CEO Brings Things Back....What Would You Like To See At KI?

[Orion-XL200]

Yesterday, Kings Dominion announced the return of in park Live Entertainment (while they had some, it lacked). Today, 2 parks have Holiday In The Park returning. 

 

 

If you got to talk with the new CEO and he asked what you'd like to see come back to KI, what are your top 3 choices? Ideally, you're responses would be realistic and "easily" attainable and most likely not a major attraction. 

[beastfan11]

The Clown Band. Seems like KD is more or less getting done version of the same. 

[PKIDelirium]

A sign clarifying the rule that a giga coaster is a coaster with a height OR DROP of 300' or more.

[silver2005]

Night ERT events and midnight closes would be nice again.

[BeeastFarmer]

What makes International Street have more ambience: the fountain pedestals and gas lamps. Redo the pavers so there is a (flat) delineation between sidewalk, curb and street (no black pavers, though, to hold on heat.) get rid of the grass around the tower and do lush landscape.  Flower baskets galore in the entire area.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

For rides, fill the empty Vortex plot with a multi launch coaster, the Crypt building with a Vekoma madhouse, Skyflyer plot with a Scream n Swing, and Action Theater with a flying theater or planeterium type attraction. Empty ride plots/buildings imo should be filled with RIDES not Haunts or restaurants.

Bring in more limited time popup events and entertainment like Dive in Movies/late night activities in Soak City, Food Truck festivals, late night ERT events for passholders/coaster club members, and competitions like 5ks and eating contests. Didn't Carowinds do a hopscotch competition a few weeks back?

Expand Food and Wine and make it more immersive and move it up to the beginning of May and have it run on every operating day through like before Memorial Day. 

Add a Brew and BBQ/Barrels and Bites Event in Rivertown in June and a Viva La Fiesta style event in Adventure Port in July. Add a Kids focused event (ie Kidzfest) to Planet/Camp Snoopy

Speaking of Camp Snoopy add camp style activities to Camp Snoopy for kids to partake in like crafts, tye dying T shirts, bubble parties, etc.

Bring back Spirit Song and/or other concerts to Timberwolf and focus on building it and NOT giving up on it after one year. Do a "Summer Music Festival" type of event like what Carowinds did in 2024 and have multiple stages throughout the park with Timberwolf being the main stage

Bring in the Splash Water Parade 

Decorate the park with summer vibes style decor from Memorial Day through Labor Day like what Dollywood does for peak Summer. For example: have things like kites, pool noodles, umbrellas, etc hanging over pathways as well as air dancers.

 

[Outdoor Man]

37 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

What makes International Street have more ambience: the fountain pedestals and gas lamps. Redo the pavers so there is a (flat) delineation between sidewalk, curb and street (no black pavers, though, to hold on heat.) get rid of the grass around the tower and do lush landscape.  Flower baskets galore in the entire area.

What this person said!  I also liked the vintage Orchestra-style music.

and.... REPLACE BURNT OUT BULBS on the iStreet buildings.  It's the first AND last thing guests see. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

39 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

What makes International Street have more ambience: the fountain pedestals and gas lamps. Redo the pavers so there is a (flat) delineation between sidewalk, curb and street (no black pavers, though, to hold on heat.) get rid of the grass around the tower and do lush landscape.  Flower baskets galore in the entire area.

I second bringing back the gas lamps on International Street! I'd also like to see pavers replace the blacktop around and under the Eiffel Tower. Also while at it, get rid of that sliver of blacktop in between Camp Snoopy and Mystic Timbers. I'm still shocked they didn't rip out that section of blacktop when they put it Mystic in 2017. 

[Imperial79]

My top 5 that would be easy to do (I would think) is 1) Bring back the Classic Royal Fountain, 2) Add some pavers around the Eiffel Tower, 3) Bring back the area portal signs for Coney Mall and Oktoberfest, 4) Bring the lampposts back to International Street, 5) for a ride bring the Skyride back. 

[KI Guy]

Add me to the list for restoring the Royal Fountain. It's just not the same; not even close.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think my Top 5 non-ride additions would be (in no particular order):

1. More theming in general across the entire park.
2. Coney Mall backside rework + Grand Pavilion-esque restaurant addition to replace KillMart.
3. Rivertown expansion to replace the TR:TR building.
4. A complete rework of Action Zone to at least make the path shapes less awkward.
5. A conversion of Soak City into a new waterpark with great theming. See my Wildwater Junction concept for more on that.

As for things to bring back (again in no particular order):

1. Short events during the summer such as the Food Truck Festival, Run & Ride/Color Run, and the summer BBQ event(s). I think they could host both the Food & Wine Festival and a smaller BBQ "festival" later in the summer. Something easy that fills out the parts of Summer that don't have the big festivals going on.
   • Worlds of Fun just announced a new nighttime passholder ERT event, but it only runs from 8-10PM on certain nights. If KI did something similar I'd want it to go until at least 11PM.
2. The forgotten theming items on International Street (mentioned by others in above posts). I'd be fine with a setup more like at Canada's Wonderland for a "standby" mode, but keep some of the fancy elements so we can continue to have fountain shows. Bring back the gas lamp-looking fixtures and add some new landscaping around the Eiffel Tower. If they take out that asphalt under the tower I'd much rather see it replaced with concrete since the rest of the street already has pavers.
3. More entertainment that lasts all season. They can have a few weeks between seasons where some theaters are dark, but allowing most of the stages to be dark for half of the season is not great.
4. A revitalized Halloween Haunt. Go back to the FearFest name while we're at it. This would've been a good excuse for adding the maze upcharge and making the event more scary/adult oriented. 
5. Lastly, and this goes for more than just KI, bring back the classic park logos and use them more around each park.

[Shawn Meyer]

My thoughts are, stop price gouging the consumers on every single thing that you can. Nothing says greedy more than that. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I've been seeing a lot of people talk about how Six Flags is nickel-and-diming guests, but I'd like to see some examples of what you mean (if you don't mind). Beyond the high prices for food and the new (year-old) upcharge for Haunt mazes, I don't think I can recall anything else that isn't reasonably priced for the product it provides. The new dining plans might be an example, but $400 isn't a crazy price for the folks who already use that much worth anyway (which is who it is for).

[Captain Nemo]

New App - Pump $$ into an integrated system with a new UI that better serves the largest needs of all guests that visit the park. If we’re going to have guests use their phones for needs inside the park I for sure want the app to work 100% of the time!

Stop all AI image generated content - This isn’t a gas station convenience store. I’m hiring back artists. That is all.

Entertainment - Festhaus to move away from stage shows and introduce more live soloists or duos there and around the park. The Gardens, Action Zone shade structure. Shade structures added to all outdoor venues. More Human Interaction Meet & Greets like characters from Phantom Theatre, Charlie Brown’s teacher who walks around the park talking in the same voice, Raptor Encounter but The Beast or Mystic Timbers tree.

ride closures/replacements - Total overhaul of Flight of Fear to last 30 more years. Have a Vekoma Thrill Glider ready for when The Bat ultimately closes in the same area. close Congo Falls. Remove TRTR building. Replace WWC with MACK rocking boat using same trough.

overhaul technical services - I don’t like burnt out lights so I know it will require a larger team!

More shade - In general add more shade locations with seating.

I could go on but this is what I could think of before going off on a tangent