Klabergian Empire Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 https://www.wlwt.com/article/kings-islands-international-street-getting-first-ever-complete-makeover/25916527 HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!! I had a gut feeling this was coming soon! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldschool75 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 “The park's iconic international-themed entry is ready for its first-ever makeover since the park opened more than 45 years ago.”Somebody at Channel 5 might want to fix this statement. LolSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 From the KI Blog: Kings Island’s International Street is set to receive its first complete makeover since the park opened in 1972. No element of International Street will be left untouched as crews update the Royal Fountain, install more than 130,000 new pavers, improve each building façade and enhance the landscaping. More details can be found on the the KI Blog here: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2019/january/international-street-and-royal-fountain-to-get-major-offseason-renovation?fbclid=IwAR251DIOLgO6Xh04pHIq9Z4vVmo656i3rLX8vFOPoAgDoIxHdhgs-X9XQZQ 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastfan11 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Sounds pretty wonderful. I hope to see some additional “international” additions in the coming years! Very excited for this! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klabergian Empire Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 minute ago, beastfan11 said: Sounds pretty wonderful. I hope to see some additional “international” additions in the coming years! Very excited for this! I'm excited too! I believe the addition of "international" themes will not only benefit the park, but the guests as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhatTheBlazes Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 This is great! Hopefully the ambient music will go along with all of these wonderful updates. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Wow! Never saw this coming! Between this and the return of the Antique Cars, this will be quite the memorable season! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerColt Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 minute ago, MonteCristo said: This is great! Hopefully the ambient music will go along with all of these wonderful updates. Ah, I remember walking in to a glorious fanfare and seeing International Street. It added to the magical experience, one I hope I can reciprocate for my daughter when she's old enough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super7 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 This is awesome news! This is actually the best improvement they could make at the park IMO. Kings Island's International Street has been way outdated and not-so-nice for a while. Lack of shade. The hideous white picnic tables. Tables right up against the walkways. King's Dominion's International Street is so much nicer that present KI. Kings Dominion has lots of wonderful trees and lush landscaping. There is shade EVERYWHERE. There are nice umbrella tables by the fountain to sit, and they are separated from the walkways with landscape islands. Let's hope that King's Islands ends up like this as well. Lets hope the plant more TREES! King's Dominion International Street at Winterfest also blew way the Kings Island version. It was much more immersive with the lights in the trees all above you wherever you were walking. Although King's Island's Snowflake lake was better because it was lower in the ground and more visible. It looks like they are taking the ugly pedestal fountains out. Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland's fountains come directly out of the water, which is a much sleeker look. Hopefully that is the case as well. I am soooo happy Cedar Fair bought these parks. In the begin, I thought they would become generic parks because of the way Cedar Fair didn't care much about atmosphere or theming in the past. But they are returning the Taft parks to their former glory after the destruction that Paramount did. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goettablitz Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 This has me really excited! I-street is the first impression a guest has when walking through the gates. I already thought it looked good but there is always room for improvement. On my personal bucket list of improvements that I hoped would come to KI was new fountains with choreographed shows. I thought that at the end of the day the fountains could also be choreographed with the fireworks. Very excited for this! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivertown Rider Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I'm very excited to see IS brought back to its former glory. Hopefully they don't take out all the trees in the process but I look forward to seeing what is in store. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeastFarmer Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Please keep the pedestals! It's very ironic that this was released today. Last night I was looking at YouTube videos of Canada's Wonderland IS and I thought to myself how much nicer the KI Royal Fountain looks. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightoffear1996 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 57 minutes ago, super7 said: This is awesome news! This is actually the best improvement they could make at the park IMO. Kings Island's International Street has been way outdated and not-so-nice for a while. Lack of shade. The hideous white picnic tables. Tables right up against the walkways. King's Dominion's International Street is so much nicer that present KI. Kings Dominion has lots of wonderful trees and lush landscaping. There is shade EVERYWHERE. There are nice umbrella tables by the fountain to sit, and they are separated from the walkways with landscape islands. Let's hope that King's Islands ends up like this as well. Lets hope the plant more TREES! King's Dominion International Street at Winterfest also blew way the Kings Island version. It was much more immersive with the lights in the trees all above you wherever you were walking. Although King's Island's Snowflake lake was better because it was lower in the ground and more visible. It looks like they are taking the ugly pedestal fountains out. Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland's fountains come directly out of the water, which is a much sleeker look. Hopefully that is the case as well. I am soooo happy Cedar Fair bought these parks. In the begin, I thought they would become generic parks because of the way Cedar Fair didn't care much about atmosphere or theming in the past. But they are returning the Taft parks to their former glory after the destruction that Paramount did. The best thing is I would assume the parks are biggest part of Cedar Fair income so they actually care about them. During the Paramount days it was hardly a drop in the bucket income wise for CBS. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I think the fountain change will help immensely during winterfest. Larger ice rink without fountains in the middle of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upstop Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 True. And Bellagio style shows in the fountain will be fantastic! Also.... does this new makeover include a new entry gate? Are they going to update the International restaurant too? Are they cutting out the trees? (I hope not). Perhaps they are adding additional shops and restaurants too or are they only updating facades.... hmmmm can’t wait to see the results. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Theater Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 This is so great to hear!! I was discussing a makeover of international street not too long ago in another topic. I cannot wait to see the outcome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperial79 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Keep the fountains and pedestals, its an iconic look for KI when you walk into the park. Not every park should be the same. I like the way the Royal Fountain is better then what KD or CW has, they all look great in their own way though! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upstop Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Perhaps a show like this will be in the fountain (although on a smaller scale) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 For starters, looks like the fencing around the fountain is being replaced with a masonry wall, which would fit in with the claim that guests will be able to get closer to the fountain than before. Of course, how long before someone(s), decide to jump what looks to be a low fence and into the fountains? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoman Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I think the fountain change will help immensely during winterfest. Larger ice rink without fountains in the middle of it. I don’t want them to get rid of the pedestals. There’s still plenty of room to skate around them especially now that they took out 2 of them during Winterfest. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Found some pics in our gallery of early IS fountains and path. I wonder how close it will be to this for 2019? 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Here is an interesting tidbit that has slipped through the cracks: It was mentioned that the International Street Bandstand would also be expanded. This is both an upgrade and a logistical piece. It’s a not-so-kept secret that the Bandstand is simply the roof of the pump house for the fountains. The current fountain setup consists of sand filters, which are an old technology. These are very large - about the size of a Smart Car and a half. These will likely be replaced with cartridge filters that will both increase the fountain’s turbidity and be able to handle the PSI associated with the new fountain technology. These are much smaller. To remove the old sand filters would be an interesting feat. You could cut them up, or (more likely) destroy the stage and remove them vertically. So the fact that the Bandstand is being redone and the fountains are being redone at the same time. I am familiar with the “show fountain” technology that is typically used, but do not know the specifics of what they are doing. Kings Dominion has a pump house the size of Kings Island’s current one, but their fountain lacks the inherent complexity of KI’s. I have a feeling that more space is needed. The cool part about this is that, if they do essentially raze the Bandstand then they have a fantastic opportunity to start from scratch and build it in a manner that meets the needs of 2019 and beyond. Don’t forget that for the core season, Peanuts Celebration, and Winterfest, they extended the stage with large risers, which may not be necessary moving forward. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HandsUp Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Sweet--Just don't touch the Don Quixote statue! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
139Signal27 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I hope the "street" is put back into International Street. I like that in the photos above, there is a distinction between the "street" and the "sidewalk". For accessibility reasons, the sidewalks don't need to be raised curbs, they could just be a different style of pavers. I also like having tables with umbrellas along the buildings rather than along the fountain. I think it adds to the street-like atmosphere. I wonder if the widening of the pathways has something to do with the new parade next year? Also, I hope the horrible pastel paint colors will be a thing of the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beasttamer Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I love this, but I must say I'm on team keep the fountains. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KI Fan75 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I have to agree, I’m quite excited about the upgrades being made but also hope they keep the pedestals. I also hope they don’t have to paint the floor of the fountain a dark color like they’ve had to do with KD and CW in order to hide the mechanics. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 hour ago, KI Fan75 said: I have to agree, I’m quite excited about the upgrades being made but also hope they keep the pedestals. I also hope they don’t have to paint the floor of the fountain a dark color like they’ve had to do with KD and CW in order to hide the mechanics. I really hope you’re right too. 4 hours ago, Imperial79 said: Keep the fountains and pedestals, its an iconic look for KI when you walk into the park. Not every park should be the same. I like the way the Royal Fountain is better then what KD or CW has, they all look great in their own way though! What I’m thinking is that based on the fact that the pedestals are clearly being painted in the photos they’re here to stay. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterfestguy Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Wonder if they will put back the two pedestals taken out for Winterfest back in place to restore to the original 6 pedestals or will they only put back the four shown in the picture (thereby making future Winterfest conversions a bit easier). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 FYI... just to add some tid-bits here... The "Pedestals" you see today were altered for either the 2nd or 3rd season of operation. Originally, the water bowls sat on top of the simple round cylindrical "tubes." Later, for decoration (and added support) the bowls were given 8 support arms each. In the pictures above you can see how the original pedestal "tubes" still exist and the original bowls with the later-added arms sit over top of them. The original IS configuration's street-scapes, curbs etc were all removed/altered for the first Winterfest in 1982. That's also when the "trees" were added along the fountains. The pavers on IS are the oldest in the park - and were added many seasons (1982) before other areas in KI - they have been repaired/replaced a few times over the years. The fountain and its filtration system was completely overhauled in 2003 due to a severe series of "cracks" that left the original concrete crumbling and leaking underground in places. Basically, they built a fountain over the fountain. This was also done in prep for the return of the 2005 Winterfest. For 2005's Winterfest, additional pathways from IS down to the fountain were added for access to the ice-rink. There is a long-standing rumor that a capsule of personal momentos may have been placed under IS by the original designers/contractors. But I've never had it verified officially. 18 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 What I’m thinking is that based on the fact that the pedestals are clearly being painted in the photos they’re here to stay. Which picture shows the pedestals being painted? They look like rusted crap to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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