Kings Island announces new rides, new 'Adventure Port' themed area

MASON, Ohio — Kings Island has just announced a major new themed area for 2023, called "Adventure Port," with new rides, food options, and theming.

It is based on an ancient city" carved out of stone," along the likes of a themed area you might find at Disney World or Busch Gardens.

Read their full announcement on the park's website.

The area will be built between the Adventure Express coaster and Banshee, in the section once known as "Oktoberfest." It will also feature a new restaurant called "Enrique's" serving burritos, tacos, salads and sides.

The park says, in its statement: "The myths of an ancient civilization and its mighty city carved out of stone have lured travelers from around the globe to this bustling port community for more than a century. Welcome to Adventure Port. New in 2023, and located between Coney Mall and Action Zone, the park’s newest themed area will feature two new family rides, enhanced theming for Adventure Express, Enrique’s quick service restaurant and the Mercado."

Two new rides

Adventure Port will feature two new "flat," or ground-based rides:

Sol Spin, which appears in photos to be a small ferris-wheel like ride that inverts suspended riders 60-feet in the air at 25 mph, and Cargo Loco, a spinning barrels ride that looks somewhat like the teacup ride at Disney World.

Longtime Kings Island fans may see similarities between Sol Spin and the old Skylab ride.

Kings Island provided

Kings Island provided

New food options

Two new food and drinking options will be part of the themed area.

"Enriques" will replace/update the current burrito restaurant near Coney Mall.

And the "Mercado" will replace the current, and lightly used, beer garden area across from where Sling Shot used to stand.

It will feature food, drink, and some shopping.

Why it was not a new roller coaster

While fans would have loved to see a new roller coaster, possibly to fill the empty space where Vortex once stood, that was unlikely. Why? Because every time they announced a major coaster in the past decade, the park put out teasers weeks in advance.

Think about the posters hinting about space flight before Orion's announcement in 2019. Or all the teasing about axes, and broken wood, before the Mystic Timbers announcement in 2016.

A coaster rollout usually comes after a whole season of clues, and there have been none this year.

What about year-round operations?

This rumor was getting the most talk on Tuesday on Kings Island discussion boards, such as KI Central.

Why? Because sister parks Carowinds and Kings Dominion this week just announcedthey will be going to year-round ops.

Of course, the weather in Mason is a lot colder in January than in Charlotte, NC or Richmond, VA.

So the park would probably not be able to operate much more than it does during Winterfest, which is why it now appears the park will not be going to year-round operations.

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