FUN&ONLY!

It’s VERY possible, especially depending on what is added. A kids area addition with a Camp Snoopy retheme AND a water park addition seems like a lot, but it is still possible. Maybe we will just get additions in both areas without a Camp Snoopy retheme, but I really hope Planet Snoopy is overhauled. It needs it. What is exciting about the prospect of both areas receiving something new in 2024 is that Planet Snoopy and Soak City were the two areas Mike Koontz wanted to focus on before Kings Island added a new coaster. Of course, things change, but maybe it is now more likely that we will see a new coaster in 2025.

So… do we think tomorrow will be the day?

I would disagree. Ride operators can check empty seats way faster than loaded seats on most rides because there are no guests to deal with. Most rides also don’t need to have empty seatbelts buckled, so all the operators have to do is push the restraint down. I know Mystic Timbers can get tedious with buckling the seatbelts in all the empty seats (because the seatbelts are not retractable), but two trains on that ride is pretty inefficient with the shed sequence programmed into the ride. With two trains on Mystic Timbers, operators are constantly stuck waiting for the next train to come into the station because it has to stop for a certain amount of time in the shed when the music plays (even if the station is empty).

Besides with The Bat, the only time Kings Island will intentionally run a ride with fewer trains is if it saves money on staffing (like with The Racer and the train). Running one less train on Adventure Express and Flight of Fear does not accomplish this. Therefore, I believe the issues with Adventure Express and Flight of Fear are maintenance related and not staffing related.. We saw one train ops on Diamondback in 2019 and on Woodstock Express in 2023 until maintenance got the other trains ready.

It’s sad we have to deal with all these budget cuts with attendance up 7%.

I have heard the exact same. From what I have heard, Kings Island has not been having as bad of a year as people seem to think. Unfortunately, Kings Island is still being affected by budget cuts because of the chain’s poor performance as a whole. If a park isn’t pulling its weight, Cedar Fair cannot just close down half the park to recoup costs. Instead, all parks have to suffer a little to minimize the effects across the board.

The whole park kids of feels dirty right now with the grimy midways. I don’t know how much money Kings Island saved by cutting the water truck everyday, but it feels like a poor decision. Nobody wants to be in a dirty park.

The back train position, which is needed to run a full six car train was cut as a part of the recent budget cuts. Two train operations on Sundays was also recently cut, and two train operations on Fridays was cut last within the past year.

I agree. Really it is running at 1/4 capacity because only half of one of the two trains is running at a time.

While I agree that Kings Island won’t be topping Big Bear Mountain, the family coasters (only Dragonflier was open at the time) are not the only reason Dollywood won the award. Wildwood Grove is simply much more beautiful than the tacky and outdated Planet Snoopy at Kings Island. Kings Island somehow still has the title of the second best kids area, which is crazy to me. Planet Snoopy at Kings Island looks way more dilapidated and tacky compared to even other kids areas in the chain (the Camp Snoopy’s at Carowinds and Cedar Point). I guess the Golden Ticket Awards value the classic rides and a log flume in the kids area.

I’m not sure about the black light, but some effects are definitely broken in the shed. Most of the swinging lights are dark and barely swing (if at all). The lockers also no longer bang during the shed sequence. On top of that, the audio loop on the stairs has been out for a least a year (the one that goes “There’s an old truck in the lumber mill. You got to jump start it. Get out of here! Right now!”). In addition, one of the TV’s is dark in the queue that is supposed to show the video footage and one of the speakers that plays the soundtrack is out near the Fast Lane line. I hope Kings Island fixes these things some day.

From my understanding, Adventure Express and The Bat are not on one train for cost-cutting reasons but for other reasons. I believe Adventure Express’ second train is awaiting repairs (which have been taking a long time), which is why it has only been on one train on even busy Saturdays. The Bat, on the other hand, has been occasionally running one train over the past few years. Every time I have seen it on one train was on a day with rain in the forecast, so I wonder if there are potential issues with two trains running in the rain.

This is why it sometimes pains me to criticize Kings Island for being cheap with all these budget cuts. While the park has been cutting a lot recently, I am fully aware that the budget cuts are almost entirely out of the park’s control. It is obvious that the Kings Island team is really passionate about the park and wants to operate it to its full potential. Unfortunately, Kings Island is limited by the corporate bean counters.

On top of the broken effects during the ride, some of the speakers in Adventure Express’ entrance plaza still don’t work. The audio loop in the queue line is also very quiet, and I am not even sure all the speakers are playing it.

Does anyone know why Adventure Express has been on one train for like the past week?

This kind of cost-cutting is PATHETIC. It takes what… two guys to go around in the truck and spray down the midways? It’s stuff like spaying down the midways every morning that no guests noticed because the midways are always clean in the morning, but they may notice the lack of it now.

This is extreme. If restaurants closed at 7:00 PM on weekdays, then the park would be making no money the last few hours of the day. Kings Island is very aware that rides closing early and opening late will have a negative impact on the guest experience, which is why we are seeing the cuts we are seeing. Kings Island wants to make them as unnoticeable as possible to the average guest. The budget cuts are only temporary for now. The water rides and train have had their hours cut in years past but all operated 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM at the start of last year. The Racer used to not race everyday, but it has up until recently. Rivertown Freestyle used to open a couple times a year, but it was open almost daily last year. The point is, that if and when Kings Island has the budget to operate these rides like it did before, they will. Trust me, Kings Island’s operations team wants every ride open from open to close. Corporate’s budget is likely what is holding them back. These budget cuts, although more extensive than usual, happen very often. It was about this time last year when water rides and the train started closing early due to budget constraints. It was also about this time last year when Rivertown Freestyle stopped being open daily due to budget constraints. I don’t like the current situation, but I am optimistic that things will be better next year.

I remember reading a quote from Mike Koontz in Kings Island: A Ride Through Time about the difference between Kings Island’s operations under Paramount and Cedar Fair. He pointed out that, unlike Paramount, Cedar Fair will staff and run the park to its fullest even on low attendance days. Obviously, Cedar Fair has taken a different approach as of late. I still applaud Kings Island for running max trains on its rollercoasters even on low attendance days (except with The Racer now), but it is ridiculous that there are now MANY attractions that do not open or close with the park. This is a far cry from Mike Koontz’s quote about Cedar Fair operations. It is even worse that these closures are pre-planned and cannot easily be changed if the park ends up being busy on a weekday. Before the storms hit today, the park was decently crowded. However, The Racer built up a decent line because it wasn’t racing and the train cars were bursting at the seams because only one train with three cars was operating (instead of the usual six cars) to take people to and from Soak City.

I think Kings Island is aware of how important the 10:00 PM closes are during the summer as well as the nightly fireworks show. I think the park realized this in 2020 when the park was dead during the 7:00 PM closures but decently crowded when they made the switch to 10:00 PM closures. The budget cuts are quite sad to see. Luckily, they have not been too noticeable so far, but they are not invisible. I really hope Cedar Fair has a strong finish to this year so that things can return to normal next summer operationally speaking. I also hope that Winterfest is not affected too much.

I do give Kings Island credit for trying to make the ride cuts as unnoticeable as possible. I am sure the park had no choice but to make cuts, and it seems like a lot of thought went into which rides to open late and close early so that guests wouldn’t be too affected. While I do like seeing the park operate at its full potential with every ride open, I am hopeful that operations will be better next year.

From what I’ve seen, his source is correct. I cannot comment on the water rides, but The Racer did not race this past week and a quarter of Planet Snoopy closed an hour early today. I think Cedar Fair as a whole is struggling right now. Whether it is Kings Island specifically or not is one thing, but all parks suffer a bit when the chain as a whole is struggling.

I came across this post on Facebook, and it makes me kind of sad. I think the ride schedules being cut is getting absolutely out of hand. I know Cedar Fair is doing this to save money on labor and whatnot during a slowdown across the industry, but this is kind of sad from a customer service standpoint. If Kings Island’s hours are from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, ALL the rides should be open during that timeframe. Take The Racer, for instance. The whole point of the ride is to race against the opposing side. Unless you go on a weekend, don’t expect to get the full ride experience. Also, where does this stop? The water rides and the train already had their operating hours slashed? What’s going to be next? The Beast closing an hour early? Now that is probably not going to happen, but some smaller rides are certainly at risk. And these budget cuts are definitely not limited to just the Rides Department. Don’t be surprised if more restaurants or stands are closed on your next visit than you are used to. Unless you visit the park on a weekend of course.

Fanny packs (or waist packs as Kings Island calls them) are supposed to allowed on rides as long as they are secured around the waist and out of the way of the restraint. Some ride operators will let anything pass that is worn like a fanny pack even if it is not truly a fanny pack while other ride operators will only allow true fanny packs (which is the park’s official policy). I have also heard that some ride operators will reject excessively large fanny packs that are technically true fanny packs. As far as hats go, I don’t think most ride operators care how riders secure their hats as long as they are off the riders’ heads.

Hopefully an RMC at Kings Island would focus on inversions, stalls, outward banked turns, and unique ejector airtime moments to differentiate itself from Mystic Timbers. I think both can easily coexist in the same park.

Last year, it was mentioned that the new 2023 additions would be announced in the following week (or something like that) during Cedar Fair’s 2022 Second Quarter Report.