CedarPointer

Love that they gave out Pass "Perks" for free hot chocolate when they can't even manage to provide it for their guests who prepaid for it for the season. Don't worry, plenty of booze and zero lines at the bars, though.

Pretty sure someone saw Encanto and hit the Xerox button.

Other parks added plenty of Icee stands, so that pretty much confirms it's an issue with park leadership and not corporate. These days, it feels like, once they have your money for the pass, they actively don't want you to visit, especially with how Pass "Perks" always seems to have the best "perks" reserved for those with only 1 or 2 visits. It kind of reminds me of the "Declining By Degrees" series Kevin Yee used to write about Disney's death by a million cuts. Back on the subject of Haunt, it does feel pretty off-putting that the main "new" thing this year is locked behind a paywall. Allowing them in the mazes also kind of ruins the experience for everyone else, so it kind of feels like how the no boo necklaces have degraded the experience outside the mazes.

What new Icee stands? It took them nearly the whole season to manage to add two (2) machines in Rivertown. But somehow they had no trouble sourcing the booze slushie machines for Mike's many new bars.

That's fair, but it makes you wonder what else is wrong with the ride. Especially since guests who were on the ride are reporting injuries, which I have to assume is true, given the park's failure to communicate differently.

And why exactly was it open today after having an ACCIDENT yesterday? Doesn't make me feel very safe as a guest.

The unnamed Icee stand next to French Corner Bar has a hot chocolate machine set up, but no cups, so I'm guessing it's not up and running yet.

In other news, they've now budget cut the topping bar from Jukebox Diner. Cedar Point's guests get sliced steak and lobster bisque, but Mike's guests don't even get lettuce and pickles with their $18 cheeseburger. But at least they finally managed to get two (2) Icee machines installed in Rivertown... after the peak summer season ended, of course.

I just don't understand doing specials when they fail to even get the basics right. This the same park that found a simple chicken sandwich to be an insurmountable obstacle.

I mean, it's pretty unethical that they refuse to open drink refill locations and add additional Icee locations to meet the demand of the drink plans they already sold and instead spend their whole food budget on pushing booze at every turn.

Well, it just so happens that "family friendly attractions" are cheaper than good ones, so...

Congratulations to whoever had the idea to name the passes the same thing when the benefits don't work at the "other company's" parks and aren't really a 1:1 match either. Imagine being in Guest Services having to explain these things to upset guests with a straight face.

Plenty of non-enthusiasts were underwhelmed by the announcement, judging from social media. Anyone who is aware of Holiday World and their water coasters isn't going to be impressed by Mike's BudgetBlasters.

What do you think they are, made of money?

LOL, all the in park announcements say the parade is at 7.

Not like false advertising is out of the ordinary for them this season. Let's not forget that they sold dining plans advertising two entrees at Panda and new menu items at Brewhouse and Potato Works that were immediately budget cut as soon as the park opened (and continued to be advertised on the website for quite a while after). But, hey, they already have your money!

Honestly, it feels like the focus is on reducing dining plan usage, and they've totally given up on getting people to pay out of pocket for food. Seems like getting addicted to the revenue from selling cheap passes and dining plans in the fall is catching up with them- it gives me sort of a "pyramid scheme" vibe where it only works as long as enough people keep joining. In this case, they were relying on people to buy dining plans and not use them, and now that stopped working in their favor so they're panicking. I don't think it's a corporate issue, since a lot of these issues don't seem to be the case at other parks. For example, other parks added additional Icee machines to keep up with the demand from the new premium drink plan money grab. KI didn't add a single one, and when people complained, they claimed they would be adding more (which somehow hasn't happened months after the fact) and put up signs pointing out the comically small number of locations that actually carry Icee. How come they could throw together a new "human claw" money grab in only a couple weeks, but the new Action Zone drink stand was aborted half finished and seemingly put off until next year? Coffee tends to be more hit or miss at other parks, but if they're going to carry it throughout the regular season, why have it mostly only available at locations that are never open or open at noon or later? Why are there multiple drink stands that are basically never open, including one of the two Freestyle locations, but the excessive number of bars added this year are seemingly always open? While management at KI was never great, at least it used to not feel like they were openly hostile to people trying to redeem the things they paid for in advance. I really hope there are some major management changes before next season, because I don't think the current atmosphere of ramming through constant new money grabs while cutting everything from the guest experience they possibly can will be sustainable for much longer. It's not a good sign when non-enthusiast, "normal" guests loudly complain about how bad the park experience is this year.

Looks like they had plenty- it was still available at 5:20ish. I bypassed it since it didn't look very filling and I had a small lunch, but that was a pleasant change over the last time they did it!

The last time around, I kind of gave up on it when I saw them cut off the line after 10 people because they were only making 10 of the meals. Even for being "limited", that's not a lot.

I'm confused why this would be a thing when they haven't even nailed down the regular food and beverage items yet. Can't help but think of the highly advertised chicken sandwich at Brewhouse that was budget cut after 2 hours but advertised online when purchasing dining plans for weeks after.

I don't think it's a good idea to blur the line between actual safety warnings and ride theming. Plus, "don't go into the restricted area" blaring kind of feels like it's in poor taste now.

They still have two rides themed to entering restricted areas, so I think they're oblivious.

That would imply that they want you to actually use your drink plan, rather than just buy it and accept the bare minimum.

Don't worry, though, the bar next to it is always open and fully staffed!

Because they don't know what they're talking about because the training KI gives sucks. I'll take my personal experience with how CF's ticketing system works over what a teenage cashier at a third-party operated restaurant said.