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My only issue with it is the number of FL people they let on each cycle. When they fill 1/2 or more of a train each time I think that is to much. 3 rows per cycle should be the limit. Granted I might feel different if I was standing in the FL queue.

I was there on Saturday and waited 3 hours in the Stand-by line for Orion. 2:35 pm -5:35 pm. I did not have a problem with it 'per se', as I knew it would be long, but I was quite disappointed when I saw the way they were handling loading the trains. The ride ops would fill a train with FL patrons, then the next train would be all Stand-by riders. No wonder it took so long. That is not the way to do it. It should be a handful (4-8) FL riders per train, then the rest stand-by riders. Doing it this way makes the wait times unbearable. I was shocked at the amount of patrons in the FL line riding multiple times. Also, the price needs to be at a cost where people really need to think about purchasing it. If people throw down the money with no issues... Kings Island is not charging enough. If the price was $200 you would have a shorter FP line and happier general admission patrons. Just my two cents.

Ten years ago I swore off Kings Island because of the fast pass. It was an Saturday in October. We were there for 12 hours. I got to ride four total rides. After waiting in line for more than two hours to ride diamond back I saw the same group of 8 in the Fast Lane ride DB four times before I did. I drove three hours to get there. I ate sandwiches in my car I had packed. I didn’t have money to buy a fast pass. It was a waste of a day. I now live 5 miles from Kings Island. I have a season pass. We either go after work on week days or early on weekends. If the crowd is large we leave. I feel sorry for people that don’t have that luxury. I personally think there should be some sort of limit imposed. Like one ride per hour.

Our two year old got her first credit Saturday. She rode with her hands up.

Of course they did. If a plumber shows up at a park they will write a 6 page blog about how's it's for a new water coaster.

Social distancing in the lines was pretty non existent. The park was putting reminders out, so they were doing their part.

I agree with the sentiment that front-of-the-line passes like Fast Lane are unpleasant for locals but a definite interest for out-of-town folks. Systems like FL are intrusive to the overall guest experience, but the trade off is that there is minimal overhead. People buy them and have a near-instantly improved park experience, but it's also extremely noticeable when you see the same people ride the ride 5 times while you stand, frustrated, in the standby queue. I'm a huge fan of systems like Six Flags's Flash Pass instead. There are multiple tiers, and NONE of them guarantee you instant access to the rides. The base one has you wait just as long as everyone else, but you don't have to wait in the queue. The mid-level one reduces wait times by 50%, and you don't wait in the queue. The top-tier one reduces wait times by 90%, and you don't wait in the queue. If someone comes from out of town, the base level is affordable and offers a benefit but doesn't heap people into a front-of-the-line queue. If they're willing to shill out the dough for much faster access, they can, but it can be priced to keep it from becoming a common thing. I think it's a clever system, and I wish more parks would use it.

Fast Lane and the like are only what I would consider to be negatively impactful to the average guest at a few parks around the country - Cedar Point and the Disney parks leading the way. I would argue on the "average" Kings Island day Fast Lane is really more of a nuisance. The problem is that when the park is moderately busy or busier then it becomes a real impediment to the standby line at the popular rides, particularly at Orion, Diamondback and The Beast. The reason that it's an issue at those rides is because they're allowing half of each train to be filled with Fast Lane guests (I'll leave aside the issue of them receiving the first choice of seats, as that's a separate issue). It's clear that management is trying to artificially suppress the Fast Lane waits at the popular rides to make the Fast Laners happy. The problem with that is that the overwhelming majority of Fast Lane usage is at a handful of rides, which creates even more demand for the stuff everyone wants to ride. I would argue that the best thing for everyone involved would be for Kings Island to raise the price of Fast Lane on weekends ($75 FL/$90 FLP is too inexpensive for weekends, and especially Saturdays IMO) and/or limit the volume of Fast Laners allowed on each train to a more reasonable number. Cutting that Fast Lane allotment each train from half down to a third would make a significant difference to standby waits.

Several years ago at Coasterstock it was suggested by several to invite a different local band each week to come perform at Timberwolf (CP is already doing something similar as part of their 150 celebration). This would make good use of the facility, especially during a pandemic using outside for another entertainment option. Maybe KI is cleaning things up in preparation for such idea.

@Kenban - I have heard of many that experienced that as well at CP as well. Did your friend say if they will skip CP this year? I experienced that as well in October 2019 with their gold pass offering idea and was a horrible guest experience. Even with FL it was ridiculous. I made the decision to not go to CP again and didn't last year and glad I skipped after hearing all the issues last year and not planning to this year...and yes I am sure someone will comment that is one less person in line now LOL. I would be willing to pay more for FL at CP if it was not 45 minute waits for FL. So I will either skip the park altogether or suck it up in general line LOL. But how much more I don't know LOL. But as long as people are still buying FL, they don't have any real incentive to improve the guest experience for those purchasing it.

I'm not complaining or irritated or angry LOL, just introducing some business aspect sides of this discussion why we may see a this versus that...my apologies as I just re-read your OP and see you said keep it to the guest perspective LOL. Well at least now we can point people to this thread as the unofficial definitive reason why from a guest and park perspective FL is here to stay! I agree we haven't seen anyone complaining on this thread about FL yet, but the thread has only been active for a day and the park hasn't opened yet to the GP, so I am cutting it off at the pass and being proactive rather than reactive LOL... Outside of KI, the other parks see a lot of foreign money come to the states (or Wonderland) to experience the parks and I assure you those people have no problem dropping down large sums of money to provide them with a personal experience. If park surveys were made public, I think we would all be surprised how many say they would rather pay more for a better overall experience...now how much that more is is a relative term. @JimParker85 stated he would be willing to pay more for a better experience, but I suspect that at some price point he would bail out as well...

I can imagine this being very annoying with all season but at least you'd know you'd get another the next time, but I would be enraged if I had dropped the money on a daily one and that happened. Totally understand why you say they sell too many. EDIT: Apologies for the double post. I wasn't paying close enough attention.

i mean they think everything is a story or a new ride lol just saying..

Take a look at Season Pass Preview on May 8th.

Some people make mountains out of mole hills with land clearing at KI.

I still find it humorous that people think this is land clearing.

These have been some really great responses so far folks. I've been on the fence about Fast Pass for a little while. I kind of came into this thinking Fast Pass is something that's detrimental to the guest experience (once again, the financial benefit to the park is obvious, I'm essentially just focusing on the quality of the experience the park provides) and really kind of believed it would be better for the consumer if fast pass was done away with. However, I feel like I've talked to enough people on this topic to know that at least in my experience not that many people would be in favor of this. I've actually been surprised how much people seem to like it now, since I remember when parks first started offering them the initial reaction skewed pretty negative. On top of that though, I really do understand the benefits it has for people who aren't able to visit the park very often and have no choice but to plan trips on weekends. Cedar Point is one of my favorite places on the planet, but I'm all too aware of how easy it can be to end up having a miserable time there if the park is packed and you don't have a FLP. Also I mean, let's face it...it's a total blast to have one, despite the fact they really are very expensive and the few times I've had one I felt that guilt that comes with any kind of super frivolous purchase . I do think they cause some pretty irritating problems when you're on the other side of the cattle pen though. As others have mentioned, they are mostly used on a select handful of the most popular rides (of course), and while I agree that it's generally not that big of a problem at Kings Island, I've witnessed more than a few situations where the standby line essentially stops moving entirely as you watch the same group lap you over and over. There are also some edge cases that can be a bit infuriating as well, like when it starts raining and everyone piles into Flight of Fear where you get to stand on the stairs by the UFO while the same 10 people ride again and again. Here's my take: FLP is a good thing for both the park and the guests, but it has problems and could use some tweaks. Here are some suggestions for a revamped system, would love to hear your thoughts: 1.) FLP wrist bands would be scanned in the station. You can ride each ride up to 2 times in a 60-90? minute period. This will keep FLP guests moving through the park (rather than looping through one line over and over) while still providing them with good value. By the time you finish riding Orion, Banshee, MT, Diamondback, and The Beast you're probably good to go ahead and loop back around to Orion for instance (and if not you could probably just grab a quick ride on The Racer or something and then be good to go.) 2.) Another thing I've noticed in my conversations with people (as well as seeing it in the park) is that it seems there's some inconsistency in the way the line separators handle FLP. Some of the time I see them let more flp guests through than other times. Sometimes they front load the train with them, others are saying they just put them anywhere. If there's someone reading this that's worked as a line separator, I'd love to hear how this is supposed to work. I'm aware there are probably things about this I don't know. Either way, I think it might be good to try and create a little more consistency here. Would also love to hear any other suggestions anyone has to balance the system a little better.

Got my second covid-19 vaccine dose Saturday morning. Aside from a few side effects Sunday (very sore arm, low fever, headache, and a little nausea) I am fine now. Excited to be fully vaccinated.

One concern I have is that Fast Lane might impact the adoption of additional technology in the parks. Now that everyone carries a phone, seems like we shouldn't be too far from being able to do more virtual queuing using the KI app and something like kiosks at the ride entrances. I worry that the park won't consider things like that because it might impact Fast Lane sales.

I cannot confirm that, but I have seen that Adventure Express got updated effects!

Can anyone confirm that the Tomb Raider loading drumbeat is now played in the station for Adventure Express?

I’m indifferent to fast passes. I’ve never purchased one, granted I’m fortunate enough with my work schedule I’m able to go to the park on their slower days.

A Fast Lane system does devalue a season pass or a daily ticket since it will take more time to do the same level of stuff at the park if a Fast Lane exists rather than not. Alternatively guests could do the same amount of stuff, but only if they go on less crowded days. This would devalue the pass/ticket as the passholder wouldn't have as much flexibility on when he or she would want to go to the park. You are correct that the season pass/ticket prices may be higher if FL did not exist, but this also would hurt the daily experience as more people would be buying passes and tickets making waits and crowds larger. Of course more customers may exist because they might not be able to afford the park at a higher price point. As long as they don't lose sight of guest experience in the name of short term revenue, they will probably be okay. They likely are being smart about this, but as I said before, there's always a temptation to act in the short term when it comes to publicly traded companies. Reply to quick edit: I agree that they have decided to keep the low price point on the passes. That calculation is quantity (number of passes) vs. quality (how exclusive a pass is which heavily affects daily attendance). That may sound bad, but deciding to offer a season pass in the early 80s was a similar calculation.

Fast Lane and similar systems have totally changed how I visit amusement parks and how much money I spend at them. I travel a lot, 50+ nights a year in hotels was normal for me until last year. While I do travel just for amusement parks, I also travel for other reasons as well and it’s not that uncommon for me to try to add on a park to another trip. The ability to basically guarantee I will be able to ride the attractions is huge. If I am paying for a hotel, transportation, tickets, etc while the cost of a front of the line pass is still significant it’s cheaper then another day at the park. I check for line skip add ons and their availability actually changes how I schedule my trips, and makes it more likely I will go out of my way to visit the park. I never want to have a big trip where I only get a handful of rides in, if I am that worried about crowds at a park and there is no way for me to skip the line, I might just skip the park completely. I had a friend who traveled to Cedar Point last fall a trip they have made annually for some time. They were at the park from open to close and rode 4 coasters the entire day. After having to fly to Ohio they felt the entire trip was a waste of time and money. Also it gets me out of the lines and into the arcades, stores, and restaurants. I spend more money at Kings Island and other parks due to front of the line passes then I would otherwise. An argument could be made the source of the issue is the season pass and ticket pricing, that their are just too many guests at times. Raise ticket prices when the park is expected to be crowed, and maybe even tiered annual passes, some with blackout dates.

But the finer points of product pricing certainly comes into play... What enters the equation as well with any publicly traded company are shareholders (or in CF's case unit holders) and attendance becomes a component of that. Many will argue that squeezing 10 more cents per cap along with a 3% increase in attendance is better optics than increased revenue on a declining attendance percentage. If attendance is going down year to year, then people instinctively will say "hey they are declining in attendance every year so the place must suck now so let's not go there" even if the park is making more money on less attendance. Contrast that to the privately owned Bengals that Mike Brown doesn't care whether a fan is in the stands or not because he still gets his share of the more lucrative TV revenue that is signed and sealed whether he spent big bucks on an O-line to protect Burrow last year or not... Certainly they could do the math and say if we up the FL price by $X dollars but only sell Y number and still make the same amount at the current price point and selling more of them to make it up on volume, they will lean towards the option that increases attendance. Because of the publicly traded aspect, the offering of FL is as much about increasing attendance as it is making money. Selling more FL at a cheaper price point brings more people thru the gate than a higher price point and less FL being sold. The FL offering in and of itself brings people with the money to come to the park and ability to pay for FL to improve their personal experience. These same people may otherwise skip going to a park without the FL offering... CF execs have said in the past that they are totally fine with CP's FL lines being 30-45 minutes long (and many here have experienced that). It means more people have come thru the gate. At some point, people will skip buying FL for a 45 minute wait in FL and maybe skip going to the park altogether and return when the FL prices increase to the point that they can then have a 5 minute wait...that is how someone wouldn't purchase a FL now but would purchase a FL if it were more expensive and made their personal experience better. I am sure there are many out there that would rather pay more for a personal better experience.

I very much doubt this. If Cedar Fair could double one of their biggest sources of income and still in pull in the same numbers they already would have. While yes when you increase the price of certain luxury products demand will increase there comes a point where demand decreases so much that they actually lose overall revenue rather then increase revenue. The logic that more people will want it because it’s exclusive doesn’t make any sense in this case. What person that currently doesn’t buy Fastlane would want to buy Fastlane because it’s now more expensive? Probably no one. Disney has a totally different target market then Cedar Fair parks, the people coming to Cedar Fair parks won’t tolerate a significant price increase like what Disney has done. Does Fastlane need to be tweaked, probably yeah. But as I’ve mentioned there’s really no incentive for tweaking Fastlane.

I agree that they should price it higher and sell less. Not suggesting that to make more money. Keep profit the same but then you have less people in FL. Less people filling up seats each train. Everyone not paying waits a bit less. Thus, the customer satisfaction of a majority of guests is improved.

I'm not really sure what we're talking about anymore. My post that @MoreFogPlease quoted was in response to suggestions that the problems some of us in this thread have identified with FLP would be solved by raising prices on them. I highly doubt the park is considering raising them to anywhere near what has been suggested here. If they thought they'd make more money charging $1500 for all season FLP, they would be doing it right now. What we'd been discussing is what tweaks could be made to FLP to improve the overall guest experience, not debating the finer points of product pricing.

People will pay it regardless. Maybe it costs you out of it if they increase the costs, but to someone it won't. Just like there are people that cannot afford to go KI once a year, and many more that cannot afford a gold pass. Classic scenario of the have and have nots. Generally, those that cannot afford FL or don't want to spend that kind of cash do not like it and those that can afford it and purchase it like it. Around 2016 Disney started to raise rates exponentially and more frequently than annually as an attempt to lower attendance for crowd control..and up until Covid, they were still increasing attendance every year. The more expensive it gets, the more people assign an exclusivity to that experience. Disney attracted new visitors with the higher price point because these new visitors now associated the experience that they could afford that others now could not as a status symbol of their wealth. I could see that happen with FL here as well. Granted CF is not Disney, but there are people that will pay for it even at CF. CF could double FL prices and I think they could still sell the numbers they do now if they wanted to. It becomes an even bigger status symbol at that point and many in society will pay for that exclusivity. Basic human nature and supply and demand. It's the same across all aspects of our life, from the range of vehicle prices to 1-star to 5-star hotels and restaurants and everything in between. It's a status symbol. Even if they changed FL to you only got one ride on each ride per wrist band, there would be people that would then use up that wrist band and rip it off and then buy another one. Why - because they have the money to do so and will then brag about it to their social media channels... Heck, I know people that wanted to add another meal plan to their pass and the system doesn't allow that, so the person bought a second platinum pass with another meal plan, so now they have two platinum passes and two meal plans and two drink plans. It does provide another benefit as well... At some point someone will come here and complain about how unfair FL is and how expensive, etc., and that they will never visit the park again, but as long as people buy them and as long as they continue to have increased attendance, they are here to stay. Guess what, CF hears that argument all the time. It rears its ugly head on this forum every couple of years as well. Remember when they first introduced Fast Lane at KI as a test and people were posting here and on FaceBook that Cedar Fair will never get another dime of their money for being unfair and allowing people with money to have a better experience....most of those complaining ended up renewing. Some of them didn't renew the following year and sat out a year or two, but then got a pass again. And even a smaller few have held steady and haven't got a new pass. I know people in each category....That "never getting another dime of mine" complaint happens every year about Fast Lane or some other issue. So what was Cedar Fair's response to that test - they introduced season long Fast Lane the following year at KI and then later Fast Lane chain-wide and then later chain-wide season-long Fast Lane pass add-ons. Same thing happened with the meal plans. People complained about the lack of quality of food and the long lines and they would never buy another meal plan. Most sit out a year and then renew. The value is just too good. We see that argument here and on social media every year too. We will see posts of people on social media saying “because of this you are never getting another dime of my money”, but guess what, the reality is that as long as attendance increases every year and as long as the number of new passes sold are greater than the number of passes that do not renew, they will continue to sell them...they will always have incentives to entice new pass holders… As a business, they account for these losses of people not renewing. I personally thought all the complaining on social media about meal plans and Fast Lanes would have tipped the scales the other way and it didn’t…Maybe maxed out to capacity crowds everyday will, but probably not. Disney keeps raising their prices and keeps breaking attendance records… Look at the Bengals. Same thing. Their season pass holders have been complaining for years about the product put on the field and don’t renew, yet we still get the same promising 8-8 team or worse…Mike Brown is doing just fine in the bank account either way… At the end of the day, complaints and all, Kings Island provides a tremendous value for the dollar. A family can load their kids up with passes and meal and drink add-ons and drop them off to KI Daycare all summer for less than the cost of one week of day camp somewhere… When we have to worry is IF the scales tip the other way and they have more people staying away from the park because they felt the guest experience was not worth their time and money...at that point is when we see gate give-a-ways to increase attendance. And many of us remember some BAF free days under Paramount that were insanely crowded horrible guest experience days...

Yeah and nearly doubling that price makes it significantly harder for some people to justify getting it. All season platinum already likely makes up an extremely small % of total Fastlane users. Cedar Point last year clearly realized that season passholders wouldn’t even pay $850 for all season Fastlane which is why they lowered the price. I doubt many people would visit enough Cedar Fair parks to justify spending $1000-1500 on it. As per home park specific all season Fastlane ad mentioned $750 likely is the max people would be willing to spend for parks such as KI,CP,Knotts & CW.

I believe they sell too many. The numbers in 2019 at CP and Wonderland were insane. I would move to make it more exclusive and sell far fewer. 1k-1500 for all season platinum, $200 for busy days at the major parks in the chain. I don't see that happening, however. Top Thrill Dragster is really the most obvious implementation of how much FLP has changed the guest experience. For the last 4 years, the park has reserved the entire front train in the station and the left side approach line for FLP. The ride host is supposed to move standby line guests into the front train queue when no FLP is entering the station, but in 2019 specifically I saw two instances where they had to hold the gates as the host didn't notice that they were about to load a half full front train while the standby line was back to the vending machines. It's not ideal.

Those survey markings are for a waterline project that starts next year and ends in 2026 I believe and it's a Warren county thing not just KI.

Maybe they tier it with one price for 1 time rides and another price for unlimited (like FP is now). One thing is for sure I can see all parks going to a Flash Pass (like six flags) option in the future. Basically you reserve a virtual place in line and get notified when it's your time to ride. This means more people spending time and money around the park than being in line for 2+ hours.

Personally, 1 ride per day is too little to entice me to go and buy passes and FL. With the amount of fast passes in circulation, me riding Orion 6 times in a day is going to have a negligible effect on peoples wait time in the regular line, yet it really increases the quality of my time at the park and the likelyhood that I will return. I think this weekend was especially bad for FL since no other CF park was open. This meant that anyone who was itching to get out that also had a PFL was probably at King's Island.

Coaster Nation has put up an article about it: https://coasternation.com/land-clearing-begins-at-kings-islands-timberwolf-amphitheater/?fbclid=IwAR3PJwi6Jj7LrBLGlGdbJI5PPN01JNzT7NGT62ORA9cv5BIm2zvyFJGNMbc

Especially when there's already vacant space. If you ever visit r/kingsisland you have people putting B&Ms in literally every green space

We have Platinum All Season. As far as analysis, it has changed Cedar Point I think more than any other park. With their complicated and temperamental coaster lineup, combined with the rain and wind downtime major rides there have, you really need it to get a full experience if you only have 1 or 2 days. It does create haves and have nots, especially considering that it can cost $150 on the busiest days. We get our passes and add ons through Wonderland (our home park) but even so the cost is very high.

What a refreshing statement. Couldn’t agree more.

I do too! The Orion decoding thread was my first one that I was apart of and it was fun! I've read through the Banshee and Mystic Timbers one and those looked like fun too! However, I do think it'll be another few years until we see it. I do want it to come sooner, but I just have this feeling in my mind that we are about to go on a bit of a coaster drought especially with covid and all. I've had the year 2027 in my mind for a while.

A pic that was floating around online

Face coverings are not required outdoors unless it is not possible to maintain 6’ of social distancing.

The rules KI set forth are not being followed, as I predicted last week.

This passholder preview days are supposedly a “benefit” of a season pass. There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever as they feature the longest lines of the season.

Hello everybody. I don't know how long it has been since I posted on here but I miss everybody. Have been kind of a hermit during this horrible year but am so thankful to have survived it. Got both of my shots and am ready to start riding again. Hope to see you all this Saturday for Season Pass weekend. ( I am assuming that there are a lot of new members on here.) PS are you still around Terpy? So miss your wit.

Can't wait until tomorrow. It has been three years since my last Beast ride and hope to get a more comfortable ride with my weight loss. Those 2 clicks are awful when you have a few extra pounds.

Last fall 2020.

So glad to have you back @markr I have missed your posts. Terpy is doing well, but has not been posting for a while. I hope to see you at the park Saturday!

For posterity, I was a Beast Crew member (many, many moons ago) and can tell you we were all made aware of the potential hazards with the ride when in driver training. We were given examples of accidents that HAVE occurred in its history, so we knew what to look for and how to handle. Not once, in my time working there - or in training - was there ever any mention of someone being mortally injured by The Beast. However we were warned that people HAVE hit their heads on the trains, broken fingers and hands in the helix, busted lips, had heart attacks etc. Unfortunately, those types of things DID happen (rarely) while I was on crew. I saw and handled a couple of those types of instances personally. However, with the exception of one case, the injuries occurred to people that ignored and challenged the safety warnings. They were all treatable and relatively minor injuries. Perhaps the story is confused with another? In the 1980s a young teenager did get partially decapitated on a coaster at Kings Dominion when they stood up on the Galaxi. It made national news. (Side note: the growing issues and concerns with persons standing on the coasters (not just The Beast) is why the individual orange lap bars took the place of the buzz bars on PTC trains at many parks. But this was after many, many years of operating without them. The more recent addition of seat belts also was a result of concerns about guests breaking rules while riding.) FYI - I've never personally understood the fascination with these types of hearsay "stories." I once had a barber SWEAR he was at KI in the late 1980s on the day The Bat crashed into a concrete pillar, fell off the track, and killed people. He was adamant that it happened. There was so much wrong with his story, but when I tried to correct him - he got very defensive. You would have thought I had killed his first-born. After that, I learned to just roll my eyes and not engage with such stories when they are told directly to me. There's no use arguing.

For the little people CP was a disaster in 2020. For us and a lot of people will leave a bad taste in their mouth for a long time. I am saying that if it was not for the horrendous management we would happily purchase ASFLP but we are choosing to not do any spending at CF parks this year.

the bit.ly was enough of a giveaway. That people are running with it without reading the user name is just an eye roller.