disco2000

And for anyone that visited KD last year or looked at any socials comments, the park was busy and clearly understaffed - a lot more food/drink places closed than at KI. Granted some of that lack of staff was a lot of seasonal associates that were not hired, but this will have a bigger impact. There are many times that full-timers chip in at KI when staffing is low. Same with KD and other parks. There were times Greg Schied, then GM of KI, could be seen checking parking passes/taking parking tolls at make-shift parking tolls on the south exit during busy days, along with Don. Wasn't uncommon to see Don checking restraints at The Beast. And I am sure they helped out elsewhere also. And many full-timers do similar things. Losing that many full-timers will have an impact. Even more so in this instance as it wasn't like they combined two parks into one and reduced because of duplicate positions. I expect to see more of this happen as the board attempts to make good on their promise of $200M in savings that they said would result because of the merger....more closures and reductions in staff is likely to continue. One thing that won't happen is their bonuses won't be reduced.... And the morale of remaining employees has an impact as well...

That's what the meal plan is for

But KI already has the king of the burger with the pub burger and meatloaf burger!

The hypothetical would it be better to have everything staffed and open and reduced hours, or extended hours but not everything open and minimal staffing? I doubt they would ever run every day with everything open fully staffed, so I think most would prefer longer hours and the new buzz phrase "comfortably crowded"... At least we don't have hours like this: Memorial Day weekend Saturday: First two weeks of daily operation: Or CGA month of June calendar with 8pm closes and some random days closed:

Absolutely. Take a look at Michigan's Adventure or CGA and be glad we don't mirror theirs! Some parks schedules got hit worse than others. While it is an early "win", time will tell if we "pay" for it with reduced staffing and other cuts that would erode the guest experience....

2025 schedule is out and is basically what we are use to in recent years. April 19th opening day. 9pm closes until Memorial Day weekend. 10am-10pm Memorial Day until August 9th. Sprinkled 7pm closes early May and 8pm closes mid August Only out through Labor Day No midnight closes. *Subject to Change And of this post, it is glitchy almost like in the middle of being updated. Sometimes a month shows closed and then refresh and shows open.

Sadly quarterly results drive all decisions. Similar to folks complaining yet continuing to buy passes and every add-on, as long as people buy their shares/units, there will be a demand for quarterly performance. What do they do when pass sales decline and there is no demand for the stock/units? Give away the gate... Oh yea, and lets not forget the brass will be rewarded with record bonuses for navigating the company thru the complexities of the merger and blah blah blah

Yep, being discussed in a few other threads here. Expect fewer returning employees and guest experience to erode when coupled with hiring fewer employees.

Dollywood buying KI confirmed LOL (just kidding and yes I know Herschend owns Dollywood blah blah blah LOL) https://www.wlwt.com/article/dolly-parton-license-plates-ohio/63432972

Remove Starbucks and replace it with Skyline to bring it back to the front of the park LOL

^Better than the VIP Lounge also, and cheaper

Beat ya by a few days

Isn't that the truth LOL. The number of people I have interacted with at KI that have no idea that 1. Cedar Point exists LOL and 2. that it is owned by the same company as KI.

One way to fill up the place during the season

It always amazes me the approach the chain makes - added WF and the passes didn't substantially increase. Give away 2 seasons for the price of one during covid and significantly increased associate pay and the price of the pass didn't substantially increase. Price of everything has gone up in recent years, except pass and add-on prices (certainly not to the extent of other goods and services). They have found the model of quantity over quality works. Sure there are some that don't renew because they say the quality went down, etc., but they always make up those that don't renew with new pass sales.

This is an opportunity for FUN to let the Starbucks policy be the "bad person" and drive the sales of more product that are not available on any meal/drink plans.... It would require a change like staffing an employee at the front or moving the register and queue such that one cannot enter without purchasing, but who knows anymore....

Wonder if/how this will affect the KI Starbucks. Many people go in there and never purchase anything. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/01/14/starbucks-open-door-policy-changes/77689669007/

^I guess the register isn't gonna be invited to media day (but they already knew that)

This is why they went with the Six Flags name instead of Cedar Fair - to take advantage of the name recognition, but with that comes an eroding of the individual/uniqueness of the parks as they try to capitalize on the Six Flags branding. They want someone to go to a park and know it is a Six Flags park. As a result, we will see more and more corporate look/feel than individual look/feel. We ain't seen nothing yet.... Except for the enthusiasts, the casual observer or just reader of park news wouldn't necessarily know the names of the Cedar Fair parks.

Or as @BeeastFarmer said:

Many of us thought that would happen after the July photo was pointed out, and yet here we are LOL....

Remember they used a similar picture in the Christmas in July 2024 sale And there are a few more places within the park itself that this picture or one similar is displayed for all to see....

It is actually FUN now LOL. So we either call it FUN, SF or Six Flags LOL But yeah I refer to it as SIX also LOL. So weird to have the Six Flags name but the Cedar Fair symbol.

Isn't it ironic that of all the photos they had to pull from, they pick one where Don is in it LOL. Paying homage to the creator of the event!

I guess the new PR trend is don't tell anyone a ride is leaving until the season is done.... https://www.wtae.com/article/kennywood-par-thomas-town-end/63400506?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2eXaQ-2A906Ymm38PXDLh_JC_fEOF1UrIfhmXh-ySuIIxEM7Vvhf8Kw9Y_aem_w8ZEEkGJEGP9fHliY_eAaw