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2024 Ride Wait Times

2017 Kings Island park changes & upgrades

Kenban

By Kenban,
in Kings Island

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Kenban KIC Star Member

Kenban

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There was speculation about the restraints on Drop Tower.  They are the same restraints but the hard foam has been completely replaced and they have a lot more room.  Last year I had to get a little help to push them down, now I can easily fit.  So anyone who has had trouble before I would try again.

EDIT:  Just to add the ride does have at least one short seat belt.  I think it was seat 33 but it is easily an inch shorter than the other seats I rode in today.

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Gannersdaddy KIC Star Member

Gannersdaddy

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3 hours ago, Kenban said:

There was speculation about the restraints on Drop Tower.  They are the same restraints but the hard foam has been completely replaced and they have a lot more room.  Last year I had to get a little help to push them down, now I can easily fit.  So anyone who has had trouble before I would try again.

I did and fit. I was feeling pretty good about my weight loss

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CocaColaParking KIC Tourist

CocaColaParking

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2 minutes ago, Gannersdaddy said:

I did and fit. I was feeling pretty good about my weight loss

That's really encouraging to hear! I know we've talked on previous threads about us both trying to lose weight and be able to get on all the rides this season! Congrats on Drop Tower (first time riding?), and hopefully other rides were successful for you as well! I'm down 26.4 pounds as of this morning. I still have a little ways to go, but I won't be visiting the park for another month sadly, but that does give me more time to lose more

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CoastersRZ KIC Immortal

CoastersRZ

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A couple of notes from my visit to the park tonight.

International Street seems to be playing instrumental music again (no pop music), which even my wife commented on how it made the entrance seem grander.

I rode The Beast shortly before 5pm, and only waited about twenty minutes for it.  They have new signs at the top of the two lifts that have the Beast paws on top of them.  My wife noticed it first when we were in the station waiting for our ride in 6-2 and she asked me what was ontop of the lift hill signs (from the station, they looked like owls).

As others have mentioned, Dodgems has new LED lights.

Oddly, we got walk on rides on Vortex, and Windseeker, and a ten minute wait for Firehawk.

Also, there are now queue lines for Chik Fil A and the Skyline in Coney Mall.

Overall, it was great to be back in the park, and the food stands seemed to be handling the crows the best they could, given the large crowds.

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BeeastFarmer KIC Legend

BeeastFarmer

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I left around 7 after having ridden Diamondback and The Beast.  I did sit by the fountain and just take in the atmosphere with the music.  It is something many have been wanting/suggesting/asking for, so it was a special moment in time. 

I did like how they have planted new trees around the junkyard coaster.  When they fill in, it will make the area look better.  I also saw a lot of new sod everywhere, along with concrete pads or footings near BLSC, the fountains and even in the front gate area.  I'm assuming these are Winterfest preparations.

I'm generally not a fan of tree removal, but the Eiffel Tower looks so much better as do the planting areas by season pass processing and the tram circle. 

It would have been easy to complain about things today, but I think the park did an impressive job given how crowded it was.  I can't recall seeing it this busy.

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Imperial79 KIC Star Member

Imperial79

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8 hours ago, jtro223 said:

I left around 7 after having ridden Diamondback and The Beast.  I did sit by the fountain and just take in the atmosphere with the music.  It is something many have been wanting/suggesting/asking for, so it was a special moment in time. 

I did like how they have planted new trees around the junkyard coaster.  When they fill in, it will make the area look better.  I also saw a lot of new sod everywhere, along with concrete pads or footings near BLSC, the fountains and even in the front gate area.  I'm assuming these are Winterfest preparations.

I'm generally not a fan of tree removal, but the Eiffel Tower looks so much better as do the planting areas by season pass processing and the tram circle. 

It would have been easy to complain about things today, but I think the park did an impressive job given how crowded it was.  I can't recall seeing it this busy.

I saw they added the hut by the Eiffel Tower,  but I was hoping for more tree's near the tower since someone said they've added some back by BLSC.  So more greenery and tree's have been removed but it looks nicer?  Can't wait to see it in person to check it out!

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IntimateTim KIC Tourist

IntimateTim

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7 minutes ago, dragsterguy21 said:

I am just curious, does anybody have a picture of the switchbacks or what mystic timbers' queue looks? I have seen the twisted wood fence entranc but I haven't seen where they store a majority of the people at. 

I'm glad I'm not the only person to want to know this haha! This video does a great job showing the line!

 Video by :Coaster Master Media via YouTube

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CoastersRZ KIC Immortal

CoastersRZ

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Here are some other things that I have noticed so far for this season:

There are also signs up around the base of the Eiffel Tower that say "Pardon our dust Snow -Winterfest."  There are several round footings (matching the ones on International Street by the fountains) in the Tower Gardens area, and on the path between the floral clock and Paradise Island.  And that large round concrete ring over in that area (there is also a concrete ring out by the front gate before the metal detectors), is likely a base for some large Christmas trees for Winterfest (just a thought).

Also, I rode the Grand Carousel both yesterday and today, and was disappointed to not hear the band organ playing.  Instead, they were playing the piped in music, which was bearily audible.  They did replace the cool white LED builbs on Carousel (which made it look almost like the lights weren`t even on), with regular incandescent bulbs, which is a much improved look.

Also Vortex still has an on ride photo, but it is exclusively a Funpix on ride photo location (no staff are running it, it just has the Funpix kiosk.  The Vortex drive box has been repainted as well.  There is also a 30th anniversary banner hanging in the station.

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BeeastFarmer KIC Legend

BeeastFarmer

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I saw they added the hut by the Eiffel Tower,  but I was hoping for more tree's near the tower since someone said they've added some back by BLSC.  So more greenery and tree's have been removed but it looks nicer?  Can't wait to see it in person to check it out!

The shrubbery has been removed and some smaller trees planted. Out front, the pear trees near the ticket building were old and worn out and the crabapples in the tram circle were still nice but they got the ax too. I'd venture a guess that they'll plant evergreens so they can use them for Winterfear.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

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thatbandguy8807 KIC Expert

thatbandguy8807

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Found this while browsing through comments on Facebook. Is this true about Red's if this is true I might consider a new place to eat988f05538e1c98e4c6e5384014782ee2.jpg
 
EDIT: I never noticed that there is a thread for the food places at KI, sorry for posting in this thread

I'm not sure if anyone has commented on this yet but yes you do stand in line to order your food (the grilled chicken sandwich was wonderful) and then find a seat... The only reason why the line was long is cause the kids were still learning their registers... (15 year old newbies) they felt bad about the lines and my cashier apologied to me about the wait that it was his first day.... I felt like I stood in line the same amount of time that I did for other places to eat on preview night so it really wasn't that bad honestly

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

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TombRaiderFTW KIC Superstar

TombRaiderFTW

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I just have to say: I think it's beyond cool that KI is selling merch branded with Miami River Lumber Co. on it. That's one of several little things they've done to really make an impression on me with theming Mystic Timbers.

Better yet: the Miami River Lumber Co. hats they sell actually fit my ginormous noggin. This is extremely rare. I'm so happy!

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hosscat KIC Tourist

hosscat

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23 hours ago, CoastersRZ said:

Here are some other things that I have noticed so far for this season:

There are also signs up around the base of the Eiffel Tower that say "Pardon our dust Snow -Winterfest."  There are several round footings (matching the ones on International Street by the fountains) in the Tower Gardens area, and on the path between the floral clock and Paradise Island.  And that large round concrete ring over in that area (there is also a concrete ring out by the front gate before the metal detectors), is likely a base for some large Christmas trees for Winterfest (just a thought).

Also, I rode the Grand Carousel both yesterday and today, and was disappointed to not hear the band organ playing.  Instead, they were playing the piped in music, which was bearily audible.  They did replace the cool white LED builbs on Carousel (which made it look almost like the lights weren`t even on), with regular incandescent bulbs, which is a much improved look.

Also Vortex still has an on ride photo, but it is exclusively a Funpix on ride photo location (no staff are running it, it just has the Funpix kiosk.  The Vortex drive box has been repainted as well.  There is also a 30th anniversary banner hanging in the station.

I don't think it was communicated to play the band organ opening day -- checked with someone and it was playing today. (Sunday) It's sounding pretty good, so I'm sorry you didn't get to hear it!

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TombraiderTy KIC Enthusiast

TombraiderTy

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Maybe I just witnessed an off-day for it, but Joe Cool Dodgem School is much slower than it was in the past. The cars were moving at a snail's pace.

 

Also, in Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, mid-ride you pass three large machines with targets on them. This is the area where Boocifer was previously projected onto a fog screen, but it appears that animation has now been added to a new screen in the middle machine. Not as cool as the fog screen was, but nice to see the detail returned to the ride.

 

Finally, Oktoberfest restrooms received an overhaul. They're much nicer than they previously were.

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