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Glad to hear your opinion! I'm almost 100% sure that it wasn't a typo. It's really too early to tell what might be coming next

My thought is that it really makes me glad I chose to do Splashin' Safari at Holiday World this past weekend. 

And, dare we joke about it, what if this is a ploy to try to encourage season pass sales with the buy next year, get the rest of this year free promotion and the season pass sales do not meet expectations and they decide to remove those additional days from the fall lineup....

I wonder if the shows (presumably Ghouls Gone Wild and NyteWalkers) will run on Thursday nights at Haunt. Cedar Point's HalloWeekends Thursdays generally don't have much live entertainment.

For full transparency, I've been busy this year. Between going to Epic several times, Cedar Point and a slew of other regional parks; I haven't been able to or engaged with the park as I usually am by this point in the year. However, with that being said this year is a serious let down. I have been to the waterpark a few times this year and noticed every time the same inefficiencies and lack of guest experience being the forefront of park operations. The following is going to be a rant that is fueled by the fact that I have been going to this waterpark religiously for the past 20+ years which is wild for me to think about but is true. That, coupled with my actual experience as a lifeguard who worked in Soak City, cross trained on both sides of the waterpark knowing the ins and outs of everything before Tropical Plunge in operations; I would like to think I know a thing or two. I was grateful that I did learn how Tropical Plunge operated from friends who worked at the park, those days however are over as most of the people I knew now are in some form of park management or operations at KI and other parks that may or may not be in sunny central Florida. That being said, the expansion was a breath of fresh air but the waterpark feels like it was supposed to be switched to a new theme and was honestly half baked. The didgeridoos and the spouts on the river are painted to a green and brown, willows have been planted across the action river, the children's area in splash landing has been repainted to reflect a more earthy tone and lastly a whole section of the park is effectively themed to a lake/river section. Even the main store was repainted and feels like something out of a camp site than a tropical oasis. Listen, I will beat the Boomerang Bay drum all my life as I loved that era of the waterpark. However, at least with the Soak City retheme it was pretty conclusive and the theme flowed through the whole waterpark. This.....just stands out in a negative way. It feels as if, in my opinion, the park was supposed to retheme the waterpark but didn't have enough funding to actually follow through. Instead of just adding what they did, they just painted a solid portion of the rest of the water park in this pseudo themed area of the waterpark. I wish almost that they created some form of cohesion, maybe retheme mondo and make that whole section into the "river country"; which I would have been all for as that's a unique take on how to do sections in a waterpark. The cost cuts are, well, for a lack of better terms frustrating especially on weekdays where you have to trek to the edges of the waterpark for an actual drink stand instead of the lines of the Island Smokehouse. Operations are honestly my biggest gripe with the new focus on "synergies". Listen, I come from a time when Pineapple Pipeline and Tropical Twisters were always the first to close off for staffing. I understand how the park can hemorrhage lifeguards through the season however the operational efficiency is just not there. Thunder Falls is honestly where this post really came from. I spent a full HOUR waiting for this slide, both at the bottom and at the top. Both times I have been to the waterpark this year Green was closed off, and Blue was the only operating slide. This led to a very poor customer experience, as I waited so long I could not believe it was so slow. The chain speaks of cost cutting measures, of closing off drink stations, of reductions in parks but can keep in it's budget to have a slide that is not being used as an asset for guest experience is wild to me. Now I can imagine you're probably thinking "Well BB1, it costs money to have a lifeguard staffed up there." I agree, but why did I see 3 lifeguards in the lazy river basically doing what 2 lifeguards can do. That is, two guards were handing tubes to guests and one was in the river sizing people for life jackets. There were even times when I worked there where we wouldn't have someone in and just have the sizer on duty to spiel. In my honest opinion, this is more of a cost to the waterpark efficiency than anything else. You can sit here and tell me cost cuts all day but when I see assets not being used and having excess in certain spots I see inefficiencies that should be addressed.  Lastly, the employees this year are just really bland. I get it, dealing with guests who can be a bit much can be exhausting. However, to be basically barked to go up the stairs for tropical plunge for the tubes is really upsetting to when I worked there. No one asks how are you, no one really smiles and interacts. Basic task, no questions asked, no interaction besides here is how to ride now go. I hate the fact that every time I went I really didn't get the interactions I gave or I got in years past. You deliver fun, you should want to be fun and have fun at work while also maintaining safety at it's highest measure. Have I been spoiled by Universal? No because I remember how the park was a decade ago and this is totally different.  That being said there are a few good things that came this year. The new security process is fluid and straightforward. The new waterslide doesn't do much, is kind of a lug to bring up your tube, but is a fun slide that checks the box of what I wanted from the waterpark. (Is it as long and as dynamic as I wanted? Far from it, but like the "Giga" the park gave just enough to say hey we gave you what you asked for. I appreciate the new trees, wish there were more trees but I appreciate the move to try to give more greenery; but we're still miles away from what we had prior to 2012.  I know most people here really aren't interested in Soak City, but I felt like this needed to be addressed. Before you ask, yes I'm planning on giving guest feedback when I come back this weekend. What are your thoughts this point in the season?