RD Reynolds

Cedar Point hasn't had Freelane for several years now... And I'd daresay if there is ever a line skipping system at Cedar Fair, they will, like Six Flags, charge a pretty nickel for it. Lots and lots of nickels, actually. I believe that Universal does that as well, or at least a variant of it. They allow you singular fast passes, but you can also buy a pass wherein you can fast pass all day. I THINK that's what they do. Will find out here in a few weeks when I head down there... RD

You know one thing that I was thinking about (and Dis has experimented with)...why not have one FP distribution system near the center of the park that allows you to choose which ride you want an FP for. If you did this, you'd greatly eliminate the number of extra staff - and machines - you need to have at the ready. RD

Negatives: -Extra staff needed. -Cost of installing the machines and new ticket media that would be accepted by the machines -Would make normal lines longer -Complaints about "unfairness" -Fake fastpasses, etc... Negatives of not having a fastpass system: -Long lines on busy days (which can be avoided by not coming on busy days) Uhhh... sorry. Can't think of any more. Hmmmm...since we've established that KI already has these machines, that would be one 'negative' off the list for the park. I have never heard of complaints of "unfairness" in all my trips to WDW, and in fact, only hear praises. In all my dealings at WDW (and believe me, me and my wife know way too much about those parks), I've never even heard of fake fast passes. It would require a few more staffers, and would possibly make the stand by lines longer. As for the pro's to the system, I'd add that making guests happy by not having them stand in line would be a pretty big one. More time for them to go buy merchandise and food. Believe me, Disney doesn't have it just out of the goodness of their hearts. RD

Waiting an hour and a half is not acceptable to me. Isn't the goal of a park to make it enjoyable for guests? Is there a negative to doing this? RD In theory, FastPass is brilliant. Unfortunately at Disney the ride operators and/or management do not understand that for it to work properly, it must be used properly. Let me explain. They have calculated the number of FastPasses that can be distributed at what time frame as to disrupt the standby line flow of traffic as little as possible. This works great if the deadline to use the FastPass is enforced. It never is. So what happens is that people get a FP, don't use it during the hour long window they are supposed to, and then return whenever they want. This nullifies the formula that FP uses and then creates terribly long waits for the standby line. My fear is that Kings Island has not quite got the handle on using the Single Rider line yet, which is a far more simple concept. FastPass could become a huge disaster. Interesting. I've been to Disney 2x a year for the past three years, and have never seen the issues you are describing. That could be due to the fact that I always use FP for the big attractions, and never go stand by on them. As for not enforcing the time frames, I am VERY glad they don't. Gives you much more flexibility as a guest. RD

Waiting an hour and a half is not acceptable to me. Isn't the goal of a park to make it enjoyable for guests? Is there a negative to doing this? RD

Would be really bad if they just installed one, then thought, "Well, this isn't working." The whole point is that there are several, and thus, you have people fast passing different rides and spreading people throughout the park to different rides. If there were FP's for BLSC, Vortex, Beast, DB, FoF, and FH, then you'd have something. RD

Has there ever been thought to a fast pass system at KI? We use it constantly at WDW, just curious as to if it would ever be implemented at KI... RD

Went for our last go this year with our five year old, and it was a beautiful day...which brought he single largest crowds I've ever witnessed at the park! I seriously have never seen crowds like the one today. Didn't greatly hamper our enjoyment (we mainly stayed back in the kids Howl area), although by the time we'd waited 40 minutes to ride Woodstock Express, we were glad we weren't trying to cram more in and were basically just goofing around for the day. As an aside, I couldn't believe the line to renew season passes! Was really glad my buddy told me that you could do it online instead of waiting, which I did when we got home. RD

Very cool, thanks for sharing. I prefer pinball (have three machines at home), but Skee-Ball is a lot of fun too. Oddly enough, earlier today I downloaded the Skee-Ball iPhone app...and that was before I ever saw this post! lol RD

Indoor boat ride detailing the history of the park. RD

The way you typed that, I don't know if you're being sarcastic. But there you go in case you're not! Hahah. Was being serious. Way cool, many thanks! RD

PKI Tunes? What is this? RD

I think it's a bummer that as a father with a five-year old who LOVES KI, I am really questioning going back in October. Last year, they had the fantastic dead celeb display, this year I would imagine we'll see signs about midgets bleeding. If there is no signage, and folks are just supposed to know about it by other means, then I guess it would be ok. I guess I just don't understand the park sometimes. What is it they want to be? RD

Thank you guys so much for the history lesson. Very interesting. I've been reading a couple of biographies of Walt Disney of late, and one of the issues he had with folks when planning Disneyland is they didn't understand why he wanted to spend so much on theming. They argued the landscaping and building facades were a waste of money, because people wouldn't be buying bushes as souvenirs or riding buildings. His argument is that he wanted to make DL a place that you never thought you were in the real world. He wanted it to be a true getaway from your normal life. That's something I miss about KI, from both my youth and from the PKI days. Interestingly enough, you can still get glimpses of it, as I did just sitting by the fountain eating pizza. I looked up and down International Street, and saw some theming in the buildings, saw the glass blower, etc., and these were not things I see every day. I just wish there was more of that in the park, which was why I asked about why there was such a negative view of the Paramount days. RD

Sad thing is that KK's wrestling was actually 'old school' southern style wrestling from WWE's farm system league, Ohio Valley Wrestling. They wouldn't generally have the same type of hardcore wrestling you'd see from the Half Pint Brawlers crew. If anything, the crowds for this will be MUCH worse and more bloodthirsty than anything from OVW, which, believe it or not, was actually fairly well respected. RD

I should also add that even though I've written the books, I'm not a huge fan these days, and agree with folks that think this doesn't really have a place at KI. RD

So when it was "Paramount's Kings Island", there were different owners? I'm really bad with the timeline, so I wasn't sure who owned it and when and what the pros and cons were of each set of owners... RD

The 1990's were a simpler time? RD

You would be amazed the wrestling that took place in San Fran back in the 90's, then, Terpy. Believe me, this is mild compared to Incredibly Strange Wrestling and the stuff that took place there. RD (who has actually written three books on pro wrestling, believe it or not)

Just curious, seems a lot of folks hated the period when Paramount owned KI. I liked it, I thought they did a nice job theming the park, which is something I liked and missed... RD

Oh, I wasn't questioning the value of the deal...just wanted to make sure there wasn't a reupping deal I was missing! Will definitely be getting this one for the fam, we had a great time this year, our first year as annual pass holders. Thanks as always, Terpy! RD

Is there a discount to do this, or is it simply getting new passes for $69.99 the best deal available? Thanks! RD

Thanks for the info. Sad we didn't get to ride it one more time. RD

I think I remember reading that Spongebob was going to be running in the Action Theater "until Labor Day"...if so, today would be the last day for it. Can anyone confirm it was running this weekend? I may sneak over there today for one last ride on it... RD

We went yesterday (4th) for a few hours, and had a fantastic time. A friend of mine has sworn for years that one of the best days to go is on the 4th, because everyone thinks the place will be crowded and thus they don't go. We did a bit in Planet Snoopy and rode WWC, which I was blown away had a 15 minute wait. Last time I was at the park a few weeks back, it was a 90 minute wait. Unreal. Wound up going to BB, and it seemed crowded to me there. Thankfully, we had left by the time the power outage hit. RD