What’s the best Kings Island survey concept?

[Orion742]

If you had to choose one addition from the surveys Kings Island sent out, which one would you choose? 

[johnjniehaus]

Of the options they sent out, my vote is for the infinity coaster. However if the mack extreme spinner was full circuit and not a shuttle coaster with terrible capacity I'd vote for it instantly! Giga dive would be cool but I also think that after the first drop, the ride wouldn't be anything too special... unless they find a way to make a dive coaster a 3 min ride with a drop track...now that would be amazing! 

[ShedTreeBoi1]

I'm a big no on the giga dive

 1. All the dive coasters I've ridden (Yukon Striker, Valravn, Iron Menace), have been quite boring after the drop with lackluster forces.

2. A recent complaint with newer B&Ms has the been their rattle. I got my first rides on Iron Menace today, and it was shaky, not rough, it just had a slight shift. And there's a painful jolt turning into the brakes run. With KI's history of rattley B&Ms, I'm worried a newer one would be even worse. 

[KIBeast]

I'm kind of torn on 2 of those options. On the one hand, being a coaster enthusiast, I voted for the Gerstlauer infinity coaster. If plans for a new coaster were put on the back burner in place of Peanuts Interactive Dark Ride, I would not be disappointed, especially if it means a makeover for the Boo Blasters on Boo Hill ride.

[SonofBaconator]

I like the giga dive because it’s just aggressive enough to work. Beast 2.0 is too aggressive in my opinion.

[purdude86]

I like half the ideas and not a fan of the other half. Of the ones I like I'd rank them:

1. Indoor/outdoor coaster. Can do a bit with this as it could be either family or high thrill style and with or without inversions. With the indoor areas I feel it gives the best potential for theming and story though.

2. Gerstlauer Infinity. Be something new for the area as a whole as well as the park and add in a new coaster with numerous inversion. Always thought one of these could be a great addition in The Vortex plot. Could make a good theme for it to fit that 50s/60s era in that corner as well.

3. Giga dive. I know not everyone loves these but they are GP pleasers and look great. Newer ones I feel having been doing more with their layouts and I always found them fun while riding. Think one like this would look fantastica nd give great views in The Vortex plot with the drop/hold facing out into the park.

4. Peanuts dark ride. Boo Blasters needs a refresh bad and an updated ride would be good. Have felt incorporating it into Planet Snoopy would work well too to help enhance that area even more. Not sure if it could take the title back from Dollywood but it would give it a shot at regaining its best kids area as I feel it would give it the most variety between the multiple coasters, flats, log flume, and then dark ride.

[beastfan11]

Family Thrill/Dark Ride Coaster for me.

Which is wild because I’ve been all about an update to BBoBH for years. But the dated ride concept and technology coupled with an even further potential reduction in capacity seems to be a massive step backward. 

If it’s difficult to keep up with BBoBH, how well would this Peanuts dark ride honestly be maintained? 

[SonofBaconator]

I think it’s useful to look at all of these and apply it to where we can assume the park will be for the rest of the decade.

1. Tower coaster (shuttle Mack Xtreme spinner)- this seems too experimental for a park like KI- who never fared well in the experimental rides category to begin with. I feel like incorporating the spinning aspect on a large scale ride would limit it’s appeal- compare this to Wild Mouse at CP that’s on a smaller scale.)
2.  Giga dive coaster- this would be a move they’d make if they’re trying to get into the National/global spotlight by having a record breaking coaster. It seems like every larger coaster since Diamondback has broken some type of significant record. Would certainly put the park on a global stage, but would a 300ft drop affect the rest of the ride?: (If you have two dive coasters, both at 3,500ft in length, you might get more out of a 200ft tall coaster than you would a 300ft tall one)
3. Family Thrill Coaster- it seems like we already have this with Adventure Express, Backlot, and Bat. While family thrill coasters are easy to market given their broad appeal, I feel like it’s easier to ask corporate for a family ride down the road after a large investment like an invert/dive/ hyper/giga/ etc.
4. Indoor/Outdoor Coaster- this seems like a Dollywood/BGW type of attraction that would need decent theming. Would have to be on par with Verbolten or Mystery Mine but the indoor aspect might devalue existing rides like Flight of Fear and Backlot.
5. Beast 2.0-this seems like an extreme ask. I’m not sure what the benefit of this would be over just building a new coaster. It seems like it would take a toll on maintenance staff and carpenters. I think it would be more trouble than it’s worth and people might feel cheated out of a new coaster.
6. Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster- the capacity of these rides aren’t really on par with what Kings Island has been churning out since 2009. Currently the highest capacity Infinity train is Gold Rush at 20 people per train which is less than that of Mystic Timbers. Might be too small of a ride for KI- unless they made it a similar capacity to Vortex.
7. Peanuts Dark Ride: This an interesting concept be based off the sheer fact that the new Six Flags chain has access to both Warner Brothers/DC IP as well as Peanuts IP. One would assume that if this concept was implemented, we would be continuing with the Peanuts brand. People might feel cheated out of a more thrilling addition considering we haven’t gotten a large coaster since 2020

[silver2005]

About Beast 2.0- Beast is my favorite ride in the park, but does anyone really want to be on any wooden coaster for 8+ minutes?

[Orion-XL200]

Imagine the capacity....3 trains...yikes.

[IndyGuy4KI]

On 8/30/2024 at 9:23 PM, Orion-XL200 said:

Imagine the capacity....3 trains...yikes.

We get the 4th train back!