MASON, Ohio — The newest ride at Kings Island — Snoopy's Soap Box Racers — is still a few weeks away from opening, but the Mason, Ohio theme park and its parent company Cedar Fair, are already looking ahead to the next one.
Cedar Fair has begun sharing a survey for at least three of its major parks, Kings Island and Cedar Point in Ohio, and Carowinds in North Carolina, according to enthusiasts.
It asks which type of major ride fans would like to see next.
Fans who say they received the survey have shared it on Reddit and other sites.
Four proposals for new Kings Island rides
The four choices offered for Kings Island (other parks have different choices) include:
1- A tower coaster, which would shoot up a 200 foot tall tower.
2- A multi launch family thrill coaster, along the lines of Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal Orlando.
3- An indoor-outdoor "dark ride" coaster, which enthusiasts speculate might utilize the empty Crypt ride building.
4- A 300-foot-tall dive coaster, similar to Valravn at Cedar Point, that drops you down a steep incline. If built, that would make it as tall as the park's giga coaster, Orion.
Fans we spoke with outside the park differed on which they preferred.
"A family coaster would be better," Steven Loveless said.
But Robin Mann, visiting from Indianapolis, said "they already got a family ride this year, so it's time for another big one."
How close is this to reality?
The new ride could be built in the spot vacated by the old Vortex coaster five years ago, which is now a 4-acre lawn next to The Beast, according to enthusiasts on KI Central.com.
Another spot frequently mentioned is the Timberwolf amphitheater near the park entrance, which has seen very limited use in recent years.
We reached out to Kings Island spokesman Chad Showalter, who said there are no concrete plans for a new ride at this point.
But as for the survey, he said "it’s not uncommon for Kings Island and other Cedar Fair parks to gather input from our guests through surveys that help us gain feedback on new product ideas. The concepts we present may or may not be pursued for a particular park, but it does help us gauge overall interest and understand our guests' preferences."
Neither Showalter nor Cedar Fair corporate spokesman Gary Rhodes would give any further details on the survey.
So the bottom line is that Kings Island, along with some of its sister parks, is looking or input on what kind of ride fans may want next, whether a family coaster or more thrilling tower or drop ride.
But nothing is in the works and it seems any announcement is still at least a year away.
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