malem

Both locations are spins on popular concepts, but they aren't necessarily trying to clone the food of those specific chains.

I should post my review as well. I rode ~15 times at Media Day and Scream for A Kid Again, then once on Opening Day. Raptor and Gatekeeper both give me a slight headache after 4-5 rides in a day, so I was pleasantly surprised that I could ride it so many times. I credit its smoothness and smart pacing, building up to the ride's most intense forces in the batwing. I didn't pay much attention to the layout over the off-season, as I didn't want to spoil the initial ride experience. There's a great out-of-control feeling throughout - you're diving straight for the ground, feeling weightlessness alternating with up and down forces, and (especially at night) are never sure when you're inverting. Then the in-line roll finale lifts you out of your seat and gives you a great view of the park spinning around you. I caught a glimpse of an upside down Eiffel Tower on a few of the inversions, which I thought was a nice touch. The best seat is up front, thanks to the unique views, followed closely by the outer seats in row 8. It's not critical to choose a particular seat, but I'd recommend riding up front at least once. Overall, there's really nothing bad I can say about Banshee. The lighting package is spectacular from the midways, the theming feels immersive, and the ride itself is an experience you'll want to have again (and again).

Last season, I spent $45.32 (after taxes) on food at Kings Island. This doesn't include $27.99 I spent on a meal/drink/event ticket for the KIC event in June. Had this year's prices been in effect, I would have paid $55.87 for the same food after a 10% discount. I also spent $36.81 on food on my way to or from the park, and I received free food on one visit from winning a "Tweetup" contest. If you mean this upcoming Sunday, hopefully you have a ticket for the private event scheduled that day. (The park will be closed to the public.)

Do send comments to the park; they get read. They probably have multiple fryers, so pieces could have been cooked in different oil. You shouldn't be getting a "fouled grease" taste. I liked their approach to seasoning, with (as far as I could tell) minimal salt/MSG. I even mentioned this to Mr. Gushulak on Media Day, though he refused to discuss the ingredients. (Other than to say that the chicken is fresh and prepared on-site.) I try to avoid deep fried food, however, so I probably won't be there often. There are season pass discounts & all-season meal plans this season which may reduce that cost for frequent visitors.

The meal plan offers up to two meals per day, and KI has (as of this post) operated for two days. How have you used it six times?

One seller successfully sold two shirts on eBay for $50 each. Someone's Fast Lane Plus wristband was (more than) paid for.

If you want to enter the park 5 days a week just for "free" food, that's up to you. The dining plan greatly encourages in-park dining while offering a high perceived value for passholders. Without paying for meals each time, more spending money is available for drinks, games, snacks, etc. If a group includes some dining plan passholders, the remainder of the group will be very likely to purchase meals. A minority of customers will be unprofitable, just as some diners at all-you-can-eat buffets are. The price accounts for this. On Opening Day, cashiers were apparently trained to err in the customer's favor when facing system problems. Don't expect drinks to be incorrectly included once the procedures are finalized.

^ The pizza would have cost less had you forgone the breadstick. Remember that the season and all-day dining plans do not include soft drinks.

I'm certain that 10% discounts aren't supposed to stack, but they were being rather generous yesterday while figuring everything out. It was nice to see such a high priority on customer satisfaction, even though the new system didn't always work. Perhaps you would have got it for free had you been with nine friends.

When the gates opened, people from the back filled in empty space closer to the entrance. Extra "lines" formed, and some large groups standing off to the side pushed their way up front. The lines quickly became one large mob. Once inside, some tried to run. Luckily, KI posted employees along the path reminding everyone to walk.

My favorite moment of the night was helping a girl from one of the A Kid Again families overcome her fear and take a ride on Banshee. She loves roller coasters and desperately wanted to ride, but she was too scared to get on. She skipped riding when they called her name from the fundraiser list, then her sister rode several times trying to get her to go. I had been talking with the family before the event started, so they stopped me at The Chicken Shack. Lucas (ohiocolts) and I explained the ride in detail, then offered to go with her and her sister to ride it. On our second time through with them, she finally rode. She loved it of course, screaming about how great it was during the entire ride (after the drop). Then she rode again. That is one ride I certainly won't forget.

^ The dining plans include select choices at participating food locations. Generally, any entrée & side combination is included, though drinks, desserts, & snacks are not. I don't have a full list, but some of the choices include: 2 slices of pizza & breadstick at any LaRosa's location (Rivertown, International Street, or Festhaus) Coney dog & fries or 3-way at Skyline Chili Burger and fries at Juke Box Diner, Planet Snoopy Grill, or the Soak City grill Burrito at Hank's Burrito Shack Chicken, fries, & bread meal at The Chicken Shack Franchised locations, including Subway, Starbucks Coffee, Chick-Fil-A, and Panda Express are not included.

Food prices have increased this year. A burrito at Hank's Burrito Shack (without a drink) is now $10.59, up from $7.59 and $7.49 charged last season. Gold/platinum passholders may get a flat 10% off at select locations without a meal plan; LaRosa's on International Street was asking for everyone's pass and ringing up this discount. There were some glitches, but the cashiers seemed to understand the the dining plan system well. The LaRosa's POS kept throwing an error, so the cashier wrote down the long numerical error code for each person. By the way, as a reminder, these dining plans are intended for one person each. Sharing food, redeeming a meal for someone else, or letting another person use your pass is fraud. The park will likely revoke the dining plan and season pass, without refund, of those caught abusing the system.

^ Fried chicken breast tenders, french fries, and salads (that include their fried chicken). I appreciate that the breading is "homestyle" and that the product is well-seasoned (specifically, not oversalted). Unfortunately, it is greasy (as all deep fried food is). This type of food doesn't sit well with me, so I probably won't be there often.

Three hours, including one hour of downtime, after ERT started. This was despite being among the first ~200 people at the front gate, around 9:15am.

I got 4 hours of sleep. Looks like I did better than most.

^^ Specific bring-a-friend information was posted to the season pass page, but it has since been removed. Presumably they're still tweaking the offers. In past seasons, low priced bring-a-friend tickets have been offered on Mother's Day and Father's Day. Other bring-a-friend offers, typically on Sundays with low crowd expectations and over Labor Day weekend, have been announced on short notice. The since-removed information indicated a different approach, with a bring-a-friend offer lasting the entire regular season, but with the price varying based on the date. When announcement(s) regarding bring-a-friend dates and offers are ready, I'm sure they'll be widely released through normal channels.

^ For Opening Day, or Media Day? (Those aren't solid color or KI-themed attire. Friday morning is forecast to be much warmer than Thursday morning.) If it only gets down to upper 30s, as it's currently forecast to, I'll probably stick with shorts and a T-shirt. It will get warm that afternoon, and I don't want to carry stuff around all day.

If you bought a gold pass in the fall, you got those extra benefits for free.

Last chance to submit donations - less than 15 minutes left!

If an employee (or anyone) filmed on the ride, he/she would likely be criminally cited as well. It's a misdemeanor in Ohio for a rider to fail to abide by posted rules/instructions. Legal and safety issues aside, I certainly don't want to see any POV of Banshee before riding it.

^ Just tested... Heartbeat request rejected, so it's not affected by that bug. Competent server administrators fixed it within hours of its announcement.

^ It's using SSL because the Accesso ticket store operates as an overlay on the main site. Not using SSL would allow a man-in-the-middle attacker to intercept data entered into the store, such as credit card numbers, by inserting malicious JavaScript into the page.

For Cedar Fair parks' websites, you can add ?mobile=0 to the end of the URL to disable redirection to the mobile site. This is useful when posting a link that might be seen by mobile users. https:​//www.visitkingsisland.com/hours-directions/season-pass-processing becomes https:​//www.visitkingsisland.com/hours-directions/season-pass-processing?mobile=0 Link: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/hours-directions/season-pass-processing?mobile=0

^ Everyone should raise as much as they can. $100 is the minimum to participate in the event. Fundraising ends the evening of April 13 at midnight.