I think it's going to be a shuttle situation. Park your RV, get on a free shuttle, and get dropped off right at the front door.

 

Even if it was across the street from the park, people would want a shuttle. They aren't going to want a bunch of pedestrians crossing that huge street, and people aren't going to want to walk that far to get to the park when they have kids in tow, bags, etc.

 

Most people probably aren't walking from Great Wolf Lodge. They likely have a shuttle that 95% of people ride, and that's about as close as you can get to the park.

Do any shuttles use Columbia Road? I didn't realize until I looked on Google Maps how much of that old street still exists right into the footprint of the park itself.

 

2 hours ago, ryanlammi said:

Where exactly is this going? I don't see it mentioned in the article

It looks like it is directly across the highway from the Beach. The office Building is Gates Air and it is pretty much behind the Wendy's and McDonalds. 

 

Not where I figured it would go, but given the fact that they could create a nice themed attraction, with all the all the bells and whistles of a class A park, it could be like a Disney like experience.

Sneak peek at Kings Island's new $27M attraction

 

A new $27 million outdoor luxury resort, themed after a rustic summer camp, is opening this summer just a mile away from Kings Island.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/04/15/camp-cedar-first-look.html

 

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/new-in-2023
 

Quote

 

New in 2023 - Adventure Port

 

The myths of an ancient civilization and its mighty city carved out of stone have lured travelers from around the globe to this bustling port community for more than a century.

 

Welcome to Adventure Port. New in 2023, and located between Coney Mall and Action Zone, the park’s newest themed area will feature two new family rides, enhanced theming for Adventure Express, Enrique’s quick service restaurant and the Mercado.

 

2 new rides and a theming facelift on Adventure Express to boot

That is great news as KI needs more flat rides.  Basically they are building on nostalgia once again (which is a good thing) by bringing an updated Skylab and Der Spinnen Keggers back to Oktoberfest...err...Adventure "Port."  I wish they'd go full nostalgia and bring back King Cobra as a B&M Surf Coaster, an RMC'd Son of Beast, a B&M Dive Coaster version of Vortex, and, of course, Phantom Theater.

King Kobra for the win!

I so loved Skylab. Looking forward to this new version.

18 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

That is great news as KI needs more flat rides.  Basically they are building on nostalgia once again (which is a good thing) by bringing an updated Skylab and Der Spinnen Keggers back to Oktoberfest...err...Adventure "Port."  I wish they'd go full nostalgia and bring back King Cobra as a B&M Surf Coaster, an RMC'd Son of Beast, a B&M Dive Coaster version of Vortex, and, of course, Phantom Theater.

I saw that new standing surf coaster unveiled by Sea World the other day, brought back memories of the King Cobra. It be nice if Cedar Fair would operate the Viking Fury to go around the axis and do a complete 360 like other counterpart ship rides. Will be curious to see what new theme enhancements they do to the Adventure Express. Kinda surprised its still around, rough as hell and never been that popular of a ride in my opinion. 

I believe Adventure Express is actually one of the more ridden coasters (family coasters tend to do quite well) in KI.

Advanced Outdoor Solutions takes over management of Camp Cedar from Kings Island

 

Kings Island has parted ways with the ownership of a new $27 million camp-themed attraction near the Mason amusement park.

 

Kings Island parent company Cedar Fair on Monday confirmed that it had agreed to end its management and licensing agreement with Small Brothers LLC and Terra Firma Associates, the owners of Camp Cedar, an outdoor luxury resort with cottages and spaces for recreational vehicles that opened in the summer of 2021.

 

Cedar Fair said the management and licensing agreement ended on Jan. 1. The campground remains open and under the ownership of Small Brothers and Terra Firma.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/02/27/kings-island-camp-cedar-part-ways.html

 

Kings Island names Joseph Perez executive chef, adds Grain & Grill restaurant

 

Kings Island has named a new executive chef to oversee all park restaurants, as well as a new restaurant that will open in time for the park's new season on April 15.

 

Kings Island on Tuesday announced Joseph Perez will lead the park's culinary division as its executive chef. He steps in for James Major, who was named regional chef for Kings Island parent company Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN).

...

Also new for the 2023 season is Adventure Port, a new themed area the park announced in late 2022. Adventure Port will be located between the Coney Mall and the Action Zone. The new rides entail:

• Sol Spin, a 60-foot-tall, large tilted wheel that spins passengers in suspended vehicles at 25 miles per hour
• Cargo Loco, a spinning ride consisting of barrel-shaped vehicles which riders can control the spin of
• Adventure Express, the ride was repainted in advance of the 2022 season and for next year it will see a relocated queue line and additional theming to match Adventure Port

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/04/04/kings-island-executive-chef-grain-grill.html

 

Wut?

 

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/warren-county/mason/police-arrest-17-year-old-with-gun-bullets-near-kings-island

 

 

It's been common lately at theme parks regarding guns passing through unchecked gates.  Kennywood had a shooting with this exact issue last year.  Kings Island got lucky.

Kings Island debuts new themed area Adventure Port with 2 new rides, restaurants

By Luke Bisesi  –  Intern, Cincinnati Business Courier

Jun 12, 2023

 

Kings Island just opened its newest section of the park, featuring two new rides, a restaurant and cantina.

 

The Mason-based amusement park formally opened Adventure Port Friday, June 9. Adventure Port, located between Coney Mall and Action Zone, rebrands some existing amenities and serves as the home base of two new rides – Sol Spin and Cargo Loco.

 

MORE

 

Kings Island announces Camp Snoopy, Peanuts-themed roller coaster

 

Everyone's favorite Peanut is getting his own roller coaster at Kings Island.

 

Kings Island announced Aug. 10 in a news release it will open a new roller coaster in 2024 called Snoopy's Soap Box Racers, featuring the beloved Peanuts beagle. The ride, the release states, will be Kings Island's first-ever boomerang coaster, meaning riders will go forward and backward on the same track that will feature a 70-foot hill.

 

The coaster is the anchor of a new area within the park, dubbed Camp Snoopy.

 

The new area will feature play areas for children to explore, including camping equipment, turfed mounds and grassy areas. Children can also earn merit badges within the area from the "Eager Beagle Scouts."

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/08/10/kings-island-snoopy-roller-coaster.html

Not sure how to feel about this, my first instinct was “oh no, kings island is going to turn into a generic six flags park”. Thoughts?

 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/11/02/investing/six-flags-cedar-fair-merging/index.html

I don't like monopolies as a rule and this would mean that basically one company would control the non-Disney/Universal theme parks. 

31 minutes ago, 646empire said:

Not sure how to feel about this, my first instinct was “oh no, kings island is going to turn into a generic six flags park”. Thoughts?

I don't like it.  Six Flags seems to be the Walmart of amusement parks. 

6 minutes ago, LibertyBlvd said:

I don't like it.  Six Flags seems to be the Walmart of amusement parks. 

Exactly.

43 minutes ago, 646empire said:

Not sure how to feel about this, my first instinct was “oh no, kings island is going to turn into a generic six flags park”. Thoughts?

 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/11/02/investing/six-flags-cedar-fair-merging/index.html

I think Cedar Fair is the acquiring company here. Now it will depend how the management board shakes out but while initially I do not love it, it could be a good thing. Six Flags has long been an underperforming group and I hope this does not dilute Cedar Fair's ability to invest in Kings Island and other parks not named Cedar Point in the future. 

 

It always seemed like Cedar Point was the main park in their portfolio and got the best and most frequent improvements and then Kings Island , Carrowinds , Kings Dominion and Canada Wonderland seemed to share in the rest of the major upgrades while the remaining parks in their portfolio never received any money for major improvements.  with the new Six Flags parks, what does this do to the parks like Kings Island.

15 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

I think Cedar Fair is the acquiring company here. Now it will depend how the management board shakes out but while initially I do not love it, it could be a good thing. Six Flags has long been an underperforming group and I hope this does not dilute Cedar Fair's ability to invest in Kings Island and other parks not named Cedar Point in the future. 

 

It always seemed like Cedar Point was the main park in their portfolio and got the best and most frequent improvements and then Kings Island , Carrowinds , Kings Dominion and Canada Wonderland seemed to share in the rest of the major upgrades while the remaining parks in their portfolio never received any money for major improvements.  with the new Six Flags parks, what does this do to the parks like Kings Island.

From what I’m reading this is pretty close to a “true merger”  with neither really acquiring the other, I think I read Cedar Shareholders will own 51% of the new company. Anyway I agree about Cedar Point especially early on recently tho it seemed Kings Island has been getting enough love. Kings Island is big and performs really well too so it just can be ignored. Six Flags also has a couple Flag Ship parks too I think one being Magic Mountain In California. Will be interesting to see how the companies merge culturally because I think they are pretty different and that can turn out really rough.

Edited November 2, 20231 yr by 646empire

While I am not happy with this merger (see Geauga Lake), I'd much rather have Cedar Fair be in charge, which it looks like it is being based in Charlotte now, than Six Flags in charge.  While the new name will be under Six Flags, I doubt they change most of the Cedar Fair parks into Six Flags-branding.  Even under Six Flags, they kept Frontier City and Great Escape without their namesake so I don't see that changing.

21 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

While I am not happy with this merger (see Geauga Lake), I'd much rather have Cedar Fair be in charge, which it looks like it is being based in Charlotte now, than Six Flags in charge.  While the new name will be under Six Flags, I doubt they change most of the Cedar Fair parks into Six Flags-branding.  Even under Six Flags, they kept Frontier City and Great Escape without their namesake so I don't see that changing.

I think Cedar Fair corporate is still Ohio from what I understood but the park operations division is in Charlotte. It has been run out of Charlotte since the old Kings Island days when they moved operations to Charlotte in the early 1980s. With the mergers, they left it down there.  

 

Edited November 2, 20231 yr by Brutus_buckeye

Cedar Fair is moving from Sandusky to Charlotte with this new merger, unfortunately.

 

Quote

Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will operate under the name Six Flags and trade under the ticker symbol FUN on the NYSE and will be structured as a C Corporation. The combined company will be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will maintain significant finance and administrative operations in Sandusky, Ohio.

 

https://ir.cedarfair.com/news/news-details/2023/Cedar-Fair-and-Six-Flags-to-Combine-in-Merger-of-Equals-Creating-a-Leading-Amusement-Park-Operator/default.aspx

12 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

Cedar Fair is moving from Sandusky to Charlotte with this new merger, unfortunately.

 

 

https://ir.cedarfair.com/news/news-details/2023/Cedar-Fair-and-Six-Flags-to-Combine-in-Merger-of-Equals-Creating-a-Leading-Amusement-Park-Operator/default.aspx

Bummer for Ohio. I guess this is Charlotte's consolation prize for losing the tennis tournament.

 

In all seriousness, it appears that this is still Cedar Point in control. CEO and CFO positions are still Cedar Fair people which mean it will be run with the Cedar Fair culture (or most of it). Charlotte is a Cedar Fair HQ city anyway as it has always been (at least since the Paramount parks joined) the park operations HQ so this keeps that consistent.

 

17 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

Bummer for Ohio. I guess this is Charlotte's consolation prize for losing the tennis tournament.

 

 

To be fair, SF merger or not, Cedar Fair has been steadily relocating numerous executive roles to Charlotte since 2008 or so due to Carowinds’ continued growth, its bigger airport (the former CEO utilized a private jet from Sandusky to Cleveland regularly), etc. Charlotte was previously the headquarters of Paramount Parks. 

44 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

Bummer for Ohio. I guess this is Charlotte's consolation prize for losing the tennis tournament.

Lmaoooooo

If the corporate owner is basically saying being located in Sandusky is inconvenient for them, it doesn't seem like that big of a leap to say going to Cedar Point is inconvenient for consumers, too? I'm not suggesting they'll pull the plug on the park, but it seems like they'd be more likely to invest more in their other properties and CP would be more of a regional draw?

3 minutes ago, coneflower said:

If the corporate owner is basically saying being located in Sandusky is inconvenient for them, it doesn't seem like that big of a leap to say going to Cedar Point is inconvenient for consumers, too? I'm not suggesting they'll pull the plug on the park, but it seems like they'd be more likely to invest more in their other properties and CP would be more of a regional draw?

I’m not seeing the connection nor how this makes much sense but I may be missing it 

5 minutes ago, coneflower said:

If the corporate owner is basically saying being located in Sandusky is inconvenient for them, it doesn't seem like that big of a leap to say going to Cedar Point is inconvenient for consumers, too? I'm not suggesting they'll pull the plug on the park, but it seems like they'd be more likely to invest more in their other properties and CP would be more of a regional draw?

 

Likely not going to happen.  Cedar Point is the country's most visited seasonal amusement park (Kings Island is #2 and Great Adventure/Hersheypark are like #3 and #4).  It'll still be the flagship park for the chain, along with Six Flags Magic Mountain and likely Six Flags Great Adventure.

2 hours ago, Gordon Bombay said:

 

To be fair, SF merger or not, Cedar Fair has been steadily relocating numerous executive roles to Charlotte since 2008 or so due to Carowinds’ continued growth, its bigger airport (the former CEO utilized a private jet from Sandusky to Cleveland regularly), etc. Charlotte was previously the headquarters of Paramount Parks. 

that is true, even before Paramount Parks, in the early 1980s Taft move the HQ operations for all their parks to Charlotte (Kings Island, Kings DOminion, Carrowinds and Canada's wonderland). 

2 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

that is true, even before Paramount Parks, in the early 1980s Taft move the HQ operations for all their parks to Charlotte (Kings Island, Kings DOminion, Carrowinds and Canada's wonderland). 

Don’t forget Australia’s Wonderland! AKA the one Paramount didn’t want. 

40 minutes ago, Gordon Bombay said:

Don’t forget Australia’s Wonderland! AKA the one Paramount didn’t want. 

 

How DARE they get rid of this!

 

7 hours ago, ColDayMan said:

 

How DARE they get rid of this!

 

They still had their Canadian version. 

23 hours ago, coneflower said:

If the corporate owner is basically saying being located in Sandusky is inconvenient for them, it doesn't seem like that big of a leap to say going to Cedar Point is inconvenient for consumers, too? I'm not suggesting they'll pull the plug on the park, but it seems like they'd be more likely to invest more in their other properties and CP would be more of a regional draw?

 

I disagree. When I worked for Cedar Fair, the big thing keeping Sandusky as the corporate headquarters was that the CEO, d**k Kinzel, lived near CP itself. Mainly because CP was the flagship park in the chain historically. Not just in terms of revenue and attractions, but established infrastructure such as office space, employees, etc. A lot of what was being done at the other parks could be handled from those offices. Cedar Fair itself, essentially grew out of the CP offices (starting first with the acquisition of Valleyfair (hence the name)). But then the chain got much larger with the Paramount acquisition. They didn't just acquire five parks, but five very popular and highly attended parks that are large operations. And they've since added even more. 

 

Cedar Point - for consumers - is still a very high regional draw with a loyal season pass base much like Kings Island, Wonderland, Carowinds, etc. Their primary consumer base comes from "locals" with passes. All the regional/seasonal parks are like that. CP, however, is (was, probably still is) a pretty big destination park. 

 

If you're a family looking for a fun Midwest vacation, Cedar Point is a great bet with all levels of lodging for your budget. But, if you're an executive working in a chain that now has parks all over the nation and you need to get a design team on several flights to do offseason work - it helps to have a more "central" location. I.E. Instead of hopping from Sandusky to Cleveland Hopkins and then possibly transferring again... Charlotte's airport is a hub, etc. I'm sure Charlotte also has lucrative tax breaks, yadda yadda.

 

It's also worth noting that when Cedar Fair took over the Paramount chain... Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland, and Kings Dominion were initially kind of viewed as "mid-tier" in terms of performance. Cedar Fair very quickly realized those parks were not being used to their full potential by Paramount and they've since turned all three into even bigger successes. 

 

It's been a long time since I've worked in that industry, but I'm personally very skeptical of this merger. Cedar Fair had this great culture turnaround circa 2018 and really started making some good moves. Six Flags is... well... not the best. 

Fair points. I remember as a kid hearing about people coming to Cedar Point from places like Japan and Europe because it was among "the best," and I just wondered if the lack of centrality would make it hard for CP to stay in that conversation in the future as bigger markets elevated their games. But I also don't know much about theme parks, so that impression may have been my Ohio pride! 

Between the construction of Magnum in 1989 and Top Thrill Dragster in 2003 I think Cedar Point was almost undisputedly the best roller coaster destination on earth. There were hits in California, Japan and England but CP was on top. Six Flags GA and MM started to chip away more and more, and lately I think the enthusiasts would say that Cedar Fair has been playing it safe with B&M while Six Flags and Busch/Seas has been more willing to play around with Intamin, RMC and other more 'risky' manufacturers. The thing is, whether we like it or not, Saudi Arabia is about to break every coaster record ever so much like the tallest skyscraper obsession the US had for a century, the rest of the world is passing us in the coaster records and the parks need to focus, as Cedar Fair has recently, on providing safe, reliable, family friendly atmospheres for people to visit repeatedly and spend their money consistently. If Cedar Fair operations in Charlotte remains in charge of operations we should be in good hands, because Six Flags has ugly, poorly maintained rides throughout their chain and thats what people are afraid of in this deal. 

Edited November 3, 20231 yr by ucgrady

2 hours ago, Gordon Bombay said:

Cedar Fair had this great culture turnaround circa 2018 and really started making some good moves. Six Flags is... well... not the best. 

 

It's Target merging with Dollar General.

That's being generous. 

Cedar Fair knew who they were. Paramount's parks knew who they were too. WHen they combined it was a good combination of good companies that were able to find synergies in each other's strengths. 

 

Six Flags has always seemed to be a company that really had no strategy. They would dabble in one thing and then another and before you knew it they were all over the map without anything they did particularly well. THey had good assets like Magic Mtn and Great Adventure but the majority were poorly performing assets that were nothing more than a local draw. 

It was never a surprise that 6 Flags was always in and out of bankruptcy over the last 30 years whereas Cedar Fair and the Paramount Parks that they bought consistently chugged along. 

Cedar Fair will still be the majority owner, AFAIK, so hopefully they won't take on any of Six Flags' poor habits and strategies. Also, hopefully that won't mean any name changes. 

8 minutes ago, jonoh81 said:

Cedar Fair will still be the majority owner, AFAIK, so hopefully they won't take on any of Six Flags' poor habits and strategies. Also, hopefully that won't mean any name changes. 

Exactly. It sounds like it's Cedar Fair still running the operations and they just took Six Flags name since it has more brand recognition despite all their faults. 

Kings Island building Ohio's first dual-racing water coaster at Soak City Water Park

 

Kings Island will debut Ohio's first dual-racing water coaster at its Soak City Water Park in time for the 2025 summer season.

 

Kings Island announced Aug. 8 that it is building RiverRacers, the first and only dual-racing water coaster in Ohio. In addition, the park will add seven new kids' water slides at Splash River Junction, the riverside-themed kids play area in its Soak City Water Park. The new attractions are scheduled to debut in 2025.

 

“Our park guests have wanted the thrills of a water coaster for a long time, and you can never go wrong adding new experiences for kids and families to cool off together, especially in Soak City,” Kings Island General Manager Mike Koontz said in a news release.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/08/08/kings-island-riverracers-water-coaster.html

 

Congratulations to Kings Island for being North America's 2nd highest attended seasonal amusement park in 2023 (3.48 million guests), finally beating Canada's Wonderland.

 

https://aecom.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/reports/AECOM-Theme-Index-2023.pdf

Kings Island to add new 'family thrill attraction' to park in 2026

 

A new "family thrill attraction" has been planned for construction at Kings Island, reports our news partners at Dayton 24/7 Now.

 

Six Flags, which recently merged with former Kings Island owner Cedar Fair, has announced plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next two years to "enhance guest experience" at its 42 parks, according to a release.

 

These investments will include "new rides, attractions, themed areas, dining upgrades and technology upgrades" that will bring "fun and excitement to guests of all ages," said Six Flags officials.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2024/11/19/kings-island-attraction-family.html