Kings Island 2021 Discussion

[JimParker85]

It was a legit light crowd during the first half of the day on Saturday. I was shocked. We have the all season Fast Lane, but standby lines for the big 5 were all low. Mystic was only 2 switchbacks. Crowds increased after 5-6pm, but overall it felt, at worst, like just a standard busy day.

Friday evening was similar, although we observed some of the fastest operations I've ever seen at the park on 7/2, the 3 B&M crews were lightning fast. 

[disco2000]

Be glad KI has mostly their operating hours back!

It is unfortunate there were issues with our fireworks display last night, but it could have been worse from a guest perspective.

Kings Dominion hours this year are 11am to 7pm and Soak City noon-6pm.

They did fireworks yesterday and will today at close.

Yes fireworks at 7pm.

Someone was nice enough to post the 7pm show to Youtube.  It is about as you would expect LOL.

 

And hee haw y'all, Coney Mall is no longer country.  70s classic rock or Racer Radio vibes 

[Thabto]

That is an embarrassment! They should have just scrapped their fireworks plans or found some way to do it when it was dark. You could barely see those fireworks. And looks like those glasses did absolutely nothing.  All you could really do was hear them. The money spent on those fireworks could've gone to better use rather than set them off when it was still daylight. 

[shadowscare]

I used to shoot professional fireworks displays as a side gig (pretty much everyone who does so, does it as a side gig), including the KI displays. I still have connections in the industry. I'm told through a friend of mine that a 6" shell was accidentally loaded upside down. Long story short, that's a catastrophe waiting to happen. Anyway, when it blew the show was stopped immediately. Thankfully no one was hurt.

[BoddaH1994]

8 hours ago, shadowscare said:

I used to shoot professional fireworks displays as a side gig (pretty much everyone who does so, does it as a side gig), including the KI displays. I still have connections in the industry. I'm told through a friend of mine that a 6" shell was accidentally loaded upside down. Long story short, that's a catastrophe waiting to happen. Anyway, when it blew the show was stopped immediately. Thankfully no one was hurt.

Talking about the KI fireworks fiasco?

[shadowscare]

35 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Talking about the KI fireworks fiasco?

Yes.

I'm a little surprised they stopped the show completely. I've had shells malfunction and blow in the tube, and we would just skip that damaged rack of tubes and jump forward in the show a bit to keep it going. This one must of been pretty bad, or some extenuating circumstances that forced the lead tech or the AHJ on site to shut it down.

[BoddaH1994]

30 minutes ago, shadowscare said:

Yes.

I'm a little surprised they stopped the show completely. I've had shells malfunction and blow in the tube, and we would just skip that damaged rack of tubes and jump forward in the show a bit to keep it going. This one must of been pretty bad, or some extenuating circumstances that forced the lead tech or the AHJ on site to shut it down.

I understand that the explosion was pretty catastrophic which might have accounted for him stopping the show. I’m wondering if the finale pods and/or modules were damaged and that’s why it didn’t go. If that’s the case I’m surprised he was able to start it again.  But stopping would have been the correct thing thing to do if it were that extensive. It’s not like it’s a barge show. 

[BoddaH1994]

30 minutes ago, shadowscare said:

Yes.

I'm a little surprised they stopped the show completely. I've had shells malfunction and blow in the tube, and we would just skip that damaged rack of tubes and jump forward in the show a bit to keep it going. This one must of been pretty bad, or some extenuating circumstances that forced the lead tech or the AHJ on site to shut it down.

I understand that the explosion was pretty catastrophic which might have accounted for him stopping the show. I’m wondering if the finale pods and/or modules were damaged and that’s why it didn’t go. If that’s the case I’m surprised he was able to start it again.  But stopping would have been the correct thing thing to do if it were that extensive. It’s not like it’s a barge show. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

Being at Hershey and today at Dorney, I have such of an appreciation for Kings Island's dispatch times. We have no idea how lucky we are at KI. Every other park needs to strive to be like KI. They do set the standard.

[JimParker85]

The dispatch times we experienced and observed two weeks ago at Dorney on Hydra and Talon were so bad. Steel Force was much better, but my god those two B&Ms were so slow. Not to be outdone, the Candymonium and Fahrenheit crews at Hershey were even worse. Agree 100% that Kings Island ops are in another world. 

[MDMC01]

It’s open…

[silver2005]

^KIC meet up incoming. 

Still think we need a RT Freestyle open/close thread. 

[MDMC01]

What a great day in the park it was tonight! Spent a few hours with my friend and we had a blast! Rode Blue Racer, Orion (including an amazing front row night ride), WindSeeker, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers and Adventure Express. Also got to see Busker Jam and took part in the Area 72 dance party not once, but twice. Though I probably stayed for a total of 20 minutes, I really enjoyed the dance party and hope to attend longer next time as the time I did spend on the dance floor was amazing. Also, I breakdanced for the first time in forever. Also, that Orion night ride was epic. On the first drop, it looked like the orange lap bar disappeared (as it was so dark out) and that was crazy. Also, the speed of the ride kept me pinned to my seat as we blurred past every twist and turn. In a word, I was "shooketh"; it was most definitely worth the post-fireworks wait. Also ran into @malem, @pianoman, @Gannersdaddy and others enjoying Coasterstock today. Speaking of Coasterstock, my friend and I could see the Q&A from Diamondback's brake run, which was cool (it's also cool that they are using that theater again for something)

[chuck norris]

Interesting experience today on wind seeker.
After multiple attempts to check the seats of larger riders, they announced that there was an issue and that a few riders would need to exit the ride.
They then proceeded to ask ALL the larger riders to exit (there were 5 different seats that were asked to exit) I’ve never seen this before for one person, let alone 5.

My question… does wind seeker not have the ability to alert the ride ops to exactly what seat isn’t “closing”? And thus they have to try to guess which seats… and if they can’t guess it right after a few tries they just have to remove all the larger people and then they know they “got it” when they ride says it’s all ready?

It really didn’t seem like the coasters, where they can call out a specific seat number and then they check it and push on it until the main operator gives them the thumbs up… it’s like they had to get everyone right… then check…


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[MDMC01]

'Twas a good day in the park today. It was somewhat crowded, but still managed to ride Adventure Express, Orion (twice, once in the front- I love the front, even though the speed pretty much forces me to close my eyes), Xtreme Skyflier (hadn't done that since 2019), The Bat (had a bumpy ride in 3-1), Delirium (pretty relaxing; all I need is a small pillow lol), Beast (stapled myself and it felt like an earthquake lol), and Mystic Timbers. Also saw Busker Jam and saw some Carnivale stuff.

Spoiler

Good to see Cirque acts are making a comeback and oh-my-gosh they have a baton guy! Fun Fact: I was super inspired after seeing Origins (and probably Blood Drums) that I started twirling a stick around for a while - glad to see that's actually a "thing" now and not just the fire version.

I also messed up the scavenger hunt (I did it in the wrong order lol), but still had a ton of fun (I plan on seeing the parade next Saturday). On a final note, I ran into so many people today (mostly during Carnivale) and it was great catching up with old friends.

-MDMC, who heard the fireworks from his bedroom as he typed this

[disco2000]

Another fight on 7/18 that made the news.  Glad to see the park issued a statement indicating they were banned from the park, in addition to facing charges for their violence.  Don't know if that will deter the incidents, but maybe someone will think twice knowing there are going to be consequences for their actions.

https://local12.com/news/local/two-people-are-facing-assault-charges-after-a-fight-inside-kings-island-cincinnati

[NightlyBeast]

Looks like its gonna take something really serious to happen for them to actually make a chaperone policy. Unfortunate. 

[brenthodge]

This was discussed on NEXTDOOR where the parent posted the events that happened. They said the kids (attacked) were with the parents the whole day and had no issues. When they let the kids go off on their own, the daughter called within an hour saying they were being attacked for NO REASON. I’m certainly not saying violence should ever be the solution, but interesting that the attack was “totally unprovoked” yet the parents weren’t around to really know if words weren’t shared both ways. There’s often nuances to a story, especially when you are relying on kuds account, that get lost in the shuffle. 

[Benjamin22]

7 hours ago, NightlyBeast said:

Looks like its gonna take something really serious to happen for them to actually make a chaperone policy. Unfortunate. 

The article says one of the attackers was in his 20’s, not sure what a chaperone policy would have done at all in this situation. As Brenthodge mentioned there’s a lot we don’t know about this situation.

[King Ding Dong]

For awhile I was on board with the chaperone policy idea but not so sure about that now.  Starting to think the park just needs to upgrade its clientele and could take some measures to benefit society as well.  
 

I am thinking some more stringent polices should be enacted like high schools do for extra-curriculares.  Something like this perhaps.

 

 

Bonus: Include the formal proof and you can enter the FLP line.  

[medford]

After reading some of the recent comments here, are Sundays the new Wednesdays at KI?  Went after church yesterday, expecting it to be fairly crowded but hoping the early morning rain (that happened before most woke up) might lessen things a bit.  Got to the park around 10:30 and lines at the parking lot were light, got a spot up fairly close.  Got into the park shortly before 11:00, got my youngest son measured (oh so close to 48") while the wife and oldest son went to ride Orion.  Shortly after getting him measured (or perhaps while he was getting his band) they had rope drop so we walked back to Planet Snoopy.  0 wait for FAAC, my son and daughter got front row, I got second and I think there were 2-4 other people on the train.  Jumped over to woodstock express and again a station wait.  By the time we were done, my 2 youngest wanted to ride it again, so I had them get in line and I was texting with my wife who was off of Orion and headed back our way.  Line at Woodstock Express had grown to a 3-4 train wait as parents and their kids started getting there, nothing terrible but my wife was at WE before my kids even got on again.  Daughter wanted to ride Mystic Timbers for the first time (she's finally braving up a bit) so we headed there while my wife and youngest son did the peanut 500.  Mystic at 0 line, got front row seats with my daughter on her first ride.  As we got off, my wife meet us there and rode with her for her second ride and again it was station wait.

Two youngest wanted to do WWC, so I took them there kinda expecting some sort of line with the hot humid weather, nope, they were sending out empty boats.  Wife and oldest son rode The Beast with maybe a 5-10 min wait.

Next was Stunt coaster, with about a 10 min wait, lunch, then Racers with a station wait (twice).  Banshee was maybe 5 minutes.  Congo falls was a station wait, Viking Fury the same.  Back to Planet Snoopy and the Pumpkin coaster was a 10 min wait, Beastie was down to a 5 min wait, maybe less and nobody was in line for boo blasters (seemed darker in there, and odd that they had no line separator, not that you really needed one).

Super fun day, got in way more rides than I ever would anticipate.  Think my daughter is ready to do The Bat next time, and The Beast.  She's growing confidence on coasters that she didn't have even a few months ago.  Racers were waaaaaayyyyyyy to big in May, now they look tiny   I think she realizes that once her younger brother hits 48" he's gonna want to ride everything that opens up to him.

 

Oh, one other thought, when we were at CP a couple of weeks ago, I took notice, and appreciation for the old ride height signs that Melt had in on display.  Would love to see those come back as they add a bit of theming for each ride that is unique from the last, plus a good photo opp.

Approx wait times would be nice as well, not that you needed them yesterday but noticed those aren't even shown on the rides we were on.

[kikid74]

Are they doing early ride times for passholders? I see the park official opening time is 11am and when we went earlier this year, they didn’t have 10:30am rides. I see it’s advertised on their website, but wondering what the actual experience is. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

14 hours ago, kikid74 said:

Are they doing early ride times for passholders? I see the park official opening time is 11am and when we went earlier this year, they didn’t have 10:30am rides. I see it’s advertised on their website, but wondering what the actual experience is. 

Yes 1/2 hr before park opening at 11. Here are the details: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/season-passes/early-ride-times

[Benjamin22]

Has anyone else had trouble finding hand sanitizer inside the park? This has probably become one of the worst aspects to my trips to Kings Island. From personal experience nearly every hand sanitizer station I try to use is empty. It’s especially disappointing that even the stations located in or near the restaurants are usually empty. 

[disco2000]

If they are filled, it isn't very frequently since the restrictions were lifted.  Ones that I have seen empty have remained empty each time I tried it.

Many have looked like this for weeks.  And some have been removed as well.

[JbGbat7]

I
Awesome meal for a guy 3 1/2 hours Northwest of Cincinnati


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[PatchesC]

Anyone else getting their Halloween costume ready for Haunt? Think my 12yo is a bit overzealous 

[brenthodge]

Finally caught BuskerJam last night in my “solo farewell to Carnivale” night. What a great show and what a bad venue! I felt for these guys trying to engage the crowd that couldn’t see for the throngs walking through. They definitely need to rope off a bit of the space to force the people walking through BEHIND the audience. It got better as it went on. I love these little “pop up” shows that they have gone this year (as well as brew beats) but I hope they develop these venues a bit more. Would be cool if they could integrate them into the area more so they don’t look as much like temporary trade show booths, and have better crowd control. Brewbeats is great in that it’s ON the midway without being IN the midway. I don’t think they need to be a “sit down in a theatre” type of setting, but a better placement would help the experience. 

[JimParker85]

The yearly reminder about the end of daily operations has gone out, complete with the yearly surprised reactions in the Facebook comments.

One of these years, I really wish they'd try to figure a way to stay open through August. Although not ideal, I feel like something similar to what Carowinds and Dominion just announced, (the 5 hour day with limited ride offering) could work with the staffing and school issues. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

17 minutes ago, JimParker85 said:

The yearly reminder about the end of daily operations has gone out, complete with the yearly surprised reactions in the Facebook comments.

One of these years, I really wish they'd try to figure a way to stay open through August. Although not ideal, I feel like something similar to what Carowinds and Dominion just announced, (the 5 hour day with limited ride offering) could work with the staffing and school issues. 

I am surprised Kings Dominion and Carowinds added those days to their calendars while Kings Island did not. Does anyone know when schools go back in Doswell and Charlotte? Also, I wonder if Kings Island is going to remain closed for the majority of September this year like they did pre pandemic. I know Kings Island makes a ton of money from park buyouts and group sales, but the weather is September is usually really nice, and it is a great time to be at the park.