KICentral Interviews Mike Koontz About Adventure Port

[IndyGuy4KI]

Brad Perdue with KICentral caught up with Mike Koontz, Vice President and General Manager of Kings Island to discuss the opening of Adventure Port.

 

 

A few highlights of the Interview.

• The inspiration for the theming.
• Why the two Zamperla rides installed?
• Why was Sol Spin the 24 seat model?
• The timeline of its opening.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

[KI FANATIC 37]

This is great to know. Thanks Brad. I appreciate how open and transparent Mike is!

[BeeastFarmer]

Thanks for this, Brad. Good to hear this information straight from the source. 

[SonofBaconator]

I’m glad he acknowledged that Sol Spin was a spiritual successor of Skylab.

[brenthodge]

I feel like KI is tremendously lucky to have Mike leading the team. Would be interesting to know what last few “bucket list” items he has before retiring in a few years. I really feel like the park has “returned” to the park it could always be because a lot of his “personal pet projects” reflect a deep respect for the history of the place. 

[SonofBaconator]

4 hours ago, brenthodge said:

I feel like KI is tremendously lucky to have Mike leading the team. Would be interesting to know what last few “bucket list” items he has before retiring in a few years. I really feel like the park has “returned” to the park it could always be because a lot of his “personal pet projects” reflect a deep respect for the history of the place. 

I agree. I hope that who ever’s next in line looks at what he’s done and carries on that tradition of bringing back and preserving the park’s history while cooking up fun projects for the future.

[robintodd]

Nice interview Brad, very informative. I was hoping that after he talked about how fast they threw together the plans for AP you would have followed up with "Were the orignal plans for 23 scarapped or did they get delayed until 24?".  I do appreciate the honesty about how fast AP was thrown together and it looks great.  As I've stated in a previous post I do wonder what the oringinal plans for 23 were.  Maybe it was delayed because of supply chain issues?  My first thought is the replacement of Boo Blasters with an updated Phantom Theatre experience and a refresh of Planet Snoopy.  That may be why the Peanuts Playhouse is stting empty this summer.  Seems strange that it doesn't house the character meet and greet or the petting zoo this season.  We'll know soon enough but I wouldn't be surprised if next season Planet Snoopy gets some much needed love.

[IndyGuy4KI]

46 minutes ago, robintodd said:

Nice interview Brad, very informative. I was hoping that after he talked about how fast they threw together the plans for AP you would have followed up with "Were the orignal plans for 23 scarapped or did they get delayed until 24?".  I do appreciate the honesty about how fast AP was thrown together and it looks great.  As I've stated in a previous post I do wonder what the oringinal plans for 23 were.  Maybe it was delayed because of supply chain issues?  My first thought is the replacement of Boo Blasters with an updated Phantom Theatre experience and a refresh of Planet Snoopy.  That may be why the Peanuts Playhouse is stting empty this summer.  Seems strange that it doesn't house the character meet and greet or the petting zoo this season.  We'll know soon enough but I wouldn't be surprised if next season Planet Snoopy gets some much needed love.

Yeah, small missed opportunity there, but was trying to stay focused on Adventure Port. I got the impression that we would have just seen the DB repaint, Grain & Grill, and the refreshed restaurant in Soak City. Obviously that is just my opinion, but in the moment that was what came to mind about this year.  

[robintodd]

1 hour ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Yeah, small missed opportunity there, but was trying to stay focused on Adventure Port. I got the impression that we would have just seen the DB repaint, Grain & Grill, and the refreshed restaurant in Soak City. Obviously that is just my opinion, but in the moment that was what came to mind about this year.  

No problem.  I understand and can see how trying to think on your feet is more difficult than it seems.  Great job again, I hope I didn't offend you with my "Monday Moring QBing"

 

[FUN&ONLY!]

I feel like 2023 would have probably been an off year without the last-minute addition of Adventure Port with just park improvements like what we already saw. I wonder if Kings Island had big 2024 plans (like a coaster), but when Cedar Point decided to revamp Top Thrill Dragster for 2024, those plans got delayed to a later year (in order to accommodate the nearby Top Thrill Dragster project), and Cedar Fair gave Kings Island some more capital in the meantime for smaller 2023 and 2024 additions instead of just for one massive 2024 addition.

While this sounds crazy, something very similar happened in 2016 with Canada’s Wonderland and Cedar Point. Canada’s Wonderland was supposed to get a B&M Dive Coaster, but the project was moved to Cedar Point as Valravn, and Canadas Wonderland’s B&M Dive Coaster, Yukon Striker, was delayed until 2019. In the meantime, Canadas Wonderland invested in unique flat rides.

I also assume Cedar Point’s intention was never to open a massive rollercoaster in 2024 right after the renovation of the Boardwalk, which already included a new rollercoaster and was definitely an expensive project. According to permits filed, the Grand Pavilion cost $12,000,000 alone. Usually, parks like to spread out massive capital projects by at least a couple years.

If Kings Island did have plans for a massive 2024 addition and these plans were delayed, which is a big “if,” then there is no telling how long these plans would have been delayed. Cedar Fair plans rollercoasters and other major additions at least a couple years in advance, so they already probably have big additions lined up for 2024 and 2025. A delayed project at Kings Island cannot necessarily just be inserted into the following year because, by this point, capital has most likely already been allotted for other projects for the next couple of years, and it makes more sense to just delay Kings Island’s project until a year like 2026 to avoid delaying and moving other projects with delivery dates already locked in. This is probably why Canada’s Wonderland’s B&M Dive Coaster was delayed until 2019 because Mystic Timbers, Steel Vengeance, Twisted Timbers, Hangtime, and Railblazer were probably already in the works for 2017 and 2018.

[Taylor.B03]

6 hours ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

I feel like 2023 would have probably been an off year without the last-minute addition of Adventure Port with just park improvements like what we already saw. I wonder if Kings Island had big 2024 plans (like a coaster), but when Cedar Point decided to revamp Top Thrill Dragster for 2024, those plans got delayed to a later year (in order to accommodate the nearby Top Thrill Dragster project), and Cedar Fair gave Kings Island some more capital in the meantime for smaller 2023 and 2024 additions instead of just for one massive 2024 addition.

While this sounds crazy, something very similar happened in 2016 with Canada’s Wonderland and Cedar Point. Canada’s Wonderland was supposed to get a B&M Dive Coaster, but the project was moved to Cedar Point as Valravn, and Canadas Wonderland’s B&M Dive Coaster, Yukon Striker, was delayed until 2019. In the meantime, Canadas Wonderland invested in unique flat rides.

I also assume Cedar Point’s intention was never to open a massive rollercoaster in 2024 right after the renovation of the Boardwalk, which already included a new rollercoaster and was definitely an expensive project. According to permits filed, the Grand Pavilion cost $12,000,000 alone. Usually, parks like to spread out massive capital projects by at least a couple years.

If Kings Island did have plans for a massive 2024 addition and these plans were delayed, which is a big “if,” then there is no telling how long these plans would have been delayed. Cedar Fair plans rollercoasters and other major additions at least a couple years in advance, so they already probably have big additions lined up for 2024 and 2025. A delayed project at Kings Island cannot necessarily just be inserted into a following year because, by this point, capital has most likely already been allotted for other projects for the next couple of years, and it makes more sense to just delay Kings Island’s project until a year like 2026 to avoid delaying and moving other projects with delivery dates already locked in. This is probably why Canada’s Wonderland’s B&M Dive Coaster was delayed until 2019 because Mystic Timbers, Steel Vengeance, Twisted Timbers, Hangtime, and Railblazer were probably already in the works for 2017 and 2018.

When you think about it this way It's interesting to think one little piece of metal theoretically caused us a delayed ride addition 

[jzarley]

Don’t underestimate the lower free cash flow that resulted from the COVID year(s). While every park chain has come back like gangbusters since the pandemic finally ended, you can’t lose basically a full season (and reduced capacity the following season) and not have it impact the bottom line. Every park had to think very differently about their five year capital spending plan after the events of 2020.

[SonofBaconator]

9 hours ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

I feel like 2023 would have probably been an off year without the last-minute addition of Adventure Port with just park improvements like what we already saw. I wonder if Kings Island had big 2024 plans (like a coaster), but when Cedar Point decided to revamp Top Thrill Dragster for 2024, those plans got delayed to a later year (in order to accommodate the nearby Top Thrill Dragster project), and Cedar Fair gave Kings Island some more capital in the meantime for smaller 2023 and 2024 additions instead of just for one massive 2024 addition.

I’ve thought of that as well. If the pandemic didn’t hit, I’m sure the timeline would’ve been 2024 considering that we lost two coasters and gained one from 2018-2020. 
 

On top of the pandemic, I’m sure the Dragster incident changed a lot of things up. Cedar Point can’t really afford to have a ride that size SBNO for multiple seasons with how heavily they rely on destination travelers. We can afford to have a 5 year gap in our coaster lineup- we did it before from 2009-2014. 
 

In theory having two Ohio coasters installed in back to back seasons could prove beneficial. The rebranded TTD is going to be a massive project so what we get won’t be anything of that magnitude, however, having two new additions within a year a part of one another on opposite sides of the state might encourage more travel from people in neutral areas.