No More FUN Perks?

[Jr for Birdy]

Just a comment on the observations from reading all of your comments (a comment-ception maybe?), this coming from a guy who did not have a pass last season.

People state they either didnt use it like they should have, never asked to use their cards to gain perks, stating the discounts didnt work, confusing, etc. And we are sad its going away?

Sounds like a much easier system to use would be to have a flat rate discount for season pass holders... sort of like what they are doing for this year...

Spending 30 dollars to get a free 3 dollar items is still a 10% discount....

Trust me,if you spent alot (we did) ,it was well worth having funperks.We used different cards in the family for purchases and got several great deals,half off and free fastlane was the best.The system did have several flaws though.I kept purchasing on my card that had reached level 4 because I didnt know I maxed out my rewards! I could have used a kids card to get more perks! Nobody told me I maxed out my rewards? I also had a upgraded parking reward that didnt work when I tried to use it, the lady asked me if I had already used it! I just looked at her and said"forget it!". She stopped me and apologized stating that people would try re-using the perks all the time. The system was a mess,but done properly could have been great!

[kblanken]

I'll probably save more if the percent discount thing comes true, but I did have fun with the interactive part of watching my FUN Perks go up, and the whole program.

[medford]

Just a comment on the observations from reading all of your comments (a comment-ception maybe?), this coming from a guy who did not have a pass last season.

People state they either didnt use it like they should have, never asked to use their cards to gain perks, stating the discounts didnt work, confusing, etc. And we are sad its going away?

Sounds like a much easier system to use would be to have a flat rate discount for season pass holders... sort of like what they are doing for this year...

Spending 30 dollars to get a free 3 dollar items is still a 10% discount....

[medford]

sorry for the quote, then failure to put my thoughts after that quote, can't get it to work right, anyhoo:

I can't speak for everyone else, but I assume their dissapointment is similar to mine. Its a dissapointment not so much for what fun perks was last season, but for what fun perks had the potential to be going forward. I think most of us understood and accepted that KI was the test market and were willing to put up w/ the kinks in the system for something that only added benefit to us if we used it and cost us no more money than we had originally agreed upon w/ the purchase of our season pass.

with that said, he was my vision of what funperks could have been. We'd typically come to the park on a tuesday or wednesday evening. We'd get there around 5:30, head over to Planet Snoopy, my son always wanted to ride boo blasters first. So while one parent took him on boo blasters, the other wheeled our then infant daughter over to the snack line, bought a soda to split, a water for the boy and a couple of pretzles for all 3 us to split. Fun Perks had the potential to track that we bought a couple of pretzels on about 75% or more of our visits. Rather than offering us a cotton candy perk (which was both one of the perks and one of the instant rewards last season), they could have offered a soft preztel perk knowing that we'd get definent benefit out of it and consider out gold passes to be that much more valuable.

Now that is our family, another family may have stopped by and got ice cream on 75% of their visits and perhaps one of their rewards would have been tweaked to fit their spending habits. And that is just a small sample of what they could have offered, not only to enhance our experience, but to also encourage us to spend more money in one of their perks. As time marched forward, I could have envisioned a "few tickets w/ a night's stay at breaker's hotel" being one of the potential rewards for a gold pass holder that visited KI as their main park.

They also could have further enhanced it, and allowed people to scan their pass each time they got on a ride, perhaps they'd get instant rewards for a front of the line pass. They could have used by combining it with text updates, and perhaps sending text messages to people they know are in the park that they can have an instant "front of the line pass" on a ride in a part of the park were traffic is light, or perhaps a discounted slice of pizza at the festhause if they notice the lines there a bit shorter than they'd like, etc...

There was a ton of potential for the system, that would benefit both the park and the end user.

[Snowman]

There was a term we would use in the film business: "This producer is tripping over dollars to save pennies". If this is a cost saving issue for KI consider this:

Last season Snow woman and I chose to pay more money than we would have in Mason to eat in the park and get the funperk rewards so we could get Fast Lane discounts. So KI got our lunch money AND money for Fast Lane passes that we probably wouldn't have gotten without the funperks discount. (not to mention all the money we spent on snacks and 2 meals on the days we bought Fast Lane passes)

This season, what are the odds of you getting a Fast Lane discount or a BOGO deal as a pass holder? Slim and none is my guess. So we'll simply travel one mile up the road, get more food for less money, and just let the tourists pay full price for the Fast Lane passes.

Multiply my story by many more funperks members.

How many pennies do you think they are saving?

[XGatorHead 8904]

I'm disappointed in the end of FunPerks. I've said numerous times on here that my in-park spending increased last year due to two reasons: Hank's Burrito Shack & FunPerks. In my experience, most of the time the cashiers asked if I had a gold pass, or if they didn't I had it right there to hand it to them. I only had one problem all year when the cashier at IS Skyline swiped my pass after the transaction was complete, but it was quickly resolved by the associate at the FunPerks booth. I liked the instant rewards that I got for free cotton candy (of course, I think GatorGirl liked it even better), and the burger meal deals in Soak City, which we used on several occasions (note, I said used, not re-used... they were separate offers).

I know that there was abuse of the system by others, and I hope that that didn't contribute to FP's demise. Because of FP, we did things we normally wouldn't do... we had a free game, so we used it to play the squirt gun game in Coney... and of course I had to pay to play against GatorGirl so they could get a race going. We had a free rider on Skyflyer, and we paid for the 2nd person to ride. I especially loved the FP discount on our season passes that we earned & used on closing day.

10% off food is a good start... I got 20% off at Dollywood with my DW gold pass last year. Whether 10% will be enough to keep me buying food in the park or go back to doing our parking lot picnics is yet to be determined. I'll have to see what the prices with the discount are compared to what we would spend down the street and bringing it back to eat in the nice grassy strip in the middle of the parking lot.

[shark6495]

Do we have data that shows FP showed an increase in in-park sales? We have a few anecdotal stories of people doing so. But it is very possible, that the cost to role out a data tracking system, to pay for the upkeep of said data tracking system, then to promote and install tracking system in a park wide system could have been very expensive. It could have showed where dollars are being spent. It could have caused many more headaches than it was worth.

Fun perks could have worked like krogers does where it sends out a 50 cent coupon out after the massive amounts of dollars i spend on milk, but it didnt. Did they leave dollars on the table by this? maybe. Or is it possible that fun perks just wasnt what they wanted it to be. If the boss doesnt like what its doing, then its not going to work. Period. Sentence, Paragraph, page, chapter, book, series, anthology, etc.....

[Creed Bratton]

We as members of KIC do not have this data. The park probably won't share it as they don't even share the number in attendance each year.

The park General Manager is the one who was looking at doing this program per his tweet about a year and a half ago, putting "feelers" out there to see if people would be interested in doing so. I think it ended up not having the participation that the park wanted.

Compare it to the KIC shirts, we had several people vote for what size they wanted, then we've put them up for sale, how many have actually bought them so far? Translate that to Fun Perks.....how many people said they'd be interested in a "perks" program and how many people actually participated? (Rhetorical question).

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

I am sure the park has marketing data on the Fun Perks program that shows the expense to run it, maintain it, market it, sales data and increase sales and so forth, but it is stickily for in park use and very confidential. As for Kroger, I worked for a market research firm when they implemented their program and saw all the sales data in their ads. For instance, when Kroger Delta, the Memphis market area, the ads showed the sale price with card and without card. On the stores that had not yet joined it yet, their sales ad prices were the same as the sale price w/card. Kroger and other stores use all the data for their in house marketing, which is very valuable for them. I can only guess the park uses the data in ways similar.

[The Interpreter]

To get the season pass discount, if it's like Dollywood or certain Six Flags, your season pass is scanned. And the data....

[Jr for Birdy]

My question is who ever said funperks failed? I knew after one week of use it was set up to fail,doesnt take a genious. Maybe they did profit and now they will find a way to make it work,legit! No online printing,just everything recorded on your pass?This might take some time to figure out to use at all Cedar Fair parks? I cant speak for everyone but I know for a fact Im going to spend half the money I did last year unless they want to give out several discounts to everyone with a pass,which I highly doubt! It shall be interesting the next few years to see things take place.

[faeriewench]

Is the discount really 10%? Cause I remember getting 20% discounts at Knott's last year unless that was changed.

[Jasper]

I for one was a HUGE fan of FunPerks, I felt like I was always driven to reach that next level and get the next reward. I even gave my pass to my then girlfriend to take with her on a trip and get my reward points. Am I sad to see it go, yes. Am I hysterical about it, no. The park did what they felt was necessary and I think was even generous in giving us the e-mail coupon they offered us. Kings Island has been more than generous to us, and even though some feel we should just take it for what it is, I fee like those higher ups that read this sometimes would also value our opinions and our stories about said perks going away so that they can perhaps possibly use for future reference.

[XGatorHead 8904]

There was a link in another topic that went to the KI website that had a chart with the differences between regular, gold & platinum passes. On that chart it showed that gold & platinum passholders got 10% discount on food. Of course, that page also had pictures of Dorney passes on it, and advertised Fast Lane to get early rides on "Millennium Force, Raptor, and more". That link now shows a different page than what it did before, so who knows if we will actually get 10% discount now.

I have not yet received an email from KI about the end of FunPerks, and offering me a BAF discount.

[Jr for Birdy]

10% will have zero factor in where I decide to eat. 20%,you have my attention. 30% or more and there's a good chance thats where were eating! I could see getting Fastlane once or twice this season with 20% off, I would be shocked if every pass member got a better discount than that. I do hope we get the Soak City meal deals we got last year!

[faeriewench]

As far as I know still a 20% discount at Knott's, haven't heard anything different yet. Though the taxes bit of a pain there.

[SonofBaconator]

So are my points not eligible this season?

[mullimann]

There is no 10% or any percentage off for food or park merchandise. They have reverted back to the same discounts that were active in 2011, and somewhat in 2012.

The listing of all discounts is posted here, it is subject to change. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/images/uploads/file/2013%20Gold%20and%20Platinum%20Season%20Pass%20Benefits(1).pdf

Looks as though its mainly the park vendors (Kamen, Photoguys) that have discounts.

[Screaming_Chicken]

Hmmm...That stinks. I guess we'll just take a cooler and pack lunch or just go to Taco Bell.

[medford]

FWIW, this thread made me think to see what the funperks.com webpage looked like. I wasn't expecting any differences, but turns out it takes you to the KI home page now, similar to typing in pki.com.

[jcgoble3]

There is no 10% or any percentage off for food or park merchandise. They have reverted back to the same discounts that were active in 2011, and somewhat in 2012.

The listing of all discounts is posted here, it is subject to change. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/images/uploads/file/2013%20Gold%20and%20Platinum%20Season%20Pass%20Benefits(1).pdf

Looks as though its mainly the park vendors (Kamen, Photoguys) that have discounts.

The only benefits on that list that I might actually use are ERT, the souvenir bottle discount (once), and possibly the fudge discount (also probably once). A flat park-wide discount would be much easier to understand and probably more likely to get people to spend money in the park on food and merchandise. Instead, they do this crap where for the most part you get no discounts at all unless you blow money on extras to begin with or have a large group. Way to make us passholders feel valued.

FWIW, this thread made me think to see what the funperks.com webpage looked like. I wasn't expecting any differences, but turns out it takes you to the KI home page now, similar to typing in pki.com.

Firefox actually gives me a bad security certificate error and won't let me go through to the site to see where it goes.

[lebeau]

There is no 10% or any percentage off for food or park merchandise. They have reverted back to the same discounts that were active in 2011, and somewhat in 2012.

The listing of all discounts is posted here, it is subject to change. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/images/uploads/file/2013%20Gold%20and%20Platinum%20Season%20Pass%20Benefits(1).pdf

Looks as though its mainly the park vendors (Kamen, Photoguys) that have discounts.

That figures. Could have saved some money on Face Paint and Glitter Tattooes last trip. Funny how they thought to upsell my kids without mentioning the GP discount.

[Siduas]

This stinks! This is my families first time buying gold passes, I read so much about the fun perks here on this forum as well as at the fun perks site prior to purchasing. I was actually exacted about it lol! I did not know the program was axed last Saturday when we were at KI. I kept handing my card at every transaction and every time I asked about fun perks they all did not know what I was talking about, now I know why.

The "invite a friend day" is ok. It would be nice if they just attached a guest ticket redeemable anytime with each pass, that would avoid the major crowd they will have in May during the $10 day.

The list of pass member perks does not impress me too much, none that my family will use (except the early entry).

I will have to say, my family will be eating a lot out of the cooler in the SUV this year at KI. Sounds silly, just the way I roll.

[Jr for Birdy]

Without funperks we went back to eating at Panda Express, we can all split a meal for lunch for around 12 dollars.I didnt go back to the Reds Grlle yet,waiting till I hear service is faster and smoother. I do miss funperks,I thought we would get some kind of food discount,but nothing yet.

[Kelmarie1980]

When I first saw the headline in my email from them concerning Fun Perks, I thought it was just reminding me to start using them again. I deleted the email so I no longer have my coupon for bringing a friend. I found out because my best friend actually read the email. I was very unhappy when I learned of this and after learning that I had to once again buy new drink cups I became very upset. I did send them an email concerning all of this on Monday, but I have yet to hear anything back. I understand they are a business and are there to make money, but we know the CEO's are not strapped for cash. The Fun perks program made it cost effective for my family of six to go to Kings Island on a weekly basis and not stretch our budget very far with the all day drink wrist bands for 5.00 and being able to fill our popcorn bucket. Next year, I most likely will not be buying passes depending on what kind of deals they offer us later this season.

[The Interpreter]

Because new coasters and additions are paid for with money that grows on trees rather than with Fast Lane purchases, food and game revenue, merchandise sales, admissions, etc.

If you wanna ride the new rides, ya gotta pay the piper somehow.

[Jr for Birdy]

I paid the Piper a lot more last year than I'm paying him this year. You scratch my back, I buy you a message? Does that make sense, No? Edit: I do understand why the system isn't in place this year, I hope they fix the kinks and bring it back in the future!

[Kelmarie1980]

Because new coasters and additions are paid for with money that grows on trees rather than with Fast Lane purchases, food and game revenue, merchandise sales, admissions, etc.

If you wanna ride the new rides, ya gotta pay the piper somehow.

Oh I understand they probably lost quite a bit of money from the program, but it helped us out a lot and I wasn't happy to see it go at all, I can go and not spend a lot of money but it will be very difficult and may have to become a twice a month thing this season as opposed to last year's weekly visits. Which makes me and the kids very sad.

[jcgoble3]

Example of how FUN Perks would have kept my money in the park: Yesterday when I was ready for dinner at 6:15, I had planned on doing either Hank's or I-Street Skyline, only to find that both had closed early. I already had Panda Express for lunch, didn't have the money to do the Reds Grille, and eating outdoors was not a reasonable option because of the wind that would blow my napkins, etc. away. That left only LaRosa's in the Festhaus, and nothing there looked interesting. Had FUN Perks still been around, I would have picked something from LaRosa's anyway, but without it, I bailed and hit Waffle House instead.

[The Interpreter]

What would you have done if there were a 20 percent off season pass discount for food?