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Check this bad boy out: https://www.kingsislandgear.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/the-racer-nanocoaster-plus $59.99, but if you at the size it seems pretty darn cool!

2’ long according to the park. Dang.

Parks with the attendance, size, and profitability of Kings Island almost need annual additions. The number of years where almost nothing happened in the entire history of the park is very short. They don’t need to be large in scale but there is almost zero chance there will be nothing in 2024 or 2025. But I am expecting something much larger than this one of those years. The longest gap between coasters since the park opened in 1972 has been 5 years and it’s only happened twice, between Diamondback and Banshee, and after the park initially opened to when Demon opened in 1977. 2025 will have been 5 years since Orion opened. Typically it’s 3 years between coasters although the pandemic has changed plans and schedules, I would be extremely surprised if we don’t see a new coaster in either 2024 or 2025.

The attendance in October of `22 was actually better than attendance in Octiober of `19.

Ironic how they release this.

Couldn't have asked for a better 50th so what was my fav thing? #1. Beast re-tracking! If there was any doubt about The Beast being one of the best in the park, the re-tracking has solidified it as such. The wait time has been up a ton as well so I think a lot of people have realized how much better/smoother it is now. However, I also loved the shows, repainting of other attractions, and new food offerings. Wish alot of that would stuck around for next season too as it's really elevated the park experience. I'd love to see a continuation of high tech fireworks shows and a return of phantom theater encore. Also the special food items themed to defunct rides was not only good but really elevated the dining. I've never been one to eat in the park but this year I was curious as to what each location has to celebrate the 50th and which previous attractions they represented. Very awesome!

Really cool shot of Orion from Chaos's line:

I wonder if the mist is possible now. Clearly there is some sort of paint or coating available. See: Diamondback splash.

Banshee and diamond back both need a repaint. Banshee used to be this vibrant spectacle, but it looks worn down and old. Diamond back fortunately has a darker color scheme but still could use some love

Easy buy.

I hope they do as well! I just didn’t think they would because originally Orion wasn’t supposed to come to our park and they were going to focus on the water park and kids area. So I think those will happen in 2024.

I think they will continue to keep adding things to the park in 2024, 2025 to keep the momentum up, since 2021 and 2022 we saw no rides being added. All of Cedar Fair's top 5 parks are getting something next year, and they will want to keep pushing to get the parks attendances back up to 2019, and last month already was above 2019 levels, and to keep making new records for the company.

Why do you think that? There is no past precedent for going two years with no capital investment at all. 2021 and 2022 were close, but I would argue that some of the investments in 2022 probably came from capital dollars (all the painting of rides, restoration of the carousel band organ and painting the carousel) and not from maintenance dollars. There was also the pandemic in there too.

Unfortunately, Orion has already disturbed The Beast.

Bring back the "Enchanted Voyage". Seriously I know that would never happen. I just wish we can bring back more water features to the park. I feel like we have lost so many over the years and I know that sounds strange since we have a huge fountain in the front entrance.

I know alot of people would say not to disturb the sanctity of The Beast. But I would love a skyride going back in the woods and even go over part of The Beast would be great. That also takes away from using the skyride to get from one end the park to the other. But hey, the skyride at Lesourdsville Lake just took you over the lake and back and it was fun.

If you look closely at the still frame here, you can see someone standing in front of the Kings Island sign. Imagine of his photo was taken at that moment. What an absolute rare pic he would have lol Also, dang I had no idea DT was having a huge lightning issue this year. Definitely explains all the downtime and early winterization.

My concept (below) was made prior to the announcement of Adventure Port. I originally had it to where one station stood where the basketball game was while the other one was where Shake Rattle n Roll currently is (I relocated it across from Killmart.) In theory, you could still have a skyride there, just move it down a bit: I always thought that they should relocate SRR and expand the pathway where Coney Mall bends, especially with KMAA jetting into the midway. Make it one straight midway and you could have the skyride end there by Vortex’s old station

Nice to see attendance increased by 14% compared to 2021. Still working to catch up to 2019 numbers, but they will get there I’m sure, with everything they’re doing.

It gets hit several times a year, as it is basically a lightning rod LOL. Eiffel Tower gets hit as well, along with WindSeeker and the big steel coasters get hit on occasion as well. Most of the time the grounding works as intended, but sometimes lightning does its own thing. Sometimes it is even caught on camera LOL:

More than likely accessibility has a lot to do with it. Skyrides such as CGA's were installed before being wheelchair and motor-skooter equipped were law.

I can’t believe how dramatically Diamondback altered/ruined that area of the park. They quite literally removed every tree they could for that project. Definitely removed some of the charm from Rivertown.

Hard disagree. Where's their abandoned strata coaster?

Essentially, they think that increased expenses will eat into Cedar Fair`s profit margins. Based on what I saw at KI this fall, people were still showing up and were definitely paying for up charge things like Fast Lane and Fright Lane. We will know more tomorrow when Cedar Fair posts their quarterly results. They will likely give an update on operations through the end of October (the fiscal quarter ended at the end of September).

I totally forgot about The Beast’s retracking! At first I didn’t know what to think (as it was smoother than ever), but I eventually grew to enjoy it - so much so that I now think Mystic Timbers is rough by comparison!

Best Element/Addition : All the TLC the rides got. Racer paint job, Beast track work, and the other paint jobs Best Conventional Show : Phantom Theater Encore (agreed) Best Hidden Gem : While I would agree with you on Off the rails, I’d rather say seeing everyone enjoying the park in by far its finest moment. I loved seeing people checking out the 50th anniversary boards around the park, looking in awe at the new racer paint job, watching and listening to everyone enjoying The Beast again, especially now in the final brake run where people were more in awe at what just happened rather than moans of pain in previous years. I loved watching people take a trip through history at the Tower Gardens, or even seeing a kid fast asleep as their family were leaving after a long day in the park. It’s not something that makes up the entire day but it’s these small things that add up over multiple visits that make it such a gem to me. Biggest Miss : taking too long to put the parking signs back up Not getting The Racers retro raised lettering back on the front of The Racer trains. At the ACE conference last December at GWL, the park said they wanted to bring that back. The Racer trains did not change from the stickers. I don't know whether this was a logistical, construction, or a maintenance issue but nonetheless they were not brought back. Best Specialty Food Item : Beast Burger Best 50th Merch : The 50th Coin stuff Biggest Surprise : I was not expecting how quickly they got Bat back up and running after it’s partial derailment. I thought it’d be down for most if not the rest of the season to fully re-inspect the entire rides track.

Just added Opening Day 2023 to my calendar! Thanks for the news, @Imperial79!

I really hope those two large pine trees beside Adventure Express queue entrance aren’t going to be removed but knowing the parks disdain for trees im not hopeful. I like these smaller themed sections like Area 72 and Adventure Port. There is still enough to have Oktoberfest as a themed area. The entrance to Delerium could easily be moved to the pathway beside Festhaus and thst ride could be incorporated into Oktoberfest. In fact there is already an existing sidewalk connecting the queue to that path. Plus there is room for some small food or game stands. That’s enough to keep the area as its own.

Snapped this leaving the hotel haunt maze on Friday, love the way the colors look!

Fun Fireworks and Fifty. Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

That's a perfect way of putting it. While it never had the level of the Orlando Parks, for KI, it's always had its charm and beats many attempts made by other regional parks. Also, Arrow Mine Trains have always had their charm, but I feel Adventure Express takes this another level with it's theming and character. While maybe not a Beast level night ride, the terrain style coaster gives amazing night rides. I hope KI can bring back some cool lighting effects on the tunnel, as well as on the arches, but at the same time the dark forest atmosphere is part of what makes it an interesting night ride

I think you might be referring to the loop that was played on the stretch of track before the first tunnel. If so I think I found the sound at 0:20 of this video. I believe there was a rainforest style loop that played up until a few years ago including a bunch of various train whistles and sounds. Rainforest Sounds Loop

The Racer. Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Elimination of the FunTVs in the queue. Actually, this doesn’t just go for Adventure Express—how about the entire park?

Words cannot 'Express' how perfect this concept is. I didn't exactly weep over the death of Slingshot either.

My honest response to this is look at several of the most recent "dark/flat rides" that have come out over the past few years. Snake River Expedition is a prime example of a practically non-interactive Cedar Fair attraction that guests absolutely love. Look at the plethora of dark rides in the Florida parks and many do not have any interactivity nor do they need it. It creates alot more complexity for the ride and honestly in my opinion ruins the whole guest experience. I've had that belief since I first rode the Scooby Doo conversion when I was a kid. Suffice to say that taking out the shooter aspect probably would reduce a lot of wear and tear on the attraction and would be a way to consolidate on an enjoyable guest experience for everyone. That being said guests back when PT opened didn't know of PT before hand, however now guests and more specifically families have been reintroduced to the characters within the attraction. I believe if anything it will become a massive hit based off of the responses this year and the

Maybe they could do two skyrides. One over the original path now that Sling Shot is gone and a second over Coney Mall.