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2011 Gold Pass ERT includes WindSeeker and Vortex


jcgoble3
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Question:

How many years has Beast been offered as an ERT benefit? (I have no idea, but I bet many pass holders have come to expect this as a pass benefit)...

Cedar Fair Kings Island ERT is only for gold and platinum passholders and then only since 2008. Before that, a Beast walkback to get the first ride of the day was sometimes offered to coaster club members in 2007* and only to ACE members (though cards were seldom checked) in 2006 and before Cedar Fair bought the park. Sometimes, you might get a second or even a third ride, but it was not ERT. Ruth Voss started this with friends who happened to be ACErs, back in the 80's....I didn't join ACE until 1989, and it was already going on by then.

*I believe in 2007 the walkback was frequently to Firehawk...and sometimes even Face/Off, as Beast was seldom ready and there was a new ride to be featured....

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But, there was ERT for Gold Pass holders prior to 2008. It simply was not every single day of the season. (Ie, there were Thrill Seeker Thursdays, which featured rides in Action Zone, and then there was a day when they had attractions open in Coney Mall, and another day when they had some attractions open in Rivertown.) The Gold Pass first debuted in 2001.

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But, there was ERT for Gold Pass holders prior to 2008. It simply was not every single day of the season. (Ie, there were Thrill Seeker Thursdays, which featured rides in Action Zone, and then there was a day when they had attractions open in Coney Mall, and another day when they had some attractions open in Rivertown.) The Gold Pass first debuted in 2001.

There used to be a different perk every day of the week. I can only seem to remember a few..

Walk on Weekends where you went to the Kisk and got a few tickets to walk on a few rides. Remember those Gold Pass Speed Lane signs, and the GP giving us stares as you got to walk past them.

Double Ride Tuesdays.

Others will have to fill in the other days.

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All I gotta say is "Subject to Change". I have to echo Hendrick's remarks...you pay for the benefits by purchasing the gold pass. If you don't want them, that's why the have the regular pass. Now I understand some of you may have bought your passes before the change, yes that sucks. But get over it. If you're life is all about riding rollercoasters the park is offering up Vortex alongside WindSeeker. If you want to ride Diamondback and The Beast, the park opens generally to the public at 10am. Enjoy it then.

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Gold passes have free parking too; who can argue with that?

Just because Diamondback and Beast don't have ERT, I'm not going to get mad about buying the gold passes.

Plus, aren't there at least some people here who want to ride WindSeeker before anyone else?

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Plus, aren't there at least some people here who want to ride WindSeeker before anyone else?

Over and over for an hour on Saturday mornings and a half hour every other morning? Not so much.

Like many of us have done on DB over the past 2 years, and was promised for 2011 by the park when we bought the passes at Haunt last October.

We specifically bought our Gold Passes to ride DB and Beast early then leave the park to the tourists after the park got busy , but no refunds or downgrades to regular passes are offered.

I bet we're not the only people in Cincy that bought Gold Passes to do the same thing.

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Plus, aren't there at least some people here who want to ride WindSeeker before anyone else?

Over and over for an hour on Saturday mornings and a half hour every other morning? Not so much.

Like many of us have done on DB over the past 2 years, and was promised for 2011 by the park when we bought the passes at Haunt last October.

We specifically bought our Gold Passes to ride DB and Beast early then leave the park to the tourists after the park got busy , but no refunds or downgrades to regular passes are offered.

I bet we're not the only people in Cincy that bought Gold Passes to do the same thing.

I agree! We renewed our passes BECAUSE of the early ride times on DB! I have no desire

to ride the WindSeeker and can ride The Vortex anytime!

Really makes me kinda question even going half as much as we used to.

Combine that with KI removing any prize (netbooks, PSP, etc) from the machines that is valued over $10.00

and it sounds like it's gonna be a waste of time.

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All I gotta say is "Subject to Change". I have to echo Hendrick's remarks...you pay for the benefits by purchasing the gold pass. If you don't want them, that's why the have the regular pass. Now I understand some of you may have bought your passes before the change, yes that sucks. But get over it. If you're life is all about riding rollercoasters the park is offering up Vortex alongside WindSeeker. If you want to ride Diamondback and The Beast, the park opens generally to the public at 10am. Enjoy it then.

The way I see it, it is no different than promising free parking with your gold pass and then retracting it once passes have been sold. How would you like to have that happen then be told to "get over it"? This is no different. It is not good PR to promise something then take it back.

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Really, I can see how some people are disappointed. A perk offered with the Gold Pass has been edited to include 2 different rides. But It truly is not a huge deal, the main point of a Gold Pass is free parking and free admission. I paid $70 for my Gold Pass and will have paid it off in less than two visits on parking and admission alone. To me that is a great deal.

The way I see it, it is no different than promising free parking with your gold pass and then retracting it once passes have been sold. How would you like to have that happen then be told to "get over it"? This is no different. It is not good PR to promise something then take it back.

The ERTs are just an added perk (which on weekdays I usually had no need for) and changing which rides are offered, while maybe not gone about in the best possible way, is not a big deal. If they promised free parking and then changed that, THAT would be a big deal because that would cost everyone $10 per visit that they were promised they would not have to spend. Changing the rides on the ERT does not cost anybody any extra money. So no, changing the 2 ERT rides is not like changing the parking policy.

You are still getting your money's worth, it's not a big deal.

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...We specifically bought our Gold Passes to ride DB and Beast early then leave the park to the tourists after the park got busy....

...I bet we're not the only people in Cincy that bought Gold Passes to do the same thing.

You mean to tell me you were not going to ride any other rides all season long other than DB and Beast during the ERT session? I call bull crap. As for the second sentence I quoted you on, enthusiasts ARE the only people who bought gold passes for that purpose. Reguarding this particular decision by the park, enthusiast thinking is way off compared to the way the GP feel about it. They could care less which "big ride" is open for them. Other people seem to realize this so why can't you?

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We specifically bought our Gold Passes to ride DB and Beast early then leave the park to the tourists after the park got busy , but no refunds or downgrades to regular passes are offered.

I understand your frustration, but this sentence points out why the park isn't going to get worried about it. From a business standpoint for them, there is very little value in having you show up at 9am on Saturday, pay nothing to park, pay nothing to enter, and leave within a couple of hours having spent nothing in the park. I'm not saying that you don't have a right to do this (I myself did it a few times the last two seasons), just looking at it from a business perspective.

As for the downgrade to regular passes, what was the price difference between regular and gold when you purchased last fall? I'm not 100% positive, but I think Gold was about the same as regular for a while.

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I have no problem with someone getting a refund on a pass, as long as their name is blocked from purchasing another season pass that season.

Besides, I'm sure the free parking isn't a benefit of the gold pass, right? If you were going to downgrade to a regular pass for some reason, wouldn't it end up costing *more* since you'd have to pay for parking?

Gold Pass: $100

Regular Pass: $95 + Parking for ONE VISIT: $10 = $105

Sooo... the gold pass is cheaper. I guess I just don't get the problem here. It's STILL A BETTER DEAL.

http://tickets.visit...season_pass.cfm

I have to say, I'm glad to see The Beast off of ERT. It never seemed to be open when I could go for ERT.

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But the main purpose of a gold pass is unlimited visits to the park and free parking. The main purpose is not ERT. It's like asking for a refund on a hotel room because, while the hotel has a pool, spa, tennis courts, a running path, and a bowling alley, you don't like the color of the wallpaper in the hallway.

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I'm totally agreeing with everything in the past 5 posts. I did say get over and I meant it. If people on KIC continue to complain about how they're tiffed off because the park changed the ERT rides constantly who says the park won't get rid of ERT all together? Learn to appreciate what you are offered, what you have, how the park even sells season passes...some others can't afford passes, the perks for passes may not be the same always and so on.

I see this situation like life, just because it's an emergency (issue) to you, doesn't mean it's an emergency (issue) to the park. There could be several reasons why they're doing ERT like this, this year. I say put on your grown up pants and enjoy what you have, learn to accept change and just have fun instead of picking out everything the park does wrong.

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I'm totally agreeing with everything in the past 5 posts. I did say get over and I meant it. If people on KIC continue to complain about how they're tiffed off because the park changed the ERT rides constantly who says the park won't get rid of ERT all together? Learn to appreciate what you are offered, what you have, how the park even sells season passes...some others can't afford passes, the perks for passes may not be the same always and so on.

I see this situation like life, just because it's an emergency (issue) to you, doesn't mean it's an emergency (issue) to the park. There could be several reasons why they're doing ERT like this, this year. I say put on your grown up pants and enjoy what you have, learn to accept change and just have fun instead of picking out everything the park does wrong.

Also, just because it is not an "emergency" issue to you does not mean it is not to someone else. You, also, need to put on your grown up pants and realize that your opinion is not the only one that matters.

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But the main purpose of a gold pass is unlimited visits to the park and free parking. The main purpose is not ERT. It's like asking for a refund on a hotel room because, while the hotel has a pool, spa, tennis courts, a running path, and a bowling alley, you don't like the color of the wallpaper in the hallway.

What if the hotel promised a business center with computer access, but there isn't any? What if the hotel promised wi-fi, but there wasn't any? What if they promise a free breakfast, but there isn't any? It's things like this that make people choose one hotel over another. Sure, you're still getting the main thing you paid for, but you're not getting the little stuff that you paid for.

ERT on "two of the most popular roller coasters in the world" was one of the VIP Perks promised along with free parking. Suppose that 2 weeks away from opening day, they make an announcement that gold passes will give you cheap parking instead of free parking. Are we still not allowed to complain? Pretty hypocritical if you think that's worth complaining about.

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Clarify for me if you would, do you need to ride Beast or Diamondback to live? No emergency there. I totally understand it SUCKS to have something like a benefit changed on you after you made a purchase. However, the park deserves that right. And I do have my grown up pants on. I've stepped aside from the situation and see both sides of it. I'm not telling you that "my view is the only view that matters." I'm just stating my opinions, they are up for discussion as long as its appropriate.

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I tell you what it is, everyone is spolied, and really immature. So you fan boys won't get 7 rides on DB before the park opens, BIG DEAL. Yes I enjoy riding DB but I enjoy riding COASTERS. I'm really at a loss of words on how some of you are acting about this? You should be happy we even have a park to go too.

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I don't get it. It's not like they are getting rid of ERT all together, just moving it to different rides. Now if they got rid of it all together, that would be something to complain about. You guys can still get early rides in on Diamondback and The Beast with little or no wait! Go back to the end of Coney Mall for the ERT session, even if you don't ride Vortex or WindSeeker, just go back there. Then as soon as the park officially opens, head to The Beast and Diamondback. You will probably beat the main crowds there, and still get your rides in....

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Just something to keep in mind is the cost to the park. Opening WindSeeker and Vortex is more than likely cheaper to them, I do not know about other departments but look at the amount of people they had at Diamondback every morning to run the ride compared to how many it will likely take to run WindSeeker, Vortex and Beast kind of equal out here but at the very least the rides department is saving a decent chunk of money if not the whole park.

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Sure doesn't read like you were at a loss for words :)

Why are you getting bent out of shape and calling people immature for being upset about this? It is their opinion after all.

Edit - this was a reply to PKIVortex - too many simultaneous posts.

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I agree with DiamondbackCMH. Its not the end of the world that the ERT have changed. The park wants to showcase its new ride and why should we say its a horrible idea. The majority of Gold Pass members will jump at the chance to ride the brand new really tall spinny ride. Good for the park for trying to make more money to better the park. If you people are really going to live and die on what rides are open for a half hour everyday, then you really need to take a step back and re-evaluate your priorities. You have Kings Island. Just enjoy what you have while you still have it. Stop complaining about every single thing you find wrong and just enjoy the next summer at your favorite park. I know thats what I'll be doing.

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