Tr0y Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 The food concessions at Kings Island this year have been a disaster. With the issues starting the season with under trained or untrained employees working on busy days. The quality of food throughout the season has not been great, with it either being over cooked or under cooked.. The frustrations I've had this year with concessions is leaving me a feeling I will not be renewing my season dining plan for next year. For seasons I've always left the park for the better food deals outside the park.. For 2015 the season dining plan seemed like a pretty good value so I decided to give it a shot, and my experience has been horrible.. I'm not bashing the dining plan more or less the concessions. The quality of food and service at most of the food stands are average to poor. Ive had burnt toast and undercooked fries from The Chicken Shack, overlooked rice from Panda Express, under cooked and over cooked pizza from Larosa's. The worst experiences I've had been with Skyline on IS. At the start of the season the employees were undertrained if trained at all. Other times the spaghetti would be over cooked and mushy. I've also been turned around for them not being open on time at 11:30. The other day they had 1 person working the line for drinks and food at 6pm dinner rush on a Thursday. The poor girl working the line also had to go to the back room and dump fries herself. When that happened no one was being served. I got in line at 6:40 and didn't get through the the line till 735. After eating, the park was closing, I looked for a place to dump my trash and of course all the cans inside the restaurant were full. I cant imagine someone wanting to spend $15 - $20 dollars a meal and put up with this. KI concessions make Ed Hart & Co. look good, well maybe that's a reach but its ridiculous. How has everybody's else's experience been? Any consistent experiences other than Chick Fil A? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upstop Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I broke my own rules about buying park food and bought a seasons dining plan. To tell you the truth, the food for me has not been that bad. However, service has declined since the beginning of the season until now. Hank's was where I ate today and the poor server was alone at the trays while the rest of the kitchen crew might have been on break. She did her best and that is all I could ask. On another note, at the Reds Grill last week, the bar server was only working the left side of the bar. It took about 20 minutes to get service....overall, (with the exception of healthier choices) my overall thoughts are positive and I would probably buy the meal plan again next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCandyMan Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 My biggest gripes this season with food Inconsistent service. I've had stellar, and ****ty all in the same day or weekend. Inconsistent food quality. Hanks has been great some days, and junk others. SLOW SLOW SLOW SLOW SLOW. How is it Chipotle can knock out a line of 50 in no time, but a line of 5 at Hanks or LaRosas is snail pace. Keep that machine rolling. I would bet it's a staffing issue Why many places aren't open on 10 is beyond me. Cedar Point, the majority of food opens at 10 with the exception of a few places, mainly sit down restaurants. International Street has no excuse Foods is for sure the worst area in the park now. I thought operations the last year or so had gone downhill, but foods are Kinzel era bad honestly. People gatta eat, so who cares. Seriously some of these kids I've seen shoveling food, wiping sweat off their face, and then grabbing the next plate of pizza to place forward need to go. The lack of care or attention to the company cornerstones is quite appalling. The biggest issue for me though is inconsistency. I've had great bowls from Hanks. Honestly excellent, large nice Chipotle esque portions of tasty rice, meat, and select toppings. Then sometimes I get a childs fistful sized portion only and have nothing but rubber chicken, dried rice, and crappy almost crunchy cheese. The quality control and attention to detail are extremely disappointing. For KI to have hired a head chef, revamped the food departments, and now part of a more broad corporate atmosphere to bring quality products and services to the chains food service, I have yet to really see an improvement other than a dining plan. The rest is honestly rubbish, and clearly it shows as I'm not the only one who has noticed. Quite sad. Profits are up, my dividends show it, but I ask at what cost now currently. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I think they have enough staff. Chipotle can knock out a 50 person deep line with 3-4 people (burrito and rice, meat, salsa, cashier)... It honestly looks like the food staff have the following issues: they don't care about the job and they don't have any fear about losing their job. Talking about bad KI employees, had an employee in a food service uniform fake attempt to kick my car and flip me off in the parking lot (she just got off the bus and felt like walking outside the crosswalk).... Stellar example of a model employee right there. Of course I reported it but no phone call or email response (similar to my locker complaint).... For the meal, next year the lil shark will be 3... I have to really consider if getting him a pass and meal plan is worth it or if we get a pass we may just leave and get food or eat in the parking lot.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCandyMan Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I'm using my meal plan and milking it for all it's worth this year for sure. I will say this, unless the shortfalls are noted, realized, and mitigated for 2016, I will not be buying a dining plan, and will give my money to outside establishments that can serve quality food in a timely manner or relax in the parking lot with a sandwich with cold cuts I made at home. I never was asking for fine dining, exquisite food, I know the parks don't have that and don't supply it. However, when you overcook rice and undercook chicken in the same day, it's pretty pathetic. Where's Gordon Ramsay when you really need him. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Lizard Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I guess my tendency to try to go to the park (and get my food) at less busy times has paid off for me. Sure, I've had annoyances, but generally less as the season has progressed. I've had worse problems at non-park fast food locations this season than in-park. If I were to not get dining next year, it would be simply because I've used it too much. A couple "meals" worth of food during my twice weekly visits, that are enough for two or three normal meals each, and my propensity for taking leftovers home in a cooler, have led to a small weight gain even though I'm walking 12-14 miles each visit. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce1994 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I'm using my meal plan and milking it for all it's worth this year for sure. I will say this, unless the shortfalls are noted, realized, and mitigated for 2016, I will not be buying a dining plan, and will give my money to outside establishments that can serve quality food in a timely manner or relax in the parking lot with a sandwich with cold cuts I made at home. I never was asking for fine dining, exquisite food, I know the parks don't have that and don't supply it. However, when you overcook rice and undercook chicken in the same day, it's pretty pathetic. Where's Gordon Ramsay when you really need him. The Skylines, and the eatery across from SRR have been great in my opinion. The food at KD was wonderful, so I'm amazed with the discrepancy between parks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver2005 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 As a former food department employee at Kings Island, its been surprising to see this downturn in service quality. I don't know what Cedar Fair is instilling into the food employees now-a-days, but Paramount emphasized quality of food and service during training. At R-town Potato Works and from what I saw filling in at the stands formerly known as Happy Days and WINGS, as well as the RT LaRosa's, we took some pride in our job and we had a decent time. Sure, there were bad spots, but we worked together to make the most of things, including helping iffy customer situations. All the food employees have resembled deer in headlights on nearly every encounter I've had with food services this season (I know I'm reading here some have gotten good service, which, you guys must have had some really good luck, but its still incredibly inconsistent). Lines shouldn't stretch across the midway on less crowded days. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Frequent patrons. Park lovers. With meal plans. Imagine the family of four from Grovetown...comes to Kings Island once a year, pays full price at the gate and typically buys a ton of souvenirs. Around 1, they go to I Street LaRosa's, line out the door, finally get in, see four pizza combos are going to cost nearly $60, then look down to see the slices are 1/2 the size of years past, if that, and many are burned. Dad grumbles, pays, they go out to sit at the fountains--not a clean table in sight. About that time, daughter Meagan takes a bite of cold, hard pizza. Next year, the family decides to go to the zoo and to Nashville. I sure hope those meal plan customers choking up the lines and getting great returns on their investments are worth it. By the way, Cedar Fair's foods honcho has one year FUN experience. That means the old one left that position. It shows? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 But Ill say this, the lines and pizza shouldnt be cold. I really dont think the meal plan is whats causing the back up. The Festhaus for example is typically backed up, and the back up happens at the cashier line and grows from their. They can have 4 cashiers on either side, but typically only have 2 on each side. So now you have a back up people wanting to pay (theoretically, the meal plans would speed these lines up, as its just a quick scan). This back up extends into the drink fill line. You have 2 machines on either side, and maybe some cups out, maybe not. the flow of the line is that you have to turn around after your fill up, not move along (similar to Chicken Shack). Now you have people backed into the food dispensary. Now there may or may not be enough food for people. Too many options at one spot (you can get pizza, chicken fingers, burgers, sandwiches, fruit, mac and cheese). Now you are backed out through the turnstyles.... In years past, wernt the drinks poured behind the counter and there was a line of drinks that you could take and go. I specifically remember handing the worker my souvenir cup to be filled.... At Skyline in Coney Mall, they have very poor workers. No other reason. You have employees leaning on their hands. Just very poor poor service.... The meal plan has sure increased demand, but when service is poor it doesnt seem to matter if demand is 1 person or 1000 the service will still be very very poor... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 The biggest issue I have noticed is that one customer with a complex order or a problem can back up the cashier line. Waiting in a long line to pay for food you already have is really annoying, even when you're not actually paying because of a meal deal. (A data-driven approach should be used to improve efficiency, and another cashier station should be opened when the line to pay becomes annoyingly long.) Slow lines aside, individual food service employees have given me good service this season. My only food quality complaint has been that Chicken Shack served me cold chicken tenders & fries on my 7/31 visit. (I'm a stickler regarding cleanliness and proper food temperatures.) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr0y Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 Firstly The dining plan is not the problem, KI is entirely at fault. Let me just say they are making a killing off these dining plans. The season long dining plan right now is 105 dollars that's the equivalent of 9 and a half larosas pizzas ordered at home. ( I'll make it 8 to nagate breadsticks ) Which if you cut those 8 pizzas like a normal pizza it equates to about 64 slices. You get 2 slices per meal, twice a day for a total of 4 slices you would have to visit KI 16 times to equal the amount you would normally spend outside the park for the same product. Unlike us enthusiasts there aren't many people out their with passes and dining plans that visits the park more than 16 times. These folks are also going to want a drink with their meal. Most the money made at concessions are from drinks. 5 dollars for a large soda. The paper cup cost more than a full ( no ice ) cup of soda, and most people are going to get ice. Souvineer cups are just as profitable huge upfront costs, no paper cost to the park when you refill which is only a dollar so your more likely to get more drinks than a person paying 5 dollars a soda. Oh And the catcher with the souvineer cup is the lockers you have to rent to store your cup to ride "certain" rollercoasters. IE Banshee, and Firehawk ( I wouldn't doubt all of them to be that way eventually.) I don't blame the park for the dining plans it keeps guest from taking money outside the park. It's great business. And it's great for guest who visit a lot and for those who don't leave the park for food. ( the dining plan is equivalent to 10 meals paid for out of pocket at the park.) Now I invested into the Dining plan for the convenience of staying in the park, Something I never used to do which was eating in the park. What ticks me off is that I invested and spent all of this money and the park in return gives others and myself inconsistent quality of food and poor service. I can only imagine as Terp said "your once a year visitor and his/her family is getting the same treatment." $60 dollars for food for his family, inconsistent food quality and poor service. When that same family can go up the road and get 4, 6oz steak meals at Outback for nearly the same price. It's outrageous, its appalling. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 To those who have received unacceptable service: I hope you reported it to Guest Services or to a manager/supervisor. They can't fix what they doesn't know is broken. The park is known to read online discussions like this one, but it can be hard to act on an old forum post. I also hope that prospective KI visitors coming to this site don't get the wrong idea. We tend to frankly discuss both the good and the bad, and this is part of what makes the forum interesting. Generally, those who receive a bad experience are more likely to talk about it than those who receive a good experience. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce1994 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 To those who have received unacceptable service: I hope you reported it to Guest Services or to a manager/supervisor. They can't fix what they doesn't know is broken. The park is known to read online discussions like this one, but it can be hard to act on an old forum post. I also hope that prospective KI visitors coming to this site don't get the wrong idea. We tend to frankly discuss both the good and the bad, and this is part of what makes the forum interesting. Generally, those who receive a bad experience are more likely to talk about it than those who receive a good experience. Agreed. KI is a fantastic park. Us, KICers are trying to point out the areas the park could improve on to make KI Americas park. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 To those who have received unacceptable service: I hope you reported it to Guest Services or to a manager/supervisor. They can't fix what they doesn't know is broken. The park is known to read online discussions like this one, but it can be hard to act on an old forum post. I also hope that prospective KI visitors coming to this site don't get the wrong idea. We tend to frankly discuss both the good and the bad, and this is part of what makes the forum interesting. Generally, those who receive a bad experience are more likely to talk about it than those who receive a good experience. I did and am still waiting on a response.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCandyMan Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 No need to send a response, my lack of meal plan renewal will be enough if this is the case. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeastFarmer Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I tend to stop by Guest Services to compliment ride ops and sweeps rather than chastise the subpar food department. People can be idiots with complaints. Last week a man was whining and when the supervisor came out he literally pounded the counter demanding "a real supervisor not a teenage idiot." The last thing I want to do is point out a problem even if it's done in a positive manner. And they have asked for my contact information so they can follow up but they never do. That leads me to think that management is either too busy or is non chalant. Kentucky Kingdom followed up three times with me on the same compliment. I Street Larosas smells like emesis. Friendly front line folks but unmotivated back line folks. Most food is good quality but when it is consistently taking longer to get food at off times than it is to ride a marquee coaster . Something ain't right Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Emesis: The product of the act of upchucking. Terp, who learned a word today. That always makes him ecstatically elated. Thanks! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldschool75 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I've had mixed results all year. The best of all the places: Reds HOF grill. I had one bad experience this year where they forgot our food. Yes after waiting over an hour, and other tables getting food ( they ordered after us) said something to the waiter. They didn't know what happened. That was very early in the season. After that the HOF grill was great. Food was awesome there this year. Not one bad meal. I can't say that about any other place in the park. Chicken Shack has gone way down hill after last year. Burnt chicken half the time, under cooked fried, and very slow service. Employees with bad attitudes or just don't care. Outer Hanks ( or whatever it's called now) hit or miss, but most tif the time, dry rubber chicken it just burnt to hell. Rice dried out and hard. Cheese is hard most the time. Skyline, I don't know what they are doing to it. Tastes like someone poured a mountain of salt in it. Every time I ate it was very very salty. LaRosa's, I won't touch that anymore at the park. Does not even taste like LaRoasa pizza. Smaller size and as everyone else is saying, either undercooked or over cooked/burnt. Jukebox diner has been ok this year, but service is really slow as well. The biggest thing that really bugs me is...missing trays. For the love of GOD, why can't we get some trays???? I swear every place I went to this year either had no trays out and didn't have any, or I had to ask them to bring some out. Not sure how hard it is to provide trays. Also the cleanliness of the eating areas have been horrid. I know it's hard to keep areas clean all the time, but it has been really bad this year. All I can say is I hope they can fix these issue and the others people are having next year. I am still debating if I will buy and season long food plan next year. Might just start packing my lunch. Sent from a signal coming out of the Vega system. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholderfield Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 We've only visited the park two or three times,but aside from two small issues nothing major. Our visit last weekend we are at the Reds HOF Grille. Food was very good and the waitress as friendly. The only minor issue is she dropped off our check and we sat there about 15 minutes waiting to pay. With no sign of her we hunted down someone else so we could pay. Oh and there was a guy making an @$$ of himself at the ice cream stand by the jukebox diner. He wasn't being rude and was just trying to have a good time...but he wasn't taking anything seriously...and should not be able to "make" ice cream cones!!! Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I must just be too easy. Things don't always go perfect when I visit KI, but I'm always just too excited that I'm actually at Kings Island (even after all of these many years). If I lived closer and/or visited a lot more often, I'd probably be a lot more critical. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohioparksrock Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Aside from one bad Reds Grille experience and the lady at Coney Mall telling me I had to pay extra for a chili cheese sandwich with my combo instead of a coney, its been great. I've expressed our positive experiences with guest relations and got an email back from the Reds Grille manager thanking us. We go tobthe park more and make more impulse purchases so they are making as much off of us with the dining plan as without it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Italian Job 2005 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I've had mixed results all year. The best of all the places: Reds HOF grill. I had one bad experience this year where they forgot our food. Yes after waiting over an hour, and other tables getting food ( they ordered after us) said something to the waiter. They didn't know what happened. That was very early in the season. After that the HOF grill was great. Food was awesome there this year. Not one bad meal. I can't say that about any other place in the park. Chicken Shack has gone way down hill after last year. Burnt chicken half the time, under cooked fried, and very slow service. Employees with bad attitudes or just don't care. Outer Hanks ( or whatever it's called now) hit or miss, but most tif the time, dry rubber chicken it just burnt to hell. Rice dried out and hard. Cheese is hard most the time. Skyline, I don't know what they are doing to it. Tastes like someone poured a mountain of salt in it. Every time I ate it was very very salty. LaRosa's, I won't touch that anymore at the park. Does not even taste like LaRoasa pizza. Smaller size and as everyone else is saying, either undercooked or over cooked/burnt. Jukebox diner has been ok this year, but service is really slow as well. The biggest thing that really bugs me is...missing trays. For the love of GOD, why can't we get some trays???? I swear every place I went to this year either had no trays out and didn't have any, or I had to ask them to bring some out. Not sure how hard it is to provide trays. Also the cleanliness of the eating areas have been horrid. I know it's hard to keep areas clean all the time, but it has been really bad this year. All I can say is I hope they can fix these issue and the others people are having next year. I am still debating if I will buy and season long food plan next year. Might just start packing my lunch. Sent from a signal coming out of the Vega system. And you certainly could start packing your lunch, considering there's no one checking bags outside the main entrance to tell you that it's against park policy to bring in outside food or beverage. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 The no one checking bags really concerns me. What is it going to take? Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr0y Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 The no one checking bags really concerns me. What is it going to take? Sigh. Some days KI had bag check post. It's all about the numbers, guards at the gate checking bags cost the park money. More than likely, those guards were probably filling another role at the park. I've probably already mentioned this story but, Back in June when I visited the park they had a security guard and a life guard working as ride ops in the main park (Adventure Express and Vortex). A position they probably were taught on the job kinda like the food concession workers on the registers earlier in the year, which was a disaster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Ride ops are not taught only on the job. Far from it. You'd be surprised who is cross trained to do what. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver2005 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Most of the things working in the food department are things most people should already know how to do like cleaning the patios and trays, etc. Register operations and a bit of people skill training should be taught during training. The actual food prep is really the only thing that has to be taught on the fly due to the variety of food, and even then, most of that is simple. I can't think of a single food item at KI that requires all that much hassle. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 So KI has a chef because? Just EXACTLY what has he accomplished? This? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver2005 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 ^I've been meaning to ask a question about that. Did that chef actually add anything to the food at Kings Island? What was the point? I don't recall seeing any changes to any of the stands' menus. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I would imagine his job was to help sell a boatload of pre-paid meal plans. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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