McSalsa Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 ^A decent time period, maybe a month but I'm not 100% sure. What also hurt it though is they didn't use the 5th car on either of the 2 trains after it re-opened, hampering capacity and thus further decreasing ridership. Also I have to wonder if this somehow is what boosted Firehawk. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver2005 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Long periods of downtime? The new Cedar Fair has made quite clear that lack of reliability/virtually continual uptime will be factors to be considered seriously in ride removal decisions. See also Two Face: The Flip Side. True, but we've been lucky with our Vekoma Inverigo model in that it hasn't had as many incidents. My theory as to why Invertigo went down in numbers is because the GP pretty much view Banshee as a bigger, better version of Invertigo. Also, compared to the rest of Action Zone, its kind of tucked away from the rest of the major attractions. I mean, you have the entrances to Congo Falls, Drop Tower, Delirium, Banshee, and Bat kind of in a clump together with Invertigo back behind Kings Island Theater. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodBlade21 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Long periods of downtime? The new Cedar Fair has made quite clear that lack of reliability/virtually continual uptime will be factors to be considered seriously in ride removal decisions. See also Two Face: The Flip Side. True, but we've been lucky with our Vekoma Inverigo model in that it hasn't had as many incidents. The same can't be said for Stinger at Dorney... If any Inverted Boomerang model is to be scrapped, Stinger is probably first on that list. Problems at California's Great America and then almost an entire missed season at Dorney...not good. Also consider that even though Dorney is the dumping ground for unwanted, troubled, outdated CF roller coasters, eventually a roller coaster isn't even useful enough to exist at a dumping ground. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoChickens Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Down time, plus the back car running empty after that. 4 riders per cycle adds up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Down time, plus the back car running empty after that. 4 riders per cycle adds up. I don't think that it was necessarily directly resulting from an empty car. I think it was more the fact that it resulted in longer lines so patrons chose to skip it. Same with Diamondback. The seat belts and other factors slowed down the capacity, so people who would have ridden it 2 or 3 times per visit only rode it once or not at all when the line was consistently 45 minutes or more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtk1378 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I wouldn't exactly say that the longer lines would decrease ridership, if anything it should help increase it since people standing in line means there is a steady stream of people getting on the ride, what should matter is how fast that stream of people are getting on it to ride. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 A. Add up ALL the rides. I believe you will find more 2014 rides than 2013. B. If Diamondback had no bins, I bet capacity would improve markedly. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freaks76 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 If they didn't have any bins on any of the rides, yea, the lines would move quicker. But do you think people would spend as much money on merchandise as they normally would? They have the lockers to rent, alot of people find that to be a hassle (and make them feel like the park is making them pay an unnecessary expence that they don't really wanna pay) Wonder where the fine line is there, X amount of money in merch to X amount of money for lockers and gettin them through line quicker, meaning more time to ride other things? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Been to a Six Flags park? Hmmm. Let's see. Attendance there is up. Per caps there are up. Profits there are up. Guess what you have to do if you have loose articles--before you can even enter the line... Recently, they've made an exception for souvenir cups... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freaks76 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Nah, Never been to a Six Flags. I take it is their policy at all their parks? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 It is. Not all coasters have it, but nearly all the majors do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagoda Gift Shop Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Thanks for sharing these numbers and formatting them. Reading some of them makes me wonder what the record number of rides in a season was for some of the older coasters like Adventure Express and Backlot Stunt Coaster. I'm also surprised the railroad has such low numbers. The railroad at Cedar Point is pretty consistently around 2 million riders, which is a big difference I didn't expect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 ^ The record number of riders in a season for each ride is listed on the ride records page on visitskingsisland.com. A direct link is in the first post of this thread. Click each ride to expand its statistics. Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad has two stations in the main park. The ride features numerous special effects on the eastern half of the loop. The layout of Cedar Point requires more walking between far attractions than Kings Island's. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 In addition, the Cedar Point railroad has far more visibility in the rest of the park. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex lover Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Kings Island has updated their ride records page to reflect ride tallies through the end of the 2014 season. Firehawk had a record year with 624,016 riders, and Banshee thrilled an astounding 2,000,305. Though it didn't break a record, Xtreme Skyflyer had its most flyers since 1999. 2014 was also a great year for ride milestones. The Beast gave its 50 millionth ride in its 35th anniversary season, Diamondback gave its 10 millionth ride, and The Racer gave its 100 millionth ride. Milestones that are likely for next season include Xtreme Skyflyer's 1 millionth flyer and Invertigo's 10 millionth ride. With a bit of arithmetic and the help of the Internet Archive, you can determine the rider counts recorded from year to year. To save everyone the effort, I wrote a quick Python script and formatted the output. Note that some rides don't have figures available, as data from 2013 is limited. This is just for fun of course; rider counts may be subject to error that affects season-to-season comparisons. (Missed tally counts, empty seat button errors, etc.) One word, WOW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 The ride records page on Kings Island's website is gone, but the park published the rider counts for the top 10 rides in 2015. Comparing the results to the numbers from prior seasons:The Bat dropped out of the top 10 this season, Vortex fell 2 spots to #7, and Backlot Stunt Coaster posted an 8.2% increase in ridership. Banshee was back on top for its sophomore season. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gad198 Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Thanks for posting this. There are a couple of interesting things I see on here: It looks like rider counts were down across the board with the exception of Backlot Stunt Coaster. I'm guessing the wet weather we had this Summer a lot to do with this Diamondback's rider count was down again by a small margin. Banshee was down too - and by a more significant number - but Banshee's queue times are always very manageable. Diamondback's rider count drop also coincides with it being back on ERT in 2015. The Diamondback crew was less than stellar most of the season until the last two months. The Diamondback crew after Labor Day was really good, and I really hope that operations remain at that high level next year Vortex rider counts continue to drop in a big way. I do wonder how much the faster and much smoother B&Ms have to do with the declining rider counts there 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfanatic83 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Nearly every number dropped from last year. Does that mean attendance was down? Were in-park activities less about riding and more about other activities? More families and less thrill-seekers? Numbers tell interesting stories. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Would be riders were either spending too much time in slooooow food lines, left the park to eat, or didn't come back because of the first.... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldschool75 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Those Arrows seem to dropping riders in a big way compared to the rest. Sent from a signal coming out of the Vega system. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Racer is third consistently..... In 2006, Thunder Road was number 1. I wish Carowinds released this information. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtk1378 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 It seems like everything across the board is having attendance dwindling (with the exception of BLSC which had an awesome team this year that kept the line moving consistently). If I had to guess on reasons why this is: - Kings Island has been adding more rides such as the gliders and spaceship rides this year and Banshee two years ago, which spreads out ridership. - Some entertainment has been top notch such as Playlist Live! and Cirque Imagine (RIP) which pulls away from ridership - Food service lines have been atrociously slow, which as Terp mentioned, either draws away the crowds or has them leave the park for several hours then come back Obviously these aren't the only reasons, but it's just what I thought of off the top of my head. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stashua123 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I feel like Cedar Fair needs to invest a little bit more into Kings Island in some areas. For the first time since the Great Recession it is looking like our attendance is going to drop(Dont take my statement for sure but the numbers are showing.) While Carowinds gets a huge waterpark expansion(and after a huge rollercoaster addition) and Cedar Point gets a new huge rollercoaster Valvran we are just stuck with a new slide complex and new parking tolls, I hope we get something more thrilling next year even though the slide complex was very much needed in Soak City. I hope we get more investment in 2017. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldschool75 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I would count on it Sent from a signal coming out of the Vega system. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 As ridiculous as it may sound, I think a TOP priority MUST be fixing the lack of urgency, lackadaisical food service. In my opinion the meal plans have enforced the perception of "People Gotta Eat," and made service a VERY low priority. Raise the service levels, but also improve quality and selection. Make guests not on meal plans actually "Wanna Eat. At the park." To call current Kings Island food service mediocre is being charitable. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honorarius Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 ^^^ It doesn't sound ridiculous at all... People have other options than standing in a long line for slow service and bad food... Yes, it may cost more to improve the customer experience, but a reduced profit of me eating in the park is better profit than they make if I leave the park to eat... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlondyRidesOn Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Looking at the numbers, I'm surprised that The Racer has had more riders than The Beast. The Beast's line is usually longer than The Racer's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Racer has higher capacity because the two tracks can operate independently of each other. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homestar92 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Line lengths aren't a good indicator of popularity, and they are essentially NO indicator whatsoever of throughput. If there is ANY line whatsoever, that means that they are not sending empty seats* so it's operating at capacity**. * Excluding empty seats caused by odd numbered groups who aren't being paired with single riders ** by capacity, I don't mean the ride's theoretical capacity as specified by the manufacturer, but rather, they're sending as many people through as the ride crew, at their current pace, can send out. Basically meaning that the flow of people wanting to ride meets or exceeds the flow of people being sent out on the ride by the crew. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofBaconator Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Some predictions for the 2016 final ride count based on my visits this year. Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad will increase because of the increased curiosity of what was being added to rivertown. I think White Water Canyon will also go up, if not slightly, from years previous because of the shorter walk due to MT construction. In my opinion, rides like Diamondback, Beast, WWC, and the KIMVRR will either increase or stay around the same place. From the numbers it looks like Vortex will be continuously go down and I agree that it might be due to the smoothness of newer rides that have been added to the park in the more recent years. Other rides that I expect a big drop in ridership are Flight of Fear and Firehawk because, as I have mentioned several times before, they don't have a lot of accommodations around them ie; bathrooms, actual food vendors, other attractions. Also the fact that both rides require a locker, unless someone holds your stuff, is very unappealing to the gp and guests that come from out of town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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