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If I'm being completely honest, (and forgive me if this comes off a little negative, especially this late in the game), what we're seeing right now is precisely why I was never on board with the whole "you won't notice 13ft" argument. With the elevation disadvantage, paired with its placement in the back left of the park, I think were beginning to see that it really could have used all the height it can get in order to appear more imposing onto the rest of the park. Or at least, its a slippery slope. I would say that it was never so much about 13 ft as much as it is about 20-30 ft, given the expectation that it was going to clear 300 ft by at least some amount, even if by just 5-10 ft. Having it at 300 flat was kind of pushing it to begin with, but take away an additional 13 ft? And yes, I do think it results in a noticeable discrepancy between this and previous gigas... However, on the other hand (and this is positive), I'm starting to think that what is lessening the ride visually (placement), will end up enhancing the ride from an experience standpoint. Come to think of it, I never wanted this to be a parking lot coaster anyway, so I'm actually glad to see it break from Fury and Leviathan in that regard. Sure, it won't be as immediately noticeable at the front of the park, in the way the aforementioned B&M gigas are... But if better night rides/seclusion come at the slight expense of imposition onto the rest of the park, then that is an A-ok tradeoff in my view! Think about it. Would you rather be riding past a mundane ocean of concrete, traffic lines, and car light glare, OR flying through the trees and foliage of the dark Ohio woods after sundown? I think you know my pick...

Here are some pics I got this evening.

Drove past the park last night. Tower was testing. You’ll be pleased to know that the star is now pixel mapped (color changing) along with the tower. Dominion had this last year, I believe. Additionally you could clearly see that one of the buildings on the train route was loaded with Christmas lights. Looks like it might be twelve days of chromes until Soak City Station (as we figured out before) and then some cool stuff afterwards. Exciting!!

I love that they are definitely not just resting on their laurels with a successful event. They keep adding and stepping it up each year.

Ya cause webcams are the priority with haunt tear down into winter fest setup. Not to mention them building their biggest investment in history and also removing one of their most historic coasters, ya I'm sure the webcams are a bigger priority.

Wow. How did people function years ago when they actually had to wait patiently until something was complete to see it????

I have to say, I've never been more excited for Orion until I drove by tonight. Seeing the lift hill complete was incredible. It's amazing seeing it loom behind Diamondback when you're getting off the exit. That's going to be one heck of a drop.

Waiting would be the normal thing to do. But we aren’t normal. Agreed wholeheartedly. My big concern after the first year was that with all of its success they wouldn’t feel the need to spruce it up every year it would become an event that people would have thought they’d already seen and didn’t need to go again.

From a budget and money's worth for KI I'd expect more B&Ms due to the fact that the track is made so close and will cost less for shipping etc. Which isn't a bad thing in my opinion. With steel ever increasing staying local sure helps get more bang for your buck. It would be a fun record to be the park with the most B&m coasters. I think a dive would look and be a great addition to replace Vortex.

Do they though? Webcams are not their first priority.

It has now been three weeks for what is apparently “software upgrades”. The Kings Island IT staff looks incredibly inept right now.

Shots my Mom got of Orion from the Kings High School back parking lot:

I'd have to agree with this. As intriguing as it'd be to see a Gerstlauer come to the park, even if just to change it up a bit, I also think it'd be best just go with B&M for the dive. It'd fill the space better, be about 50% higher capacity than an Infinity, and probably, would just be a better ride anyway.

Diamondback used to seem nearly vertical to me. Now it seems about as vertical as The Beast.

Me too. you can spot it from very far away, almost when you can first make out the Eiffel Tower from a distance and it looks way bigger in real life.

I’m sure there is a “complete package” they are aiming for once they figure out what works best where and we won’t see major adds every year once the parade is added next year (hint hint) but these first few have been pretty dramatic with shifting things around.

Cameras. The same way they always functioned, just with this stuff called film and not silicon.

Same, but with that playplace in the mini Nickelodeon area (pre-Nick Central) that was (seemingly) suddenly removed for no reason. I do (barely) remember seeing construction walls around where KCKC was back in the day.

Didn't they first say it was because of lights being installed, then IT upgrade? What its really about is that Cedar Fair probably saw KI web site was getting more hits than CP's because of Orion construction, then decided to pull the plug. This sounds like another "Reached end of service life". excuse to me!

Google Earth shows right where DB highest point is roughly 749 feet and Orion is roughly 746 so it is nearly the same. Now, the bottom of Orion's hill is for sure lower elevation than DB. Looks like roughly 717 feet around the bottom of Orion's first drop

Here's another pic from my mom today. If you go to a Kings High School football game next year, you'll be able to get great views of Orion when it's light out. Hopefully Orion has a nice light package on the lift and maybe light up wheels so you can get great views at night too!

Yeah, the few times I did interact with young kids, I tended to use my nice farmer voice (as opposed to yelling at them in my scarecrow voice). As a point of reference, this was when I was placed midway through the maze and I was scaring and giving directions. EDIT: As a last note, that was my favorite spot, as there were so many options.

It's definently for all. Me and my friends did it. I've seen people of all ages get in line.

I am getting excited to go down that Snow Works hill with the whole family!

Is this a collectors item now?

Taken from Reddit. The trains saying goodbye before they go wherever they’re going.

You should really try to make one of your trips New Year's Eve. It was so amazing spending NYE at KI, just beautiful and their countdown on the tower was so cool. We attended the adults only party upstairs but this year plan on just staying in the park. If you're a hot chocolate lover you really need to try The Beast hot chocolate at Sweet Spot, it is the bomb. I try to stay away from sweets being I'm diabetic, but this drink I cannot resist. It also comes in a glass mug with The Beast on it. I REALLY hope they have it again this year.

I remember being irked that they replaced the original Enchanted Voyage with the Smurfs. Seriously aggravated. To this day, I still have a deep seated wish that they would bring it back. I was also irked when they replaced the Phantom Theater. I miss being asked, "What are you looking at?" Must be something about that particular location. If I like the ride that is there, they take it out. While I understand why people want to see the topping off, I just can't too excited about not seeing it via webcam. They still have a long way to go. I'm sure that they will have several pictures on the Blog. I still can't ride it yet but, come April or May, I'll be geared up.

Age. Times have definitely changed. If we didn’t see it on our local news or commercials we didn’t see it. It’s amazing how people have changed with technology. No one has any trust of another’s word anymore. It’s both understandable and sad all at the same time.

Here is a statement from Kings Island: The KI PR team confirms that the park webcams are still not working properly. They are working internally to resolve the issue. They understand that it's important to KICentral members and hope the resolution doesn't take much longer. They thank you for your continued patience.

I think @IndyGuy4KI mentioned that he talked to someone in the park and they said that they were going to have something where the pedestals were. Also, here is a WF prep video posted by Evan Millward WCPO.

Too much alien tech interfering.

Wow. Kind of surprised there aren’t age requirements on some of those mazes, especially that one. 3-5 is really young for that kind of thing.

I remembered another one from this past weekend: I / Sam the Butcher was letting groups into Slaughterhouse and a couple with two small children, about 3 and 5 years old, came up with the children wearing No Boo necklaces. I told the mom, "Just to let you know, the No Boos aren't valid in the houses and you have to turn them off." The mom proceeded to turn the daughter's No Boo off and told her "Don't worry, they won't scare you, they'll still be able to see it." I told her "No, they WILL scare anyone who comes into the house, the No Boos don't work in there." The mom then told the girl again "No, they won't scare you." I let them in... I said "Well, I warned them..." to the two groups of guests that were next in line in the regular and Fright Lane lines. That then started a conversation between us about the No Boos. We don't purposely target those with No Boos, we target everyone, but a lot of times we'll go easy on the little kids. However, with the pop scares it can sometimes be impossible to tell who you're popping out at in a group. Needless to say, the kids came out crying.

It’d be very cool to have a gaint pretzel loop that reaches the bottom of the valley, probably be very intense & fun.

I am sure X-Base/Area 72 will be completely closed off. From the Orion renderings, it looks like they are adding theming, new concrete, and a complete restructuring of Flight of Fear’s outdoor queue and lockers. I could see it being open in 2020 when the construction is done though.

Since we have many members wanting to be apart of the KIC podcast here is your opportunity. We are looking to create a few podcasts with multiple members as guests. We will want to know why you would be a good guest for the podcast. Keep in mind that the audience is not just KIC members. We put the podcast on itunes so we are looking to talk to any fans of the park and the industry. To be considered please do the following! Create a PM to @IndyGuy4KI and @CoastersRZ using the subject: KIC Podcast with your screen name. Example: KIC Podcast - IndyuGuy4KI In your subject tell us why you would be a good guest on the podcast. The more details you give us the more likely we will have you on the show. A few examples: You were a former park employee who has stories to share with us when you worked there. You have a degree in a field used at the park and can give us some perspective on certain things. You are a KI historian with lots of park history to share. You have 5,000 rides on DB and want to share your story. Let us know if you are current park employee. (If you do not share this you will not be considered.) Include your Full Name and phone # so we can call you if needed. We look forward to hearing from you and potentially having you on the show!

Great pictures; and yes, thank you to your mom! Also, why is that K-Line shipping container back there? Hmmm...