bjcolglazier

Walking through the park tonight with the snow pouring down was amazing. Not sure if/when I'll ever see the park as it was tonight. Beautiful.

That sounds like great advice. And thanks---that's great the rides are still open! We'll bundle up!

I think we're going to brave the snow---and the long drive---and try to go tomorrow. Are any of the rides closing due to the cold other than Mystic Timbers? Do they have Dodgem, Zephyr, and pretty much everything else announced up and running this week ride-wise? More than anything we just want to walk the park, see the lights, maybe see some snow-flurries and ice-skaters, and ride the train. We might try some rides if they're going, and we're not frozen. This will be our first Winterfest visit, so not entirely sure what to expect honestly, especially this week with how cold it is.

So basically all lives lost were the result of poor park management, and a bad ride design. Lovely. NOT. Ghost-story all you want...none of these folks should have died at the park. It was just a different era, and lessons were learned...thank heavens.

Every time my wife says, "my gun doesn't work!" I give her mine, and take hers...and then light up the scoreboard! I can't remember the last time I had a gun that "didn't work". Granted...it could happen. I guess...lol.

Wow. Granted, I live far away so can't go to the park but 5-10 days a year, and avoid busy days like the plague, but I haven't seen the Flight of Fear queues opened like that in almost 20 years---shortly after that ride opened. I figured they just never even bothered to open them up anymore.

I hate to even bring it up, but do we need another understaffed and inefficient eatery in the park? We certainly need one done right, but...I have my doubts. This past Sunday was BUSY! Waited...waited...waited...just to get a burger in the Festhaus. Seriously? I will say that the Potato Works that got knocked down never had Corn Dogs ready for my son, and their soda machines were broke on 4th of July weekend, too, so no loss there. Kings Island does a lot of things exceptionally well, but food and drinks is not one of them.

I don't mean to hate, but you absolutely tried to suggest you knew more than us.

Yeah, this is precisely why I don't miss Terpy whatsoever on this forum. If you're so ingrained in park operations or know things you cannot share, you probably shouldn't be here.

I've never been at Kings Island when the food trucks are there---is there a 300% markup with the food trucks, or are the prices competitive to what you would actually see out on the street? I currently buy the dining plan---somewhat reluctantly---because the regular park prices for food are sickening and would otherwise ruin my day at the park. I want the park to make their money, just wish there was a better way.

I live in NW Indiana. Indiana Beach is about 30 minutes from my house. I'm in no way an expert on this topic, but I will say that most of the chatter I hear about amusement parks around here is Holiday World related. I've never even been there, but my wife and kids have. Thanks to Interstate highways Kings Island is faster to get to by at least an hour, but...my only thought is that Holiday World advertises well in our part of the state, despite the fact KI is easier to get to. The Indianapolis TV stations frequently have Kentucky Kingdom advertisements as well---I see them all the time. So regardless of which of these parks is the "best", I will say there is definitely competition out there. At least for Indiana consumers. Cedar Point is part of the competition too, obviously.

How many people are going to ride the same rides over and over and over and over and over in one day...and then do that on repeat all season long? I have to believe the number is low. Extremely low. In my experience FL is only worth it on really---and I mean really---busy days anyhow. At weekend prices, you could buy FL on six different days and still not reach $500. Only the most dedicated of guests is going to cause a change in wait-times. At least that's my thought...since we don't really have any good data to look at right now.

Fair enough, and you make a valid point for sure. I guess I wish they'd do these things more. There certainly have been upgrades/paint-jobs/things-like-that. Flight-of-Fear is a great mention though...they've done some good work there recently. Adventure Express---to me---is an old ride that has a lot of potential. Still a good ride, could be an absolutely amazing/different ride with some changes/upgrades. Somewhere on here I once read and was reminded that KI is "not a theme park". It was once, and it sorta always will be. I hope.

Reading thru this thread it reminds me how baffling it is (to me) the park will spend millions on new rides, but won't spend maybe half-a-million to really spruce up a ride that has been around forever, and still fits. AE is the perfect example. Could use more tunnels, some fancy lighting here and there in those tunnels, a more interesting queue. It's still a great ride! Just has lost some of the sheen of it's mine-train heritage. Easy fixer-upper though.

Yeah, the thought of buying an $80 Fast Lane Plus SIX TIMES, and still not hitting the $499 mark is enough to deter me. 5 in my family, too---there's just no way---the math doesn't work for us. As long as they don't sell thousands of them it's a great idea though---super-easy money-maker for the park, for those who want in. And for those who can really get their money's worth for it, it'll be amazing. I hope they enjoy it.

I'm voting King Cobra just because I really enjoyed the stand-up aspect. It's the only ride like that I've ever ridden, and although it was a short ride, I really enjoyed it. Nothing like it around today. At least not at Kings Island.

I don't have much to add as far as park or ride requirements, but I've seen very small children on Beetle Bugs that most certainly should not have been so far as head & neck safety is concerned.

FunPix is a pretty sweet deal. We no longer dodge the photographers when we first arrive. I hope the park is making some good money on it, because our family loves all the different photo-ops, backgrounds, and such that they have set up. Totally worth it.

Pulled kids from school, and took the family to the park today. Good times---we got a lot of rides in, and a lot of sun. An "Educational Day", most of the guests today were teenagers. We have the dining plan, and "upgraded" our drink plan to disposable cups today. Ended up at Burger King for lunch, though---most of the food service locations were not operating today, and the Festhaus line was massive as result. That was a bit of a bummer, but we've never been to the park this early in the season on a week-day...probably should have known better? Fortunately, the low wait-times for rides more than made up for the slight inconvenience in food & drink service.

I'm just watching the webcams, but I'm surprised it's so busy this early on a school-day!

I'd pay a lot more than $115 that's what I think. Only the park knows for sure how they make their best money, but I used to buy single-day Fast Lane at KI (family of 5) a couple times a year for all of us. They priced us out last year. Just too much for this family. I don't know where the sweet-spot is for things like this, but I'm sure the park can find it if they keep trying.

In the free comments of the survey I recommended that they merge the two ideas into one. Give everyone a souvenir cup, but don't make it mandatory to have the cup on your person in order to use the season-long-drink pass. Let folks choose what works best for them.

When you're going to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow, but still pull up the quiet King's Island webcams tonight...just because it's "home". :-)

Our family has cashed in several of the free bring-a-friend-for-free tickets this fall. You go to the ticket window with your pass that you have renewed, and tell them you are bringing a friend for free. They scan your pass, and give you the free ticket.

This is correct.