MasonBuzz.com

Shauna Steigerwald reports:

It’s that time again, when the Beast will roar across its wooden track at close to highway speed; the Diamondback will plunge down its 215-drop even faster; and Snoopy and friends will greet kids and the young at heart.

Kings Island, a warm-weather tradition for many Greater Cincinnatians, opens Saturday, with daily operations resuming May 10, the earliest the park has ever been open daily.

In addition to their favorite thrill rides, visitors will have a few new things to see, do and eat this year. Read on to find out about some of the park’s newest attractions.

• Take our Kings Island quiz!
• Photos: What’s new at Kings Island
• What’s new: Kings Island adds dinosaurs, Reds and German fare
• First look: Reds Hall of Fame Grille
• We tried it: KI’s new Reds-themed restaurant
• From Retro: The lost rides of Kings Island
• Photos: Kings Island through the years

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: attractions, dining, dinosaurs alive, food, food review, kings island, lost rides, mason, new, old rides, opening day, photos, quiz, reds hall of fame grille, rides

The new Reds Hall of Fame Grille at Kings Island. The Enquirer/Tony Jones

Kings Island is hoping to hit a homerun with its new Reds Hall of Game Grille opening this season.

The Reds-themed restaurant — located in the former Rivertown Junction buffet restaurant — features Hall of Fame memorabilia, framed jerseys and photos and other bits of Reds history, dating back to the 1880s, while video highlights from World Series, playoffs and other games play on TVs through the restaurant.

On the menu: burgers, wings, Montgomery Inn pulled pork, baby back ribs, Saratoga chips, wraps, salads, desserts, draft beer and wine.  Full restaurant?  No worries.  Leave a cell phone number and you’ll be sent a text when your table is ready.

• Photos & Video: Inside KI’s Reds Hall of Fame Grille

“One of the things our guests have been asking for for a number of years is a full-service, sit-down restaurant,” said Don Helbig, park spokesman.  ”No matter where you sit, you’re  going to see something different.”

Community reporter Rachel Richardson, Butler/Warren Editor Bill Cieslewicz, photographer Tony Jones, freelance photographer Tony Tribble and entertainment reporter Shauna Steigerwald got a first taste of the grille.

Click through to see what we sampled:

(more…)

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: amusement park, baseball, cincinnati reds, dining, food, ki, kings island, mason, new, reds, reds hall of fame grille, restaurant, review, theme park

Kings Island employees work on the new Christian Moerlein Bier Garten at Kings Island on Wednesday. The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

Shauna Steigerwald reports:

Kings Island will open a new Christian Moerlein Bier Garten this season.

The full-service bar will serve German fare, fried pickles and appetizers, plus plenty of Christian Moerlein draft beer.

“Cincinnati has such a German heritage,” said Don Helbig, public relations area manager for Kings Island. “That’s something our guests have been asking for, some kind of German fare.”

It’s been decades since German food was available at the park. The Festhaus served German fare in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s, Helbig said.

The new bier garten will be located near Viking Fury, on the back side of Hank’s Burrito Shack, which opened last season. It will be an open space, with umbrella tables to seat about 200 people.

Kings Island opens April 27.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: beer, christian moerlein beer garten, festhaus, german, kings island, mason, new, viking fury

New to Mason? Meet your neighbors and get involved at the next Mason Coffee event at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Mason Community Center.

The informal, family-friendly gatherings are hosted by Community Basket representative Courtney Allen and sponsored by the City of Mason and the Northeast Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Get a tour of the Mason Community Center and a one-day free pass to try out the programs offered there. Complimentary refreshments will be provided by Meet Me on Main Cafe.

The gatherings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Mason Community Center, 6050 Mason-Montgomery Road. For more information, call the center at 513-229-8555.

Posted in: Community, Events |

Tags: Tags: city of mason, coffee, community basket, courtnet allen, mason, mason community center, new, northeast cincinnati chamber of commerce, residents

Carolyn Washburn

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: cincinnati enquirer, compact, enquirer, format, new, newspaper, prototype

New to Mason? Meet your neighbors and get involved at the next Mason Coffee event at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5 at the Mason Community Center.

The informal, family-friendly gatherings are hosted by Community Basket representative Courtney Allen and sponsored by the City of Mason and the Northeast Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Get a tour of the Mason Community Center and a one-day free pass to try out the programs offered there. Complimentary refreshments will be provided by Meet Me on Main Cafe.

The gatherings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Mason Community Center, 6050 Mason-Montgomery Road. For more information, call the center at 513-229-8555.

Posted in: Events |

Tags: Tags: city of mason, coffee, community basket, courtnet allen, mason, mason community center, new, northeast cincinnati chamber of commerce, residents

New to Mason? Meet your neighbors and get involved at the next Mason Coffee event at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Mason Community Center.

The informal, family-friendly gatherings are hosted by Community Basket representative Courtney Allen and sponsored by the City of Mason and the Northeast Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Get a tour of the Mason Community Center and a one-day free pass to try out the programs offered there. Complimentary refreshments will be provided by Meet Me on Main Cafe.

The gatherings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Mason Community Center, 6050 Mason-Montgomery Road. For more information, call the center at 513-229-8555.

Posted in: Community, Events |

Tags: Tags: city of mason, coffee, community basket, courtnet allen, mason, mason community center, new, northeast cincinnati chamber of commerce, residents

The Enquirer

Margaret Buchanan, Enquirer Media’s president and publisher, said on Friday that the Enquirer will launch its new print edition in the first quarter of 2013.

The new edition had been scheduled for this fall; however, unexpected mechanical issues at Dispatch Printing in Columbus, where the new Enquirer will be printed, prompted the delay, Buchanan said.

“It’s a new technology, so there was the possibility that mechanically there would be issues,” Buchanan said on Friday. “As they have been bringing up the new technology, they’ve run into some issues, and they need to work through those issues. That has, as a result, delayed our launch.”

• See the latest Enquirer print edition prototype

The new format is 10 1/2 inches wide by 14 2/3 tall, is easier to manage for readers, will feature the same amount of news content, more color, and still have traditional sections. It will feature in-depth coverage of topics readers have said they’re passionate about, and more investigative stories. The paper also is revamping news and entertainment coverage.

Buchanan said she’s disappointed about delaying the launch, but added that “we are extremely excited about this new print edition and what it will provide our readers.”

The Dispatch, which also is going to the new format, announced earlier this week that it will delay its launch, which had been scheduled for Sept. 10.

The Enquirer will continue to be published at its Queensgate facility until the new print edition launches. The Enquirer chose Dispatch Printing to produce the new format because its equipment is newer and more flexible than presses at the Queensgate facility.

The Enquirer is still moving to a content subscription model starting Oct. 1. Every subscription will include full access to Cincinnati.com, the e-Newspaper, tablet and mobile sites and smartphone applications, as well as home delivery if the customer chooses that option.

Non-subscribers will have access to 20 articles a month online.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: dispatch printing, margaret buchanan, new, newspaper, print edition, prototype, publisher, subscription, the cincinnati enquirer, the enquirer

One of the Midwest’s largest Halloween attractions returns to Kings Island this month with even more frights and monsters.

The Mason theme park’s no-holds-barred Halloween Haunt opens on weekend nights from Sept. 21 through Oct. 27.

• See bloodcurdling photos of Halloween Haunt through the years

More than 500 “scare actors” are set to haunt the park in 12 frightful attractions.

New this year is a thriller maze, the Madame Fatale’s Cavern of Terror, a punk rock stomp with blood drums and two new fear zones in Grimm Boulevard and Freak Street.

The park has added a second live show, “Graveyard Shift,” to its popular live show lineup which includes “Hot Blooded.”

Returning attractions include CarnEvil, Club Blood, CornStalkers, Cut Throat Cove, Holiday Horror, Massacre Manor, Mysteria, Slaughter House, Tombstone Terror-Tory, Urgent Scare and Wolf Pack.

Dozens of KI’s most popular rides will also be open, including many of its hair-raising roller coasters and Windseeker thrill ride, along with other less heart attack-inducing rides such as the Zephyr, Scrambler, Monster, Dodgem and The Crypt.

Halloween Haunt hours are 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturdays, except for Sept. 22, when the park opens at 7 p.m.

The park’s other rides and attractions open at 11 a.m. on Saturdays only and close at 5 p.m. to prepare for Halloween Haunt.  Beware: Halloween Haunt is not recommended for young children.

Discount tickets are $25.99 on Friday nights and $31.99 on Saturdays when purchased in advance at www.visitkingsisland.com/haunt.  Regular ticket prices are $38.99 on Fridays and $54.99 on Saturdays.  College students can purchase tickets on Fridays at the gate for $25.99 upon presenting a valid college ID.

Admission to Halloween Haunt is included for 2012 Gold and Platinum season passholders.  Those who purchase a 2013 Gold or Platinum season pass can use their one free visit to Halloween Haunt.

Kings Island is at 6300 Kings Island Drive in Mason and can be reached at 513-754-5700 or at www.visitkingsisland.com.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Events, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: amusement park, cedar fair, halloween, halloween haunt, haunted maze, kings island, mason, new, opens, theme park

New to Mason? Meet your neighbors and get involved at the next Mason Coffee event at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Mason Community Center.

The informal, family-friendly gatherings are hosted by Community Basket representative Courtney Allen and sponsored by the City of Mason and the Northeast Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

Get a tour of the Mason Community Center and a one-day free pass to try out the programs offered there. Complimentary refreshments will be provided by Meet Me on Main Cafe.

The gatherings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Mason Community Center, 6050 Mason-Montgomery Road. For more information, call the center at 513-229-8555.

Posted in: Community, Events |

Tags: Tags: city of mason, coffee, community basket, courtnet allen, mason, mason community center, new, northeast cincinnati chamber of commerce, residents