What's Kings Island Up To for 2018?

Back when nearly all Cedar Fair parks made announcements for 2018 Kings Island was oddly left out of the fun - most figured due to adding Mystic Timbers in 2017 the park might have a year off.  However, some recent developments now have us thinking otherwise.

Extinct DA! Fall 2017 #KICentral pic.twitter.com/I8BT1Dk2Eb

— Kings Island Central (@KICentral) September 24, 2017

First, the park has announced that the 2017 season will be the last for Dinosaurs Alive, which opened at Kings Island in May of 2011, meaning it lasted 7 seasons at the park.  Not only was it the first, but it was also the largest and longest version to open at any of the Cedar Fair parks.  Fans of the attraction have until October 29th to check it out before, as the park puts it, the dinos become extinct once more.

But that's not the only change that's coming to the park's Coney Mall area.

BREAKING: The @KingsIslandPR Coney Potato Works has been torn down. Could rumors of a new Smokehouse be in the works? -RH #KIBestDay pic.twitter.com/KHxDQKC4TM

— CP Food Blog (@CPFoodBlog) September 16, 2017

The park has been hard at work demolishing several buildings located along the walkways of Coney Mall.  Above is a photo of the former Coney Potato Works building in a pile of rubble, and it has been reported that since this photo was taken the adjacent Attitudes gift shop has also been gutted.

© Google Maps

This look at Coney Mall from above shows the two buildings that have been demolished, which would effectively clear a big section of the midway for redevelopment.  However, if you look behind where the buildings were you'll notice the large Tower Gardens area, which has been pretty underutilized since the end of the Paramount days.  If you combine the spaces together you have a rather nice size plot of land to work with.

There have been several rumors pop up lately, including a new set of antique cars that could traverse the land, or even a new thrill ride rumor too.  Considering the park seems to be very focused on Coney Mall right now, it could also be a larger sprucing up of the section, like some of Cedar Fair's placemaking efforts at other parks.

Stay tuned!