New Construction Markers Appear At Kings Island

Below you will find the timeline of Kings Island Construction from starting at the beginning of August 2020. This article is updated frequently as projects progress.

Aug 8, 2020: Over the course of the last week, new markers have appeared at Kings Island. Markers are generally used to indicate construction on a plot of land. A close up of one of the new markers can be seen in the image below which is located next to the current COVID temperature testing tent near the park entrance.

The markers run along Columbia Road as seen in the map below. The pink flags indicate a temporary survey marking/unidentified facilities. Furthermore, the white sprays on Columbia Road indicate that the land will be excavated.

The placement of the markers are within range of runoff storm drains. It is highly likely these storm drains are to be expanded to handle increased runoff.

There are also markers being added inside of the park as well. This marker was found by an electrical box by the entrance to Son of Beast.

That leads to the main question, why would the park expect increased runoff? Well, considering that the runoff would feed from the parking lot and entrance plaza/Action Zone, it is likely that the alterations will be made to the entrance plaza or Action Zone. If work is to be done on the plaza, Cedar Fair may be attempting to renovate the entryway, as seen in recent years with Carowinds, Cedar Point, and Worlds of Fun — complete with a shiny new wing coaster…

The second alternative is that they are planning to expand Action Zone. Since the markers deal with runoff from the hill that Invertigo and Congo Falls sits on, it is possible that the new work may be on that site. Considering that the park recently received parts from Stinger for Invertigo, it is probable the work site could be the plot of land adjacent to Congo Falls.

– – – – UPDATE: 8/11/20 – – – –

Below is a video of the current markers and flagging that are in place as of 8/11/20. As you can see, the markers extend from the stretch of road beside the Timberwolf all the way to the tents at the park entrance. Furthermore, additional markers were seen in the preferred parking lot.

 

– – – – UPDATE: 8/22/20 – – – –

More markers were placed over the course of the past week. The new markers  (pink sprays on Columbia Road), are near the road intersection by the Bat. They can be seen while riding on the Bat.

– – – – UPDATE: 8/23/20- – – –

For the first time in many years, the lights around the Son of Beast queue were turned on. These themed lights were part of the Outpost 5 theming that went along with the Son of Beast.

 

 

It is interesting to note, similar work was done in the past prior to other park projects. In 2018, the lights for the old Flight Commander ride pad were turned on shortly before it was demolished for the Kings Mills Antique Autos.

Furthermore, more markers have appeared North of the original set of Markers. They can be seen from The Bat and the pathway between Great Wolf Lodge and Kings Island. The markers are for the excavation of the road and temporary survey markers.

This work begs the question, what is the park planning to do? Could one of these be a new entrance plaza? Could we see an expansion of Action Zone? Both? Could this project be linked to the parks 50th anniversary in 2022?

– – – – UPDATE: 8/25/20- – – –

Utilizing all the markers placed thus far, we used the space to create a wing coaster concept that spans the front entrance all the way to the former Son of Beast station. This concept is probably on a larger scale than the park would purchase, but we wanted to utilize the plot of land to it’s max to show what could fit in the projected space.

Some believe the survey markers could be for a new entrance and or a tram to Great Wolf Lodge. We have tossed the tram idea out since Cedar Fair doesn’t own the GWL property. It’s highly unlikely they would tram guests to a competing venue.

Since Orion was originally purchased for California’s Great America, and CGA likely paid for much of it from their budget, it’s possible we could actually see another coaster sooner than later at Kings Island using their own budget. If Orion was a bonus project, we could see another new ride very soon at Kings Island that would be their regularly scheduled addition to the park. With attractions and projects purchased years in advance, COVID-19 may not have any effect on building more attractions until we hit 2023 or even later. Meaning the projects planned before 2023 could go on as planned. The Winged Demon concept (or any coaster in the front) would also allow for a re-imagining of the parks entrance much like Cedar Fair did at Carowinds and Cedar Point.

– – – – UPDATE: 8/29/20- – – –

More developments were seen today at Kings Island. For some of the day, the lights to the Wolf Pack attraction (former Son of Beast) were on as well as the queue lighting.

Along with the lights, further work was seen on the station structure. From the exit path of the Bat, an open electrical junction box was observed. Furthermore, cut wires were seen dangling from the junction box. The cutting of the wires along with the telecommunication markers could indicate that preliminary work may be underway for a potential demolition.

 

Here’s a quick video update highlighting the current lighting and electrical work.

– – – – UPDATE: 9/2/20- – – –

Part of the mystery may have been solved. The markers along Columbia road appear to be part of a $1.2 million dollar upgrade to the water lines that is scheduled to take place between 2022-2026. The work involves adding a 12-inch waterline along a 10,300 foot stretch of Columbia Road. With construction not supposed to start until 2022, this still seems a bit early for markers to be in place. This could be a project within a project, two projects side by side, or linked to as a deterrent for another project such as a future ride or area expansion.

The activity around the former Son of Beast station is yet to be explained. With the cut wires seen last week, it is very plausible it may be removed.

– – – – UPDATE: 9/3/20- – – –

From reviewing documents, it looks like the markers with identifiers starting with T-16 through T-22 are the ones set aside for the waterline upgrade.

Hypothetically, it seems the path the waterline would follow can be seen below. The line appears to switch from the west side of Columbia Road to the east side near the intersection of Columbia Road and the maintenance roads by The Bat.

Here’s a look at the elevation change along the course of the hypothetical path.

– – – – UPDATE: 9/5/20- – – –

More markers for the water line project have been seen North of the conference center near Great Wolf Lodge. The marker (T-22) is part of the marker series (T-16, T-17) seen at the front of the park. It is unknown how far the line will run North of the park.

At the Son of Beast site, more wires have been cut. The lines extend from the junction box where the initial cuts were made, as well as from the box that was previously marked.

– – – – UPDATE: 9/6/20- – – –

There’s a lot going on at the front of the park. Aside from the water line project on Columbia Road, further developments have been seen along the park’s front entrance. By the drop off lot, there are numerous markers for telecommunication lines.  The markers stretch from beyond the southern point of the drop off to about 400 feet north of the end of the drop off. Since the current drop off entrance is from the period where the lot had two entrances, we could be looking at the beginning stages for a reworked drop off lot.

 

 

 

 

– – – – UPDATE: 9/19/20- – – –

Tonight, the lights along the former Som of Beast ride queue and station continue to glow. The queue lights that were previously on, were now turned off. It is possible they were disconnected.

 

– – – – UPDATE: 10/04/20 – – – –

New markers have appeared in the vicinity of the drop off lot. New markers have been sprayed around the marquee sign at the eastern end of the parking lot. The markers have been sprayed on the ground, curbs, and electrical panels.

Furthermore, markers are also sprayed west of the existing marquee. The markers are spread out across the berm between the north and south lots. It potentially could be the place of a relocated or new marquee.

 

The question that arises is what would warrant the park to move the marquee? If the park was hypothetically expanding the drop off lot, the removal of the marquee from it’s current location could allow for an expanded drop off lot. Furthermore, an expanded lot could allow for the drop off lane to exit to the south bound lanes of Kings Island Drive, allowing for a better control of traffic around the park.

– – – – UPDATE: 10/18/20- – – –

New markers have been sighted in the drop off lot as well as along Kings Island Drive from the southern exit of the parking lot up to the entrance to the road that leads to the toll booths.

As indicated by the spray marker, the markers are for highlighting the utility lines that run under the lot. The marker indicating excavation is interesting as it can be found at the exit of the drop off lot. It would seem that either the drop off lot is being redesigned to better accommodate Kings Island Drive, or an additional lane is being added to the toll road-which would require the removal of the drop off lot.

– – – – UPDATE: 10/25/20- – – –

A series of new markers have appeared in Coney Mall. The markers are located behind the building used to house the KillMart haunt. The markers begin by the queue for Zephyr and extend to King Mills Antique Autos. They can be seen from Zephyr and the Red Racer.

– – – – UPDATE: 11/01/20- – – –

More markers have appeared in the Coney Mall site around the area where the original Markers were seen by KillMart. These markers extend along the length of the Racer with many being concentrated around KillMart.

The markers could potentially be for the expansion of utility lines. When Orion was built, new utility lines were installed, as indicated by the markers seen last summer around Adventure Express. The current markers end near where the markers were seen during the summer of 2019. If the park is expanding the utility lines, it poses a lot of interesting questions.

Parts of these projects could develop for 2022 as it will be the parks 50th anniversary season. Whatever they build, let’s just hope they pave the parking lot while working in the area…

Sorry to leave readers with more questions than answers, but only time will tell. Check back often as we will update this article as things progress!

For tickets and more information about Kings Island, visit the official Kings Island website by clicking here.

 

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