BeeastFarmer

I only have three parks under my belt as an adult, with Kings Island being my favorite. If you are a rider already and just want suggestions on what to ride at KI, here is my sequential suggestion: 1. The Beast 2. Diamondback 3. Woodstock Express 4. Banshee 5. Adventure Express 6. The Bat 7. The Blue Racer 8. Backlot Stunt Coaster 9. Vortex

Taco Tico is the best! I wasn't aware there is one in Louisville. Lexington's is great. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

That sounds like a plan. Just realize the spinning rides (like Shake Rattle and Roll at Kings Island) I cannot do. And I want to clarify: I am not attempting to force YOUR hand, it is the park's hand. Also, if you attempt actions that will eject a person (line jumping, camera on ride etc) you are responsible for your actions. (I know you won't do such things!) If it is a bias against you, for whatever reason, I most certainly will witness and testify.

And that is unfortunate. Had you been able to experience the park, you might have a different experience. If you are in the area in 2016, I will buy you a ticket at Kroger and we can spend a day there. (it has to be a weekday, I work weekends!). By having a pre-purchased ticket, that will force the hand. The invitation is extended. Maybe we could go to Kings Island as well.

I agree that it is great news that KK will return for 2016. I found KK's F&B offerings a bit above KI's. Staff were friendly, food quality was good, and the pricing is much more affordable at KK. My bad experience was at the Italian Place near the entrance, everything was prepared and sitting under a heat lamp and looked terrible and then Swamp Water Jack's was the same. However, I asked for fresh food to be made and it was, with a smile. I also liked the $1.00 drinks, without having to carry around a stupid cup. However, a member of this board did not have a good experience with the food. I guess things are relative. The great news out of this article is that KK will be opening for the 2016 season. As far as food goes it's probably on par with KK's competitor in Mason Ohio.

As I have stated ad nauseam, KK will not be a KI. But it is a nice, small alternative. With the constraints of the (non) fair board and the lack of land, they can only do so much. The history of the park is well documented. Small parks can make money. Ed Hart and his partners are businessmen/women with proven track records. I am sure they saw an opportunity to make money-either by managing the park or building it to sell. I have no idea which of these goals they have and it really is none of my business. They were also taking advantage of incentives and financing opportunities that are available to any business entity who wants to buy the rights to manage the park. As documented earlier in this thread, the Koch family was also offered these opportunities.

I would assume non-season pass revenue would be a great thing. For example, I paid $60 for my pass and went 6 times. Someone else may pay $40 for a day pass, enjoy the park and go back once or twice more. They also pay full fare for F&B and merchandise. Add in the incentives offered to folks who live outside of Kentucky (the newspaper/online coupons) and more people visit the park. I'm sorry to be in the minority here, but I think it's a great small park and think it has a bright future. Only time will tell.

The Interpreter, when were the figures released last year? That may be an indication of when they will be released this year. Or not

I didn't intend to imply support. I was surprised to get a response, so I will have to give the campaign props for that. Interesting to note as well, that since I posed this question, I am now getting robo emails wanting donations. They appear to come from the candidate himself-"sent from my iPhone" mentioning my name specifically. Reminds me of some children's books my parents got me as a 6 year old that had my name mentioned specifically. (It's politics and any correspondence with the campaigns would prompt me to be added to a fundraising database. I just think it's funny but disturbing that these people would think that voters would think the candidate would generate an email from his iPhone to some unknown voter.

I've contacted both campaigns-Democrat and Republican. The Democratic camp has not responded. The Republican camp took three weeks to respond. The response was to the effect of: "Matt Bevin does not have a specific stance regarding the this issue but does support business and tax equity for all Kentuckians." Of course, this was done to probe candidates support or non support of Kentucky Kingdom. Even if the elected official did not support the tax incentives that are legally in place, I don't see how they could change something that was done legally.

How crowded could I expect it to be on Oct. 31? I know many factors come into play, like weather etc. Being that it is a Saturday night, the last night of Haunt and Halloween itself. I'm planning on coming up after work (from Lexington), checking into lodging, and then going to KI for a couple of hours. Then all day Sunday for closing day.

Florence ya'll! Great story, thanks for sharing! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

Why would the park have FUN TV blasting when the park is closed? (Today is Thursday 9-17-15, the park is closed). Also of note, it looks like there are purple lights outlining a pathway between Diamondback and RHOFG.

I would estimate 96% of ride operators I have witnessed have been nice, efficient, and concerned with the #kibestday experience. I too, experienced "power hour" on Banshee recently. I didn't see any thing I would call unsafe, and being of a larger stature, the ride ops were quick, but did not staple me into the seat. I kind of liked the intensity of the dispatch: "Ladies and gentlemen, when the gate opens, we have 30 seconds to dispatch this train! Take your seat quickly, just drop your shoes where you sit," etc. And then the countdown was cool too. I could see how it would be annoying if you were marathoning or if you go to the park daily, but I thought it was refreshing to see quick work and a sense of urgency. I thought to myself, if they could set goals like this on Diamondback, the station train would depart when the ride train hit the MCBR each time and the 20-30 minute wait for Diamondback would shrink even more! (Don't mess with my The Beast; I rarely see any stack here and the ride ops are incredible. Plus, with the way they do the station ques now, I don't mind hanging out in the station for a few minutes, especially on hot days with the fan running.)

I rode The Beast 76 times in 2014 and 56 times in 2015 (so far!) The Interpreter: Negative bias? Nah. Although every time I hear the Abba song "Take A Chance On Me" I think of Kentucky Kingdom and you.

Admit it...I think most, given the opportunity, would strike a like pose. I probably would don a hard hat, however.

Oh, The Interpreter, we could discuss THAT subject for days! But, back to food service at the park: My main gripe is not with the price (You get your money's worth) or quality (the food I eat tastes really good). They really need to come up with a plan and focus on it. If they can turn around the culture among employees from being surly and sour, surely they can change the speed culture in food service and allow these employees to have FUN and serve customers well. Lots of great ideas in this forum, and it sounds like they could adopt Best Practices from sister parks.

RE: Universities and beverage companies: There was an agreement between the University of Kentucky and Aramark to take over the University's food operations, starting in 2014. As a part of the contract, Aramark was required to source so much of it's food locally, and this was to increase annually. Turns out, Aramark paid Coca-Cola around $1 million in 2014 and counted this as a local purchase---because there is a bottling plant in Lexington. It would not surprise me if there was a kickback to the University involved in this.

I remember this incident well. I was in junior high school and of course rumors were rampant. I usually think of Mr. Hartner when I go up the Tower and say a prayer for his family and friends (whoever they may be, I don't know them but I believe the one I pray to does!). Seeing the face to the legend puts it in a great perspective.

At $4.99 per drink, there is money being made by some entity.

Thanks for the clarification.

So, are you saying he is professional but not competent, or that in essence he is not the representative of the PR staff and Mr. Hart is not competent?

Magenta Lizard, I will private message you his name. I do not want to mention it in public because I think that is frowned upon on the forums here. But I am glad you are willing to do that, I think it is great for the employees who are outstanding, and I am sure the Guest Service folks appreciate compliments as I am sure they hear plenty of complaints.

You gotta be kidding me: http://m.14news.com/14news/pm_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=od%3A1N3Et1Ny Just when I think the PR staff couldn't possibly be any less competent. The Interpreter, forgive me, but earlier this season, when I stated KK needed to up the ante in the PR arena, you responded that Mr. Mulcahy is a "true professional." Is he no longer the the PR representative? Edit: changed the last sentence because I read the link and saw that Mr. Mulcahy is still employed by the park as a "spokesman."

As I stated in the Overall Food Concession topic (or the thread of a like name), I-Street Skyline was horrible at lunch (~11:30). 30 minute wait in line for food, 2 workers on the front line and the could care less how long the line was (I used a timer on my phone and the average time to open a coney dog bun by one worker was 19 seconds). No food trays, etc. I got some Blue Ice Cream when we first arrived in less than two minutes as there were no lines. I asked for the ice cream to be placed in a bowl instead of a cone; it was not. When I asked for the correct item, she slammed the cone into a bowl. oooookay.... I had the meal plan, so I was not concerned about lines. My companion shared some of my excess Skyline at lunch. At dinner, Festhaus was very efficient, she got some pizza and I got Panda Express. We watched the show and a very good side show by one of the "sweeps" who danced his way around the Festhaus. I did stop by Guest Services to leave a compliment for this employee. Having FUN on the job! At the end of the evening, my companion was "done" with coasters, so I marathoned The Beast while she went to Starbucks. On the walk back to I Street, even though the park was closed, lines were long at the open food establishments and I-Street was packed. We peaked into Skyline after seeing the line, and they still only had two line employees. Nobody was in a hurry to leave even though the park was closed. Overall a good day at the park in spite of the heat and seeing happiness die at Skyline.