disco2000

Ughh - Channel 12 (WKRC) just did a story about it - but it isn't on their website yet. Basically as mentioned above - you go into a building and have 60 minutes to solve clues and get out of it - at least that was the reporter said! By reservation only...

Why pay someone to QA/QC every document and web posting when the KIC community does it for free for them on this forum! Come to think about, what a clever way to test out changes during the off-season. The average park guest probably isn't scouring the KI website now, so test things like dining windows on already purchased passes, etc. and see what our community has to say about it. Let's face it, most of us are probably quick to point out issues on this forum, but most here probably do not then post issue to the more heavily viewed KI Facebook page. Let us be the testing ground for changes and see our reaction and make modifications as necessary (such as removing the dining window) and save themselves grief from the everyday idiot posting garbage and negative information on the Facebook page! Most are aware of the crazy posts on Facebook and we even have a thread talking about it!

Nope - two seasons ago (I think) an upgrade was made that allowed for re-entry by using the pass again. I seem to recall it even saying such on the TV screens at the exit.

Where is this King's Island place that it says my gold pass is good for (bottom of PDF)? Also note it says you need a hand-stamp for re-entry, which is contrary to the past two seasons...

Since they have still added a condition not present at time of fall purchase, should the thread be renamed again as there is still a change to the 2015 Dining Plan? Maybe the first condition is (Update: Not happening), but a change is indeed now happening...

OK, so they eliminate one restriction, but then added a restriction that wasn't imposed when said plan was purchased. So anyone arriving after 4pm when the park closes at 10 only gets one meal. Better than the specific windows, but still not what was on the fine print at purchase. And it raises the question about what if you are in line prior to 2 hours before closing but do not get to cash register until within 2 hours of closing. Bad move KI, bad move. Really makes me question whether I will renew my pass in the fall - what if they start imposing restrictions on season passes in February 2016 after passes were purchased. I will wait and see what restrictions are before purchasing from this chain in the future. It is simple business 101, if you don't have the details worked out, don't go to market it and sell it! There are lemon laws for things like this with autos. Wonder if it applies to dining plans!

It was clearly marked and posted when purchasing the 2015 plan in the fall of 2014 that the wait between meals had expanded from 2 hours to 4 hours. Of course someone will say they didn't see it, but I think everyone that has posted in this thread complaining recognized that it was the 4 hour wait we agreed to, not the specific time frame windows. I agreed to purchase with the 4 hour window because that still worked for my visits. I do not see them shortening the window, nor saying you get two meals every visit - that simply allows for abuse. I believe their intent is to try to have it at a reasonable price-point that folks find it attractive, yet minimize the potential for abuse and significant losses as well. I do agree with Magenta that it wouldn't surprise me to see specific time windows in the future. I hope not as I think it would have an overall negative impact in per cap spending - if everyone is line for their dining plan meal during the peak time, it will force those willing to pay on-site for food to leave and spend the money elsewhere. But hey, a small victory, probably in part to this site!

And we know how informed the employees answering the phones can be - we have story after story throughout this forum of being told stuff that wasn't accurate. I fall in the camp of let's wait and see what happens - might get away with a 4 hour wait in April, but by May, most will have been trained on what it should be. What is interesting is that on the desktop version, last night when you would click on the plan within the website, it didn't show the lunch and dinner time windows - you had to actually go the actual purchase site before that information popped up. I checked the desktop version today, and now when you select on the dining plan on their website, the lunch and dinner window is now present. Doesn't sound like it is a 4 hour window to me...

I have been critical to this change after purchase, but it is easy for all of us to take shots at it without being privy to all the information we hope Cedar Fair looked at to decide to make this change after sales have occurred. Doesn't make it right, but we only know the side we see. After several seasons, I do wonder if some of these things "brought on" by Mr. former Disney-exec (money grab Fast Lane, throwing pricing at gate out the window, changing policies after sales, charging a junior pass a full pass in August because such child grew, etc.) are truly in best interest of guest experiences or simply to maximize profit. Many will say he brought Banshee and Cirque, etc. but I tend to say that those types of things would have occurred regardless of who was at the helm - parks of this size need to put in a Banshee-type ride every so-many years or lose relevance. With all that said, I tend to be the type of season pass holder the park likes. I have mentioned before that I think the price of a pass is low, and as such I tend to do my share with in-park purchases to do my part in help keeping the park open with revenue stream. When FUNPerks started, I was rewarded with my spending habits and hated to see it disappear. I am glad that they offer a discount for pass holders as they can then see which are spending and which are not. Contrast that with the pass holder that doesn't spend a dime in the park - that doesn't help the park. Regarding the dining plan, I thought it was a great value last year and jumped at the chance to buy it. Last year, I tended to spend more on other items (fudge, ice cream, snacks), as I thought the dining plan was a great value and since it was already paid for, buying fudge during a visit seemed cheap compared to years prior when I would purchase a meal every time. I tend to reward establishments where I feel I am getting value. Changing the dining plan after I purchased will have a net decrease in my in-park spending this year. It wasn't what I agreed to when I purchased. If I show up at 3pm and stay till close on nights they are open to 10pm or midnight, last year I could get two meals and be inclined to purchase snacks because of the perceived value I was receiving and could still do so with a 4-hour wait window that I agreed to last fall. This year, under the lunch and dinner windows, arriving at 3pm, I only get one meal. My perceived value has been cut in half. In turn, I will be less likely to spend extra.

I concur with Shark - I would not have purchased meal plan either with the time-frame limitations - 4 hour window is one thing and what was agreed to when purchased and sold as.

Goodyellowkorn - it is worth anger for those that purchased such meal plan being told that it was a 4 hour window wait and locations subject to change and are now being told the hours are restricted by a time and such hours conflict with angered individual's "normal" lunch and dinner times that may not correspond with such hours as posted. What's next, are they going to only open the food stands from 11:30 to 2:30 and 4:30 to 8pm - wow just think how much they would save in payroll and utilities by only being open for 6.5 hours instead of 12 hours for a normal operating day I see your point regarding the hour discrepancies on all of the meal plans - but the new plan says dinner time may vary as park hours vary - how is adjusting the hours for meals on days the park hours are not "normal" aiding in making it easier. Making every meal plan 4 hours, regardless of operating hours of park, is a much simpler process. You may not be angered and outraged with it, perhaps you don't have a meal plan or the hours posted are fine, but rest assured, you will get fired up and angered over something in your life that folks will say "but in my humble opinion, so is outrage about it....Not wrong, but not worth anger."

Wow - just wow. And they wonder why they get negative publicity and profit and all that good stuff is down. Look for the TV investigative report on this come May (will not happen in April as the workers will not be trained yet that the hours are limited ) I purposely avoided those "busy" times and got my food on the meal plan when the lines were down. And I suspect a lot that had the meal plan did the same - everyone I know with the meal plan did anyway. I would typically get my food at 3pm and 9pm. Rarely at the park for the times listed for lunch. I suspect most season pass holders are also in a similar situation of being at the park for differing hours that don't fit this time restriction. If plans were subject to change that drastically, then they should have avoided selling this during their fall REVENUE DRIVE (renewal period) and waited until they finalized the plans. It changed from 2 to 4 hours and I was ok with that. Dining locations were subject to change and I was ok with that. I am not ok with limiting said hours after purchase - that was not part of the fine print. What is next, our season passes are only valid on weekdays before 1pm and after 8pm? Now don't get me wrong, I think the price-point is too low and thought the two-hour wait wasn't long enough and as such the system was probably abused. If making the wait time longer helped stop the abuse and keep prices down, fine. I often wondered why they didn't limit the hours of offering and thought that if they placed a restriction it would be to avoid peak times drive the hours to when the food stands are not as busy, but I didn't expect it to happen after said purchase. So I guess the 4 hour wait is gone or is that in addition to within the timeframes (like cannot eat at 2:30 and 4:30)? I am sure most would have been willing to pay more for the plan without the dining hours restriction. I would have. Will be interesting to see if they rescind this - given their recent PR actions, I suspect not. If this doesn't change, will be my last year of the dining plan, and perhaps the pass - I can take my money elsewhere, or maybe go back to eating outside the park.

I guess the Dog Days in October event over in the Soak City portion didn't equate to increased use of the Pet Day Care when patrons were finished on that side of the park. I suspect most did the Dog Days thing and went home (or left the dog in the car while they went in to ride). Given this is still a predominantly season pass park, probably not a big shock it is gone. It is unfortunate, especially for those that travel with their pets, and let's hope this doesn't lead to increased dogs left in vehicles. Unless this resort offers pick-up and delivery, I don't see many visitors to Kings Island using it. In fact, I see the opposite - a family that makes a yearly trip to Kings Island with their pet shows up under Invertigo this year to find that the Pet Care is gone. Frustrated and finding out from Guest Services that they would have to leave Kings Island parking lot and drive to a kennel, but KI checked and it is already booked, would be so frustrated that they say forget it and leave the park never to return again. Plus just the inconvenience of not being on-site. Given people should always check before leaving to see if things have changed, how many actually do that (not many). But that is life in the corporate world, where quarterly reports drive decisions. Bean counters forget that not every service offered has to be a money maker if it enhances the overall guest experience and is ultimately offset by the revenue generated in other parts of the organization. Let's face it, I doubt that many people will say "Let's visit Kings Island now that the Pet Care Center is gone". However, more will say "Let's not go to Kings Island because we can't take our pet there while on vacation." Even though I do not have a pet, I would rather the park kept the Pet Care Center and not do the Petting Zoo. I guess ole Ed Alonzo will not be visiting anytime soon (rumor was the animals used in his show were kept at the Pet Care?)

Regarding reviews - some are unrealistic expectations, and I bet an even bigger number are the many negative trolls out there that just write a negative review just for the sake of writing a negative review - they cannot afford to go there, so they "attempt" to prevent someone else from having fun by trying to discourage someone from going. In my own unscientific observation, I have reviewed negative reviews of parks that were done on FB and then clicked on the reviewers page and find all they do is complain, and in some instances, even find where they commented on one of their friends pictures at "XYZ" park and they post that they wish they could/afford to go to "XYZ" park, and such comment was made after their supposed review of the same park! If someone has a "legitimate" bad experience is one thing, but to blatantly lie is another issue and one that I know companies are starting to go after.

I guess that poses the real question: are kids' areas themed for the kids or for their parents? But regardless, I'm 31, so I'm close to the age you mentioned and even I knew about Snoopy and Co. but really had to look them up to figure out what the heck is going on. And keep in mind that The Flintstones was originally intended for adult audiences. The cartoon first aired on a Friday night at 8:30pm in 1960 - and was sponsored by Winston cigarettes and commercials ran with Fred and Wilma smoking Winston's during its first two seasons.

and an article about the noodle at PBS: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/your-watchdog/needtoknow/2014/11/14/statue-ad-yes/18979043/

I don't think the intention was to accuse you of anything.The truth is, if I purchased a meal from the Chicken Shack and shared it with my friend, that's fine. If I prepaid for it (as you essentially are doing with the meal plan) you are still purchasing it, but in a different way. Can you share it then? The right or wrong of doing so is debatable. It was a question that has to be asked. The answer from the park was no. The four hour gap was probably associated with the fact that it's hard to enforce the no sharing thing. Putting a larger time gap between meals makes it less likely to be done. Thanks BoddaH1994 - my intention was not to accuse the original poster of anything (well except other than maybe being an employee looking for abuse) And I know you were not looking for the "loophole" - you simply wanted to know about someone under 3 years old - and you ended up getting responses about adults sharing the meal plan, which wasn't your original question. Wait long enough, and someone will post the loopholes to Fast Lane in this thread! Adults sharing the meal plan had been discussed on the forum previously and I think even Don posted on the subject, which makes it surprising that some that posted they shared a meal plan among adults that were members of this forum at that time are just mind-numbing. If you do it, don't publicize about it! Seems like a no-brainer, but how many times do robbers get busted because they posted about it in social media?! The way I see it, almost every restaurant will not charge for a child that small that obviously a couple bites from the parents meal will suffice, so why would KI be any different, especially since under that age they get in free anyway. Talking about adults sharing a meal, I have been to places before where if you share a meal, you will be charged a "plate fee", albeit less than two meals, but still a charge.

It always amazes me how folks, under the premise of "anonymous" of social media, will willingly share how they "steal" from somewhere (in this instance the park by sharing of food when they have said that is not allowed under the food plan), and then complain when such perk disappears or becomes more stringent/restrictive! Let's face it, in social media, if they wanted to find your identity, there are methods to make that happen. If the "stealing" is significant, you better bet they will seek the identity. Ask the member of this formed that found a "loophole" in FUNperks and posted such loophole what happened to him. Abusing that loophole would have still occurred had it not been posted. The park appreciates you posting such "loopholes" as it allows them to close up said loopholes, either by eliminating the program, making it more restrictive, or making it more expensive to counter the stealing. Wouldn't surprise me if the original poster of this thread is actually an employee of Cedar Fair tasked to find out the abuse of the program, and even if they are not, the park appreciates hearing about how their system is abused so that they can take corrective action. No doubt the time requirement increase from 2 hours to 4 hours between meals is a result of stuff posted here over the summer.

Skeleton Crew is performing today. Saw 2pm show and heading to 4pm show shortly.

I'm talking about how students are taught to the test, primarily. I really feel like students are taught "nice to know" information rather than "need to know" information. I high school graduate knows how to diagram a sentence but doesn't learn how to file taxes. They can tell you about the themes of Beowulf but now how to prevent ruining their credit history before the age of 25. College is even worse. WAY too many gen ed classes that have nothing to do with your field of study. Of course, you have to pay for each class so it works well in their favor. Preach! OSU made me take a course last semester over Shakespeare. Why is this needed? How will that ever help me? All it did was make OSU $900 or whatever the ridiculous cost was. Regarding College - a lot of that depends on the major. With some colleges offering over 200 majors, some like philosophy and most Arts & Science degrees are going to be packed with general education type classes. Contrast that with engineering or medicine where the current accreditation has it too focused and the current crop of students are missing out by not being able to take electives that are not specifically related to their degree. Almost every major would benefit by taking a public speaking course, a law course, a basic business related course, and an elective or two of something that interests you.

Great discussion, and glad to see we are at two pages and it hasn't really turned to personal attacks (yet, but let's hope not)! For those not in education, Goodyellowkorn182 has given in his spoiler post above a pretty realistic account of what a teacher deals with. Add on top of that SLO paperwork, and a bunch of other mandates that take time away from preparing lessons, and you have the life of a teacher. Like so many instances, the federal government that is here to help has managed to increase the problem. And it just isn't in education. Look at the now defunct (at least in southwest Ohio) air emission testing that you had to take your vehicle to in order to get renewed - it didn't improve air quality and is one of the few things that actually got rescinded. Look at your sewer bills increasing because the government is making wasterwater treatment plants meet almost unattainable permit limits (most that are already producing treated wastewater that is close to drinkable), when a single cow dropping manure in a creek as it walks through puts more contaminants into the creek that 10 years worth of treated wastewater. Same with all the fertilizer going on lawns and crops. We are spending billions to put extra treatment in place on an already effective treatment system, yet the cows can dump away and we can over-fertilize our yards to get them nice and green and that run-off collectively in one rain event is worse than a lifetime of treated water from the poop plant. The wrong source is being targeted for the fix. The same goes with education - as long as the government keeps coming up with common core and standardized testing and what not, they continue to target the wrong source. Teachers can only do so much. The government needs to be targeting the parents. So many parents do not care, and even if they do, they simply do not have the time, will power, or education to become involved with their child's education. And a lot of parents consider school as day care, so those that don't want to deal with their children in the summer are all for year round schooling. Let's face it, with so many dual-income families, something has to give. And the single parent has it even worse because there probably is zero disposable income left for tutoring, etc. Why punish the teachers for poor test scores. If Johnny is doing poorly in school, the parents pay more. And to all the single moms living off the government having kids by multiple partners (because well our current "hand-out" system pays more per kid), you lose that funding. That is a whole other topic, but when the system is set up that you can get government hand-outs that financially are better off than a minimum wage job, why wouldn't an uneducated, or possible drop-out, exploit that opportunity? Once you are able to hold the parents accountable, a lot will change. But we will probably never see that happen as politicians like to keep their comfy job, and let's face it, there are more parents out there that vote than there are teachers, so which one are they going to "cater" to? And to those saying "our test scores are not as well as other countries", I encourage you to go visit one of those countries for yourself and tell me if they are better off or are we. The child suicide rate is through the roof; you have to travel two-hours one way to go to work for low pay; cheating in school is more prevalent than here; your living conditions suck; but you supposedly can ace a math test. Next I encourage you to talk to students from one of these countries and ask them why they came to the USA to go to college - and have a real conversation with them and you will find out that they are "taught to the test" more than we could ever envision and in that respect, they do put teachers here to shame (if having the ability to teach to a test is the stick with which to measure a teacher!). Of course there are exceptions, but many of these students that come to the USA struggle with the idea of "having to think on their own" because they were not taught that. If they haven't seem an exact similar example, they are stuck. And this has nothing to do with a language barrier. That is the direction our education system is moving towards.

Hmm..could a topic not touched for 20 months suddenly being bumped by the ever-cryptic Terpy serve as a clue as to the future fate of such ride?

Surprised it took this long: https://movies.yahoo.com/news/seaworld-hit-lawsuit-over-failure-advise-blackfish-impact-144014912.html

We do not know the facts with certainty whether it was a policy change or a policy being more strictly enforced, but policy change or not, it doesn't matter whether someone rode it in the past or not and now is being told they cannot ride. Just because someone has visual evidence that they rode the ride doesn't mean they should have been allowed to in the first place and should thus be allowed this time - they could have been able to sneak on. I have seen parents at Woodstock Express get mad when an employee tells them their child is too small to ride and have watched said parent then pull out their cell phone showing photo proof that their little child had rode it - the employee still will not let them ride. That kid was unfortunately able to be overlooked last time and rode in error and like I said before, parent should just be glad that nothing happened to their kid (and KI should be as well if such child was hurt and was found to be below the height requirement we know the parent would file a lawsuit). The height requirement for that coaster hasn't changed since before such kid was even born (if the height requirement has even changed since its existence), so it isn't like it was a change in policy that doesn't allow them to now not ride. If you get pulled over on I-71 for speeding and tell the police officer "Well I speed everyday on this stretch of highway and here is a selfie proof of my speedometer" that doesn't make it right and doesn't mean the speed limit policy changed the day you got pulled over. You simply got caught. And if you said that to a police officer, you are probably getting a ticket instead of a warning! I don't know... That's another can of worms. If the rider was ejected from the ride or even had a heart attack during the course of the ride then they would have been, "checked out and deemed healthy or in good enough shape to ride" by the park's medical staff. That's just waiting for a legal or PR nightmare. Somewhat related - I have even seen attentive employees question a child's height, although they had a height bracelet indicating they are tall enough, and do a measurement in the station and if the kid isn't tall enough, they did not ride, even with the bracelet. Parent was ticked, but how does the employee not know that it wasn't a bracelet from an older sibling. If they didn't measure tall enough in the station, they do not ride. Simple. And the ride op should be given that authority as it is part of their responsibility anyway.

I hate when folks pull the "but he/she rode it last time", whether it be this type of situation or a kid that is denied a ride in Planet Snoopy because he isn't tall enough and the parent claims they rode it earlier in the day - if that truly happened then count yourself lucky that the employee missed the kid that time around AND that the kid returned safely. I saw a mom in line in front of me once and I could hear her trying to talk her son up that he would like the ride and it would be fun and other such things that I could tell that little kid had never been on the coaster before. I could tell he was too short and knew the employee would have him get out of the coaster for a measurement. Guess what, employee asks to measure the child and the mom pulls that "he just rode it" spiel - kid missed the measurement guide by 2 inches. She was flat out lying using the "he just rode it" spiel! Just because you rode it last time doesn't make it right or acceptable this time. Policies change and|or are more strictly enforced based on an incident, etc. Same goes with lots of things - I remember when folks could smoke in a shopping mall and grocery store; newborns would leave the hospital in a vehicle on the mom's lap; speed limit was 70mph; minimum drinking age was 19; etc. None of which is now legal in Ohio.