So so so well-deserved this year!!!!!

Well deserved; glad to see all the work Kings Island put into this season being recognized at this extent!

*lifts glass* To many more awesome seasons!

32 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

So so so well-deserved this year!!!!!

We cannot thank the KI team enough for a amazing year! So well deserved!!

 

Very well deserving. They have done an amazing job this season. Thanks to all who have worked at Kings Island to make this an award winning year.

That was quick 

23 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

That was quick 

You mean the Christmas Tree is not set up yet?

Well deserved! Great to see the park get the award and recognition. Also worth noting that Kings Island was ranked as 8th best park in the world in the magazine issue! Pretty cool to see. But also--Carowinds Winterfest is the fifth best Christmas event in the world?! https://amusementtoday.com/issues/2022/GTA2022/

Wait, so there is a "Park of the Year" award and a "Best Park" award?  What's the difference?

Kings Island "Park of the Year" is a Publisher's choice award that was not voted on.  "Best Park" was a voted category.

Not just that, Fun, Fireworks and 50 got 2nd place for best show and Phantom Theatre Encore was 4th!  

Congratulations to everyone involved in the shows at KI this season.  Truly one for the books!

Congratulations to KI, they’ve done a wonderful job this year. Hope to see many more things return in the future to keep bringing the charm back. 

Best season at the park in my 30 years. We’ll deserved! Congrats and cheers to another great season!

3 hours ago, robintodd said:

Not just that, Fun, Fireworks and 50 got 2nd place for best show and Phantom Theatre Encore was 4th!  

Congratulations to everyone involved in the shows at KI this season.  Truly one for the books!

Know what took 1st? 

27 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Know what took 1st? 

Christmas at the Southern Palace at Six Flags Over Texas. https://twitter.com/amusementtoday/status/1568733271953141762?s=20&t=pa93wMLC_5eTkhOO-cMg6w

Yeah. Sorry saw that right after I asked. Don’t see that as first at all. Seems an odd category. Should almost have “parades and spectaculars” separate from “live shows and seasonal entertainment “ one set, led screens and some “ok” vocals didn’t seem like a first place to me. 

I really do see this as the perfect choice for Park of the Year even without my bias  There really is no other park that is more proud of their history than Kings Island itself! I am so lucky to live near a park that does things right! Congrats to everyone who put it in the work to make this happen whether you are a part of this wonderful blog or not!

On 9/10/2022 at 10:05 PM, BeeastFarmer said:

You mean the Christmas Tree is not set up yet?

In honor of this award, there will be no tree out front to get in the way, and the Haunt facade will be forsaken to show off this glorious award  (just kidding LOL.  The Haunt facade stuff has already started)

The tree is still a few weeks out LOL

Phantom Theater Encore was robbed!!!!

"Kings Island took its 50th anniversary to heart with a wide lineup of entertainment. Two of its shows made it into the five finalists. “Fun, Fireworks and Fifty — A Kings Island Nighttime Spectacular” created a nailbiter in the race to snag the Golden Ticket. Its No. 2 spot was a tight finish. “Phantom Theater Encore” placed fourth. The latter was a nod to a former dark ride attraction that longtime fans have missed for a couple of decades.

“We celebrated some of the most historic moments in the park’s history this year with seven new shows, highlighted by our ‘Fun, Fireworks and Fifty’ every night on International Street,” said Mike Koontz, vice president and general manager, Kings Island. “I literally tear up every time I watch the show. It takes me full circle from my first visit in 1972 to today,” said Don Helbig, area manager, digital marketing."

28 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Meanwhile at the flagship sister park to the north:

https://sanduskyregister.com/news/407202/cedar-point-does-not-make-2022-best-parks-list/?fbclid=IwAR0HohJKnBC784H_g4mVjKEH0u2D6HxGH_DsEIZLpWZUY2_I2_dcqm9t_d4

To be fair, Kings Island did not make the top 5 parks list either. Park of the Year is a great accomplishment for the park, but Kings Island still did not make it into the top 5 parks. Both Cedar Point and Kings Island are great parks, though.

Does the park spokesman have a name?  Can't recall I ever saw a news article about any topic where they wouldn't spell out who the spokesperson is...

"Kings Island was named "Park of the Year" at the international Golden Ticket Awards. A park spokesman called it the Academy Awards of the amusement park industry."

https://local12.com/news/local/kings-island-named-park-of-the-year-in-industry-awards-ceremony-cincinnati-mason-ohio-anniversary-fireworks-planet-snoopy-show-beast-mystic-timbers-Diamondback-orion

 

That's some lazy reporting.

Golden Tickets are always an oddball deal for me. Some make sense, while others just flat out puzzle me to no end. There are favorites and there is favoritism within the voting base of the dubbed "experts" of the polling data of whom just make me laugh and gawk all at the same time. (Beast at #5, Hagrids being infront of Millennium Force, Flying "Didn't open in time" Turns getting the #1 coaster award when probably less than half of the people voting actually rode it. [I even heard some jest that it 'deserved' the award]). Personally I don't put a lot of weight into the awards as honestly it will not sway my opinions. Is it a boon for parks to get new awards to help attendance? Of course it is however the voting base makes me question a lot about their experience.

With that being said, I can resolutely say that Kings Island really pulled out the stops this year and kicked some serious competition into the industry with our food options for the event. Which to be quite honest, really made me reconsider where did I get the best meal at in 2022 in terms of the park. I can also say with or without some golden award I will still see Kings Island as a truly world class themepark and waterpark (that deserves a new water coaster eventually).

I just saw that Cedar Fair posted a article listing what golden tickets their parks won and it says Fury325 won the best steel roller coaster in the world then lists below: also in the top 25 steel roller coasters in the world, Diamondback and Orion at Kings Island, and Mystic Timbers and The Beast from top 25 wood in the world.

Amazing job KI! Keep up the great work!

 

This season was definitely one for the books. I felt operations were really on it this season as well as the overall attention to detail and the little Easter eggs nodding to the past throughout. The concert series, the fireworks show. It was really something special this year for a lot of reasons. And as someone who attended a private event ( Pride Night ) I felt that they even went above and beyond for that as well. 

I'm excited to experience Haunt, Tricks & Treats Fest and Winterfest respectively to wrap up the remainder of the season to see what all they have and will do to finish out their 50th.