Current wait times

[King Ding Dong]

1 hour ago, Oldschool75 said:

The day of the $99 gold pass will turn into $129 gold pass then raise to a new normal price of $159

Ouch.  What's your prediction on Platinum.  $260? Even more?  

Back on topic, it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow at the park with the media predicting a large TV viewing audience in the morning.  

[Creed Bratton]

@King Ding Dong what do you mean?

[King Ding Dong]

14 minutes ago, chugh43 said:

@King Ding Dong what do you mean?

Uh, trying to stay within the TOS.  Some former FBI guy is giving testimony on Capitol Hill at 10AM.  Every network is carrying it and preempting regular programming. There are even apparently a bunch of bars opening for viewing parties.  

[Creed Bratton]

Gotcha....I was thinking there was some major entertainment event going on tomorrow. Lol

[King Ding Dong]

Well, that too.  

[diamonbackandbeastlover]

On 6/6/2017 at 9:05 PM, TheRickster said:

The park is so weird now. I remember if you went on a Monday or Tuesday early summer The Beast line would be at the bottom of the ramp up to the station, now 1 full queue house. It still moves a lot quicker than it looks, but it's just odd. I'd think with newer rides added it would thin out. Maybe the fact that they have a separator for Fast Lane holding the line and only loading one train at a time into the gates makes it back up and look a lot longer.

 

I also hate that certain ridesk are assigning rows on rides that don't need it. I can understand doing this for rides that have longer lines. But Adventure Express had maybe a 5 minute wait. It was barely in the tunnel out of the station and they were not letting you pick what row you wanted.

The reason for this is capacity. If the operator can fill a train they will. Also it's to keep the station from overcrowding with people wanting specific rows or someone wants a row but the rest of the group doesn't. When I worked there I would assign rows if I knew I'd be able to fill the train. But if someone requested a specific row I gave it to them with no problem. Capacity is the biggest player in it, and it also helps so people don't try and steal someone's seat if they're storing loose articles in the bin

[Oldschool75]

I saw a guy trying to request front seat during ERT Tuesday night. The ride op clearly stated he cannot guarantee a seat and pointed to the sign right above him. The guy was pretty adamant . Let's just say he ended up waiting in line for an hour to not ride Mystic Timbers. On my way out, I saw him complaining at the customer service desk. LOL


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[YOULLBEBACK]

I've been watching the KI live webcams here and there this week, and it does seem odd.  So far, today and yesterday around 10-11, the stations for BLSC and DB looks less busy than Monday and Tuesday.  Of course the day is very early, but still.  What's up with that? 

[Voicetek]

16 hours ago, Oldschool75 said:

I think it's a huge increase of season pass sales that has oversaturated the overall attendance at the park. In turn, I think this is stretching available resources thin. I'd be happy to pay more for a pass if it meant a more pleasurable time at the park(reasonable wait times for food, and being open). I think we will see season pass and meal plan prices rise dramatically next year. The day of the $99 gold pass will turn into $129 gold pass then raise to a new normal price of $159

 

 

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Yes!!! I said this exact same thing to my wife just recently.  When the park about hit capacity during the Gold Pass Preview Night that, to me, was proof that WAY too many Gold/Season Passes had been sold.  But who can blame people? When you can get an entire summer of entertainment for $99 with free parking, free entry to "Haunt" and free Winterfest, you'd be out of your mind not to buy a pass.  However, with passes being so cheap (if $100 wasn't cheap enough, then they let you put that on a payment plan!), this brings about huge crowds and also not the best type of crowds sometimes.  I told my wife that I'd gladly pay $150 for a season pass if that meant lowering crowds and improving the quality of crowds as well.  In my opinion $150 for season long park access, waterpark access, "Haunt" access, Winterfest access, PLUS free parking is still a steal.  I think $99 to low $100s is underpricing the value of what you're getting by way too much.  So yeah, I agree, I think we might see the price of the Gold Pass rise in the near future and that won't bother me one bit.

[Saerenzea]

I would gladly pay more for the gold pass if it meant less crowds. Even if they took off everything but general admission. Anything longer than thirty minutes and I will buy a Fastlane or not bother. Same with food and drinks. I came to ride rides, not stand in line most of the day. 

 

 

[silver2005]

Mostly 5-15 minute waits for most rides sans X-Base and MT.

EDIT: Updated park average waits now at 10-30 minutes.

[alsoran]

Ok, this is an argument starter, but I hear what sounds like a bunch of whiny millennials complaining about having to wait in line.  We live in a now society, that believes that others don't deserve what you have.  I think the prices don't need to change unless KI or any other park is losing money.  Now, there are things the park could do to improve service, but why are trying to take more away from the GP.  It won't be long before many of the GP will not be able to afford the passes as it is.  The income of most is not going up, when the cost of living is.  Get over the now attitude and be happy people have this opportunity now, while they have it.  KI is doing well, but many parks are closing.  More are closing, rather than opening or growing.  Keep it reasonable and people will keep coming.  Raise it up and a few will be there, but it will never come back down and when those few theat can afford it now, can't later, then we will close this park as well.  

OK, VENT over.  Chastise me as you see fit.  This is just my opinion. 

[silver2005]

Mad props to the Diamondback crew.  They have been on their A game on my last few visits.  

[Voicetek]

35 minutes ago, alsoran said:

Ok, this is an argument starter, but I hear what sounds like a bunch of whiny millennials complaining about having to wait in line.  We live in a now society, that believes that others don't deserve what you have.  I think the prices don't need to change unless KI or any other park is losing money.  Now, there are things the park could do to improve service, but why are trying to take more away from the GP.  It won't be long before many of the GP will not be able to afford the passes as it is.  The income of most is not going up, when the cost of living is.  Get over the now attitude and be happy people have this opportunity now, while they have it.  KI is doing well, but many parks are closing.  More are closing, rather than opening or growing.  Keep it reasonable and people will keep coming.  Raise it up and a few will be there, but it will never come back down and when those few theat can afford it now, can't later, then we will close this park as well.  

OK, VENT over.  Chastise me as you see fit.  This is just my opinion. 

Not trying to take anything away from anyone.  However, you'll see that this is how other parks, especially Disney, deals with crowd issues.  When crowds become too large and start interfering with guest experience, then something is done.  Disney's method of solving this issue is to keep raising admission prices in order to weed some of the crowd out.  I'm 36 years old and have been attending KI since I was too younger to remember.  I will wait in line if I have to wait in line.  If I don't feel like waiting, I won't.  However, when crowds become so large that you can't do anything, then that's when it becomes a problem.  When an exclusive Gold Pass night maxes out park capacity, then you need to step back and think about whether or not that could hurt guest experience in the future.  I'm not impatient, I'm not entitled, I'm just looking at the facts.  Plus, we're all entitled to an opinion.

[TheRickster]

14 hours ago, diamonbackandbeastlover said:

The reason for this is capacity. If the operator can fill a train they will. Also it's to keep the station from overcrowding with people wanting specific rows or someone wants a row but the rest of the group doesn't. When I worked there I would assign rows if I knew I'd be able to fill the train. But if someone requested a specific row I gave it to them with no problem. Capacity is the biggest player in it, and it also helps so people don't try and steal someone's seat if they're storing loose articles in the bin

I'd argue that it really doesn't help that much. In fact when slower employees try to do it they end up having empty rows instead of just empty seats. But I can understand doing it on a ride with more of a line like Mystic Timbers. However Adventure Express was the only one doing it... Which is likely one of the biggest capacity coasters at the park.

When I used to do it I'd just let people in until each stall was full, or if there was a stubborn stall I'd cut the line and then ask the next couple if they wanted to get right on or just mention it and usually people just gladly took it. Doing it this way also meant I didn't have empty rows on a train because  I was busy with someone that needed height checked.

[PKIVortex]

I can only go to the park on Saturday or Sunday when crowds tend to be the largest. I enjoy myself and we usually get quite a bit of rides in.

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[jcgoble3]

6 hours ago, alsoran said:

Ok, this is an argument starter, but I hear what sounds like a bunch of whiny millennials complaining about having to wait in line.  We live in a now society, that believes that others don't deserve what you have.  I think the prices don't need to change unless KI or any other park is losing money.  Now, there are things the park could do to improve service, but why are trying to take more away from the GP.  It won't be long before many of the GP will not be able to afford the passes as it is.  The income of most is not going up, when the cost of living is.  Get over the now attitude and be happy people have this opportunity now, while they have it.  KI is doing well, but many parks are closing.  More are closing, rather than opening or growing.  Keep it reasonable and people will keep coming.  Raise it up and a few will be there, but it will never come back down and when those few theat can afford it now, can't later, then we will close this park as well.  

OK, VENT over.  Chastise me as you see fit.  This is just my opinion. 

I think part of it is frequency of visits/familiarity with the park/how many times you've ridden that ride before. To me, it's not worth going to Kings Island on a day when there are 30- to 45-minute waits for all the major rides, because I know that I live only 45 minutes away, can come back any time I want with my Gold Pass, and I've ridden everything multiple times before.

Now if a new ride opens up at KI (i.e. Mystic Timbers), then initially I'll be willing to wait a much longer time for it. As my familiarity with the ride and lap count grow, the length of time I'm willing to wait for the ride decreases, with the rate of decrease determined by the quality of the ride. On Easter Sunday, I happily waited 45 minutes for my second ride on MT. Tuesday had about an hour wait, and I bailed after entering the line once I saw how long it was, because I'd already had several rides and wasn't in the mood to stand in line for an hour. Come ERT that night, I did happily wait an hour, because I had never had a night ride on MT before.

A similar story is when I go to another park that I don't frequently get to. I'll use Cedar Point as an example. At CP, I'd be much more willing to wait 45 minutes to an hour or more for most of the major rides, because of both how much I like those rides and how infrequently I get to CP (I haven't been there since 2014), meaning I have to ride them while I have the chance.

Ultimately, I think it boils down to the old saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt." In this case, contempt for long lines.

[homestar92]

^That pretty much hit it on the head. I won't stand in line more than 20 minutes or so for anything at KI, but that definitely does not apply at any other park.. It's just that at KI, I've ridden everything dozens of times and they just aren't worth it to me because, as Goble said, I can always just come back some other time (it's an 8 minute drive from work, so that's even more true for me than it is for him). Not to mention, many of my favorite rides often have very short waits, while rides I don't like as much are often longer. I won't stand around 45 minutes to ride Diamondback when I can go to Banshee or Vortex or Racer (all of which I find much more thrilling) and wait 10 minutes maximum on most days.

I see this trend develop in lots of parks that I frequent. SFGAm is practically my second home park at this point, as I go about twice a year typically and I'm seeing this happen there now. Sure, I'll wait 30 to 45 minutes because I can't just come back any time, but put a 3 hour wait for Goliath in front of me and I'll skip it. The ride will likely be there next year, I can try again then.

I've also noticed that as rides become stale, the other parts of the park start to shine for me. I used to go full ride warrior on every visit to KI. Now, I'd almost rather just take a nice walk, blue ice cream in hand, and people watch. Maybe catch a ride on the carousel or read a book by the I-Street fountains. Kings Island is my happy place and I love being there. Not wanting to stand in line isn't a matter of being a whiny millennial, it's just that, there are other theme park experiences that I value more. I could live without roller coasters (if I had to... I guess...) but I'd be very very sad if I suddenly lost my ability to go to the park and just enjoy being there.

[whengodsaysgo]

I'm with @jcgoble and@homestar92. They said all of the things I was thinking, only articulated them neater.


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[Saerenzea]

I agree that this can be an argument starter. And this is very off topic for this thread. My apologies if my opinion is offensive. I just value my time and driving for several hours to ride ten rides or less simply isn't worth it. 

Back to the ride times! 

[Magenta Lizard]

While I think passes are currently underpriced (resulting in too-large crowds) I very much disagree that increasing prices would somehow increase the quality profile of guests.

From what I've seen, it is the spoiled kids/teens - whose parents could/would undoubtedly still buy them passes if prices were higher - who tend to be more obnoxious/rule-breaking than anyone else. 

I'm hoping this season that it is just the uncommonly warm and beautiful weather that is bringing the crowds now. And that once it gets rediculously hot next month it keeps more people home or in the wet park. Because if attendance increases as much as in previous years between June and July, the park is going to be hitting capacity even on weekdays next month...

[King Ding Dong]

I still say getting rid of the basketballs would go a long way to fixing this problem.   

[Rivertown Rider]

I have noticed that MT has helped lower wait times on both Beast and BLSC.  It is always good to see wait times more evenly distributed.

I hope whatever our next additions are that they also are capacity eaters like DB, Banshee, and Mystic have been.  I think adding several flats would also help.

[Magenta Lizard]

^ I haven't noticed the addition of Mystic Timbers reducing Beast lines by any means, personally. I feel like it has increased lines at Beast. At least /something/ is.

Days when crowds are at a level where I expect to see the line ending somewhere along the ramp leading up to the station, instead the entire queue (except lower) is filled. I actually haven't even ridden Beast most of my last (weekday only) several visits because the lines are longer than I'm willing to spend. Both Mystic Timbers and Diamondback often seem to have shorter wait times than Beast.

If anything, I would say it is taking traffic from Diamondback, but adding it to Beast. 

[lopan]

I remember back only 5-7(or less) years ago when one could renew their pass for $69.99 the park in general almost always seemed less busy than it has in the past 2-3 years when the price has been $99+. I remember being able to go on a weekday and sometimes have near walk-ons for many of the rides, sometimes even The Beast.

[jeffywest]

I was somewhat surprised by the long queue line last Tuesday on The Beast

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[TheRickster]

4 hours ago, lopan said:

I remember back only 5-7(or less) years ago when one could renew their pass for $69.99 the park in general almost always seemed less busy than it has in the past 2-3 years when the price has been $99+. I remember being able to go on a weekday and sometimes have near walk-ons for many of the rides, sometimes even The Beast.

Honestly the payment plan is probably helping them a ton...

[disco2000]

4 hours ago, lopan said:

I remember back only 5-7(or less) years ago when one could renew their pass for $69.99 the park in general almost always seemed less busy than it has in the past 2-3 years when the price has been $99+. I remember being able to go on a weekday and sometimes have near walk-ons for many of the rides, sometimes even The Beast.

Keep in mind that the $69.99 price was when you had to pay in full at time of purchase - the installment plan did not exist at that time.  One would be surprised at the percentage uptick in new passes once the installment plan came into play.  The installment plan has substantially increased number of passes sold...and many believe installment plan brought in a less than desirable clientele as well.

 

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 10:46 PM, jcgoble3 said:

 

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 4:25 PM, alsoran said:

Ok, this is an argument starter, but I hear what sounds like a bunch of whiny millennials complaining about having to wait in line.  We live in a now society, that believes that others don't deserve what you have.  I think the prices don't need to change unless KI or any other park is losing money.  Now, there are things the park could do to improve service, but why are trying to take more away from the GP.  It won't be long before many of the GP will not be able to afford the passes as it is.  The income of most is not going up, when the cost of living is.  Get over the now attitude and be happy people have this opportunity now, while they have it.  KI is doing well, but many parks are closing.  More are closing, rather than opening or growing.  Keep it reasonable and people will keep coming.  Raise it up and a few will be there, but it will never come back down and when those few theat can afford it now, can't later, then we will close this park as well.  

OK, VENT over.  Chastise me as you see fit.  This is just my opinion. 

 

Actually, I bet most of the people complaining are not millennials...in fact most of the people that commented are indeed not in that generation.

[PKIVortex]

I still say it's because of Mystic Timbers. Usually attandance goes up the year a new coaster opens.

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[flightoffear1996]

I was there yesterday and we had a great time.  Short waits in the main park.  We ventured into the the water park for about an hour but and we found the crowds there.  The park seems to be way more crowded this year but they seem to be handling very well.  We actually have discussed about skipping out on passes next year and taking our $700 we save and spending it on a Disney trip.