Kings Island General Discussion 2026

[rlentless]

I took my wife yesterday for the first time this year . . we both have been Gold Pass users for 20+ years.  Everything was so messy and dirty she said she's not coming back and told me to not renew her pass this year.  I also noticed a lot of areas that needed the grass to be cut.

We are both Universal pass holders too and go 4-5 times year.  I told her to not compare the two but she is anyway.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

During my quick visit today I noticed that the Cargo Loco sign appears to have been recently repainted! Last year it was peeling really badly.

[brenthodge]

20 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

During my quick visit today I noticed that the Cargo Loco sign appears to have been recently repainted! Last year it was peeling really badly.

Noticed that as well. Looks great. Maybe that’s where the payroll went since it didn’t go to planting the “fountain” 

[brenthodge]

Just now, brenthodge said:

Noticed that as well. Looks great. Maybe that’s where the payroll went since it didn’t go to planting the “fountain” 

Actually all of adventure port is pretty bare. 

[brenthodge]

Would benches or tables with chairs in front of the bandstand be that crazy to actually have a place to sit and watch the great shows we do have? If they kept them in the “stone” area and kept the blacktop for traffic it seems like it would work for flow. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

There's a few plantings that aren't in yet this season. I have the unfortunate feeling that it's part of more cuts from corporate, but I'm happy that at least the Living Liberty Bell is in its spot. I'm particularly missing the season marker planting behind the Grand Carousel sign and the carousel horse planting that was introduced last year.

 

I've been seeing more and more instances of / posts about guests being rude to associates and each other lately. As we move into the hot Summer season, please remember to hydrate well and do what you need to avoid getting hot and angry. These associates are probably just as warm as you are and don't earn nearly enough to justify being yelled at by guests. It's also really uncomfortable watching parents berate their children (seemingly) because everyone's too warm and too tired. Most of you probably know this is an issue already, but I just wanted to make the point especially after recently witnessing an incident at the train station alongside 100+ other people.

[Swiftdrawer]

On 6/4/2026 at 8:54 PM, kingsislandfan1972 said:

I'm glad this statue on International Street is still here in 2026! I always enjoy seeing it whenever I'm in the park! 😊

Thats one of my favorite things to see at Kings Island! I make it a point to at least look at it once while passing by it. (Heavily biased in favor of it because I love plate armor and I own steel plate armor that I like to wear even though it can be a real pain to put on by myself.)

[Swiftdrawer]

On 6/4/2026 at 2:19 PM, Outdoor Man said:

After cleaning off the Skyline serving window myself because.... it was a disgusting mess of cheese, spaghetti, and chili we went to Coney Mall to sit/eat.

From the images below: Table with my (full) drink on it is ours before we "dusted" it off. 

Grounds sweepers -sort of- sweeping randomly, missing more than they were sweeping. Supervisors walking by, blind-eye'ing it. After WE cleaned our table and prepared to leave, a family of three were going to leave the area because of the 4 empty tables.... the images below are a sample of what they saw; we gave them ours. 

In a story I heard, at Holiday World, ALL employees (from gate workers to Matt Eckert (Park President) or anyone with a Koch family lineage) are trained to pick up and throw away trash anywhere on park grounds they saw it.  I heard Mr. Eckert say in an interview that it is so engrained that his family will make fun of him because they'll spot him picking up trash in the parking lot of a Walmart to throw it away. 

This is Guest Experience 101. Make your areas clean and welcoming. At a minimum, if you can't get staff to clean it, install kiosks that will give guests Disinfectant Wipes to clean themselves.

I grew up on Kings Island. Have been an annual pass holder every year since 2006 + a handful of years before.  2025 and this year have been terrible on keeping areas clean.  I get it, guests can be gross and disgusting. They will do things in the park they would NEVER do at home. But, this is awful. I have no ax to grind. KI is a great park- but wow, it's been a bad year+ for attention to the "little" things.

and, looking at the pictures after posting... it really looked worse in person.

 

Yeah, I always see mess on those tables but its definitely worse this year. I saw like 8 geese in the patio and around it a few weeks ago. I was shocked. Never seen so many anywhere outside of the fountain’s area.

[BeeastFarmer]

On 6/7/2026 at 10:02 PM, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

There's a few plantings that aren't in yet this season. I have the unfortunate feeling that it's part of more cuts from corporate, but I'm happy that at least the Living Liberty Bell is in its spot. I'm particularly missing the season marker planting behind the Grand Carousel sign and the carousel horse planting that was introduced last year.

 

I've been seeing more and more instances of / posts about guests being rude to associates and each other lately. As we move into the hot Summer season, please remember to hydrate well and do what you need to avoid getting hot and angry. These associates are probably just as warm as you are and don't earn nearly enough to justify being yelled at by guests. It's also really uncomfortable watching parents berate their children (seemingly) because everyone's too warm and too tired. Most of you probably know this is an issue already, but I just wanted to make the point especially after recently witnessing an incident at the train station alongside 100+ other people.

What happened at the train station?

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

There was a pretty loud personal matter that I'm not going to describe too much. A very upset parent pulling their very upset disabled child in some direction, which resulted in another guest chiming in. I was at the tables outside of the station itself but could still hear most of it. I guess there might've been a better word than "witnessing", though that described being able to hear it well enough.

 

On another topic: I would love to see some more statues like Don Quixote blended into the theming around the park. I've long been an advocate that Kings Island should be more of a thrilling theme park than a themed amusement park, and well-placed static figures/displays would a good inclusion for that.