Ask Kings Island a Question

[IndyGuy4KI]

I would like to start a thread of questions that you would like to ask the park if you could talk to them yourself.

This would be in depth questions about a coaster, manitenance, shows, and operations that you would like to know. My plan would be to try and get them answered in a future interview.

[VortexBFForever]

Having worked at Vortex for a season and a half now, I have been curious to know some nitty-gritty details, namely about how much a single Vortex train weighs, how much is its upkeep, how many rides it gave last year (as I still don't know but would love to find out!), and if it will get a new coat of blue and orange paint in the near future. Also I want to know for sure what the record for most rides on Vortex is (and who holds that record, because it's definitely not me) if possible!

I don't know how much "in-depth" the questions can be. I guess I (or we?) will find out.

[MDMC01]

Great topic!

I'd love to know some little known fun facts about The Bat (fka Top Gun) as well as a request to ask if they could change the park's website to the mid-90's style for April Fools day (I've been wanting to specifically ask Don that for a while...). 

Link here for the old website: https://web.archive.org/web/19970129110734/http://www.pki.com:80/cgi-bin/ParkPages/Advent/Advent.pl

EDIT: What I mean is something like the above link. I know the park is no longer owned by Paramount, but if they went with how the site looked back in the  mid 90s and updated it, that would be great! 

[OTTER9919]

So many questions,can’t think of them all at once,some may be silly questions(but still good)

1)on the way out of The Bat,why is there still  a queue line right next to the old SOB station?

2)why are there no bathrooms in x-base?

3)does the eternal flame in the Banshee queue ever go off?

4)do they keep storage in the crypt building until haunt?

5)what happens to the old action theater during regular season?

 6)why does red racer beat blue racer almost every time?

7)why was action theater removed and replaced with a haunt attraction?

8)what happens in the room above the entrance to the park?

9)what happened to the old paramount story props/signs?

10)where is the SOB crate located at now?

11)what happened to the shaggy and Scooby doo from the queue of boo blasters?

12)what happened to the crypt sign/logo in front of the building(the one that stands up as a sign and the one that was removed from the buildings entrance)?

13)are there any future plans to either remove the crypt building or to replace it with a even better version of it?

14)does the lake where Vikings fury ever get maintenance,and does Vikings fury ever get yearly maintenances?

15)are we going to get more flat rides or an expansion to coney mall in the area that once held Dinosaurs Alive? 

16) what attractions did the Kings Island theater hold before gravity,and what attractions were in the old action theater?

[TheRickster]

9 hours ago, OTTER9919 said:

 

1)on the way out of The Bat,why is there still  a queue line right next to the old SOB station? Yes you can see the fenced off queue and the rails along The Bat exit, they are used for the Wolf Pack house.

2)why are there no bathrooms in x-base? X-Base was originally just FOF, I'd think there would need to be a sizable amount of work to get the sewage ran back there, which is a lot for an area with only two rides.

3)does the eternal flame in the Banshee queue ever go off? I've seen it off, and I'm sure it goes off for the off-season. It's not really a memorial like one for a person.

4)do they keep storage in the crypt building until haunt? It's some storage already, but the haunt is kept up.

5)what happens to the old action theater during regular season? Pretty much nothing, but the basement is a maintenance shop.

 6)why does red racer beat blue racer almost every time?

7)why was action theater removed and replaced with a haunt attraction? The same reason any ride is removed, operation cost vs assumed park value. If it starts to cost more than a ride is worth running, it will be replaced.

8)what happens in the room above the entrance to the park? This is the International Restaurant. It used to be a restaurant open during the season, now it's used for private events and the occasional special event, like fireworks with Snoopy.

9)what happened to the old paramount story props/signs?

10)where is the SOB crate located at now?

11)what happened to the shaggy and Scooby doo from the queue of boo blasters?

12)what happened to the crypt sign/logo in front of the building(the one that stands up as a sign and the one that was removed from the buildings entrance)?

13)are there any future plans to either remove the crypt building or to replace it with a even better version of it?

14)does the lake where Vikings fury ever get maintenance,and does Vikings fury ever get yearly maintenances? All rides get a deep annual inspection as well as daily inspections.

15)are we going to get more flat rides or an expansion to coney mall in the area that once held Dinosaurs Alive? 

I'm not affiliated with the park but I answered some of the questions you wrote that are kind of common knowledge.  See the quote above and my answers are next to me.

[Shawn Meyer]

Glad someone thought of this topic. Any chance that Kings Island could start selling those big giant fun size park maps that Cedar Point sells for $1.99? I took one of those park maps home from Kings Island after my may visit and then took it to staples. The lady behind the counter was scared that the park map was copyright and was afraid to blow it up for me because of copyright infringement. It was a miracle though because she thought I was an innocent looking guy and went ahead and did it. So my question for that is, are those park maps considered copyright material even though they're free to the public to take?

[BlondyRidesOn]

The question I have is regarding the flower pot in the floral bed at Coney BBQ. I was watching The Godfather last night on AMC with my father and noticed in the scene with Jack Woltz mansion near the beginning of the film, there was an old styled flowerpot in the foreground of the shot. It looks exactly like the one outside the Coney BBQ. Is this an old Paramount movie prop still being used by the park? They have used old props for Halloween Haunt, such as the cage from The Golden Child and the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek.

[standbyme]

1. Any plans to give Viking Fury some long over due TLC? It has needed a new paint job for more years than I can count, it would be nice to have someone talented take some time painting the woman on the front of the boat really nice & detailed. (It would be too much to hope for to have a sail reinstalled.) The ride seems to still draw enough of a crowd to deserve some love.

2. Where did the “goldfish” go in the pond? (Did they die or were they removed...I have been told both stories by employees.)

[Imperial79]

1.  Can we possibly see more of the classic rides return someday (Skyride, Les Taxis, Trabant type ride, etc?

2.  Can we see the floral style bushes along the Royal Fountain brought back?  This looked very nice!

3. What happened to the antenna that was on the Eiffel Tower, is it in storage at the park somewhere?

4. Can The Racer get repainted back to its original colors?

[koasterkid]

1. Where do they store all the winter fest stuff?

2. Why were Diamondback's old seats so dirty?

3. Why is there no Coca-Cola freestyle refill stations in Action Zone?

4. GIGA?????

[IndyGuy4KI]

Thanks for all the questions! I will start getting them collected for answers. In the mean time keep them coming.

[silver2005]

- How much do trends within the industry play apart of what and when the park decides to add new attractions?

- Does the park use any sort of guest survey or any other sort of sociological and/or psychological analytics when coming up with plans for the park?

- Do parks and design firms (GCI, B&M, HUSS, etc) ever have to tinker with plans about rides from being too intense and/or too tame?  Examples?

- What kind of focus on Soak City can we expect in the near/further future?

- Plans involving Timberwolf in the future?

- What kinds of shows are considered for the park, particularly with the revolving circulation of shows in KI Theater?  

[chuck norris]

1. Any plans to give Viking Fury some long over due TLC? It has needed a new paint job for more years than I can count, it would be nice to have someone talented take some time painting the woman on the front of the boat really nice & detailed. (It would be too much to hope for to have a sail reinstalled.) The ride seems to still draw enough of a crowd to deserve some love.
2. Where did the “goldfish” go in the pond? (Did they die or were they removed...I have been told both stories by employees.)

We saw some koi in the Oktoberfest pond this past weekend... They were huge.


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[flightoffear1996]

What is your electric bill each month?  I know it wont get answered but I really would like to see the monthly expenses. 

[Oldschool75]

Glad someone thought of this topic. Any chance that Kings Island could start selling those big giant fun size park maps that Cedar Point sells for $1.99? I took one of those park maps home from Kings Island after my may visit and then took it to staples. The lady behind the counter was scared that the park map was copyright and was afraid to blow it up for me because of copyright infringement. It was a miracle though because she thought I was an innocent looking guy and went ahead and did it. So my question for that is, are those park maps considered copyright material even though they're free to the public to take?

 

As long as you don’t turn around and sell it you can copy it all you want. Also, as long as it is for personal use and not used for advertising such as on social media, print media, business cards and such.

 

 

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[BoddaH1994]

23 hours ago, flightoffear1996 said:

What is your electric bill each month?  I know it wont get answered but I really would like to see the monthly expenses. 

I don't know if this can be scaled or not, but the Walt Disney World Resort's electric bill for 2017 was roughly $97 million according to public record.  This included power from Sun Electric, Duke, and the electric they sold themselves.

[disco2000]

Since nobody has asked it and some is being discussed in other threads elsewhere, here goes:

• What is the year and attendance number for the record year?
• What are the yearly attendance numbers for the last 5 years?
• What are the yearly KI gold pass sales numbers for the last 5 years?
• How many season long meal plans have been sold each year since inception?
• How does CF allocate funds per park for platinum passes?  For example, does the park that issued the pass get all the revenue or is it split evenly amongst all the parks or the parks visited? 
• Is it an advantage for KI to have people get their platinum passes issued from KI as their "home park"?
• Does KI capture data of people that went from gold pass to platinum the following year and if so, what is that annual number of people that upgrade?
• Is there a capacity number that KI will close the gates and not allow additional entries?
• What percentage of daily entry into park leave park and re-enter with the stamp?
• What is the record for most visits by an individual (season pass holder) over a season?

Given past history, I suspect none of these will be publicly answered lol

[flightoffear1996]

I would want to know how accurate is the rider count on rides that don't have counters.  For example rides like Racer.

[teenageninja]

20 minutes ago, flightoffear1996 said:

I would want to know how accurate is the rider count on rides that don't have counters.  For example rides like Racer.

The answer is somewhat.

On most coasters the operator hits a button for empty seats.  The ride automatically counts cycles.

1 hour ago, disco2000 said:

Since nobody has asked it and some is being discussed in other threads elsewhere, here goes:

• What is the year and attendance number for the record year?
• What are the yearly attendance numbers for the last 5 years?
• What are the yearly KI gold pass sales numbers for the last 5 years?
• How many season long meal plans have been sold each year since inception?
• How does CF allocate funds per park for platinum passes?  For example, does the park that issued the pass get all the revenue or is it split evenly amongst all the parks or the parks visited? 
• Is it an advantage for KI to have people get their platinum passes issued from KI as their "home park"?
• Does KI capture data of people that went from gold pass to platinum the following year and if so, what is that annual number of people that upgrade?
• Is there a capacity number that KI will close the gates and not allow additional entries?
• What percentage of daily entry into park leave park and re-enter with the stamp?
• What is the record for most visits by an individual (season pass holder) over a season?

Given past history, I suspect none of these will be publicly answered lol

If I recall correctly, and this may have changed, but the attendance record was a Bring a Friend free day and I think the attendance was 68k and they did stop allowing entries.

[pianoman]

Can we expect any kind of upgrade to the Royal Fountain in the next few years? Kings Dominion’s and Canada’s Wonderlands fountains have been upgraded.


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[Fye Coasters]

2 hours ago, flightoffear1996 said:

I would want to know how accurate is the rider count on rides that don't have counters.  For example rides like Racer.

When i worked at Ki, older rides like Racer and what not they have a computer they count the empty seats b4 they disp the ride 

[BeeastFarmer]

8 hours ago, pianoman said:

Can we expect any kind of upgrade to the Royal Fountain in the next few years? Kings Dominion’s and Canada’s Wonderlands fountains have been upgraded.


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Please noooooooo….I love our fountains just as is.  They can tweak what they have, but please no dancing waters type of stuff.

[Imperial79]

Coney Mall sign and if its ever going to return and where its at? 

[IndyGuy4KI]

The questions up to my last post in this thread have been sent to the park. I am not sure how long it will take to get back for I doubt they know all the answers quickly or can answer everything. 

I will post when I get the responses and start compiling the next set of questions. Thanks for all the awesome questions!

[bjcolglazier]

I just want to know how many Gold passes they sell year-to-year.

[PatchesC]

Will the Eiffel Tower lower platform ever be reopened?

What type of generators do they use for emergency power?

How often do the the springs on Slingshot have to be replaced?

What is the slowest speed Vortex can go in theory and complete it's circut?

[Magenta Lizard]

On 7/8/2018 at 6:22 PM, standbyme said:

2. Where did the “goldfish” go in the pond? (Did they die or were they removed...I have been told both stories by employees.)

They're still there, no question. 

My question for Kings Island:

Does the park spray or do anything else special to keep mosquitos away? Because they're remarkably mosquito free for an outdoor park. 

[KIfan73]

On 7/13/2018 at 10:30 PM, jtro223 said:

Please noooooooo….I love our fountains just as is.  They can tweak what they have, but please no dancing waters type of stuff.

I would just like to second this.  It is worth a trip just to watch the fountains. I could watch them all day.  They are fantastic the way they are!

[BlondyRidesOn]

My brother has been wondering lately of the band organ on the Grand Carousel was going to be fixed anytime soon. He really likes the carousel and the organ and was curious if there would be further progress in the organ's restoration.

[CoastersRZ]

Excellent question.  I too have been hoping to hear its sweet sounds gracing the Carousel again.  Especially since it is my son`s favorite ride.