KI Essentials Is Receiving A Complete Aesthetic Refresh.

[kingsislandfan1972]

Just announced on the official Kings Island Facebook page KI Essentials Is Receiving A Complete Aesthetic Refresh. 

https://www.facebook.com/share/1FPUk27sKR/

[BoddaH1994]

I kind of dig it! Hopefully it helps improve sales. That store was quietly my favorite one in the park. 

[beastfan11]

Looking good! 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Now what I wish they would do is expand the men's restroom up there so its not just one stall anymore. 

[kingsislandfan1972]

14 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Now what I wish they would do is expand the men's restroom up there so its not just one stall anymore. 

I've been waiting for that for YEARS! 😅 Maybe KI will surprise us here in the 2020s.

[CoasterJack]

I really like how this looks, it's always nice to see the park investing in small things like this that improve the overall experience, even if it's just a store. I really liked the renovation of the trading post they did last year.

[Orion-XL200]

Now the question is, will it have about 95% of Peanuts merch as in the past or will it feature more KI themed merch? Will it continue to be a repeat of items found elsewhere on I-Street? 

[BeeastFarmer]

5 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Now what I wish they would do is expand the men's restroom up there so its not just one stall anymore. 

Maybe the could add more terlets and face them to the wall with a urinal style divider.  It would be so avant guarde to have open air seats!

[brenthodge]

3 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said:

Now the question is, will it have about 95% of Peanuts merch as in the past or will it feature more KI themed merch? Will it continue to be a repeat of items found elsewhere on I-Street? 

I think it needs to be ESSENTIALS that are park themed. Theres nothing "essential" about a snoopy plush. There should be a dedicated shop for Peanuts there as well as in PSnoopy. I'd like to see Build A Bear go away and a full Peanuts/Loony Tunes shop take its place with a strong store design. They could even keep the "stuff it yourself" idea, just scale it back a bit to allow for other stuff. That might work better in the "Trading Post" spot since they could do some fun IP merchandising on the "porch" EMPORIUM could be current KI ride themed stuff as well as general gift and "topical" stuff like a haunt shop, new ride shop etc. Move the KIGallery to the old Build A Bear location with park history displays and vintage ride themed, park history themed things in a more "gallery" style setting. There just needs to be a reason to go in different shops - as it is now there is the same exact stuff from one end of the street to the other. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I've always thought of KI Essentials being more of a "forgot something? Get it here" store for medicine and some outerwear for the park.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

4 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Maybe the could add more terlets and face them to the wall with a urinal style divider.  It would be so avant guarde to have open air seats!

I think the best solution would be to make it more like a Buc-ee's men's restroom with urinals on one side, where they are currently; stalls on the other side, where the sinks currently are; and sinks in the center, where that massive open area (that often also gets slippery for whatever reason) currently is. The largest hurdle would be ensuring that there is enough space for wheelchairs to traverse the restroom.

4 hours ago, brenthodge said:

I think it needs to be ESSENTIALS that are park themed. Theres nothing "essential" about a snoopy plush. There should be a dedicated shop for Peanuts there as well as in PSnoopy. I'd like to see Build A Bear go away and a full Peanuts/Loony Tunes shop take its place with a strong store design. They could even keep the "stuff it yourself" idea, just scale it back a bit to allow for other stuff. That might work better in the "Trading Post" spot since they could do some fun IP merchandising on the "porch" EMPORIUM could be current KI ride themed stuff as well as general gift and "topical" stuff like a haunt shop, new ride shop etc. Move the KIGallery to the old Build A Bear location with park history displays and vintage ride themed, park history themed things in a more "gallery" style setting. There just needs to be a reason to go in different shops - as it is now there is the same exact stuff from one end of the street to the other. 

I like the idea of turning Build-A-Bear into a second dedicated IP shop, though IIRC the Peanuts characters cannot be shown next to non-Peanuts IP so the park would need to choose which to display. One of the renderings for KI Essentials does specifically show a Snoopy bubble wand on a circular rack. 

Something to note: The store at the front of the park is the KI Trading Company while the store in Rivertown is the DB Trading Post. Both are fine as they currently exist, but I felt the need to ensure we made the right distinction either way. I'd hate to see BAB go in DBTP because it would get rid of the only large store in Rivertown. It would also feel out of place, like how Panda Express does for some in the Festhaus.

[Orion-XL200]

I'd rather they get rid of BAB all together.

[Swiftdrawer]

On 1/26/2026 at 11:28 PM, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I think the best solution would be to make it more like a Buc-ee's men's restroom with urinals on one side, where they are currently; stalls on the other side, where the sinks currently are; and sinks in the center, where that massive open area (that often also gets slippery for whatever reason) currently is. The largest hurdle would be ensuring that there is enough space for wheelchairs to traverse the restroom.

I like the idea of turning Build-A-Bear into a second dedicated IP shop, though IIRC the Peanuts characters cannot be shown next to non-Peanuts IP so the park would need to choose which to display. One of the renderings for KI Essentials does specifically show a Snoopy bubble wand on a circular rack. 

Something to note: The store at the front of the park is the KI Trading Company while the store in Rivertown is the DB Trading Post. Both are fine as they currently exist, but I felt the need to ensure we made the right distinction either way. I'd hate to see BAB go in DBTP because it would get rid of the only large store in Rivertown. It would also feel out of place, like how Panda Express does for some in the Festhaus.

Ive never been to a Buc-ee’s so it is REALLY funny that I independently came up with a similar layout for a restroom in my Minecraft theme park resort project. Its all because the building I put the bathroom in is a recreation of a building from another of my Minecraft worlds and it isnt long enough to have more than 2 stalls but it is wider than the bathrooms I typically build are. So I was able to put sinks in the center and stalls on either side. The original building has a funny story to it but I can save that for another day. Also, its worth mentioning that Kings Island has been a huge inspiration for a bunch of things in my project. The reason all 45 haunted houses(and counting) Ive built exist and are genuinely good is because of KI’s Haunt.

 

Back on topic, that really is a good idea. Feels like the bathroom with its 1 stall was an afterthought when it was put in. I exclusively use stalls in bathrooms as I like the privacy of them so I know all too well how “fun” it is for there to only be one stall. Sometimes, youre better off going to another bathroom if you dont want to/cant use the urinals. As for my thoughts on KI Essentials getting a refurbishment, I love it so much. Looks really good. Will look even better in person. Refreshing shops, restrooms, and such is an underrated task for parks to do. After all, the things that are of lowest quality in the park are as important as its best offerings in weighing overall park quality.