Scott Evans

I understand technical glitches, they happen. However, if they are not polite about it and apologetic about it that is bad business and poor customer service. CF is not going to get rid of the season pass, its their money maker and is great for cash flow. And yes Platinum pass holders and season pass holders should be considered their most important customers. The Reds do with their season ticket holders. Here's the deal if the pass does not scan and I'm treated with respect with an apology then no big deal. However if I'm denied entry, treated rudely, etc..then there is a problem. And with it being a widespread problem it is bordering on a legal issue as CF would be borderline on breach of contract. So yes the customer does have a right to be angry when the seller does not deliver promised goods.

Did it work to get free parking at Cedar Point? Also how long did it take guest relations to fix the problem? I'm going this weekend to Cedar Point and do not want to get my blood pressure up. Are they at least apologetic?

Just got back from a trip to Kings Island tonight. Got there at 4pm and barely found a spot in the gold pass lot. I think a guy that parked in a space that isn't really a space either left earlier than we did or got towed. Anyway its the busiest I've seen the park in years, it was even more crowded than opening day and the GE/Miller Piping private event last year. Anyway tonight was a night of long lines but still lots of fun, if I had paid for an admission to the park I wouldn't have been happy but since I'm a pass holder, no bubbles no troubles, I can ride other things next time I go. We stayed til about 8:30/9p Highlight was I rode the Crypt for the first time since it changed to the Crypt. Here are my thoughts on the changes. The bad, the stripping of the theming. The good, the new program provided a much more enjoyable ride than Tomb Raider did. However if they could have kept some of the theming inside the ride it would have been near perfect. Boo Blasters was ok, though I haven't ridden that ride since it was the Smurfs. Also it broke down halfway through the ride and we were pointed away from the targets so unlike some we couldn't jack up our scores. lol. Anyway going again in 2 weeks and going to Cedar Point next week, hopefully won't be as crowded. Ride count: Adventure Express - 1 Action Theater - 1 Back lot Stunt Coaster - 1 The Crypt - 1 The railroad - 1 Boo Blasters - 1 Flight Deck - 1

If you are writing it APA style you should be able to cite an interview as long as you are speaking with an expert in that field, which in this case would be a Kings Island official in Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, or operations. Call the park and see if you could setup an appointment for a phone interview or personal interview. Worse they can say is no.

Thanks for the breakdown...When you break it down like that and compare it to outside food prices for the same product, it doesn't seem as terrible as some make it out to be. Sounds like Skyline is still marked up quite a bit though. A 20 oz at the Reds game is not $5, but 4.25. The 44 oz is $5. Also you can get a 12 oz for $1 at the $1 stand along with hot dogs, peanuts, and ice cream. It is 7.75 for a beer at the Reds. Skyline at the Reds game is $4 for a cheese coney. Sportservice really marks up the prices there, though a Larosas Calzone is only 7.75 at GABP which is about the same price as the restaurants. I found that the Rivertown buffet or whatever its called is a very good value. Not sure what the cost is this year but you have pretty much all the food choices plus ice cream and unlimited soft drinks for slightly above what you'd pay for small portions at one of the other options. Plus there's a discount for pass holders. Anyone know the cost of that for this year?

On all the rides where you might have problems, yes. As with fitting on DB, that depends, MF, and TTD have smaller waist size requirements due to their belts, and on Raptor and WT its the chest size that will cause you problems. I think I'll be fine, I'm probably more average than exceptional anyway, though could stand to lose some weight. I don't have any issues with any of the rides at KI, though for whatever reason being in the "back seat" on Stunt Coaster the restraint doesn't fit comfortably but have no problem in the front seat of the ride. Had no issues on any other ride. Waist is 42" so I'm not morbidly obese just could stand to lose a few pounds. A couple of years ago though while waiting to get on Vortex there was a dude so fat that it took two of the employees to get his restraint to fasten with the seatbelt deal. The biggest issues I see are on rides like Beast & Racer that have the divider on the cars where it used to be one seat. I know that was done for safety reasons but still seems unnecessary (other than to make it more idiot proof)

We'll be going to CP in May. Do they have "trial seats" at the front of the line so one can know if they will fit before standing in line and having to face the "walk of shame"? Also if I fit in DB with no problems will I have any issues with any rides at CP?

Son of Beast is the second worse ride there behind Firehawk. Of course i've only ridden SOB twice, once was about 2 trains before the accident that caused them to remove the loop...the second time was 2 years ago and the ride still wasn't fun, though I did not experience whiplash. Diamondback is great however.

Not sure how the missing link happened, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Management is the actual link. Secondly you are correct about Wikipedia not always being accurate due to lack of credible info but the portfolio listed has all the sources linked. In fact this is one of the most cited articles I've seen on the site. My point is it seems like based on their cruise line acquisitions that they will invest into the companies in order to expand offerings rather than just downsize, streamline, and sell like other private equity firms do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Management- for complete information about the new owner. My concerns: Apollo is just as debt laden if not more so than Cedar Fair, however it is spread out across industries but some of the companies in their portfolio are scary, such as Countrywide. Private equity firms have the reputation of coming in, downsizing operations, and then reselling the parts. Bain capital's purchase of Clear Channel is an example of this...there was a reason that one talk host did 2 shifts per day over the holidays on WLW, budgets have been sliced into the bone at Clear Channel. A lot of Apollo's portfolio is in real estate, though that market should begin to climb in the next couple of years. The positives about Apollo. Looking at what they did to their other entertainment oriented properties, namely cruise lines, they expanded offerings rather than cutting them, mainly in the cruise industries building at least 3 new ships for two of the cruise lines and I believe NCL has plans for a new ship as well. So this could very well be a positive for future growth at the park. If there is new mgt at the park maybe we could talk them into going retro with The Racer, turning it backwards once again and adding the water effects back to the Stunt Coaster.

I got 2 words for ya as DX would say...j/k Miller Piping was the other company that was there. Park was not light but still not what I would call crowded. We rode 18 rides in about 9 hours including a 30 minute lunch and riding Flight of Fear and Firehawk(for the first and last time). 3 rides broke down as well including one we were in line for for at least 20 minutes (Invertigo) Full review is in trip report. Was a great time that ended with a great bargain on merchandise.

Just got back from a great day at the park for GE Aviation day (as well as Miller Piping). Arrived at the park between 11:30 and noon to a full parking lot, which I though it meant the park would be crazy with lines on anything....ended up being like a normal Sunday. First ride as always, Adventure Express, got first row seating as a walk on. Then went to The Racer, at this time the line was outside the entrance, but that was because they were only running one racer. They opened up the blue racer line after we had passed the split then got in the first row line, which turned out to be longer than need be due to a single rider and 2 kids I didn't see when entering the line. We then chose to check out X-base, both rides had posted 60 minute waits since we were hungry we moved on to Vortex. This had about a 10 minute wait and my friend rode it for the first time and said it was the best ride in the park. We then went to the Rivertown buffet place and had lunch, not a bad deal, about 5 bucks more than a burger fries and drinks at other places in the park. Next we rode White Water Canyon, on the way there a maintenance guy came through and the people in front of us asked how long the line was, he said there was none. He was literally accurate as it was a direct walk on. We got drenched as it was me and my one friend and two kids we didn't know on the ride, at one point the boat seemed like it was going to flip. From there we rode Diamondback, biggest complaint here was no single riders line, but still was only a 30 minute wait and the guy that usually tells you what row to sit in was not there, you just picked which row you wanted, we were in row 6 and the second time on the DB was still a lot of fun. One thing I noticed today is that the line time notifications were way off. Backlot Stunt Coaster said it was 45, it was about 20 and again the guy that usually tells you where to sit was not there. Before BLSC we were going to ride The Beast but it shut down as soon as we got to where the line started....we then made our way to Flight Deck, long walk and then the line seemed to just bog down, not sure what the wait was, but was longer than normal, or at least seemed that way. We were going to ride Drop Tower but it was shut down..I've always been nervous about that ride however my friend talked me into it...so we moved on to Congo Falls, great ride and my friend had never been on the deck for the Wave..he was surprised by the strength of the wave..so we were soaked and looking at the line on Invertigo I decided to check that out as it didn't look that bad. We got there and the sign said 90 minutes, I said no way, maybe 30-40 at most as the turnstiles were basically empty. We made it all the way up to near the gates, when they announced technical trouble and shut down the ride, wasting a good 25 minutes. However by the time we got out of the line, Drop Tower had reopened and we were in line for the second run. I had always been afraid of that ride due to my fear of falling. What a mistake that had been. I absolutely loved the ride, though was nervous when we seemed like we were stuck at the top forever since the ride had recently broken down. That was an awesome ride and probably my favorite ride of the day. We went to check out Delirium but the ride seemed to be way too long to justify that type of ride, so we walked on to the Viking for some relaxing. We then rode The Racer again and made our way to Flight of Fear, my friend thought we were going to Firehawk but we went there instead. Sign said 90 minutes for FOF, actual wait time was about 40 minutes. A great ride and my friend loved it and thought the wait was worth it. We then rode The Beast which was back up and running. A 20 minute wait and my friend loved The Beast as well. It was his first time on the ride, and he said its the best wooden coaster he's been on (he goes to Holiday World all the time as its near his home and he has season passes). Finally we made our way to Firehawk, ride sign said 60 minutes and it was probably close to 70. There were some line jumpers on this ride but the girl at the end of the queue caught them and kicked them off the ride. Finally got on the ride and rode it for the first and last time. I did not enjoy this ride as I felt I was going to fall out of the coaster. My least favorite ride of all time ranking below Son of Beast. Finally we rode Adventure Express again at night and what a fun ride at night. As good as The Beast at night especially since it was a walk on. Closed the night with The Racer which was a front seat walk on and we had the option of riding it again without getting back in line but at 34 we were both extremely tired after 9+ hours in the park. To cap off the night he went to look for his son a stuffed animal and we hit the jackpot. KI Boomerang Bay stuffed bears were 66 cents each including tax. I bought two, one for my wife and one as a Christmas present for my 2 year old niece. He bought like 10 of them for his wife, his son, and his unborn child due in about 6-7 months as well as gifts for other members of his family. Unbelievable deal! Great night and hopefully my feet will heal soon. Ride summary Adventure Express - 2 Racer - 3 Flight Deck - 1 Shake Rattle Roll - 1 Vortex - 2 Flight of Fear - 1 Firehawk - 1 Beast - 1 Diamondback - 1 White Water Canyon - 1 Congo Falls - 1 Drop Tower - 1 Viking - 1 Backlot Stunt Coaster - 1 Invertigo Line Ride - 1

Sorry I suck at spelling plus usually don't go into Nick U

Oh I will absolutely ride those as well as Adventure Express. I goto KI about once per year, my friend has not been in a couple of decades so he's really never ridden anything at KI...

We probably won't be able to be there until 11:30 or so but will stay until close. Still am curious to what other major company is having their private day tomorrow too. It clearly says GE Day on the ticket. I do know GE invited their suppliers and customers if that is what you meant (pkiboy).

Who else did?

I'll be going to the private event on Saturday and have never ridden the following rides, which ones should I definitely not miss and which ones should I skip. Runaway Raptor Scooby Doo's Haunted Castle Invertigo Avatar Firehawk I also have never been on Drop Tower or Delirium but really have no real desire to do so as I'm not a big fan of heights/falling. Hopefully crowd will be like a normal Sunday in the summer(reasonably light)

its due to global warming As a matter of fact, global warming does cause rapid changes in enviornment that can vary for areas depending on where they are, for some it does actually involve heating up, for others, a cooler climate can be expected. For example, the United States had the coldest winter on record last year, yet this year places like Washington have recorded never before seen heat. Currently, we are in an El Nino pattern, which typically results in cooler, wetter summers for the eastern half of the country. That is also why there has been a shortage of named storms in the Atlantic until recently. Most of the sporadic warming and cooling is caused by the fundemental breakdown of basic weather patterns, such as the Jet Stream and North Atlantic Current, which is caused by the unnatural heating of the atmosphere and disposing of freshwater and oxygen from the planet's ice caps. Done. Global warming is nothing more than a geo-political religion with the facade of science. It is evidenced by the fact in 2005, one of the more busy hurricane seasons, the global warming people were stating that more and more hurricanes would be the norm...the result, since then 2006-today, has been very quiet hurricane seasons as 2005 was probably the peak of a heavy hurricane cycle. Also, the prediction in the 80s that by the 90s coastal cities would be under water due to melting polar ice caps. I do find it ironic that almost after every news story or presser that those who push the global warming agenda, that the temps across the country seems to dramatically drop, whether its in July or December. To get back on topic I'm hoping for a hot sunny day on 9/12 so I can ride two of my favorite non-coasters, WWC and Congo Falls.

I have a pair of cargo shorts with a zipper pocket on the side of the leg. I also use a ziplock bag to keep cell phone, wallet, keys, etc dry in case its an actual warm day and I decide to ride White Water Canyon, log flume, or Congo Falls. Also I put my glasses in said pocket this year(first year for glasses) even though most people took the chance and rode with them on. When I go on 9/12 I'll probably leave my glasses in the car.

Not really. Pretty much means the banks and investors now own and will manage the parks. Usually they don't look for quality but simply look at cutbacks. Only positive could be if they try to spin off some of the parks and another company such as Cedar Fair would buy, though I believe CF has a pretty high debt load right now, so that is pretty doubtful.

GE day will probably not be a walk on on everything. Usually on P&G day, and GE day, it is packed! they are huge companies. Other threads I have read have stated the crowd is fairly light as the public including pass holders are not invited those days. Are you basing your packed description on experience or speculation?

1. Diamondback 2. The Beast 3. Adventure Express 4. Vortex 5. Flight of Fear 6. Flight Deck/Top Gun 7. Racer 8. Italian Job/Back Lot Stunt Coaster 9. Fairly Odd Coaster/Beastie 10. Son of Beast have not ridden Invertigo Firehawk Little Bill Giggle Coaster Runaway Raptar Though if GE day is how most have described(everything a walk on) Invertigo and Firehawk will be ridden this Sept.

They REALLY need to do something about that. It's getting incredibly annoying, and I've seen more than one small child crying because one stung them. Carpenter bees rarely sting, mainly because the males don't have stingers and the females which do have stingers rarely leave the area around the nest/holes they bore into the wood.

I'd love to go, but I can't see myself paying for admission one day when I can just wait until the next day and get in for free, lol. I hope everyone that goes has fun though, and that KI has managed to keep the bulk of the haters out how are you going to get in for free the following day? On the calendar it says its not open. Is there some secret? The next day is GE day.

I will be going to the park on one of the "GE days". Is the park usually crowded on those days? My friend is coming in from out of town and has never been to the park. What kind of lines can we expect? Just curious if anyone has any experience at past events with the GE day or not.