Last season, I spent $45.32 (after taxes) on food at Kings Island. This doesn't include $27.99 I spent on a meal/drink/event ticket for the KIC event in June. Had this year's prices been in effect, I would have paid $55.87 for the same food after a 10% discount.

I also spent $36.81 on food on my way to or from the park, and I received free food on one visit from winning a "Tweetup" contest.

Will know more when we go back Sunday.

If you mean this upcoming Sunday, hopefully you have a ticket for the private event scheduled that day. (The park will be closed to the public.)

Forgot about that.

Looks like two weeks to recover from opening weekend.

Food prices have increased this year. A burrito at Hank's Burrito Shack (without a drink) is now $10.59, up from $7.59 and $7.49 charged last season. Gold/platinum passholders may get a flat 10% off at select locations without a meal plan; LaRosa's on International Street was asking for everyone's pass and ringing up this discount.

There were some glitches, but the cashiers seemed to understand the the dining plan system well. The LaRosa's POS kept throwing an error, so the cashier wrote down the long numerical error code for each person.

By the way, as a reminder, these dining plans are intended for one person each. Sharing food, redeeming a meal for someone else, or letting another person use your pass is fraud. The park will likely revoke the dining plan and season pass, without refund, of those caught abusing the system.

The same holds true for the Disney Dining Plan, but it's quite easy to simply buy two plans and share them amongst your family, even though that is not the intent. It's not enforced. Not including a drink in the dining plan is a deal breaker for me. Commodity prices are on a rapid ascent as of late. Chipotle is raising its prices chain wide next month between 20-40% depending on your selection.

Food prices have increased this year. A burrito at Hank's Burrito Shack (without a drink) is now $10.59, up from $7.59 and $7.49 charged last season. Gold/platinum passholders may get a flat 10% off at select locations without a meal plan; LaRosa's on International Street was asking for everyone's pass and ringing up this discount.

There were some glitches, but the cashiers seemed to understand the the dining plan system well. The LaRosa's POS kept throwing an error, so the cashier wrote down the long numerical error code for each person.

By the way, as a reminder, these dining plans are intended for one person each. Sharing food, redeeming a meal for someone else, or letting another person use your pass is fraud. The park will likely revoke the dining plan and season pass, without refund, of those caught abusing the system.

The same holds true for the Disney Dining Plan, but it's quite easy to simply buy two plans and share them amongst your family, even though that is not the intent. It's not enforced. Not including a drink in the dining plan is a deal breaker for me. Commodity prices are on a rapid ascent as of late. Chipotle is raising its prices chain wide next month between 20-40% depending on your selection.

I believe locally (Northern Cincinnati)- they already have. Unless they intend to do so again.

Anyone else think that the "protein spills" are because of this?

No. Not at all.

In regards to the fraud issue being cried about above, the company isn't stupid and know it will be used for purposes such as this. Think of the Dinos/Coca-Cola/Banshee cups. How many times do you see a family or a couple buy just one or two and share amongst them.

Same goes for the dining plans. If they planned on letting you aquire a meal every 90 minutes or two times a day, I'm sure they have factored in the deal of getting a meal every 90 minutes all day and is priced as such.

I almost bet they have expected it to be used amongst multiple people, just as other things in the park have been shared before and currently. Would the park wish every person purchased their own meal plan everytime it's used or season long, oh of course, that's money in their pocket. However will that not be the case with every meal plan purchase? Oh of course not, and again I bet they already expect that.

In regards to the fraud issue being cried about above, the company isn't stupid and know it will be used for purposes such as this. Think of the Dinos/Coca-Cola/Banshee cups. How many times do you see a family or a couple buy just one or two and share amongst them.

Same goes for the dining plans. If they planned on letting you aquire a meal every 90 minutes or two times a day, I'm sure they have factored in the deal of getting a meal every 90 minutes all day and is priced as such.

I almost bet they have expected it to be used amongst multiple people, just as other things in the park have been shared before and currently. Would the park wish every person purchased their own meal plan everytime it's used or season long, oh of course, that's money in their pocket. However will that not be the case with every meal plan purchase? Oh of course not, and again I bet they already expect that.

I wouldn't say they expected it to be used among multiple people. I'm sure they did, however, budget for some people to defraud to system. Which is what you're doing if you violate your original agreement with the park.

Last year I spent 30 dollars and fed my family ... none of these deals are deals in my book.

I spent $30 to feed my family yesterday. I'm looking at this offer very closely.

Edited because touchscreens suck.

I see it being a common thing people do in the park. To eat a full meal in the park every 90 minutes, there's no way I see that happening from just one person. A family however, I see it happening.

How are you going to police it anyways? Are you going to have people stand by tables and watch as people order/exit the venue and take their food back to a table? It's going to happen, and alot more than just one person buying a meal deal I believe. We shall see however, but I see it happening

Well I'm sure that 90 minute waiting period is a slight deterrent. If you're with a family of 3 or 4 and only one person can eat every 90 minutes, that's not too effective at feeding people. But I definitely see a couple people sharing this. Ultimately, sharing will cause prices to rise.

Reading through this topic with special interest. I can see how some would take advantage of an season long one price meal offerings and honestly I can see enthusiast who do visit the park more are more able to take advantage of it more than most other season pass guests. So in a way I think reading through this thread could offer a unbalanced foresight on who benefits from a season long dinning experience and maybe the average season park holder a everyday meal enthusiast and the park all end up benefiting from such a offering.

Here is how my family may be able to use it and we are far from weekly visitors so maybe it can be of some insight from another point of view.
My family and I live about two hours away from Kings Island and our visits can range from 3 to 12 visits per year. A trip over with my van would cost us about $46.00 per trip in gas alone and then we would have to budget an additional $80 to $100 for food and snacks. I will admit there have been times we have elected to stay home due to the cost of food and transportation to make a singe visit. Other times we agreed to save money that we would make the trip over but that we eat before entering, eating a late lunch off property. Sometimes we enjoyed the time away from the park for lunch as it gave us a quieter lunch and some time away from the loud noises, none the less it always seems to be a hassle trying to coordinate a time and meet up location.

Having the opportunity to pre purchase a season long meal plan for the family is something we feel may benefit us not solely for the money savings but more as an opportunity to say hey let's go to Kings Island today/tomorrow knowing we really just need gas money and a few bucks for other purchases such as snacks, pictures or merchandise. Basically I can see us taking many more impromptu visit to Kings Island, if even to just relax for a afternoon at Soak City. See if I went to a local pool destination closer to home it would cost me admission and food which would most likely be more than our now cost $46 to go to Kings Island for the day. Not sure from here if it will be a savings for us but I can guarantee it will be a huge convenience factor which will result in more visits from us. As the person who does the family budget I really like the opportunity to have this expense taken care of early on versus worrying about the cost on each visit, that is worth something in of itself.

So that's it from another point of view and a way it can help others on a budget or who live a bit further from Kings Island.

As an informed fan of Kings Island, I'm glad they guinea pig stuff at Kings Island. I get to see all of the new ideas first and if there are glitches... hey, at least I got to try it first.

yes, KI is the experiment park for Cedar Fair; Fast Lane, season pass dining plan, and the Fast Pay ( http://www.toledoblade.com/Culture/2013/08/13/Leave-walletin-hotel-spendmore-at-park.html#kz0SbM7oFdoqil3j.99 )

What about FUNTV? Do the other parks have it as well?

Worlds of Fun is offering the season dining plan as well: https://www.worldsoffun.com/plan-a-visit/2014-pass-benefits-

And Cedar Point is also doing so, according to Jason McClure on Twitter: (https://twitter.com/JasonMcClureCP/status/459168305656639489)

@dslmosley: at KI they have a all season meal plan dose CP?
@JasonMcClureCP: CP is also offering all season meal plan for 2014.

If it is priced the same, now I really question why it doesn't transfer parks if you have a Platinum Pass.

The lady that sold them to me said that even though they are owned by the same company, the money is not the same.

Interesting.

If my understanding is correct, many entities that own multiple high-dollar properties (Cedar Fair may be similar) will divide their properties in such a way that the assets of each property are all treated separately. I know there is a term for this, but I don't know what it is. If Cedar Fair were operated like this (and again, I don't know if it is or isn't), then if, for example, a lawsuit were to be filed for something that happens at Kings Island, the other parks in the chain could not become involved in the suit.

I'm not sure if that's an entirely clear or accurate description, but it's my very basic understanding as someone with little understanding of how litigation works.

I called Kings Island this afternoon and spoke with a lady there. She said that, in order to find out which restaurants are included, one needs to go to the website www.visitkingsisland.com. Then hover over Things To Do and click on Dining. Any restaurant with the ALL DAY DINING PLUS logo is included. Sadly, Auntie Anne's is not one of those. Of course, we can hope that she is wrong.

Am I the only one who can't seem to find that list?

I clicked on "More Info" and then "Participating Restaurants" and I was taken back to the Dining page

^ The dining page is the list.

Notice the all day dining logo () to the right of the description of participating locations. (Festhaus, Hank's Burrito Shack, The Chicken Shack, etc)

Ahhh totally missed that! Oops

*embarrassed*

If my understanding is correct, many entities that own multiple high-dollar properties (Cedar Fair may be similar) will divide their properties in such a way that the assets of each property are all treated separately. I know there is a term for this, but I don't know what it is. If Cedar Fair were operated like this (and again, I don't know if it is or isn't), then if, for example, a lawsuit were to be filed for something that happens at Kings Island, the other parks in the chain could not become involved in the suit.

I'm not sure if that's an entirely clear or accurate description, but it's my very basic understanding as someone with little understanding of how litigation works.

As an example, the Mason, Ohio park is owned by Kings Island Company.

If you buy the ALL Day Dinning pass online vs in person how does that work? Anyone know? Thanks in advance for your knowledge/help/time.

If my understanding is correct, many entities that own multiple high-dollar properties (Cedar Fair may be similar) will divide their properties in such a way that the assets of each property are all treated separately. I know there is a term for this, but I don't know what it is. If Cedar Fair were operated like this (and again, I don't know if it is or isn't), then if, for example, a lawsuit were to be filed for something that happens at Kings Island, the other parks in the chain could not become involved in the suit.

I'm not sure if that's an entirely clear or accurate description, but it's my very basic understanding as someone with little understanding of how litigation works.

I'm sure each park is its own subsidiary. And each park might be made up of different subsidiaries as well.

If you buy the ALL Day Dinning pass online vs in person how does that work? Anyone know? Thanks in advance for your knowledge/help/time.

You need a wristband to use the all-day dining plan.

If you buy at the park, they'll give you your wristband as soon as the purchase is complete at a ticket window, Guest Services, or a retail/food location that sells them.

If you purchase online, you will get a printable voucher (or an e-mail to display on your mobile device) which can be used to pick up your wristband. The possible pick-up location(s) will be listed on your voucher after you complete your purchase online.

That may help them monitor "sharers" as well. It might be easier to spot someone with a wristband who is sharing food with someone who isn't wearing a wristband.

The wife and I decided to try the All-day dining plan the day we go to Cedar Point since we are staying in the park.

Just 7 more visits to Larosa's and my dining plan has paid for itself. Woohoo!

^ Really? You need some variety.

I do have a picture of the full list of items available but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it on here. All I need is Larosa's though.