Joshua's First 2016 Trip to KI - 4/24/16

Joshua · April 24, 2016

First off, it was a great day for Kings Island. The sun was shining. It was warm, but not too hot. No rain in sight. Perfect weather. Second, I can count the amount of times I visited the park last year on one hand. One hand! I plan to make up for it this year and since I am now a freelance video editor, whereas last year I was a full time student/full time employee, I plan to hit the park fast and furious at least twice a month, if my schedule permits it.

As I marched in at 9:30am, I moved past the front gates with my cousins, going right to Diamondback. In the past couple years, we'd be able to get at least three rides within 20 to 30 minutes time thanks to ERTs, but I quickly noticed something odd as we got in line for our second ride -- every one in the whole park was seeming in line. This is odd, I thought. Normally people split, heading Banshee or to whatever other rides are on the ERT list this season.

Listening amongst the people around us, I learned that there is only one major coaster on the ERT list every day and that, allegedly, it changes every day. When I got home, I tried to validate this information on the official website, but had trouble finding any information on ERT on the site. So, if this information is in deed wrong, please be sure to let me know.

However, if it is true, I feel somewhat disappointed. I know this is something that 99.9999% of Gold Pass holders could care less about, but for me ERT was the true benefit of having a Gold Pass, along with the free parking. I was typically satisfied with my rollercoaster hunger in the morning that I didn't mind waiting in lines for the rest of the day. Plus, as a consumer, I am a huge believer of what I call "the ketchup and napkins" philosophy. If ketchup and napkins have been handed to paying customers at the drive thru in the past, they should always be given to the customer. Consumers typically get used to having certain benefits that they love. So while there could be some corporate reason behind this and even though ERT is technically still available, taking away from it really lessens the value of paying extra for the Gold Pass, in my opinion.

Another tiny complaint I found had to do with the ride photos. Now, I have nothing against FunPix. It's not something I am personally interested in, but for those who buy a lot of these photos, it makes financial sense. Having said that, for those of who do not want to indulge in FunPix, but may very well still purchase a photo, it is very annoying to look at these photos because there is a series of FunPix watermarks, making it very hard to find yourself. In fact, I had trouble seeing past the watermarks because they are very prominent. I understand why they might be there, but the watermark needs to be toned down. As a consumer, this just makes it a harder sell for me.

My third and final complaint has to do with the games. Apparently, you have to buy a card to play the games. Now this is something that probably won't be a big deal a month from now, but since this is a new concept, maybe I am just apprehensive to it. It just seems annoying and convoluted to spend money on something to spend money on something. Plus, since I saw those cards throughout the park, it seems like everyone tosses them when they're done. Isn't that kind of wasteful? (I even saw one on the tin roof going up The Beast. You know, the one with all the rubber bracelets that never seem to disappear? What's up with those bracelets anyway?) Are you able to add more money on to these cards or are they "one and dones?"

The ride times were alright. I think my longest wait was my second ride for Diamondback and for Delirium. The latter of which I've had my fair share of long waits the past couple years. It seems like there is some difficulty or lack of motivation when it comes to cycling the riders, even with the capacity it carries. But this wait wasn't as drastic as some I had last year. I would say maybe 30 minutes, if that. I think the second Diamondback wait was around 40. According to FunTV, The Beast was at an hour, but when I rode it, I basically waited like 5 minutes. So I thought that was strange. Banshee was a 20 minute wait.

We went to the Reds Hall of Fame Grill for lunch. This was my second time there and both times I loved the food. Compared to some of the other dining options, it seems you get a really good value for the price you pay. That might change one day, but I hope not. They seemed to be down some waiters, but not knowing the circumstances, I can't ding them for that. As far as I know, they might've had call offs or no shows.

Speaking of Reds Hall of Fame Grill, my cousin pointed this out. Our server was new and had our credit cards for maybe 10 minutes trying to ring us out. A couple of us have an anxiety towards that. I know I personally hate it when a server disappears out of sight with my credit cards, even for a second. Maybe I am paranoid, but I fear all it would take is a second for a server to take a photo of my card's front and back and it's a Amazon shopping spree they-a-go. A lot of places, like Olive Garden, have this tablet device on the table for which you use to pay. I would love to see that here or any dine-in restaurants for that matter.