Kings Island General Discussion 2025

[Diamondback_Is_King]

  On 3/31/2025 at 7:08 PM, Old_Bearcat said:

It's moved forward, and additional screening lanes have been added. Area closest to Guest Services (at bottom of image) which is unused now, has been added. 

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I can see some potential problems with this. Until this whole entry area is redesigned, it will continue to have bottlenecks during popular events like the Haunt.The green arrows represent guests leaving the park and the pathway that they should take to leave. The blue arrows represent guests entering the park, and the dotted blue arrows are for the very few people who use paper tickets. Finally, the gray represents walls/queue line dividers to get rid of overcrowding before entering and allows for less cutting in line.

[IndyGuy4KI]

If It was me doing this, I would have went a different direction. At the top at the purple arrow, I would create a new path "above" or North of those trees. Remove the blue umbrella, and that would be the new "Express" small or no bags only line. The first red arrow would be all entry with no exits through there and  would be the stroller, wagon, & accessibility entrance. Keep the top 1/2 of the path "below" or South of the circle grass area as regular entry.

The paths in the purple box areas would be the dedicated exit only paths.

[Diamondback_Is_King]

  On 4/1/2025 at 12:56 AM, IndyGuy4KI said:

If It was me doing this, I would have went a different direction. At the top at the purple arrow, I would create a new path "above" or North of those trees. Remove the blue umbrella, and that would be the new "Express" small or no bags only line. The first red arrow would be all entry with no exits through there and  would be the stroller, wagon, & accessibility entrance. Keep the top 1/2 of the path "below" or South of the circle grass area as regular entry.

The paths in the purple box areas would be the dedicated exit only paths.

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Yeah it's hard with the way it's designed because people exiting the park will either have to cross over the people entering to exit through the purple box or they will have to cross the crowd going towards the ticket center area (not that there are many people that actually go here, but the line can fill up during the summer).

[Orion-XL200]

I just want them to use all entries....how often do we arrive and the only entry lines/gates are the ones closest to Invertigo. If you park on the south side of the sign it's not very convenient to get into the line for that entry area.

[Diamondback_Is_King]

I've actually never parked in The Beast parking lot area before. I always seem to end up in Racer, Banshee, Drop Tower (on VERY busy days), and Diamondback (for water park).

[mikejenkins1]

FYI  appears that all web cams are now inactive..... (no joke :-)) 

[disco2000]

  On 4/1/2025 at 7:43 PM, mikejenkins1 said:

FYI  appears that all web cams are now inactive..... (no joke :-)) 

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Yeah cause they are adding the restaurant to the top of the tower  

[DonHelbig]

  On 4/1/2025 at 7:43 PM, mikejenkins1 said:

FYI  appears that all web cams are now inactive..... (no joke :-)) 

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Someone must be afraid people will see activity and get excited about the park opening for passholders on April 18 and officially on April 19 and want to visit. 

[mikejenkins1]

yeah  the "BIG" bathroom surprise and the main street redo....

 

Well the Coney and Kids side cameras are back on with Main Street still off...

 

[Winterfestguy]

I find it amusing that they turned on the I street cam for just a moment to capture a new shot of there being no snow and a sunny day (just after the dismantling of the ice rink, they turned off the I street cam to likely block construction view progress of the new gift shop and bar).  The new still shot may fool some when thinking the I street cam is on when it’s not, especially since all snow has melted from the former still shot. Note in the new I street cam shot (likely taken a few weeks ago) still shows the Winterfest sign out front and you can see all the building construction over on the right.

[SmartCat7162]

I will be interested to see if Banshee runs 2 or 3 trains this year. I think after all the issues it might be only 2 trains and a lot of the time it does end up stacking in the station so it does not really matter whether there are 2 or 3 trains.

[Diamondback_Is_King]

  On 4/2/2025 at 10:26 PM, SmartCat7162 said:

I will be interested to see if Banshee runs 2 or 3 trains this year. I think after all the issues it might be only 2 trains and a lot of the time it does end up stacking in the station so it does not really matter whether there are 2 or 3 trains.

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It all depends on who's working on the ride at a specific time. The crew last year did a decent job, but there were some times when it definitely lagged in operations. I've always said that Banshee is/should be a line eater as well as Diamondback and Orion. For those unfamiliar with the term, a "line eater" is defined as thus:

Line Eater-A roller coaster or attraction that is able to "eat" a line and decrease the wait time due to high rider capacity. Examples could be Diamondback, Orion, or literally any B&M! 

A "line holder" is similar to a "line eater", but slightly different:

Line Holder-A roller coaster or attraction that holds many people in line and is sometimes a very popular ride. It doesn't have a high capacity compared to other rides. This line sometimes takes away from the other lines, making them shorter. Examples could be Flight of Fear, Top Thrill Dragster/TT2, any type of shuttle coaster, Steel Vengeance with one or two trains, and probably Siren's Curse when it opens (these are just a few)

All that said, hopefully Banshee can still be a line eater. I remember during the Haunt last year when the lines are already insane and Banshee was running one train. It was disastrous. I don't think people mind waiting in the brake run for a minute or less, but if something is wrong, those Vest Restraints make it really hard to breath and it starts getting really hot (I don't know why they used Vest Restraints on Banshee. I'd rather have the regular Over the Head). I'd prefer them to run 3 trains, but if they have to, I can live with 2.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

  On 4/2/2025 at 1:05 PM, Winterfestguy said:

Note in the new I street cam shot (likely taken a few weeks ago) still shows the Winterfest sign out front and you can see all the building construction over on the right.

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I think the image on the feed is from yesterday. It has a little timestamp in the corner that didn't update with the others.

[Orion-XL200]

Looks like the 3 cell towers in/around the park are getting upgraded...$30,000 job value for each tower.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

  On 4/1/2025 at 12:16 AM, Diamondback_Is_King said:

I can see some potential problems with this. Until this whole entry area is redesigned, it will continue to have bottlenecks during popular events like the Haunt.The green arrows represent guests leaving the park and the pathway that they should take to leave. The blue arrows represent guests entering the park, and the dotted blue arrows are for the very few people who use paper tickets. Finally, the gray represents walls/queue line dividers to get rid of overcrowding before entering and allows for less cutting in line.

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I hope that if/when they fully redesign the entrance plaza, they either add a bridge from the ticket windows to that side of the parking lot (similar to what Carowinds has) or complete a massive project that would make the entrance more like Canada's Wonderland or Kings Dominion (1-2 central sets of scanners with an exit on either side of the plaza). For this redo I just hope they put up some signage directing guests into each line. That and some retractable fencing dividing the turnstile lines during busy times would be awesome. Nobody wants to wait through a line only to find out that they should've been in a different line because they have a bag or a stroller or something like that.

Side note: I think if Kings Island really feels the need to build their own version of GateKeeper, they would find it best to rebuild their entrance/security plaza to be more like Canada's Wonderland has with Leviathan. It's been noted that the offices and warehouses likely prevent any coaster from going over them, so having it curve onto a small "island" in the middle of the center walkway would give the same effect while providing an excuse to do a full security plaza update.

[robintodd]

Looks like major work happening in the rivertown bathroom this morning.  Large dumpster and about 5 maintenance vans.  

[CoasterJack]

  On 4/4/2025 at 12:16 PM, robintodd said:

Looks like major work happening in the rivertown bathroom this morning.  Large dumpster and about 5 maintenance vans.  

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Dumpster has been there for a few weeks and last week there were like 8 vans, so I'd say they're definitely doing some bathroom refurbishment

[Orion-XL200]

Documents have been submitted (for a while, just never went to look again) and it looks like they're basically doing a whole renovation from top to bottom. There will be a new HVAC system which will be nice on those hot days! 

[BeeastFarmer]

  On 4/4/2025 at 12:16 PM, robintodd said:

Looks like major work happening in the rivertown bathroom this morning.  Large dumpster and about 5 maintenance vans.  

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Ok, who ate too much Skyline this morning?

Edited Friday at 07:56 PM by BeeastFarmer
Typo

[Diamondback_Is_King]

  On 4/4/2025 at 2:15 PM, BeeastFarmer said:

Ok, who are too much Skyline this morning?

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who "had" too much Skyline this morning

Anyway, loved your joke 

[BeeastFarmer]

  On 4/4/2025 at 2:18 PM, Diamondback_Is_King said:

who "had" too much Skyline this morning

Anyway, loved your joke 

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Sorry, lots going on at work this morning. Fixed the typo. But that opportunity was too good to let it "slide" by!

Edited Friday at 07:57 PM by BeeastFarmer
Clarification.

[SmartCat7162]

  On 4/4/2025 at 11:09 AM, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

 

Side note: I think if Kings Island really feels the need to build their own version of GateKeeper, they would find it best to rebuild their entrance/security plaza to be more like Canada's Wonderland has with Leviathan. It's been noted that the offices and warehouses likely prevent any coaster from going over them, so having it curve onto a small "island" in the middle of the center walkway would give the same effect while providing an excuse to do a full security plaza update.

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I think I've addressed this before, but I feel that the Eiffel Tower is our front gate coaster and to put anything else in front of it would ruin the skyline. I think what really makes it special is when you walk in and the Eiffel Tower is the main focus for your eyes not a coaster. What I like is no coaster obstructs that view. All the coaster are around the centerpiece of the park and If you get rid of Invertigo I guess you could put something in the front, but I would want it to be something close to the ground so it does not obstruct the site lines of the tower.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

  On 4/4/2025 at 7:01 PM, SmartCat7162 said:

I think I've addressed this before, but I feel that the Eiffel Tower is our front gate coaster and to put anything else in front of it would ruin the skyline. I think what really makes it special is when you walk in and the Eiffel Tower is the main focus for your eyes not a coaster. What I like is no coaster obstructs that view. All the coaster are around the centerpiece of the park and If you get rid of Invertigo I guess you could put something in the front, but I would want it to be something close to the ground so it does not obstruct the site lines of the tower.

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Totally agree! I think the best way is to do something like AlpenFury where the turnaround is near the entrance plaza, but it doesn't go over the entrance plaza like Leviathan does. 

I say put the station where Skyflyer was and then have the booster launch go into the Congo falls area and that's where the main launch would be and the layout would be along the left side of the parking lot area with the turnaround right up against the sidewalk (left of Invertigo). 

[Diamondback_Is_King]

  On 4/4/2025 at 8:06 PM, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Totally agree! I think the best way is to do something like AlpenFury where the turnaround is near the entrance plaza, but it doesn't go over the entrance plaza like Leviathan does. 

I say put the station where Skyflyer was and then have the booster launch go into the Congo falls area and that's where the main launch would be and the layout would be along the left side of the parking lot area with the turnaround right up against the sidewalk (left of Invertigo). 

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You could do a multi launch coaster that has two launches. The first part is orange, and the second launch is green. Have there be some top hat like Storm Runner at Hersheypark and the second launch start at the front gate. Think of that view at the parking lot and just seeing it zoom by during the second launch. Not only would it look cool from the front gate, but it would get the guests hyped up for a really fun day when seeing this cool fast launching coaster!

This would kinda be like Velocicoaster's slow turnaround before hitting the second launch.

[Orion-XL200]

The problem I see with the front gate view is that you're met with brown shingles and an advertisement. A coaster would do no worse than that in terms of the view.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think if the entrance building were to receive a new facade with a renovation of the ground floor, it would look and work much better. Any coaster that might occupy that front gate view would need to work in context with the entrance buildings without interrupting the reveal of the park too much. Concepts for this, like the one I drew below, would also require a high amount of trees to be cut down. I don't like that one bit. I may not be the Lorax, but I love trees. 

In the spirit of putting my idea on screen so I can hate it for myself, I chose to create what you see below. Meet Timberwolf (or something else that could be wolf related), a front gate coaster that could give the park a reason to renovate the entrance plaza. It exits the former Congo Falls station, curves over the water, and heads up the lift hill, down toward the creekbed, over a new bridge, turns around in that middle planter, goes under the new bridge, and does some more stuff before heading back to the station. The pink is the coaster, the red are new/renovated building facades, and the green are a best case scenario for leftover trees.

Like I said, I really don't like the idea of having a total front gate coaster. This is just my idea for if it had to happen.

[BeeastFarmer]

  On 4/5/2025 at 4:57 AM, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I think if the entrance building were to receive a new facade with a renovation of the ground floor, it would look and work much better. Any coaster that might occupy that front gate view would need to work in context with the entrance buildings without interrupting the reveal of the park too much. Concepts for this, like the one I drew below, would also require a high amount of trees to be cut down. I don't like that one bit. I may not be the Lorax, but I love trees. 

In the spirit of putting my idea on screen so I can hate it for myself, I chose to create what you see below. Meet Timberwolf (or something else that could be wolf related), a front gate coaster that could give the park a reason to renovate the entrance plaza. It exits the former Congo Falls station, curves over the water, and heads up the lift hill, down toward the creekbed, over a new bridge, turns around in that middle planter, goes under the new bridge, and does some more stuff before heading back to the station. The pink is the coaster, the red are new/renovated building facades, and the green are a best case scenario for leftover trees.

Like I said, I really don't like the idea of having a total front gate coaster. This is just my idea for if it had to happen.

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Like this concept. How about tilting it and the part that's over the entry plaza out into preferred parking, which would move the station between Invertigo and congo.  This in turn, would shift the coaster into the sky coaster area. 

This would give a Canada's Wonderland vibe, open up space where Timberwolf, congo and Invertigo were for flats or even a smaller coaster. This would keep the entry plaza virtually the same ( but add the bridge, I love that!), renovate the buildings, add the flags back, get rid of ki specific ads.  While we are at it, let's replace concrete with pavers, or decorative stamped concrete, put gas lamps in, have the berm restored with either the classic KI logo or the current year new attraction, and put hanging baskets everywhere!

Did I tell you I really love the bridge?

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Maybe I'll have to try this concept out in my 2025 map style. I figured it would be better to use the amphitheater and Invertigo plots for this coaster since they're both a bit out of the way and since the Timberwolf plot is not flat at all. The Skyflyer plot would be much better (imo) for any flat rides since it's already flat land and could lead people over to the line for The Bat. The bridge over to the entry plaza would be super nice for anyone coming from the Bus/RV and Banshee lots as well. That section of Columbia Road between the security checkpoint and the dead end doesn't see much action (if it sees any) and a bridge would almost definitely help out the flow of people into the entry plaza. 

What I really like overall about the entrances at Canada's Wonderland and Kings Dominion is that they jut out into the parking lot a little and feel really centered in them. 

[calakapepe]

Havent been the biggest fan of the entrance in years. Maybe some of the recent ideas here would be better.. but ultimately we simply need something that isnt the "temporary" gates. Looks messy and I have to cross traffic awkwardly before the security point and also after anyways.

 

The entrance is centralized. It could work better to have multiple entrances and multiple exits. Worse for staffing/ security but better guest experience.. but as a guest.. i like a good guest experience.. and I think first impressions are important.

I would vote entrances on the both sides of the admissions gate & exit from the center.. or if you must have only one flow.. keep it the way it is, but  make the exit on the south side (guest relations side). We currently exit on the north side and cross into people that just got in.

--

Excited for the season regardless but I tuned in after a hiatus and people are talking about my biggest passion in life.. crowdflow

[SmartCat7162]

Although we didn’t get a new coaster this year it is reassuring to see how much was invested in the park infrastructure during the offseason. It always makes the future of the park look a lot better when things are renovated and will be preserved for years to come.