Leaderboard

I realize there has been a lot of controversy lately as to what Matt Ouimet was/is going to do for KI and the other CF parks. Well, I was at KI yesterday for the first time this year and I would like to share my positive experience with you. We were waiting at the front gates right before ERT, and all of the employees came out of the Guest Relations office and cheerfully greeted the crowd. Asked us if we're ready to have fun in the park, waved to us, and many of them were passing out park maps. Never in the years I've been going to KI have I seen the employees interact with the guests the way they did. It was amazing. As we walked to Diamondback, employees and even security guards said hello with a smile on their face. I also saw neatly painted white gates with the KI logo in place of the tattered ropes used to hold back the non-ERT guests. A little later, we went to Beast and I absolutely can not believe how the massive amount of retracking has brought that coaster to its former glory. For the first time in a few years I had my hands up and a smile on my face instead of gritting my teeth and clenching the black bar to stop myself from getting jerked around. Beast has needed some love for a long time and it finally got it. When we got something to eat, we headed to the new burrito place (the name of the restaurant escapes me right now but it is where Outer Hanks used to be). I walked in and there it was. FRESH FRUIT. Yes, you read that right. Fresh fruit, and salads. And lots of it. How long have we been asking for this? It was so nice to bite into roast beef, rice, and lettuce yesterday instead of a greasy hot dog and cold fries. The friendliness of the employees was constant yesterday and all the ride crews were having fun. I also noticed a large shelf of cold cut sandwiches with veggies on them at LaRosa's. I'm not sure if they were there before or not, but not everyone does well with greasy food at an amusement park and it is nice to have healthy food options. (I did get pizza, but that's neither here nor there ) Yesterday was also math and science day. There were a few groups that got Fast Lane passes and the way the employees executed it had zero effect on the usual speed of the lines moving. This will be my 17th year visiting Kings Island. In all the years I've been visiting, I have never seen such a genuine and obvious effort to make the guests happy. I know I've said that I won't visit much this year, but seeing my home park turned around like this has me wishing I could go back today. So I would like to give a shoutout to our new CEO. He was at KI yesterday, and I'm disappointed that I didn't get a chance to tell him that he's doing a terrific job.

A. I don't know. You see, in the past they have not introduced the new thing for 2013. B. It's a different they. C. With a different marketing strategy. D. Past performance is no indicator of future performance. See especially B. and C. E. Rinse and repeat.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2012/05/02/frontier-worlds-done-in-by-kings-island/

An interesting article that may have some familiar strategy expressed therein by one of the most adept, professional and truly nice people in the industry: http://bridgewater.patch.com/articles/relive-your-youth-at-great-adventure-9ea04c0a Worth a read. And a thought or two.

Its a GREAT watch, watch it!!!! You arent encouraging, not one bit, you are enjoying the sight of an EMPTY park and how things look when they are dormant. That was the only thing I enjoyed fully about the GOCC Winter Party at CP, the park tour when it was closed. Its a great vid and you have the opportunity to vicariously do something that would get you tossed in the slammer if you did it yourself. As a former LEO, I can say.... Is it "against the rules"? Well, yes it is. However, no one was injured, defamed, morally damaged, and no proprietary or intellectual information was gained/lost in this adventure so enjoy it for what it is. Edit to say.... if I could do this around the GL property without getting arrested, you can bet your last dollar Id be on my way to Aurora as we speak!!

All I can say is OMG. How is this even possible? We couldn't even keep our Giant Top spin together by just spinning it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x1MxVE5somE

Great sum of the day we had yesterday Angie. The buritto I had yesterday was huge, it took both hands to eat the thing! Gator said, "this was a good value for the money." When was the last time you heard that from an enthusiast? I think everyone should give the new food options in the park a try. I was even telling my wife last night when I got home that she would realy enjoy the buritto we had. I think CF really has stepped up their A game! Keep it up, it will bring my family to the park more often this summer!

And while you are busy thanking Mr. Ouimet, and rightfully so, also consider thanking Q and even Mr. Kinzel's harebrained scheme to sell to Apollo, without which current top level management would arguably not be having FUN.

Just missed Drop Tower get struck by lightning twice. Scared the living daylights outta me!

Oh, the irony. FTW, not intentionally making these grammar-critiquing posts lately...

Thanks for explaining rather than acting like it is some top secret rally, lol.

I think their bringing a whole new meaning to "bottomless buffet"

McSalsa: If KI is to remove Son of Beast in the same amount of time, they'd best hurry. They have until Cedar Point's opening day (a week from Saturday). Not likely.

kifan73.. would you privy me to how you did that? That would be a great effect to be able to apply to my photography! Thanks

Awesome thread! It is so great to people willing to share this type of stuff with all of us here at KIC! Thank you so much for the effort you put into this!

Yeah, "globe" seems to be one of the more common mispronunciations/misspellings, despite the fact that it's actually pronounced "GO-bull". And by the way, I see you added my new avatar into the credits while you were fixing the spelling. You didn't need to do that, but thanks anyway!