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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/13/2023 in all areas
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This very KICentral thread makes the news in an article by John Matarese. https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/kings-island-trims-2024-hours-removes-one-week-of-operations4 points
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The Four Drummers Drumming show at WinterFest was a crowd-pleaser for guests of all ages. The social media buzz with photos and videos truly captured the essence of the experience. Those third-party impressions are priceless and will be missed!4 points
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I think that is taking it a bit too far. That, unlike the prestige issue, the reduced days and hours issue, and the budget cut issue, was completely out of their control. They did work with people in individual cases. I'd venture a conjecture that all these issues we are facing now would not be in the discussion had COVID 19 not been in the equation. .4 points
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I am quite sad to see the four drummers being dropped. They were always so entertaining to watch.3 points
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John Matarese is a silly and would never have anything to "report" if it wasn't for... 1) This website 2) Apple releasing new iPhones (he does the SAME story every year) 3) His target demographic falling for his scare tactics constantly.2 points
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2 points
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I think you are focused on the outliers. And I have heard of many of those folks getting refunds. But if you want a refund and still live close to the park, I think it's reasonable to not give one. If the pass was used at the end of 2019, I think it's reasonable to not offer a refund, even if the person moved away and couldn't use it in 2021. The reason they are in the shape they are in is directly related to the pandemic. The decisions they have made over this season are related, and very short sighted. It will harm them in the long term. But I'd rather have an open park than a park that closed down because of circumstances out of management control. What did Dollywood do for season passholders who did not want 2021 free? If they didn't offer blanket refunds, would they be an unethical company? Let's say you were the decision maker for Cedar Fair and were tasked with a solution for this problem. What would you have done, knowing how precariously your company was dangling over the edge of a cliff?2 points
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^And don't forget on the Prestige Pass, they wouldn't even entertain allowing someone to revert back to gold or platinum when a big chunk of the legal "bait and switch" occurred within weeks of someone buying a pass. They penalized the early bird. I bet most would have been happy if they would have even said the "refund" had to be in beagle bucks LOL. And until a critical mass decides to forego the little savings by renewing early and instead waits until the first day they decide to go to the park the following year, they will continue these tactics. As long as they continue to have healthy early renewals, they have no incentive to change their practice and will continue to pull the legal "subject to change without notice" card whenever it works for them. ERT seems like the next logical cut. Think of the savings.2 points
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It's also worth mentioning that Dollywood is operating DAILY Jan 1 to Jan 7 2024 for the end of their Christmas event. I saw some posts online about how much people thought a CF/SF all park pass should be? They were giving prices like $250, which is only slightly more than a Dollywood, Hershey, etc one park pass. The customers that CF and SF have decided to cater to with their virtually all-thrill-and-kiddie lineup of attractions is bringing the kind of customer that wants everything for nothing...... I have a 2024 CF all park pass with meals and drinks that i paid appx $375 for through Canada's Wonderland. I don't attend these parks as much as i used to, but i will get my money's worth out of it with at least 10 visits. However, that is ALL that i will spend at a Cedar Fair park in 24 because of the unethical way they do business (namely ghost weather closures for low attendance) and because of their current philosophy to cut cut cut. I am in driving distance of Dollywood and will probably spend $1,000 plus there next year. $234 for the gold pass, eating every time i go, even merchandise (i found a great wallet there last visit). They don't mysteriously close due to low attendance and blame the weather, so i know i will get to do what I am planning when i go there. I will gladly spend money there because they provide a great product. Their employees are VERY friendly. When a park can provide a full working schedule 10 months of the year and treats their employees right (back to the ghost weather closures which cut employee hours), they can retain good employees and enough of them to keep everything open. I visited in Sept on weekdays and the ONLY thing closed in the ENTIRE park was ONE restaurant ONE day. It's also wonderful to be able to visit a park on Spring, Fall and Winter weekdays. I find that Dollywood attracts a diverse crowd that comes for the shows as well as the rides. On these off season weekdays, half the crowd is there for the shows and there are no lines for the rides. Quality experience because they are smart enough to appeal to a more varied, higher spending crowd. They have obviously figured out how to use their facility 10 months of the year while Cedar Fair and these other chains leave them sit empty the majority of the year. I think CF, SF, and SEAS are very BAD investments right now if one if playing the stock market, because they have NO long term growth plan. Only milking what they can out of current customers through cost cutting to meet their short term profit goals. Cedar Fair was initially a great thing for the Taft parks but the wrong people have moved up the ranks and have no idea how to grow a business. This merge is a desperate last attempt at cost cutting (it will eliminate jobs so it is also pure greed at the expense of the employees). CF is not a well managed OR ethical business.2 points
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Same here....though 2023 CP was far more amazing to me than any other park. I agree with you 2022 felt like they really figured it all out. 2023 came around and it was like: "well we made it to #51, that's good enough." I used to love doing a full day at the park...my last visit, I lasted 51 before I was "KI'd out" as @malem would say. I truly can't put my finger on what it was, the atmosphere, the ride operations or the loss of a celebration feeling. I'm looking forward to visiting for Winterfest, trying not to get my hopes up too much.1 point
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Regardless of the shortening of hours and days of operation. I’ll be getting more than my moneys worth out of the 2024 season pass. A lot of people here can probably say the same. Also to keep things in perspective: Dollywood Silver pass = $159 waterpark not included. Busch Gardens Williamsburg Basic 1 park pass = $165 waterpark not included. Kings Island Gold Pass = $130 Waterpark included. Holiday World Season Pass = $165 w/ unlimited drinks. Not to mention BGW’s Basic Pass and Dollywood’s Silver Pass have blackout dates.1 point
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Interesting that he responded after the story was published. But to be fair, the unknown is how quickly they needed to publish. Did they ask for comment last week or ten minutes before the story was published?1 point
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If Dollywood had dorms and Kings Island didn’t, they’d use that excuse. Dollywood figured it out. Kings Island devalued the product.1 point
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I know they have historical employment data, but if it has been shown they have to cut dates/hours, then maybe it is time to re-think the hiring process. Dollywood does very well with the older community as an example. I know many older people that do PM hours at KI and have seen the schedule and figure they really won't be getting hours until after Memorial day now.1 point
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1 point
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Making payments with the season pass payment plan is “subject to availability.” -Caveat Venditor1 point
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Eventually, everyone will be affected by the, "terms subject to change, no refunds" mentality that they have. I agree - most wouldn't notice... until it's the person who primarily goes during the week in the shoulder season, or whose kid really enjoys 'Four Drummers Drumming,' and so on. It seems like everyone and everything is subject to change, which will push back the purchasing decisions People not renewing early puts them at risk of not renewing. They are not positioning themselves well for that. They're playing the short game when the long game is almost always what pays off.1 point
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I feel the budget cuts were made to make the bottom line look better for the merger.1 point
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“Non-transparent” is the word that comes to mind for me. They stooged off the Prestige Pass thing, and instead of fessing up and apologizing, they kept your money and changed the language on the web site. They sold a a plurality of season passes and then announced they were no longer year-round at KD and Carowinds. They implemented a chaperone policy (for right or wrong) and when people had questions about how that would affect them, their SPX ran and hid. If a woman steals baby food to feed her starving baby, she’s not unethical, but still a criminal. If you have bad news and withhold it until after peoples’ money is locked in, you’re unethical… and a coward. You know what would be the perfect solution? Making things like season passes non-committal subscriptions. Budget cuts for Haunt? You can cancel your membership until December. 6:00pm closes during the early season? Cancel your membership and resubscribe in June. That way there would be accountability and would cut the bait-and-switch tactics that they took up.1 point
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2022 was my favorite season at KI and CF overall. They ran the parks so well. It felt like CF had everything figured out and they were adding a ton of things. All of a sudden this year it has felt to me that something is off. 2023 KI atmosphere was some of the saddest I’ve seen in years. It felt like Paramount days. CF continues to remove things and make budget cuts. It saddens me to see all of the budget cuts and low employee moral has become. I love Kings Island and I have been going for many many years and I know how good the park can be. I just hope Cedar Fair can figure some things out and maybe 2024 and 2025 will be better. I don’t want to hate on Cedar Fair because they really have taken our park to the next level I am just so passionate about KI I just don’t want it to be treated this way. Maybe this Six Flags merger will be a good thing if the parks as a whole make more money so less budget cuts are made.1 point
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Dollywood added 23 operating days for 2024. https://themeparksbydon.com/dollywoods-2024-a-year-of-extraordinary-adventures-and-experiences/1 point
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Dollywood also does not offer a cheap meal plan as well.. In fairness, you get what you pay for. This is one reason that Kings Island and Cedar Fair Parks are being run so poorly these days. I have said this before. The company has sold these cheap season passes and these cheap meal plans so long that now their low spending customers expect it. Plus, they came most of their attractions at this low spending market. So their only solution to make money is to cut cut cut since the revenue is not high enough. Cutting services and benefits. It’s just leaving to further attendance increases. It’s a downward spiral that started with their low season pass, and meal plan prices. I personally would rather pay more and get a better product and treated better. The cheap season passes is the reason that a Cedar Fair thinks they can pull antics like closing the park early for low attendance. Their thought process is that the season pass holders are going to renew regardless of how they treated because of the low price It’s obviously failing shown by the lower attendance1 point
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In fairness their Gold Pass is twice as much as a Gold Pass for Kings Island.1 point
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https://hfe.widen.net/s/hm2pjhbzhb/24dw_opcal_festivals Dollywood has posted their 2024 schedule. They are operating almost daily except for five day weeks in April and August. There are only 21 days that they are closed next year between March 8 and New Year’s. And 3 of those are Thanksgiving/Christmas. Their shortest operating day is nine hours long now This is an expansion over the 2023 schedule where they were operating at least five days a week and the shortest day was it eight hours it sounds like they’re doing something absolutely right to grow their schedule while these other mismanaged theme parks are cutting their schedules. They run their business with ethics towards the customers and employees.1 point
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It’s been a couple years since I’ve rafted the Gauley. The last time I rafted it with my rafting friends we had a bad experience, almost capsized on the first group of rapids. Got stuck on a rock right before shipwreck. (Massive undercut). So I haven’t been able to convince my friends to give it another go. We still make an annual trip to the New River tho.1 point
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I'm not at that skill level yet (the Gauley is solid Class IV and V stuff and I've only just begun to advance to Class III rivers), but the Lower Gauley (Class IV) is one of my goals for next fall. I did do a commercial rafting trip on the Gauley in September (both Upper and Lower) and had a blast doing it.1 point
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My primary role the last few years I was at Kings Island was managing all of the park’s social media channels, which included organic and paid content, writing and publishing blogs, and optimizing the key performance indicators. The park annually had industry-leading results the years I managed the digital content efforts. I made it a priority to try to at least “like” every comment so the person making the comment knew it was seen, but due time restraints I wasn’t able to always reply back with comments. I would have liked to have been a lot better in this area, but was still able to accrue industry-leading results for engagement. A lot of that high engagement was derived through storytelling. That’s what I enjoyed the most, both when I did PR and then social media, telling the park’s stories. I was hired in 2007 to do the PR for the park, and then took on social media as that was emerging in 2008 around the time construction on Diamondback began to take shape. By 2015, it had become two distinctive different jobs. In the summer of 2017, there was a marketing restructure and at the bigger parks in the chain, PR and social media (digital marketing) were split into two different jobs. I landed on the digital side, which allowed for me to expand my skill set. It was a great opportunity, which came at a time when traditional PR was changing and the printing press was no longer news outlets, but rather Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs to share your news and stories, because that’s where the people you were trying to market to were. When I did PR, I was always looking to make noise to keep top of mind awareness for the park. During my years riding The Racer in the 1980’s, I was fortunate to be around and learn from three of the best to ever do it (PR) in the amusement and theme park industry in Bill Mefford, Ruth Voss and Carolyn Boos. They were the three most influential people in my career and the reason I was able to have a successful 27-year PR career, including 11 seasons doing PR at Kings Island. Way too much information, but this is what my role was during my years at Kings Island.1 point
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So, you've been to Six Flags Over Texas, Great Adventure, Six Flags Over Georgia, Fiesta Texas, Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great America, Six Flags New England? If not, how can you make such an all encompassing judgment?1 point
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If Six Flags owned Kings Island, I'd have a working season pass. Parking would be more expensive. The park would be named Six Flags Over Kings Island. And a lot more decisions about the park's future would be made in Mason, Ohio (not Grand Prairie, Texas) rather than in Sandusky, Ohio. In addition, the COO would be a former KI GM, Paramount Parks CEO and Chairman, well aware of the park's heritage and potential.1 point
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