Magenta Lizard

I wonder if the front of the line pass is tied to the night you do the feast. This Friday is looking to be drizzly, a good night to nosh for awhile under a shelter. But somehow I don't expect to encounter many lines to speak of...

The actors are not supposed to touch you, regardless. You don't need a no-boo to avoid their touching you.

Yeah, they appear to actually be inside grating, not on the outer surface. You can't tell at night, they are really effective.

The furnace is still being used in Slaughterhouse.

If you have personal space issues, Blackout can be pretty creepy (but not in a good way in my opinion). It wasn't as bad because I was with people I know so running into them wasn't as bad, but if it was entirely strangers it would be a bit of a nightmare feeling around in the dark and constantly running into people. One of the only times of the night I was actually creeped out did happen in Blackout, but not by design. About a minute into the maze, a person ran into me from the front as she was backtracking through the maze and asked me if I worked there. I said I didn't and she apologized that she needed to get through because she "had a child throwing up, here." Which made going forward after she got past me feel a lot more dangerous...

Have either of you already renewed your pass? Mine shows up in the app as a 2016 pass because I already renewed, and I think that may be where the problem lies.

Is the number of visits accurate for others? Mine shows 2015 visits at zero, although everything else shows up correctly. I was worried it reset my count entirely when I added my pass, but then when I entered the park yesterday, their screen properly showed my visits (49) when they scanned my card. I thought maybe it would update once I entered the park, but it hasn't. Out of curiosity, I'll use the app instead of my physical card when I go to the park tomorrow to see if it only counts those entries.

They had ice skating in the fountains from what I remember, and the shops. The only ride I recall running was Phantom Theater, when I went.

I feel like darts or dice may have been involved I wonder how no-boos and Blackout are going to work together. I know it will hurt my enjoyment of the maze if someone in my vicinity has a light on them.

^Rivertown Funnel Cake according to the app

I know I'm quoting myself, but I wanted to mention what I saw last time I was at the park (since I forgot at the time). The door to the maze was open, and I could see in to the nearest wall, and I can confirm that my speculation about brick /texture/ was correct. I don't how much it will come into play in the way we actually "enjoy" the maze.

The new coaster with its pylons sunk in Lake Erie is going to be awesome Loch Erie Monster anyone?

I think they were mostly looking for a single word to describe the Haunt attractions that have the guests wait in a line to walk through, regardless of whether they are inside like Slaughterhouse, or outdoors like Cornstalkers. "Mazes" may not be the best descriptor, but it differentiates them from the Scare Zones (like Freak Street) which have wandering scareactors, but no lines to wait or walk through.

You can vote once a day. KI is already moved up to #6.

Oh wow, I totally missed out on hearing about that perk. I may make my husband go more often than the one time he gets from purchasing his own pass for the next season

Or maybe the park is cross-promoting with frozen foods now. But, yeah, probably just incompetent reporting.

The $14.95 bring-a-friend tickets are only available for specified days, they can only be used on those days. The days will be publicized as the 2016 season progresses. They are often on Sundays.

I just dreamt that KI was bringing back Winterfest. I was amazed because I hadn't heard any rumors or announcements, just a small mention of "Peanuts celebrating with Santa" on the back of a flyer I got at the parking tolls, and later a small ad I saw on the back of a park map. Wish I could post a picture of the "proof", as I was trying to do in the dream before I woke up

Blackout doesn't have one, according to the listing on the website.

Because then they would need to pay two cashiers. Even during the busiest times I ever tried to get food, I don't remember seeing multiple cashiers.

Welcome to KIC! Excellent timing for such a post, and appropriate avatar

I was under the impression that a resurface of the parking lot, as well as a complete overhaul of the traffic patterns in, through, and out of the lot (and, likely, parking patterns), were part of the tollbooth update. I could be wrong.

And, there's the problem. They aren't paying these minors and young adults enough money to try to enforce rules against entitled jerks, nor making it a high enough priority. There is very little signage warning against it, and what there is does not really convey the dangers. When someone is caught, there are no consequences, except an extended inconvenient wait for all the people who /were/ following the rules. The real problem with allowing rule-breaking (be it phones on rides, line jumping, smoking outside designated areas, entering lines after park close, etc) to go unchecked and usually even unmentioned, is that these problems snowball. Someone does it once, gets away with it, gets whatever benefits that come with that (free video of their ride to show all their friends, shorter waits, an extra ride). Next time they expect that entitlement again. Heaven help an employee who actually /does/ do their job and enforces the rules, or any other guest who points out rule-breaking, attempting to remove the benefits received, after someone has gotten used to getting extra privileges. People who followed the rules see it too, and see employees turn a blind eye (often even after it has been pointed out directly), and are perhaps less likely to follow the rules themselves in the future. The culture of the park, at least at this point in the season, is that the way to get what you want is to just do it. It's easier on the employees to just let it go and move on than deal with it. And expecting or even gently requesting rules be enforced is really the best (if not only) way to be considered a troublemaker.

Kings Island suffers from a similar problem that can plague many places that hire a large number of low-wage employees that are new to the workforce. A lot of the workers just are not going to be personally invested in the job, and will call in if something better comes up, or simply don't feel like going that day. The people who are good at their jobs (and show up) are going to end up working like dogs, because they are the ones that will always be called in to cover for shortages. It can be nice to be needed, but I don't think there is enough in the budget to properly compensate the good employees, and eventually they get burnt out. So at this point of the season, they're dropping away too. Especially since many of them have other commitments (school) that are much more important to their future than getting good reviews at a summer job. I think part of the reason the security personnel were able to serve ice cream with a smile is that they haven't had to do it all season, and they were getting a better wage while doing it. I'm glad I'm not one of the ones who has to manage this workforce and make the decisions. I'm also glad I'm not one of the employees. Staffing the park is a barely-balanced cluster that makes it difficult to maintain good workers, or at this point of the season ANY workers. I've been impressed with how well the vast majority of the people I have interacted with at the park this summer do their jobs. I feel sorry for any of them that tried to stick it out through this last weekend, because the combination of planned events, the understaffing, and the absolutely ridiculous heat combined as a set-up for failure.

I know he ultimately did more to it (tuning, etc) to bring the parts into working condition and make it sound wonderful, but it did sound in the article like the paper bits were what had initially made it "stop working" entirely so that the park removed it.