However, I think it’s an easy mistake to view these and other grievances about the park’s operations as being deliberate negligence that holds the managers and planners as being directly at fault. Most of the criticisms we’ve had I think just come from ignorance, perhaps from a lack of effective means of implementing more creative visions in the corporate hierarchy (one thing you’ll note about CF’s managers is they are all operational/financial titles, they don’t have any teams specifically targeted to any of these issues, and on the rare occasions that they do need a creative solution they just contract a third party whose work is limited only to the immediate capital expenditure). In other words, they just simply don’t know how to do any better than they currently are. That’s normally what we can expect from any profit maximizing firm (except in cases such as TLC to Racer where it might be viewed more as an unnecessary expense given their current goals) so most of these problems come more from organizational problems rather than from negligence by particular individuals, who I am sure are all hard working and committed to making they best park experience they personally know how. That said, some of these problems needn’t require organizational change-ups (i.e. it’s not hard to send out a memo reminding people that not every new coaster has to be painted the same shade of red).

I didn’t get to do The Crypt until the end of October… my thoughts on it are that it sucks, but you certainly didn’t need me around to tell you that. Everyone on the gondola booed when the ride was over, and the operators knew this would be the response and at least were able to get some comic value out of it. While I did enjoy it quite a bit back when it had recently opened, I’d never sacrifice Firehawk and Diamondback to have it back to it’s original grandeur. Well, maybe Firehawk, if only because high-quality flat rides that are actually able to incorporate some sort of story and progression in their cycle is virtually unheard of outside the old Tomb Raider example, but otherwise I wouldn’t be do disheartened to see the present-day Crypt removed from the park altogether. It’s not doing anyone any good in it’s current state, the giant box now highly visible from more locations in the park with the addition of Diamondback and removal of most of the nearby landscaping that had previously kept it better hidden.

I agree with their commercialization of the park – how it appears like a midway. I am ashamed at what has happened to Rivertown. Diamondback is a great ride, yes, but what has it cost? Rivertown, the once isolated, dark, forested town is now an open midway with a small, concrete lake in the center. Perhaps if there were twenty or so trees planted around the new splashdown I could understand, but we’re talking two or three dogwoods. In twenty years, those trees will be about ten feet tall, and that area of the park will be devoid of its forested feel.

To me, there was never any question which Paramount Park I preferred – Kings Island by a mile. We had easily the most well-themed attraction at any seasonal amusement park in America housed inside that cavern in Rivertown. Did it necessary fit the theme? No. But upon riding it, there was absolutely no denying that it belonged in that park. Paramount’s Kings Island was easily the most well-themed seasonal park I’ve ever been to, and ranks up there with many year-round operational parks. It was a joy and a blessing to have it in Ohio. Talk about a fall from grace – Ohioans were lucky enough to have the flagship Cedar Fair park, the flagship Paramount park, the world’s largest Six Flags, and one of the four SeaWorld parks. What a state to live in, easily the best park-wise after California and Florida. Today, all four are owned by Cedar Fair, one closed, one made into a waterpark, one devoid of its original theme and charm, and (you guessed it) their original flagship park flourishing! What a surprise.

In the future, I’m not sure what I expect of Kings Island. It’s “Action Zone” is currently home to an Arrow suspended coaster that has not been painted to the extent that it appears gray (it was red, never painted gray) and a Vekoma Invertigo. What action. Meanwhile, three rides built within the last decade are on the chopping block (or already gone) due to a simple lack of care (Son of Beast, The Crypt, Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle). Those rides (as well as the paint on Flight Deck, the lighting on Adventure Express, and the track on The Racer) are litterally BEGGING for ANY sort of TLC that Cedar Fair will grant them, and instead, we’ll enter the park next year to find three attractions (that are, in relation to other attractions, brand new) either closed or on their last leg, a rethemed children’s area, and likely about two-hundred new trashcans.

It’s really a shame that it’s all come to this. I would sacrifice Diamondback and Firehawk to have Tomb Raider: The Ride back to its original grandeur. I can only hope that when Cedar Fair inevitably files for bankruptcy and starts selling parks left and right, they don’t grab onto Kings Island with a stranglehold. They see the potential in the park (aka, what the park used to be) and chose not to act on it – they have no business holding onto a park when they consider “Flight Deck”, “Drop Tower”, and “Backlot Coaster” as acceptable. Truly, it appears to both myself and the public that the removal of that “Paramount’s” prefix was symbolic of everything within the park becoming generic.

Note to Cedar Fair: When you own AMUSEMENT parks, don’t buy THEME parks unless you genuinely intend to keep them as such. When it comes to the Paramount Parks, you can’t just slap on a generic version of its original name and sleep easy at night.

Note to The Coaster Philosopher: I know quite a few people who would LOVE to hear your thoughts on Tomb Raider: The Ride and its conversion to The Crypt… Myself included.