979 (as evidenced by the lack of tunnel on the helix). The skid brake trims are all in the same places as the magnetic ones (sans the helix but I imagine they added them shortly thereafter, I believe they were added after the park staff and design crew took it for a test ride).

 

[OTTER9919]

16 hours ago, mayaman2 said:

Is this a troll?

No,I think it would be cool to remake SOB,and plus,if they do this,I would finally experience the thrill of SOB

[Phantom Theater]

I think that KI should put more effort into keeping the lines for the rides clean. Adventure Express' line always looks terrible, even when the park opens for the season. The fact that it is enclosed doesn't help, but a good pressure washing every so often could take care of that. Flight of Fear's line also gets pretty bad. Personally, I really wish something could be done with the main entrance. I know that it would be too costly and unnecessary (since the building is fine and is used), but it just seems like a very ugly and dated building to me. I dislike the fact that it hides much of the entrance until you get in, which is actually kind of cool since you get that kind if "awe" once you walk in, but I picture it as a smaller modern looking building. If the restaurant wasn't there I think it would look much better.