would you like to see the current theming removed

[CoastersRZ]

Delirium13, technically Top Gun is not an inverted coaster, bus a suspended coaster.

I don`t actually mind the location of Face Off. It has a nice grove of trees separating it from the parking lot. And the fact that it overlooks the main entrance plaza is a nice invitation to guests entering the park of what thrills await them once inside the gates of the park.

[raptor]

Top Gun is inverted but it's the old kind not the one's that go fast and upsidedown and thru corkscrews, those kind are awesome, I thought that was what face off would be, but it's pretty short, It's alright I just would have rather seen a long inverted masterpiece.

It does remind me of the screamin demon it starts on one side goes down the hill thru the loop up to the other side than reverses the direction, much more updated but reminds me of it.

[Skywriter]

Top Gun is inverted but it's the old kind not the one's that go fast and upsidedown and thru corkscrews, those kind are awesome, I thought that was what face off would be, but it's pretty short, It's alright I just would have rather seen a long inverted masterpiece.

It does remind me of the screamin demon it starts on one side goes down the hill thru the loop up to the other side than reverses the direction, much more updated but reminds me of it.

Top Gun is a suspened due Type of cars it uses and it is not cpable of loops.

[CoastersRZ]

No, Raptor, Top Gun is an Arrow SUSPENDED coaster, not an inverted coaster. Suspended coasters first debuted at Kings Island in 1981 as The Bat, althought its life was shortlived due to mechanical problems. The suspended coaster was later perfected and has found homes at other parks such as Big Bad Wolf at BGE, Iron Dragon at Cedar Point, Ninja at SFMM, and Vortex at Canada`s Wonderland. Top Gun was the last Arrow suspended coaster to be built in 1993.

It was right around the time that Top Gun was built that the B&M inverted coasters were arriving on the scene, and capable of doing inversions. These rides which feature ski lift type seats, are referred to as inverted coasters. The versions that were manufactures by Vekoma further complicate the issue, as Vekoma calls them "Suspended looping coaster" or SLC. However, most will agree that they are an inverted coaster. Both Face Off and Runaway Reptar are inverted coasters from Vekoma.

[The Interpreter]

The primary difference between an inverted coaster and a suspended coaster is an inverted roller coaster's trains are rigidly attached to the track. A suspended coaster's trains are SUSPENDED from the track, with shock absorbers damping the vibrations and movements...

[Dalefan]

I think that as long as Cedar Fair has the contract with Paramount they should keep it. It takes time to redue a park the size of Kings Island. But due to Kings Island having more land then they know what to do with and letting the trees block them from making more room for rides is something that i hope Cedar Fair will change. They should keep the trees but take them down for enough room to build. Dont take all of them down just do the ones you need to get rid of for the building of a ride. I was surprised to see in a old pic that Vortex uses the old Bat station and area. It might be just me but Disney World ought to build a coaster higher then 215 ft. They have hardly built anything new in the last 3 to 5 years at the park its self. And paying $71.00 per person per park when you have a family of 4 or more gets alittle much. I know they have packages and things which makes it a little more easyer to go. The theming at Kings Island shouldnt be too much to change but it still should stay till the contract is up. It kinda makes me wonder that if Disney World is the best park in the world then shouldnt they be no.1?

[The Interpreter]

I think that as long as Cedar Fair has the contract with Paramount they should keep it. It takes time to redue a park the size of Kings Island. But due to Kings Island having more land then they know what to do with and letting the trees block them from making more room for rides is something that i hope Cedar Fair will change. They should keep the trees but take them down for enough room to build. Dont take all of them down just do the ones you need to get rid of for the building of a ride. I was surprised to see in a old pic that Vortex uses the old Bat station and area. It might be just me but Disney World ought to build a coaster higher then 215 ft. They have hardly built anything new in the last 3 to 5 years at the park its self. And paying $71.00 per person per park when you have a family of 4 or more gets alittle much. I know they have packages and things which makes it a little more easyer to go. The theming at Kings Island shouldnt be too much to change but it still should stay till the contract is up. It kinda makes me wonder that if Disney World is the best park in the world then shouldnt they be no.1?

So, how long have you worked at Geauga Lake?

Seriously, reduce Kings Island? Mr. Kinzel and company did not pay $1.24 billion to reduce the Paramount Parks....they could do that (and have done quite a job of it so far) right up there in Aurora, Ohio.

Look for Cedar Fair to invest in its parks, not ruin them.

And a family can get a lot better deal at Disney than the price you quoted. Parkhoppers, multi-day passes, discounts--all abound.

[Delirium13]

Delirium13, technically Top Gun is not an inverted coaster, bus a suspended coaster.

I don`t actually mind the location of Face Off. It has a nice grove of trees separating it from the parking lot. And the fact that it overlooks the main entrance plaza is a nice invitation to guests entering the park of what thrills await them once inside the gates of the park.

Sorry about that, I wasn't paying enough attention when I read the post.

And about the location, I like how it looks from the outside of the park, I agree with that, I just don't like being so close to the edge of the park. it kind of kills the atmosphere, I know it's impssible to ahve one without the other and it isn't anything that bother me that bad. I guess I was just nit picking.

[raptor]

No, Raptor, Top Gun is an Arrow SUSPENDED coaster, not an inverted coaster. Suspended coasters first debuted at Kings Island in 1981 as The Bat, althought its life was shortlived due to mechanical problems. The suspended coaster was later perfected and has found homes at other parks such as Big Bad Wolf at BGE, Iron Dragon at Cedar Point, Ninja at SFMM, and Vortex at Canada`s Wonderland. Top Gun was the last Arrow suspended coaster to be built in 1993.

It was right around the time that Top Gun was built that the B&M inverted coasters were arriving on the scene, and capable of doing inversions. These rides which feature ski lift type seats, are referred to as inverted coasters. The versions that were manufactures by Vekoma further complicate the issue, as Vekoma calls them "Suspended looping coaster" or SLC. However, most will agree that they are an inverted coaster. Both Face Off and Runaway Reptar are inverted coasters from Vekoma.

I didn't think it was inverted someone else said it was when i said i wished they had a long inverted coaster.

There my favourite kind at first I though x flight might be but i don't think it is too bad we need a good one.

[hawaiianfish]

I think Kings Island needs to refocus itself a little bit on being a true "theme park". I would agree that Cedar Fair has not gone all out when it comes to theming at a park like Knotts Berry Farm, but I think they at least try to maintain some sense of theme with their installations. For example, the Xcelerator is themed to be a '50's car and is in the Boardwalk section of the park. Similarly, the Silver Bullet is lightly western-themed and is in the Ghost Town section of the park. These are both completely Cedar Fair installations and have at least paid some respect to the existing theme in each respective area of the park.

If we contrast this with Kings Island under Viacom ownership, we have seen some of the most gross disregard for theme in the last 10 years. Here are a few examples: 1) Bubba Gump Shrimp in Oktoberfest. I do not recall any German themes in Forrest Gump 2) The de-theming of the Festhaus, which now serves LaRosa's pizza, has giant QTV screens and is basically another arcade 3) Tomb Raider in Rivertown. I do not recall Lara Croft visiting any river towns in the midwest in either of the Tomb Raider films or in the video games 4) The de-internationalization of International Street. The last true remnant of International Street, La Patisserie Francaise became a Starbucks a few years back.

I am not suggesting Kings Island hold onto the past. For example, while I personally love the Hanna-Barbera characters and I miss them when I visit the park now, I actually think conversion to Nickelodeon Central was a good thing. The current owners of the HB intellectual property (whom I believe is Turner's Cartoon Network) have not done enough to keep the HB characters in the public consciousness.

Here are a few areas, I think the park should focus on restoring:

1) Oktoberfest - I think Kings Island should reflect the local culture of Cincinnati. Since Kings Island has a strong German heritage, I think Cedar Fair should make sure that out-of-town visitors get a feeling for this when they visit the park. All you have to do is look at Busch Gardens Williamsburg (now Busch Gardens Europe, I believe) to see how a German theme can be successfully pulled off in a seasonally-operated theme park.

2) Rivertown - All you have to do is look at the facades in The Beast queue to see that you can successfully install a major thrill ride into a park (The Beast) and yet still pay respect to the theme of the area that it is in. Again, Cincinnati was and is a river community. This area of the park should reflect that more. Tomb Raider looks terrible here.

3) Coney Mall - This area has the most flexibility and has probably been the least tainted themed area over the years. This area should continually focus on retaining the feel of Coney Island's main midway.

4) International Street - Do you think visitors are confused as to why the park icon is the Eiffel Tower? I think they are, and it's because International Street does not set any type of stage for the Eiffel Tower. If International Street had more of an international flair, with the different shops representing different countries, suddenly the Eiffel Tower as the park icon makes a lot more sense.

I don't have a lot of passions for the other areas of the park, but Cedar Fair needs to really think about what they want their product, in this case Kings Island, to be. Cedar Point is only 4 hours away and is a near-perfect representation of a traditional amusement park (only themed area being their Frontier town). If they can restore a true sense of theme to Kings Island and represent the local culture of Cincinnati more, I think this will be in their best long-term interests to attracting families and people of all ages.

Will Cedar Fair really focus on this? Only time will tell. I don't see how they could get much worse than putting Bubba Gump's in Oktoberfest. Don't get me wrong, great food at Bubba Gumps - it just does not belong in that area of the park.

[Dalefan]

I think that as long as Cedar Fair has the contract with Paramount they should keep it. It takes time to redue a park the size of Kings Island. But due to Kings Island having more land then they know what to do with and letting the trees block them from making more room for rides is something that i hope Cedar Fair will change. They should keep the trees but take them down for enough room to build. Dont take all of them down just do the ones you need to get rid of for the building of a ride. I was surprised to see in a old pic that Vortex uses the old Bat station and area. It might be just me but Disney World ought to build a coaster higher then 215 ft. They have hardly built anything new in the last 3 to 5 years at the park its self. And paying $71.00 per person per park when you have a family of 4 or more gets alittle much. I know they have packages and things which makes it a little more easyer to go. The theming at Kings Island shouldnt be too much to change but it still should stay till the contract is up. It kinda makes me wonder that if Disney World is the best park in the world then shouldnt they be no.1?

So, how long have you worked at Geauga Lake?

Seriously, reduce Kings Island? Mr. Kinzel and company did not pay $1.24 billion to reduce the Paramount Parks....they could do that (and have done quite a job of it so far) right up there in Aurora, Ohio.

Look for Cedar Fair to invest in its parks, not ruin them.

And a family can get a lot better deal at Disney than the price you quoted. Parkhoppers, multi-day passes, discounts--all abound.

Please read my post again. I did not say reduce. And no i dont work at Geagua Lake. I was talking about them redoing the themeing. By putting in more rides it is not ruining the park. Its making them better. When Cedar Fair bought Paramount Parks they had a 10 year contract still with Kings Island and what i said was they need to keep the theming till the contract is up. And note when i said the packages and things when i said it makes it easyer to go and not spend much. They have alot of work to do when they go to retheme some of the Paramount Parks. I know that Kings Island wont take much to retheme cause the rides only have the names to redo and not the whole rides itself. I know that the only thing stoping Kings Island from building more rides and or areas is them trees. I know that they put alot of money in the parks they own. Just look at what Cedar Fair did to Geagua Lake. Made it alot better then when Six Flags owned it. If six Flags would of not sold it they would of went under in 5 years or less.

[The Interpreter]

Cedar Fair in the past has been known for wholesale removal of trees. Many of us do NOT think that is a good thing. You, yourself, in your first post in this thread said they need to keep the trees that needn't be removed for a ride. And redo is spelled redo, not redue. In context, appeared pretty clear you meant reduce. Especially with all the trees references!

[westcoaster]

I think some type of theming will stay Correct on the last reply even Cedar Point is theming(and I do believe they got copy rights on there newest coaster). Look at dolly wood too. It does not have to be the magic of the movies but example like the IJST it could be the LA HIGHWAY presented by bmw:

Flight of Fear alien encounter:

top gun : just name it the Jet coaster etc. etc.:

I think theming in some shape and fashion will stay: Maybe not paramount or movies: