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2016 ERT has gotta make some changes


bjcolglazier
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Made my first 2016 trip to the park today.  Was there from 9:30am until about 2pm.  Take a guess at my longest wait of the day.  Food service?  The Beast?  Any other ride or...anything at all...after 10am "opening"?

 

Nope.  Longest wait of the day was for Diamondback during ERT.  Ridiculous.  Line was stretched clear back practically to the ice cream shop in Planet Snoopy until the light-bulbs went off and they opened up some queue's for Diamondback.  This was a non-issue the last couple years.  Many ERT rides taken in previous years...great experiences.  The difference?  Banshee isn't running.

 

This needs fixed asap!  Keep the current schedule, but Banshee needs to be running for ERT the entire season no matter what.  Really hoping the park sees the disaster they've created.

 

We had a great day today, don't get me wrong.  I was just shocked that the worst part of the whole day was ERT.  Ugh!  Not a good way to start the year.

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Or Kings Island could revert to Diamondback+Beast ERT. That was an excellent combination, and something I miss.

That might do the trick!  But wow does everyone flock to Diamondback with no other coaster to alleviate the pressure.  I wasn't the only one upset this morning that's for sure.  One guy claimed he, "talked to a manager".  Another simply got out of line as he looked at his wife and said, "this is NOT ERT!".  Total bummer today.

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Agreed. ERT was pointless this morning. Fast Lane was being let through as well. Don't know if that's common practice at KI during early entry, it's not at CP.

Later in the the day, 3 individuals walked in the DB Fast Lane, obviously were not stopped at the point of entry, were turned away at the station, then PAID someone to let them cut at the bottom of the the stairs. Unbelievable.

I have mixed feelings about about today's visit.

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I know there could be the usual, "well, some parks don't even have ERT" comments.  That's fine, but we've been spoiled, and buy season passes expecting as much these days.  I saw so many disappointed folks first thing this morning, and that's unfortunate.  I really do think the park needs to recognize the issue, and adjust accordingly, and quickly too.

 

Our family had an otherwise "Best Day Ever" today.  Again.  I want to put emphasis on that.  But it started out with a thud.

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I just get to the park 15-30 minutes before ERT starts. Then I run lol. It has worked every time so far. But seriously, the ERT is corrupt. Cedar Point had over 5 coasters last year and the lines still back up a little. Kings Island needs to open more than one ride. Id say 500 people attend ERT at Kings Island per day. Diamondback's currently operatef capacity is maybs 1,000 people per hour with the stacking. That is a 30 minute wait. So Kings Island can do two things, tell Carowinds to train their Diamondback crew, or open up more rides for ERT.

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^ On Opening Day, being near the front of the crowd at the front gate and power walking to Diamondback was sufficient to make the second train of the day. No running required.

It should be noted that, starting June 1, multiple "adult" thrill rides will be open during ERT through the end of the season. See the schedule here: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/item/Season-Pass-Benefits-7-10-14-23/Early-Ride-Time-7-10-14-30

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^ On Opening Day, being near the front of the crowd at the front gate and power walking to Diamondback was sufficient to make the second train of the day. No running required.

It should be noted that, starting June 1, multiple "adult" thrill rides will be open during ERT through the end of the season. See the schedule here: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/item/Season-Pass-Benefits-7-10-14-23/Early-Ride-Time-7-10-14-30

Looks like the rest of the season has more than one adult ride.  That might be sufficient.  Rest of April, and all of May are pretty hosed though.  

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This free burger didn't have enough ketchup.

The curve only bumped my grade by 2 points.

This ERT doesn't have enough of the things I want.

Hey I'm all for telling the park when and how to fix things that are broke but complaining because a perk isn't as great as you wish it was is beyond silly and reeks of #firstworldproblems

This cupcake has too much icing. My Coke refill wasn't to the top of the the cup.

And BJ you are right. You are coming off sort of spoiled because you had to wait in a longer than you expected line to ride a ride before the general public did.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Absolutely a first-world-problem.  I'm not arguing otherwise.  Spoiled?  For sure.  But I think the park strives to make things like ERT a really nice perk.  Sunday it wasn't, and it was unlike any other ERT I'd experienced.  Quite a few people I saw besides myself were not thrilled with the situation.  A lot of it comes down to expectations based on past experiences.  If opening up one other big ride can alleviate the problem, I think the park would be well to make a change.  ERT during Memorial Day weekend for instance...with the current lineup and if the weather is nice...you'd be just as well to skip it and make a 10:00 bee-line to another ride.  

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We were there for ERT and hoped to get my son on one of the two Planet Snoopy rides, both had long lines. I instead of waiting in a line full of adults for gliders tried my best to distract my son until 10. I really enjoyed our ride on RFYLCB and so did he. It would be nice to see another coaster added to try and deter adults from going to the gliders first thing. The park doesn't have to open anything early though so I do thank them for at least giving us the opportunity. 

 

13051722_10209425910710933_2857458907483

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Absolutely a first-world-problem.  I'm not arguing otherwise.  Spoiled?  For sure.  But I think the park strives to make things like ERT a really nice perk.  Sunday it wasn't, and it was unlike any other ERT I'd experienced.  Quite a few people I saw besides myself were not thrilled with the situation.  A lot of it comes down to expectations based on past experiences.  If opening up one other big ride can alleviate the problem, I think the park would be well to make a change.  ERT during Memorial Day weekend for instance...with the current lineup and if the weather is nice...you'd be just as well to skip it and make a 10:00 bee-line to another ride.  

 

 

This is something maybe most people might not complain about. At least, I thought so at first. It sounds like it is bothering quite a few passholders. For many, it was an excellent perk. But on Sunday, it really didn't amount to much of a perk at all. 

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We really look forward to our Sunday family ERT sessions and were sorely disappointed yesterday too. Got to the gate at 9:15 and by the time we made it back to Diamondback, the line was through to Planet Snoopy. We waited about 15 Monte's with nearly no movement and decided to wait for The Beast rope drop instead. Seemed like ERT was nothing more then being a closer walk to Beast for us!

And my husband is NOT one to complain about extra perks. He complained about this one!

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Anyone notice yet that they have a revolving ERT ride schedule this year (as if things weren't confusing enough already).  Personally I haven't bothered with ERT since they reduced it to 30 mins. 1 ride before the park opens isn't enough motivation for me to get there early, which to me is a failure in terms of pass perks. Cedar Point still gets an hour (always has.. love morning rides on millennium) , why can't we?

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I don't mind a revolving ERT schedule, but I wish it would more balanced with at least two major thrill rides, not just one. I would love to see it return to an hour, as well, but even with the half hour, in the past, I was able to get like 3 rides on Diamondback within that  half hour on a good day.

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When it was an hour in 2012, few people showed up for the first half most days. The next year, ERT was shortened to 30 minutes but given an additional ride.

If you enjoy perk, show, ride or event and want it to stick around, the best thing to do is to make a point to utilize it.

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And if the park is super busy the ERT won't be as big of a perk as if the park is not busy.

I mean I get the Fast Pass part and being upset about that, but you all are upset because a lot of people all had the same plan as you which was to get some rides on DB.

If the crowd wasn't there this wouldn't be a topic

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As far as the gliders.....I know myself and a few others love riding the gliders with little to no wait so the ert spot is well appreciated.

Also to my knowledge there was only one recent year that had a 1 hour ert session. The rest have been 30 minutes.

The only place I see a flaw if you can call it that, is that you can't actually enter the gates until 930. But I wouldn't necessarily call it a flaw, I'd consider it more of less time to be in the park.

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This free burger didn't have enough ketchup.

The curve only bumped my grade by 2 points.

This ERT doesn't have enough of the things I want.

Hey I'm all for telling the park when and how to fix things that are broke but complaining because a perk isn't as great as you wish it was is beyond silly and reeks of #firstworldproblems

This cupcake has too much icing. My Coke refill wasn't to the top of the the cup.

And BJ you are right. You are coming off sort of spoiled because you had to wait in a longer than you expected line to ride a ride before the general public did.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

The irony here is that out of the entire thread, the only post that seems to read "Oh no! The sky is falling" is this one. I don't think anyone here is angry beyond discontent, just opening up about a flaw they see with a something they paid for. No one seems to be saying the park is working against us, merely that the new system isn't working for them. 

 

What I don't understand is why it isn't okay to complain about a perk not being up to par, specifically when it was last year and the year before that. I could see the point if there was only a single season pass offered, then you could argue "Well, they don't have to do this." But the very nature of a Gold and Platinum Pass is the perks. That;s why you *pay more* for a Gold Pass.

 

Sure, you could say they don't have to offer ERT, but it is something they offer. It is a major benefit and the system worked very well in previous years, but was worked around and doesn't seem to work this year, there is a validity for a complaint. There is always a validity to complain if you're a paying customer. We're not talking about going to McDonalds and asking for a bicycle.  Most of the complaints and suggestions have been reasonable: more balance between the big rides and the little rides. 

 

Also, at 9:30 in the morning, it really didn't seem that busy. Plus, the point of the complaints wasn't that everyone went to the same place, but that, for passholders wanting to use their ERT on a major rollercoaster, they only had one place to go to for that, and for many in that line, the ERT didn't even come in to play for them, because they were still in line after 10am. 

 

The day itself, at least for the hours I was there, didn't seem all that busy. According to FunTV, The Beast had an hour wait, but when I rode it moments before, it was only like  5 to 10 minute wait. The longest I waited was like 40 minutes for Diamondback. The rest of the coasters I rode seemed to be about 20 minute waits. So it is reasonable to assume that if Banshee was also offered on that Sunday, then people might have gotten more bang for their buck, which again is why you pay extra for a Gold Pass in the first place. 

 

Granted, it is also reasonable to assume this won't be a big deal on weekdays. However, that doesn't make complaints about Sunday any less valid. This is a forum about Kings Island. Every complaint is a "first world" complaint. 

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