2018 Paramount's Kings Island

[Creed Bratton]

Saw a similar thread on another website...thought it would be interesting to bring it over here.


What do you think Kings Island would look like today if Paramount had not sold the parks? If the park operated as it did in the 90's and early 2000's, what would that look like from 2006 to today?

Feel free to include the other Paramount parks if you'd like. 

What would the park look like in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017?

[whengodsaysgo]

I think we may have seen a Paranormal Activity or World War Z dark ride or maybe a Maze added to Haunt.  The Action Theatre would still be going, promoting Paramount films, and maybe a water ride renamed to theme Noah?

[IndyGuy4KI]

No DB, and no Banshee! That investment would not have been made. Just a few more BLSC type coasters that included a movie theme. We might still have TRTR. Maybe a few more dark ride experiences.

[Phantom Theater]

This is an interesting topic! It's hard to predict something like that. I think we'd still have Nickelodeon Universe, mostly untouched from when it was built. They might have updated some of the rides to reflect what is new on Nickelodeon, but it would be so out of date now since only two shows (Fairly Odd Parents and Spongebob) still run on Nickelodeon that were there in 2006. 

I definitely think we'd still have Tomb Raider, either updated a little bit or they let the effects continue to die out. Son of Beast would probably still be there too. The Paramount logo would still be EVERYWHERE, and we'd have maybe two new themed rides since 2006. 

Since we're on this topic, are there any Paramount remnants still around? I still think its interesting to see the old logo with Paramount removed from the top. I feel like I remember someone saying the paychecks still said Paramount Parks up until last year??

[teenageninja]

Son of Beast would have been refurbished, probably to a steel topped track, probably not RMC.

Tomb Raider would have been updated to a new theme.

IJ:ST would have been rethemed.

They would have added more low cost, low capacity coasters.

[KIBeast]

I think the Spongebob car wash ride would have happened. I'm thinking it was a water coaster type of ride? Can't really remember.

I am not sure the Diamondback or Banshee would not have been built. SOB was built in the Paramount era, so they were not adverse to building huge coasters. 

[TombRaiderFTW]

I honestly don't think the outcomes of Tomb Raider and Son of Beast would have changed much. Tomb Raider was frankly unsustainable on a seasonal park budget, CBS was apathetic, and park attendance and guest spending slumped during the 2008 recession. If CBS had owned the parks up to the recession, I think Tomb Raider might have gone away even sooner than it did. I'm assuming that Son of Beast's 2006 accident and 2009 medical incident would still have happened in our hypothetical world; if so, I don't really believe that anyone in charge would have tried to redeem it much more than Cedar Fair did. Maybe some sort of leadership change at Paramount Parks during the rise of RMC might have saved it, but if PP's leadership around 2005/2006 was any indication, I don't think they would have been in the business of carefully trying to untangle the liabilities of that ride instead of just replacing it.

As far as additions go... I imagine it would have been the "cheap and cheerful" route through at least 2008. If a new coaster showed up, I would imagine it wouldn't have arrived any sooner than 2009, and even then it would be because it was already well in the works prior to the recession. CBS wasn't enthusiastic about owning the parks; they wanted to get rid of them. If we're not selling the parks in this situation, then I imagine that some amount of restructuring within Paramount would have put the parks in some other Paramount-owned brand's hands sooner or later. At that point, maybe we might have seen some more movie-themed E-ticket rides arrive at the park. Oh, and maybe Flight of Fear would have gotten an MTV-related makeover that was rumored at one point. Kings Dominion either wouldn't have a Flight of Fear anymore, or it would be a completely different experience.

Winterfest-wise... I dunno if it would have actually come back in 2006 or not. If it did, surely it would have had more attractive pricing than the 2005 version.

I don't know what else you could predict more than a couple years beyond 2006, but if we're open to daydreaming, it would have been really interesting to see them switch hands after the recession and focus on turning the park into some kind of year-round destination with Universal- or Disney-quality rides. I realize that's not what Kings Island was originally meant to be and not what it is now, but that's where early-2000's KI was trying to head, in my opinion. It didn't work, but as an eternal fanboy of Tomb Raider, it would have been cool to see that level of detail work out and inspire similar additions. 

I know the original post specifies that the Paramount parks weren't sold in this situation, but I honestly feel like the parks would have been individually sold one way or another if Cedar Fair hadn't bought the lot. I don't know who would have bought each of them, but it feels like KI would have gone to Cedar Fair sooner or later. There was a lot of heavy speculation and rumoring around then that Kinzel wanted Paramount Parks specifically for KI. From a business perspective, that makes some sense.

This was a fun topic to think about. Thanks!

[gforce1994]

When Paramount owned the park, there supposedly were rules in place such that any attraction would have to be planned, built, and tested within a calandar year.  These rules were implemented after the Stealth and Son of Beast fiascos.

In terms of additions, I’d think you’d see more flats such as Larson’s, Funtime, even Gerstlauers.

Ive been told that there was survey work done by the Rivertown RR for the return of the Antique cars. Whether that actually would happen is debatable.

However, I’d think in terms of coasters, KI would have received a full sized invert, due to the ROI, and reliability of the Inverted coaster type.

[westcoaster]

Think, a hotel, more dark rides, no Winter Fest, a 2nd kids land, 

 

Loved Paramount years..

 

I think 2018 return of Dayscofcthunder more immersive renovated theatre...

For Nascars 70th

[McSalsa]

Hmm...this depends. CBS ownership, or does Viacom get to keep the parks after the 2004 split? CBS did not seem to care about or want the parks, so if Cedar Fair had never bought the parks from them, I honestly wonder if Kings Island would even exist in 2018. As far as I know, CBS might have even sold the park so it could be razed and condos built on the site, which would obviously make tons of people angry. Thankfully, IRL, Cedar Fair did end up buying the parks from CBS.

Now, if Viacom had acquired the parks in the CBS-Viacom split, maybe we have a different story. Viacom has made a few attempts to build new parks since losing the old ones (though so far, none have stuck) so I think they would have actually wanted to keep and run the Paramount parks. So, under Viacom...

Son of Beast: Still gets torn down. This ride had many major issues, and RMC did not really get going until 2012-2013, after Cedar Fair had destroyed SOB already. I think Viacom would have been even less tolerant of the ride's major flaws, and it may not have even lasted until 2009 had they stayed in power.

Flight of Fear: Probably re-Themed to a Musical Roller Coaster, but remains in the park. (There were actual plans for this, which Cedar Fair reversed) The Kings Dominion model may have been moved to a new park entirely. I'd say...Carowinds.

Banshee: Not likely to have been built. In this scenario, Cedar Point is still a "enemy" rival park run by a different company. When Cedar Point built Raptor, they had B&M make a deal with them not to build any more inverted coasters within 200 miles or so of Cedar Point. Kings Island is within this range. I don't know if that deal had a expiration date or not. If not...uhh, anyone want Kings Island to get a Vekoma SLC?

Diamondback: Unlikely- after SOB Paramount & Viacom seemed iffy on huge roller coasters, but since Cedar Point never added a B&M Hyper, still possible. Probably would not have been built in the current spot, however, since Paramount was not as big on tossing rides "In Your Face" like Cedar Fair does. Might have actually been the SOB replacement, TBH. Would not be called Diamondback though, of course, if Viacom/Paramount built a B&M Hyper.

Firehawk: Might still be X-Flight @ Geauga Lake, but could have been re-located, maybe to Dorney Park or something. However in this scenario I think GL has a much better chance of surviving, but Cedar Fair did have plans to return it to its family park roots and downsize it before the PP Acquisition drove them into massive debt making that impossible.

Tomb Raider- The Ride: TBH, unlike SOB, TR:TR has a bit better chance of still being around in this scenario. Running it in crazy mode in 2007 took a LOT of years off it, so had that never happened, maybe it would have lasted longer. It would probably have been pretty run down by now though, and likely still be a shell of the ride it was in 2002, unless at some point Viacom put money into refurbishing the ride. It may have gotten a re-theme though, since the Tomb Raider movie is very outdated by now.

Mystic Timbers: ...might actually still be built, but under a different name. GCI's are not expensive, or overly large, and the company has a great reputation so Viacom probably would have taken interest and wanted one. With Son of Beast still flopping, the park would end up needing a modern woodie again anyway. In fact, under Viacom, I think smaller coaster companies would have some rides at Kings Island by now, like Gerstlauer, Mack and Premier Rides since Cedar Fair would have most of the big B&M's on lockdown...unless KI built them first, should Viacom have opened up to big coasters around the 2010's. A Dive Coaster seems like something they could have done, and ironically it would prevent Cedar Point from getting Valravn!

Other Notes: WindSeeker probably does not get built, but Viacom might have built a Star Flyer of some sort instead. Racer still runs backwards since apparently that was a Cedar Fair decision, if Viacom is not tempted to RMC it. TOP GUN, Drop Zone, FACE/OFF, and Italian Job: Stunt Track retain their old themes and names. Nick U remains the kids area, but would need some re-theming as lots of the shows the rides were based on are over now. Boo Blasters is likely still Scooby Doo. Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay probably remains the name of the waterpark as well, though it would also have probably been upgraded and gotten new slides by now. Unsure if Viacom would allow Vortex to live as long as Cedar Fair has, since the policies on very old rides like that could be different (Six Flags has destroyed most of their Arrow Loopers, for example, while Cedar Fair has kept most of theirs so far).

Well, those are my predictions for this scenario, for at least the major attractions and stuff. Though since Cedar Fair bought the park in 2006 IRL, none of this is true in this universe, and some of it may be a bit optimistic at that.

[funpark]

I feel that if Cedar Fair had not purchased the park, KI may have already been closed and the land sold. When Paramount first bought the parks, Viacom had not yet purchased Paramount. After Viacom bought Paramount the parks were constantly being shuffled around to different divisions of the company. The parks went up for sale several times before Cedar Fair purchased them. They were not really interested in owning the parks. I think Cedar Fair saved the parks from being closed and  the land being sold off. Just feeling on it.

[bjcolglazier]

Definitely some Transformers or Iron Man ride(s)! What kind of rides is anybody's guess, but I'm sure they would have been massively advertised/hyped. I'm very happy with Cedar Fair, but I do sometimes miss the way Paramount themed rides really well.

[starlitfire]

10 hours ago, bjcolglazier said:

Definitely some Transformers or Iron Man ride(s)! What kind of rides is anybody's guess, but I'm sure they would have been massively advertised/hyped. I'm very happy with Cedar Fair, but I do sometimes miss the way Paramount themed rides really well.

I'm not necessarily sure that an Iron Man ride could even be built (I'm fairly sure Universal has some clause written somewhere that says that no original Avengers/X-Men rides can be built on this side of the Mississippi river. It's the reason that you won't see any of the original Avengers characters at WDW despite Disney owning Marvel now) but since the Transformers franchise seems more likely to be okay to use, I could definitely see a Transformers ride being built, maybe even a dark ride if Viacom was quick enough to get to it (given that the Transformers dark ride was built before 2012). 

I'd love to see Paramount levels of theming that could be maintained by Cedar Fair, but given that we have a test of that with MT, we'll see how long it lasts before it fits in really well with the trees.

[Creed Bratton]

Great responses everyone! I have yet to really think about what I would think if Paramount still owned the park.

[YOULLBEBACK]

Good topic!  I always thought it was odd they named rides off of movies that weren't really that big.  I mean, Face off, for instance...a pretty popular movie for a few months in 1996.  You couldn't keep that "this is based off the movie" theme for too long.  So to answer the question, I'd image a name change every few years for certain rides. 

Yet, for whatever reason, AE was never re-themed after Indiana Jones...why?!  Paramount has the rights to it.  Heck, they even had a replica of the artifact from Raiders in the Paramount Story in tower gardens. 

[beastfan11]

25 minutes ago, YOULLBEBACK said:

Good topic!  I always thought it was odd they named rides off of movies that weren't really that big.  I mean, Face off, for instance...a pretty popular movie for a few months in 1996.  You couldn't keep that "this is based off the movie" theme for too long.  So to answer the question, I'd image a name change every few years for certain rides. 

Yet, for whatever reason, AE was never re-themed after Indiana Jones...why?!  Paramount has the rights to it.  Heck, they even had a replica of the artifact from Raiders in the Paramount Story in tower gardens. 

 

Paramount was responsible for the distribution of the films if my understanding is correct. The rights fell back on Lucasfilm. George had a working relationship with Disney at that time which is why Indy was never “completely” integrated in Paramount Parks. 

[teenageninja]

On 2/24/2018 at 10:37 AM, funpark said:

I feel that if Cedar Fair had not purchased the park, KI may have already been closed and the land sold. When Paramount first bought the parks, Viacom had not yet purchased Paramount. After Viacom bought Paramount the parks were constantly being shuffled around to different divisions of the company. The parks went up for sale several times before Cedar Fair purchased them. They were not really interested in owning the parks. I think Cedar Fair saved the parks from being closed and  the land being sold off. Just feeling on it.

There is a 0 percent chance this would have happened.  Kings Island's attendance is top 20 in the United States, despite being a seasonal park.

[Maverick44]

^^ Even if CF did not buy. Six Flags may have. KI has a huge attendance so that would not be a problem. I agree there is no chance that KI would close.

[silver2005]

I wonder how long they would have went with prototype rides and switched over to more reliable manufactures (within restrictions such as the CP B&M clause with Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland).   

One thing I never got was why Paramount never used Star Trek in any ride theming outside of BORG: Assimilator.  I would worry that KI would have Transformers theming just to add more fuel to Bay's fire (or in this case, explosions).  

Also, I wonder what the kids area would look like since Nickelodeon has really dropped off the radar.  

[JAHill]

Mission: Impossible themed escape game in Action Zone.

[IndyGuy4KI]

3 minutes ago, JAHill said:

Mission: Impossible themed escape game in Action Zone.

I like it!