malem

From an "admin", no less. Ridiculous. And they wonder why parks don't invite them to anything.

^ Plus online processing fees (starting at $4.99 for one pass) and sales tax on the dining portion, of course. $279 for season-long admission, parking and dining at all FUN parks is a fantastic value.

PSA: Always check the operating schedule before visiting a park, or you may be greeted by the moose. Daily operation at Kings Island has concluded for the 2014 season. The regular season wraps up with Labor Day weekend, and fall events happen on weekends beginning Sep 19.

It didn't help that I got 6 hours of sleep (or less) each night between a CP midnight close and KI last Friday. Or that I crammed CP into one very intense day. Normally it's someone else telling me to slow down. This time it was the reverse.

It was a good day to visit the park. Crowds were very light; Flight of Fear was the only ride we ever saw with more than a minimal line. Even that was a station wait by the evening hours. Admittedly, I was still recovering from nearly nonstop days of 10am-midnight riding at KI and CP on previous weekends. Sorry I had to turn down Monster/Scrambler! By the way, we also met up with LoraX and Princess Sparkles for a bit.

Fast Lane at Canada's Wonderland is sponsored by PayPal: https://www.canadaswonderland.com/things-to-do/fast-lane Not sure that I understand why a company would want their brand on something that negatively affects (non-participating) potential customers. Two hours in line brought to you in part by McCluskey Chevrolet; let us sell you your next car!

Snacks are carefully marketed impulse purchases. The point of the meal plan is to simplify dining for frequent visitors. With meals prepaid, you might visit more often and have more spending money at each visit. The point is not to take your in-park spending to zero, though it has had that effect for some visitors.

It's one of my favorites, even though I can do without getting soaked with smelly water. The ride is worth it. If she goes, I assume you'd be manning the geysers?

That is what the statute, upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court, says. Specifically, the limit is $10 per single play of a game. And you brought that up, not me. There are, and there have been since long before such regulations were passed. Most prizes are well under $10 in value. As long as it's you, and not the state attorney general, asking questions. I should have known better than to say "illegal" when discussing this subject, especially here.

^^^ The $10 maximum value for prizes on games of skill, among other restrictions on such games and on sweepstakes, was passed into law in response to casino look-a-like games at "Internet cafés" and other businesses. Create a game with those as prizes, and you might find out. Law and politics are seldom clear. Sometimes, it comes down to the duck test. Do any of the midway games look like illegal gambling? If so, to whom? There are very few people on this forum qualified to answer whether some actual or hypothetical game is legal. Ohio's gambling laws make about as much sense as the FDA's current definition of ice cream.

"Illegal" was indeed too definite, as I'm certainly not qualified to determine which games may or may not be legal in any specific circumstance. Even lawyers have a hard time with that. In Ohio, "rigging" a game of skill would seem to make it gambling according to ORC 2915.01(UU)(2): Not that it really matters, but Plinko and spin-the-wheel are two separate games. Plinko involves dropping pucks through a peg board, and spin-the-wheel is exactly that. Both are certainly games of chance, not skill. As for legality, I have no clue. Perhaps: None of the "prizes" are considered to have any value. (It's all enter-through-the-exit passes and X% off coupons.) They're operating in the open, presuming that it's legal until and unless someone makes a claim to the contrary. Amusement parks often have a pretty good relationship with local and state governments.

^^^^ A high level of difficulty doesn't mean that a game is rigged. Being rigged would mean that some factor other than the player's skill (eg. chance, action by the attendant, etc) determines the outcome. This would, of course, be illegal. For example, a "rigged" High Striker might allow winners to be "chosen" in order to entice others to play.

The game is High Striker, for what it's worth. It was discounted last year during Dollar Days; next weekend could be a good chance to practice if a discount is offered again. $5/hit is steep if you plan to try multiple times. They're not rigged, but they are designed to be more challenging than they look.

^ 10:01pm might be good as long as the weather allows for ride operation in the rain.

^ You'll get the Fast Lane Plus voucher as long as you renew by November 2. The number of wristbands each day is limited, however, so you will want to redeem it early on whichever Sunday you choose.

I was at KI for "Dollar Days" twice last year - on Labor Day Monday and again for the bonus day added to the schedule when one park buy-out got cancelled. It is a popular promotion, so the park became somewhat crowded. Lines at participating food locations were impressive, but they were short very early (~10-11am) and then again within a few hours of park closing. Major attractions had minimal waits early in the day, but they got progressively worse as people finished digesting their piles of pizza.

Haunt at Kings Island only happens on Friday and Saturday nights. The park is open Sunday, of course, but the evening Halloween activities don't occur.

Labor Day (Monday, September 1, 2014) is the last day that you can use your 2014 regular season pass. If you buy a gold pass for next season, you will get one free visit this fall. If you visit with a friend who has renewed a gold/platinum pass, you could get in on Sundays for $14.99 per visit. A 2015 gold pass will include unlimited fall 2015 visits, and you'll get the lowest price by purchasing now.

Flight of Fear seems to be the only ride with longer than a minimal line. At Diamondback now - station wait. The park is open until 10pm - definitely a good day to come

^ Accesso is improving. They're trying to get away from Flash entirely, but rolling out new systems to basically every major park chain takes time. (I met one of their developers at CoasterMania.) KI's ticket windows all have a computer with Accesso access, so they should be able to print any ticket/voucher from your order. Just have the order number, photo ID, and preferably the credit card that you paid with.

^ Since you already renewed online, you'll probably have to pay in full at the park for the meal plan when it becomes available. Pricing and terms may change after the season ends, so I would advise purchasing it by November 2.

^ That may not be the final page. It's not yet linked from the main site, and the passes themselves aren't listed in the Accesso store menu. There seems to be a typo and a missing box as well. I would highly advise against trying to renew until the page is "live". (It's probably best not to link such pages here to avoid confusion.)

Cedar Point accepted Kings Island's challenge in a rather unique location:

^^ And Cedar Fair just combined its two gates at Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun.

Very glad to see a preview night (re)added. Passholders get a special event, and the park gets practice with actual guests before Opening Day.