Kings Island picks up Golden Ticket

MASON, Ohio (WDTN) - Kings Island has won the “Best Kids’ Area in the World” Golden Ticket Award – the amusement and theme park industry’s equivalent of the Academy Award – for 12 years in a row.

The award-winning Planet Snoopy kids’ area at Kings Island features an elaborate collection of PEANUTS-themed rides and attractions for every age including four roller coasters designed specifically for children, a live stage show, daily meet-and-greet opportunities with PEANUTS characters like Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus van Pelt, Lucy van Pelt, Sally Brown, Schroeder, Peppermint Patty, Franklin and Woodstock.

For the fifth year in a row, the Beast was ranked as the seventh-best wooden roller coaster in the world. The Beast opened in 1979 and still stands as the longest wooden roller coaster in the world at 7,400 feet. Diamondback moved up the No. 10 spot in the steel roller coaster category.

The Golden Ticket Awards are the result of a detailed survey conducted by Amusement Today, an internationally monthly trade journal for the amusement and water park industries, based in Arlington, Texas. Every year, hundreds of well-traveled theme park enthusiasts from around the world are chosen to share their expertise to determine a winner in each category. A list of all the 2012 Golden Ticket Award winners can be found at www.amusementtoday.com.

Kings Island is closed until September 21, when gates to the underworld open at 6:00pm for the sixth season of Halloween Haunt. Two kid-friendly Halloween events, the all-new Howl-O-Palooza and Trick-or-Treat with the Dinosaurs, open September 23.

Kings Island is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FUN.” In addition to Kings Island, Cedar Fair owns and operates ten other amusement parks, six water parks, one indoor water park resort and five hotels. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, Calif. under a management contract.