ldhudsonjr

Hey guys. So a lot has been made lately about the problems that are going on at Cedar Point. We know a lot of them have been caused by staffing issues, but apart from that, what changes do you think could be made to make the experience of going to Cedar Point better for everyone? I know a lot of people have been saying the park has been kind of hit or miss for a couple years so just curious.

I agree completely on both counts. On the topic of overselling, I was hearing that Steel Vengeance was at a 91 minute wait in FL last weekend, so yeah they are definitely selling too many.

I've actually heard way more complaints about Vortex from enthusiasts than I ever did from GP. My Gp friends weren't crazy about it or anything, but also I don't feel the gp forms super strong opinions about any of these rides. I think the people who really cared that Vortex was coming down were just people who have been going to KI a really long time. Like it kind of hit me in the feels a bit to see it come down, but that was just nostalgia. I don't miss riding it really at all.

I'm honestly genuinely interested in your perspective here. Is it time for you to move on because the quality of the experience is no longer up to your expectations? Or is it just that you're kind of bored with Amusement parks in general?

Man sorry to hear that. I honestly can't wait for Daily operations.

Are there any ride ops or line separators on this board who can clear up what the actual procedure is supposed to be for Fast Lane? How many people are you supposed to let through a cycle? That kind of thing.

I mean this isn't really something I think is a message boards place to enforce. We all love Kings Island, I'm no exception, but I don't understand why so many people on this board seem to think it's our responsibility to keep the media from knowing about what's going on in the park. If something happens that's a significant story, they're going to hear about it one way or another. Now the rule in the first post of the thread about avoiding posting vague things that sound like possible emergencies I get, but when something is actually going on that's sort of PR's responsibilty to handle, not a bunch of fans on a forum.

Yeah one way or another I would not be surprised to see some contruction of some kind by the time we get to the end of the season. I bet they'll be at the very least updating some more things prior to the anniversary.

I honestly don't understand this idea people have here that Kings Island is really concerned about making sure no coaster is taller than the Eiffel Tower. I honestly think that had absolutely 0 to do with how tall Orion is. If it had been in the budget, they probably would have gone ahead and made it a little taller. Don't get me wrong, I understand the logic I just think it's wrong. Yeah the Eiffel Tower is an important landmark there, but I HIGHLY doubt they feel it's important that they limit themselves on what kinds of attractions they should build based on this thing they built in 1972. If they came to the conclusion, for example, that building a TTD clone at KI would bring tons of people to the park for some reason, I don't think the height of the Eiffel Tower would come into play in that decision at all really. However I agree that they probably won't be building anything taller than Orion anytime soon. I'm having a hard time even thinking what the point would be. If you're looking for really tall coasters with big drops, they kind of have that covered already. Personally I think they'll be looking for a different kind of experience for the next few coaster additions.

Went with Diamondback myself. Even though I think right now Orion and Mystic Timbers are my two favorite rides in the park, Diamondback was my favorite for years. Some great points made about that coaster here, and I think it deserves the nod. EDIT: hahah poor Firehawk. I hadn't noticed that it had 0 votes until just now. It's not surprising, it's just funny.

So hey did we ever find out what was up with those markers last fall? I never heard anything about it again. I mean clearly it was nothing huge I'm just curious if anyone ever figured out what they did.

I mean...probably lol. I end up calling out that site a lot on Facebook but it seems like people really buy into them. Aren't they members here?

I feel for your friend. I had two similar experiences at CP last year and I was pretty let down, and for me it's only a 3 hour drive, I can imagine how I would feel if I had actually flown out. I don't know if you went up there or not last year but ugh I still shudder thinking about it. Not a good year for CP. This is a good point. Definitely an interesting idea. I totally agree. I brought this up earlier and I think you alluded to it in your first post but I remember how angry people were about FL at first. Now I think a lot of people are pretty attached to it. I don't think FLP is a bad thing, which is good I guess because I also agree with you that it's definitely never going anywhere. All I'm saying is I think with a few small changes they might be able to make it feel like less of a waste of time to go into a park without one on a busy day.

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.

You are likely overestimating the amount of people who would be willing to do this...by a lot. This has been a pretty civil discussion and I haven't seen a lot of complaining, just people giving their opinions. I don't think a single person suggested getting rid of FLP, btw. Why are you so angry about this? lol Yes, for the people whose job it is to run Cedar Fair. When discussing whether or not a product has a flaw, the consumer isn't obligated to consider the responsibility the company who offers said product has to their shareholders. I'm not sure why this subject irritates you so much, and I'm honestly not trying to be disrespectful to you. I can see you've thought about this before, and I get what you're saying, I'm just focusing on a different perspective.

I'd be curious to know how many of those FLP passes go unsold every day. I guess my assumption would be if they thought they could sell them higher and still make the same amount they would have done it already, but maybe it's not that simple of a decision. But yeah, I guess you're right that if they could sell less of them and make the same amount it would help.

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.

Yeah I'm with you. I'm glad we are (mostly) in agreement here that the system could use some tweaking, but as I mentioned in another comment above, I don't think making FLP even less accessible to most people than they already are is the answer. I'm not sure if people on this forum are just mostly single, or if you all have extremely good jobs or what the situation is lol. I just know as a husband and father of two who already gets platinum passes with meal plans and drink plans for everyone, an additional $4 -6k (before we even start talking about travel expenses to other parks) is just not reasonable. I'm considering adding all season FLP for my wife and I next year and that's already $1700 at that point my season pass package will be more than it would cost me to get my family memberships at some of these fancy private swim clubs around here.

I agree 100%. They really do need to put a reasonable limit on the number of FL people they put on each train. Yeah it would be mildly annoying on the days when the shoe is on the other foot, but I mean you're still talking about a DRASTICALLY reduced wait time.

Yeah this is exactly my issue with the whole thing. Some days (yes, even busy ones) they seem to handle it pretty well, and other days they prioritize FL to the point the standby queues just do. not. move. I see where you're coming from on this, but I think FLP is an even bigger problem at CP where it costs like twice as much. As long as they're going to have FLP, I'm not sure I like the idea of putting it even further out of reach of the average guest than it already is. On this forum some people make it seem like it's no big deal since for a lot of us this is one of, if not the main hobby we care about, but for most families an extra $70-150 on top of admission per person is NOT a trivial expense. Above I suggested using some kind of scanning system in order to limit FLP guests to a certain number of rides on an attraction per hour (or some other timeframe). I'm curious if you think that would help solve the problem at all?

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.

Yeah I didn't check I saw someone say it somewhere in this thread. Thats my bad.

I legit didn't know Chic-fil-a wasn't on the mealplan at KI (have the mealplan just never tried to get it) bummer. That's like my favorite place to use the meal plan at CP.

Thats funny lol. I very very rarely buy a FLP, but on the couple occasions I have it's been glorious, but I've also felt a little bad about just walking by everyone waiting in line lol. I know what you mean.

Interesting responses so far. I definitely see where everyone is coming from and I can relate, especially when you're talking about driving 3 hours+. At Cedar Point I almost feel like you really need it sometimes in order to have a good time. I'm really curious if anyone has any input on the negative impacts it might have to the overall guest experience at the park, particularly as it pertains to paying guests who cannot afford fast pass. At times I've noticed that lines for popular attractions will move incredibly slowly due to groups of guests with FLP looping around over and over. Another thing that I've noticed is Ive started to see that oftentimes since they've started constantly assigning seats they put all the FLP people in the front, so by the time they get to the standby line people are unable to experience the ride in those seats. Thoughts?