KI's good and not-so-good decisions

[Dj325]

KI has many decisions, like adding a new attraction, removing an old ride, or even change in park operations/rules/management. Some of these decisions/changes that the park has made, were met with some pretty positive reactions. Other decisions, unfortunately, not so much. What do you think has been Kings Island's best decision/change that they've made, and which one has been their worst?

Most importantly: Please be respectful of other people's opinions. I want to keep this thread as friendly and welcome as possible.

ENJOY!

[SnakePlissken]

The worst thing Cedar Fair has done and maybe the only really bad thing was removing recaR. The best was bringing back Winterfest for 2017.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Imo the worst decision CF wise was removing Nickelodeon Universe and replacing it with Snoopy mainly since Nick Universe was still fairly new when they changed it. I understand why they did it though with licensing and all that. The worst KI wise (even though I wasn't around yet) was probably changing Phantom Theater into Scooby Do and eventually Boo Blasters. The best thing they did imo was definitely listening to us and building a giga coaster (even though the stats were less than what we wanted, but it's still a $30M giga coaster so I'm not complaining).

[silver2005]

Any and all decisions regarding Son of Beast aside from tearing it down. 

Removing the trams. 

 

[flightoffear1996]

IJST area ruined the charm of the park.

[DiamondBeast]

3 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

The worst KI wise (even though I wasn't around yet) was probably changing Phantom Theater into Scooby Do and eventually Boo Blasters. 

I feel kind of alone on this when on KiC, but I loved the Scooby Ride. I used to ride the ride over and over again, and I wasn't the only one according to a lot of people I've talked to. Don't get me wrong Phantom Theater seems like a very creative and amazing ride, but  I thought Scooby was a colorful, charming, and friendly feeling ride. 

Anyway, I think the best decision the park has made so far is building The Beast instead of rebuilding the Shooting Star. And the worst decision was building The Son of Beast.   

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

46 minutes ago, DiamondBeast said:

I feel kind of alone on this when on KiC, but I loved the Scooby Ride. I used to ride the ride over and over again, and I wasn't the only one according to a lot of people I've talked to. Don't get me wrong Phantom Theater seems like a very creative and amazing ride, but  I thought Scooby was a colorful, charming, and friendly feeling ride. 

Anyway, I think the best decision the park has made so far is building The Beast instead of rebuilding the Shooting Star. And the worst decision was building The Son of Beast.   

Scooby was definitely better than Boo Blasters. Boo Blasters imo just feels like a repurposed Scooby Doo themed attraction. Plus I think adding the fun TV's in the queue of Boo Blasters really killed the feel of the building. 

[SonofBaconator]

59 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Boo Blasters imo just feels like a repurposed Scooby Doo themed attraction. 

I mean it is. All of the scenes haven't changed, they just changed out the Snoopy Doo IP to basic scary characters. The only major changes were the Boocifer projections, the Boocifer animatronic and the skeleton finale. Other than that it didn't really change all that much. I'm sure it saved them a ton of money to make minor changes vs having to start from scratch.

[PKIDelirium]

I keep hoping they'll repurpose the ride again for a proper dark ride, because unlike the stock Sally installations of Boo Blasters like at other parks, they still have a perfectly good ride vehicle/conveyance system for use as an all-out dark ride like Phantom Theater was.

When it comes to Cedar Fair additions, and I know this is probably petty and I might be the only person to even think of this, was the "covered bridge" on KMAA. Instead of one pond in the middle with the "dueling" track sections being on an actual covered bridge like the originals, they made a faux covered bridge that's basically just a tunnel made to look like a bridge.

[Vortex1987]

On 12/21/2020 at 3:19 PM, SnakePlissken said:

The worst thing Cedar Fair has done and maybe the only really bad thing was removing recaR. The best was bringing back Winterfest for 2017.

Racer is still there? 

[SnakePlissken]

1 hour ago, Vortex1987 said:

Racer is still there? 

Am I mistaken that Racer backwards was called recaR?

[KI Guy]

^ No, you are correct.

[Dj325]

Backwards Racer was basically the regular ride experience, except one major difference. They had one train facing forwards while the other train, however, was facing BACKWARDS. 

[medford]

Worst decision, SoB and everything involved with it.  From the cheap build, to the boring layout, to the patchwork fixes, the whole dang thing.  Had they waited 5 years, for what they spent they could have had one of the best wooden coasters in the world, to complement its other "one of the best wooden coasters in the world" on the other side of the park.

 

Best decisions:  The entrance and layout.

[befat]

On 12/22/2020 at 6:31 PM, SnakePlissken said:

Am I mistaken that Racer backwards was called recaR?

recaR was used widely on this forum. The park never used that officially, as far as I know. For the Ride Ops, it was and still is Racer North and Racer South. When I was a kid, we simply called it backwards Racer.

The only place I can think of where the backwards side would have been addressed would be the signage where the queue was split at the entrance. Anyone remember what those signs said? I think it was just "forwards" and "backwards."

[Born_in_'72]

I know that I have seen (both photos and in person) one of the tombstones at Haunt that has Recar on it.

[Allthingskingsisland]

Best decision - Building Diamondback lol 

Worst decision - Boo Blasters 

I typically go to boo blasters often but really only because I like to try and do every attraction in the park each visit. I miss phantom theater 

[DiamondBeast]

On 12/24/2020 at 9:24 AM, befat said:

recaR was used widely on this forum. The park never used that officially, as far as I know. For the Ride Ops, it was and still is Racer North and Racer South. When I was a kid, we simply called it backwards Racer.

The only place I can think of where the backwards side would have been addressed would be the signage where the queue was split at the entrance. Anyone remember what those signs said? I think it was just "forwards" and "backwards."

 

Is this it. It was taken at the sign shop during a BeastBuzz. Here's the link: ACE Beast Bash 2006 - October 7 - Sign Shop - KIExtreme Photo Gallery

[SonofBaconator]

Paramount made decisions that would best fit their brand and not necessarily the parks and because of this, a lot of the old charm left the park. Great rides like Phantom Theater, the original Antique Cars, the eagles, and Kenton's Cove were all sacrificed for the brand. Again they were a movie company so they saw the parks as ways to promote their brand but it did damage that Cedar Fair had to fix. Unlike movie parks like Universal Studios and Disney, Paramount wasn't necessarily able to start off with a clean slate so they had to work with parks that had their own identity. I wouldn't call it a bad decision on Kings Island's part, but more so on Paramount.

Cedar Fair has already brought back smaller versions of the antique cars and the eagles. I wonder if they have any interest in bringing back the old Phantom Theater IP and Kenton's Cove. It would be a huge shock if we ever saw a large scale log flume return to the park.