Oldiesmann

You would expect the policy to be the same at all parks, not just some of them... Also note that this is listed on the Gold Pass terms, but not on the Platinum Pass terms:

See also his handling of the backlash stemming from the park's treatment of a breastfeeding mother...

Annual revenue of $325 million. I'm wondering if they've managed to turn a profit at all. An article from a few years ago cited by Wikipedia says that as of March of 2012 the company hadn't been able to make a profit in nearly 8 years.

If it works anything like Ride Warriors Weekend did in 2009, you'll be able to check in and pick up your event badge at Guest Relations after the park opens.

If you're in the Tampa area and want a good beach, drive down to Siesta Key...

My pass would be lost if I didn't have it in my wallet right now...

I unfortunately had to catch the ads on YouTube at halftime or after the game as most of them weren't shown in the online stream. I liked the puppy one, the Doritos "flying pig" one and the Fiat one. Didn't care much for the Nissan ad (I've heard "Cat's In The Cradle" way too many times and it's a rather depressing song).

The time window doesn't matter as much to me as most of my trips to KI are all-day trips anyway. The fact that they're forcing you to get food during peak times is going to be a pain though. The more time I spend in line waiting for food, the less time I have to enjoy everything else the park has to offer. I guess the trick there will be to learn which stands are typically the least crowded at any given time. I do feel sorry for the employees though, as they're now going to have to deal with larger crowds at already busy times.

I also hope they figure out whether or not to include drinks this year. I had mixed experiences last year. Officially, drinks weren't included, but there were several times when I got a drink to go with my free meal and was not charged for it.

Distance shot (beneath the sky ride to the left of/behind the carousel), courtesy of FB user Larry Hurt: Overhead view (originally posted at gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com as per the watermark):

Not that I can tell. Website still says tickets will go on sale April 1st (3 1/2 weeks before the park opens) and there's no info on their FB page about pricing either as far as I can see. On a related note, apparently Ed Hart has won himself a "Silver Fleur-de-Lis" award... http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2015/01/29/gli-names-silver-fleur-de-lis-award-winners.html

It isn't their biggest issue by any means, but it will still make marketing to out of state visitors more difficult.

I'm still wondering how on earth Kentucky Kingdom plans to satisfy the whole "25% of visitors coming from out of state" thing. Last year they chose to ignore the out-of-state markets (except for the Louisville metro area anyway) and couldn't even meet local attendance goals. Now they have to convince people to drive to Louisville instead of checking out that shiny new B&M an hour away...

When you've already decided that the tax refund you haven't received yet will partially go towards covering the cost of an enthusiast event...

The FAQs page says "There is always a staff member at the facility 24/7 to care for overnight guests", so in theory that means you could pick up your pets after hours as well. I do fully understand their reasons for wanting advance reservations and vaccination records as well. Hopefully they'll have more info up for KI guests in the future.

I would assume if KI is partnering with them, they will be open later during the park season to accommodate guests staying til park close.

Apparently the Red Dog in Mason just opened a few months ago (September or October) (they've had another location in Cincinnati's Oakley neighborhood for a few years now). I guess KI figured that there was no point in having a pet care center now that Red Dog was nearby, even if it is more expensive.

Also note that park tickets don't go on sale until April 1st - just 3 1/2 weeks before the park opens. KI and Holiday World already allow you to buy tickets online for the upcoming season...

And... some of us old farts actually have that record on (yep, I said it...) vinyl! Some of us "young farts" do too

The majority of the people in that area live in Kentucky. According to 2010 census numbers, of the approximately 1.3 million people living in the Louisville metro area at the time, 741,000 of those were in Jefferson County, KY alone. From what I understand, they barely advertised outside of their home market last year, even though KI was opening Banshee. Now they've got an even closer competitor opening a shiny new B&M. They also have to work hard to clean up the park's reputation. They don't seem to care to address the issues with attracting a rougher crowd, and last year there were numerous PR disasters, plus the stupid decision to add a drop ride.

Security guards cannot monitor every square inch of property, no matter how many you have or how good your camera system is. Also, with it being the off-season, I would imagine they currently have reduced staffing. The good news here is these two idiots were caught and the infant is now in a much better situation than he was. Hopefully this woman will get the help she needs, whether it be rehab or time in a mental hospital.

For 2014, admission was $44.95. Parking is $8. Holiday World is $44.99 but you save $5 if you buy online.

I even saw a Dollywood billboard around here recently, and they're 6 hours away in an area whose main industry is tourism. If they're advertising here, there's no reason why Kentucky Kingdom shouldn't be. Sure, they can try to get Southern Indiana, but advertising a major urban park in more rural areas isn't going to get you a lot of visitors - especially with Holiday World being closer and cheaper.

(Note: "he" is Mark Turner, executive director of a redevelopment committee now managing the park). So whose idea was it to appoint these volunteers in the first place? Just because you're committed doesn't mean you are capable of running/managing the place. And if they were so overwhelmed, why didn't they speak up and ask for help when problems first arose?

That reminds me of the famous "Catchup Advisory Board" sketches from A Prairie Home Companion... Featuring the talents of Garrison Keillor, Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Richard Dworsky.