robintodd

I know it's not probable but I would love to see trams in the parking lot come back. Granted, it takes away value for preferred parking, but it would help with less pedestrians in the parking lot and also provide supervision of the parking lot as well as the drop off area. I would think that a company would be interested in providing a discount/paying for electric trams that could be used. It may mean more employees, but right now it seems you need security guards out at the "parent drop-off (terrible name:))" area either way. It would also be a nice nod back to the opening of KI. As a bonus they could use ones without as many cars to transport people to and from Great Wolf Lodge and Camp Cedar. Just my 2 cents.

Went to Coney BBQ yesterday to try the new monthly special Smoked Boneless Short Ribs, House Peach BBQ Sauce and Cucumber Salad. Had it and it was good. The Peach BBQ isn't something I would normally try but it was tasty. Also noticed at the Chicken Shack they had a "wing sauce of the month". Maple Bourbon Glaze. Very good. Bon Appetit!

Have not seen them at CP or KI this year.

Ended up wondering into Jukebox Diner last night to just look at the menu and glad I did. Not only do they have a monthly special (Turkey Ruben currently) but I noticed a patty melt on the menu I had never noticed before. Since it was on the meal plan I got it and it was fantastic! I used to get LaRosa's pizza, Skyline or Panda Express about 4-3 years ago but recently I've been looking exclusively at items I can only get at KI and have not been disappointed. I think KI should do more to point out the new menu items available every year as well as maybe a blog post on the "monthly specials". For example, the dip at Brewhouse, Special at Jukebox diner, etc. Chef Major has really upped the game and I'm eagerly looking forward to the first chef's plate of the year.

I could see how it could be interpreted that way, but if you know the Chef's Plate from last year, you know it was only once a week. Also I believe Don has stated in these forums that it will be back but on a week day, not on Saturday. BTW, the buffalo dip (this months at Brew House) is fantastic.

Fun-Zone would be a must. And while we're at it get him back at Timberwolf!

As was clearly stated on the blog it is every Wednesday at 5pm. They are using it to bring in people on a normally low attendance day this year so hopefully the line won't have to form an hour and a half before service.

From what I understand they are pulling international employees, not many of them at KI.

True. I've heard that they are pulling alot of internationals from other parks to CP to make sure they are as fully staffed as possible. Seems like management got the message from last weekend and seems to have adjusted. I will say our experience so far this weekend is on par with what we expect. The Hotel Breakers staff is fantastic as always and every employee has been a pleasure to interact with. The one disappointment is Famous Dave's isn't open till next weekend, So maybe Tomo's two nights in a row

Starting in 2008 employers have done the same or more with less employees with the hope from the employees that when conditions become better the employers will hire back to the employment levels before 2008. That didn't happen. Instead employees continued to be overworked just thankful to have a job. This adjustment is a long time coming. The difference in wages may mean a park gets a major attraction every 4 years instead of every 2. Notice the full time workers for food. Parks are concentrating more on the dining experience as that's where the profit is. Universal has made a big deal out of it's food offerings for the Avengers area. I reference the incredible success with Fall Fest last year and all the people buying lanyards. Not everyone rides major thrill rides, but everyone eats! I will say that at first blush the Frontier Festival here seems a little oddly priced. First off it is a "ticket" system. You buy tickets and different items are different prices (1 -3 tickets). Add that to the fact that you can't buy individual tickets and you can see the problem. you may end up with one ticket and nothing to choose from and the only way to add more is to add 8 or 12 tickets. Pricing is another oddity. For season pass holders same-day tickets are 8 for $20 or 12 for $35? Seems like you might as well just pay $40 and get 16 tickets. No real incentive to buy 12. I much prefer the way KI did the Fall Fest. I understand that some items are more than others for this, but it may have been better to say 1 "large" item (main course), 2 "Medium" items (sides) and 1 "small" (appetizer or dessert) for $20. That way they could make a meal out of it without having to use an abacus. I should also say the the offerings do look diverse and enjoyable. My wife and I will be trying some today. Also the inclusion of IPA's is a nice touch.

Didn't notice. Went to Bay Harbor for dinner at 7:45 and didn't notice anything running after 8. Will check tomorrow when we'll stay in the park till close. Lines for GateKeeper, Blue Streak, Raptor and Valraven were practically non-existent. We got in line for Valraven and the FLP line was just as long as the regular queue. I didn't notice any long food lines either. Definitely better than last weekend to come up. I'll try and give an update tomorrow.

My wife and I are here for the weekend. They did severely cut number of reservations. At 6:17 line for SV is 1 hour and Maverick is 45 minutes.

CP has a Pre-K pass. It's free and you can get it as long as they haven't turned 6 yet. Hopefully the rest of CF parks will follow suit.

KI had significant issues their opening weekend. The credit card machines took 4-5 times as long to process and lines for food were the longest I've ever seen at the park (with the exception of fall fest). I'm guessing the days of the $99 pass are gone. We are in a captialistic society that runs on supply and demand. If widgets sell out, and you can't make more widgets, raise the price of the widgets because demand is high. If they raise the price to $115 and sell 90% of the passes they sold for $99 they actually will make more money. Remember last year was the first full year for the CP 99 gold pass. With the pandemic happening when it did it was a perfect storm. There's a thin line between having a full park of half disgruntled customers and a half full park of happy ones. This is one example where I believe FLP hurts those with season passes. If the park has the lines look long, they sell more FLP. So the more people in the park means more FLP sales. So it seems they want to sell season passes for less to make the lines longer and therefore sell more FLP. If the passes were more expensive (let's say $120) and they only sold 80% they would almost make as much money compared to 100% but would have 20% less season pass holders in the park (adjusted because some of those people would come for a traditional visit). The last 2 Saturdays KI has sold out of FLP. If this keeps up, expect the cost of FLP to go up and in the future FLP annual fees. Some thought parks like KI would money after last year. I'm sure that so far the FLP sales are taking a bite out of that loss. I stand corrected. I should say they gave pass holders like me an extra year. I live north of Cincinnati and go to KI almost every week and CP 3 times a year. I always stay at the Breakers and for 2 of the trips get the Platinum rooms for the discount and find it an exceptional value considering I don't have to drive in and out of the park every day. Living within 5 hours of 2 CF parks is not something many people have the luxury of and therefore I would guess they don't buy platinum passes. It would be interesting to see the breakdown of gold/platinum pass holders by state. I'm guessing Ohio would outnumber Platinum passholders in other states. Other people living near other CF parks will make their own decisions but I doubt hundreds of them come to CP every weekend. CP and KI are unique in that several people could be considered 'locals' to both parks. As far as Haunt and Winterfest in 2020 there were actually some parks that did a drive thru for Xmas and of course there was fall fest. Thinking of Fall fest I'm not sure Haunt will ever be the same after seeing the LONG lines for the food offerings this past season in the Fall. Those food passes sold like hotcakes are a lucrative upcharge for the park. To set up another food stand to handle long lines is much cheaper than building another coaster and the staffing takes less people as well. Look at the pop-up food places they do for Carnivale. I'm not saying Haunts will be completely gone, I just don't think they'll have 6 or more of them, especially at KI where the emphasis is more on families. The Fall Fest last year, even in a pandemic, was a success. They'll continue to build on that. I wouldn't expect an indoor haunt till 2022. In the end the choice to renew or not is just that a choice. I was mostly considering CF to other parks. Did Dollywood pass holders get and "extra full year". They got one from the time the gates opened in 2020, not the full 2021 season. My point is we got more than most. It was a move CF didn't have to do. Not doing it may have hurt them in the short term but in the end they are an amusement park company and eventually the crowds would come back. As Americans we are addicted to them. Not sure if they had time to do that or not. The first two weekends were the only weekends that had special pricing for platinum pass holders this season so I'm pretty sure some people saw/heard about KI and decided to go the 2nd weekend instead of the first. I'll try and find out. My wife and I are going this weekend. One bonus is that the Breakers is open Sunday night so we'll get a full day in the park on Sunday instead of checking out and leaving around 4 or 5 (we live 3 1/2 hours away). Wish they would do that during weekends in the fall (we always go the last weekend). P.S. I saw the paddleboats going, did they do a soft opening on them? Didn't think they were supposed to open till May 29th. (I hope to ride them this weekend).

1. True, hopefully next year will bring back the international visas. Also, CP only has 50% of the workforce population of KI since no one lives in the water. 2. I concur. 3. I laugh (and concur) I couldn't agree more. Seems like people are forgetting that CP gave us an extra year for the passes and any add-ons. I believe that a TON of people went ahead last year and added on a meal plan at least (some even Fast Lane) to their passes since they would get 2 years out of it. This is just going to be a different year. Busy with lines as opposed to last year that was busy with social distancing and ride capacity restrictions. As I stated last year my wife and I will be renewing our platinum with meal plans. The move to be one of the first to act last year and to make such a generous move with adding all of 2021 sealed me for a customer for years to come.

All I can hear in my head now is the character Goldmember

I've said it for a couple years now. I would like to see a tip of the hat to the old closing. If memory serves me correctly there was a hot air balloon launch, a bi-plane (snoopy) vs tri-plane (red baron) and skydivers. May be a bit hard depending on the condition of the tri plane but I'm sure the last two came from warren county airport. And of course on the show side I would love to see Celebration back. Such a classic show.

Maybe they tier it with one price for 1 time rides and another price for unlimited (like FP is now). One thing is for sure I can see all parks going to a Flash Pass (like six flags) option in the future. Basically you reserve a virtual place in line and get notified when it's your time to ride. This means more people spending time and money around the park than being in line for 2+ hours.

After thinking further about it, this year is probably an anomaly as far as fast pass goes. I'm sure many people bought the all season Fast Lane last year (considering it would be good for 2 years) and with the stimulus more people are buying fast pass this year when they visit. I'm expecting fast pass lines to be longer than normal this year, but they will be back to normal next year.

I see your point but still think that if they can allow me a meal every 4 hours or drink every 15 minutes with the meal plan, then they can pull this off with the Fast Lane as well. Another thing they should do is allow the app to show you how much time you have left until your next meal or drink. I think they have the logistics to pull it off, they just need to find a financial reason to do so.

I think Fast Pass should be re-worked. I would like to see it be allowed for 1 ride per day. This way it keep people from marathoning and still ensures that everyone get's to ride that bought one. They do it with the dining plan, seems like they could do it with this. The person at the front of the line could verify you had a pass (wrist band) and the person at the end could scan you in (in case the ride breaks down or you get out of line). Going to a park and seeing someone ride 5 times while you're in line for 2 hours just because they threw money at the park is a deterrent for people to buy season passes. I understand people come from a long way away to come to the park so maybe the price of such an offering could be tweaked. This could also be expanded/used for the Haunt as well. They could even put a 1 time use code for the new attraction attached to every season pass sold as a perk. They could also allow 1/2 price for season pass holders on slow days, etc.

Had the Big Dog at the Brewhouse and a Shotgun Wedding IPA (fantastic). Service and food was great. Definitely the best day 1 experience I've had for food in any park. Very impressed with the consistency from last year. Well Done!

I inquired about this and was told probably sometime in June. It was very popular and probably 1/2 the time my wife and I went on a Saturday was just to try it. No matter what it was, it was always top notch.

Couldn't agree more. The first half of the ride is butter smooth. Problem is it makes the last half seem rough. Not that it's rough, just not as smooth as the 1st half. Here's hoping the do the last half so it may be enjoyed for 50 more years!

Must be a day ending in 'y' :)