disco2000

And cross-threading with other topics - if this "disturbance" was serious, why did the media not pick up on it? I mean they want to pick up on every time Banshee stops on the lift hill (which is normal, acceptable, and expected), yet a disturbance out of the ordinary that many are claiming resulted in the increased security was not mentioned by the local media? (Sarcasm here as to what the media does and does not pick up on!) Personally, I would really like to see zero posts regarding security at the park. We really do not need to have posts saying that people were being checked or not checked at front gate. All it does is give the person with ill-intent additional information to figure out how to disrupt. Even if it is random days of checking, that in itself is a pattern with which one can formulate a plan. And to the original poster - you made a complaint and they called you back. End of story.

What a moral/ethical dilemma that has surfaced! I wasn't present at such event/situation so I cannot speak to what happened. Is it a case of someone simply not getting a shirt; someone that came down from CP; not having a shirt their size, etc. but had met such requirements set forth to participate and most on here are not aware requirement was met, or was it indeed truly someone that failed to meet the requirements and tried to sneak their way into such event. If it were the latter, was such person escorted away from event and/or park or was nothing done? Now, because the person hasn't been named, folks like jcgoble3, PKIVortex, and others are wondering if someone thinks it was/were them. And worse, maybe now someone that didn't know incident occurred remembers seeing someone with the shirt from last year and assumes incorrectly that person is it, thus eroding reputation of such innocent person. Does the accused individual know that they are being "called out" and is it accurate? Since this forum could loosely be considered "media" (people do get info about park from this site and members get to attend media day after all), should the individual accused of such infraction be named - unless a minor, unless being tried as an adult? Do admins ban such individual from forum? Is this the final blow that either brings the site down or causes it to be a "paid" membership? Lots of questions, many that will go unanswered for some time.

Despite what others posted about it taking weeks to re-open, I expected it would be open today - I mean it was an overheated motor - that happens all the time - I use my drill too long and it overheats and smokes. Let it cool awhile and it works again. same with my shredder. Slow media day is all I have to say. And the comments posted about the ride in the newspaper article - it is stuff like this why companies start going after false information that people post. I have been to KI plenty of times and a lot of the food places have a line out the door well beyond closing time!

These type of posts here and on other social media are the ones that drive most folks crazy - just say what it was already and quit looking for attention from 20 more posts asking what happened! There is actually a name for these types of posts - vaguebooking - Urban Dictionary defines "vaguebooking" as the following: "An intentionally vague Facebook status update that prompts friends to ask what's going on, or is possibly a cry for help." I am sure most of us would prefer to not have to scroll through 2 pages of posts asking "what happened" - just say what the "incident" was in the original post so that everyone can move along. End of rant

They are probably just training on a "light day". They may be in use this weekend as the place will probably be packed given the holiday weekend, free military, and nice weather forecasted, or maybe not. I never have anything to hide, so I cannot tell you when it was last used and when it wasn't (although I bet some folks on here can name specific dates it was in use!).

I understand where you are going with it, but I do recall a time The Beast had just a buzzbar and no seatbelt and I do not recall anyone flying out? I recall the ride being more enjoyable then, as well as a little scarier! The sad thing is because of the lawsuit crazy society we live in are the reasons all the additional "safety things" happen. It should be the rider's responsibility to know the rules and guidelines of the ride and obey them. I know the lapbar came down the required amount and that my seatbelt is secure and having a speed check by an employee doesn't make me feel any safer. But again, I am not the individual that is done for. I witness on almost every trip a rider that thought the seatbelt was optional on one of the rides I am in line with. And then when we get the individual with a pre-existing condition (bad back, obese, etc.) and either gets denied the ride or worse like injury or death, we then see additional measures put in place, even on rides nothing like the one where an incident took place. I don't know this for a fact and I am sure there are exceptions, but I would think most of the rides probably cannot dispatch if the lap bar/restraint is not secured, so the employee speed check is more for insurance liability reasons and redundancy than anything else. Now I do realize that none of the seatbelts have this feature, so they are checking that. I get into my vehicle and strap my seatbelt on and never has anyone done a pull on it to insure that I secured it properly, yet statistically, one is more likely to be injured or die in an automobile accident than an amusement park ride accident.

I'm pretty certain that Phantom Theater was never listed as an attraction in Hanna Barbera Land. Did you not click a single link XGatorHead posted? Phantom Theater was part of Hanna-Barbera Land from 1992 through 2002. The only time the main attraction that building has not been part of the children's section, but instead International Street, is 2006 onward. Eh, not quite. In terms of operations, International Street and Planet Snoopy are a single section, and all the rides associates have the same uniform there. And the crew that specifically operates Boo Blasters is also responsible for 3-4 other Snoopy attractions. From my observations, I have noticed that the crew that works at Boo Blasters rotates to the Great Pumpkin coaster, Grand Carousel, and Eiffel Tower. Boo Blasters may border Planet Snoopy, but the big merry-go-round doesn't. Do I care if the ride is considered Planet Snoopy or not - nope - I will ride a ride regardless of the "theme area" (unless of course I am too tall, etc.).

Or it could be the beginning of the end of the site as we know it. Continual inaccurate info being posted could result in a shut-down of the site or the site goes to a pay site to weed out anyone from simply creating an account and posting bogus/trolling type information. Not that being a pay site will eliminate the problem altogether, but it would reduce it as folks would be forking out money and have "traceable" accountability back to what they post (even though you are kidding yourself if you think it couldn't be figured our who is posting what as the site operates today - amazing what can be found once a search warrant is issued).

As others have mentioned and shared their recollections, I too really liked the park under the early years of Paramount (before the Viacom, CBS, etc. acquisitions). Being a movie lover, it never got old walking through the Top Gun line, and Face/Off, Italian Job, Days of Thunder, Tomb Raider and Drop Zone were great names for those rides. The stuff they showed in Paramount Theatre was awesome, and the Paramount Story garden area place was neat to walk through. I know at least for me, their acquisition paid off - I saw a lot more movies during that time frame. I know some were not fans of the "commercialization" of the park and rides, but to me, since I enjoyed movies, having the theming of the ride being movie related was great - much better than the non-theme rides prior. Were they Disney caliber, no, but the right amount of theming for this type of park. I enjoyed seeing the movie posters, the movie characters walking around, and of course the movie set exhibits they brought in. I enjoyed the Titanic exhibit at Kings Island better than one's I have visited elsewhere. I did always wonder though being such a large season pass park, if all the Star Trek characters walking around didn't have the same appeal as it would in a destination park, but I guess to those that only visited the park once or twice, that would be great to see. Bottom line is this. We live in a society where it is so easy to complain about every little thing. I am far from perfect and complain about stuff as well (rarely enough to elevate it to PR or guest relations) and am trying to do better in just being accepting that change happens, for if it didn't, the fate of the park would eventually turn to being out of business. As much as people hate change, the reality is, if an amusement park stayed the same and never made additions or changes, folks would eventually stop visiting. My advice for folks over say 30 years old, re-live in your mind thinking about the "good ole days" and feeling nostalgic when you see a video from the Paramount days. In some ways, I think life was simpler then - forums and Facebook for people to post criticism or point out negative things didn't exist. For example, I know line jumping and other things people point out happening now was happening then too, but I just didn't let it bother me or ruin my day. My advice for folks say under 30 years old or so, simply enjoy the park, savor the moments you share with friends and family, and just create great, long-lasting positive memories. One day, these years will be looked back by you as the "good ole days", so make them memorable in a good way! The joy is you will have the ability to create entirely new memories as you get married, have children, and share the park with them and reminisce about what the park was like when you were their age. Try not to get caught up in all the negative stuff folks say about the park either on this forum or on the Facebook page. I know there are times that I consider taking a break from the forum just so that all the line-jumping and Fast Lane haters comments don't enter my mind when I am at the park. Personally I am not a Fast Lane fan and I feel like if I used it, I would be missing out on some of the things that made the park great to me growing up. Some of my best experiences at the park have been when I didn't ride a single ride, and other great experiences have been standing in the long lines with friends and just really getting to talk, or meeting new friends by virtue of simply standing in line and starting a conversation. Done with my Jerry Maquire moment (oops wrong movie studio)....carry on..

Like I mentioned earlier in the thread, unfortunately I see this great program having the same fate as Fun Perks. Also, I thought TOS indicates that if you cannot provide an employee's name to information that you are posting, then you shouldn't post it? So unless that employee's name was Guest Services, you shouldn't have posted it (that they said it was acceptable to share)? Then later same poster is either speaking in third person or then indicated that this information was actually heresay told to another member of this forum? (Sorry for rant - someone once criticized me for posting something that a person in Guest Services told me, but I didn't catch a name).

I wonder if the Fast Lane purchasers will be offered entry into this ERT as well?

Saying we have Banshee simply because of Fast Lane may not be correct - what about all the previous rides installed before Fast Lane came into existence - was this just a farm field with tractors and horses to ride until Fast Lane came into existence? It may have been a farm prior to Kings Island, but since it's inception, it has periodically made improvements to keep it relevant and encouraging folks to visit - they had the award winning Planet Snoopy, The Beast, Vortex, Drop Tower, etc. etc. all built before Fast Lane. Heck, Diamondback, adjusted for inflation, is comparable to Banshee spending and Fast Lane did not exist at that time. We will never know for sure what the money goes to - one can assume it is rides, but it could be bonuses to execs, paying down debt, minimum wage adjustments, additional staffing, or any variety of things. It could even be used to help keep daily entry and season passes at the prices they are now! Unless you have seen the accounting books to know for sure that Banshee would not exist without Fast Lane, it is simply speculation as to what the funds generated really go to. Parks have to make these investments periodically to keep them relevant and I think Banshee would exist with or without Fast Lane money.

The saying goes something like it only takes one person to make change happen - maybe this thread will be the one that re-aligns the moral and ethical compass of those who got out of alignment. What a great story Avatar - so many people don't realize the consequence of a simple mistake like accidentally being given back too much change. As Terp pointed out - folks are quick to make a scene and point out if McDonald's shorts them some food, but get an extra Big Mac or a $10 instead of a $1 in change and these same folks can't get out of the parking lot fast enough!

I like the bar code idea - that would slow Fast Lane down tremendously! Anyone ride the train at the zoo - they scan every pass and it takes some time to board. Unfortunately, I do not see Cedar Fair at the moment spending any more than they have to in order to accept the cash cow from Fast Lane. Heck, on several occasions, I have witnessed employers not even looking or acknowledging if someone indeed had a wrist-band. I watched The Beast employee just motion folks right in and I watched his eyes - they never left head level as he was simply counting folks he was letting through. I saw several go through with no wrist-band. Watched this for a good 20min+ as I saw 2 regular line get through with the rest Fast Lane during every cycle, thus preventing me from riding before the nightly stoppage for the fireworks. I do agree with malem - this thread should be avoided/disappear as it is giving folks ideas on how to re-use the wrist-bands (copy cat villians if you will). Someone wasn't smart enough to think about using tape to piece it back together, but now from an above post, they now do.

Make the individual meal price high enough and you drive the day-long meal plan participation, and to some extent the season long meal plan for passholders, which may be the intent - overall they make more money because some will be set against purchasing the daily meal plan and will thus pay more after two meals than if they bought the plan.

Rumor was once upon a time that due to electrical demands, Flight of Fear couldn't launch at the same time as Drop Zone was in motion and they had a phone between the two rides where the FoF op would call for clearance to launch. Rumor was also that was fixed with a dual electric feed into the park. If the rumor is true, maybe similar issues with Banshee and Drop Tower. Again probably no truth to rumor, but I seem to recall that one once upon a time...

To add to your gripes of ride ops not doing anything about camera's on the ride, we had a ride-op get on the speaker on the way up the lift hill with their spiel (indicating they see the offender), said offender keeps recording, ride keeps going. Nothing done to him after ride concludes. Reasons why I couldn't work here or a gas station - I would enforce the rule and then the customer would complain and then I would be out a job. It burns me (and could be literally at some point), the amount of people that jump back into their car while filling up with gas - has anyone seen the videos of what happens. Oh well, I digress from KI. Back to KI - I proceeded to watch the ride op at Beast on Saturday night not take one look at the Fast Lane wrist-bands of a single person he let through. I watched the entire duration we were in the station area queue (over 30 min cause he would let two regular line folks in and the rest were Fast Lane at every loading interval). Not once did his eyes look at a wrist-band. Even when folks would raise their arm up to show him, zero acknowledgement - I don't think he could do two things at once, so instead of confirming they had wrist-bands, he was more concerned about counting how many he was letting through. Saw several with no wrist-band go right through.

Stop it! Posting bogus information like this forces the park to field unnecessary calls, emails, Facebook and Twitter messages. As we have seen from threads elsewhere, we have called out crazy things posted on Facebook. Being a fan site, the general public may believe that what is posted here is correct if they stumble across it in a Google search. Personally I would rather the park field complaints about real issues than have to address rumors.

They were strict this opening weekend on loose articles - to the point that my friend not riding Banshee was not allowed into the line as she was carrying our stuff in a backpack for us. She planned on walking with us through the line and then at the ride just walk through to the exit - wouldn't allow it. Not that I am complaining - they have no idea if she really planned on not riding it, but since we had a non-rider, it didn't make much sense to pay for a locker, so she waited by herself while we rode. If enforcing this policy ultimately results in faster dispatch times, we need it to make up for the time lost on Fast Lane users

That is true. There is nothing wrong with selling your first rider shirt. There IS something wrong with selling your first rider shirts. For those that missed my follow-up, I clarified it in the original post that the issue are those that acquired multiple shirts simply for the fact of then selling them. I do not believe the intent of Cedar Fair is to allow one individual to collect multiple "first rider" t-shirts and allow such person to then sell the excess on ebay. Now to the defense of these Fast Lane folks that did that, I am assuming (and I don't recall seeing) that nowhere did it stipulate it was one shirt per person - if there was such a statement (as opposed to implied), then they should go after them. Folks like this why we see so many rules, stipulations, and cautions on things like coffee cups from fast food establishments, etc. People throw common sense and simply good ethical and moral decisions out the window all for the sake of scamming a buck or two or millions. Folks like this are why Fun Perks disappeared and why I am sure the season long dining plan will be abused and will disappear as well. It only takes a few abusers to ruin it for us all. So how does that affect us, the enthusiast? Well, if too many media day give-aways show up on ebay, as well as an individual selling multiple first rider shirts, well then parks may decide to not give away those things. Of course they would probably have media day, but would greatly tighten who can attend - and I would bet that coaster clubs and the like would be limited to officers of the organization and not just any member. It is nice that they do first rider shirts and it would be a shame if future give-aways disappear because of abuse of the system.

The answer may change as they continue to refine the system, but when I bought mine yesterday, they said you get 2 meals and had to be a 2 hour wait between them for the season long dining plan. Oh yea, and no surprise here, like Fun Perks, this is being tested at Kings Island only this year to figure out if it makes sense (or cents) and to work out the issues before going chain-wide. If it has the issues of Fun Perks, expect that this will be the only year we see it!

I mean... they own the shirts. They never signed an agreement not to sell them, and Kings Island never said they couldn't. Heck, I don't think Kings Island ever even said that it would be one per customer (though I may be wrong). Being that they own the shirts, they have the right to try and sell them. Basic economics will say that if people object to the idea of them being sold, nobody will buy them. Evidently, that has not been the case. I have a Media Day shirt, and I assume there are a lot less of those out there. I probably COULD sell it if I wanted to for a quick buck. But I enjoy having it, and as far as I'm concerned, I rode the ride before any of those 5,000 "first rider" shirts were given out. I have the REAL "First Rider" shirt. On a side note, I wore it on opening day and someone in line for Diamondback commented that the colors on it look girly. So I just kept my cool and informed him that he may be right, but I had lots of fun screaming like a little girl on all six of my rides on Banshee before it was even open to him. That shut him up real quick. OK - for clarification, I meant to say those with Fast Lane that took multiple shirts. Hey, if you waited 4 hours and wanted to sell your shirt, that is fine. But to buy a Fast Lane simply to be able to get 6 shirts and then sell them is wrong, but I assume there probably is no mention anywhere that says one shirt per person, so I guess they get away with it. But that is life, which can be very unfair sometimes.

The plan is still being worked out, but what I was told in Guest Relations was that the plan ended with the regular season calendar (Labor Day weekend) and is not good for Haunt. They also said that drinks are not included because the souvenir cup deal is a better value (ie they are pushing that upsell heavily). I think what will make it confusing for a while for those in food is that now KI offers these meal deals with a drink, so some on here may get an offered drink for the early part of the season. At the Chicken Shack, the workers at the time I was there knew for a fact the drink wasn't included. What is strange is you do have to tell the cashier that you have the meal plan, at least on my experience, because when it was used it came up with a price. When I explained I had the meal plan, they had to void that sale and ring it up differently.

Would be nice if KI would find out who the sellers are (of those selling that had Fast Lane simply to acquire multiple shirts to sell on ebay) and if they have a season pass, revoke it and ban them. But I doubt that would happen.

I can't get the link to show, but studies have shown that air dryers are unsanitary (do a search). Estimates are it puts a 250%+ increase in germs on your hands - guess where that air is coming from - you guessed it the restroom. These filters are usually never or very infrequently changed. In some states, Universities have been required to remove such air dryers after flu outbreaks occurred and were tied back to those that used restrooms with these air dryers pumping flu onto their hands.