Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[RideThroughTime]

15 minutes ago, DarienPoint said:

Kings Island has announced the I-Street Skyline Chili replacement!

Wow! That sounds delicious. Looking forward to it.

[coasternut]

^^ They better not be closing / replacing the other Skyline! 

I need my 4 way when I come to town..

[AmyUD06]

22 minutes ago, coasternut said:

^^ They better not be closing / replacing the other Skyline! 

I need my 4 way when I come to town..

You know there's a Skyline Chili like not even a half-mile from the park entrance road, right?

Edit:  Sorry, within a mile and a half.

[KICoasterkev]

From what' I've read, that there will still be a Skyline in the park, will still be in the Coney Mall area. 

[DarienPoint]

On 4/4/2023 at 8:02 PM, KICoasterkev said:

From what' I've read, that there will still be a Skyline in the park, will still be in the Coney Mall area. 

Correct! But the Coney Mall Subway is gone.

[prozach626]

The grilled cheese joint just got replaced with a frozen cocktail stand. 

[AmyUD06]

27 minutes ago, prozach626 said:

The grilled cheese joint just got replaced with a frozen cocktail stand. 

Yeah.  Apparently Tom + Chee has moved into the old Hate Chicken spot.

Quote

Tom & Chee

World famous Grilled Cheese & Melts, and home of the Grilled Cheese Donut. Seen on the Travel Channel, Shark Tank and more, stop by and taste what the excitement is all about!

Located on International Street across from The Family Care Center by Fischer Homes.

 

[teacherkim]

Yes!! A bigger and more permanent home for Tom & Chee, the greatest grilled cheese that ever was or ever will be! I 100% approve. Plus there wasn't a lot of room when a line formed, the old hate chicken spot has a permanent type of line. I was at KI a total of 4 days last year and I don't think the Coney Mall Subway was open on any of them so if they can put it to better use, more power to them.

[tndank]

Phantom Theater show is returning.  They have also added a new webcam on International Street.  You'll be able to watch the fireworks when they happen.

 

[coasterjohnh]

Is Orian down?

 

[bert425]

3 minutes ago, coasterjohnh said:

Is Orian down?

 

the Orion cam at KI website shows a car sitting on brake run. . . where I've gotten stuck before when it went down.

so it does look like at the moment, it's down.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/live-video

[DarienPoint]

1 hour ago, bert425 said:

the Orion cam at KI website shows a car sitting on brake run. . . where I've gotten stuck before when it went down.

so it does look like at the moment, it's down.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/live-video

It's currently down for weather. It's not nice down in Mason currently.

[Johnlloyd]

On Saturday, April 15th, my brother and I visited Kings Island for its opening day! While there, I did manage to take some photos of the construction happening in the new Adventure Port section that will be opening this Summer. It looks like there is quite a ways to go before Cargo Loco and Sol Spin are operational!

More photos of my recent visit to Kings Island can be found on my blog in the link of my signature. 

Banner promoting the new Adventure Port coming this summer:

View of Adventure Port from the Eiffel Tower:

Sol Spin's plot:

Cargo Loco's plot:

[bert425]

yup. . . can't have nice things because folks always screw it up.

tweeted by KI 45 minutes ago:

 

more details from the KI website:  https://www.visitkingsisland.com/code-of-conduct

 

"Under this policy, all guests ages 15 years old or younger must be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old in order to be admitted to, or remain in, the park after 4:00 p.m. local time to close.  The chaperone must present a valid government-issued photo identification with date of birth at ticket entry. One (1) chaperone may accompany no more than ten (10) guests ages 15 or younger per day. In addition, the chaperone must accompany their party during entry, remain inside the park during their visit, and be available by phone throughout their stay. Guests ages 15 years old or younger who are found inside the park unaccompanied by a chaperone will be subject to ejection. This chaperone requirement applies to all Kings Island ticket and season passholders.

We believe these changes will help ensure that Kings Island continues to have a positive atmosphere where generations of families and friends can gather for a day of safe fun and good food. Millions of guests have counted on us for exactly that, and we will continue to deliver on that promise for generations to come."

[KICoasterkev]

Good job KI! They added a lot more security, it still happens, guests started being more aware and letting the park know about unruly behavior, it still happens, the park was patient, looks like their patients has worn out.  I just saw that Carowinds is doing the same thing. 

[AmyUD06]

53 minutes ago, bert425 said:

yup. . . can't have nice things because folks always screw it up.

tweeted by KI 45 minutes ago:

 

more details from the KI website:  https://www.visitkingsisland.com/code-of-conduct

 

"Under this policy, all guests ages 15 years old or younger must be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old in order to be admitted to, or remain in, the park after 4:00 p.m. local time to close.  The chaperone must present a valid government-issued photo identification with date of birth at ticket entry. One (1) chaperone may accompany no more than ten (10) guests ages 15 or younger per day. In addition, the chaperone must accompany their party during entry, remain inside the park during their visit, and be available by phone throughout their stay. Guests ages 15 years old or younger who are found inside the park unaccompanied by a chaperone will be subject to ejection. This chaperone requirement applies to all Kings Island ticket and season passholders.

We believe these changes will help ensure that Kings Island continues to have a positive atmosphere where generations of families and friends can gather for a day of safe fun and good food. Millions of guests have counted on us for exactly that, and we will continue to deliver on that promise for generations to come."

Yep, nothing but win right here.  The only way it could be better was if the restriction was under 18 instead of 15 and older.  Parks should not be used as babysitters.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced that all of the problem children from past incidents would have been prohibited by this policy.

[coneyislandchris]

Policy appears to be rolling out to most of the CF parks today; I've seen announcements with the same boilerplate template coming from Kings Island, Carowinds, and Kings Dominion so far.

Surprised that they're choosing 15 as the cutoff age, honestly.

[bert425]

6 minutes ago, AmyUD06 said:

Yep, nothing but win right here.  The only way it could be better was if the restriction was under 18 instead of 15 and older.  Parks should not be used as babysitters.

That said, I'm not entirely convinced that all of the problem children from past incidents would have been prohibited by this policy.

 

considering that KI was in the news about that 17 year old that snuck in a loaded gun on opening weekend (and was caught hiding in the woods after he ran when getting approached by the Police), I'm a bit surprised they DIDN'T go with "under 18"

[KICoasterkev]

Yeah, same here, I would have made it to 17, or at least 16.  If this continues, I hope they go all the way up to 17.

[SharkTums]

What's the drivers license age in Ohio? Perhaps they chose 16 and over cause those kids can drive themselves so it's slightly less  babysitting?

Also, I get this, and it's a good idea, but it's frustrating from a parent of a good kid who has gone to parks alone with her friends since the age of 12 and not gotten into trouble!!!

[CedarFlags]

15 is such a weird cutoff age.  In my experience, 13/14 year olds are rarely the problem.  16/17 year olds (sometimes even 18/19) are the REAL problem demographic.

[prozach626]

It's easier to get a driver's license or state ID at 16, so you can prove you're of age.

Quote

One (1) chaperone may accompany no more than ten (10) guests ages 15 or younger per day. 

At 21 year old can chaperone up to ten guests and be no where near them. That should be easy to enforce.

[teacherkim]

While I am fine with it, although I do commiserate with those that still have underage kids that are no problem, I think enforcement will be an issue. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind there will be shenanigans of the "over 21" person coming in with the kids and then leaving half an hour later or just parking themselves on a bench somewhere and having no idea what the kids are doing. Not necessarily all nefarious in nature, I mean think of Grandma coming in and sitting at the water park or in the shade reading while the kids run around and do their thing.  

The only way I can see this working is if the parks are prepared to unequivocally ban any disruptive teens AND their chaperones if a problem occurs or they are caught violating the policy. They have to be willing to put in the effort to check and be ruthless when people are caught breaking the rule. Plus it only applies after 4 pm, I can hear it now when a bunch of kids are caught at 5 without their chaperone. The Mom on the phone crying that they were on their way, stuck at work, stuck in traffic, Grandma died, etc, etc. Will they still enact a punishment or give a first time warning? What will the "punishment" be?

I mean I applaud the parks for making some attempt to get the behaviors under control, and plenty of people will follow the new rules, however I worked in a school for 28 years and I've heard every excuse story in existence and have seen how people back up their kids even when serious rules are broken.

[prozach626]

It's smoke in mirrors. You can't enforce the law under the circumstances without backlash if something goes wrong. So you don't. You just stand there and hope everyone leaves.

No one will be identified. No one will be charged. Maybe 1% of the violators caught will be banned.

Only the good kids are the ones who will obey these rules.

This is the way.

[coastersandhockey]

I am not sure if this policy will or won't work. But after visiting the park on opening day, all I can say is that it is very much needed. In the evening the park went from "pretty crowded" to absolutely mobbed and with that came a huge increase of giant groups of teenagers. I'm talking 30+ kids standing in a group taking up entire midways. And to others points in this thread, it wasn't just 15 year old and under. It was 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, all of the above year olds. It seemed as the evening wore on these groups just kept appearing. And these kids, they aren't there to ride or eat or anything. They seem to just go to the park to "hang out" like its a mall. I can't understand why that is a cool fun thing to do. 

 

We went to eat at Coney BBQ (great food btw) and a group of, and I am not exaggerating here, at least 35 kids were just standing around and blocking the entrance. Security was trying their best to force these kids to disperse. 

 

Anyways, those are my observations. Other than that, props to Kings Island for really an awesome opening weekend. Lines moved quick, rides that were scheduled to open were mostly open all day, and the park looked great. Special shoutout to the Brew House crew. We ate lunch there and waited in a line out the door, around the corner, and to the edge of the building and I think it only took 20 minutes totaly from getting in line to getting our food.