DonHelbig

Enthusiasts are part of the GP.

Like Son of Beast, Don's not coming back.

Might want to read it again. Ryan Suhr and I discussed on Tower Topics when the merger was announced there would be changes, as there always are when mergers occur.

There's a better chance of the Menendez brothers being released from prison than there is of Son of Beast coming back.

One of the issues in falling to No. 3 was the lack of effective storytelling. The messaging was repetitive and one-dimensional: "Camp Snoopy new this year. Buy your Silver Pass!" followed by "Camp Snoopy now open. Buy your Silver Pass!" The focus was all on sales rather than crafting an engaging narrative. Outside of the park's backyard, there wasn't much chatter (and awareness) about Camp Snoopy and Snoopy's Soap Box Racers. As you mentioned, there were so many missed opportunities with the entire project.

Cannot blame Charlotte for the drop to No. 3 in the Golden Ticket Awards for Best Kids' Area or for Snoopy's Soap Box Racers not being a finalist in any category. (BTW, Good Gravy! at Holiday World was a finalist in multiple categories and won one Golden Ticket Award.) How the park promotes and tells the stories about their attractions, food, live entertainment, merchandise and more through PR, shared and owned channels is entirely on the comms department. Charlotte now controls special events and gives the park the game plan, but it's on the park to take what they're given and find a way to get people excited about it instead of making excuses. ("We didn't have the budget" for example.)

Maybe it was the same person that gave fans of the park "Did summer fly by 2FAST4U?" on their social media channels.

Location isn't as big a question as to how well it will be staffed with scare actors.

For Chef's Plate, as someone with the dining plan, I would not be opposed to spending $8 or so for the special.

It's a fun ride.

At least we know since it's a bar, unlike drink refill stations, it will be open.

When parks have the wrong people in key positions, they miss a lot of the right opportunities that would benefit the park.

Enjoyed this show!

Here’s a piece I wrote for Theme Parks By Don about its closure for the season. It won’t win a Pulitzer, but I think it captures the spirit of the thing. https://themeparksbydon.com/top-thrill-2-wont-reopen-in-2024-cedar-point-announces/

They could get up to 10 tickets any time they wanted.

Worth noting: The Paramount years also had the highest number of comp tickets in the history of Kings Island.

It's things like drink stands being closed, out of ice, short show runs and theaters dark for good portions of the year, watered down events that put the park on the path of mediocrity. The loyalists may disagree, but those that look at things objectively know it's not what it could be.

I don't recall any of the shills suggesting that, but I do recall being told by someone at the park that the success I had in PR and social media was because of where I worked, not because of anything that I was doing. I got stories outside of the park's backyard because it sold tickets and season passes in Indianapolis, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, Huntington/Charleston WV, Fort Wayne, among others. I used to make annual media trips to each of these cities to meet with producers and assignment managers, share what was new that year at the park. While I was there, they'd do an interview with me, or I'd be a guest on the morning or noon news. These stations haven't been visited by Kings Island PR since I left the PR side in the fall of 2017.

There's a difference between complaining and fair and frank critiques of the park.

Nobody should be expected to just be happy the park is here and take what they're giving you with the product. There are other options for your entertainment dollars and time if it's just going to be a commitment to mediocrity. The standard used to be higher. That's the park I grew up with.

Their marketing department doesn't respond to inquiries from me or @BoddaH1994.

If they're not trying to attract visitors from outside of Cincinnati and Dayton (local market), then why are they advertising in Columbus, Indianapolis, Lexington, Louisville which is where the regional guests reside?

Here’s a piece I wrote about Kings Island’s new water park attractions. https://themeparksbydon.com/kings-islands-new-water-park-attractions-fun-but-fall-short/

If Surf Dog can be listed as a roller coaster, RiverRacers can be listed as a water coaster.

It missed the mark. It fell well short of garnering the same level of anticipation, interest, excitement that teaser campaigns and earned media placements did for Diamondback, Banshee, Orion, and the parking tolls leading up to those announcements. Slapping posters on a wall as teasers just didn’t net the same results. It would have created more buzz had the teasers been things like boulders being placed around the front gate area and around park with steam coming out. The posters were not aligned with what planning and design had in mind for the backstory. And then on the night of the announcement, a banner was unveiled with a rendering and it had The Racer with one side running backward. So, guests were wondering if that was returning instead of talking about Orion. Plus, half the conversation on social media was is it really a Giga? The parking tolls announcement had everyone buzzing because an aerial photo from behind The Racer that showed the parking lot and tolls was used on social media with the accompanying post copy saying two things that had been at Kings Island since 1972 was going away. Naturally, everyone assumed The Racer. “What’s Kings Island doing?” stories were everywhere. New York Times. Los Angeles Times. Boston Globe. I worked with KIC on that teaser and that really helped amplify the speculation. When it was announced new parking tolls and the original parking tolls would be torn down, there was a lot of conversation on social media with people breathing a sigh of relief The Racer wasn’t being torn down. Because of all of the chatter, news of the new tolls was nation wide. Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair’s CEO at the time, was impressed that I could take new parking tolls and get it in the New York Times, and other major papers. Orion could have had that same kind of media coverage leading up to and for its announcement. It didn’t make it much further than the park’s backyard. just a lot of misses from start to finish.