robintodd

Had the Turkey Ball last night and it is not to be missed. 2nd favorite thing so far this year behind the Meatloaf Burger. Well done Culinary Team!

Going off the average price of a meal at ki is 14.99, it would make sense to me that the intention is you get $15.00 off the price but it counts as a "meal" on your meal plan. Just my guess.

Went on Friday and Saturday. The park looked fantastic. Seems like there are more merriment charachters than last year. I saw 4 by the time I reached the Eiffel Tower walking in the park. Plenty of places to get hot chocolate. The Winterfest mugs were definitely not a prominent with the new Drink Plan Plus coffee/hot chocholate option. I did notice many more cookie boxes this year. I can't remember how much Ms. Clause's cookies were last year but I think they were more than this year because I don't remeber seeing as many boxes around the park last year? 20.99 seems to be a better price. Finally Shooting Star is fantastic! Such a great call back. Nicely thought out and executed. Well done KI!!!!! Nice to see the park putting in something that is sure to inspire conversations between children and their parents/grandparents trying to explain exactly what a drive in is/was.

And the Meatloaf Burger....don't forget the Meatloaf Burger

If memory serves me correctly Flight of Cheer is fine but in the past it had to be above freezing when they started running Mystic Timbers. It could go below (29 - 26) after it started but the if the temperature was below 32 at park open, it would not run. I would believe the same would be true for The Racer and soap box racers, but haven't heard anything yet.

I have to point out that I believe the first 2 itterations of Winterfest had no coasters and was still so popular that people wanted it back. I believe most people go for the atmoshpere. Then comes the food with the meal plans. It will be cold this weekend, but I'm pretty sure it will be crowded. People gotta eat

I mentioned this on the comments of Tower Topics so I'll reiterate here. I think from the video TT showed that it would be fitting to use the Son of Beast station and the old Wild Animal Safari area to build the coaster. In the video it has different animals. Lots of room for it and the Lantern interaction during haunt would have served as a hint. I'm thinking they will use that building for something or they would have just demolished it alltogether. Anyway, I would be happy with that, assuming they will be saving capital for a coaster in 2027 in The Vortex plot.

Word is retracking. But I would think they are only going to run 2 trains. Not sure if that's two trains on 1 side or a train on each. From what I understand it makes it easier get a start on tearing down trains for off season rehab.

Also Blitzen's Brass Band is returning.

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I'd like to aknowledge the huge improvement to Cornstalkers this season. It's practically a new maze and I absolutely love the upgrade. Last weekend my grandson and I noticed a small burlap "sock puppet" with eyes and a mouth on the hand of a scareacter in a corn stalk suit. It was simply funny that people would look at the puppet and the actor would pop at them. I felt compelled to tell the yellow shirt I saw at the entrance that I appreciated the extra effort that brought a smile to our faces. Well played.

The booze machines were planned for from last year. I believe the supply/demand for the icees forced their hands on getting new machines. I also think they added another icee machine in the Ice Scream zone.

Which effects are you speaking of? I don't remember hearing any original Phantom Theatre sounds, Poe's poems, Police car, etc. in years past. But I get it, Disney and Universal do a thing and it's cool but when KI does it it's a "money grab".

Thanks for clearing that up. I can see your side now. The perfomances in China, France, etc. were axed for covid. Maybe they had a problem booking them back or the people wanted more money, didn't think it was worth their time, etc. I think there may be more into that decision than at first glance. The China one seemed popular but if only 1 or 2 draws crowds then what do you do with the others that don't? Would not seem right to only have a country or two with performers and the rest not have them. For me the lack of tasting cards was a bigger blunder. I think they realsize that and they will be back next year if I had to guess. I do think they definitely need someone on a cart who just goes around and takes care of the drink/icee stations all day. They could paint it up with "Hydration Department" and really have fun with it. It would show they are actively trying to resolve the problem and they could have icee and Coke all over it to increase visibility and therefore sales. For that matter, sell the drink plans from it. There's alot you can do. I would guess you would only have to send it out 2 or 4 times a day depending on how busy the park is. Just my 2 cents.

So what you seem to be saying is that if the park makes less money, they will spend more of it on decorations? Seems counter-intuitive. One would think the more people buy the more money the park would have to spend. I would point out the new food and wine festival (where as it could have been better, they at least made an attempt), the Lanterns (yes, they cost $40 but they did a lot of work with the activation points) and the new Icee stands/revamped French Quearter were added this year. We'll see how much love the water park gets along with the new addition. But I have a feeling 2026 will see a major park install coming.

I was surprised with the execution as well! That is why I'm writing a bit more than usual about them. As I've said before there is an "interactive" mode and a "tag game" mode. Not sure how the tag game works, but the lantern turns green and when you go to somone with a green lantern and press the "button" on the front of the lantern it turns their lantern red. Don't know how long it takes to reset but if someone buys them for each of their children they could use them all year long. If I figure out the tag game I'll write about it, or if anyone else has an idea how it works, please share with the class.

Having purchased a lantern and doing the "scavenger hunt" with my grandkids I can say in my opinion it's well worth it and not all are old animatronics there are new things that are very nice to see/hear. They also enhance the mazes as well as the scarezones and the shows. The grandkids also enjoyed playing the "tag" game. Big plus was we didn't find one activation point that did not work! Kudos to KI for having this ready day one. I don't see it as a paywall because I actually end up with a lantern souviner at the end of the day. KI has pulled off their version of the Harry Potter Wand at Universal and look at how popular those are. I'm both surprised and impressed that KI put forth the money and the effort to execute this idea so well.

I understand your statements and can see where you're coming from. I have always and will always love KI. I've been going since I was 3 when it opened and have numerous memories thoroughout the years. Living 20 minutes away from the park I go about 50 times per year and use my drink and meal plan every visit, therefore my value is greater than others. My resurgence for the park has increase with taking my grandkids (now up to 6) and seeing the park for the first time through their eyes. It completely changed my perspectiveon the park. I find myself fortunate to be able to share a place that has been so special to me with them. I like my Grandkids so much, I wish I would have had them first.

They did this a couple of years ago. It's lights on and no scares so appropriate for kids. Very interesting especially for those of us who remeber Tomb Raider the ride. I beilive this is the first year I've noticed the "ice" on the celing not there. CP has done this in the past. It takes less people to operate and allows guests to view the house with the lights on. My favorite at CP was the old HEXED (now Midnight) house. It is beautiful. Of course they are limited in what houses can be open because of gore (Slaughterhouse would be a no go for example.) If you have a lantern there are several activation points that are used (1 or 2 are in the line). I'm assuming those points are also active during Haunt.

Went with both grandkids on Sunday (my 9 yr old grand daughter is not quite ready for the Haunt) and had a great time. We rode 4 rides and spend most of the time watching the shows and doing the lantern scavenger hunt. For as much fun as the Haunt activation spots are the Tricks and Treats is just as enjoyable. Fine job again KI.

I'm aware you comment may be in jest but I feel it is important to support things the park does that is good. I get an extremely good value out of my season pass, drink plan and meal plan. I figure conservatively I have saved over $600 on drinks and food alone, that kind of savings allows me to make additional purchases in the park. So many times I've read on this forum that people are "voting with their dollars" by not purchasing things that are not worth it as a way to send a message to management. For example I didn't participate in the food for grand carnivale because they eliminated the tasting cards. By the same token I strongly believe in supporting (voting with my dollars) things management does that are very well done to send a message to do more of this. Plus have a great souviner. BTW, I was told (and I found it to be accurate) that in order to activate the lantern spots make sure the side of the lantern that has the haunt/Kings Island at the bottom faces the activation point. Again, kudos to management for going above and beyond the lantern definitely has my vote.

Took the grandson last night and had an absolute blast! Bought a lantern and was very impressed with it and found it to be a good value. We spent part of the night walking around trying to find the lantern spots, it was like a scavenger hunt. The main issue at night is those that had sound based actions were hard to hear with the loud sounds of Haunt. Not sure if it's better in the daytime, will find out today when we go to find the daytime lantern spots. Also, some of the effects were hard to see. For example the Grain and Grill spot you have to be under the overhang to access the lantern spot but need to step back to see the effect that happens above on the 'second level'. Aside from that I find that the lantern is a great deal and wanted to make sure to get one before they ran out like they ran out of the Winterfest Wands last year. The lantern worked very well and as advertised. Kudo's to the team at KI for adding value to a great souviner. Nyte Walkers is a fantastic show and this years version is fantastic. My only critisizm would be to just drop the boyfriend/girlfriend posession/unpossession story and just have it be that they walk into the woods and wake the dead and end up both becoming nyte walkers. I understand they are trying to tell a story, it just become convoluted and confusing in my opinion and it not necessary. For example why would the boyfreind all of a sudden be high fiving the walkers near the end of the show? I get that she get's "posessed", I just think go ahead and have him be posessed and be done with it. No happy ending, in the end Nyte Walkers take over the world. Love the effects of the hands/arms early in the show and the boyfreind is insane on the tramp. I can't remember anyone getting as high has he does mid-show. Also, No explanation of what happens to the "third wheel" from the beginning of the show. The guy in the bucket hat is there in the beginning and never seen from again. I would just add him as a walker in the beginning and have just the boyfriend/girlfriend only at the start. I guess my point is simplyfy the story aspect. I appreciate the effort I'm just not sure such a complicated story is easy to convey and not necessary for this fantastic show. Finallly, the bane of my existence and bigget critic of the show is yet again back and for the life of me I don't know why for the curtain call we get "six pack deamon" & company on the big screen. I'm even ok with the dancing new dancing skeletons mid show but during the curtain call having any characters on the screen is a distraction and takes away from the focal point which, in my opinion, should be the performers taking a well deserved bow. The are incredibly talented and their energy and talent really shines through even when we saw them at the last show of the night. The haunts are well done, love the use of the path in the back of the park between shake rattle roll and frontier pizza. I also thought Pumpkin Eater is WAY to short and wish they could find another place for it. Where it was last year in Action Zone was better in my opinion. The night was fantastic and my granson (13) kept commenting how great of a time he had. I had a fantasic time as well. I found the houses had more scareactors than last year as well as roaming scareactors. Cornstalkers was still closed because of the water main break so looking forward to that being open next week. In summary we both had a fantastic time and kudos to the entire staff at KI for giving us a great time. Looking forward to next weekend to do it all again!

Nice to see "kiddie haunts" returning to the park. Nice to see the space not wasted during the day.

They met their expectations. I often look for rooms at random times to see how busy Breakers is and I can tell you it was busier this year than ever. That being said, I do expect that several reservations were cancelled/changed once it was announced that TT2 would not be opening this year. Another thing to remember is that the sports complex (sports force parks) brings in a ton of people to Sandusky as well.

I would expect they are similar to the winterfest wands from last year. Would make sense to maybe even re-use the same location tags that are used for winterfest. If anyone has a winterfest wand, might be worth taking it to see if it reacts during Haunt.

And here we go.