First look at Kings Island Friends & Family Night 2023
Hey guys hows it going. Without giving too much away. we got invited to Kings Island Friends and Family night. What is this private event? Ki employees can invite their friends and family for a couple hours of fun.
With the park only being open for 2 hours (they extended to 8:30pm) not everything was open. Your major rides that were open coasterwise was Diamondback, Orion, and Mystic. They had a few flat rides open throughout the park and actually a decent amount of food places open!
So first things first, everyone is asking about the new Adventure Port. So here is what i can tell you. Seeing it first in person the area looks AMAZING. I am super excited to see this area when it is finished. What i could not see was over by Adventure Express. I was told it is supposed to open this weekend but we shall see!
They still have one of the old "Hanks" signs up on the new restaurant. They had the midway blocked off by the airbrush stand and by Racer exit. So from what i can see, there is a beautiful fountain they added. There is some kind of building that is new over by the old VIP area.
We also saw them working on the new VIP area behind the restrooms and behind Tower Gardens!
Diamondback is not fully painted. The whole lift, station area, brakes, and the turn around into the splashdown is all that is done. The back half back by WWC and behind Crypt building is not done. Not sure what is going on there.
Grain and Grill is looking AMAZING. Even though i may not like the food they have there. I will definitely go inside and check out what they have for you guys. They have all new tables which look beautiful, the colors flow well together and just a good refresh. We will see how the public reacts to this change. Which brings me onto my next thing I want to bring up.
Skyline, the only location in the dry park now is in Coney Mall. Why is this a big deal? Even with a few thousand people there tonight at the park, the line was forever LONG. I feel they will do something with that area considering its the only location. I love Skyline but when the line will be even longer than it was now makes me sad.
I walked by the new Tom and Chee location. Still painted the Chick-Fi-La colors, looks like they just threw the sign on and called it a day.
I did not get a photo of the new adult beverage location by Dback. I will get that this weekend!
Overall the park is looking amazing, can't wait to see what else we didnt get to see this weekend. Adventure Port looks like its going to be a great addition. New food options and new flat rides. As always Kings Island knocks is out of the park.
Now the ending, for those of you that stayed this long thank you. I feel sometime just posting photos or videos, dont to the justice of giving you guys my opinion and thoughts of whatever I am writing about. Thank you guys for reading and if you have not yet check us out on ALL social media which can be found on our site.
We have some amazing things coming up this year all staring with Ki, then Cp the first weekend of May!
See you in the next one!
-Josh