Ability to become a Flagship Park

[sixohdieselrage]

@SonofBaconator I wish they would bring the campground back as well.  Maybe even have it situated down by the Little Miami so you can explore the hike/bike trail, while also enjoying KI. Kind of like at CP.  Want to go to the beach(trail), just walk out the park gate.

[Benjamin22]

7 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

It baffles me the amount of attendance Kings Island gets every year in relation to other seasonal parks in the continent even though we don't truly have our own resort. When I interned for Cedar Point's campground this summer, you wouldn't believe the number of repeat customers that continued to stay at the resort simply because they accommodated Rvs. I strongly believe that if KI brought back their campground, more people would be willing to come and stay for a couple of days. Just a thought.

I completely agree. Since they’re building dorms back there maybe there’s potential to add a camp ground since they’re building the infrastructure required for something like that. 

[spooky21]

16 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

It baffles me the amount of attendance Kings Island gets every year in relation to other seasonal parks in the continent even though we don't truly have our own resort. When I interned for Cedar Point's campground this summer, you wouldn't believe the number of repeat customers that continued to stay at the resort simply because they accommodated Rvs. I strongly believe that if KI brought back their campground, more people would be willing to come and stay for a couple of days. Just a thought.

I 100% agree on bringing back a campground/rv area.

[SonofBaconator]

On 8/28/2018 at 4:30 PM, MisterSG1 said:

Since you know more about the Wonderland than the average bear, I'm curious, do you see any spot where a new wooden or launched coaster could go?

I would put a wooden/hybrid coaster replacing Wild Beast and the go-carts. A launched coaster could go over the lake on the other side of Behemoth since Behemoth is one of the only main draws to that part of the park. 

[BeastForever]

On 8/28/2018 at 5:27 PM, SonofBaconator said:

Rude, I never said I knew more about Canada's Wonderland than others. I'm just stating that CW needs better coasters in general to be as good as, if not better than KI.

Agreed.

IMO, CW has perhaps the most top-heavy coaster lineup I’ve ever seen.

To be fair, any park with 13+ coasters is bound to have some filler, and KI, KD, Carowinds, HP, SFGAdv etc. are no exceptions. But CW is unmatched in this regard…

To start, even Behemoth and Leviathan, which don’t get me wrong, I’m sure are great rides, have incredibly bland-looking layouts. Leviathan’s stats are underwhelming for a Giga (which is why I’m all the more glad we did not receive B&M’s first go at a 300+-footer, as Fury by most accounts was a vast improvement, and why I’m all the more optimistic that our B&M Giga will be an improvement even upon Fury’s already great design.)

After that, their arguable third best coaster (sans YS) would be……………….Vortex?
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’s a great ride like just our near-clone, early-90s Arrow Suspended is, but when a park has 16 coasters, and the third best thing they have to offer is that! Um, you’ve got problems…

Wonder Mountain’s Guardian looks intriguing enough, but to me that’s more of a dark ride than a coaster…

After that, there’s Wild Beast and MCMB, two woodies of which I’ve read middling-at-best reviews…

Then there’s what are perhaps the three most infamous clone concepts ever devised in Time Warp, Flight Deck, and their Bat: A Zamperla Flyer, an SLC, and a sit-down boomerang.

Three rides in which for many people the optimal amount of times ridden is zero (myself included). There’s only one coaster at KI in which I’m better off just skipping entirely, and that is Invertigo. But even then, I’ve always considered the inverted Vekoma boomerangs to at least be a full-step above the sit-down versions (even if that’s not saying much).

The Fly looks decently entertaining. An interesting take on what otherwise would just be a regular wild mouse. That having said, it’s still, just a wild mouse...

Thunder Run is unique, but technically not even a roller coaster as it is powered at all times (is listed as Powered Coaster on rcdb: https://rcdb.com/63.htm)

Rounding out their lineup is BLSC, Silver Streak, Ghoster Coaster, and Taxi Jam, which would cancelled out by KI’s respective clones.

Honestly, when it comes to determining which non-CP Cedar Fair park has the best and most complete lineup of coasters, I’d say its pretty much game over once we get that Giga. That’s all we need. It’s the last major piece of puzzle…

It would put KI at 5 certifiably standout coasters, which would be more than KD’s 4, Carowinds' 4 (with Copperhead Strike), and CW’s 3(with Yukon Striker).
And past that, we have one of the world’s five spaghetti-bowl clones (which no one else in the chain but KD has), a racing woodie (again, only KD has that) an Arrow Suspended (which only CP and CW have), a BLSC clone (which Carowinds does not have), one of the best mine trains, and an Arrow mega looper.

If Kings Island, Cedar Fair, and B&M execute this Giga well (which I have full confidence that they will), I believe it will have quite a good chance of jumping Fury, MF, and SV all the way to #1 on the GTA Steel List…Even if you don’t take any stock in the Golden Tickets, it’s bound be the one of the best coasters in the world…

On 8/27/2018 at 10:15 PM, Pagoda Gift Shop said:

If I was asked what the "flagship" parks are in the Cedar Fair chain, I would say Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, and Carowinds.  The investment that they have made into those parks since the Paramount acquisition is why I would lean in that direction. 

Even though I don't put Kings Island in that category, I think Kings Island does have its own unique place, which is not insignificant.   

But if this means anything, the mystery 2020 B&M KI is destined to receive will be the 5th coaster (including Firehawk, which has been noted many times before, cost almost as much to relocate than it would have to build ground up) that CF has given them. That is more than Carowinds’ 4 (including Carolina Cyclone) , CW’s 4, and KD’s 3 (including Dominator).

Simply put, Cedar Fair wanted to acquire Kings Island like no other.

And I for one believe they are treating Kings Island like no other...
 

[Honorarius]

^^^ Been saying for years that CW's coaster lineup lacks depth... It's the flip side to the 'why do they get all the good flats' coin (because they got terrible coasters)…

Personally I think Behemoth compares better to other Hyper coasters than Leviathan does to other Giga coasters...

And don't let the look of Guardian fool you, it's 4 different kinds of bad (horrible graphics, guns that don't work, terrible capacity, boring ride) in one package...

 

[canobie#1]

That's funny because I was actually part of an internship program at Cedar Point for the 2017 season.  I was an Area Supervisor for Park Services/Guest Services. When I was there, King's Island was on the rise and absolutely destroying CP in attendance most days.  The park is totally eligible for flagship/destination resort status but there's still some work to do with this park.

 

1. Capital Improvements:  Coaster refurbishments, Area renovations (Action Zone and Coney), Renovated facilities and a new main entrance

2.  One more signature coaster-  This park is on the verge of having a complete line up, but obviously the giga will help drastically improve it.

3. Market the park in new areas around the country.

 

[SonofBaconator]

@BeastForever I agree that a B&M giga will give Kings Island a definitive top 5. We're fortunate enough that we only have few cloned rides that are still unique in their own right. Paramount plagued Canada's Wonderland with some of the worse cloned coasters ever made that are comparable to something a Six Flags park would have.

@canobie#1 I was a part of the CP internship program this past summer and I couldn't believe the amount of respect individuals had for KI.