BeeastFarmer

First Aid is open until the last guest leaves the park.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me " Since the debacle that Cedar Fair has had with RMC, they have become very conservative with large investments, going with what they know. (TT2 is an outlier). I think they would want a more proven flyer from vekoma. Fly looks really good, but are there more of these in existence? If they wanted a flyer, I think they would go with B&M because the reliability. But even they are tricky and require more staff to operate.

They hate the fog because they hate you.

I don't know specifics metrics for an average pay per meal, but if an annual meal plan is $140 and it's used 20 times, the cost per meal is $7. Id guess the cost to Kings Island would e around $1.50 or $2.00 including labor, shrink and waste. If they didn't have a meal plan, the passholder might only buy 3 meals a season and either pack a meal or go to Wendy's. So Kings Island 's cost per meal escalates sharply. They still could make the same $7, but sell much much less. So would you rather have $21 for 3 meals or $100.00?

^if they could have spinning vs not spinning cars on each train, could they do a queue separation in the line, similar to how The Beast has a front/back split point?

So its not extreme?

Maybe I misunderstand what an "extreme spinner" is. If it has a magnet that controls the spin in a very controlled manner, is it still extreme? Can they allow some cars on the train to not spin? Best of both worlds?

Meals in most parks have always been expensive relative to the outside world. It's part of it. As far as Winterfest, I hope it doesn't evolve into WinterCut.

For the spinner, I see some challenges: 1. Cost. 2. Capacity. 3. GP not wanting to do extreme spinning on a coaster. (I would likely not ride myself because I don't do spinning flats.) I think they would also look at the performance of Cooperhead Strike at Carowinds, even though it is not a spinner. From what I have heard, it did not give a huge attendance boost to this park and if i recall correctly, it was more expensive than Fury 325. If TT2 is a success, I think we will see a Zamperla. If not,, I think we will see a Vekoma. Next would be a BM dive. The question is--do they fill Vortex or tackle Action Zone first? Both are glaring issues with the park. Plus they need to address the water park, the Rivertown Box, eventually Boo Blasters as well as infrastructure and cosmetic issues. By the time they touch all these, it will be time to renovate International Street, redesign the Royal Fountain with pedestals, and replace Diamondback as it reaches the end of its service life!

The number of guests that come from ten hours away is minimal and does not contribute meaningful to the bottom line. I agree with that. But market penetration is local...if there 1000 households in a 3 hour radius and ⁴ have season passes and 3 make a one or two days trip, they want to capture more of the 993 households. If they get 10 of those, and 7 die, they are still ahead. That's the growth cycle. When attendance is down, the bean counters present it to the board and they panic because they see their money disappearing. So they cut the nose off the parks to spite their face. That's what we have seen this year. Again, reality vs theory box.

But you are living in a theoretical box. We have to deal with what the reality is. The truth is that most publicity traded entities focus on building a customer base through addition because of churn. If CF was not focused on growing the business they would do a disservice to the unitholders. If you are not growing, you are dying, and the market penetration is nowhere near complete. This is why they currently focus on the family demographic because the more they reach the more will come and then, the per caps increase in numbers. By the way, Cedar Fair does not issue stock. They issue units. You can multiquote in one post vs. two separate posts.

Do you not understand how quarterly reports work and attendance numbers affect unit price? While I would love to see higher ticket prices and lower attendance for increased profit, that's not how they run their business.

That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works! (Reference to a car insurance commercial with old women). Had attendance numbers been up after the second quarter, we likely would not have seen budget cuts at all or as severe. The deferred maintenance alone will cost them long term.

This point about family friendly haunt is fairly well established. Corporate wants higher attendance, not less attendance. Lower attendance will look bad on quarterly reports and potentially drive down the unit price...so the board and directors, who have large amounts of units will loose actual and/or potential dollars. They are motivated to drive attendance.

Because it's also billed as a scary event (even though it's more of a family event now with all the littles and then there are the adults who wear onesies) people who show up to enjoy night rides can accept the risk they might get a startle.

Bruh...he owned the place.

Only as long as Mr. Selfie has this huge grin like Gomer Pyle would have when he said "surprise surprise surprise!" Will there be a Coasterstock next year?

So they don't have time to replace letters, but evidently, they have time to remove and repaint the entire prop?

I mean, I love seeing kids having a great time! But this is what replicates the cycle...the comments were overwhelming with "my littles love haunt" and "the actors were so nice and friendly!". So, for me, I just accept that the haunt of the past has disappeared into the mist. Parents...if your kids can handle it, get them in! Scareactors...love on those kids and scare those who want to be scared! Just don't vote for this to be in the top ten poll for scary events. If there were a top ten for kid friendly haunts with monsters, that would be appropriate!

What they advertise and what they do are different things. The event has definitely evolved from 2016 until now ..for many it's much better because it's more inclusive to families. For others, it is a shadow of it's former self. It's no longer edgy and pushing the boundaries.

I think it's more overt than that. While I hold Mr. Kootnz in very high regard, he has stated that he wants Kings Island to be more family friendly. So I think, under his reign, he has changed Haunt as much as his influence will allow for this demographic. I don't like it, but I'm only up there one or two times for haunt. This isn't to say that the scareactors and tech, park services etc dont work hard, they do the best they can given their constrictions. I don't do much with Tricks N Treats, but it does look to be very well done, besides being crowded in Planet Snoopy. But there is no way that we deserve to be ranked #4. That is just targeted advertising from the past that carries over today, much like a tradition.

Kings Island seems to either want to attract, or has attracted a more family focused Haunt. They have cut back on spookiness and Haunt attractions. This is what probably makes them the most money. Knott's seems to have a different target audience.

Might be ADA accessibility issues.

It's 11pm and all is well. I'm wondering why the soccer game under the snake coaster is still there if it's never open?

Invertigo inherited Stinger's train and they alternate years of use.