disco2000

The bigger question will be does CF take note and get ahead of this and implement a chaperone policy chain-wide or do they wait for a truly bad event happen to the point that they have to cancel the whole event at a park for the rest of the season? As we have seen, CF has eliminated Haunt at other parks in favor of a family friendly event. KI has data on a family friendly tricks and treats only event from 2020 and data on Haunt "post" pandemic, and CP has numbers on expanding Haunt to Thursdays and Sundays, so CF has a wealth of data to go by to make a financial decision over an emotion decision. I am sure someone is crunching the numbers and doing the analysis to determine if Haunt should continue.

Sorry for double post, but Carowinds just issued a statement: https://twitter.com/Carowinds/status/1571353489523048448?s=20&t=gwsigAwheKO9o4xV-EFmFg

Still a developing story and this article is full of errors. Social Media is reporting they closed early (nothing on official Carowinds sites yet - EDIT - they did about 12:30) due to fights and rumors of guns. https://snbc13.com/carowinds-shooting-scarowinds-amusement-park-evacuated-after-guns-brandished-charlotte-nc/?fbclid=IwAR1AA3RC-J6nxtnmNl4wCQxmYEjafU2c4p3yUwsCte3NEA66VAS_UxmfT9c&mibextid=YSzJz1 Are they next park to see a curfew? Edit: adding more news links until another post or Carowind issues a statement: https://www.wbtv.com/2022/09/18/carowinds-says-no-guns-park-cites-unruly-behavior-reason-police-presence/ https://statefirstnews.com/2022/09/18/update-today-carowinds-shooting-active-shooter-scarowinds-amusement-park-evacuated-after-guns-brandished/

Simply asking a question LOL. And a further devaluing of the pass people purchased...

Will Prestige get VIP lounge for one hour on Sept 24th or do they just not open it that night...

I am trying to cut back with no more than two per post LOL

Attendance is a weird dynamic that publicly traded amusement parks and shareholders use as a metric, but it would be nice to see this trend change from the past, but perception plays a big part in it. Past years, all shareholders and the Board cared about was attendance, attendance, attendance. For years we would see record attendance, yet per cap spending was going down. Anytime there was a dip in anything, Bring a Friend for $9.99 days happened to increase the attendance. Attendance going down is a perceived problem with publicly traded companies and share value usually takes a hit, even if the revenue and profit are records. For example, look what happened to their unit price after each CF "quarterly" or update announcement about record revenues but lower attendance...it's value dropped on average about 6% those days... When the narrative and perception is that attendance is the guiding factor, that is when we see the gate given away and the attention to the "little things" pushed aside. And then it brings in a different kind of guest that doesn't spend anything once in the park, so revenues actually decline on a per cap basis. If the perception and narrative could be changed to focus on revenue and profit with attendance as a lesser factor, then I think we will continue to see all the "little things" improvements we have been seeing. Personally I think that is the direction CF is going, at least with KI. Did we see any of the crazy cheap Bring a Friend deals this year after their update indicated reduced attendance - Nope! That is a big shift from years past. I remember back in 2018 after the July update showed CF drop in attendance, the next day was wholesale cuts and BAF cheap days. Chainwide, many still question the whole cheap gold pass at CP and how for being the destination and flagship park, they are still giving away the gate, but that is another topic and discussion to go somewhere else LOL. I think KI has recognized that when you focus on the "little things" then the revenue and profit increase because people are spending more. This has been a multi-year initiative that started with the I-street revamp, return of the antique cars, and fixing the glockenspiel, all the way through to fixing the carousel organ and Phantom Theater Encore and everything in between. And then a funny thing happens...you get increased visits and per cap spending despite not giving away the gate.... Why... because a well-kept park with attention to detail is one of the subconscious acts that causes the non-riders to thrill seekers to want to spend more time in the park. Ambiance plays a bigger role than people admit or think about. And with that increased time comes more spending. I do not think the well-received 50th merchandise and all the collector pins of former rides, etc. would be as hot selling as they are if the attention to detail and pulling on the emotional memory strings had not been started with all the little things improvements. They mentioned the "dip" in attendance is mainly due to the lack of group sales and picnics as many companies have yet to re-engage in those types of events, but outside of those groups, the attendance is up. Based on season pass sales, next year will probably see both an increase in attendance and per cap spending, maybe both as records, as I think many of the group sales and picnics will start picking back up.

Cutting the grass

I totally agree with you, but some think that Beast work, Dback painting, parking lot, etc. are maintenance things that aren't a reason to get a pass...

You mean like seeing prior year ornaments for sale during WF that were not even marked down LOL

Exactly. It is evident walking in that they are maintaining the park. Now some here say that is a given and KI shouldn't be given credit for it. I disagree. Sprucing the place up, painting buildings and coasters, adding/fixing broken stuff, etc. is a sign that they are putting money in the park. Again, if they go too many years without a major improvement, then yes they will start to see more people not renew, but I do not see KI going many years without a true capital improvement. You mention shows, and yet look at people griping about Grand Carnivale coming back (and that is not cheap to put on)... Sometimes you can't please everyone...

Why yes we will see downgrades LOL, For Haunt nights, the VIP now closes at 8pm instead of park close. Right now that means it will be open for 2 hours on Friday's for people to get their infused water fix LOL....or do they simply not open it at all on Fridays. And then on Saturday it will be final call for warm infused water at 8pm although the park is open for 4 more hours.

^Exactly. Being a regional/local park in close proximity to so many that has a very strong season passholder base, people will renew even if nothing is added because the value is too great, especially now with the meal and drink plans. Where else can you be fed all summer (and weekends in fall and winter) for $100? People spend more than that in a mini-quick trip to the grocery every week. Simply put, the cost/hour of entertainment value is a fraction of almost any other entertainment venue. Of course if enough time went by with no new additions and the park started to look run-down and not being kept up, then yeah they will start to see a decline in pass renewals.

Well we are talking in the Prestige pass thread and that was added along with improvements for folks with that pass in 2023 that may or may not be on the table come 2023. And just think they paid a premium to get infused water Maybe it is time to create a 2023 Park thread since people that don't care about the prestige pass may miss out on all the griping about nothing new being added for 2023...

So does the leftover Skyline Chili take the place of the bagged snacks or is this an addition Based on what I have heard and read, Skyline infused water would an improvement over what was provided

Since we are on the Prestige pass thread, we can talk about what is new for them in 2023 LOL. We know these passholders are getting some sort of reserved area at Soak City for next year, unless they strip that away between now and then

Guest services have told people you get two this year and are not restricted by day like the renewal Bring a Friend....but Guest Services have also said it worked at CP and the VIP included bottled drinks....which was true in the beginning...so who knows what the message is this week as they continue to devalue the experience.

I am sure you are not over analyzing this... I think they finally realized that the chair reserving fiasco that currently takes place at Soak City would be even worse in the VIP. Imagine walking into a vacant VIP and can't find a seat because everyone is "reserving" them with their towels and belongings... I am thinking they will rope off the big grassy area and that becomes the "Reserved Water Park area".... Anyone want a refund LOL

Other than enthusiasts, I do not think the GP cares who the spokesperson is... Most GP probably cannot even name the spokesperson of a particular park. Except for a brand new park, I think most are visiting existing parks based on their personal experiences, word of mouth of friends and neighbors, rankings in USA today and what not, and not whether the marketing/spokesperson is keeping people up to date with future plans. Heck, when was the last billboard or print ad you have seen for KI (that dropped off tremendously with covid and hasn't ramped back up) and yet we all continue to go and they continue to attract new visitors that are first timers to KI from all over the country. I think across CF their traditional marketing efforts have been less than years past, yet they are setting records for revenue and what not. Stay-cation fever is real for the regional parks. I assure you the families I met and interacted with at the park that this was their first visit from St. Louis, Nashville, West Virginia, and a whole host of other locations were not here based on PR tweets from Chad....

^Not only that, but it is also being noticed by the non-enthusiasts. This is the first time in probably forever that you seem to see more posts on social media where people say KI is a better park than CP. Sure they have the hotels and the beach and scenic views, but KI associates absolutely kick butt in getting rides dispatched, our maintenance works their butts off to keep ride downtime to a minimum, we run rides in rain, we have better food overall (yeah I know some of the newer CP places beat ours), and we don't have 45min + FastLane lines. When was the last time (excluding TTD) that CP had the remaining coasters operating all day? I know die-hard CP fans that after the past few years experiences of ridiculous long wait times, slow dispatches, rides and food closed, that they skipped CP this year.

Does the park spokesman have a name? Can't recall I ever saw a news article about any topic where they wouldn't spell out who the spokesperson is... "Kings Island was named "Park of the Year" at the international Golden Ticket Awards. A park spokesman called it the Academy Awards of the amusement park industry." https://local12.com/news/local/kings-island-named-park-of-the-year-in-industry-awards-ceremony-cincinnati-mason-ohio-anniversary-fireworks-planet-snoopy-show-beast-mystic-timbers-Diamondback-orion

Meanwhile at the flagship sister park to the north: https://sanduskyregister.com/news/407202/cedar-point-does-not-make-2022-best-parks-list/?fbclid=IwAR0HohJKnBC784H_g4mVjKEH0u2D6HxGH_DsEIZLpWZUY2_I2_dcqm9t_d4

Are you sure it is 92 LOL. I think we could push that into the 80s. They will never bring Winterfest back. This is the last year of the fireworks. They will never sellout Fast Lane at $50 per day. Throw enough jelly at trees, something will stick at some point LOL

^While nice, it would be some time before I think we would see CF do that. Heck KI already has a barely used indoor facility already with great views worthy of VIP that could have been used for that, even if only on select days, and they elected not to. But I guess anything is possible LOL.

It wasn't in the marketing emails, it was in the FAQs. The original FAQ specifically mentioned soft drinks and bottled drinks. And the newest addition to the VIP FAQs - anyone planning on using it for Haunt is out of luck after 8PM. I guess the parents that planned to stay at the park and sit in the VIP with their bottled drinks and snacks while their teens roamed around will now just drop them off like years past LOL