What Grade Do You Give Cedar Fair for Kings Island's 2007 Season?

[BoddaH1994]

Since we've finally seen a whole year of Cedar Fair's ownership of Kings Island, how do you rate their overall performance? Why did you give them that grade? What did they do that impressed you? What were some opportunities that they had for improvement?

[Jamesv7]

I would give them a B+ or an A- just because I always think there is room for improvement.

[Browntggrr]

I'll give them a B.

There were more positives than negatives.

Being under CF's ownership for their first full season, they did many things to the park. The park looked fresher than the last couple of years. Perhaps is was because the same old movie posters were removed, or there was occaisionally different music than in years' past, or simply it was the addition of Firehawk.

But there is always room for improvment. I hope that near the top of the list is a legitimate sit down restaurant. The park needs one, more than a B&M .

And even though it may be unfair; I will always remember KI pre-Paramount. It is that standard that I will compare each year to.

CF has a ways to go.

[Keysersoze]

I'll give them a B.

There were more positives than negatives.

Being under CF's ownership for their first full season, they did many things to the park. The park looked fresher than the last couple of years. Perhaps is was because the same old movie posters were removed, or there was occaisionally different music than in years' past, or simply it was the addition of Firehawk.

But there is always room for improvment. I hope that near the top of the list is a legitimate sit down restaurant. The park needs one more than a B&M .

And even though it may be unfair; I will always remember KI pre-Paramount. It is that standard that I will compare each year to.

CF has a ways to go.

I agree, but we must not forget KICentral day, that was killer, I hope CF remembers us in a good way, I would love to see something like that again.

[Dvo]

I'd give them a B as well. I didn't buy a season pass last year, but I know my uncle went through a huge mess trying to figure out how the parking pass would work for him at both KI and CP because he goes to both places a lot. Hopefully this year they'll improve their system so that it is easy for buyers to use.

I thought Halloween Haunt was incredible as well.

[XGatorHead 8904]

I give them a C+. The park looked good, I enjoyed Firehawk and HH this year, the shows were a big improvment over the past several years. But... many of the full timers I know chose to leave under the current regime. From the stories I heard from them, CF demanded way too much of them (as if they didn't work hard enough under Paramount and before) and did not give them the freedom to do their tasks on their own. And some of these were people that have been there 20+ years, since before Paramount bought the place, people who had a lot of time and effort invested in the place, really cared about the park and wanted to see it improve and prosper. For that reason I lowered my score.

Edit: I forgot about the food! Cold and overpriced, a majority of the food associates I dealt with were not very friendly. Make it a C-.

[ragerunner]

I would give them a C. While they didn't hurt the park, I really didn't feel they improve the park experience from the days of Paramount (excluding CBS short control).

[Oldweasel]

I too gave them a B, but now thinking back to my nights working at the Rivertown Pizza during HH, I would have to give them a C. There are no lights around the dumpster out back and it's a accident waiting to happen. Lugging those trash bags out and not being able to see where your going.

[Mighty Mouse]

I gave them a C also. It's about what I expected for their first full year running the park. Some of the theming needed upkeep or removal. The food definately needed improvement as did the attitude of some of the food workers. I think that they will earn an A or B in years to come given the time and money they'll need to spend but there just had not been enough time of ownership to give us a WOW! yet. I think they can get there, though.

[Coasterfan]

I gave them a B. I think overall CF has greatly improved the park, but there is still room for improvement.

[art_star]

I gave them an A, not that the park is perfect now, but because they really did a lot of improving for the little time they had. Especially with the very hurried and well done addition of Firehawk. Sure pre-paramount was better, but from were the park was in 06, I think they are well on their way to having KI great again.

[Vortex]

I gave a C going to another old Paramount park I see that Cedar Fair still needs some room for improvement. Also why does it cost less to buy food at both Disneyland and Disney world than at Kings Island?

I would have gave a D if it was not for the new shows.

[Snake Attack!]

I gave them a B I do think that they could do a better job in terms of treating employees which is something I think Paramount was much better at. The park as a whole though looks fresher. Also ride improvements with Firehawk and don't forget they did make a good effort and possible successful effort in saving SOB

[CoastersNSich]

I voted "B," but I'm not sure how strong of a "B" it would be.

Pros:

Refreshing the park overall, with new logo, removing movie posters, changing to pop/rock music.

Giving Son of Beast much better trains, without headrests, and maintaining it. My ride on the 20th of October was good.

New live shows - one of the things KI was historically known for.

Cons:

In some cases, they seemed slow to rid the park of Paramount references and logos. I understand that by Opening Day 2008 they will ALL be gone.

In some areas, customer service was not of importance to some employees. When I wanted to buy a ticket to the Hannity concert, or retrieve the phone I lost on Firehawk, they thought I was of incovenience to them.

Food service: besides the high prices, lackluster service didn't help. For example, the Festhaus just hasn't been the most "fest"-ive place to have food at the park in the past several years.

The Racer crew. If I have to explain why once more... AARRGGHH!!

[Aves]

B. I liked KI as a THEME park.

No, that's not my only opinion, that's my favorite opinion!

[italianchef]

I gave CF a "B" for the shows, seatbelts, and live shows. But the drink and food prices really need to come down.

[The Interpreter]

And the quality of the food, the cheerfulness of the service and the ambience of what few inside eating areas there are ALL need improvement. A simpler and better administered admissions/season pass program would also be a major plus.

That being said, I must say Beast is running better than it has in many, many years.

[Karen]

I gave it an A and a strong one at that.

In everything in life there is always room for improvement but that should not be retracted.

The shows were so much better this year than in years past. Come on the keroke show was ok when the kids did it but omg some of the adults could not carry a tune and it was on mic. Cedar Fair gave us Hot Island Rhythms, Twisting to the Sixties, Summer on Ice, the adorable Nick Toons meet and greet dance, and let's not forget Dead Awakening. Summer on Ice was full of professional skaters, The other shows featured college drama students. Two shows were produced IN PARK. Hot Island Rhythms and Dead Awakening were done by Kevin (not sure his last name sorry) and I felt they were excellent shows!

We got the addition of Firehawk which probably should be rated a 6 star as it is a very exciting ride!

The park was a lot cleaner this year than it was last year. It had a much fresher look.

Yes the food is never the best but this year we did get Chinese food again at the Festhaus. I would love to see more of a variety there as there certainly is room for it!! Our food was always warm and the taste is what you would expect of an amusement park that is there for the rides and entertainment and not really for the food lol. The WINGS restaurant has some great food if you are willing to pay the price for the all you can eat buffet.

I might have missed this last year but there was a wading pool in the Boomerang Bay area this year. I really liked that a lot on a hot day lol.

Halloween Haunt was better than Fear Fest last year - the only problem I saw on that was the lack of workers once the young ones had to clock out and leave. The older ones made up for them so the attractions were still great so I do not detract for that but it might be a better idea to put the kids to work in other areas of the park and let park employees that want to do haunt work Haunt.

Overall I did see a lot of improvements over last year. Actually I started seeing improvements from the start. Let's remember Fear Fest started out as the Paramount product and changed into the Cedar Fair product toward the end - those of us that went often saw the transformation.

[TH13TEEN]

I voted "B," but I'm not sure how strong of a "B" it would be.

Pros:

Refreshing the park overall, with new logo, removing movie posters, changing to pop/rock music.

Giving Son of Beast much better trains, without headrests, and maintaining it. My ride on the 20th of October was good.

New live shows - one of the things KI was historically known for.

Cons:

In some cases, they seemed slow to rid the park of Paramount references and logos. I understand that by Opening Day 2008 they will ALL be gone.

In some areas, customer service was not of importance to some employees. When I wanted to buy a ticket to the Hannity concert, or retrieve the phone I lost on Firehawk, they thought I was of incovenience to them.

Food service: besides the high prices, lackluster service didn't help. For example, the Festhaus just hasn't been the most "fest"-ive place to have food at the park in the past several years.

The Racer crew. If I have to explain why once more... AARRGGHH!!

you are not supposed to have your phone on firehwk that is your fault

[XGatorHead 8904]

Cons:

The Racer crew. If I have to explain why once more... AARRGGHH!!

Why? "J/K", I say while running and hiding, dodging objects flying at my head...

[Dvo]

I didn't get a chance to ride Racer or Adventure Express this season

I miss them.

[PKIVortex]

I give CF a B. Firehawk was awesome, but some of empolyees really left a bad taste in my mouth. Not just food workers, but some of the ride ops too. I thought one thing would improve under Cedar Fair would be capacity, but I'm sad to say it didn't, it may even got worse. Racer, and Vortex had some of the worst crews in years. Vortex would stack all 3 trains when they would run 3 trains, it was horrible, and it didn't feel very well, slamming into the brakes by SR&R. Also Racer crew was very slow, sometimes sitting in the station or readys for 5 minutes.

However the entertainment department was great this year, I'm glad they had 5 live shows, 7 if you count the 2 HH shows. I'm looking forward what the shows are in store for 2008.

The park was much cleaner this year, then years past. Food prices were outrageous though, and not worth the money. But for the first year of CF owning KI, they did a pretty good job, It should get better with time.

[DegenRider]

I am going to have to give a C-

The crews. I am sorry they were not very good this year. Very slow.

The bad

The prices for food were WAY too high. I never ate in the park once this year due to it.

The lack of trams except for Haunt theme.

Haunt itself was very lame and not all that great other than dead awakening. Some of the houses were downright empty.

Needless seatbelts on everything. Vortex and Top Gun have no need for them as they have ran for years without them just fine. Plus they seemed to be "nut crushers" on some people now as they hit the crotch now.

Service. The lack of service in admissions on my last visit took the cake. They had NO idea what the specials were and were downright rude when I told them the correct things.

The good

Firehawk- This is only half good cause I had ridden it before at GL and while its nice to have you can tell it was done at the last second and they grabbed whatever fencing and stuff that had sitting at Cedar Point and used it down here. Also the lack of shade in the line. We had a REALLY hot summer this year and while rides like IJ have the nice full cover shade. This had partial useless shade.

Son of Beast

While its the best its been in years....i miss the loop an it really could of stayed if they would of taken a look down at Kentucky Kingdom GL trains. They are very similar to the G trains but have a ankle bar that helps keep you in.

KIC day. That was a really good day.

[The Interpreter]

Well, somehow I can't imagine the State of Ohio or Anton Schwarzkoph's son allowing those trains to be run on a wooden coaster with a loop....or even a wooden coaster without one.

[Erosarrow05]

... and why not?

[The Interpreter]

To begin with, they were designed for steel coasters with tubular track...

[BavarianBeatle]

Well, an "A" would be perfectand a "B" is above average (got my kids report cards today). So I voted for "B+/A-"

The ride crews throughout the park were slow at times, but I never had any "courtesy" issues.

I agree the food needs improvement, in terms of both price and quality. When we ate at the park this year, we usually ate at Wings where there were at least one or two fresh things to eat.....

The park was VERY clean this year. Especially at the end of the year when there were not overflowing trash cans with yellow jackets swarming around them like there have been in the past.

And finally, the improvements to SOB from when it reopened to the end of the season were PHENOMENAL!!

It would have been an "A" except for all the food and the times that I sat in rides saying "all clear, already!!!"

[CoastersNSich]

I voted "B," but I'm not sure how strong of a "B" it would be.

Pros:

Refreshing the park overall, with new logo, removing movie posters, changing to pop/rock music.

Giving Son of Beast much better trains, without headrests, and maintaining it. My ride on the 20th of October was good.

New live shows - one of the things KI was historically known for.

Cons:

In some cases, they seemed slow to rid the park of Paramount references and logos. I understand that by Opening Day 2008 they will ALL be gone.

In some areas, customer service was not of importance to some employees. When I wanted to buy a ticket to the Hannity concert, or retrieve the phone I lost on Firehawk, they thought I was of incovenience to them.

Food service: besides the high prices, lackluster service didn't help. For example, the Festhaus just hasn't been the most "fest"-ive place to have food at the park in the past several years.

The Racer crew. If I have to explain why once more... AARRGGHH!!

you are not supposed to have your phone on firehwk that is your fault

If they had lockers that worked, and change machines that worked properly that day, it would have gone into the lockers. If I were a casual guest, I would have NOT come back.

In addition, good spelling and grammar would be nice. What the hell is a "guid"?

[Delirium_Guy]

Cedar Fair definitely receives a C from me.

The good....

* Haunt seemed to improve over its run, still has LOTS of room to improve to even be considered to be a contender for the Knott's and Universal events, so we'll see. Dead Awakening was DEFINITELY the highlight for me, I was VERY impressed.

* Firehawk was a great move! Its popularity shows and the GP really seem to eat it up. Also, props to KI's steel coaster maintanance for keeping it running fairly reliably and with two trains all season.

* Aside from the Rose Bowl, SOB is now a rideable coaster....still boring, but at least it doesn't hurt so much. I actually like the Gerstlauers and honestly wouldn't mind seeing them appear on one of the other wood coasters.

The bad.......

* Hands down, the worse crews in a LONG time. A few stand out as always like Beast. I think Adventure Express crew did a decent job still, especially considering the addition of the seatbelts. The two worse were definitely Racer and Vortex.

* Food service. I don't think any further comments are necessary. We're all familiar with the outrageous food prices and the service as well.

* While you may not have had as many over flowing trashcans.......bathrooms were HORRIBLE. This isn't just me being picky, this is a comment that I heard time after time from various friends who visited the Park this season. Its not just a KI thing, its a CF thing.

* I think employees overall just sucked. Little enthusiasm and not overly friendly. While this isn't acceptable, I put some of the blame on CF and their treatment of associates. KI saw WAY too many people part ways this season. People who knew the park, cared about the park and had many, many years under their belt. These changes definitely show in the sloppy operations of the Park this season.

- Todd

[The Interpreter]

You know, I hadn't said anything in this thread about this particular issue until now, but if you want high quality employees, particularly in mid-level management and above, you have to pay them decently and treat them at least half way decently. There is a reason so many people have left and/or are leaving. In addition, Cedar Fair itself chose to have some people who knew very well what they were doing leave. The same thing happened under Gary Story's reign at Six Flags.

None of that is too amazing to me. But the same company that apparently chooses to underbudget on the employee/management side has no problem whatsoever in charging upwards of $6 for a cup of Potato Works fries that cost them perhaps sixty cents and $3.59 for a Coca-Cola that you don't even want to know what it costs them.

I've often wondered how the parking lot workers at Six Flags feel while they make less an hour than it costs ONE car to park.

I honestly think this is one of the problems with the service, poor quality and uncaring in foods. And I think the loss of expertise at the company is beginning to show in many small ways.

As for the bathrooms, I couldn't agree more.