Meal Deals, and meal deals

[OldieButGoodie]

General comment, and I've done my time in fast food as have many here. 1) go to ringer-runner. One person just does money, one fills orders. Implement secret shoppers, and expect a 3-minute order to completion time and reward solid performance. 2) make it fresh unless you're in a 'rush'! Fries live around 5 minutes if not salted, that's it. They're trash after that. The Boardwalk Fries at KD and CP are outstanding! Fries to order, a 24oz adult frosty beverage, and myriad seasonings to apply - all completed in around 3 minutes. When they're busy they do more than one order, but they're never sitting under a heat lamp. Burgers can be grilled and kept HOT in a pan that starts life as water. Then make them FRESH with a piping hot patty, to order. NEVER NEVER NEVER under a heatlamp for who knows how long.

[jamnwomn]

I went to Planet Snoopy Grill on Opening Day, flashed my platinum card and asked for a souvenir cup. I was charged $16. I asked,"Even with a PASS, there's no discount???" Nope. Now they're being advertised at $10.99. Does anybody know why they would charge me $16 for one souvenir cup? Plus as we were leaving  and getting refill elsewhere, we were informed that we should have been given a bracelet for our all day refill. Frustrating.

[Magenta Lizard]

$10.99 is only when you buy three or more at one time. I think you can get them for less than $16 online, but after the Accesso fee, it is probably around the same price.

[The Interpreter]

Welcome to KIC, jamnwomn!

[TRTR Guy]

Also as of last year it was possible to use another family members pass to get a meal, even if it hadn't been scanned to enter the park.  I believe that problem has been remedied.

[Gannersdaddy]

Also as of last year it was possible to use another family members pass to get a meal, even if it hadn't been scanned to enter the park.  I believe that problem has been remedied.

It has.  My wife has not been yet, but we have used her meal plan each time we have eaten (my boy can put it away when he takes the mind to).  We have had no problems

[Oldschool75]

That's why I don't buy drinks. I bring a water bottle. Of course I pretty much stopped drinking pop/cola over a year ago. Lol

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[malem]

Of course I pretty much stopped drinking pop/cola over a year ago.

The club seems to be growing.

[Kenban]

$10.99 is only when you buy three or more at one time. I think you can get them for less than $16 online, but after the Accesso fee, it is probably around the same price.

 

For the last several years if you had a pass you would get the quantity discounted price even if you only purchased a single souvenir cup.  Charging a passholder more than $10.99 would would actually be a change in policy from last year.

[bloop]

Also as of last year it was possible to use another family members pass to get a meal, even if it hadn't been scanned to enter the park.  I believe that problem has been remedied.

It has.  My wife has not been yet, but we have used her meal plan each time we have eaten (my boy can put it away when he takes the mind to).  We have had no problems

I didn't know this. I plan to bring my boyfriend's son a lot to the park this summer while he is at work. This is our first year with the meal plan and it would be nice to be able to grab an extra meal sometimes. I'll have to give this a try.

[APE]

I'm not sure what thread it was in but someone asked about if you could upgrade from chips to wedges at the Reds Hall of Fame Grille, the answer is yes I did it yesterday. I will also add that this was my first time trying this place and loved it. It was slow and understaffed but I loved being able to reserve a table while I went and rode some stuff and the refills to go with fresh food.

[The Interpreter]

Welcome, bloop, to KIC!

[Stoan]

Yeah, sorry about the delay, my wife decided to go and give birth or something, so I missed out on most of last week.

 

As the poster two people above this said, you can still upgrade to the wedges at Red's Hall of Fame, I did not get a gold discount on them. 2.17 total for the meal deal and upgrade.

 

Also worth noting, this year the receipt passive-aggressively (maybe not) points out that they expect tips. I could never figure out if the servers at RHoFG got paid tip rates, or full pay. I usually left a small tip, not sure what to do, but the receipt now says "Tips are not included in Meal Plans".

[The Interpreter]

CONGRATULATIONS!

Terp, happy for you both!

[APE]

First Congratulations!

Second they gave me a discount on the upgrade.

Third if you're being seated and have someone serving you drinks and food you absolutely should tip.

[chuck norris]

I don't understand why they have to scan the Orange cups. I understand the park needs to track inventory... But couldn't they just have a generic scan or even just ring up a free drink without scanning the actual cup? I'd maybe understand if they were trying to track individual usage... But if they aren't able to associate your cup with your pass holder account (ie they can't deactivate your cup if you report it stolen), then why bog down the lines with this Orange cup scanning business.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[The Interpreter]

They probably don't trust their employees to tell colors apart.

And then, next year the season-long cups may be the same color but 2016's won't scan.

Terp -- who is glad he's given up carbonated beverages for the good of the order.

[Stretch and Kitten]

First time poster but a longggg time reader. We just returned from the park. Everytime we have went to the park last year and this year up to today, we have always eaten at the Chicken Shack and we both always got the wrap. Its delucious and is the only thing we have found on the meal plan that is actually filling. Last weekend we got our wraps but the worker at the register warned us that they were doing away with the wraps sometime this summer. We arrived today and no more wraps. They are available but you can no longer get them with our dining plan. Thete are signs now posted all over that you can get the usual tender meal or a chicken salad. They wont even give the wrap and allow customers to pay the small upcharge difference between the normal tender meal and wrap. We both ended up getting the tender meals and it was by far the WORST meals we have ever had there. The fries were old and rubbery and the toast was literally burnt black on one side. Besides the 3 tenders, the meal was inedible. We tried to get fresh food but they wouldnt allow it. We are so majorly bummed by this change and how our favorite place to eat in the park has went to utter crap. We asked why they made the change and we were told that many people complained that the chicken salad needed to be added so the park made the switch between the two. ....is thete anywhete else to eat in the park on the plan thats half way decent AND filling? We are wishing now that we didnt pay for dining plans.

[The Interpreter]

Welcome to KIC!

[malem]

^^ So far this season, Reds Hall of Fame Grille and Rivertown Potato Works have been operating well.

[Magenta Lizard]

Definitely visit customer service to let them know what happened, next time you visit the park. Often the line employees (or managers in the case of the new funnel cake stand, according to her, anyway) "can't do anything" at the time, but there is always /someone/ who can do /something/, especially if you are patient and respectful. I have not yet failed to be satisfied with my treatment on the occasions I have had to visit customer service. If you truly think you wish you hadn't bought the dining plan, it won't hurt to request a full or partial refund because the offerings have been changed from what you liked/expected.

The burritos at Hank's are quite filling, if you manage to hit a day they are actually open. I'd advise avoiding the chicken from what others have said, but I enjoy the pork, and haven't heard anything bad about the beef.

I would have suggested the wraps at Reds Hall of Fame Grille, but I believe those have been removed from the dining plans as well.

[Joshua]

Wow! The toast is usually the best part. It's not supposed to be burnt or hard at all.  I would definitely complain. Granted, mistakes happen,  but they shouldn't be handing out their mistakes to customers. 

[Stoan]

Two things for this update. Rant and update.

 

Rant - The park closes at 8pm on Sunday, why the heck are restaurants closed at 7:15. I walked into Panda Express at 7:15 tonight and was turned away with 5 other people because they were closing. There is food on the line, plenty of food, I can see it 4 paces away. Just give me that food you have.  It doesn't take that much time to break down a fast food joint. I have worked at a sit down restaurant before, even there the kitchen only closes half an hour before the location is closed, and they make the food fresh. We all know and accept we aren't getting made to order food at an amusement park, the food is cooked, it is under a heat lamp, serve me the old food you have, I don't care. If you are worried that I won't be happy with that, then notify me "We made the food a bit ago, the kitchen isn't cooking anything fresh, here is what we have if you still want it". This ****es me off to no end, the park is closed at 8, close the park at 8.

 

Update - CPFoodBlog asked me to add some links to their site, so I will be doing that in a bit. Coney Mall Potato Works Tender Meal got eaten today, as lack luster as I remember last year, even if the tenders I think are slightly different. At this point I think there are only four actual tenders in the entire park. Chicken Shack, Gluten Free (potato works), Chik'fil'a, and everywhere else. Of the places that used the cloned tenders, you get different options of sides; natural cut fries, tater tots, and normal fries.

[Stretch and Kitten]

It was an unexpected and shocking visit to say the least. On top of the no wrap amd food quality issues above it was just an odd visit to the Shack all around. The tenders were great amd fresh but had to stand there and wait for quite a while for it because the pan went empty just before my turn. I felt for the girl behind the counter preparing my plate because anyone could tell she was stressed. The ice, sprite and Coke were all out in the machine along with no chicken being ready. She's yelling "guys I need ----" into the room behind the soda machine, and into the back kitchen area but wasnt getting much back in the way of results. Just a bunch of workers moping around not doing much of anything. While waiting, I did notice her take a fresh batch of toast off of the press and noticed it was WAY darker that ive ever seen them. That should of been a clue to look at both sides of mine but didnt. Mine was black but had they replaced our food, it wouldn't have been much of an improvement with the toast. We ate our 3 tenders each, rode The Bat and decided to just leave. The whole experience just ruined the day and we just lost the mood to even be there. I do not know if its a training, staffing, or management issue with that food quality and seeing so many lackadaisical workers doing nothing when so much is needed to be done that has the line at a standstill. I havent ever visited guest relations nor know what, if anything, could be done about our visit. But we surely will be stopping there first thing on our next time into the park. Asking for a refund on the food plans could be a possibility. Had we known there wasnt going to be chicken wraps, we problably wouldnt have added the dining plans. Weve often made the trip down from Dayton just to have a wrap amd catch a ride or two. Looks like those days have came to an end.

[Kenban]

If you like chicken tenders try RHOFG I have found they are a lot better then the chicken shack typically. You can pay $2 extra and get potato wedges and if you are looking for filling it is big enough I cannot finish it.

Panda Express is also very filling.

[ohioparksrock]

I got the chicken salad, minus the chicken, at chicken shack today. (I'm not a fan of chicken) This salad was awesome. It had cucumber, tomato, bacon, onion, jalapeño, green pepper, and cheese. My new favorite entree at the park!

[Magenta Lizard]

Is it the salad a build-your-own, or pre-made? I had assumed build-your-own in the same way the wraps were. I only made it inside Chicken Shack once so far this season (although I've stood in, then abandoned, the line a handful of times) and I didn't notice the salads at all.

[electricsun]

They build it for you. Lettuce mix and any of the wrap toppings and two pieces of chicken. It was a nice fresh option. I got it two Fridays ago but at the time, it wasn't on the meal plan.

[Creed Bratton]

So question in regards to the dining plans. 

So I didn't pay much attention opening weekend, but I noticed at Panda Express when using my Dining Plan, the receipt says the total was $7, when the menu board does not say the same thing. 

At Cedar Point this weekend, Panda Express was $7 on the receipt too as was Frontier Inn. I know at Frontier Inn the menu board says for my meal it was $15.79. That's a 55.59% difference. 

I track my uses of pass, parking and dining plan so I go with what's on the menu board. But thought it was interesting.  What do you think could be going on?

[malem]

^ When a dining plan meal is redeemed, the POS system "charges" a reduced price for the meal, which is then "paid for" by the dining plan. I'm not sure how the internal accounting or revenue distribution works.

 

There sometimes are glitches; Reds Grille almost charged us the ~$7 "price" after the dining plan credit failed to show up. Another time, a 10% season pass discount was applied to the dining plan "price", confusing everyone with a check that came out negative.