FUN&ONLY!

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.

It is hard to comment on attendance and per cap spending without having access to actual attendance and revenue data, but we saw similar promotions around this time last season with the bring-a-friend deal becoming an everyday thing. Also, it seems like every Cedar Fair park is also employing similar deals right now (which may not bode well for the chain’s performance as a whole). I know some parks even went as far as loading free money onto guests’ season passes if they visited the park within a certain time period, which is crazy. It is also important to note that Kings Island recently added back the weekday operating days (that generally see very low attendance) in August that had previously been cut before the season started (a Friday was even added that was never on the original 2023 calendar). If the park was performing poorly, I don’t these these days would have been added back.

This survey is probably indicative of Canada’s Wonderland’s reported major 2025 addition. Carowinds sent out surveys about a potential new themed land that would include a mix of old and new rides in early 2020 that became Aeronautica Landing. While that area opened in 2023, it was reportedly supposed to open in 2021. I have also heard similar surveys have been sent out to Kings Island guests about future special events and live entertainment.

I agree that Camp Cedar was a missed opportunity by Kings Island. I drove around the campground on Friday, and I was surprised with how busy it was. Honestly, I feel that it would have been a good business decision for Kings Island to build their own campground nearby and/or a hotel. Ever since the pandemic, Cedar Fair has cut spending on marketing, which has been noticeable. I see the occasional billboard and online ads still, but that is about it. I hear this issue is chain-wide, though. If you drive through Charlotte, North Carolina, I hear there are more Dollywood ads than Carowinds ads. I assume, however, that the costs associated with booking time slots and doing interviews on local news are minimal, so I do not know why we are seeing so little of that from Kings Island. A lot of the issues people have with Kings Island and other Cedar Fair parks this year seem to part of Cedar Fair’s cost-cutting initiative. Restaurants will be low staffed or closed altogether while food workers are getting sent home early to save money. I have even heard some workers have quit altogether because Kings Island would not schedule them many shifts. Cost-cutting is also likely why food options are now more limited and food quality control had taken a hit. The cost-cutting is also evident across other departments. Ever wonder why some games like the basketball game or soccer game next to The Beast have just been sitting like eyesores all year when they were open last year? Ever go into the park and see less ride operators on the floor than in previous years? Ever notice notice that the train and water rides now open later and close earlier? Ever get off a popular ride and the Photo Booth been completely shuttered? The reason behind all these developments is because Cedar Fair is trying to be cheap. Since staffing is so dependent on crowd level these days, unless you go on a guaranteed busy day, don’t expect everything to be open. That being said, I have heard that Kings Island has been less affected by the cost-cutting than other parks. For instance, I have heard that you will be lucky to find more than one open merchandise location at Carowinds on select days. Live entertainment is very scare beyond Cedar Fair’s top parks. And by just following other parks on social media, it is crazy how many times Cedar Fair parks have been closing HOURS earlier than advertised. Like some parks will close at 4:30 PM when they are supposed to close at 10:00 PM.

I hope Kings Island adds more fog in general throughout the park. The fog really adds to the atmosphere, but it was lacking last year. Some areas had no fog at all.

It is usually the Thursday before National Roller Coaster Day (August 16th) or on National Roller Coaster Day if the day falls on a Thursday. Last year, Cedar Fair announced its 2023 new additions on August 11th. This year, I would expect Cedar Fair’s 2024 new additions to be announced on August 10th.

So who is manufacturing Fury 325’s new support if Clermont Steel Fabricators is allegedly not involved in the repair?

I feel like Phantom Theater would be much more marketable (and potentially better) if it is in a different location (whether that be The Crypt building or a completely new show building). It being built as a completely new dark ride in a different location would help prevent it as being seen as just a revamped Boo Blasters by the general public. I also think we need more dark and indoor rides, and while Boo Blasters is nothing to write home about, I would rather have that and Phantom Theater rather than just Phantom Theater. More is better.

I really hope Kings Island does a potential Camp Snoopy overhaul right. It is going to take A LOT of money to revamp such a huge area the right way, but it needs it. All of the concrete and some of the buildings definitely should be removed. In their place, it would be nice to see new pavers, camp-like buildings, and landscaping with water features.

Do you have any pictures of the markers currently in Planet Snoopy?

It is odd that there is a sale for just the PEANUTS merchandise. I wouldn’t mind Kings Island abandoning the PEANUTS theme in the area altogether and creating original themes for attractions like Dollywood did with Wildwood Grove, but I don’t know how likely that is.