Kings Island General Discussion 2026

[silver2005]

So not only is it raining, but the temperature dropped significantly.  Kind of an ugly, miserable rain.

Phantom Theater is a HUGE improvement over Boo Blasters.  I do prefer the original due to nostalgia, but the new one is good.

Beast's retrack is solid.   A bit more laterals starting the drop into the helix and the trim is smoother.

[disco2000]

Speaking of songs and playlists, surprised nobody has mentioned an iconic CP ride song being played in the park....

[silver2005]

I am very impressed by the improvements of the ride ops today compared to yesterday, especially for opening weekend.

Sans Banshee and Monster.

[WoodVengeance]

3 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Speaking of songs and playlists, surprised nobody has mentioned an iconic CP ride song being played in the park....

It’s playing in Action Zone right now. The theme of a ride that is now defunct, yet still there…

[silver2005]

Beast does have a rattle as it goes off the 2nd chain into the new track, but no such thing as it gets towards the helix.

EDIT- I heard fricken Stairway to Heaven today in Coney Mall.

Thank you KI staff.

Also, Racer's rock play list is a bit more modern now, not just 70s.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

A few noticeable staffing cuts on some rides. 

The Eiffel Tower cut the base person

Franklin's Flyers is a single op ride now

Wasn't able to confirm it, but heard through the grapevine that the 2 Adventure Port rides are single op (correct me if wrong)

Not a good look for capacity and throughput as that is apparently a vision for new CEO John Reilly

[silver2005]

Did anyone else notice the shipping container by Beast's second drop?

[silver2005]

Aaaand KI plays the National Anthem at close.

[WoodVengeance]

30 minutes ago, silver2005 said:

Aaaand KI plays the National Anthem at close.

Perhaps they have that to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the USA?

[disco2000]

1 hour ago, WoodVengeance said:

Perhaps they have that to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the USA?

It was a mistake - it was the whole spiel used at park open and then stopped it about halfway thru and then played the correct closing spiel.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

14 hours ago, KICP16 said:

Can we discuss Flight of Fear ? Tried riding it yesterday decided too give it another shot this year for 2026 and nope it’s the same 1 and done never again this year. I don’t see how so many people love this ride. It’s super rough throws you around not in a good way and has the most uncomfortable seating ever invented.  I hear people complain about The Beasts roughness but in my opinion FOF is MUCH rougher than The Beast. Beasts roughness is fun but FOF roughness just hurts you. I love the theming of it but that’s about it. Wouldn’t mind at all too see this ride disappear but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. 

I've been hearing that the seatbelts were also shortened for FOF. I'd love to see the ride get a good refurbishment with new (more comfortable) trains and other upgrades instead of being torn out entirely. It seems to be the hardest coaster for adults to fit into so anything that makes the train less restrictive would help so much.

 

3 hours ago, silver2005 said:

Did anyone else notice the shipping container by Beast's second drop?

I haven't seen anything about that, but I did see a photo of Banshee's train shed that had a crate marked "Diamondback" under it. There looked to be a whole pile of stuff under there, including what might've been a tightly wrapped lift chain for something. Could you tell if the one by Beast's second drop was a larger (40 ft) or smaller (20 ft) shipping container? I'm wondering if it was used to store some materials for the rebuild of that drop or if it's housing something else.

 

Now that I've had a little more time to process yesterday I will admit that I was in a bad headspace when I was writing some of my posts. I feel like I was overly critical, though to be fair I still stand by most of what I said. Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare is still super amazing! Some of the little changes throughout the park looked really good. Those little quality upgrades do a ton of good overall.

[The Islanders]

So I have a theory as to why Kings Island might not have announced the International Showplace Theater show yet. My guess it could be a DC stunt show and they want to make a huge announcement for it (with it being the first legacy Cedar Fair park to have a DC presence) after the news buzz of Phantom Theater’s opening dies down. 

This show could make way for an announcement of a possible retheme to Action Zone. Almost doing another test on the Kings Island crowd like they did with Phantom Theater. 

I can also be completely off and it’s just another typical skateboard/bike show

[CoasterJack]

Spotted Tony helping out earlier in Enrique's helping work through the long line

[IndyGuy4KI]

19 minutes ago, CoasterJack said:

Spotted Tony helping out earlier in Enrique's helping work through the long line

There are two Tony's now. The Tony Carovillan the Park Manager and Communications director Tony Clark. I assume you are talking about the park manager since Tony C. went back to CP on Friday.

[disco2000]

1 minute ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

There are two Tony's now. The Tony Carovillan the Park Manager and Communications director Tony Clark. I assume you are talking about the park manager since Tony C. went back to CP on Friday.

He meant Tony C 🤣

[Timchat2]

14 hours ago, The Islanders said:

I can also be completely off and it’s just another typical skateboard/bike show

All Wheel Sports has been posting casting calls for a production in Ohio, so it seems likely the new show will be from them:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWjcB2OiRk8/?igsh=MXd0cDcxbzM3OXpvbg==

 

[KICP16]

Thoughts on Beast Re-Track ? 
I rode it once on Friday running great.  As I thought the re track really didn’t make much of a difference but no biggy it’s still running great 

I did notice the 1 time I rode it that it still had the pot hole affect on the second part of the double helix finale which again doesn’t bother me still running great but did notice it was still there. 

[disco2000]

21 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

A few noticeable staffing cuts on some rides. 

The Eiffel Tower cut the base person

Franklin's Flyers is a single op ride now

Wasn't able to confirm it, but heard through the grapevine that the 2 Adventure Port rides are single op (correct me if wrong)

Not a good look for capacity and throughput as that is apparently a vision for new CEO John Reilly

Adventure Port rides are two associate ops.

Eiffel Tower took a page out of KD with no attendant at the elevator door and was replaced with a gate and sign to "Please Wait for Elevator Operator" and to no surprise, people walk past the gate to push the elevator button...

[IndyGuy4KI]

13 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Eiffel Tower took a page out of KD with no attendant at the elevator door and was replaced with a gate and sign to "Please Wait for Elevator Operator" and to no surprise, people walk past the gate to push the elevator button...

I am hoping this is temporary, and an opening weekend thing, but you may be right. It could be another cost cutting measure.

[Swiftdrawer]

Yesterday was kind of a dozzy. Zephyr was still disassembled. The geese have really made their presence known. Racer was doing low speed operations with only one train around 12. Invertigo, The Beast, Drop Tower, and Adventure Express all closed. Still had a good time there though, many of the lines were just repulsive looking so ended up doing things like Woodstock Whirlybirds.

[DJSkyFoxx]

I might catch flack for this, but here goes. 

After attending the park yesterday, I have to say for the first time in a long time, I left with a sad/somber feeling. I didn't leave with the normal fullness I usually feel. Now mind you, it had nothing to do with not riding anything yesterday. In fact, I knew going in without ASFL this season and with it being opening weekend, that wouldn't be happening for me. I went solely to take in the new stuff and have dinner with my lady. But after doing a few loops around the park and entering some of the gift shops to browse, we both noticed something. The park feels gutted. The sense of whimsy felt missing and honestly the park just hardcore gave off the stench of "corporate". To me its like tearing down a playground and putting an office space there. Or seeing how the restaurants from my youth went from bright and vibrant to blocky and grey. This is the feeling we both had upon exiting the park yesterday. All the goofy little claw machines/barrels that were outside of, for example, Diamondback's giftshop, are gone. The giftshops themselves feel stale. Looking around each one we noticed that a lot of them were selling overpriced stuff you'd find in the middle-way of a shopping mall ( soaps, notebooks, etc ) instead of plushies, shirts, hats, park exclusive stuff. And it felt like a lot of the decor inside the giftshops and around the park in general were barren. 

I know this was the first operating weekend for the park and there are still a lot of loose ends to be tied up, so I am trying to be optimistic and hopefully the things that added atmosphere to the park will return, but after what we saw yesterday, I fear this may a sign of what's to come. All of those silly little nuances that gave the park life and atmosphere and that sense of whimsy appear to be gone for now and maybe forever. Again, I realize this might all sound silly to some of you, but seeing so much empty gutted space just made the place feel stale and like I already said, "corporate". Also the continued use of AI everywhere is gross. I am on the side of AI being unethical, but seeing so much of it just gives off a cheapened feel.

All I can say is that I am going to try to remain optimistic for the future of the park as the season moves on and hopefully gets things together, but if this is what is in store for the future, I can't honestly say I will be enticed to be a passholder for much longer. We shall see. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

16 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Adventure Port rides are two associate ops.

Eiffel Tower took a page out of KD with no attendant at the elevator door and was replaced with a gate and sign to "Please Wait for Elevator Operator" and to no surprise, people walk past the gate to push the elevator button...

People would press the button on the other side all the time especially when down for a variety of reasons. And I will say it has led to "incidents" happening in the past, but I will not go into anymore detail to protect the park and other people's jobs as well as me. 

Good on the AP flat ride ops still being 2. The person who told me that has a long history of spreading false rumors and I'm sure you can take a guess who so I didn't believe him but I walked past the flying scooters and saw it is in single so I wasn't sure. 

2 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I am hoping this is temporary, and an opening weekend thing, but you may be right. It could be another cost cutting measure.

Its cost cutting. I was told by one of the ops who worked with me when I was there. 

[disco2000]

Removing the elevator attendant is kinda like removing the park ambassadors.  Seen on the bottom line, but lots of intangibles that cannot be measured are now gone.

Anyone that has worked the elevator attendant position can attest to the guest interaction that you got (and more so than probably any other associate position in the park) and undoubtedly had positive impacts on a guest's experience that day in the park.  Whether it be answering a question, offering up ride or food suggestions, to just maybe listening to them vent a little bit if they had a bad day, it is all valuable interaction that is now gone.

[WoodVengeance]

Did anybody else notice the park didn't put up any signs at all for the grand carousel's 100th anniversary? The park probably realized they would have to use something other than AI to honor that type of anniversary.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

1 hour ago, disco2000 said:

Removing the elevator attendant is kinda like removing the park ambassadors.  Seen on the bottom line, but lots of intangibles that cannot be measured are now gone.

Anyone that has worked the elevator attendant position can attest to the guest interaction that you got (and more so than probably any other associate position in the park) and undoubtedly had positive impacts on a guest's experience that day in the park.  Whether it be answering a question, offering up ride or food suggestions, to just maybe listening to them vent a little bit if they had a bad day, it is all valuable interaction that is now gone.

They didn't remove the elevator person. They removed the person standing/sitting at the base of the tower watching guests and scanning for ride requirements and helping catch prohibited items like drinks. 

[disco2000]

14 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

They didn't remove the elevator person. They removed the person standing/sitting at the base of the tower watching guests and scanning for ride requirements and helping catch prohibited items like drinks. 

True, but that position is still an elevator attendant (and my reply to you said "attendant at elevator door" so the position location was already identified).  And if that is the message you got from my post, then you missed the entire point of my post LOL.

[Swiftdrawer]

3 hours ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

I might catch flack for this, but here goes. 

After attending the park yesterday, I have to say for the first time in a long time, I left with a sad/somber feeling. I didn't leave with the normal fullness I usually feel. Now mind you, it had nothing to do with not riding anything yesterday. In fact, I knew going in without ASFL this season and with it being opening weekend, that wouldn't be happening for me. I went solely to take in the new stuff and have dinner with my lady. But after doing a few loops around the park and entering some of the gift shops to browse, we both noticed something. The park feels gutted. The sense of whimsy felt missing and honestly the park just hardcore gave off the stench of "corporate". To me its like tearing down a playground and putting an office space there. Or seeing how the restaurants from my youth went from bright and vibrant to blocky and grey. This is the feeling we both had upon exiting the park yesterday. All the goofy little claw machines/barrels that were outside of, for example, Diamondback's giftshop, are gone. The giftshops themselves feel stale. Looking around each one we noticed that a lot of them were selling overpriced stuff you'd find in the middle-way of a shopping mall ( soaps, notebooks, etc ) instead of plushies, shirts, hats, park exclusive stuff. And it felt like a lot of the decor inside the giftshops and around the park in general were barren. 

I know this was the first operating weekend for the park and there are still a lot of loose ends to be tied up, so I am trying to be optimistic and hopefully the things that added atmosphere to the park will return, but after what we saw yesterday, I fear this may a sign of what's to come. All of those silly little nuances that gave the park life and atmosphere and that sense of whimsy appear to be gone for now and maybe forever. Again, I realize this might all sound silly to some of you, but seeing so much empty gutted space just made the place feel stale and like I already said, "corporate". Also the continued use of AI everywhere is gross. I am on the side of AI being unethical, but seeing so much of it just gives off a cheapened feel.

All I can say is that I am going to try to remain optimistic for the future of the park as the season moves on and hopefully gets things together, but if this is what is in store for the future, I can't honestly say I will be enticed to be a passholder for much longer. We shall see. 

At first, I found the presence of soaps and the like pleasant as I saw that stuff at Sweet Spot but you have helped me realize the other side to it. Its clear between this and the AI slop shirts that are present that corporate doesnt care whether the products sold in stores look good and full of life. Corporate wants products that sell and thats it. Which means putting out things that are generic and/or AI slop generated instead of things that clearly had lots of effort put into them by graphic designers and the like. By working to cut costs so much, they have completely lost the points on why parks exist and why they continue to exist. If I had the power for just one day to have Cedar Flags do exactly what I want, I know precisely what kind of things I would make them make happen. Having it so they are creative people like illustrators and writers on the board of directors, for example.

At least the quality of Sweet Spot treats remains excellent. It helps the kitchen and equipment for making the sweets is right there and if corporate tried to mess with what Sweet Spot has had going for so long, it would not end well. Fresh treats are important for a park to have, especially when so many mass produced treats have such a repetitive taste that is often really enjoyable at first until the satisfaction and joy diminishes as an example of the law of diminishing value. Corporatizing things only makes the world less full of life and diminishes the experiences that bring people to places like Kings Island. It is plastering a dull vibe and energy that is inconsistent with the life the arts and entertainment bring to society.

And without the arts, the very meaning of what it means to be human could very well vanish. Art is ever present within Kings Island because posters, ride logos, fonts, treats, foods, drinks, inventions, rides, floral arrangements, and so on are all forms of artist expression when you get down to it. Creativity is why things like all the ride and coaster types in the world have ever been invented. Societies worldwide would not exist without creativity. And all of this is something corporate does not understand and does not want to understand.

[IndyGuy4KI]

I was looking at the merch and this one really popped out. Sorry the shirt is not flat for the best look of the logo. Does the normal park guest not realize or care the train's placement is not practical and makes no sense?

 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

3 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Removing the elevator attendant is kinda like removing the park ambassadors.  Seen on the bottom line, but lots of intangibles that cannot be measured are now gone.

Anyone that has worked the elevator attendant position can attest to the guest interaction that you got (and more so than probably any other associate position in the park) and undoubtedly had positive impacts on a guest's experience that day in the park.  Whether it be answering a question, offering up ride or food suggestions, to just maybe listening to them vent a little bit if they had a bad day, it is all valuable interaction that is now gone.

I'm hoping that this is the kind of thing that bringing back a boots-on-the-ground Park President will fix. 

 

4 hours ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

I might catch flack for this, but here goes. 

After attending the park yesterday, I have to say for the first time in a long time, I left with a sad/somber feeling. I didn't leave with the normal fullness I usually feel. Now mind you, it had nothing to do with not riding anything yesterday. In fact, I knew going in without ASFL this season and with it being opening weekend, that wouldn't be happening for me. I went solely to take in the new stuff and have dinner with my lady. But after doing a few loops around the park and entering some of the gift shops to browse, we both noticed something. The park feels gutted. The sense of whimsy felt missing and honestly the park just hardcore gave off the stench of "corporate". To me its like tearing down a playground and putting an office space there. Or seeing how the restaurants from my youth went from bright and vibrant to blocky and grey. This is the feeling we both had upon exiting the park yesterday. All the goofy little claw machines/barrels that were outside of, for example, Diamondback's giftshop, are gone. The giftshops themselves feel stale. Looking around each one we noticed that a lot of them were selling overpriced stuff you'd find in the middle-way of a shopping mall ( soaps, notebooks, etc ) instead of plushies, shirts, hats, park exclusive stuff. And it felt like a lot of the decor inside the giftshops and around the park in general were barren. 

I know this was the first operating weekend for the park and there are still a lot of loose ends to be tied up, so I am trying to be optimistic and hopefully the things that added atmosphere to the park will return, but after what we saw yesterday, I fear this may a sign of what's to come. All of those silly little nuances that gave the park life and atmosphere and that sense of whimsy appear to be gone for now and maybe forever. Again, I realize this might all sound silly to some of you, but seeing so much empty gutted space just made the place feel stale and like I already said, "corporate". Also the continued use of AI everywhere is gross. I am on the side of AI being unethical, but seeing so much of it just gives off a cheapened feel.

All I can say is that I am going to try to remain optimistic for the future of the park as the season moves on and hopefully gets things together, but if this is what is in store for the future, I can't honestly say I will be enticed to be a passholder for much longer. We shall see. 

You've put it beautifully! I'd like to echo that there are some things that will probably be fixed in the coming weeks, but some of the other stuff is likely sticking around for a while. The gift shops in particular feel a little empty and stale right now. Just this past Saturday I was talking to someone about how burnt out I felt with the park after my first visit of the season. Some of that feeling dissipated after I got back to the park on Sunday, but I'm definitely in an era right now where I need to take things slower than I have been.

This is going to continue to be a rougher stretch of time for Kings Island, but I'm hopeful that the steps that people like John Reilly are taking will be better in the long run. 

 

44 minutes ago, Swiftdrawer said:

And without the arts, the very meaning of what it means to be human could very well vanish. Art is ever present within Kings Island because posters, ride logos, fonts, treats, foods, drinks, inventions, rides, floral arrangements, and so on are all forms of artist expression when you get down to it. Creativity is why things like all the ride and coaster types in the world have ever been invented. Societies worldwide would not exist without creativity. And all of this is something corporate does not understand and does not want to understand.

Creativity and the arts are what made parks like Kings Island thrive in the beginning! I absolutely love when the arts get integrated into anything (though I am incredibly biased as a creative and fine arts person myself). I'd really like to see people in the company who understand the importance of creativity, especially in spite of how the legacy Six Flags company operated. 

 

27 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I was looking at the merch and this one really popped out. Sorry the shirt is not flat for the best look of the logo. Does the normal park guest not realize or care the train's placement is not practical and makes no sense?

This will sound bad, but I really hope the AI merch fails entirely. Not only does it get the details wrong, it's also incredibly ugly! Also, the new AI magnets are $9 a piece. Even after considering the minimal amount of labor that went into them (which literally only consisted of printing, shipping/delivery, and stocking) there is no way these things should cost more than $5. That also feels like a stretch. I won't be buying them and I hope none of you do either. 

No matter what your opinions on AI are, please please please do not buy that crazy ugly merchandise!!

[IndyGuy4KI]

There is a reason I did not post the AI designs on the KIC social channels. The channels that did, the replies are nothing but negative feedback on the designs.