Park Nitpicks

[SonofBaconator]

Ever been on a great ride or have been to a park you really liked but have some nitpicks? Well discuss them here! 

I thought it would have been cool to make the tombstones near the pretzel on Banshee bigger to add a near miss element to the ride experience. 

Also Alpengeist being only 5ft short of 200ft which irritates me for some reason

[mayaman2]

My biggest nitpick: the lack of maintenance of Dinosaurs Alive. It's pretty obvious that the park took no care of them and that it'd often be DA employees I'd see cleaning the dinosaurs with soap and a washcloth. The dinosaurs were barely protected during the off-season and the only maintenance was done by the attraction's leasers. I'm sure it's in the contract that KI can't perform maintenance on the dinosaurs, but I was sent to DA when they had "Dinosaurs Unearthed" send their maintenance people, and they hadn't even been informed what maintenance was needed - it was just a routine check-in by DU. I'm sure Dino's land will be used well for upcoming attractions, but DA could've been better and stayed longer if KI cared about it at all.

My nitpick.

[TombRaiderFTW]

I've got two.

First: this is a little cliched around here, but it annoys me that the park has front-and-center buildings being used as Haunt attractions. I don't mind having structures that only exist for Haunt that are unintrusive during the regular season (e.g. Slaughterhouse, Board 2 Death, CarnEvil.) I don't love that an entire arcade (KillMart) and a themed ride building (Madame Fatale's) are very much visible components of themed(-ish) areas but aren't accessible except for six weekends in the fall. Especially since both could be used to further enhance the themes of their respective areas, given the right funding and focus.

Second (which I don't know necessarily qualifies as a nitpick, but I'll throw it in anyway): I'm finally going to Disneyland this year for the first time after having visited Walt Disney World a couple times over the last few years.

When you buy a ticket for Disney World, there's so much pre-planning to get excited about. "Make your profile and reserve your FastPasses!" they exclaim. "Have you booked a hotel room? Made your dining reservations? Do you want us to shoot a reminder to your phone when it's time for [show] or [character meet and greet]? How do you want to receive your Super Special Plastic Ticket Card(s)? Get your magic ready to go!" There's a whole hype train attached to buying a Disney World ticket. If you want it, your experience starts at least 30 days before you ever go.

When you buy a ticket to Disneyland... you buy a ticket. And that's it. The lack of hype is comical (to me, anyway) compared to WDW. Did you buy your ticket? Good. Now go print it off and sit on your hands or something.

I've got all this Disney park-related excitement but literally nothing to channel it into, haha.

[WWC2003Amy]

My Nitpick is that you can’t take a GoPro with a wriststrap on rides.   Makes vlogs kinda boring.  And I could understand a safety issue holding a phone but I don’t see how that would cause an issue.

 

[King Ding Dong]

Can we Nitpick KIC as well?  

[IndyGuy4KI]

3 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Can we Nitpick KIC as well?  

So you are going to nitpick yourself? 

[King Ding Dong]

I don’t have enough self awareness for that.  

[whengodsaysgo]

I realize that line separators are in place ultimately to decrease wait times, but sometimes I'd like to have the opportunity to pick which seat I ride in - especially on Mysti.  I can't say that I have had a bad ride on her ever, except for in the back two rows it's harder to see what's going on in the shed.  However, sometimes, I just wanna ride shotgun.

My birthday is Oct 1, and after midnight on Sept 30th at Haunt last year I pulled the birthday card.  Even got a quick rendition of the HBD song while we were being dispatched.

[JubJester]

54 minutes ago, whengodsaysgo said:

  I can't say that I have had a bad ride on her ever, except for in the back two rows it's harder to see what's going on in the shed.  

I personally think the back rows are the best on Mystic Timbers. Plus, you get to see the animation unfold all the way on the front screen. 

Some nitpicks I have be WindSeeker's queue line. Line jumping happens way too much. I've stated this a lot before and will probably continue doing so.

Another nitpick would be that the Coca-Cola refill station at the train station is rarely open. It would be nice because they have the freestyle machines there. I always have to get FlavaRavn Fizz, which is 70% Pibb extra cherry vanilla (regular is good too) and 30% Fanta (orange).

[mayaman2]

1 hour ago, whengodsaysgo said:

I realize that line separators are in place ultimately to decrease wait times, but sometimes I'd like to have the opportunity to pick which seat I ride in - especially on Mysti.  I can't say that I have had a bad ride on her ever, except for in the back two rows it's harder to see what's going on in the shed.  However, sometimes, I just wanna ride shotgun.

Just ask. If a ride's absolutely slammed, don't bother, but a normal wait time and I'm sure 90% of us are willing to oblige, some less enthusiastic as others.

[whengodsaysgo]

28 minutes ago, mayaman2 said:

Just ask. If a ride's absolutely slammed, don't bother, but a normal wait time and I'm sure 90% of us are willing to oblige, some less enthusiastic as others.

Good to know.  I try not to be annoying.  But if I'm feeling particularly froggy, I'll sure ask. 

[Cdeq]

I know if I am at separator, I try to work with people but since our station is super small we can only have 2 trains in a row.  If you are nice about it, I would pretty much let you go there as long as you don't mind the extra wait. 

[spooky21]

My nitpicks

The biggest one is that one of my favorite rides in a large tan colored building was removed.

The other would be that Skyline on I-Street is disgusting and every time I went the employees didn't seem to care about anything.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Since we have some MT ride ops on this thread maybe they can help me understand this. This is only a nitpick problem at MT. I have been doing this for 10 years at KI it has never been an issue until this season and only at MT.

When we take my children we are a family of 5. We have 1 under 48", he is 3. We want to walk in the queue together, take 1 row for 2 of our party, wait two cycles in the same row by putting 2 cycles of people in front of us. Then hand over the 3 yr old as the first 2 are exiting the ride. This works out awesome at every other coaster that we usually ride as a family. We never have issues doing this except at MT.

When I ask to do this at MT I get forced to walk through with my second rider and my 3 year old with the first 2 riders on their cycle and wait on the exit platform . Then, by the time the first riders cycle comes back, the ride separator has forgotten we were waiting. I then have to tell another ride OP that we were waiting. Then we might get on a cycle or 2 later. That is so much more complicated and frustrating.

Why can I not just wait by the line separator and go in the row my first 2 riders were in for the cycle after theirs. This makes so much more sense, does not slow load times, the line seperator does not forget, and everything is smooth for everyone. This system works great at every other coaster. Why is this an issue at MT?

[Delta]

1 hour ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Why can I not just wait by the line separator and go in the row my first 2 riders were in for the cycle after theirs. This makes so much more sense, does not slow load times, the line seperator does not forget, and everything is smooth for everyone. This system works great at every other coaster. Why is this an issue at MT?

The park has a Parent Swap Card for this purpose. It seems they are simply trying to follow the process that would be used for a parent swap, but without using the physical card. Mystic Timbers has a particularly narrow station and it can get quite congested if people aren’t continuously moving through.

[Tera Ryzing]

1 hour ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Since we have some MT ride ops on this thread maybe they can help me understand this. This is only a nitpick problem at MT. I have been doing this for 10 years at KI it has never been an issue until this season and only at MT.

When we take my children we are a family of 5. We have 1 under 48", he is 3. We want to walk in the queue together, take 1 row for 2 of our party, wait two cycles in the same row by putting 2 cycles of people in front of us. Then hand over the 3 yr old as the first 2 are exiting the ride. This works out awesome at every other coaster that we usually ride as a family. We never have issues doing this except at MT.

When I ask to do this at MT I get forced to walk through with my second rider and my 3 year old with the first 2 riders on their cycle and wait on the exit platform . Then, by the time the first riders cycle comes back, the ride separator has forgotten we were waiting. I then have to tell another ride OP that we were waiting. Then we might get on a cycle or 2 later. That is so much more complicated and frustrating.

Why can I not just wait by the line separator and go in the row my first 2 riders were in for the cycle after theirs. This makes so much more sense, does not slow load times, the line seperator does not forget, and everything is smooth for everyone. This system works great at every other coaster. Why is this an issue at MT?

Parent swap?  It's safer to not allow undersized riders into line from the get go.

[mayaman2]

Usually with a parent swap, you'll have the first set of riders enter the line and the second set wait outside of line. Have the separator or unload operator sign the parent swap card after the first set leaves, and then the second set comes up the exit with the card (to confirm they have a parent swap) and gets to ride at the earliest.

IMO this system is convoluted and dumb and is carefully constructed so that there's as little liability on the park as possible. All rides should have kiddie corrals like The Beast and Racer. They take up valuable space, yes, but the time they save the ride operators and riders will pay itself off in the first season. Just make the corrals tall enough so that kids can't jump out of them.

[fryoj]

22 hours ago, TombRaiderFTW said:

I've got two.

First: this is a little cliched around here, but it annoys me that the park has front-and-center buildings being used as Haunt attractions. I don't mind having structures that only exist for Haunt that are unintrusive during the regular season (e.g. Slaughterhouse, Board 2 Death, CarnEvil.) I don't love that an entire arcade (KillMart) and a themed ride building (Madame Fatale's) are very much visible components of themed(-ish) areas but aren't accessible except for six weekends in the fall. Especially since both could be used to further enhance the themes of their respective areas, given the right funding and focus.

Second (which I don't know necessarily qualifies as a nitpick, but I'll throw it in anyway): I'm finally going to Disneyland this year for the first time after having visited Walt Disney World a couple times over the last few years.

When you buy a ticket for Disney World, there's so much pre-planning to get excited about. "Make your profile and reserve your FastPasses!" they exclaim. "Have you booked a hotel room? Made your dining reservations? Do you want us to shoot a reminder to your phone when it's time for [show] or [character meet and greet]? How do you want to receive your Super Special Plastic Ticket Card(s)? Get your magic ready to go!" There's a whole hype train attached to buying a Disney World ticket. If you want it, your experience starts at least 30 days before you ever go.

When you buy a ticket to Disneyland... you buy a ticket. And that's it. The lack of hype is comical (to me, anyway) compared to WDW. Did you buy your ticket? Good. Now go print it off and sit on your hands or something.

I've got all this Disney park-related excitement but literally nothing to channel it into, haha.

On the Disney thing, it's really because at WDW, if you don't get FPs and Reservations 6 months before your trip, you aren't going to get to do them without waiting hours in line. With Disneyland, you can pretty much just show up at the park and get FP's and dining anywhere that day. WDW knows that if you just show up at the park, you are probably not going to have as good of a time, so they do everything they can to get you to prepare. 

[BoddaH1994]

I’ve said it before, but since you asked...

”Exit to your right and enjoy the rest of your day at Holiday World!” (While at Kings Island)

”Diamondback cost $22 million and that’s why drinks are so expensive here.”

”...and thank you for riding Chicken Tenders!” (Pun on Mystic Timbers)

It’s disapponting that this has gone on for the past 2 or 3 years and management either 1) doesn’t know about it 2) knows about it but can’t do anything about it, or 3) does not understand how trashy it is.

Rides people - please do not think that I’m trying to rip on you. I love you guys. You do long, hot hours doing a job I would never want to do. Do not let the above actions define how the guests see your whole department. Change begins with you.

Also, I’ve used Funpix at KI, KD, and CP. The quality of the pictures is so much better at CP and KD.  KI’s are nearly blurry in comparison. Does anyone know if someone at KI is responsible for FunPix that someone could show a comparison? Maybe they don’t know that it’s an issue?

Again, you asked for nitpicks, and that’s what you got. Clearly the good far outweighs the bad, but if you didn’t want to push KI to be the best it can be then you aren’t being a good friend, now are you?

Just for the sake of not being entirely negative in this post: Mystic Timbers got an A+ in my book, last year was the best year of Haunt in a long time in my opinion, and Winterfest was nothing short of a dream come true.

[sixohdieselrage]

My nitpick, the smoking areas being in the middle of the path. (That's right Coney Mall, talking about you.  ) 

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 hour ago, Tera Ryzing said:

Parent swap?  It's safer to not allow undersized riders into line from the get go.

I understand that there is the parent swap program. I choose not to participate in that program because if I am taking my family to the park we are staying together. One parent and child should not have to not be with the rest of the family for however long the queue may be (could be an hour plus) wait to be able to get everyone to ride. Plus, standing in the queue helps my 3 year old learn patience. Lastly, how is the MT queue any less safe for an undersized rider than any queue in PS? Please don't take this as an argument, just trying to understand your statement.

[sixohdieselrage]

3 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

patients

patience

 

Don't worry, my spelling and grammar can be atrocious as well. LOL

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 minute ago, sixohdieselrage said:

patience

 

Don't worry, my spelling and grammar can be atrocious as well. LOL

Oops, fixed it.. Thanks!

[Tera Ryzing]

17 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I understand that there is the parent swap program. I choose not to participate in that program because if I am taking my family to the park we are staying together. One parent and child should not have to not be with the rest of the family for however long the queue may be (could be an hour plus) wait to be able to get everyone to ride. Plus, standing in the queue helps my 3 year old learn patience. Lastly, how is the MT queue any less safe for an undersized rider than any queue in PS? Please don't take this as an argument, just trying to understand your statement.

When a undersized patron is in line that makes it more stressful on staff.  The ride attendant's job at the front of the que is to only allow riders in that is of height requirement and with body proportions allowable for operation of the restraints.  There are a lot of people unlike you that try to sneak undersized riders onto a ride.

[spooky21]

17 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I understand that there is the parent swap program. I choose not to participate in that program because if I am taking my family to the park we are staying together. One parent and child should not have to not be with the rest of the family for however long the queue may be (could be an hour plus) wait to be able to get everyone to ride. Plus, standing in the queue helps my 3 year old learn patience. Lastly, how is the MT queue any less safe for an undersized rider than any queue in PS? Please don't take this as an argument, just trying to understand your statement.

I totally agree I hate being away from my family on the longer waits.

[mayaman2]

5 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I’ve said it before, but since you asked...

”Exit to your right and enjoy the rest of your day at Holiday World!” (While at Kings Island)

”Diamondback cost $22 million and that’s why drinks are so expensive here.”

”...and thank you for riding Chicken Tenders!” (Pun on Mystic Timbers)

It’s disapponting that this has gone on for the past 2 or 3 years and management either 1) doesn’t know about it 2) knows about it but can’t do anything about it, or 3) does not understand how trashy it is.

Rides people - please do not think that I’m trying to rip on you. I love you guys. You do long, hot hours doing a job I would never want to do. Do not let the above actions define how the guests see your whole department. Change begins with you.

I think these are hilarious. These jokes are mostly for the other associates - you're one of the few who actually listen to what we ride ops say. I will say, that there is a line to it. The chicken tenders one is not to my tastes, and I'd only ever use the Diamondback one with a bunch of teenagers on that train, but switching out parks and other funny spiels really do make the day go faster and the job more fun. 

[Tera Ryzing]

When I say diamond, you say back!

[Creed Bratton]

The thing for me is the train....I really wish they would either just play music or not have spieling like was done during WinterFest. 

I don't want to hear someone spouting off facts about the park...I'd rather enjoy the view, listen to the music - if it's a must, and just relax. It's almost obnoxious when you are barely out of the station and you start hearing about Diamondback being the tallest, fastest and meanest roller coaster at Kings Island. 

[King Ding Dong]

59 minutes ago, Tera Ryzing said:

When I say diamond, you say back!

I say stack.

[purdude86]

On 2/10/2018 at 3:17 PM, TombRaiderFTW said:

Second (which I don't know necessarily qualifies as a nitpick, but I'll throw it in anyway): I'm finally going to Disneyland this year for the first time after having visited Walt Disney World a couple times over the last few years.

When you buy a ticket for Disney World, there's so much pre-planning to get excited about. "Make your profile and reserve your FastPasses!" they exclaim. "Have you booked a hotel room? Made your dining reservations? Do you want us to shoot a reminder to your phone when it's time for [show] or [character meet and greet]? How do you want to receive your Super Special Plastic Ticket Card(s)? Get your magic ready to go!" There's a whole hype train attached to buying a Disney World ticket. If you want it, your experience starts at least 30 days before you ever go.

When you buy a ticket to Disneyland... you buy a ticket. And that's it. The lack of hype is comical (to me, anyway) compared to WDW. Did you buy your ticket? Good. Now go print it off and sit on your hands or something.

I've got all this Disney park-related excitement but literally nothing to channel it into, haha.

I'm always so mixed on this aspect myself. All of that stuff really helps to amp you up for the parks and really thinking about, and as you said gives you a channel for your excitement for your trip. However, I feel like once you are there so much of your trip is planned out and scheduled fully without wiggle room. Kind of miss just going to the parks and grabbing a fast pass when you get there and wander around and do what you want when. Now you pretty much have to hav ea game plan going in that you stick to for the entire stay. Nice that Disneyland has that still. And since they ahve a large AP base I understand why they didn't update it.