FUN&ONLY!

What’s interesting is that the Prestige Passes are not listed on Kings Island’s website in the season pass section. As far as I know, you still need a direct link to access the Prestige Pass page. Also, this is probably a mistake, but the FAQ section for the Summer Pass says it comes with admission to fall daytime events, but the season pass comparison chart says otherwise.

I really, really like all the new additions that were announced for Cedar Fair parks. All of the additions are REALLY solid. I am honestly a bit jealous of all the new areas Carowinds has been getting recently (Carolina Harbor, County Fair, Blue Ridge Junction, and Aeronautica Landing). Area 72’s theming does not look to come close to Aeronautica Landing’s theming. I just wish that Kings Island got at least something for 2023. Hopefully, the lack of an addition indicates something big in 2024, but I know Mike Koontz mentioned he wanted to add something to Planet Snoopy and Soak City before adding a new rollercoaster. An overhaul of Planet Snoopy or Soak City would be really nice, though.

Kings Island re-introduces Grand Carnivale. It is a great event, but it is nothing new. Kings Island really doesn’t seem to have much new to offer for guests next year. Maybe Diamondback will get a repaint. That should happen anyways, though.

If you look at Grave Peacock’s Twitter page (she is the head of PR for Canada’s Wonderland), you will notice that she has done some teasing. Really, Kings Island very well could be getting something for next year. Only Worlds of Fun, Carowinds, and Cedar Point have officially stated there will be an announcement tomorrow, but they never said when or where the announcement will take place (though teasers indicate 10:00 AM). Unfortunately, I don’t see any live announcements happening. I assume all announcements will just be conducted via press release. I assume all Cedar Fair parks will have “announcements” tomorrow morning in the form of press releases whether they are for new rides or just 2023 season passes.

Each Cedar Fair park will make their announcements tomorrow if they have something to announce, but I haven’t seen anything regarding how the announcements will be made.

As much as I enjoy park improvements like ride repaints, those are part of basic infrastructure upkeep. Park improvements are great, but they cannot replace a new attraction. Park improvements should be ongoing regardless of a new attraction opening. Also, I love that Kings Island introduced many great entertainment offerings for this year. This may be controversial, but in my opinion, new shows cannot replace new attractions. A new show just does not attract people like a new ride. Think about Kings Mills Antique Autos. The media ran multiple stories when Kings Island announced the new ride in 2019. I haven’t seen many new news stories about Phantom Theatre Encore, though. A new show simply cannot be marketed like a a new attraction.

The thing is, Cedar Fair will say that all parks are adding something no matter how minor the additions are. Valleyfair could announce the return of Grand Carnivale. Michigan’s Adventure could announce the all-new Season Pass. Maybe Kings Island’s announcement will be the Prestige Passes. Cedar Fair has done stuff like this in the past. A park will market a new addition that really isn’t much.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Six Flags has any attractions in the pipeline for next year. The company as a whole seems to be in a weird place right now. However, I used to enjoy when Cedar Fair parks, especially Kings Island, would hold live announcements for guests and the media to take part in. Right now, we know that Worlds of Fun and Carowinds are getting very sizable additions, but it doesn’t seem like there are going to be any live announcements. Below is what we should expect to see from Cedar Fair tomorrow. Expected Cedar Fair Announcements: Worlds of Fun - New GCI (likely to be a Titan Track Hybrid with Infinity Flyers) Carowinds - New Aeronautica Landing (rumored to have four new flat rides) Cedar Point - New Grand Pavillion and Boardwalk Area (possibly news on Top Thrill Dragster) Canada’s Wonderland - Possible Planet Snoopy additions (the park has been teasing an announcement recently and markers have been spotted around Planet Snoopy)

There is a chance. In 2018, Kings Island announced that “something old would be new again” the day before announcing Kings Mills Antique Autos. The day before the announcement, the park invited guests and the media to join them the next day in the Festhaus for the announcement. I hope that if there is an announcement, Kings Island does it live with all park guests invited like they have either several other small additions in the past like when they announced Snoopy’s Space Buggies and Woodstock Gliders.

That is what makes the price difference confusing. The FAQ page and price differences would suggest that you need to buy the Prestige+ Pass at your home park, but it sounds like benefits work at the other Prestige Pass parks.

The FAQ section states that you need to purchase the Prestige Passes from your home park to get the benefits at your home park.

Then why is the Carowinds Prestige+ Pass $75 cheaper than if you were to buy the same pass from Kings Island or Cedar Point? The benefits of a Carowinds Prestige+ Pass would also work at Kings Island if I understand this correctly.

I agree with this. For what it’s worth, a member on PointBuzz was able to access Cedar Point’s 2023 Gold Pass “Buy Now” portal, and it appeared to be updated with 2023 information. The 2023 Cedar Point Gold Pass was still $99 and included unlimited Cedar Point and Cedar Point Shores visits in 2023. I assume Kings Island’s Gold Pass will be the same and at a similar price to prior years.

I’m the FAQ section on Kings Island’s website, it mentions that if you upgrade your Prestige+ Pass from another park, you will not have the benefits at your home park. I assume that besides the free entry and food and merchandise discounts, the additional Prestige+ Pass benefits do not extend beyond the passholder’s home park. This raises the question of whether free parking or access to ERT will extend beyond one’s home park. It would be a bummer to upgrade to Prestige+ only to have to pay for general parking (let alone preferred parking) and not have access to ERT at Cedar Point, for example. Cedar Fair really needs to clear the confusion with these new passes.

Two train operations on The Beast is awful. Luckily lines aren’t long today.

Kings Island is not very crowded today probably due to the forecasted rain. While it is raining and lines are short, I am surprised that some rollercoasters are running two trains instead of the usual three trains. I always liked how Kings Island would run all three trains on the high capacity rides like Diamondback and Orion regardless of day of the week and crowd level. While waits are not going to be super high today regardless, it is a little sad to see Kings Island not running all trains. On dead, rainy days just earlier this year, Kings Island would be running all trains on every ride and operations were amazing. It was really amazing to see that Kings Island cared so much to run rides at max efficiency when the crowds didn’t warrant it. It showed that they really cared. Now I know Kings Island sometimes shortens the train on the KI & Miami River Railroad on rainy days and closes a side of The Racer, but I have never seen less trains on major rides before.

You can use the tickets on a different day. You will likely just have to pay the difference in price if the price is different on another day. On Wednesday, however, I doubt the tickets would be more expensive. If you do go on a day where the weather forecast is less than ideal, lines should be very manageable. That is, if the rides don’t shut down due to inclement weather. If you do choose to go on a nicer day, lines should still be pretty manageable.

Knott’s Berry Farm’s Haunt event, Knott’s Scary Farm, is not included.

I think many people are under the impression that the new Prestige Pass System is a subscription service. IT IS NOT! Cedar Fair lists the prices of the passes by their monthly rate on a payment plan because it probably seems cheaper. You still need to make a down payment and keep making monthly payments if you don’t pay up front. It is exactly like the Gold and Platinum Pass payment plans. I think the one Front of the Line Pass per visit will simply allow a group to wait in the Fast Lane line instead of the standby line for one attraction. I don’t see a new third line being created. Also, some of the Prestige+ perks like access to VIP Areas and Preferred Parking may only work at the other parks that offer Prestige Passes which are Cedar Point and Carowinds. The unlimited VIP Area access is interesting. Since it sounds like the VIP Areas will be permanent, it would be nice to see actual permanent VIP Areas constructed instead of just tents. I believe the early 2 hour entry is only 2 hours of exclusive entry through an alternate entrance and not two hours of ERT. I hope Kings Island revamps and reopens the old passholder entrance because if Kings Island just dedicated a few turnstiles to Prestige Passholders, it would probably not be any faster because other pass holders and ticket holders might not know the difference and use the wrong turnstiles. The current passholder entrance looks really bad, and the front gate could also use a revamp. This off-season would present a perfect opportunity to revamp the passholder entrance for Prestige Passholders and revamp the main gate as well.

I like these new passes. I think the pricing is pretty fair for what you get. It is interesting that Kings Island lists Free Fall Daytime Visits and Free Haunt and Winterfest Visits separately as if the Gold Pass will no longer include free Haunt and Winterfest visits. However, I know that with other parks in the chain, Haunt is not included in benefits, so that may be why Haunt and Winterfest are listed separately.

I think a lot of people do to be honest. Kings Island advertises a new attraction every year when season passes go on sale to incentivize season pass purchases and renewals.

Who recently visited the park?

Where did the employee work? Was it a higher-up employee or a seasonal associate?

I think there is a chance Kings Island will have Gravity Group re-track the second half of The Racer. However, Kings Island did just repaint it, so it may be unlikely.

Do you care to elaborate?