FUN&ONLY!

From what I saw, most of the food stands close at 10:00 PM today. I also noticed many of those Coca-Cola stands that sell pretzels open for the first time, and Rivertown Funnel Cakes was open. Staffing seems to have definitely improved, and I am glad we are now open until 10:00 PM again!

I actually wouldn’t mind if John Materese made a story about it. WCPO would reach out to Kings Island, so they would probably release a statement on it like with the markers at the front of the park.

Area 72 is a relatively small area, so I would really like to see an expansion. However, it is going to be hard to expand Area 72 behind Orion without creating some sort of bottleneck.

I don’t necessarily mind that the footprints were removed. I know they are supposed to lead to The Beast, but mostly everyone already knows where it is. Also, the white paint wasn’t going to hold up. I do hope Kings Island can better hide the covered footprints, though, because you can still see them. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the ones on the brick pavers are removed soon. The park will probably have to replace some of the pavers to get rid of them.

Camp Cedar was DEFINITELY behind on construction. There must really be material shortages because I noticed a whole new structure that has gone up within the last week. I really hope that this structure and everything else can be finished in time for its opening later this week. I am also very interested to hear people’s thoughts on Camp Cedar once it opens.

Carowinds’ Camp Snoopy looks really nice! The brick pavers and trees makes for a very nice setting compared to Kings Island’s Planet Snoopy. Unfortunately, trees take a while to mature, but if Kings Island renovates Planet Snoopy, a few more trees would still go a long way. I also would like to see a new park logo for the 50th anniversary. I know Cedar Point and Knott’s Berry Farm introduced special logos for their anniversaries, and it would be cool if Kings Island did the same.

I think Cedar Fair is taking a more cautious approach with their calendars than Indiana Beach. Cedar Fair is only opening for days and hours they know they will have appropriate staffing. In the beginning of the season, Cedar Fair was not doing this, but they got a lot of negative attention for being understaffed. Now, Cedar Fair has limited park operating days and hours to ensure they are appropriately staffed, and guests are now mad that they are limiting hours. Parks like Six Flags and Indiana Beach seem to be operating beyond their means. Many of these parks don’t have enough staff to do so, but I guess they don’t care and are doing it anyways.

Sounds like you had a good day @Maddog! I agree that restraint checking is not very uniform throughout the park. On the major rides, I believe the ride operators check your seatbelts and restraints while on some of the less popular rides, it seems like you do it yourself. In terms of the ride operators actually pushing your restraint down, it is probably because you are in the first seat of their restraint checking section, so they push it down for you as soon as the restraints go down. It is probably done to speed up operations, but I don’t know how much it really improves dispatch times. Also, I have noticed that the side screen on Mystic Timbers is hit or miss. I have ridden it some days where it hasn’t worked on one ride and worked later in the day.

I hate seeing these articles too, but I hope anyone who thinks about acting up at Kings Island thinks twice about it after seeing this in the news. This article shows that people are being punishes for their actions and that nobody involved in those fights is off the hook yet. @Shawn Meyer I agree that police simply being stationed at the drop-off lot would deter fighting, and I have seen police there this year. I don’t know if the police were actually near the drop-off lot when the latest incident occurred, but it seems like they responded fast, and the teens were arrested on the scene. I don’t know why people feel the need to fight at all, let alone at an amusement park, but a public area is certainly not the place you would want to do it. And what makes me confused is that these teens had already left the park. I guess they just needed something to occupy their time while they walked out. Also, while this is completely unrelated to what I said above, Rivertown Freestyle has been open for the last couple of days (which have been weekdays), and I am honestly shocked. I think all Coca-Cola Refresh Stations have been open in the dry park besides the one near the arcade in Rivertown (I haven’t really been past it). I have also noticed that many of the beer stands are now open after previously being closed. The only food place I really keep seeing closed is Rivertown Funnel Cakes. I also haven’t noticed any food lines super long anymore besides the line for Chick-Fil-A and Blue Ice Cream. I really do think the park is finding more staff. I think they are adding staff to places that have been open to speed up operations and opening up places that were previously closed.

I have seen The Racer only run the blue side on some occasions, but I agree that the red side usually runs when only one side is running. When it comes to running both sides, it probably has to do with staffing. Most of the time, both sides are running on weekends, and this is because Kings Island probably has more staff scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. On some slower days, though, I have seen both sides running. Last week, I noticed both sides were running when it was raining and almost every ride was a walk-on.

I will admit that I am strongly against a chaperone policy, so I am probably a little biased. But, isn’t what happened this past Saturday a sign that Kings Island’s new safety policies are working? The teens who were harassing the man and his son were quickly taken care of and the problem ended. The park had control. Earlier this year, they did not have control when the fighting broke out, so in my opinion, this is proof the new safety measures are working.

Let’s not just assume that Halloween Haunt is already cancelled and get mad at Cedar Fair. We don’t know that yet. Even if Kings Island runs a more family oriented event instead of their typical event, I could see them trying to open a few scare mazes if they have the staffing to do so. Also, people have to realize that it is impossible for Cedar Fair to please everyone. Kings Island is obviously trying to please their customers, and they for sure wish they didn’t have staffing issues and limited park hours. If Kings Island could control everything, we would have a season like 2019. Kings Island literally cannot do anything more than raise their wages to attract new workers to bring back normal park hours. And, since Halloween Haunt is apparently a big money maker for Cedar Fair, they for sure wish they could just have it like any other year. The problem is, this year is not normal, so they may not be able to have Halloween Haunt like they usually would. They for sure will try their best to host the event or something similar, but they don’t necessarily have complete control over that. Kings Island is stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one side, they have passholders who claim they don’t get enough value with their season passes while others think the season passes are too cheap. Is Kings Island screwing over customers by not giving them good value for their season pass or are they giving away the gate? No matter what Kings Island does, there will always be people who are unhappy. This is true for any business. Let’s also look at the good on things and not always the negative. Too often, I feel like people only come on this site to bash things or complain. If you look at Kings Island for what it is, it is a well-kept, well-landscaped amusement park that is home to a world-class ride collection. In terms of operations, Kings Island is operating seven days a week, Kings Island is not closing lines early, and Kings Island is running live entertainment. A lot of regional amusement parks cannot say the same.

I don’t know what Kings Island plans to do, but whatever decision they make regarding Halloween Haunt really won’t surprise me at this point. It will be very interesting to see what happens nonetheless.

I know Halloween Haunt is always a bit dicey which might only be worse this year, but I think it will be more of a chain-wide decision. I know Kings Island has had some rough moments this year, but I cannot see Cedar Point having their Halloween event and Kings Island not having theirs. I either think the major Cedar Fair parks will all have it or none will. Even if this season were to go really smoothly with plentiful staffing and no fighting, I am not sure we would see Halloween Haunt anyways. Like you pointed out, the advertisements around the park make no mention of it, and they instead advertise the Tricks and Treats event. I actually kind of liked the Tricks and Treats event last year. I wouldn’t mind if that returned but with more decorations because I definitely missed all the pumpkins from Halloween Haunt (especially around Vortex). This event might actually make more revenue for Kings Island this year than Halloween Haunt ever did because crowds definitely showed up last year with many purchasing the food tasting cards. Also, the park doesn’t have to have staff employees nearly as late. I do hope we see 10:00 PM closings at least.

What color did they paint it over with? If they coated it with primer, then they could be just redoing the facade. If they chose another solid color, they may just be trying to make it look nicer while it is not in use. Kings Island repainted KillMart, but the Halloween Haunt Maze is still there. I hope that all of the mazes in plain sight eventually get a facelift or get torn down honestly. I am all for these mazes, but for buildings that are only used for a couple months each year, they really shouldn’t take away from the beauty of the park.

I know water park staffing is likely the main reason Kings Island is requiring reservations, but I could see them being dropped soon if staffing improves because I know Soak City goers probably cannot stand the reservations. This is forcing the crowds in the dry park to be higher than they usually would on such a hot summer day, and it is also forcing the park to make baffling staffing decisions like opening the Rivertown Freestyle location. LOL! In all seriousness, I am surprised Cedar Fair has invested so little into Soak City when it gets very crowded on most summer days. You would think they would rebrand and expand it to attract new guests and hold a higher capacity.

From the webcams, Kings Island looks decently crowded, but it does not look absolutely packed like it has on some days this year. On another note, Rivertown Freestyle is open.

From my understanding, both new and returning employees have the same minimum wage of $15 with at least some positions having the opportunity to make even more if they work through certain points towards the end of the season. The “do not use” stickers have also been removed from the tables at Coney BBQ. I also noticed the Auntie Anne’s in Rivertown open for like the first time since daily operations have started. It looked like new employees were being trained there. It was also nice to see the Graeter’s on International Street open. It certainly looks like Kings Island is finding new hires which is a very good sign. Today the park was absolutely dead, and most food places were open. I would also like to commend Kings Island for staying open on days like today where the weather has been bad and crowds have been nonexistent. I know there has been one day where the park has closed early, but it is nice to see that the park has stayed open on every rainy day since. Like many of you, I am also very devastated that 10:00 PM closings have been postponed. Remember, though, that Kings Island simply doesn’t have enough staff to stay open those extra hours. They are also doing just about everything they can to find more workers. I am very hopeful that with more workers being trained, late hours can return on June 25th and stay for the rest of the summer.

I will say it is good that Cedar Fair at least gave their executives pay cuts during the pandemic instead of just laying off full-time workers at the parks like other amusement park chains did.

The minimum wage at Kings Island is $15 an hour. For some departments, if you work through the end of the season, your pay increases to $18 an hour for every hour your worked. So if you are an employee who works through the end of the season, you will get $3 added on to every hour you worked, so you will really be making $18 an hour.

I see your point. Apparently someone in the comment section of the Tweet was thinking the same thing. LOL!

How is the wording confusing?

It is also important to note that Kings Island only increased their wages a couple of weeks ago. It takes a lot of time to train new workers and schedule them. The shortages I have noticed in the dry park at least are really only in food and beverage. They aren’t even hiring for Rides or Merchandise anymore. I hope on June 25th, we really do have a 10:00 PM closing again and that they continue for the rest of the summer.

I hope this statement is more general and applies to multiple Cedar Fair parks.

The delayed opening is probably mostly due to staffing issues, but I wonder where construction is at this point. Chad Showalter said that there were material shortages, so that might mean construction isn’t on schedule. I really hope Kings Island can figure out their staffing issues, but I know many businesses are suffering from the same problem right now. Also, driving down State Route 741, I saw the new Camp Cedar sign above the campground, and it looks pretty nice. It also looks like a new Camp Cedar sign is being added right where you turn into the campground in front of the McDonald’s.