BeeastFarmer

Probably not, unless you add the all season unlimited desert prestige superdo pass

That was my point at the time; I postulated that between the Louisville and Lexington market, if they lost 2500 season passes plus an unknown amount of daily passes, they would also loose the per caps. I can't remember the rudimentary math , but if I company could laugh about losing, let's say $100k , thats significant. Of course things have changed since then. If HFE stays long term, I think KI will have no choice but to respond in significant ways.

From Q3 report 2024: "Six Flags today also announced the core objectives of its new long-range plan designed to deliver on the full growth potential of the Combined Company. In many cases, the new objectives represent the natural extension and evolution of strategic initiatives that contributed to the success of legacy Cedar Fair. Enhance the guest experience to deliver a stronger price-value proposition and drive demand . Identify incremental operating efficiencies that generate cost synergies and help drive margin expansion . Maintain a disciplined approach to the prioritization and activation of capital investments to realize the full market potential of each park, while maximizing free cash flow efficiency . Integrate technology stacks with a focus on harmonizing systems, eliminating redundancies, and enhancing the guest-facing digital experience. Review the park portfolio over time, to optimize the asset base , narrow management’s focus, and help reduce net leverage." (italics by me to point out the obvious) My take on this: They want to maximize attendance at all parks. The opportunity will be at legacy Six Flags parks as there is much opportunity there. However, look for a diminished experience at Six Flags parks that had high attendance prior to the merger and historically well attended Cedar Fair parks like KI and CP. Legacy Six Flags parks will need investments in hardware (more high capacity rides and perhaps more trains per coaster) and People. If they achieve higher attendance without enhancing guest experience, long term growth may suffer, or they may continue to attract crowds with a diluted experience with cheap passes, like we see at KI. As they attempt this, parks that fail to step up will be divested as they review the portfolio. Also, well performing parks may be sold off for a quick cash grab.

I remember when I was new here and KK was becoming reborn. That thread was a hot topic then. I was ridiculed for thinking the park would even survive the first season, much less pose any threat to KI At that time, I was told that Kings Island laughs about the thought of KK and Holiday World providing any competition. Times have changed, and Kings Island seems busier than ever. But I never thought I would have a Kentucky Kingdom season pass and would let my Kings Island pass expire.

I used my premium drink plan this weekend with no complaints. Hot chocolate was tasty, available and service was quick. I also got an icee and had no issues. For as crowded as Saturday was, food service was remarkable. Besides the park being unethical and tacky with the drained fountain and closed Eiffel Tower, I have no complaints!

You seem bitter.

Amen bro! We will show them!

Isn't that pretty much the same thing I said, minus the piece about outside candidates being considered?

I'm sure you have inside information as evidenced by your Racer conversation. If you do, please help me understand the timeline on these eliminations. As an outsider, it doesn't make business sense to do this before the winter events are finished. I'm sure your insight could help me see the big picture in a more clear manner.

I think y'all are putting the cart before the horse. Typically, a new leader comes in and evaluates things before cleaning house. Not knowing Six Flags timeline on these realignments, I wouldn't assume that park level positions are changed much before the end of the year. Many parks still have winter events yet to go. Use them and then reassign, terminate or let attrition happen.

I thought they moved The Sweet Spot from merch to food when they redid it a couple years ago?

Ummm... planning would suggest that they can look at a calendar and make an operating schedule. And Kings Island is spending money that they got from my pass with the contractor. So they should dictate the terms of the contract. There is a lot of prep work they can do for Snow Flake Lake without turning off the Royal Fountain. We see it all the time. I mean , Sunday night drain it, Monday morning winterize it and then hand it over. I think they do this just to make their most loyal customers mad. It's so crooked and unethical. Don't even get me started on how they don't have enough Christmas trees at the park. Ever since the current version of WinterFest is on they just don't care about trees. It's ugly.

The amount of time they turn it off is not relevant. The fact that I paid good money for my pass and I can't get what I want, and they don't have anywhere in the terms and conditions that they can just turn it off willy nilly is unethical. For WinterFest it's a repurposed fountain so that's ok. But for them to drain it for THEIR convenience when I have a pass is just wrong. Plus it looks tacky.

Well I am happy for you, but what about those who paid for their pass and did not get to see it? I demand that they turn it back on for the upcoming weekend. They can't blame staffing and nowhere does it say that The Royal Fountain is subject to availability.

I am bitter. Bitter like the taste of the carbonated water that comes out of the refill station in Rivertown when they run out of ice and syrup. They have my money already. It's not right that they can just turn off the Royal Fountain before the season is over. It's tacky and unethical. Six Flags is an unethical company.

So it appears The Royal Fountain is done for 2024. I paid for my Gold Pass with All Park Passport. At Kings Island, The Royal Fountain is part of the experience. I have been robbed and therefore cheated. I did call Guest Services and there was no answer. Kings Island did not communicate this to me when I bought my pass .

@BB1 and @johnjniehaus...tell us how you really feel! These posts do bring up great points. Do better KI. Do better Mike. Do better supervisors of drink and and F/B. It's not that hard to communicate which locations have hot chocolate and coffee and which don't. When we come to accept mediocrity like this, the park will accept that as a norm. Instead of being the best One Team they can be, they become Multiple Scattered Teams who don't communicate with each other. After all, people buy and show up in droves and KI makes money, so why would they care about slipping Cornerstone values. If pass and per cap numbers decline, maybe they would care NOTE: this post is in no way directed at the parks communication team, unless they are boots on the ground with drink plan communication and implementation. Constant bashing of that team, warranted or unwarranted is tiresome and akin to the current political climate. I was outspoken in my criticism earlier, but I can't change anything so there's no use in joining in on that battle.

Do you think this has anything to do with the change in park leadership or corporate budget cuts over the last few years?

Looks like somebody has been "rubbing" a lot on that chair.

@SonofBaconator, I'm going to sell this one. Cedar Fair paid too much for the Six Flags name/brand and I don't think they want their investment to get watered down. ( Yes, I know, merger of equals and all, but the reality is that Cedar Fair is pretty much in charge. @johnjniehaus I'm going to buy this. Most all of Action Zone could be targets. I'd guess the water park could be targeted as well as Snoopy.. Buy or sell ...HFE will figure out what to do with Kentucky Kingdom and make it more successful than it has ever been.

^ Good point about Dollywood, I was referring to Kentucky Kingdom Theme and Water Park.

And Great Adventure is on the horizon as well. (Side note...in the best of all possible worlds, the Six Flags parks could be brought up to (former) Cedar Fair standards, hopefully before all the budget cuts) Orion-family friendly...I believe this was in @KIghostguy's book..Kings Island: A Ride Through Time.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I'd say everything is up in the air with all the realignment going on in the merged company. Perhaps Six Flags Kings Island wants to reel in business from the Koch and Herschend families and make ki a thrill capitol. Perhaps Mike K retires, is reassigned to another park, or is let go. Would the family park focus go away with him? Kings Island is now competing with several other "flagship" parks in the chain.

I mean, Orion is designed a family friendly coaster pet the GM/VP. Haunt is family friendly. Everything he has done in recent years, besides all of this years bars, is family friendly.

The current President and GM of KI has a stated goal of making KI family friendly. I don't know that a 10 inversion coaster would be seen as such in the eyes of the current administration.