I wasn't a fan of the Red, White and Blue paint on Racer from the first few pictures I saw, but I really like the look of it from the Eiffel Tower. Also, Flying Ace's paint job looks great!

15 minutes ago, MDMC01 said:

I wasn't a fan of the Red, White and Blue paint on Racer from the first few pictures I saw, but I really like the look of it from the Eiffel Tower. Also, Flying Ace's paint job looks great!

It looks so much better in person.

On 4/15/2022 at 6:56 AM, MDMC01 said:

Not sure if this is the correct thread to put this (as there is not a "Kings Island 2022 thread" to my knowledge), but I just saw a segment on Channel 12 (news station in the Greater Cincinnati area) talking about some of the history of Kings Island with some past pictures and video from back in the day. They talked about Racer, The Beast, Vortex, and King Cobra, as well as mentioning Orion and Diamondback. I looked at the photo/video credits in the corner and I recognized Brian Lamm, Coasterbob62 and PsycloneSteve. The latter two have great retro footage of Kings Island and other theme parks form back in the day. 

I would be the first one you mentioned. LOL I have hours of old footage in the archive. It was exciting to work with Channel 12 and the park on getting that piece put together. Just stay tuned throughout the season. There is a lot more celebrating and looking back to come.  

Cool @Oldschool75! I think I met you in the park last year near Orion. Indeed, there will be lots more celebration to come! Can't wait to start my 2022 KI season next Saturday

Not sure if this is new this year or not, but I noticed this above The French Corner exit yesterday:

 

These are cool.

 

 

What do you think of the fountain sign? 

As much as I think the logo is a bit clunky and “inelegant” I like that they have been fully committed to it and really gone for the trim package. 

We were just saying the same thing. The logo itself is fairly plain but the "ribbon" framing really looks great around the park on all the banner signs.

I like that the logo at the front gate looks "sparkly" and sequined! I am looking forward to seeing it in person.

The ribbon looks great, I like the materials they used to make the 50th sign, the shimmering effect in the wind looks great.  It’s just the 50 and the text is a little small.  It’s way too easy for a group or people to block.  The sign looks like it was scaled to be on a float not at the front of the fountain.

On 4/16/2022 at 5:22 PM, chad_1138 said:

Not sure if this is new this year or not, but I noticed this above The French Corner exit yesterday:

 

There are several of those on the balconies of I-Street. They look cool! There’s also a bike on street level below this photo. 

12 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

There are several of those on the balconies of I-Street. They look cool! There’s also a bike on street level below this photo. 

I thought I had posted it on KIC, but I guess I just posted it on our Twitter feed.

 

31 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

There are several of those on the balconies of I-Street. They look cool! There’s also a bike on street level below this photo. 

My wife and I are loving the little touches of love given to the park this season.  We spent most of our day on Friday just walking around the park and taking it all in!!

16 minutes ago, chad_1138 said:

My wife and I are loving the little touches of love given to the park this season.  We spent most of our day on Friday just walking around the park and taking it all in!!

I hope to get the around 300 pictures I took between Friday and Saturday. Uploaded to KIC later today. I will post a link once it's up.

39 minutes ago, chad_1138 said:

My wife and I are loving the little touches of love given to the park this season.  We spent most of our day on Friday just walking around the park and taking it all in!!

Me too! The whole park felt new!

If I had to choose my favorite things it would be:

1. The new entrance sign

2. The new banners 

3. The flags around the tower (I want one!!!)

4. The carousel

Much of this stuff is wish list stuff from the past  10 years. Imagine if we had a thread of “If they didn’t add a new ride for the 50th, what else would you want done?” I think that they checked a lot of the boxes we’d be asking for. 

6 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Me too! The whole park felt new!

If I had to choose my favorite things it would be:

1. The new entrance sign

2. The new banners 

3. The flags around the tower (I want one!!!)

4. The carousel

Much of this stuff is wish list stuff from the past  10 years. Imagine if we had a thread of “If they didn’t add a new ride for the 50th, what else would you want done?” I think that they checked a lot of the boxes we’d be asking for. 

Yeah, the banners are amazing!!!  I would love if the park would sell a print of the large banner at the entrance.  I would buy that in a heartbeat!!

23 hours ago, Kenban said:

The ribbon looks great, I like the materials they used to make the 50th sign, the shimmering effect in the wind looks great.  It’s just the 50 and the text is a little small.  It’s way too easy for a group or people to block.  The sign looks like it was scaled to be on a float not at the front of the fountain.

I agree the sign looks a little small. It also seems like there are way less flowers around the entrance sign than in years past. The past few years, I have really enjoyed the landscaping around the entrance sign and the rest of the park, but this year there were not nearly as many flowers even considering that the flowers have not matured yet. I know landscaping is not always complete when the park opens, so I hope the park adds some more landscaping around the 50th Anniversary sign and the rest of the park. There was a noticeable lack of flowers in Planet Snoopy, around the Eiffel Tower, and in Coney Mall compared to just last year. I understand, though, that the park opened earlier compared to last year, so the landscaping may not be finished.

Yeah, it's just the first few opening days, give it time, I'm sure they'll add more. I saw where the wall used to be around the Eiffel Tower, no grass has grown there yet, maybe they can add flowers around the Eiffel Tower, not just at the footers of the tower like they usually do. I think that would look beautiful. 

They have pansies planted, which are very cold tolerant.  After Mother's Day/Derby Day, they will replace them with the summer seasonal color.  

I am loving all the updates/changes the park has done this year.  Looking forward to some other projects to be completed like the Garden Towers.  Makes me wonder what they have done on the Soak City side if anything.

26 minutes ago, rlentless said:

I am loving all the updates/changes the park has done this year.  Looking forward to some other projects to be completed like the Garden Towers.  Makes me wonder what they have done on the Soak City side if anything.

Water, lots of water! 

4 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Water, lots of water! 

I’m curious about TG too. The fact that the park has been quiet leads me to believe that maybe it’ll be something with substance. I’m not saying a flat ride or a hotdog stand or anything, but if they were just going to do pavers wouldn’t it make sense to announce that casually as they did with a lot of the repaints. Maybe the area will be a little more “revamped” in which they can make a separate announcement.

Then again, maybe they’re just getting rid of the movie stones. Who knows?

It's possible the new VIP tours might use part of Tower Gardens as a lounge area like the ones set up at Cedar Point for their 150th.

9 minutes ago, Timchat2 said:

It's possible the new VIP tours might use part of Tower Gardens as a lounge area like the ones set up at Cedar Point for their 150th.

Possibly, but I honestly think the grass area near DB's brake run would be a good spot for something like that. I think Tower Gardens would be better used as Tower Gardens with some sort of legacy walk or something. That's just me. 

My guess is the stones are having park history etched into them.  Could be just text, could be images, there is a lot that could be done.

13 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

They have pansies planted, which are very cold tolerant.  After Mother's Day/Derby Day, they will replace them with the summer seasonal color.  

 

On 4/18/2022 at 10:10 PM, FUN&ONLY! said:

I agree the sign looks a little small. It also seems like there are way less flowers around the entrance sign than in years past. The past few years, I have really enjoyed the landscaping around the entrance sign and the rest of the park, but this year there were not nearly as many flowers even considering that the flowers have not matured yet. I know landscaping is not always complete when the park opens, so I hope the park adds some more landscaping around the 50th Anniversary sign and the rest of the park. There was a noticeable lack of flowers in Planet Snoopy, around the Eiffel Tower, and in Coney Mall compared to just last year. I understand, though, that the park opened earlier compared to last year, so the landscaping may not be finished.

Any summer  flowers planted now would be killed by the frost.   The frost free date is around May 15. 
 

The pansies planted now will flourish in 50 60 degree weather but they won’t last when it gets hot.   I would guess more of the budget goes for summer flowers

To the public, the park is just waking up.  When I get up, I don't look my best and move a little slower.  

KI looks better than me by a mile. 

 

On 1/10/2022 at 1:27 PM, silver2005 said:

Is Racer being all done this off season or will it take multiple?  I have to imagine a wood coaster takes significantly longer to paint than a steel coaster, especially a pair with nearly 7000 ft of track. 

 

On 1/10/2022 at 1:36 PM, PKIDelirium said:

I fully expect it to be complete well before opening.

Well, I goobered that one up. Although I highly doubt the split and turnaround area will be waiting for another offseason, they can work on it during the week and have it ready for daily operation.

Looks like they added some intelligent lighting to the ground level of the fountain and the base of the tower, likely for the nightly show.