Adventure Port Construction Updates

[FUN&ONLY!]

1 hour ago, Shawn Meyer said:

Anyone know If they are laying pavement down yet for the area? I'm sure guests don't want to walk in gravel.

Crews were laying something down in the bottom left corner of the webcam today. It looked too smooth to be pavers but too dark to be plain concrete. It was like a brownish color. There were like 8 guys on the ground at one point working on whatever it was. To me, it seemed like they were smoothing out concrete. Maybe it was colored or textured concrete? Maybe it was just prep for concrete or pavers?

[teenageninja]

11 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I'm guessing they're going to have that area blocked off for now while they finish construction. 

In 2005 when they opened Backlot, they had the path between the Tower and Rivertown shutdown for a few weeks while they finished construction.  When I was on the ride crew that is what we did, we stood there and guarded the pathway all day long.  It was terrible.

[BeeastFarmer]

1 hour ago, teenageninja said:

In 2005 when they opened Backlot, they had the path between the Tower and Rivertown shutdown for a few weeks while they finished construction.  When I was on the ride crew that is what we did, we stood there and guarded the pathway all day long.  It was terrible.

But there are two other ways around that area, and the only thing that is in that area is Island Paradise. If the Adventure Port path is closed, Action Zone is a dead end, Coney malls main entrance is closed and you loose restrooms and several retail locations. 

That must have sucked to have to block the pathway. I hope it's not repeated this year!

[TombraiderTy]

14 hours ago, Kenban said:

Is anyone familiar enough with the history of Coney Island to know if a complete replacement of the Dodgem ride occurred between 1924 and 1972?  I believe it moved and that the cars were replaced but I have no idea if it was completely replaced all at once like what appears to have happened at Kings Island in 1986.

Here are all the times that the ride is mentioned in the Cincinnati's Coney Island book:

• Page 46, 1922: "Coney got a bumper car ride called the Dodgem. It was owned by A. H. Light of Cincinnati. John A. Miller of Miller and Baker designed and built a new dome-shaped building for the ride."
• Page 114, 1947: "Postwar model Dodgem cars were purchased."
• Page 130 and 143, section "1948 to 1961": Photos of ride cars on both pages that show one-person vehicles. The cars have the same bodies in the two photos, but detailing on the front is different - uncertain if they're different cars, or just updated.
• Page 165, 1962ish: "The wooden building that had housed the Whip, Cuddle Up, and Dodgem was torn down and replaced with a new steel one." (Note this implies the pre-1960s Dodgem building isn't the same as the dome-shaped 1922 one)
• Page 182, 1967: "New cars were purchased for the Dodgem."

[Kenban]

Personally based on that I have a hard time calling the ride in 1972 which was moved from Coney the same ride as what was installed in 1924.  It sounds like the ride was on at a minimum the 3rd set of cars and the second building.  It sounds different then what happened in 1986 at Kings Island, but likely by the time it moved in 1972 nothing of the original ride remained.

[mikejenkins1]

Well back to topic at hand,   did they pour concrete in the pathway or is that a base partly for bricks?

[brenthodge]

21 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

But there are two other ways around that area, and the only thing that is in that area is Island Paradise. If the Adventure Port path is closed, Action Zone is a dead end, Coney malls main entrance is closed and you loose restrooms and several retail locations. 

That must have sucked to have to block the pathway. I hope it's not repeated this year!

If AP path is closed, Action Zone can still have both paths (in front of and behind Festhaus) and it’s no more of a dead end than it always is, and the restroom and coney entrance are far enough to the right that if need be, the path could be open with the area to the left that is actually AP closed. I hope that area is closed so people aren’t walking through a half finished construction zone.

[BeeastFarmer]

2 hours ago, brenthodge said:

If AP path is closed, Action Zone can still have both paths (in front of and behind Festhaus) and it’s no more of a dead end than it always is, and the restroom and coney entrance are far enough to the right that if need be, the path could be open with the area to the left that is actually AP closed. I hope that area is closed so people aren’t walking through a half finished construction zone.

From my reading of the concert art and the clearing seen during Winterfest, AP will extend over to the other side of the pathway near Delirium.  So the pathway in front of Festhaus would be closed probably close to the drink stand. The pathway between Action Zone and Coney Mall is actually adventure port and would be a major closure to traffic flow.

As far as the path from tower garden to Coney Mall, the concept art showed it starting at the airbrush building and that's confirmed by the webcam view. It appears they have put in new, colored pavement close to the restroom so they might have a half path finished.

Loosing these important days so close to opening has to be devastating to timelines. I'm hoping they have hardscape complete by opening day. Softscape is usually behind at opening.

I guess we will find out in a few days!

 

[Born_in_'72]

Pouring lots of concrete on the webcams.  Trying not to read too much into it, as there is a lot we can't see, but it looks like the pathways may be finished by opening day!

[BeeastFarmer]

38 minutes ago, Born_in_'72 said:

Pouring lots of concrete on the webcams.  Trying not to read too much into it, as there is a lot we can't see, but it looks like the pathways may be finished by opening day!

Yes, they are working very hard and it looks like we have some good weather days coming up. Here's to hoping the paths can be open!

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Feels like a huge missed opportunity by not doing pavers tbh. I think the area would've looked a lot better with pavers. 

[BeeastFarmer]

Stained concrete might be much more thematically appropriate. Especially if it's textured ( I don't know the feasibility of textured hardscape in a high traffic area as it would be difficult to clean).  

 

[brenthodge]

19 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Stained concrete might be much more thematically appropriate. Especially if it's textured ( I don't know the feasibility of textured hardscape in a high traffic area as it would be difficult to clean).  

 

Disney does it all the time. I agree stamped and colored concrete would be better than pavers. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

After seeing pictures from Carowinds’ Aeronautica Landing Media Day, I am really impressed. The whole area honestly looks way better than the concept art. Adventure Port at Kings Island is a much smaller area, and I hope it at least lives up to the concept art. I fear that it’s theming is going to be minimal like Area 72, but I really want to be wrong.

[brenthodge]

6 hours ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

After seeing pictures from Carowinds’ Aeronautica Landing Media Day, I am really impressed. The whole area honestly looks way better than the concept art. Adventure Port at Kings Island is a much smaller area, and I hope it at least lives up to the concept art. I fear that it’s theming is going to be minimal like Area 72, but I really want to be wrong.

Yeah, I think Aeronautica Landing is gonna blow right past this mini “retheme” but hopefully that project is a sign of the type of things they have planned for all parks in the coming years. 

[Shawn Meyer]

Hopefully, this means that Adventure Express will be open on opening day.

[disco2000]

2 hours ago, Shawn Meyer said:

Hopefully, this means that Adventure Express will be open on opening day.

They have already announced Adventure Express will not be open.

[NegativeGs]

5 hours ago, disco2000 said:

They have already announced Adventure Express will not be open.

Invariably, I ride Adventure Express immediately after Banshee after entering the park. This opening day, I guess I'll have to start anticlockwise around the park.

[CoasterJack]

On 4/4/2023 at 10:37 PM, FUN&ONLY! said:

Crews were laying something down in the bottom left corner of the webcam today. It looked too smooth to be pavers but too dark to be plain concrete. It was like a brownish color. There were like 8 guys on the ground at one point working on whatever it was. To me, it seemed like they were smoothing out concrete. Maybe it was colored or textured concrete? Maybe it was just prep for concrete or pavers?

 

I saw a bit more construction today on the webcam and I believe you're right. The concrete appears to be an orange-ish brown, a bit brighter than the color of the pathways of Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom. Someone has also been snooping illegally around the park during construction with a drone and the footage pretty much confirms this. Seems that the pathway at least looks to be done in time for opening...

[nickvet419]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:13 AM, TOPGUN1993 said:

Oktoberfest still exists, just a little smaller. 

wikipage = updated

[ShedTreeBoi1]

What do ya'll think the future of Viking Fury is? It's in an odd location and it could fit the theme of Adventure Port really nicely if given a rename.

[brenthodge]

2 hours ago, ShedTreeBoi1 said:

What do ya'll think the future of Viking Fury is? It's in an odd location and it could fit the theme of Adventure Port really nicely if given a rename.

I thinks it’s future is it will stay where it is, be part of the Oktoberfest “mini land” off of international street and be just fine because that area can’t have any more “removed” from it and still be an “area” 

[beastfan11]

Cheers. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

Some pictures of Adventure Port from the Eiffel Tower. 

 

[brenthodge]

Wow. Seeing those pics reinforced my belief that the park wasn’t really planning on this for this season. Maybe it was an idea that had been pitched, but wasn’t approved till late late in the year, or maybe this was a corporate initiative that they got dropped on them late in the game, but this sure seems a way off if it had really been “in the planning stages” when it should’ve been. 

[brenthodge]

2 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Some pictures of Adventure Port from the Eiffel Tower. 

 

It’s going to scream “tropical” with all that lush vegetation filling all those planting areas in the ginormous sea of concrete. At least all the concrete will be hot to make it feel tropical. WTH is with that massive space with nothing to break it up?

[Aaron88stang]

It just seems so off for KI to not have so much of the new for the season items not completed. Feels more like Kennywood.  

[KIghostguy]

The colored concrete is nice, the planters being made out of stone instead of bricks like they were before is a nice upgrade. The Coke Refresh actually fits into the area around it, yay!

That being said, as has already been mentioned, it's surprising and disappointing that it's not finished. But this is something happening with all of Cedar Fair this year, it's not like we're alone. Zambezi Zinger at Worlds of Fun is still in the middle of being built, two of the rides for Aeronautica Landing at Carowinds are delayed another month(?), and while nothing official has been said, based on dr*ne footage from yesterday, there is still a long ways to go on Cedar Point's Boardwalk. I think the more unusual thing with Kings Island is how NOTHING is ready for opening day this year. Carowinds was at least able to open three of their five new rides on time, plus their new Terminal A restaurant. And Worlds of Fun had practically the entire park repainted over the off-season.

59 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

It’s going to scream “tropical” with all that lush vegetation filling all those planting areas in the ginormous sea of concrete.

They planted tropical palms in Jungle X-Pedition at Kings Dominion last year. As Adventure Port is still under construction, I'm hopeful they are able to plant some at Kings Island as well.

[mikejenkins1]

Well how come they are just now starting to build the new VIP lounge?    Was there today and saw it from top of Eiffel Tower.

There is nothing tricky about building that and why wait to opening date to start..... 

I could see the new rides area and that looks pretty good except no hardware on site.

[PKIDelirium]

I do wish they'd used the pottery-shaded concrete on the Mercado deck. Also, I'm wondering if there's additional concrete work to be done, considering the surfacing around the airbrush shirt building and the paths between it and Enrique's/Mercado are still old. Guess we'll see next weekend what gets done during the upcoming week.