So I tried to bring out what I could of the blueprint. Not really much. Maybe someone else can see something.

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Surprised I haven't seen this tweet mentioned anywhere (I may have missed it):

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Very excited about the out of the box committee we have to make HAUNT bigger and better. This park is filled with creative folks!

— Greg Scheid (@KIGMGREG) January 7, 2016

Do you think scary clowns are gone and rethemed as scary jack in the boxes instead?

And for the sixteenth time, that stand on International Street did NOT sell elephant ears in 2015.

Okay I'll bite... What's the difference between elephant ears and funnel cakes?

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Ok so, here is what I got from it (red is the lines I saw)

Now, here's what stood out to me:

Does this look familiar to ANY of you here?

And for the sixteenth time, that stand on International Street did NOT sell elephant ears in 2015.

Okay I'll bite... What's the difference between elephant ears and funnel cakes?

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Elephant ears are flattened fried dough, typically topped with a cinnamon sugar mix. Funnel cakes are made with a batter poured through a funnel into oil until cooked - often topped with powdered sugar. Or more delicious goodies if you are at Hersheypark.

The new soccer game is Super Goalie by Smaaash out of India.  They had this game at IAAPA in November.  It drew huge crowds to not only play, but just to watch.  It's VERY difficult to win, but it's a LOT of fun.  They're going to have a real home run on their hands.

 

As long as they don't give soccer balls away as prizes I won't mind.

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I do find the phrase "out of the box" and HAUNT mentioned in Greg Scheid's tweet intriguing. Probably just a turn of phrase, but I know a lot of people are dying for the big box to be either removed or at least better utilized through the summer.

I guess Greg let The Bat out of cage with that tweet.

I really hope we're not going to see another year long haunt building pop up. Those tweets have me concerned.,

Honestly the rivertown name should be dropped. Since Cedar Fair the charm of that area has completely changed. Don't get me wrong Dback is a great ride, but it could have been built without disrupting the lake or the removal of so many trees.

Since CF took over they have removed the lake, trees, Mining company, Beast entrance, old time photos, area music. Instead they built loud coasters over paths, genaric theme, SPORTS BARS! And now another original park structure is gone God God hopes not a pay per play soccer game. I'm honestly so over some of these decisions.

Should we remove the Coney Arch? SURE who needs it

How about a sports bar in rivertown? Why not!!!

I don't get why the area was razed. It had plenty of business. Sure they just placed money in for the new one, but the other one still had plenty of business. 

Honestly the rivertown name should be dropped. Since Cedar Fair the charm of that area has completely changed. Don't get me wrong Dback is a great ride, but it could have been built without disrupting the lake or the removal of so many trees.

Since CF took over they have removed the lake, trees, Mining company, Beast entrance, old time photos, area music. Instead they built loud coasters over paths, genaric theme, SPORTS BARS! And now another original park structure is gone God God hopes not a pay per play soccer game. I'm honestly so over some of these decisions.

Should we remove the Coney Arch? SURE who needs it

How about a sports bar in rivertown? Why not!!!

This guy over here.

I could not agree more. I was going to put up a monster of a post regarding this very issue (if I ever find the time). It's a great topic for discussion.

After watching the video, I'm going to plunk down five dollars to have a computer automated goalie consistently block kicks.... Right...

Ah, but the wannabe Peles will do so in droves, just as the wannabe LeBrons chuck handful after handful of dollars at the 3 Point Challenge.  I am in full agreement with you as to its idiocy, but there is a "target audience" unfortunately.  Now, as far as whats going on here, everyone has it alllll wrong.  What they are going to do, is re-route WWC so the rafts take a mandatory float through a brand-spankin new body drier for the paltry sum of $40 per raft, collected at the exit of the ride.      

They better make it not extremely accurate like it was in the demonstration, because I would find that a complete rip off if the goal can calculate exactly where the ball will go.

Most of your amusement park midway games are "rip-offs." I don;t like to use that word though, they just make some games more difficult so they don't give away all of their prizes right away. At my high school, we have a fair once a year and I had the displeasure of running the giant plinko one. It was so easy to win that we ran out of prizes about 30 minutes into the fair. Tons of crying and angry parents. Plus, I don't think Kings Island is going to spend a lot of their budget on prizes. I'd much rather have them use that budget for new rides and, please for the love of god, better food service.

Honestly the rivertown name should be dropped. Since Cedar Fair the charm of that area has completely changed. Don't get me wrong Dback is a great ride, but it could have been built without disrupting the lake or the removal of so many trees.

Since CF took over they have removed the lake, trees, Mining company, Beast entrance, old time photos, area music. Instead they built loud coasters over paths, genaric theme, SPORTS BARS! And now another original park structure is gone God God hopes not a pay per play soccer game. I'm honestly so over some of these decisions.

Should we remove the Coney Arch? SURE who needs it

How about a sports bar in rivertown? Why not!!!

 

Quick two things from this...

 

1. Old Time Photos is still around, albeit it relocated from the current DB Trading Post spot to the former gift shop across from Crypt

 

2. You complain about something sports in Rivertown, yet the current location of Old Time Photos referenced above was home to a Reds themed gift shop (I think "Reds Dugout") for years.

They better make it not extremely accurate like it was in the demonstration, because I would find that a complete rip off if the goal can calculate exactly where the ball will go.

 

The game shown in the tweet by the park <https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/689108609410662401> looks nothing like that video of Lionel Messi.

Ah, but the wannabe Peles will do so in droves, just as the wannabe LeBrons chuck handful after handful of dollars at the 3 Point Challenge. :

I don't think these kids know who Pele is. Lol

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They better make it not extremely accurate like it was in the demonstration, because I would find that a complete rip off if the goal can calculate exactly where the ball will go.

The game shown in the tweet by the park <https://twitter.com/kingsislandpr/status/689108609410662401> looks nothing like that video of Lionel Messi.

I talked to an inside source and they said my description sounded correct for the game. Even the video that I posted was different from the model at IAAPA. That had a square goalie that only went left and right - not up and down. The goalie was also not cut out. I can only guess that there are several models of the game. Or even the park just tweeted out a generic soccer game photo. Time will tell.

I saw a similar soccer game where the goalie randomly rolled back and forth in front of the net and the motion wasn't nearly as radical as the video. I think the video might have been a demonstration of how accurate the technology can be and they were using a professional player to prove their point. I'm guessing the average kicker would never defeat that version of the game. Surely KI will have a less aggressive version otherwise players would turn away immediately knowing that that have no chance of winning.

And for the sixteenth time, that stand on International Street did NOT sell elephant ears in 2015.

Okay I'll bite... What's the difference between elephant ears and funnel cakes?

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The difference is funnel cakes are meh and can be found at any amusement park or local festival just about anywhere throughout the summer, while elephant ears are amazing and hard to find anywhere else.

My only request with Rivertown, which is sure to go unfulfilled because I'm pretty sure no one else cares, is for a few benches to be added near the WWC exit by the splash cannon things. That is a beautiful -- and cool in the summer -- area of the park that is absolutely perfect to bring a beverage and order of potato wedges to and have a relaxing lunch or snack or break. Plus I see parents hanging out there while their kids ride all the time, with nowhere to sit. Since they already got rid of all the other nice, shaded areas to relax for a minute in Rivertown, if I could just have a bench to sit on there I'd be one happy park-goer.

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^^ I like that idea and take it one step further. The area that is currently fenced off at the back could have a barbecue restaurant with seating throughout the woods overlooking the ride. They could maybe play that twangy bluegrass music and have a small outdoor stage for a quartet of musicians. Maybe even a game. Food, fun and atmosphere... Good theming... Right?

As for the removal of the funnel cake building contributing to a loss of River Town theming: that building was hardly contributing to that old mining town feel. It looked more like classic carnival.

My entry this week will be in memory of the recently razed Funnel Cake stand in Rivertown, the place where I (and many others) took a bite of an Elephant Ear for the first time at Kings Island.

Just goes to show that just because you have the "world's greatest" doesn't mean you are safe from termination.

 

You hear that NY coffee shop??

 

I can't believe they tore down the world's greatest funnel cake shop.

"Two things that have been with the park since 1972, that nearly every visitor has experienced will be leaving." It was revealed to be the parking tolls. But did they maybe count for one, creating a clever diversion?

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Nearly every visitor has experienced...World's Greatest Funnel Cakes?

I think not.

Yum yum.... a powdered sugar covered sponge full of vegetable oil.

Funnel cakes weren't the only thing sold there. There were also drinks, and as previously mentioned, Elephant Ears. I didn't know if it was maybe some combination.

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