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Conversations about the park cheerleaders attacking anyone who has valid criticisms of the park always brings me back to this blog post from years ago on a Disney blog, which seems very prescient now considering how social media has only made this type of thing worse. The sad part is that a lot of the criticism now comes from former employees, who know they would have been fired if they had, say, opened on Friday with the tables still filthy from Sunday night and trash cans already overflowing.

It's hard to distinguish the sarcastic from those who believe the park can do no wrong. Have you seen the Season Passholders Facebook group? It's unreal. Here, it's been kind of nice to see some people start to call out some things. We are in a low point in Kings Island history. Only the period from 2004-2006 rivals what we're seeing now.

It was said in jest, Don.

Some don’t give the park a free pass, nor should they.

Definitely this. This spot is usually packed, but still seems like a waste of a great indoor seating area. It’s a shame it’s on the same side as Grill and Grain in that it would be great to have a full sit down Italian restaurant “featuring” LaRosas pizza but that also had pasta dishes and salads. Wonder if the “Italy” side could ever be reconfigured to add that and use the Starbucks space for the displaced retail, then site build a new “Garden Cafe featuring Starbucks” where Shooting Star standing now. Nice indoor/ outdoor seating. Busy path, yet slightly “out of the way”. Great place to have featured breakfast items.

I think the main issue here is that Cedar Flags doesn't know how to treat this kind of area in terms of stores. Most of the other parks have 1, maybe 2 merchandise shops in their entrance areas — Kings Island has 4, with one of them being the size of two shops at other parks. There's 5 shops if you count Sweet Spot. Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland's shops feel more spread out due to how their entrance areas differ from KI's I-Street, so even if you go to all of them they still seem different enough. Part of that is also probably how few times I've been there, but my point still stands. Cedar Point has (I believe) 4-5 shops along the main stretch of the Main Midway, but one of those is completely dedicated to Peanuts merch while the rest are more varied overall between the Pagoda Gift Shop being the most like Emporium, the Button Stop shop selling buttons and pins (and being a stand more than a shop), and the Point Plaza shop being like KI Collections. The small CP Ride Shop has historically sold the same items as the other big shops, but seemed very focused on nano-coasters and ride plushies. Hopefully the merch situation will improve as the company's financials improve and as Tony Carovillano gets more comfortable in his new position as Park President. My biggest wants are for KI Essentials to continue having items that guests might've forgotten at home (medicine and cheap shirts/shorts/hoodies/pants) and for KI Trading Company to have merch from around the park (items from each area of the park collected there because it's a trading depot). Would the situation also improve by Herschend buying KI? Probably, but they just bought a ton of properties and don't need to expand again just yet. Imagine how this would feel if Starbucks' dining room was still a store too... (That space needs to be used for a different restaurant as well. Put Starbucks somewhere else that doesn't have a giant indoor dining room attached.) A lot of the issues I've seen/heard/read about in the park feel like things that have been happening for years now, and are only compounded by the poor financial situation Six Flags is in. The merchandise issues have only been worsened by the inclusion of the AI shirts and magnets. The F&B issues have been the same since 2023, though I will give the park credit because they've changed up the menus a little and have consistently had stocked fountain drinks.

Nope- just observing. Had a great day.

You sound bitter.

Retail on Int Street (and pretty much whole park) is so weak right now. Int street is most noticeable because they have 4 spaces (more if count them broken up) that provide no reason to go in any one over the other because they have the same junk. Why do they even have different names - just call them "crap for sale" 1,2 EAST and 3,4, WEST. There is KICollection that has NO artwork, collectible items, books (other than the ones available in every other shop) or anything "collection" oriented unless you collect plaid pajama pants. Essentials - has a great new interior design (which SHOULD have gone to the "Collection") but has some essentials and again the same books and random things that you just saw in "Collection" then there is an emporioum that has all of the stuff repeated AGAIN and whatever they are now calling the spot on the right that has more "essentials" as well as the same stuff I've already seen. What happened to the idea of MERCHANDISING related ideas together to create different shops? What happened to having a "home" shop that has product that brings the park to your house. What happened to the idea of creating ride-specific "mini shops" where cross-category items helped create a one stop shop if you loved The Beast etc. There is no reason whatsoever to go in any one shop over the other and even my kid who "wantedt o shop" today pretty much said "whats the point". They really need to step it up in the merchandising area. I'd seriously love to apply, but I dont think they are even hiring with an eye toward settng up the shops that way.

I decided just to go ahead and book things and decide later if I'll cancel. I won't buy tickets for the Reds/Cardinals or SDC until the week of. For Musketon and Port Clinton, I'm staying in my usual spots. I'm hoping Michigan is friendlier than my last few times getting from Muskegon to Toledo. For St Louis, I slightly prioritized the following drive to KC so I'm staying off of I-70. Luckily, St Louis is pretty compact in terms of traveling to downtown and SFStL (probably 30-40 minutes from both). KC- I can almost walk to WoF. Branson- staying off of what I think is the main strip. Still 15 minutes from SDC.

I think keeping the "cold breakfast" at FC is a good idea - like the waffle, fruit waffle and even a "breakfast sandwich" but then move the breakfast potatoes and a few "classic hot options" like baon, sausage, scrambled eggs - like an "American Breakfast" to grill and grain. The move to the bar for pick up seems like a no brainer in that the kitchen staff was having to run the food over to the register anyway (as in the order takers werent getting it in a pick up window) so they could just as easily walk out the kitchen door behind the bar for one single pick up location.

Dreaming of what can happen with the structure was exactly what I was getting at I don't think they're really doing anything yet, I just thought it was a fun thing to analyze! I'd enjoy seeing it become a Haunt again simply so I can get up there at least one more time. Storage would also make sense if the park is trying to move stuff around or replace an existing storage building.

They're in a state of mismatching right now since they've been trying to combine the legacy Cedar Fair pass format with the legacy Six Flags pass format. Having each tier vary in park access is really good for simplicity, but when you combine it with all of the Prestige perks it loses some of that goodness. I really think the company just needs to bring back the All-Park Passport for the Gold Pass (include it with Prestige) and not change any of the other benefits right now. As you said, Six Flags can't figure out whether they want a Platinum Pass or a MAXX Pass or a Diamond Pass or a Prestige Pass. I'm making another list of what pass changes I'd like to see and I might post it here. The reality is that if the company starts raising prices and/or removing benefits then we'll just get to see more people complaining about how they can't afford a pass anymore (buy a Silver Pass) or how the Prestige Pass is a bait and switch again (even if the switch wasn't a surprise).

Most of my meals at the park this season have been really good quality and were received by me (where applicable) in a reasonable amount of time. I got two hot slices of pepperoni pizza and two breadsticks from LaRosa's in Rivertown yesterday morning around 10:45 and marked the meal quality as "great" on my dining plan tracker. The longest I've had to wait for a meal was at the Brewhouse on Passholder Preview Day, and the worst meal of the season so far was Bacon Cheese Fries at Rivertown Potato Works last weekend. That meal was bad because they changed the cheese sauce and the fries tasted off compared to what I expected. A complaint I had on my visit yesterday was that, since they opened French Corner for breakfast, none of the other dining locations opened until 10:30AM or 11:00AM. That's probably part of the reason why so many flock to the French Corner beyond them having the breakfast items. Other locations not opening until 10:30/11 is fine in my book since I feel like only dedicated passholders are the ones who immediately go to eat something using their dining plan. The members of my group who got the breakfast items yesterday morning were happy with their meals. The biggest issues in the current KI breakfast setup (that I've seen) are that it is only available at one small location and that there is not a dedicated order pickup location within the building. I'd turn Grain & Grill into a second breakfast location and move the French Corner's breakfast pickup over to the bar. The setup in FC is so crowded no matter what so hopefully a second breakfast location would help. As much as I think the whole park should be ready and accepting customers from open to close, this adjusted dining location schedule is A-OK. I'd much rather have everything open later than have them all close an hour before the park closes for the night. (That might still happen this season though.)

Three operating weekends. That’s how long it took for the animated Larry on the merchandise cart to stop working in case anyone is wondering. The cat still works for now, but Larry-who was squeaky this morning has now stopped as of this afternoon. I believe he ties “spinning snoopy” for the “simplest animation with a short life span” award.

The park was testing some really nice fountain patterns in the weeks leading up to Opening Day, but maybe those have gone out the window? This feels like something that might be in limbo until the nighttime spectacular starts back up on May 22nd. It makes sense in my mind, especially if they're using the start of daily operations as the time to actually have everything ready by. I could see that being the case with a chain that seems to have adopted the "It doesn't matter if they have rides/shows/etc. ready until Memorial Day weekend since that's when more paying guests start arriving" attitude.

I think the main benefit at this point is the single use Fast Lane, and that now it's the only way to get a pass that works at all the parks. The lounge used to be nice as a place to get a quick drink, but since the passes were so oversold in the fall, the line to get into the lounge has been awful a lot of the time and you'd probably be better off getting it at the Freestyle place across the way. Some of the other parks have much nicer lounges that are indoor and air conditioned, so it'd be a lot better of a benefit there. The special entrance line is a completely useless benefit, and it amazes me they continue to do it. I think the real issue with the prestige pass is that SF can't figure out whether they want it to be a premium pass with premium benefits, or just the same thing as the old platinum pass, so now it's underpriced but still has downgraded versions of the premium benefits, which just leads to everyone being frustrated.

I think the main benefit of breakfast is that you can actually get drink plan coffee at 9:30am now. That building is just not set up for a high volume of people, and shoehorning an unpopular bar in there in place of the pickup window didn't help. If you've ever peeked into the kitchen, it's literally the size of a broom closet. I don't think they can/would, since it's right next to Starbucks, but I kind of wish it was at Grain and Grill instead, since that has a better setup for a high volume of people. I keep expecting it to get Brewhouse Chicken Sandwich'd and inexplicably disappear some day because it was "too popular", never to be discussed again. One positive change since the first weekend is that the potatoes come in a paper portion cup now instead of the little tin, and you probably get twice as much (and half of it isn't burnt onto the tin).

I think that ship has sailed, but they could at least take the time to “refocus”, inspect and program a few “classic” patterns to rotate through through the day.

It's unbelievable how bad the park has gotten when it comes with execution, consistency, and communication with stuff like this, operations, and special events! Whoever's job it is to be in charge of execution of this kind of stuff should honestly not have a job much longer! Busch Gardens Tampa should be able to show them what happens when you don't serve quality food at one of your restaurants and the wrong people find out (Dragon Fire Grill). I'd honestly rather wait longer to be served quality food than get mediocre/poor quality food in just a few minutes. I've defended this "new" chef as he started getting into the role, but it sounds like from complaints I'm seeing on social media that the food quality continues to get worse and not better and he's been here for 4 seasons now. If the EXECUTIVE CHEF approves poor/mediocre quality food being served to paying customers then that's a major red flag! If things don't improve this year then he should probably step down or be let go as much as I hate seeing people lose their jobs. I would rather not see the park go down the BGT route and have a restaurant be shut down by the health department bc of poor management.

Since Mike Koontz (the guy who's idea it was to mess with the fountain in the first place) is gone, maybe we could all try and convince Tony (the new president) to bring the old style fountains back with the pedestals. I know the old pedestals are being used in the Orion area, but I'm sure a company can manufacter new ones.

However this is the first time we've seen the old Wolfpack walls come down. I personally think it's either being prepped for demolition or will be worked on to be used again (either as a Haunt, storage, or a new attraction in the future).

It is the prestige of being a VIP......

Have we just given up on the fountain? It looks like a jumbled mess. Jets going crooked all over. Everything at full blast - even with the wind- except the ones that don’t even hit the same height. No changing, just all on- all the time-all over the place.

It’s really a shame. Herschend is making huge strides with Kentucky Kingdom-I hate that they face this setback. Ive heard from a good source the build is completely fire-ravaged on the inside and the roof is a goner. It will likely result in a ground up rebuild. The good news is, if they have to start from scratch- it will likely be an even better restaurant than originally planned. Im hoping a good outcome for the park. I think Flying Fox is going to be a hit for them.