2024 Kings Island Speculation Thread

[IndyGuy4KI]

We are now getting into the time of year we start seeing work around the park that may or may not be work for 2024. Right now we have the work being done at the SOB station/Wolf Pack. See thread here: 

https://kicentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/46473-wolfpack-building-activity/

 

 

There will most likely be things going on as we get further into the season. Let's use this thread to talk speculation. While we do so keep a few things in mind.

Per the TOS: If you claim to have heard information from an inside source, or claim that your information is confirmed, you must supply your source.

If you post a photo that is not your own, give credit and link to the source. We want to respect others photos, like we want others to respect ours.

Nothing is "confirmed" until it is released by the park. When a press release is made, KIC admin will post it in the Park News forums.

We are all friends here, let's get along like Snoopy and the gang and enjoy everyone's perspective and thoughts.

 

[Rivertown Rider]

Continuing the discussion from the other thread, the Cedar Fair designer also mentioned at ACE Coaster Con that the chain is looking at increasing the amount of indoor dining particularly at their Winterfest parks.  While that doesn't mean more is coming to KI a new indoor location would help spread out the indoor crowds from Brewhouse and Festhaus.

[beastfan11]

There’s a certain dark ride in need of an overhaul…

[WoodVengeance]

6 hours ago, Rivertown Rider said:

Continuing the discussion from the other thread, the Cedar Fair designer also mentioned at ACE Coaster Con that the chain is looking at increasing the amount of indoor dining particularly at their Winterfest parks.  While that doesn't mean more is coming to KI a new indoor location would help spread out the indoor crowds from Brewhouse and Festhaus.

Intersting. Seems odd that the only new indoor dining facility added recently in the chain was at a park with no Winterfest at all.

[WoodVengeance]

Actually scratch that. I forgot Lazy Bear Lodge was added to CW not too long ago either.

[disco2000]

On 7/1/2023 at 9:14 PM, Rivertown Rider said:

Continuing the discussion from the other thread, the Cedar Fair designer also mentioned at ACE Coaster Con that the chain is looking at increasing the amount of indoor dining particularly at their Winterfest parks.  While that doesn't mean more is coming to KI a new indoor location would help spread out the indoor crowds from Brewhouse and Festhaus.

I wonder if that is what all the survey markers are for....

[Kenban]

I suspect the Peanuts sale is a sign, not that they are being removed, but that the kids area is being overhauled into Camp Snoopy.  Try to find any merchandise that says Planet Snoopy that is not included in the sale.  Plenty of generic Kings Island Peanuts merchandise that is not on sale.

The survey at Carowinds which became Aeronautica Landing occurred in 2020.  2021 they did a survey at Kings Island asking about the kids area and a lot of questions about dining.

To add a new coaster I would remove the old theatre and barn yard area.  I think a Mack spinner like Sierra Sidewinder at Knott’s would be a great fit.  While I am certain a clone would fit, a custom layout to better utilize the space would likely be better.  

Based on the survey and construction at other parks a large new restaurant with indoor seating, maybe even a stage for live entertainment, maybe character dining.  I would put it on the path leading to the picnic grove and the water park.  Across from the picnic area is a small strip of grass with some trees, and a large employee parking lot on the other side of the fence.  It’s not really usable for expanding the kids area with rides, but a large restaurant would be perfect just don’t put windows on the backside of the building.  The employee parking can easily be shifted and it’s unlikely the restaurant would take the whole lot.  There is enough room here for a clone of Harmony Hall, it feels unlikely something that big would get built but a food court would be nice.  Although a Lazy Bear Lodge style restaurant would look good in a Camp Snoopy area.

I would love to see boo blasters replaced as well but this feels like too much for one year.  I would like to think that they would demolish the majority of the land and rebuild it, similar to what has been done at other parks when they receive a camp Snoopy retheme.

[SonofBaconator]

@Kenban I was initially skeptical about a Camp Snoopy because I wasn’t sure a retheme would bring people in. With the loose rumor of a new coaster coming and the potential for new dining options, I’m more optimistic of an overhaul. 

[beastfan11]

I would personally be shocked if they revamp that whole area and ignore Boo Blasters. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

7 hours ago, disco2000 said:

I wonder if that is what all the survey markers are for....

Do you have any pictures of the markers currently in Planet Snoopy?

[Tr0y]

A Camp Snoopy retheme would bring a much welcomed addition of trees. 

[SonofBaconator]

I have an idea:

If Planet Snoopy becomes Camp Snoopy, relocate Great Pumpkin Coaster closer toward where the barnyard is-they could repaint and rename it to fit the Camp Snoopy theme. Relocating Great Pumpkin Coaster would free up just over 17,400 square feet of space next to the current dark ride building. Not entirely sure what they could do with that freed up space but they could tie that space into the dark ride or do something else. Just a thought.

[Orion742]

5 hours ago, Kenban said:

I suspect the Peanuts sale is a sign, not that they are being removed, but that the kids area is being overhauled into Camp Snoopy.  Try to find any merchandise that says Planet Snoopy that is not included in the sale.  Plenty of generic Kings Island Peanuts merchandise that is not on sale.

The survey at Carowinds which became Aeronautica Landing occurred in 2020.  2021 they did a survey at Kings Island asking about the kids area and a lot of questions about dining.

To add a new coaster I would remove the old theatre and barn yard area.  I think a Mack spinner like Sierra Sidewinder at Knott’s would be a great fit.  While I am certain a clone would fit, a custom layout to better utilize the space would likely be better.  

Based on the survey and construction at other parks a large new restaurant with indoor seating, maybe even a stage for live entertainment, maybe character dining.  I would put it on the path leading to the picnic grove and the water park.  Across from the picnic area is a small strip of grass with some trees, and a large employee parking lot on the other side of the fence.  It’s not really usable for expanding the kids area with rides, but a large restaurant would be perfect just don’t put windows on the backside of the building.  The employee parking can easily be shifted and it’s unlikely the restaurant would take the whole lot.  There is enough room here for a clone of Harmony Hall, it feels unlikely something that big would get built but a food court would be nice.  Although a Lazy Bear Lodge style restaurant would look good in a Camp Snoopy area.

I would love to see boo blasters replaced as well but this feels like too much for one year.  I would like to think that they would demolish the majority of the land and rebuild it, similar to what has been done at other parks when they receive a camp Snoopy retheme.

I’m all for a Camp Snoopy retheme! I don’t know about anyone else but I think Flying Ace Aerial Chase is at the end of its life and has gotten very rough recently. I would like to see a new gen Vekoma suspended coaster like Dollywood’s in that spot. It could be themed to something with Camp Snoopy. The new gen’s are so much smoother and offer a much better ride experience. 

[Rivertown Rider]

After being at the park today, I don't think that Snoopy Boutique is going anywhere and agree with what @Kenban said earlier that it appears that it is just getting rid of Planet Snoopy merch and some older Peanuts merch.  The vast majority of Peanuts merch was not discounted.

I do agree that I expect the old theater and barnyard to be demolished.  It will be interesting to see what rides they add.  I would love to see them do family rides that the whole family can do together.  Something like a Tilt-a-Whirl or a Windstarz would both be great.

[SonofBaconator]

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/10/26/carowinds-turns-its-focus-to-families-fun.html

I’d imagine this would be what becomes of Space Buggies if we get a Camp Snoopy retheme.

[BoddaH1994]

20 hours ago, beastfan11 said:

I would personally be shocked if they revamp that whole area and ignore Boo Blasters. 

I don’t know if we would want that. Would you want Boo to be revamped and budgeted as part of an overall project or would you want it be the big star attraction for a year? I’m afraid if it gets lumped in with everything else then it would just be Boo Blasters but now it’s Snoopy instead of actually being an upgrade. 

[SonofBaconator]

3 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I don’t know if we would want that. Would you want Boo to be revamped and budgeted as part of an overall project or would you want it be the big star attraction for a year? I’m afraid if it gets lumped in with everything else then it would just be Boo Blasters but now it’s Snoopy instead of actually being an upgrade. 

Technically, Boo Blasters is part of International Street but was rebranded when the chain dropped the Scooby Doo IP. 
 

I’m assuming they went with a generic ghost IP to make the transition easier while still keeping the shooting aspect. Also, I don’t know if Peanuts Worldwide LLC would want their IP associated with a shooting gallery- even if it’s lasers. 
 

@beastfan11 I’d personally be surprised if Boo Blasters was included in the revamp.

[WoodVengeance]

This is just a rumor and isn't confirmed at all, but I heard from Amusement Insiders on YouTube that Snoopy's Racing Railway at Canada's Wonderland was designed to be cloned at other Cedar Fair parks.

[SonofBaconator]

8 minutes ago, WoodVengeance said:

This is just a rumor and isn't confirmed at all, but I heard from Amusement Insiders on YouTube that Snoopy's Racing Railway at Canada's Wonderland was designed to be cloned at other Cedar Fair parks.

I mentioned that earlier and personally wouldn’t be surprised if it was true. Most of the former Paramount parks have cloned coasters in their kids areas so it wouldn’t be so far fetched to think that history would repeat itself.

[WoodVengeance]

1 minute ago, SonofBaconator said:

I mentioned that earlier and personally wouldn’t be surprised if it was true. Most of the former Paramount parks have cloned coasters in their kids areas so it wouldn’t be so far fetched to think that history would repeat itself.

If the rumor for Snoopy's Racing Railway at Canada's Wonderland is true, I could see it going to Kings Island and Carowinds since all three of those parks get similar additions. Carowinds has the former Dinosaurs Alive plot that I believe is located near that park's Camp Snoopy, so I could easily see that area being used for a Camp Snoopy expansion including SRR. For Kings Island, the old theater and barnyard could be demolished and be used for a Planet Snoopy expansion or Camp Snoopy retheme, including SRR.

[SonofBaconator]

From watching the POV, it seems like it’s a pretty immersive kid’s coaster complete with props, audio, and buildings:

 

Something like this would make a good debut attraction for a Camp Snoopy rebrand all while offering a coaster that borders the line between a kiddie coaster and a family coaster.

[WoodVengeance]

I made this concept of a potential Camp Snoopy re-theme and expansion. In this concept, the theater and barnyard area have been demolished in favor of a new indoor dining facility named "Peanuts' Saloon" with a stage show similar to Festhaus so they can still have shows in the Camp Snoopy area. A bit to the north of Peanuts' Saloon is Snoopy's Racing Railway, a near clone of the one at Canada's Wonderland. In addition, Woodstock Express and Flying Ace Aerial Chase were repainted to have more natural color schemes to fit the Camp Snoopy area, with Woodstock being painted yellow as a homage to the coaster's original color scheme when it was themed to Scooby Doo and Beastie. (The FAAC repaint might not be as likely since that was just repainted for 2022). Again, this is just a concept I made, so it may not be accurate to what the next Planet Snoopy expansion will be like.

[Shaggy]

The key to a proper Camp Snoopy re-theme isn't so much the rides, its the atmosphere. 

The better Camp Snoopy areas (Carowinds & Knotts - not to be confused with CP's lesser version) are very woodsy, densely tree-covered areas with a remote wilderness/log cabin like feel.

If KI's plan is to "re-do" Planet Snoopy, they will need to gut the area and spend a great deal of the budget on installing more mature landscaping and tree covering.   Right now, the entire back half is a concrete jungle with a lot of very bold-colored rides.  

Hopefully Adventure Port is an indication of the kind of job they can do... but it needs to be top notch if they hope to re-gain the accolades the kids area once had.  

Side note: Having recently visited Carowinds, the thing I took the most note of was the attention to modernization of restrooms.  In the newer areas they took the time to gut/remodel the bathrooms as well - and it made a huge difference in the enjoyment of a day at the park.  KI's restrooms are nearly something from the dark ages - antiquated and nasty.  Amenities such as a clean, fresh bathroom score a lot of points with guests.  They need to spend a good deal of capitol on that sort of basic infrastructure.

 

[FUN&ONLY!]

I really hope Kings Island does a potential Camp Snoopy overhaul right. It is going to take A LOT of money to revamp such a huge area the right way, but it needs it. All of the concrete and some of the buildings definitely should be removed. In their place, it would be nice to see new pavers, camp-like buildings, and landscaping with water features.

[SonofBaconator]

I feel like Snoopy’s Snack Shack doesn’t see a lot of people- though I’m not sure if it’s open regularly.

[Rivertown Rider]

Here are the official specs on Snoopy's Runaway Railway (56 x 70 meters or approximately 184 x 230 feet)

https://artengineering.de/en/produkte/attraktionen/achterbahnen/family-launch-coaster/

Lazy Bear Lodge at Canada's Wonderland looks to be 168 x 130 feet based upon my Google Earth calculations.  So depending on how they orient it they could fit both the coaster and a Lazy Bear Lodge clone in that back part of Planet Snoopy.  Tearing down Snoopy's Snack Shack, the Theater, and the Barnyard gives them a lot of flexibility. 

[SonofBaconator]

1 minute ago, Rivertown Rider said:

Here are the official specs on Snoopy's Runaway Railway (56 x 70 meters or approximately 184 x 230 feet)

https://artengineering.de/en/produkte/attraktionen/achterbahnen/family-launch-coaster/

Lazy Bear Lodge at Canada's Wonderland looks to be 168 x 130 feet based upon my Google Earth calculations.  So depending on how they orient it they could fit both the coaster and a Lazy Bear Lodge clone in that back part of Planet Snoopy.  Tearing down Snoopy's Snack Shack, the Theater, and the Barnyard gives them a lot of flexibility. 

So pretty much what @WoodVengeance shared above.

[Rivertown Rider]

2 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

So pretty much what @WoodVengeance shared above.

Yes it should definitely work.

[johnjniehaus]

I'm not 100% sure about the whole camp snoopy thing. Been discussing some the the "rumors" with friends and it's come up numerous times that Planet Snoopy kinda needs a little something however I agree with Shaggy that it's not necessarily the rides, it's the atmosphere which is a more wood/forest setting which currently the number of mature trees in Planet Snoopy is rather low. 

Another concern that was voiced to me by some friends is wether long term Peanuts will still appeal to the younger generations. Sure my grandparents know everything about it and my parents know some about it and because I love older shows/movies I know about it but are most millennials really that into Peanuts? Millennials are the generation starting families now and if they aren't into Peanuts it's probably safe to assume that their kids and the next generation won't really know that much about them either. I say it's at least something to consider whether long term Peanuts is what is going to be marked for the kids area at Cedar Fair parks. 

 

As for my hopes for next year, I personally hope we see a phantom Theater return since it's kinda been teased last two years and boo blaster is in such bad shape. It would be really great if they could reconfigure the que to connect to I-Street instead of Planet Snoopy but even if they continue utilizing the old entrance, I think that phantom Theater deserves a return as the Kings Island dark ride. I would like to see some attention to Planet Snoopy (possible revamp/theme and new ride/coaster addition) however, I think that is too much to ask for in a single year. I would like to see a two year plan comprised of one year is spent on phantom Theater project and the other is spent on camp snoopy revamp idea. That would really bring new life and excitement back to that side of the park. 

[Rivertown Rider]

The interesting thing about Boo Blasters is do all four parks with Boo Blasters work together to re-do each of their rides to Phantom Theater.  If they did, it could make it more economical for all four parks.