Live from Kings Island, Mystic Timbers media preview

Can't wait for the jokes about going through the barn doors to find...

Snakes?

Bats?

A demonic tree?

Charles Nungester in a clown suit?

WCPO has a video going through the shed and it appears there is music, some flickering lights, and a screen with some sort of tree on it. Unless there us something else you can't see, which I doubt from the lack of reactions, it is as lame as expected.

Robb Alvey overeating again?

Dave Whetterstroem yelling at park management again?

It only took five or six posts for someone to be a poopypants hater.

Oh my god! It IS snakes!

In this case, the park is responsible for creating "poopypants haters." One of the best feelings a brand can hope for is to exceed customer expectations. Hard to see how Kings Island does this here. It's pretty simple really:

• Underpromise, overdeliver = raving fans.
• Overpromise, underdeliver = feelings of disappointment (or anticipointment).

When parks (or any brands) hype something like crazy that doesn't deserve it, fans feel taken and it's not a good feeling. I haven't been following this project closely but my sense is if the shed was a fun surprise bonus, fans would love it. In this case, expectations are so high that no amount of special effects can deliver a payoff worthy of what the park built up people's minds.

So when is hype more than hype? When the actual experience lives up to the hype. If the shed was truly unique and exciting, people would talk about it organically. In this case the park tried to create a conversation that will evaporate the same day the ride opens, or immediately after a guest's first ride when they realize the shed is no big deal. How does that help the park?

Also note that this entire post is filled with sarcastic posts about the shed rather than anyone talking about the ride itself. How is it?

RCMAC said:

Oh my god! It IS snakes!

Hot snakes.

I dunno. Did folks complain about Verbolten or Fire Chaser?
What am I saying? Of course they did.

I think in the end we're the small segment of the population that actually cares enough to be mad about it. Maybe the park should've said "we've planned a little show at the end to prevent complaints about three train stacking." and that would've lessened the dreadful impact on us all. But that doesn't make for good marketing effort.

I wasn't at the event this morning, I had unexpected toe surgery on Monday. But I watched on tv, and a good friend is an anchor and did the spots for our local station. Of course on Media Day nobody proclaims the ride a dud, but I believe from what I've seen the ride itself is a good one. It's fast and there's airtime, and everyone seemed to love it. I think I will too.

And the sure thing is that KI will have a bang up season with this debut despite any poopypants complaints here at our end.

I've heard the ride is fantastic and the shed is very Adventure Express in its ending but that's ok. If the coaster is good that's all I care about.

That's kind of my entire point. They will have a good season because of the ride, not because of the shed and not because of the marketing effort to hype the shed, which I don't think actually helps anything in this case. Make the conversation about a solid wooden coaster for families, which is what it will become anyway, and everyone is happy.

Yes. Might they have extended the ride to include another turn and a few more dips to eat up some time? Sure, but that's expensive.
It's just a "new" and innovative way to contain/disguise transfer tracks and entertain the audience while the train sits on the last block. It really is about the stacking.
From descriptions I'd hesitate to put it in the "Now you will pay!" category. There are three possible show scenes, apparently designed to encourage repeat rides throughout the season.

Maybe we should just be grateful the park didn't decide to market it as a coaster/darkride hybrid!

Hall and Oats!?!?!?!

The horror.

The horror.

The scene is set in the 80's. I'm pretty sure the ops are made to have mall hair.

Jetsetter said:

Make the conversation about a solid wooden coaster for families...

The ride is outstanding in every way.

And if that's what constitues a "family ride" these days, then I'm getting too old for this hobby.

I think if you're going to complain about what's in the shed, you're totally overthinking it, and probably not a very fun person.

So... after 14 laps, I have to say, I'm fairly blown away. I had no particular expectations for the ride, but it's a high performance machine that somehow manages to cater to every taste. No joke, it has a lot to offer pretty much everyone. If you're an airtime whore, you'll love it. If you like laterals, you'll love it. Floater, ejector, it has it all. It's extraordinary how much energy it still has when it hits the final brakes.

Gonch and I put on our dork hats and decided that the front is easily the most aggressive point on the ride, with more forceful air and stronger laterals. That probably makes sense since it enters every element first, and therefore the fastest. The back feels a little more controlled, with the air leaning a little more toward floater, and the laterals a bit smoother. The middle of the train is somewhere in between.

And agreed... I don't know where this "family ride" nonsense is coming from. When I think about my 7-year-old riding it, "family" is not what comes to mind. Oh, and I'll call it... this is now my favorite roller coaster at Kings Island. It's not even close.