Kings Island's 5@5 Q&A Thread

[CedarPointer]

It bugs me when the basketballs end up in the landscaping and fountains. Some people are such slobs! N

[IndyGuy4KI]

I think I am going to start a forum on Kings Islands facebook about the basketballs. If you are on Facebook, go to Kings Island's page and go to the topic on there that I will start, and say whether you are annoyed by people bouncing the basketballs in the park.

EDIT: Forum is on Kings Island's Facebook page under the "Boxes" tab (The tab where you can find the 5@5 and stuff)The Forum is called "Are you annoyed by people bouncing basketballs in Kings Island"

For people that come one day to the park for a vacation, they are probably not going to care to much about the balls being bounced. For most of us here that visit the park often get quite annoyed by them, especially in The Beast and Racer queue/station where the floor is wood and you get to feel every bounce. If there was one thing I could change about the prizes at KI, it would be to hand those balls out deflated. I am also guessing KI receives those balls deflated and they are paying someone to inflate them. This could be a cost savings to them, a Win Win!

[gad198]

^ That post is true except for the last sentence.

There's definitely a reason why KI inflates all of these basketballs before they are given away as prizes. Quite simply, very few people who just won a basketball want it handed to them deflated. Part of the allure of winning the basketball is the fact that you can see the prize right there in front of you in an 'as is' condition. I remember them deflating the balls at the 3 point game in 2008 for a very short time in the middle of the season before quickly deciding to inflate them again. Basketballs just don't look anywhere near as appealing when they're deflated, and not only that, the person who won it has to fill it up with air themselves. Just not good for business in the long run.

[TH13TEEN]

Or you could have inflated balls on display. And under the counter have boxes of the deflated ball.

[frisbeefan]

Or you could have inflated balls on display. And under the counter have boxes of the deflated ball.

I think this might be a good idea as long as the participant is informed that they will be receiving a deflated ball. I could imagine KI getting some complaints over winning a deflated ball if an inflated ball is displayed. Even though inflating a basketball is not rocket science, it does take away from the allure of winning a prize, I think.

[LongliveKingsCobra]

well, think about it, if you were playing the game, and you win a deflated ball, one that you can't play with right then and there, then there is no point in playing it.

So, to me at least, it would be bad to have the balls deflated, because then said game would loose business, and if that happened...well Mr. Kenzel would not be getting his nickels.

[bkroz]

The point of all the games is to be able to display & use what you've won then & there... If people were thinking logically 1) they probably wouldn't play the game to begin with and 2) they would realize they have multiple basketballs at home in the garage that cost far less than the exorbitant price of the game, which even then offers only a chance of winning.

They play because they like the adrenaline, and because they want to display the prize. If people stopped and thought, 'I don't want this now, I want it so that I can use it when I'm at home!' they probably wouldn't be paying $3.00 for a chance at a 5 foot tall banana with a smile.

[LongliveKingsCobra]

^lol I have used one or two of the things I won when I was little... but thats only because I only won those games lol

And yes, if they took the time to think, do I really need this, and instead of satisfying their EGO, they could go with their ID and just not play the game...

[TylerRider]

This reminds me. Has anyone saw the $500.000 giant Snoopy they are selling at the KI market place?

[CincyMan98]

Is Planet Snoopy open an hour early on Saturday? That's what they said in 2 night's ago 5@5.....

[IndyGuy4KI]

This could be a cost savings to them, a Win Win!

^ That post is true except for the last sentence.

There's definitely a reason why KI inflates all of these basketballs before they are given away as prizes. Quite simply, very few people who just won a basketball want it handed to them deflated. Part of the allure of winning the basketball is the fact that you can see the prize right there in front of you in an 'as is' condition. I remember them deflating the balls at the 3 point game in 2008 for a very short time in the middle of the season before quickly deciding to inflate them again. Basketballs just don't look anywhere near as appealing when they're deflated, and not only that, the person who won it has to fill it up with air themselves. Just not good for business in the long run.

Note I said :This could be a cost savings to them, a Win Win! You are probably right, it might hurt game sales a little so there could be some disadvantages to it as well.

Now the people that carry around the 6 foot tall stuffed animals on their backs probably would like them to be deflated and get a bag of stuffing to fill the animal at home instead of carrying around a big monkey on their back.

[bkroz]

Sorry for the latest post in a long time. We invited a group of dissadvantaged kids out today to see Planet Snopy and Boo Blasters. It was an absolute hit. Kids and parents raved about the area and I think our guests will love it. Ch. 5 did a great piece. Check it out: http://www.wlwt.com/video/23153800/index.html

My kids came to see me and they had a blast. Neither of them were familiar at all with the Peanuts a few months ago. Now they are both big fans. I even took a ride on Woodstock Express with my son - our first ever together - which was awesome!

Jake Hamons - What is the process of adding a new ride

Pretty much what you would expect. A ton of planning, research, design, construction, promotion, and more planning. There is a multi-year plan in most every park. Kings Island has been lucky to have significant new investment almost every single year. And that strategy has resulted in a great park with a great collection and variety.

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William Gehring - I’m a user of the Parent Swap program, which is really a great program. I was wondering if there is any education done for the employees on this program. Almost every time I use it, I have to explain to the ride operators what it is.

Your comment was just forwarded to several of my co-workers. They will appreciate the positive and constructive feedback. This is the perfect time to bring attention to this as we’re still close to the training process. Thanks William.

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Damon Barnes - I also agree with the basketballs, not a major annoyance at all times but can be

Seems bouncing basketballs are a hot topic with this crowd. If you’re in the park a lot (like all of us on this forum are) you certainly notice them more. I agree at times they can get on your nerves but most of the time I don’t even notice. The Merch & Games director stopped by my office today so I brought it up to him. The balls are far and away our most popular games prize. Much like the big plush walking around on someone’s shoulders, these bouncing balls make others see that the games can be won. Giving them out deflated doesn’t really work the same.

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R.j. Huber - Is there any WiFi in the park? Lazy question

Hanging at the copier yesterday chatting with the head of our I.S. department and we were talking about just this thing! He says it’s much closer to a reality than ever before so we went crazy discussing all of the applications we could do with it. We do have it in some areas but the only place currently with public use is Starbucks.

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Ben Rosen - My question is: Us, as loyal patrons/ employees/guests of the park,,, What can we do to make this one heck of a record setting year? I've convinced 4 others to buy Gold Passes this year, but What else would you suggest we do?

As a Marketing guy, I think this is the best question since we started this 5 at 5 thing in February! Our most loyal fans could be our best ambassadors. I used to work for a sports team that had an “ambassadors club”. They would come into the office at night and make calls on behalf of our ticket sales team. It was a way to harness their passion and it made a difference. You can do the same thing with word-of-mouth marketing. We’re trying really hard to improve our email and Facebook numbers. Your referrals are appreciated and could be extremely valuable. I welcome any other ideas you may have.

[Diamondback96]

Damon Barnes - I also agree with the basketballs, not a major annoyance at all times but can be

Seems bouncing basketballs are a hot topic with this crowd. If you're in the park a lot (like all of us on this forum are) you certainly notice them more. I agree at times they can get on your nerves but most of the time I don't even notice. The Merch & Games director stopped by my office today so I brought it up to him. The balls are far and away our most popular games prize. Much like the big plush walking around on someone's shoulders, these bouncing balls make others see that the games can be won. Giving them out deflated doesn't really work the same.

Yep, it's pretty much free advertising for the games.

[LongliveKingsCobra]

I feel like he has read this thread as he pointed out the deflated thing...

[kjkjkj]

Or he looked at the forum on the KI Facebook page about Basketballs, and saw the deflated thing. Could be either one

[The Interpreter]

In effect, he said both the game players and game sales would be deflated if the prize balls were given out in such a condition....

[bkroz]

So, there's a direct correlation between inflating basketballs & inflating sales?

Maybe they should inflate their hamburgers and see if the trend continues.

[The Interpreter]

They already tried inflating the hamburger prices...or am I the one full of hot air?

[Dbfan]

So, there's a direct correlation between inflating basketballs & inflating sales?

Maybe they should inflate their hamburgers and see if the trend continues.

If the hamburger on a menu showed a picture of uncooked meat, some bread, and a large block of cheese, you wouldn't want to order it would you?

[The Interpreter]

What would cheese have to do with a hamburger? We all know Mr. Kinzel & Co. charge many more nickels for the presence of cheese!

[bkroz]

I was saying they should physically pump them full of air! If it increases basketball sales, perhaps it'll do the same for food!

[The Interpreter]

I don't dare tell you what is pumped into ice cream....

...What is Overrun in Ice Cream?

Overrun is a measure of the volume of air whipped into the ice cream mix. Overrun does not have to be declared on the label. Quality ice creams have lower overruns than those of reduced quality. Generally the more overrun, the lower the cost of the ice cream....

http://www.eatwisconsincheese.com/wisconsin/other_dairy/ice_cream.aspx

Suffice it to say that the soft serve ice cream has quite the overrun...

[kjkjkj]

Blue deliciousness?

[RingMaster]

I was saying they should physically pump them full of air! If it increases basketball sales, perhaps it'll do the same for food!

The funny part is, on several occasions that I've had a hamburger at the park, the meat actually bounces!

[Reclaimer]

They could always give the basketballs away deflated and have "inflation stations" to fill them up....for a few nickels, of course. Kinzel gets to count a few more nickels and it acts as a slight deterrent to bouncing basketballs all over the place.

(I joke, of course.)

[The Interpreter]

In a park that first soaks people (who admittedly want to be soaked...other than a certain now gone elephant's ministrations on some previously unaware participants), allows other people to pay to soak some of them in a canyon some more, then wants to charge the soakees $5 (last year...price may vary) to be dried in a human drier?

Are you sure it's a joke?

[Reclaimer]

Oh, I think it's a total joke, but I think Mr. Kinzel is all too serious.

[The Interpreter]

When it gets to the point they are charging for 3-D glasses for a kids' attraction...in a park where such glasses were provided gratis for Action Theater in the past...it makes one scratch one's head in wonder....

[pat]

Another late night. Things should settle back to normal once we get open. And if you want to keep this going we would be happy to do it. Below are the questions selected for Thursday's 5@5 mailbag:

Daniel Bruington - Will the brakes during the middle of Flight of Fear be on as hard this season as they were the last few? (It really does dampen the ride experience...)

I don’t have a definite answer to that one. The brakes were on hard last year and probably will continue to be. This is to reduce wear and tear on the train. Adjustments have been made but it will most likely still be a brake.

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Nicholas Himes - At some parks whenever you buy merchandise they will hold it for you at the main gate til you leave. Has KI ever though about doing something like this? That way people wouldn't have to hull around their purchases all day

I know I have personally done this for guests when they’ve asked. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if it was allowed or not! Seems like the right thing to do and certainly falls within our mission of guest service. I will forward this to our merchandise and guest services departments in the morning.

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Lillian Schwartz - You had mentioned on another 5@5 that you will try to get gold pass holders in for early ride time by 9AM on Saturday. Have you ever considered letting your gold pass holders back to the Diamondback 15 minutes earlier before the early ride time starts. Just curious due to the fact that it can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes for some park guests... See more

Thanks for asking again. Hard to pick just 5 each day. Cutting out the Gator fans is an easy way for me to get the numbers down! Just kidding. There are very few days where this would be an issue. I fully expected that we would have to make adjustments like this last season with the great demand for Diamondback but we didn’t. Early rides ran very smoothly last year and it will again. Also, a lot of times we cut the morning inspections pretty close to the early ride time. There is a lot of work to get the park and rides ready each morning and the earlier we/I make the opening, the harder the job for our ops friends.

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Vince Scott - If you could be a ride op at any ride in the park for a day, which ride would you choose?

I was excited to run a ride the first time I was asked. I remember as a kid how cool I thought the guys were that hopped on the side of the Antique Cars. So that’s what I wanted to do. When they told me that same crew got to run the Bumper Cars I was IN. Ouch. I didn’t think about the fact that you had to run to each car to hop them and the bumper cars destroyed my new white shoes! Next I tried Vortex and Racer. That was 6 or 7 years ago and my back still hurts. I really appreciate the work our ride ops put in. Their jobs are fun but aren’t easy. Maybe next time I’ll go with something in Planet Snoopy!

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Christine Salleng UmmKhaleel - Hello Again! I have a souvenir cup from last season. I was wondering if I bring this cup to the park on Saturday will I be able to get the refill discount on drinks or will it not be valid since its from last season? Its the medium souvenir cup that says fear the four and has The Beast, Vortex, Firehawk, and Son of Beast on the cup. Thanks for the help! I appreciate it!

Christine, I don’t think we refill previous years cups but I know we will have that cup again this season so how would we know? I just texted our F&B director to get you a straight answer since you’ve asked a couple of times and are coming on Saturday. I will post his answer below for you. I saw the new Snoopy cup and hear they are changing the Diamondback cup design a bit so you may want to pick up a new one anyway. I’m sure he’d appreciate me plugging the new ones! See you Saturday!

[The Interpreter]

At Kings Dominion, when you buy a souvenir cup this year, it has an orange sticker that says 2011 refills put on the lid. No sticker, cannot buy the $1.99 refills. And I seriously doubt that sticker will last the season, either...