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Trying to make this a yearly thing being how much fun we had last year. The lady friend and I made our way to Sandusky to enjoy the short lines and low crowds. Day 1 Arrived at Castaway Bay and immediately started the trip off on the wrong foot. Left home in a hurry and ended up leaving my wallet at home on accident. This in turn created a dilemma of not having an I.D. or CC to show for check in. Luckily they allowed me to switch the room into her name and I was able to use my online banking to prove I’m the owner of the card. We spent most of our afternoon settling in the room and enjoying the waterpark before it was time to head over to CP for haunt. Got to CP and went to the ticket booth to get her in. Asked for a ticket and the woman working the booth gave me a total was over $100! At first I was confused, thinking maybe she mistaken thought I asked for a ticket for each of us. She ended up repeating the same number and stated it was for one ticket. I could feel the cringe in my wallet back home. I corrected myself and asked for a bring-a-friend ticket because like normally they prompt you with “are you a season pass holder?” So she then corrected me by stating that those tickets can only be purchased on line. Which I find an bit odd. Bring a friend ticket online price after fees: $33.98. Much better, LOL. The crowd levels were very low, I think the longest line we’ve waited for was Maverick which was roughly 20 minutes. Got in line for Millie and the water mist fans were going even tho it was in the 60’s. Maybe due to cuts they’re using them now to to supplement the fog machines in the midways? Then came to ride her favorite coaster and the coaster I’m definitely a MISFIT with (and I’ll leave it at that) which is, Steel Vengeance. The freebie lockers worked, and I had my usual run in with the loose articles people. Ate my favorite restaurant in the park being Back Beat BBQ. (One day maybe KI will get brisket.) As far as CP haunt goes the roomers were quite obvious to see with the crowd levels being so low, therefor there wasn’t much for “jump scares” in the midways. We did Cornstalkers 2.0 and being the first night of haunt. I think the scare actors may have been lost in their own maze, not many of them made an appearance lol. We wrapped up the night, right before park closure taking the Skyride back to the front gate. Day 2 Woke up and went to Jolly’s Donuts which is a hole in the wall diner which serves breakfast food and obviously donuts. Then proceeded to make our way to CP beach. The beach was surprisingly kinda gross with the amount of Seagull crap on the sand. The water was expectedly cold, so we decided to throw down a towel and chill. Afterwards we made it back to Castaway bay and finished our time in Sandusky at the waterpark. We sat and had our adult beverages inside the hot tub till an overzealous supervisor came over to yell at us and another couple that had drinks that they had to be on a table and not hot tub side. Nobody had glass containers so not knowing what his problem was, the group next to us dragged a table over to side of the hot tub so everyone could keep their drinks nearby. All in all other than some little things. We had a blast and definitely plan on returning to do it again next year!

Spell check please on the Haunt map ! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is a big one, but it would make a huge difference. All eateries will henceforth be founded, operated, and managed by independent vendors who pay rent or a share of their revenue to Kings Island. This ensures that each eatery is good enough to make money and compete against the other restaurants. No matter what improvements are made to food operations at Kings Island, they will never operate a restaurant as well as people who do that alone full-time. No longer would some restaurants continue to exist just because they are more convenient than leaving the park. This model has worked for Indiana Beach for a very long time. The burger I had there from the BlueJay Cafe was outstanding and would have been outstanding even for a restaurant outside of a park.

Jolly Donut is always a must-stop for my fiancé' and I! Been going there for years. Not only are their doughnuts great, but the rest of their menu is also enjoyable. And their price points are definitely more than reasonable too. Glad someone else here on this forum has experience with that old school diner! Also thanks for the heads up on low crowds this time of year. May end up having to make a trip like that next year. Low crowds would be a treat at that park.

I mean no one had made a comment for nearly a month until now…

Im 100% on board with this as well, even as I am (continually unsuccessfully) trying to eliminate drinking pop, the TD Cherry Coke is a certain go-to when the stand is open. Also, even though I Love the Freestyle machines, either they need at least 2 more locations with them (I know, too cost prohibitive) or they need to police the one by SolSpin better because of humans' lack of ability to master the rudimentary task of operating said machines, and then there was the time I was there Sunday before Labor Day when I had to have the "That is a move that you really dont want to make again" conversation with a family that looked like the O'Doyles (O' Doyles rule!) who decided it would be a good idea to jump the line for the machines.

On a more serious note. It has taken me a few weeks to make this post. It is hard when your personal feelings on a situation come into play as well. I struggle with keeping this thread up. We want to be a positive and supportive fan site for the park. After all, that is a big reason this site even exists in the first place. That is even before some of us became members. That incudes myself. The admins have talked about this thread more than any other thread recently. We have to consider if the thread is of value for the forums. Since some of the criticism has been adopted by the park, it is of value and benefit not only in discussion, but seems to be having a positive impact for the park. When I think about the purpose of the forums, I think the following: A place to hear others thoughts, options, and understand another persons perspective of the park. That does not stop at just being a visitor or pass holder. We are also discussing how Kings Island and other parks operate. There is a lot of years of park experience and history on these forums and members of KIC. We may not always agree with or understand a decision that is made by the park. The management of Kings Island (and probably corporate) have made their decision on who they want in their respective roles. Some members may see from the outside looking in that a decision is not the correct one. It is hard to watch seeing a possible bad move or decision hurt the park. lt's especially hard when we have such passion for the park, want to see it thrive and for some have even invested in FUN. In that regard, let's please keep the criticism respectful. Speaking from emotion alone usually ends up not being helpful to the thread or park. We also have to come at it from an intellectual perspective as well. Give us all something to think about in your post.

Have you heard of The Racer? The Beast? The Partridge Family? The Brady Bunch? Evel Kineval? His Son? Son of Beast? Banshee? Those were all PR campaigns that have had a huge impact on one regional park that echoes to this day.

Except they say Steel Vengeance holds records that will stand a long time and Iron Gwazi broke most of them lol...

I don't see anything wrong with these. They don't really say that the rides are brand new, it's more of a general behind the scenes video

OR… KI Comms can speak for themselves… maybe? Anyone? Bueller… Bueller… Bueller?

I’m sure they weren’t super pressed for updating their content. Whether an attraction is 5 years old or older might now matter to non enthusiasts