Kings Island
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cedar Fair Entertainment
 Park News - (8/12/2023) Camp Snoopy & Snoopy's Soap Box Racers Coming To Kings Island in 2024
(8/10/2023) Kings Island has confirmed that they will announce their 2024 plans on Thursday morning. No real hints here, though the only graphic shown in the Tweet is the tower with fireworks, so maybe all they are doing is adding a night show or focusing on entertainment for the season.
Of course, there is the matter of the work that took place to clear the haunt stuff out of the former Son of Beast station. Perhaps this may be an area worth keeping an eye on.
(7/11/2023) I don’t know much about this, but according to our source the former Son of Beast station building has been used for a “Wolf Pack” themed Haunt for the Halloween Haunt event, which allowed them to essentially leave it set up all year since the former ride station wasn’t used for anything else. According to our source, it appeared crews were working in the building this week, possibly clearing out the haunt to make way for something new. While it could be for a new haunt, there has always been hope that the station could be re-purposed to be used with a future new attraction some day.
In other news, it has been reported by various social media platforms that Don Helbig has left Kings Island. Helbig was always at the forefront of the park’s marketing & PR efforts, and very active with the various park fan groups. According to the posts it is believed he has moved on to pursue other interests, but he will be missed.
(4/30/2023) According to a local news report that Pipeline Paradise stationary surf-wave attraction in the connected Soak City waterpark is being decommissioned and removed (link repaired) after a 24 year run. According to a statement from the park, as one of the longest running flowriders in the world, the attraction had “reached the end of its service life”.
Over the years the attraction has developed a community of devoted fans who would buy passes to come to the park and ride the flowriders, or groups that would come together and teach each other how best to ride. Unfortunately, they say that the next closest similar attraction is 132 miles away in Indiana, leaving the local surf community high and dry.
Kings Island isn’t saying what their future plans are, but if enough fans voice their disappointment, you never know… they may look into building a new modern replacement for the flowriders. Or… you know… this could be a perfect opportunity for the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark resort located next to the park to step up their game and add one of their own.
(4/21/2023) In the fallout of the incident at Kings Island over the weekend, the park has enacted a new chaperone policy staring this Saturday. The new policy states that anyone 15 years of age or under will now need to be accompanied by a chaperone, age 21 or over, to remain in the theme park after 4pm. The chaperone must have a valid photo ID and remain with their group throughout their stay. Guests 15 and under found in the park without a chaperone will be asked to leave.
(4/20/2023) According to news reports a 17-year old was caught and arrested for possession of a loaded 9mm handgun at Kings Island on Saturday. A guest approached an off-duty officer in the park to report that she saw him slide a black bag through a fence opening while outside the park, before passing through the metal detectors, and after entering the park he made his way back to the other side of the fence to retrieve the bag.
Police arrived and when they confronted him in the park and said to drop the bag, he ran and fled towards the parking lot, dropping the bag along the way where the gun was recovered. Soon after the police found him hiding in the woods and arrested him. He later claimed the gun was not his and he was carrying it for another “friend” who was in the park somewhere.
Unfortunately this sounds way too similar to how a shooting took place at Kennywood last fall, where it is thought that a gun was likely slipped into the park through a gap in a park perimeter fence.
(2/26/2023) Kings Island and the “Kings Island Camp Cedar” campground that opened in 2021 have decided to part ways for unknown reasons. According to a local news report, the campground will now be known only as “Camp Cedar” and now being run by the ‘Advanced Outdoor Solutions” management group.
2023 - Adventure Port - (6/11/2023) Kings Island has finished and opened their new Adventure Port area. The local news has posted a quick video showing off the newly revised area, attractions and theming, with a quick look at the new rides: Cargo Loco (a Barrel themed Tea Cups style ride) and Sol Spin (a Zamperla Endeavor)
(5/20/2023) A number of fun pictures have been posted showing off the construction of Adventure Port at Kings Island, as well as the park’s Adventure Express trains being loaded back onto the tracks ahead of the reopening as sent to us by a reader, and other pictures showing off things from an aerial view posted on Twitter as well.
(4/15/2023) The new Adventure Port area at Kings Island is still very much under construction according to a picture posted to Twitter yesterday. According to the sign on the wall, they’re now aiming at a Summer opening timeframe.
(10/20/22) Kings Island made a surprise announcement on Wednesday revealing details of a brand new land and attractions coming to the park for the 2023 season. The new land is called Adventure Port and in many ways it sounds almost as if it may feature a similar tone and purpose as the Jungle X-Pedition land did for Kings Dominion in 2022, but with more of Mexico down to South American flair.
According to the official description of 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.” The two new rides will include:
Sol Spin - “This recently discovered mechanism appears to be an immense sun disk created by an ancient civilization. Climb aboard these open air, suspended passenger vehicles to experience the thrill of flying 60 feet through the air at 25 m.p.h.” The concept art features what looks like a Zamperla Endeavour, which is essentially the spiritual successor to the old Enterprise ride concept, which now loads riders into individual suspended and open-air seats rather than inside an enclosed ride vehicle.
Cargo Loco - “Need a company to ship your goods? Look no further than the Arrow Cargo Company. Their methods might be a little dizzying, but they’ll get your freight from Point A to Point B…eventually. Check out the shipping barrels for yourself and get ready for the trip of your life!” Once look at the concept art and you’ll recognize this for what it is, a cargo barrel themed Tea Cup ride, which I’m going to guess will be made by Zamperla as well. Since Zamperla’s theming division is second to none, I’m sure both rides will look fantastic once installed.
As previously mentioned, look to dine at The Mercado or Enrique’s, with the later described as offering a tasty menu of tacos, burrito bowls and real burritos, as well as salads and various side items. In case you were wondering, this new land will take over the area formerly known as Oktoberfest and the former Outer Hanks restaurant space, with the new rides going to the left of the Adventure Express entrance, taking over the immediate space over to where the Sling Shot used to be.
Now my only final thought is to wonder if this is simply Phase 1 of a greater plan to come. While there is no need to re-theme the Coney Mall area, the relatively unthemed majority of the Action Zone has long been ripe for redevelopment or to be enhanced with extra theming going forward.
2024 - Camp Snoopy, Snoppy’s Soap Box Racers and Beagle Scout Acres - (8/12/2023) Kings Island made a surprise announcement this week to announce an expansion of the park’s Planet Snoopy kinds area was coming for the 2024 season. The expansion will be called Camp Snoopy and it will be Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers, a new family boomerang shuttle coaster. As the name suggests, coaster fans will recognize this as a Vekoma Family Boomerang style coaster which starts by pulling the themed train backwards out of the station and up a 73.5 foot lift hill before dropping the train back down, passing through the station at 36mph, and then into a series of twists and turns before running up a steep spike track. After a brief moment of weightlessness, the train will roll backwards and through the entire course backwards once again to the station.
Also coming to Camp Snoopy is Beagle Scout Acres, a new shaded play space where kids can run, crawl and play with their friends and family. Themed like a campground, the turf covered space will feature grassy mounds and a variety of interactive play equipment to climb on (or through), make noises with and more.
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