Meal Deals, and meal deals

[TRTR Guy]

Thought I'd start posting the end of season food outages... River town la Rosa apparently is out of the cheese for the breadsticks and told us they aren't allowed to get any from the other la Rosas.

And so it begins.

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The Festhaus LaRosas also appears to not have cheese on the breadsticks, al least last Friday anyways.

[chuck norris]

Has anyone seen any updates on the BBQ place that I thought was going in Soak City? Or any word on if Tom and Chee will be back this year?


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[Gannersdaddy]

Heres a thought that my wife threw out there.  With Winterfest coming this year, will the park keep the main food stuffs stocked better come the end of the regular season?

[Reon]

I really hope Tom+Chee comes back next year and is on the meal plan. I was super pumped when I saw them take over the last few weekends of the season, and could use some more versitality to my meals at the park since I always get the meal plan on my pass...

[Stoan]

its still months from opening, but KI's meal plan page doesn't list any changes to the restaurants or their offerings.

 

I'd love to see a BBQ place, or Tom+Chee. I actually got two meal plans this year, so I have a better chance of eating everything in the park this time =)

[flightoffear1996]

Is the meal plan valid during winter fest?

[Stoan]

1 minute ago, flightoffear1996 said:

Is the meal plan valid during winter fest?

Single Meal Deal and All Day Dining Plan valid through 10/29. Not valid for WinterFest.
All Season Dining Plan valid through WinterFest.
Need more information? See our Dining Plan FAQs

 

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/things-to-do/dining-plans

Edited January 19, 2017 by Stoan
source

[IndyGuy4KI]

Now I am excited to know what they will be offering at Winterfest!

[CoasterOhio]

42 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Now I am excited to know what they will be offering at Winterfest!

Probably Larosa's.. If the train were to be available, possibly Tom and Chee. Panda Express?

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 minute ago, CoasterOhio said:

Probably Larosa's.. If the train were to be available, possibly Tom and Chee. Panda Express?

I guess I was hoping for a few different options for Christmas instead of summer options? Chicken shack with mashed potatoes and gravy instead of fries for instance?

[CoasterOhio]

^ I mean, If they were to do that. They'd probably start low stocking items towards the end. 

Sweet Spot might get some Peppermint Candy type of items.

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream anyone? (That likes Peppermint)

[IBEW_Sparky]

One thing that will have to be open for Winterfest, is the Dippin Dots stand.  How else are we going to get news on whats new for 2018?  

[Creed Bratton]

1 hour ago, IBEW_Sparky said:

One thing that will have to be open for Winterfest, is the Dippin Dots stand.  How else are we going to get news on whats new for 2018?  

I agree with that but I'd also hope that they'd have a lemon chill stand too.

[chuck norris]

So no update on which meals will be included on this year's meal plans... But I'm pretty sure this page is new. I emailed a few times last season to ask about other gluten free options but wasn't ever able to get an answer.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/dining/special-dietary-needs


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[Stoan]

I think last year they waited until mid-March before the food options were updated.

[KingsIslandJunkie]

Why did they get rid of Reds Hall of Fame grill off the dining plan

[Creed Bratton]

I saw that the other day when looking to see if they've released what locations have the meal deals and all that jazz.

I'm not sure if it's officially removed for 2017 or not. 

[IBEW_Sparky]

If I had to venture a guess, Id say it is because Red's profit margin is much lower than it is at Chicken Shack or Panda, for instance, due to the fact it is a sit down "full service" restaurant that has a higher overhead.

[Stoan]

In terms of differences, they also dropped Rivertown Potato Works from the list. Only the Coney Mall Potato Works is listed. Obvious Snake Pit as well.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Stoan
just cause

[Magenta Lizard]

I really hope that is just an oversight :-/ Rivertown Potato Works is one of my faves and Coney just isn't the same. 

[Siduas]

So we got the dining plan for the upcoming season. Do you all have any tips or tricks for using the meal plan? Like is there certain times to eat when wait times are at their lowest and such?

[Magenta Lizard]

Food places generally open about an hour after the park does (not including ERT). I like to go right then before the lines get too long. Around 3-4 is another fairly low time. 

Be aware they also tend to close an hour before the park closes. Exceptions in the past have been on International Street. That La Rosa's is usually open until the park close time, and as far as I know, the Skyline there is as well. 

Don't take any visit before, say, June, as representative of how the lines will be all season, either. At least last year, they weren't fully staffed with their seasonal help nor apparently fully trained, and things were slow with exceptionally long lines. A line length that usually meant a half hour wait at Panda Express would take an hour, and one to two hour lines at all the food places were not uncommon the first few weeks. It got a lot better. 

[Siduas]

Wow! 1 to 2 hour wait times for food!! Thanks for the info, we will definitely adjust our eating times if that means a lesser wait.

[King Ding Dong]

5 hours ago, Siduas said:

Wow! 1 to 2 hour wait times for food!! Thanks for the info, we will definitely adjust our eating times if that means a lesser wait.

Yah, there is no excuse for that nonsense.  If you don't have the staff to feed your guests call in the food trucks, they will be happy to have the business. They caught a lot grief for it from what I hear.  Hopefully things improve this year.  

I think the Meal plans are a great deal, but I don't do long waits for food. I didn't have any problems last year but I only went on weekdays early in the season. I would rather leave the park for fast food or eat out of a cooler and usually have a decent amount in of food in a cooler just in case.  

[Stoan]

The biggest issue with slow food is just how inefficient they are at moving the food from point A to point B. 4 registers that take orders, then turn around and walk off to get the food and drinks is MUCH slower than doing 2 registers and 2 runners for food and drinks.

The food is premade so that isn't the slow down in most cases, it is almost always the 5 feet between the window and the customer. Watching a busy Chick-Fil-A is even worse, they have no pick up window and have to try to yell out a name into a lively, active line of people at an amusement park. It is nearly impossible to hear your name, there is nowhere to stand for pickup, it is a horrible setup. If there are more than 4 people per line there I won't wait it is a mess. BUT they are one of the few places with packaged hot sauce.

[BeeastFarmer]

In my limited experience with park food, KI is the worst of all.  I had no issues at CP, KD, Cwinds, SFOG, DW or SFOG.  I had a slight issue at KK in that the place I wanted to try near Storm Chaser was only open once, and when it was open, it was "drinks only" so I had to waste 10 minutes.

In my experience, KI's food service is severely lacking, be it early season, mid season of Haunt season.  At the Blue Ice cream stand, on a dead August weekday, you shouldn't have to wait 30 minutes for a cone, to find there is one register open with the cashier handling money and food without proper hand hygiene.  And the supervisor was indignant about me wanting a clean ice cream cone.  Oh and the lack of trays at Skyline....lol

However, I did see glances that may point to better times.  At Skyline on IS, the drink person actually helped the chili maker a few times which sped up the line greatly.

[malem]

Here's what the food lines looked like on Opening Day last year:

Luckily, it wasn't like that all season. While there were exceptions (eg. Dollar Days), staffing & efficiency did improve. Things also got better as guests learned to use the new, dedicated drink stands to redeem and refill souvenir bottles. Some guests saw hour-plus waits, but that wasn't typical of the season as a whole.

If you come across a food line like the one pictured, my advice would be to look elsewhere in the park or come back later. In 2016, I generally found the best service at Rivertown Potato Works.

Leaving the park to eat is also an option; there are many choices a short drive away, or Great Wolf Lodge can be walked to.

[Creed Bratton]

It also serves some better to go on non peak meal times (12-1pm, 5-6 pm). 

 

As always, bring your concerns to the park's knowledge at Guest Services. Things won't necessarily improve if they don't hear the problems you are having.

[King Ding Dong]

What I if interesting is the Soak City burger/chicken stand ran incredibly well the half dozen or so times I used it.  

@sloan your experience obviously differes but I do find the *one* of the problems frequently is cooking of the food and I get it to a degree because breaded chicken does not last long under a warmer.   

They also don't have enough dedicated drink stands.

[Rivertown Rider]

I also agree that they need to have more dedicated drink stands.  They also need to try to keep the one by the train open all the time.  That area of the park is always busy and it will surely be busier this year with Mystic Timbers.