BoddaH1994
-
Posts
17,601 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
266
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Calendar
Posts posted by BoddaH1994
-
-
16 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:
So they will cut out the people that give them thousands of dollars of free advertising on a continual basis and treat them like crap. Solid business plan.
I have stayed pretty quiet about being treated like this, even thinking I did something wrong. I have literally driven hours to and from Indianapolis help support the park without riding a single ride while there. I don't own KIC, there is no reimbursement for gas or time. There it no hidden perk for me doing this other than loving the park and doing what I can to share my love with fellow enthusiasts. That is the same story for others too.
I sure hope one day they can again see how much of an asset and support they have instead of just throwing it out the window.
Never let someone else stomp on your passion! As we both know, until there is a new Comms Director, this issue will never change. For them, it’s always about their insecurities rather than how to best serve the park. They are not a fan of objective views. Hence the fact that a few dozen members of the 200 Follower & Under Club were invited out to the park for a construction tour but you and Chris weren’t. Either one of you reach more than all of those people combined - by a multitude.
As what is always said about the park’s guests and fed to a member here by one of the worst in the industry, “It’s as adorable as it is predictable .”
-
https://sanduskyregister.com/news/517319/cedar-point-blocks-register/
Between one PR guy making an enemy out of the local paper and other making an enemy out of the guys who run the fan site and the 70k+ member season pass group, Ohio sure does have its fair share of winners!
-
1
-
-
3 minutes ago, disco2000 said:
but, but, but, the season pass only provides you access to the park during regularly scheduled operating hours without any guarantee of any rides or attractions operating....
caveat emptor
I mean, I’m not pointing the fingers at Kennywood because maybe they just have made this decision, but I do have a little trouble believing that Carowinds and Kings Dominion didn’t know that they were cutting out months of operation before the bulk of the passes were sold.
-
As I’ve been saying, ALWAYS wait as long as you can to purchase your season pass. Saving a few bucks is not worth buying a product and then find out what it is later.
-
1
-
-
I think the reason they aren’t using RFID in the wristbands is that it would increase the cost. Not significantly, but a meaningful amount. For All Season FL, One Time FL, etc it maybe an infrastructure thing. Maybe the app doesn’t support it yet.
-
1
-
-
12 hours ago, Tr0y said:
Anymore, one should expect the circus to be in town when CF attempts to deliver on a new season pass or add on.
Adorable as it is predictable.
Yeah, but in their defense, it’s an unavoidable storm on the horizon. On Friday they ran out of the double stack chicken sandwich, but in their defense, it was tens of thousands of season pass people, with a high percentage having the meal plan, all of which have tried every other item on the menu. I don’t know if there’s a great way to plan for that.
I do agree that the Icee thing was a bit of poor planning and poor communication, but from the looks of it, a lot of the issues were corrected throughout the day on Friday or Saturday.
Rides went down, lines were long, food portions were inconsistent… but name an opening day where this wasn’t the case. As somebody who was admittingly pessimistic over the past year or so, I was pleasantly surprised.
-
8
-
-
On 4/20/2024 at 9:45 AM, disco2000 said:
^My friends were amongst the first at Juke Box last night and said the bread was hard and the meat was cold. They joked that they must have been served the burgers that were on display when the news was there earlier in the day LOL.
The ICEE stand next to French Corner claims to be an outside vendor and doesn't honor the ICEE drink plan. They did that last year for those that were able to use that plan as well.
We were turned away, along with about 3 groups ahead of us. Then Saturday I ran into someone with an orange slushee and asked where they got it. They said the place next to French Corner. Seems like there was a quick policy change.
-
1
-
-
17 hours ago, Stoan said:
What a joke
They got rid of bottled drinks because “people were stealing them” but managed to figure out how to have canned beer for sale.
-
10 minutes ago, disco2000 said:
They are offering some pass perks just to Prestige Holders... @BoddaH1994is so updating now
By “games” they VERY likely mean midway, not arcade, as pictured.
-
2 hours ago, RedSummit20 said:
its quick service with seating on both sides
If its two sides like Coney BBQ that would be a terrible waste of money assuming they open both sides as often as they do Coney BBQ, which I’ve maybe seen twice in that building’s history.
-
1
-
-
13 minutes ago, disco2000 said:
Orion was simply foreshadowing
Dear lord…
-
2
-
-
Misleading title (I don’t need to tell you why), 2/3 of the article as about hours and days being cut. Glad we have the real pros controlling the narrative.
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, silver2005 said:
^That might be too high a bar honestly for the current PR regime.
I can ask Don to write a blog about it so they can come out with the same content 48 hours later if that helps...
-
5
-
1
-
-
Hello friends -
This is an invite to join us for a Kings Island Opening Weekend Kickoff Party! This will be on Tuesday April 16, 2024, at 7:00p ET and will feature a panel of Kings Island super-fans, including KICentral's own IndyGuy4KI! We will be talking about the park, what we are looking forward to in the 2024 season and taking questions from the YouTube chat.
We would love for you to join!
-
3
-
-
3 hours ago, DiamondbackFan said:
4. The 2025 notes are secured notes (the parks are collateral for the loan). Cedar Fair might see an opportunity to replace these notes with new unsecured notes (the parks are not collateral for the loan). Cedar Fair's 2027, 2028, and 2029 notes are unsecured.
I thought about that too, but do you think they have the capacity to revolve this into an unsecured loan? If so, what are your thoughts on the inherent increased rate? Rate will be higher, plus a premium for unsecured. I suppose we’ll find out the truth soon enough, but if you’re right then it leaves a lot of lingering questions.
-
On 4/11/2024 at 7:30 PM, Stoan said:
I like collectible cards, I'm not going to get any of these packs. Unless they sell them in the stores I'm going to miss out entirely.
They said they are selling a "limited quantity" in the stores.
-
2
-
-
Cedar Fair borrowed money. Unlike a loan like you or I would get, a corporate raises large amounts of capital by selling bonds. When someone buys a bond they will receive their initial investment plus interest. This interest rate is dictated by the rate that The Fed sets. So the company is responsible for replaying the initial investment plus the interest (probably defined as "debt servicing" on the conference calls.)
Some bonds are "callable." This means that, although the bond matures on a certain date, the company can choose to repay it early. This is a bit of a financial risk to the bond purchaser because they may not receive the anticipated interest amount, so the interest rate is a few basis points higher for these bonds.
Cedar Fair's bond matures in May of 2025, but they chose to call the bonds now. For long term debt, you simply pay off one bond by selling another.
Problem is, the rates are WAY higher now due to soaring inflation and a hawkish Fed. So the cost of servicing the debt will be a very heavy burden on their balance sheet. I'm just speculating, but I see a few possibilities for why the debt would be called:
1. They believe they can revolve (buy another bond) at a lower interest rate (unlikely)
2. They believe interest rates may be even higher in 2025
3. They are concerned about being able to secure financing in 2025 (probably post merger)
If they didn't have this note coming to maturity and/or the rates were lower, the merger would never have been on the table in the first place.
-
This article does not list out reasons and there’s no way to know what happens behind closed doors, but revolving this a year early implies to me that CF may be bearish about the economy as a whole in the short term and fears rates might be higher than they are now. This also may have something administrative to do with the merger, as they may not have a lot of cash on hand when it goes through.
-
On 4/10/2024 at 3:18 PM, Outdoor Man said:
I don't want to split hairs but I think your terminology is a bit off. I didn't finish college with a Finance degree but was many classes in before I switched. And, forgive me because my recollection of certain term meanings as they pertain to day to day operating costs fade into the background- your comparison of "Variable Costs" doesn't see to fit here. To make sure I looked up several exact definitions: " Variable costs are any expenses that change based on how much a company produces and sells, such as labor, utility expenses, commissions, and raw materials. " So, my mere presence walking the paths or riding a ride doesn't affect any operational piece of the park. These ere on the side more of Fixed Costs (though, in their nature are variable I guess).... employees are there anyway. Actors in shows perform anyway. Lights are on, grass is mowed, landscaping is kept, rides operate, etc... These things occur whether or not I enter the park or not. I'll leave open the possibility that you're approaching this from another angle... but on the surface it sounds wrong.
That you call anyone who spends their money on a company's product (or service) as entitled.... I sure hope you don't work for KI/CF. $500 isn't a large expense (for passes) for our family- but it is for some. Despite this, though, is does get categorized into our "discretionary spending." A KI Season Pass is a non-essential expense that is not necessary for basic needs. This discourse has gone way off the rails of the original comment by Boddha a while ago of "he wishes he knew"- or something like that. Though we haven't officially purchased our passes yet we probably will. Though if it seems like staff feels that we are entitled... I can spend that elsewhere too. My original comment lamented that in my previous experience with owning season passes there have been times where things were offered or implied that didn't pan out as expected. We've continued to purchase anyway. But, if you want to poke holes in someone's personal/actual experience- go ahead, you seem to like to get the last word in to prove you're right. I'll make mine easy- i won't reply further.
He works there.
He's also being fed some pretty bad lines about season pass holders by someone who wears a different colored name tag than him.
If you want to enjoy the park because you love the park then you should still go. If you want to go somewhere that you will honestly be valued as a guest then you should get a Dollywood pass.
-
2
-
1
-
-
I really like this. I like how Cedar Point has collectible pins, so this could be KI’s version of that. I know they say that limited quantities will be available for sale, but I can imagine if this goes well that they’d just make it a “thing” and I’d be all about that.
-
2
-
-
On 4/5/2024 at 8:49 AM, DispatchMaster said:
The new sign does not look permanent. The posts are not set in concrete, and instead are just temporarily stuck in holes in the ground and backfilled.
I would imagine a more permanent sign and/or structure will come at some point, using the existing footers, at which point they'll remove those posts and fill in the holes with the dirt they intentionally left there.
I was thinking the same: the sign was just there for the photo op.
But with that being said, how did no one think, “we should probably do something about the unused footers sticking up in front of the sign.” If you’re going to create a photo op you probably shouldn’t inject eyesores into them.
-
1
-
-
Couple of thoughts:
1. It’s going to be an interesting social experiment to see people standing around for two hours without their phones.
2. So the lockers, free like SteVe or charge like Banshee?
-
1
-
-
14 minutes ago, IBEW_Sparky said:
And that is exactly why the meal plan was the ONE thing I didnt get, and never have. Yes, they can (and given the chance, will) screw every other add-on up, but that and the all-season FL are the only two Id be really pi$$ed about. The FL I find crucial enough to actually enjoying the park that I will "discuss" things with a gold tag each and every visit if I have to, as much as I have to, in order to get things right. The meal plan I do not, and all it would do is make me angry enough to simply walk.
Further edited to address BB1s above post.... I dumped my CC membership about 8 years ago for many of the same reasons.... immature garbage, and all I really wanted the memberships to the various clubs I belonged to from 09-16 for, was the ERT. I had also made the decision mid-season last year that this year would be my last, and that was before I had been made aware of the CF/SIX merger, or the myriad of garbage that CF has pulled with this latest iteration of the "We already have your money" pass. Now, as you mentioned in your last sentence, Id be adamant about this one being it even if I hadnt already made that decision.
But remember- they did change the rules on the All Season Fast Line add-on last year. Carowinds (I believe) made you choose between Tricks and Treats or Scarowinds Fast Lane. This was unprecedented in past years and was not in the original terms.
To Cedar Point’s credit, they are allowing All Season Fast Line purchasers to ride TT2 on an unlimited basis while the daily Fast Lane is a one-time thing… although I’m sure that if they changed the rules so that if the All Season Fastlane people had to deal with a condition that was not disclosed at purchase the same culprits would be defending them.
-
1
-
-
On 4/5/2024 at 12:58 PM, Tr0y said:
What we are seeing as far as CF goes is nothing necessarily new. For example the first year of the season long dining plan:
I don’t know if you were “around” for this, but please jog my memory if you remember.
In 2014, wasn’t the All Season Meal Plan originally advertised for being through Labor Day, then they back pedaled and made it actually all season? There might have been a few days between the policy changes (which is implied by the post you shared) but I’m pretty sure they changed it that year.
Lawsuit: Kennywood withheld Steel Curtain closure to boost season pass sales
in Other Amusement Parks & Industry News
Posted
To be fair, Entertrainment will certainly take care of anyone who purchased a pass if they close. It’s the type of people they are. Coney’s thing didn’t pass the sniff test, but they ultimately did the right thing. All of these are extreme cases. Fundamentally changing the product after purchase under the banner of, “Terms are subject to change. Sucks to be you. No refunds” is in an ethical class of its own. Again, I do not know of KW knew about this far in advance or if they found out and immediately communicated it, but we’ve seen a lot of other examples that I feel support my point.