1 hour ago, HandsUp said:

There is a massive amount of real estate back there. Seems like the main gateway would be to open up the area around SOB's station into a larger access point (if they were to put more back there). Mentioned it before, but I could also see losing the games by Racer (where Skylab was) and having that be an access point to Area 72 and points east/north

They would have to get very creative to use that land down by the SOB station if they don't want to remove Bat. Especially since both coasters back there are suspended type coasters. 

1 hour ago, HandsUp said:

There is a massive amount of real estate back there. Seems like the main gateway would be to open up the area around SOB's station into a larger access point (if they were to put more back there). Mentioned it before, but I could also see losing the games by Racer (where Skylab was) and having that be an access point to Area 72 and points east/north

I think losing that small bandstand behind the Coke Freestyle (BUT NOT THE Coke FREESTYLE STAND ITSELF (lol @King Ding Dong))and building a path there could be an expansion opportunity for Oktoberfest. And as far as using the L.C.S land, I would imagine they would move the path a bit south towards Banshee's exit along the SOB station and in between The Bat and Banshee.

They could tear down the SOB queue, put in a flat or dark ride in that area and maybe build a station to a coaster on the other side of those turnarounds. 

On 2/14/2020 at 1:46 PM, Klabergian Empire said:

I think losing that small bandstand behind the Coke Freestyle (BUT NOT THE Coke FREESTYLE STAND ITSELF (lol @King Ding Dong))and building a path there could be an expansion opportunity for Oktoberfest. And as far as using the L.C.S land, I would imagine they would move the path a bit south towards Banshee's exit along the SOB station and in between The Bat and Banshee.

I'm in favor of replacing the Coke Freestyle Stand with an old fashioned Pepsi stand.

1 hour ago, SnakePlissken said:

I'm in favor of replacing the Coke Freestyle Stand with an old fashioned Pepsi stand.

Guess who just got a week ban!!

LOL, just kidding. 

^Its like poking a hornets nest.  I feel an epic KDD response coming. 

I will need to sleep on this but won’t dismiss it outright.  Never had a strong brand preference.

 

 

I take Snake at his word.  Old fashioned is intriguing but kind of labor intensive.

Cedar Fair has been cleaning up the coaster collection.    Everything they have installed at the park has been excellent. And the coasters they have removed have been rough.   Invertigo and Junkyard Coaster are the only crap coasters left in the park now.    The removal of both and replacement with quality attractions would be great improvements to the park. 

24 minutes ago, super7 said:

Cedar Fair has been cleaning up the coaster collection.    Everything they have installed at the park has been excellent. And the coasters they have removed have been rough.   Invertigo and Junkyard Coaster are the only crap coasters left in the park now.    The removal of both and replacement with quality attractions would be great improvements to the park. 

I think Backlot is a fine ride, a launch family coaster complements Kings Islands Collection. If Backlot was re-themed I think it’d be fine.

2 hours ago, King Ding Dong said:

I will need to sleep on this but won’t dismiss it outright.  Never had a strong brand preference.

 

 

I take Snake at his word.  Old fashioned is intriguing but kind of labor intensive.

Something like this.

5 hours ago, Benjamin22 said:

I think Backlot is a fine ride, a launch family coaster complements Kings Islands Collection. If Backlot was re-themed I think it’d be fine.

The Junkyard coaster is a fun ride.  It's just out of place.  I too, hope for a retheming and clean up of the area.  

12 hours ago, SnakePlissken said:

I'm in favor of replacing the Coke Freestyle Stand with an old fashioned Pepsi stand.

It is the choice of the new generation.

Source: Pop Rewind

 

I honestly think for the forseeable future that Kings Island is going to be in a remove/replace mode.  We don't want to over expand the park for this area.

10 hours ago, SnakePlissken said:

Something like this.

Nah, not good enough.  Off to the quicksand pits for you.   My minions will be along to escort you shortly.  

32 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Nah, not good enough.  Off to the quicksand pits for you.   My minions will be along to escort you shortly.  

Wouldn't it be more efficient to send your minions to work the Rivertown Freestyle?

On 2/8/2020 at 10:54 PM, Kifranatic said:

As I sit here rubbing my crystal ball, I predict that The Bat, formerly known as Top Gun will be the next coaster to leave the park. Why? Because It's in a weird part of the park with the strangest entrance and exit design ever made. It's also one of the least popular rides in the park. Mark my words. 

I think your statement about it being in a weird spot in the park is a big reason why it could actually last longer. It is not one of the easier to develop spots, and aside from a couple of the turns towards the end of the ride near the old Son of Beast station it isn't really sitting on any prime land to use. I do think it does have it's days numbered as many of these types of coasters are slowly leaving but I feel it is safe for now.

I agree with others that Invertigo will likely be the next as it has horrible capacity and still often doesn't have real long lines. It and Congo Falls together make up a great plot for a new coaster/development. As well as boomerang coaster like this are also dropping like flies so it is likely not going to stick around for a real long time itself. I enjoy it it if I'm sitting in the outward facing seat on the end so I'm looking down for the first drop as it gives a bit of a Drop Tower type feel with watching the ground as you are pulled higher and then held there looking down, plus seeing the end of the track coming up when climbing the second lift. Outside of that I find the ride pretty average and usually get a bad headache, and just not with the wait so would be fine to see it go.

I think it will just be dismantled and nothing there for several years.  It was ridiculous that at the time new technology like b&m inverts were out and we got an outdated suspended coaster.

6 hours ago, purdude86 said:

I think your statement about it being in a weird spot in the park is a big reason why it could actually last longer. It is not one of the easier to develop spots, and aside from a couple of the turns towards the end of the ride near the old Son of Beast station it isn't really sitting on any prime land to use. I do think it does have it's days numbered as many of these types of coasters are slowly leaving but I feel it is safe for now.

IIRC, the reason why the station is "weird" is to accommodate the complicated land The Bat sits on. If anything ever replaces it, it's likely to have a similar queue. But I wonder if it's possible to level and re-work the first portion of the path, the Blackout/Wolf Pack area. By the looks of it, if you take out SOB's queue, there appears to be enough room for a small attractions or two if they also use that space near Banshee's station.

Adding some sort of permanent attraction there might alleviate some of that "weirdness" and maybe, just maybe not make that trek to The Bat's station such a chore. 

I think it would be possible to have a flat (or two?) on the grassy area that is currently to the left of The Bat's queue. The area I am talking about occurs after you go under the tunnel and see The Bat in all it's glory. When you turn to the left to continue down the pathway (which eventually leads up and down some steps) there is a grassy area near where the old monorail storage building is. This is where I'm thinking a flat or two could go. Again, you'd still have to traverse the weird exit path that is a bottleneck during Haunt (with Wolf Pack, Blackout and The Bat's queues in close proximity to each other during Haunt), but maybe this could be opened up to be an official path (like, rip out some of The Bat queue near Blackout maybe and have the entrance queue start close to near where the "exit" is- where you can see the ride make that huge turn close to the pathway). Hope this makes sense.

I really hope The Bat doesn't leave us any time soon; it's one of my favorites!

I think the Bats insanely long que was a response to Vortex's que being too small when it opened and people standing halfway across the park to ride it 

7 hours ago, SnakePlissken said:

I think the Bats insanely long que was a response to Vortex's que being too small when it opened and people standing halfway across the park to ride it 

They still haven't found a nice middle ground though. If you are standing at the very end of Vortex's que it's only a 30 minute wait. If I had to stand all the way at the end of The Bat's... Well that's a scary thought. 

2 hours ago, Bdd127 said:

They still haven't found a nice middle ground though. If you are standing at the very end of Vortex's que it's only a 30 minute wait. If I had to stand all the way at the end of The Bat's... Well that's a scary thought. 

I stood in the line going all the way back to the underpass when it first opened.  I don't remember how long I waited but it seemed like around 3 hours.  The queue inside/under the station was really neat when you could see all the control rooms for an aircraft carrier.  Always looked for a video of the that queue but never found one.

I can concur. I was in line for Top Gun the summer it opened. It was around the entrance and was over 3 hours. 

On February 14, 2020 at 11:47 AM, HandsUp said:

There is a massive amount of real estate back there. Seems like the main gateway would be to open up the area around SOB's station into a larger access point (if they were to put more back there). Mentioned it before, but I could also see losing the games by Racer (where Skylab was) and having that be an access point to Area 72 and points east/north

 

I keep looking back at this map and am wondering about the possibility of shortening The Bat's line. Does anyone know if it is possible tear up the queue to just beyond Wolf Pack and moving the entrance there?

 

On 2/16/2020 at 2:13 PM, coaster sally said:

I think it will just be dismantled and nothing there for several years.  It was ridiculous that at the time new technology like b&m inverts were out and we got an outdated suspended coaster.

Not every ride is supposed to push your body to its limits. Family coasters are an essential category for parks.

48 minutes ago, Joshua said:

I can concur. I was in line for Top Gun the summer it opened. It was around the entrance and was over 3 hours. 

 

I keep looking back at this map and am wondering about the possibility of shortening The Bat's line. Does anyone know if it is possible tear up the queue to just beyond Wolf Pack and moving the entrance there?

 

I'm not sure I understand what you mean? Changing the length or where the que starts will not change how far you have to walk to board The Bat. It is also not possible to move The Bat closer to Wolfpack. So yes you could tear up the que and make it shorter but why? 

15 minutes ago, SnakePlissken said:

I'm not sure I understand what you mean? Changing the length or where the que starts will not change how far you have to walk to board The Bat. It is also not possible to move The Bat closer to Wolfpack. So yes you could tear up the que and make it shorter but why? 

Possibly to fit another attraction, such as a flat or dark ride, at Wolf Pack's location.  

54 minutes ago, Joshua said:

Possibly to fit another attraction, such as a flat or dark ride, at Wolf Pack's location.  

An S&S screamin swing would fit very well in that plot of land. Finnegans flyer built at BGW sits on land that has a lot of topographic changes. 

I believe that there used to be a sign in The Bat`s queue, just after going through the tunnel (which is really a bridge for the maintenance road), that stated the line from that point was 45 minutes.  This was before they removed the queue area below the station, which really only could hold one or two trains worth of people anyway.

The land to the left of The Bat`s queue (between that and the former monorail building) has some significant grade changes.  Not to mention, it would be a far hike to get there, unless Timberwolf ever ended up leaving.

There are other spots where flats could (and should) go.  The grassy area behind the Eiffel Tower, adjacent to Diamondback`s brake run and behind the International Showplace (original home of the Salt Water Circus) comes to mind as a prime location for an attraction.  For a couple of years in the mid 2000`s, the park set up a tent on that plot of land for a Haunt.  I am kind of surprised nothing has ever come to that plot of land.  

7 hours ago, Joshua said:

Possibly to fit another attraction, such as a flat or dark ride, at Wolf Pack's location.  

But that means losing another Haunt location and I don't  really want that either. Haunt is my favorite time of year.

6 hours ago, SnakePlissken said:

But that means losing another Haunt location and I don't  really want that either. Haunt is my favorite time of year.

There is also some free space near Wolf Pack and closer to Banshee, but I can't remember what the land is like in that spot. But I also think Timberwolf is hogging some good real estate and to tell you the truth, I'd much rather see that go than Wolf Pack.