Orion Construction Photos

[KIghostguy]

1 minute ago, SonofBaconator said:

Heck Mystic Timbers had some additional theming added to the station throughout the course of the 2017 season if I remember correctly

Yes, but I believe that was done from the park’s end and not part of the original plan. I’m not 100% on that, though.

[Fishely]

Soundtrack is at least done. I don’t see them cutting any theming even if it wasn’t pre-payed. For a 30 million dollar investment they’re going to spend some extra money (and it’s probably not even that much) to make it presentable.


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[FUN&ONLY!]

I really want some Orion/Area 72 updates from the park. I know COVID-19 probably made construction updates hard, but they have given us practically nothing compared to what they did with Mystic Timbers. I also think more construction updates from the park would limit people’s desires to fly drones over the park.

[FUN&ONLY!]

Didn’t Cedar Fair release its plans to cut investment for the 2020 and 2021 seasons in early April? Don’t you think the theming would have mostly been finalized by then?

[KIghostguy]

15 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

I really want some Orion/Area 72 updates from the park. I know COVID-19 probably made construction updates hard, but they have given us practically nothing compared to what they did with Mystic Timbers. I also think more construction updates from the park would limit people’s desires to fly drones over the park.

Totally agree. I know people will swoop in and say “It will ruin the surprise!” Absolutely not. They tried a similar strategy last year with International Street. As an employee, I saw the refurbished International Street three different times before opening day, and there were still surprises on opening day and over the next few weeks as everything in the project was completed.

This “surprise” strategy would have worked in probably 1986, but with the park’s social media so popular, there is no good reason for them to just be so quiet on updates with the largest investment in the park’s history. They were super quiet on updates even before coronavirus. It costs literally nothing to post new pictures to Instagram, and it comes with lots of benefits to the park—you get more positive coverage, you get a wider audience, you can get more people interested in the project.

Like you said, Mystic Timbers was nowhere near this quiet. I mean, that photo from a few weeks ago of Orion the dog in front of Orion’s entrance was the first official photo from the park of Area 72 since December. Unbelievable!

It’s nice to see the park take a lot of pride in what they add. Unfortunately, that pride and enthusiasm from the park’s side has not really translated into their infrequent updates. It almost makes Orion seem like an afterthought to the park.

[FUN&ONLY!]

Just now, KIghostguy said:

Totally agree. I know people will swoop in and say “It will ruin the surprise!” Absolutely not. They tried a similar strategy last year with International Street. As an employee, I saw the refurbished International Street three different times before opening day, and there were still surprises on opening day and over the next few weeks as everything in the project was completed.

This “surprise” strategy would have worked in probably 1986, but with the park’s social media so popular, there is no good reason for them to just be so quiet on updates with the largest investment in the park’s history. They were super quiet on updates even before coronavirus. It costs literally nothing to post new pictures to Instagram, and it comes with lots of benefits to the park—you get more positive coverage, you get a wider audience, you can interest more people.

Like you said, Mystic Timbers was nowhere near this quiet. I mean, that photo from a few weeks ago of Orion the dog in front of Orion’s entrance was the first official photo from the park of Area 72 since December. Unbelievable!

And that picture wasn’t even shared by the park!

[FUN&ONLY!]

One thing I REALLY hope the park does is replace the walkway under Racer. Walking under Racer, I hope that is not guests’ first impression of Area 72 as it is easily the worst looking walkway in the entire park, and I think it would be relatively cheap to repair. I think it would greatly enhance the overall look of Area 72!

[SonofBaconator]

I don't condone any type of behavior that violates park policies but enthusiasts are like hungry animals- if you don't feed them, they're going to search for their own food. That's why we have idiots flying stuff over the park and upsetting management. I think people felt deprived and wanted to find out stuff on their own. I'm sure the park is super proud of their giga but I think their quietness leads people to believe they aren't. Sometimes keeping things a mystery has unfortunate consequences.

[gforce1994]

It isn’t the park’s responsibility for them to provide info to enthusiasts.

The reason why the people broke park policy is because they have little respect for the park or the community.

[FUN&ONLY!]

10 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

It isn’t the park’s responsibility for them to provide info to enthusiasts.

The reason why the people broke park policy is because they have little respect for the park or the community.

I know it is not the park’s responsibility to supply us with pictures, but I feel like it builds anticipation and excitement when they share minor updates. For example, when they announced they were repainting Viking Fury, that got a lot of people talking, and it was such a small improvement. I think if they did the same with Orion it would gather much more attention and would create a sense of eagerness for guests to visit.
 

I also don’t want to encourage people flying over the park, but they would have less a reason to if the park shared more updates on their part. Either way, nobody should not be flying over the park for any purposes whatsoever.

[JimParker85]

I think parks could really enhance their social media content with park run drone footage. Good drone work always looks really nice. Some sunrise footage, construction updates, highlighting the excitement of the park. 

[SonofBaconator]

23 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

It isn’t the park’s responsibility for them to provide info to enthusiasts.

Here's my argument and maybe people won't agree with me: if I'm spending 30 million dollars on a ride, I'm going to market the heck out of it and try to give it as much exposure as possible. 

[gforce1994]

2 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

Here's my argument and maybe people won't agree with me: if I'm spending 30 million dollars on a ride, I'm going to market the heck out of it and try to give it as much exposure as possible. 

However, Orion is so large, the ride will practically market itself. The size of the ride will cause the ride to be widely talked about.

[SonofBaconator]

13 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

However, Orion is so large, the ride will practically market itself. The size of the ride will cause the ride to be widely talked about.

I'm sorry but as someone who has a background in marketing that logic is somewhat flawed. You still need to market your product to people regardless of what it is. 

Social media has given companies the ability to market their own product without having to rely heavily on commercials, tv advertisements, etc. Amusement parks can provide updates on their rides, show unique footage and camera angles, and can reach an audience so vast its literally world wide. 

If you're hoping the ride will market itself based solely off of height, without any additional tools or techniques, then you've lost a lot of potential exposure that could've built up anticipation and boosted ridership even more.

[PatchesC]

1 hour ago, SonofBaconator said:

I'm sorry but as someone who has a background in marketing that logic is somewhat flawed. You still need to market your product to people regardless of what it is. 

Social media has given companies the ability to market their own product without having to rely heavily on commercials, tv advertisements, etc. Amusement parks can provide updates on their rides, show unique footage and camera angles, and can reach an audience so vast its literally world wide. 

If you're hoping the ride will market itself based solely off of height, without any additional tools or techniques, then you've lost a lot of potential exposure that could've built up anticipation and boosted ridership even more.

Out of the approx 20 people I talk to daily and take breaks with maybe 3 were aware of Orion, and only 1 of them is hoping to ride "sometime". Even when they started the First Riders event people didn't know anything about a new KI ride until I had told them. So at least from my experience the marketing seems to be lacking. I don't think I've ever seen a KI commercial here either and I'm just over in Seymour.

[LovinMeSomeBanshee]

In the age of social media, Kings Island’s use of it has been disappointing.  They could do so, so much more to excite the  general public.  Instead of posting pictures to show the grand scale of their new baby, they choose to hide it, as if it being a surprise will generate chatter amongst the general public.  That’s not how enthusiasm works these days.

[JimParker85]

I agree, and I think it's an issue for a lot of parks. Busch never put out a POV of any kind for Iron Gwazi. Very little in the way of construction updates as well

[KI FANATIC 37]

5 hours ago, gforce1994 said:

However, Orion is so large, the ride will practically market itself. The size of the ride will cause the ride to be widely talked about.

You know you can respectfully disagree with decisions the park makes, right? Like that logic just isn’t how marketing works at all. 
 

I’m not one of those “angry enthusiasts who demands stuff”, but I have to agree the marketing for Orion, in my eyes, was subpar. We weren’t in the meetings so I’m sure there is stuff we don’t know, but I think that is fair to say. 

[teenageninja]

7 hours ago, KIghostguy said:

They were still working on specific plans for the theming in January. Unfortunately, I think it would be one of the easier things to cut. I sure hope I’m wrong, but I’m not that optimistic with so much capital getting eliminated in both 2020 and 2021.

Even if it wasn’t cut, I seriously doubt it will be fully installed by whenever opening day is. The Notice of Commencement from 2018 listed Daniels Wood Land, and they’re based out of California. It took me almost a month to get a single book from Amazon; who knows how long it would take to ship potential props or other elements from California?

Buying a book on Amazon and buying items direct from a company of which you have sent a Purchase Order to are two completely different things.  If Kings Island hadn't received any of the theming items prior to the start of COVID, they would likely still be on the hook for them by that point.  There were contractors working in the park up until late March and the park was due to open in April.  I find it HIGHLY unlikely that these things wouldn't have been installed.  Maybe not 100%, but I don't see the same argument.

[gforce1994]

6 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I'm sorry but as someone who has a background in marketing that logic is somewhat flawed. You still need to market your product to people regardless of what it is. 

Social media has given companies the ability to market their own product without having to rely heavily on commercials, tv advertisements, etc. Amusement parks can provide updates on their rides, show unique footage and camera angles, and can reach an audience so vast its literally world wide. 

If you're hoping the ride will market itself based solely off of height, without any additional tools or techniques, then you've lost a lot of potential exposure that could've built up anticipation and boosted ridership even more.

Also, it’s important to note, we’re coming off of one of the worst pandemics in modern history. Why would the park promote something that people may have not been able to ride due to the severity of the pandemic?

[SonofBaconator]

5 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

Also, it’s important to note, we’re coming off of one of the worst pandemics in modern history. Why would the park promote something that people may have not been able to ride due to the severity of the pandemic?

It wouldn't have been any different. There wasn't much marketing before the virus became an issue in the US.

[gforce1994]

4 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

It wouldn't have been any different. There wasn't much marketing before the virus became an issue in the US.

You market once a ride opens, as guests are able to ride it.

[Marc3E]

Do we really just have to rip on it? Like come on let’s just get excited for it plz...

[SonofBaconator]

1 minute ago, gforce1994 said:

You market once a ride opens, as guests are able to ride it.

I'm sorry but you have to do more than just that. Don't you want to expand your audience so you can have more guests ride it? 

Here's an example that supports my theory. The Bengals had the 1st pick in the 2020 draft and for months they kept hyping people up, teasing who they might pick and getting fans excited. When they eventually drafted Joe Burrow, their social media team didn't let up as they kept posting about their new qb every chance they got on their social media accounts. 

Any product you have you have to market it, even if people aren't able to experience it yet.

[Marc3E]

JULY 2ND-11TH TO PASSHOLDERS BOIS

[gforce1994]

Well, KI isn’t a sports team, the marketing of each business is a completely different field. 
In fact when KI reopens, I am willing to bet that more of the stuff released by the park will be related to park information rather than Orion.

[LovinMeSomeBanshee]

53 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

Well, KI isn’t a sports team, the marketing of each business is a completely different field. 
In fact when KI reopens, I am willing to bet that more of the stuff released by the park will be related to park information rather than Orion.

Here's my question:  what marketing HAS Kings Island done regarding Orion?  The answer:  not much.  And that's incredibly disappointing.  An Instagram post here, a Facebook post there.  I know if my park was spending $30 million on a new attraction, that would be posted EVERYWHERE.  Meanwhile, Kings Island takes the "surprise" approach.  Don't show them anything until they see it with their own eyes.  I can understand that - but that's for the people who already know a lot about Orion.  What about those people who don't know much at all about Orion?  The general public knows very little compared to enthusiasts.

[Maddog]

I've never understood KI's marketing philosophy...  Just like others here have posted, my interactions with with (non-enthusiast) people shows there is a significant lack of knowledge about a new coaster coming to the park this year.  

KI seems perfectly happy letting other groups do all the marketing for them (KIC, WildGravity, Amusement Insiders, FYE, heck even Local12 and WCPO).  Why not, they are free??   

They could have hyped this thing to the stars (pun intended).  Posting weekly building updates (like some of the above groups have done), and providing really high quality images and video.  Splash it all over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.  Keep a buzz going and constantly drive up sales.  But that takes effort and initiative.  Which, let's be honest, doesn't seem to be in the cards for Cedar Fair.  Bean counters rule in this day and age.

 

Sidenote:  It fascinates me that there are people out there who can continue to generate ongoing content over and over (even during this pandemic) and make money doing it!!  Ever heard of the Holderness Family?  They've been shared like crazy during this quarantine.  Yet KI literally can't take a gator/golf cart back to the construction site and snap/post a quick photo to drum up some online noise for their biggest investment.  

It is like they don't want to go bigger...

[BeastForever]

1 hour ago, Marc3E said:

Do we really just have to rip on it? Like come on let’s just get excited for it plz...

We're not ripping the ride. We're critiquing the marketing (or lack thereof) of it, which to me is completely fair game. Its said that the park does go here for general feedback. And that's what were giving here IMO. Completely constructive, honest feedback...

1 hour ago, gforce1994 said:

Well, KI isn’t a sports team, the marketing of each business is a completely different field. 

It is? At the end of the day, they both revolve around generating as much buzz as possible, whether it be for a new ride/attraction added to a park or, as mentioned above, a new player added to a team.

And that's where the disappointment stems. If KI had marketed and hyped Orion to the level that the Bengals did Joe Burrow, I assure you, there would be no complaints...

[Marc3E]

It is? At the end of the day, they both revolve generating as much buzz as possible, whether it be for a new ride/attraction added to a park or, as mentioned above, a new player added to a team.
And that's where the disappointment stems. If KI had marketed and hyped Orion to the level that the Bengals did Joe Burrow, I assure you, there would be no complaints...

I mean I was just thinking there are better things to talk about but you do you... I just wanna see some positive news and not have it get crushed...