Kings Island Power Outage 7-4-2010

[Delirium13]

How times have changed... Just back in 2002 I was waiting in line for Son of Beast at the end of the night when the ride closed, everyone waiting in line at the time were given free tickets to return, I used my tickets and was not upset by the incident. In fact, I left with a better opinion of the park and their customer service.

Fast forward to 4th of July, the whole park gets shut down and nothing. No refunds. Nothing was done. You would not have to go back very far in time for a Kings Island that would have given refunds, you do have to switch owners though...

It only ruined their plans, if they let it ruin their plans.

Must be a quote out of the Cedar Fair customer service handbook this year. You're right, they should've played hide and seek in the parks many hiding places until the power resumed...

[Theora]

At about 5:30 these rides were shut down. Both reopened around 6:30ish

Okay, but that still doesn't change the fact that they were both shut down again around 9 PM. I don't see why you want to argue the point - you've already stated that you were send home early, but were later "trucking around Rivertown" - you weren't sitting in front of either ride for the entire evening, so surely it's possible that they were shut down again without you knowing? Or do the ride computers send you texts detailing their operation? "LOL I'M DOWN AGAIN TTYL"

Purplehaze, I think I love you, and you make an excellent point. If I had taken, say, my mother, she would have had a terrible time - she hasn't been on a ride at KI since the removal of Winnie Witch's Cauldrons, and only goes for the shows (not so much the food anymore). It absolutely would have been a wasted admission, and considering how good she is at holding grudges and telling everyone about them, they would have lost not only her future business, but probably the business of the gang of old ladies she hangs out with, as well.

[coaster_junky]

you edited your post after he commented to include the time you saw the rides down, you can't hold it against him because you left out a detail and snuck it in later.

... and if you had read, you would have know that he stated he was sent home early on saturday, yesterday (the night of the power outage) was sunday.

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

At about 5:30 these rides were shut down. Both reopened around 6:30ish

Okay, but that still doesn't change the fact that they were both shut down again around 9 PM. I don't see why you want to argue the point - you've already stated that you were send home early, but were later "trucking around Rivertown" - you weren't sitting in front of either ride for the entire evening, so surely it's possible that they were shut down again without you knowing? Or do the ride computers send you texts detailing their operation? "LOL I'M DOWN AGAIN TTYL"

Purplehaze, I think I love you, and you make an excellent point. If I had taken, say, my mother, she would have had a terrible time - she hasn't been on a ride at KI since the removal of Winnie Witch's Cauldrons, and only goes for the shows (not so much the food anymore). It absolutely would have been a wasted admission, and considering how good she is at holding grudges and telling everyone about them, they would have lost not only her future business, but probably the business of the gang of old ladies she hangs out with, as well.

I don't want to argue, but I also don't want you stating false "facts".

First wrong fact. I was sent home SATURDAY. Last night was SUNDAY. I was probably in the park still at the time you went to bed.

Second wrong fact. When trucking in an area you get to go through that area and clean take care of trash cans. So by doing this I get a chance to see what happening with the rides. When I went by WWC before fireworks went off, it looked open.

You make it seem you were just sitting there watching rides open and close all night.

Edit: Coaster Junky beat me to it on most of this

[Theora]

you edited your post after he commented to include the time you saw the rides down, you can't hold it against him because you left out a detail and snuck it in later.

... and if you had read, you would have know that he stated he was sent home early on saturday, yesterday (the night of the power outage) was sunday.

It still stands - "by 6:30" doesn't equal "until midnight." Considering that my original post in this thread stated that I was there from 8 PM - 11 PM, it would stand to reason that I saw the rides down sometime within that three hour window. Sneaking in an edit (with a giant EDIT right next to my additional comment) doesn't really negate the fact that the observation happened between those hours, all three of which were after 6:30 PM.

The sent home early thing is totally my bad - three day weekends mess me up (what do you mean, today's Monday? Lies. It's Sunday until I go back to work).

[Pillsberry123]

In my opinion King's Island didn't seem prepared for something like this to happen, especially on a holiday. I'm sure the attendance rose during the day, and the park was at its peak in terms of crowds, but a lot of people left unhappy and ticked off. They should have stood there at the exit gates handing people free tickets for another day (I think this would make more sense than a refund, but that's just me). They payed to get in but they didn't get to do anything. It would have made them look better on the news AND would have regained the trust of the many people that have probably lost it at this point. In this economy and job market people aren't going to just kiss off the price of admission as if they don't need the money.

[IndyGuy4KI]

How times have changed... Just back in 2002 I was waiting in line for Son of Beast at the end of the night when the ride closed, everyone waiting in line at the time were given free tickets to return, I used my tickets and was not upset by the incident. In fact, I left with a better opinion of the park and their customer service.

What was the incident?

[Purplehaze]

And not to mention the fact those free tickets do not cost them anything and just think they would have made future sales off of those free tickets such as food and merch. Instead they have a lot of p'ed off customers who bought tickets who prolly will not return for a long time.

[CoastersRZ]

I don`t think KI should have given a straight up refund. I think what they should have done is given comp tickets to those who wanted refunds and had a proof of purchase. That way, the park still gets to keep the money that those guests spent on that day`s admission, and the guest gets an opportunity to enjoy the park on a day when things should run more smoothly, and in turn will end up spending more money in the park.

And besides, its not like Cedar Fair is still big on the integrity of the gate price, as they are practically giving the gate away with all the deals and specials they have going on right now.

[Theora]

At about 5:30 these rides were shut down. Both reopened around 6:30ish

Okay, but that still doesn't change the fact that they were both shut down again around 9 PM. I don't see why you want to argue the point - you've already stated that you were send home early, but were later "trucking around Rivertown" - you weren't sitting in front of either ride for the entire evening, so surely it's possible that they were shut down again without you knowing? Or do the ride computers send you texts detailing their operation? "LOL I'M DOWN AGAIN TTYL"

Purplehaze, I think I love you, and you make an excellent point. If I had taken, say, my mother, she would have had a terrible time - she hasn't been on a ride at KI since the removal of Winnie Witch's Cauldrons, and only goes for the shows (not so much the food anymore). It absolutely would have been a wasted admission, and considering how good she is at holding grudges and telling everyone about them, they would have lost not only her future business, but probably the business of the gang of old ladies she hangs out with, as well.

I don't want to argue, but I also don't want you stating false "facts".

First wrong fact. I was sent home SATURDAY. Last night was SUNDAY. I was probably in the park still at the time you went to bed.

Second wrong fact. When trucking in an area you get to go through that area and clean take care of trash cans. So by doing this I get a chance to see what happening with the rides. When I went by WWC before fireworks went off, it looked open.

You make it seem you were just sitting there watching rides open and close all night.

Edit: Coaster Junky beat me to it on most of this

Okay, so it came back up before 10. It was still down around 9, as was RFYL. Obviously WWC came back up - again, I point to my original post in the thread. I was wrong about exactly when it came back up, I thought it was closer to AFTER the fireworks, but again, that doesn't mean that it wasn't down. I also saw RFYL running when I was back that way around 10:15 or so.

[IndyGuy4KI]

I don`t think KI should have given a straight up refund. I think what they should have done is given comp tickets to those who wanted refunds and had a proof of purchase. That way, the park still gets to keep the money that those guests spent on that day`s admission, and the guest gets an opportunity to enjoy the park on a day when things should run more smoothly, and in turn will end up spending more money in the park.

And besides, its not like Cedar Fair is still big on the integrity of the gate price, as they are practically giving the gate away with all the deals and specials they have going on right now.

I agree Robbie, but I think it should have only been people that were going to leave due to the outage. I do not think it would be fair to get a refund or another ticket and then spend the rest of the evening in the park, especially due to the deals as you say and the park being open till midnight.

[coaster_junky]

why not just give everyone that left a starlight voucher, i mean, if they left after the power outage happened, then that's what they would have been there during starlight hours and that would be all they'd need back.

[IndyGuy4KI]

why not just give everyone that left a starlight voucher, i mean, if they left after the power outage happened, then that's what they would have been there during starlight hours and that would be all they'd need back.

That makes sense C_J.

[Purplehaze]

No matter who is right and who is wrong nothing can be done about it now, so sad.....

[Purplehaze]

Someone asked me the other day if I could have 3 wishes what would it be, I will not say the first two but the third was that CF would sell the park to someone else. But my wishes never come true...lol

[hamoperator]

Um, WWC was up all night as was RFYLCB

We went by ALL the water rides including WWC and they were ALL CLOSED. All evening. Between 6:30 and 10, we seen staff preventing people from going with a sign saying closed temporarily...???

[The Interpreter]

Someone asked me the other day if I could have 3 wishes what would it be, I will not say the first two but the third was that CF would sell the park to someone else. But my wishes never come true...lol

Be careful what you wish for. No matter how badly Cedar Fair may run the park (or well) someone else can always do worse (or better).

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

Is that why I cleaned up puke by the WWC exit and cautioned WWC riders to avoid it as they exited.

Again technical difficulties happen, but they are usually for a small time. You may of just gotten unlucky when walking by them. I assure you WWC and RFYLCB were open last night,

[Purplehaze]

After careful consideration I still want it to have new owners...lol

[The Interpreter]

Is that why I cleaned up puke by the WWC exit and cautioned WWC riders to avoid it as they exited.

Again technical difficulties happen, but they are usually for a small time. You may of just gotten unlucky when walking by them. I assure you WWC and RFYLCB were open last night,

Some people PAY to visit the park. Others are paid BY the park, which, whether they know it or not, may well influence their opinions.

Terp, just sayin'

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

What I was saying was that WWC and RFYLCB were not closed ALL night like was posted.

[LimeRockstars]

Um, WWC was up all night as was RFYLCB

We went by ALL the water rides including WWC and they were ALL CLOSED. All evening. Between 6:30 and 10, we seen staff preventing people from going with a sign saying closed temporarily...???

When I went to the lockers at about 9:45 there was no one/no sign at the entrance of WWC saying it was closed. When I went back to that area again at 11.. there was still no one there.

[KIfan1980]

Rides being open or closed is a matter of perspective. If you walk by 2 or 3 times and it is closed each time, to you it was closed ALL night. If you walk by 2 or 3 times and it is open each time, to you it was open ALL night.

I think we can safely say that rides like WWC and RFYLCB had some inconsistent operation last night.

[The Interpreter]

And it is safe to say that to the average visitor it matters not one iota if the ride was open every second of the night except for the five times they tried to get in line, but could not, as the ride was closed...even if those were the only five times all night the ride was closed.

[Purplehaze]

Very well said Terpy

[Delirium13]

How times have changed... Just back in 2002 I was waiting in line for Son of Beast at the end of the night when the ride closed, everyone waiting in line at the time were given free tickets to return, I used my tickets and was not upset by the incident. In fact, I left with a better opinion of the park and their customer service.

What was the incident?

I'm not positive, just the usual "Technical Difficulties" response was given. They tried for a little bit to get it running and after about 20 minutes they apologized and ushered everyone through the station, giving out free tickets.

[Oldiesmann]

I'm really wondering why KI was still letting people into the park if so much was shut down. Did they at least tell guests what was going on before taking their money?

I don't understand why the park didn't give refunds or discount coupons. It would have cost them a lot of money, but it would have kept their customers happy and possibly could have earned them a lot more money in the future, especially since it might help them recover some of the money they lost from food/souvenir sales that day.

[Tassels]

^ I wouldn't think so???

I actually think it would be cool to be at KI when the power is off, just me though.

It's interesting the first couple minutes, until you head for the front gate and see a line of people stretching from guest relations to the fountains.

I been through a total 3 power outages there >.>

Amy: I've been through 4, 5 if you count me being in there during that massive storm the year Urgent Scare was Debuted... Mostly all while I worked in rides @ the park

[Mantis1996]

I was in the park yesterday and it was crazy for the guests and workers. Personally I was not looking for any refund or comp tickets but I think some people do deserve them. Mr Kinzel once said to the employees "For many of our guests, their visit to our park is the biggest day of the summer. Do everything you can to make it a wonderful memory they'll never forget."

In guest service I many times apologize for things that were beyond my control. This was an awesome oppertunity for the park to show the guests they really do care.

Besides the water rides being opened and closed on and off Delirum never ran, neither did Drop Tower, and of course SOB. Even up to 11pm the resturants that did have power had to manually run credit cards. No music with the fireworks, all the up front gift shops and resturants were closed, and they had only generators with spot lights lighting the parking lot.

[markr]

When we were riding the train last night after 11PM we saw WWC operating and people riding.