FUN&ONLY!

Camp Cedar is not open yet, but Kings Island is hiring for it.

I agree Cedar Fair should have prepared better. I remember at the beginning of the year, Kings Island said they were hiring for over 4,000 positions, and I was surprised because in a normal year, Kings Island hires for 5,000 positions. This year Kings Island also has to staff Camp Cedar, so they should have been hiring for more than 5,000 positions. Some games at the park, specifically the basketball shooting games, are not even ready to open if there was more staff. Cedar Fair definitely did not plan to operate like they do in a normal year, and I think they are probably regretting their decision now. Kings Island would have had a much easier time hiring if they started offering more positions in January, especially if they announced that pay would be $15 minimum.

To be fair, Kings Island was probably not expecting the attendance they have been getting so far this year, so they probably opted to save some money. It will be interesting to see if more entertainment options are introduced at Halloween Haunt or WinterFest. I really do like the idea of live shows on International Street, in Rivertown, and in Oktoberfest at the Biergarten, but I do understand the concern about potential bottleneck situations. For the Rivertown and Oktoberfest shows, Kings Island could tell all guests wanting to watch the show to sit at the tables and chairs in the area or at least stand within the perimeter of the tables and chairs to prevent at least some of the midway blocking and congestion.

I agree that the location it is could create too much congestion. I guess Kings Island security will be busy ejecting people from the park for blocking midways. LOL!

I am happy to report that much more theming has been added to the stage in Rivertown. An old car is now parked next to the stage, and there are wood pallets behind the stage. There also seem to be other props, but everything is covered. It looks pretty nice.

Isn’t that where that big hammer game used to be?

Kings Island can’t really do much to add seating to the bandstand with its location in the park. It would be nice to see an International Showplace renovation, however, because it is very dated in my opinion.

I like how Kings Island has synced up The Racer and Orion with the Royal Finale too. I also noticed the lighting on the trees in Coney Mall are synced up with the show, but I am not sure about the lighting on the other trees in the park. I agree that the song choice is not my favorite out of the ones they have had in the past, but the show itself is the best it’s ever been in my opinion.

I really hope Carowinds can speed up their operations. Those dispatches seem really bad. In terms of Six Flags, they usually minimally staff their rides while Kings Island has like 8 people working a ride at any one time including this year. Six Flags has done a good job keeping their parks open, but they are also facing staffing issues. Also, while I know a lot of enthusiasts were fans of this because of light crowds, in order to get night rides at many Six Flags parks, you had to attend Coaster Power Hours which was an up-charge. During these events. I heard many food stands were closed. The actual operating hours had the parks closing earlier. I don’t know about others, but I think it would be a bad look if Kings Island started charging extra to be there for the last two hours of the day.

The problem with operating at those kind is staffing levels is that people just won’t have a good time. Carowinds was probably less crowded when you visited than Kings Island, so it may have been enjoyable. We have seen guests complain of Kings Island and Cedar Point staffing issues, and at least both parks are trying to correct these problems. Kings Island probably had to cut hours because the employees they have cannot work more than a certain number of hours in a week due to labor laws. Now that weekday operations have started, they cannot have all workers work long days everyday like they would have been able to the first few weekends of operation. Cedar Point was probably short many more employees, so they had to actually cut operating days and hours to prevent the employees they had from working too many hours once weekday operations began. Also, can an arrow mine train actually operate with only two employees? I believe you, but I have never seen only one employee checking restraints.

From what I saw, the stage was literally just a small pad on the ground. It wasn’t anything special. I really didn’t look very closely at it because it was cold and rainy, but I saw it as I walked by. I could be wrong that it is for the show, but I don’t know what else the pad could be for. I really hope it’s not final because Carowinds’ Busker Jam looks really nice, and that would work really well in Rivertown.

I noticed a stage set up next to Rivertown Funnel Cakes today where the tables are (on the side closer to Mystic Timbers). I assume that is where Busker Jam will be performed. The stage isn’t really themed or anything like the Carowinds version of the show.

I think Kings Island moved workers from the food stands to security! LOL! But in a seriousness, I can confirm that there was a major increase in security. There were many security guards throughout the park, and there were also a lot of police cars around.

I am confused on the wording. Does Kings Island have 900 positions still available or are there 900 positions total that are getting $18 an hour including the ones that have already been filled? I am glad Kings Island is trying to address staffing issues, but I worry we may not see major capital investment for years.

I wonder the most about the line jumpers. I have seen Kings Island throw line jumpers out of line when they are reported in the station, but I have never seen line jumpers ejected from the park. To be honest, many times it is just a few kids joining the rest of their party and not even realizing it is line jumping. I do hope the park enforces these policies though.

That’s why there is park sweep! LOL! But in all seriousness, people litter their drink cups all over the park everyday, so the sweepers are just going to have one more thing to sweep up if these are littered. This card is actually really good in my opinion because it reminds people there are consequences for their actions. If tempers flare and fighting breaks out, they suffer the consequences.

I actually don’t mind this system. For regular guests, this allows them to still enter Kings Island before 11:00 AM, but they still don’t have the season pass holder benefit of Early Ride Time. However, the greeters need to be checking the season passes in order for it to work.

I just don’t understand why Kings Island’s social media has been so dormant. They used to post multiple times a day, and now they are posting nothing. All they need to do is say they are adjusting the hours and move on. It is just so strange how they are posting nothing at all. If none of the craziness had happened, they would probably be hyping up the new Area 72 Launch Party all week.

I am shocked that Kings Island has been dead silent on their social media channels since the events the unfolded on Saturday. They only posted that one Orion photo shoot picture on Monday. Kings Island usually posts at least once if not multiple times a day.

Kings Island probably had no choice no matter what the problem was, but I am very disappointed. The last few hours on a 10:00 PM close day are always my favorite. I might go once weekday operations start, but I really will be waiting for 10:00 PM closes on the weekends. I really can’t wait until 10:00 PM weekday closes, but I will have to wait until July for that. Cedar Fair is having a rough year for sure, and it is very sad to see.

Did Kings Island ever release a reason for cutting the hours? If I had to guess, it is because of what happened last weekend. Or Kings Island thought they had enough staffing for weekend operation, but now they are realizing that they are getting much larger crowds than they were expecting.

The most important thing Kings Island mentioned is that they now have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of behavior. I don’t think they had this before.

If the troublemakers were bussed in, a chaperone policy would probably not have stopped the fighting. Kings Island needs to let private groups know that there are consequences for their actions, and they should probably punish whatever groups sent the troublemakers on Saturday.

Are you referring to the new bandstand or the International Showplace. Because I kind of think the International Showplace is ugly.

Where would we ever find a large enough maintenance crew?