CoasterKrazy Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I pulled in to the parking lot of PKI at 10:00 AM. Paid the $10 for parking, and noticed that you can leave and re-enter the parking lot without paying, as long as you show the parking receipt. Having been to the park anywhere from 40 to 50 times, you'd think I would have noticed that before, but apparently not. Some very basic landscaping has taken place at the edge preferred parking lot. The tall fences leading into the park have been removed and partially replaced with lower, black fences. Grass has been planted, and it may just be my imagination, but the area seems flatter, which makes me think some dirt had been brought in to level out the area. The metal detectors had some considerable lines, but I have never experienced a long wait, and Thursday was no different. The removal of the ticket booths was done very well, and I hardly even noticed they were gone. I was surprised at how few people actually bought tickets at the park. The majority of people just walked right up to the turnstiles, with whatever form of ticket they happened to have. The park was not crowded at all, and the longest wait we had was about 40 minutes, and that was only because IJ:ST broke down while we were in line. I was very, VERY impressed with Nickelodeon Universe. The paint, the buildings, the rides were all top notch. Yes, some of the rides did appear to be carnival rides, but had I not read that opinion here, I don't think I would have noticed. From pictures, it seems like the removal of rides is obvious, but actually being there was entirely different for me. Everything seemed to be spaced out evenly, and the addition of themeing on older rides was nice. I hope Cedar Fair keeps this area up, because PKI did a wonderful job as far as I'm concerned. When I learned the project wasn't very expensive, I wasn't expecting much, but I am extremely happy with this new area. Now for some general park updates: It seems there has been a slight modification to the floor of Delirium. I may not have noticed it before, but there is now a slight step below the main floor. The metal of this "new?" step did seem to be exceptionally shiny. (I know, not a great indication of it being new) Anyone know if this is new or not? The new paint in Drop Zone is VERY nice. Even the lift mechanism and the coach itself were painted. The Jacob's ladder game in front of Son of Beast has been (temporarily?) replaced with corn hole. Son of Beast has been improved slightly, and I commend the park for their efforts, but I still find it extremely uncomfortable. One of the trains on Flight of Fear now has orange seats. Another interesting thing happened at the exit of this ride. They were using the exit spiel that the ride opened with, except for a slight (and for coaster enthusiasts, humorous) modification. It says something similar to "Now we know what happens when the human body is pushed to the...." The last part of the recording (which should have said "outer limits") has been erased. It AMAZES me that the park keeps things like this (like the sounds on Adventure Express, Phantom Theater, etc.), doesn't use them for years, and then randomly brings them back. With the sale of the parks, I would be interested if PKICentral could work out something to get those recordings here on the site. Just a suggestion.... Also, I didn't mind the new wall coverings found in Flight of Fear's exit. It reminded me of the FDA's forensics lab, and actually made the Air Force base theme more believable. The helicopter on Italian Job stayed in the up position for the entire day. I did not notice any lateral movement, but I wasn't really looking for it either. The crew was running three trains, and rather effectively as well. The monkey room in the Tomb Raider queue is now totally bypassed, and the door to the tomb doesn't even close once riders are ready to watch the movie. Once on the ride, the eyes of the statue are mysteriously working, but not in the same manner with which the ride opened. They do not turn off (even at the end of the ride) and they randomly change colors. They seem to be different from the eyes originally found on the ride. Sadly, this was the only effect working. There were no sparks, no black lights, very few lights during the lava scene, and no fog at the end. However, my "PKI virgin" friends were blown away by Tomb Raider and liked it a lot. My favorite comment was "I can't figure out where all that stuff came from!" Overall, it was a great day and I had an awesome time at the park. Waits were minimal, and other than ride themeing, everything else looks to be in pretty good shape. Great Wolf Lodge is coming along nicely, along with the new road in front of it, complete with road dividers with trees and grass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubaman Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 So, we must have been in line for IJ:ST at the same time then, or it broke dowm multiple times that day other than when I was in line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterKrazy Posted June 9, 2006 Author Share Posted June 9, 2006 From reading your trip report, sounds like we were in line at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyKay07 Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Now that you have pointed out the new paint jobs, I will definately be on the lookout for them. I hate to hear that the door on TR:TR doesn't close anymore. When it closes, it shows that we are going into the "unknown" and that there is no turning back. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Yes, the park did do some landscaping to the left of the main entrance. They cleared out some of the shrubs and planted some grass. A little history information. That road that is down there continues up by Top Gun. That was Columbia Road before the park was built. When they built the park, they bisected the road. To connect the two ends of Columbia Road, they built Kings Island Drive. And yes, it is sad that they are not using the antechamber as it was designed on TR:TR. That is just another example of the ride experience being sacrificed by budget cuts that Paramount Parks instituted this year. By running the ride like that, they can run the ride with one less operator. Also, you may notice that they usually don`t have a greeter on that ride anymore on most days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Attack! Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Cornhole is permanant, from what I know. They wouldn't have put that nice carpet down if it was temporary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 ^Yeah it looks fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterKrazy Posted June 10, 2006 Author Share Posted June 10, 2006 Hmm...is there sarcasm concerning the quality of that carpet? And a greeter was not present at the entrance to the ride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cewldre Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 I can assure you that it is not carpet, but astroturf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopThrill Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Glad to hear your trip went good and smooth, what did you think about the park being clean? And yeah TR:TR hasn't had a greater this year, and thats were we put our water cooler at. When theres no greater there we have to hide it, other wise peaple drink it and fill up the big cups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterKrazy Posted June 10, 2006 Author Share Posted June 10, 2006 I thought the park was fairly clean. I didn't notice any trash, other than in thw queues of a few rides. (Namely Tomb Raider and Flight of Fear) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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