Kings Island Haunt 2021

[brenthodge]

21 minutes ago, SnakePlissken said:

Haunt and 1am closes are one of the reasons why I renewed my pass summer 2019. 2 summers without it would just add another good reason to not renew for 2022 and get a season pass elsewhere. There are many other chains and small parks that have not cut hours and days after posting the 2021 calendar and have added days and hours instead .It was known months before Cedar Fair opened their parks how busy this spring and summer would be and yet they opened later than a lot of others and continued to cut days, hours and advertised things like fireworks. A lot of parks also are either not requiring reservations or IE Hershey had a system in place where every passholder automatically got a reservation for any day and now they recently announced reservations are not needed for anybody.

Sounds like it’s time for you to shop around. That’s the great thing about a free market. You can take your purchasing any where you choose. 

[BeeastFarmer]

2 hours ago, SnakePlissken said:

Haunt and 1am closes are one of the reasons why I renewed my pass summer 2019. 2 summers without it would just add another good reason to not renew for 2022 and get a season pass elsewhere. There are many other chains and small parks that have not cut hours and days after posting the 2021 calendar and have added days and hours instead .It was known months before Cedar Fair opened their parks how busy this spring and summer would be and yet they opened later than a lot of others and continued to cut days, hours and advertised things like fireworks. A lot of parks also are either not requiring reservations or IE Hershey had a system in place where every passholder automatically got a reservation for any day and now they recently announced reservations are not needed for anybody.

I nominate you to be placed in charge of finding  way to get all the dry parks and water parks up to 120% staffing levels without putting the company under because of increased labor costs so that the parks can be open every day and until 10, midnite and 0100 as before.

But that means you also have to be in charge of neighbor relations at KI who are currently enjoying quiet evenings without Diamondback roaring thru their bedrooms!

[King Ding Dong]

29 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

But that means you also have to be in charge of neighbor relations at KI who are currently enjoying quiet evenings without Diamondback roaring thru their bedrooms!

I see another Q conspiracy bubbling up here.  Covid was the Karen Neighbors! 

[SnakePlissken]

1 hour ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I nominate you to be placed in charge of finding  way to get all the dry parks and water parks up to 120% staffing levels without putting the company under because of increased labor costs so that the parks can be open every day and until 10, midnite and 0100 as before.

But that means you also have to be in charge of neighbor relations at KI who are currently enjoying quiet evenings without Diamondback roaring thru their bedrooms!

It just sounds like you are pro corporation and not pro customer. Those Neighbors are likely not King's Island customers either. The guest should always be put first. Not The neighbors, or the Karens or the suits or the stockholders.

[BeeastFarmer]

^ I am both.  If things were "normal" and my favorite KI things were cancelled, I would be upset.  But things continue to be un-normal and will be for quite some time.  I have down graded to gold for a few years now.  Between '20 and '21, I have 12 visits in, and I normally do around 14 in a year.  So in 2 visits, everything will be what I normally pay for.  After that, everything is a bonus.  KI has provided a huge value for my investment since 2014, they need all the support they can get because of '20 and '21.  So I am pro company which is doing the best they can do to be pro customer.

The 0100 closures were addressed pre-Covid.  Yeah, it sucks, but corporations have to be good neighbors.  

You and others have complained about the family friendly Haunt event for a while now.  If they don't have enough employees/monsters etc, and it is packed as it normally is with decreased staff, you would complain even more..

You complain about just everything the park does or does not do.  While my post was satirical about you being put in charge of staffing, your post reminds me of complainers never having solutions to their complaints.  As a previous  poster said, there are plenty of other parks to shop around at.  If you are that unhappy with KI, you have plenty of time to research.

Karen, heal thyself.

[beastfan11]

1 hour ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I nominate you to be placed in charge of finding  way to get all the dry parks and water parks up to 120% staffing levels without putting the company under because of increased labor costs so that the parks can be open every day and until 10, midnite and 0100 as before.

Call me old fashioned, but maybe don’t run a business unless you can afford to run a business...?

I don’t think this a good excuse. 

[BeeastFarmer]

1 minute ago, beastfan11 said:

Call me old fashioned, but maybe don’t run a business unless you can afford to run a business... I don’t think this a good excuse. 

Are you suggesting they close the park entirely?  Have a calendar like KD or Dorney?  Require limited reservations for the dry park?

Businesses large and small are desperate for workers.  $18 for a teenager to scan a pass and hand a cup or git litter?  3 months ago that would have been preposterous.  Those workers who have gone to KI have shrunk the labor pool for the region surrounding KI.  And poor Sandusky.

Cedar Fair has a huge hole to climb out of.  They took out high interest loans to cover fixed costs and those will come due.  I'd think the budget to cover some of those costs will be reduced to find the labor budget which has to be funded immediately.  

If you were park president or CEO of the LLC, how would you solve the labor problem?

[BoddaH1994]

1 hour ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I nominate you to be placed in charge of finding  way to get all the dry parks and water parks up to 120% staffing levels without putting the company under because of increased labor costs so that the parks can be open every day and until 10, midnite and 0100 as before.

But that means you also have to be in charge of neighbor relations at KI who are currently enjoying quiet evenings without Diamondback roaring thru their bedrooms!

Why is it his responsibility to staff the park? He was offered a package of events when purchasing his pass. He shelled out the money and it’s the park’s responsibility to deliver these products. If it weren’t for the fact that this season was “free” there would be some very good grounds for a class action lawsuit if they cancelled Haunt. No judge in the world would take pity on them for taking everyone’s money and then not delivering on what’s advertised because of “staffing.”

[BeeastFarmer]

13 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Why is it his responsibility to staff the park? He was offered a package of events when purchasing his pass. He shelled out the money and it’s the park’s responsibility to deliver these products. If it weren’t for the fact that this season was “free” there would be some very good grounds for a class action lawsuit if they cancelled Haunt. No judge in the world would take pity on them for taking everyone’s money and then not delivering on what’s advertised because of “staffing.”

Evidently, you don't understand satire    

As far as purchasing a season pass, you encounter risk when you pay for anything in advance.  Your agreement to the terms of the pass is explicit, but I can't find the legalize of it in my email.  But they have their rears covered legally I am sure.  The judge would have to look into the wording.  Not being an attorney or judge, I can only speculate but pity is not part of the law.

From visitkingsisland.com:

 

**Season Pass benefits subject to change without notice.
***Platinum Passholder benefits may vary by park. Contact the park you are planning to visit for any questions regarding applicable benefits.

[SnakePlissken]

53 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

^ I am both.  If things were "normal" and my favorite KI things were cancelled, I would be upset.  But things continue to be un-normal and will be for quite some time.  I have down graded to gold for a few years now.  Between '20 and '21, I have 12 visits in, and I normally do around 14 in a year.  So in 2 visits, everything will be what I normally pay for.  After that, everything is a bonus.  KI has provided a huge value for my investment since 2014, they need all the support they can get because of '20 and '21.  So I am pro company which is doing the best they can do to be pro customer.

The 0100 closures were addressed pre-Covid.  Yeah, it sucks, but corporations have to be good neighbors.  

You and others have complained about the family friendly Haunt event for a while now.  If they don't have enough employees/monsters etc, and it is packed as it normally is with decreased staff, you would complain even more..

You complain about just everything the park does or does not do.  While my post was satirical about you being put in charge of staffing, your post reminds me of complainers never having solutions to their complaints.  As a previous  poster said, there are plenty of other parks to shop around at.  If you are that unhappy with KI, you have plenty of time to research.

Karen, heal thyself.

I am no Karen nor do I complain about everything. I do not like the insults either and I hope I never have to meet people like you face to face. I used to think this forum was better than that but it really has not been much better than a toxic facebook group ever since this Covid started last year. You are basically saying things would be better in the forum without my posts and I have had others tell me otherwise so it can not be both ways. You are saying I am unwelcome and that is okay. I am also not GP so I do not need to go and do "research" as you suggest. I know which parks are treating customers better than Cedar Fair this year and which are not.

You also say you are gold and since I am platinum that means we should have completely different expectations on weather Cedar Fair is doing things right or wrong. I go to Cedar Point normally several times a year as well as King's Island and go to their Haunt too. Are 2020 access passes okay? How about the tues and wed closes this year causing the park to be overcrowded on the other 5 days? Or the fact the 2 days off causes King's Island to be packed like crazy on what is normally slow days. How about the fact that when Cedar Point runs out of reservations those guests turn to King's Island again making it fuller than it would be in 2019? Is that okay too? When I purchased my Cedar Fair platinum for 2020 I expected a 2020 Winterfest and did not get it. I planned on visiting King's Dominion for the first time in 2020 and could not. I am within 8 hours of Canada's Wonderland and wanted to visit that park for the first time. Should Cedar Fair just blame the government and do nothing about that or are there things they could have done? They might have been able to sue to open as they did in Ohio. Since I do not live in Canada I do not know how well that would work. Another option would have been refunds for all platinum holders. Another option would be to exclude Canada's Wonderland from Platinum for the foreseeable future.

[beastfan11]

30 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Are you suggesting they close the park entirely?  Have a calendar like KD or Dorney?  Require limited reservations for the dry park?

Businesses large and small are desperate for workers.  $18 for a teenager to scan a pass and hand a cup or git litter?  3 months ago that would have been preposterous.  Those workers who have gone to KI have shrunk the labor pool for the region surrounding KI.  And poor Sandusky.

Cedar Fair has a huge hole to climb out of.  They took out high interest loans to cover fixed costs and those will come due.  I'd think the budget to cover some of those costs will be reduced to find the labor budget which has to be funded immediately.  

If you were park president or CEO of the LLC, how would you solve the labor problem?

Of course I wouldn’t want the park to be closed. Nor would I want the schedules or hours of the park to be affected. (But they ARE being affected) 

I’m also not the park president or CEO, so I can’t strategically say what I would do. That said, they’re paid well more than $18 an hour so it’s their job to figure this out. I don’t know if I believe that “staffing” is the issue at its core. Plenty of people want to work, but is the park/CF willing to pay those $18/hr employees to do so? It might not be in their budget. That in itself is an issue because it’s absolutely something that shouldn’t been planned for. It’s their job. Professionally speaking, of an issue arises in my career/job that falls under my jurisdiction I’m expected to be responsible for it. It’s my job to do so. 
 

Cutting corners like this is not only inconvenient, but also a customer service/relations nightmare. 

 

[IBEW_Sparky]

Since Ive not scanned mine once yet this year, I would JUMP at a refund if it were offered.

[BoddaH1994]

7 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Evidently, you don't understand satire    

As far as purchasing a season pass, you encounter risk when you pay for anything in advance.  Your agreement to the terms of the pass is explicit, but I can't find the legalize of it in my email.  But they have their rears covered legally I am sure.  The judge would have to look into the wording.  Not being an attorney or judge, I can only speculate but pity is not part of the law.

From visitkingsisland.com:

 

**Season Pass benefits subject to change without notice.
***Platinum Passholder benefits may vary by park. Contact the park you are planning to visit for any questions regarding applicable benefits.

Also note that hours are subject to change.  Closing early due to rain would fall under that. Probably this 8:00 stuff would fall under that.  Cutting out a 6 week event that was explicitly advertised would very likely take it too far.

But other than that, I do get your point. 

[BeeastFarmer]

1 minute ago, beastfan11 said:

Of course I wouldn’t want the park to be closed. Nor would I want the schedules or hours of the park to be affected. (But they ARE being affected) 

I’m also not the park president or CEO, so I can’t strategically say what I would do. That said, they’re paid well more than $18 an hour so it’s their job to figure this out. I don’t know if I believe that “staffing” is the issue at its core. Plenty of people want to work, but is the park/CF willing to pay those $18/hr employees to do so? It might not be in their budget. That in itself is an issue because it’s absolutely something that shouldn’t been planned for. It’s their job. Professionally speaking, of an issue arises in my career/job that falls under my jurisdiction I’m expected to be responsible for it. It’s my job to do so. 
 

Cutting corners like this is not only inconvenient, but also a customer service/relations nightmare. 

 

I doubt that labor was budgeted for what the current outlay is.  All I know is that labor issues are not local to amusement parks--it is everywhere, larger metro areas and small towns.  How do you solve that without spending all your income...while still having to pay other obligations?

[robintodd]

1 hour ago, SnakePlissken said:

It just sounds like you are pro corporation and not pro customer. Those Neighbors are likely not King's Island customers either. The guest should always be put first. Not The neighbors, or the Karens or the suits or the stockholders.

Make no mistake, in our society it's not about the workers or the customer, it's ONLY about the stockholder and the almighty dollar.

[beastfan11]

5 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I doubt that labor was budgeted for what the current outlay is.  All I know is that labor issues are not local to amusement parks--it is everywhere, larger metro areas and small towns.  How do you solve that without spending all your income...while still having to pay other obligations?

 Is that why many other regional and year long parks are seemingly moving in the other direction?

[FUN&ONLY!]

Let’s not just assume that Halloween Haunt is already cancelled and get mad at Cedar Fair. We don’t know that yet. Even if Kings Island runs a more family oriented event instead of their typical event, I could see them trying to open a few scare mazes if they have the staffing to do so.

Also, people have to realize that it is impossible for Cedar Fair to please everyone. Kings Island is obviously trying to please their customers, and they for sure wish they didn’t have staffing issues and limited park hours. If Kings Island could control everything, we would have a season like 2019. Kings Island literally cannot do anything more than raise their wages to attract new workers to bring back normal park hours. And, since Halloween Haunt is apparently a big money maker for Cedar Fair, they for sure wish they could just have it like any other year. The problem is, this year is not normal, so they may not be able to have Halloween Haunt like they usually would. They for sure will try their best to host the event or something similar, but they don’t necessarily have complete control over that.

Kings Island is stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one side, they have passholders who claim they don’t get enough value with their season passes while others think the season passes are too cheap. Is Kings Island screwing over customers by not giving them good value for their season pass or are they giving away the gate? No matter what Kings Island does, there will always be people who are unhappy. This is true for any business.

Let’s also look at the good on things and not always the negative. Too often, I feel like people only come on this site to bash things or complain. If you look at Kings Island for what it is, it is a well-kept, well-landscaped amusement park that is home to a world-class ride collection. In terms of operations, Kings Island is operating seven days a week, Kings Island is not closing lines early, and Kings Island  is running live entertainment. A lot of regional amusement parks cannot say the same.

[BeeastFarmer]

@beastfan11 Without knowing the specific parks you are mentioning, I can only mention what I have experienced and read about on social media:

Kentucky Kingdom is operating on a normal calendar, but they have had typically short operating days.  Several dry park rides are undergoing renovation (likely delayed by the transition), but food stands and waterpark rides are closed or rotated because of short staffing.

Indiana Beach is short staffed and is recruiting teachers as seasonal workers (KI could do this, and may have started to recruit senior workers as I saw more seniors working on my visit last week).

Six Flags parks have seemed to keep the calendar intact, but people complain more than ever because of lines, closed food locations and rides.

A friend in Orlando says he will not renew either his Disney or Universal pass because of the miserable conditions related to short staffing.

BGW has and may still have very limited capacity, with many people posting about never coming back (they will).

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 hour ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

Let’s also look at the good on things and not always the negative. Too often, I feel like people only come on this site to bash things or complain. If you look at Kings Island for what it is, it is a well-kept, well-landscaped amusement park that is home to a world-class ride collection. In terms of operations, Kings Island is operating seven days a week, Kings Island is not closing lines early, and Kings Island  is running live entertainment. A lot of regional amusement parks cannot say the same.

Compared to the park's own social pages and other fan social pages, KIC is very light on complaining. Here the posts are more in your face compared to social media as well.

You make good points on what we do have. What if CW was our home park? They would probably love to have what we have been able to enjoy and they are still waiting to open.

[CoastersRZ]

Speaking of Canada`s Wonderland, they just announced they are being given permission to open.  July 5th for pass holders and July 7th to the general public.  https://www.canadaswonderland.com/

[alsoran]

Meanwhile, I am sitting here collecting unemployment reading the arguements and mad as an old wet hen because the pizza place down the street doesn't have a delivery driver.

 

None of this is true.  We all have answers greater than what we are seeing, but we are not in charge.  We all have a better way of doing things, until we are asked to do them.  Or maybe we have tried our better way, and we are the ones being criticized for not doing the way someone else thinks it should be done.  I see so many times on here where respect for others has went out the window because we don't agree, and I may have done this as well.  Most of the times the words typed sound different when they are read.  For those on here, my apologies if I have offended, but I will speak how I think.  You don't have to agree, but we can discuss with respect.  

 

My 2 cents, we are in a time like never before, and we can point fingers all day long and blame everything and everyone around us for every problem.  There is a time and place for every complaint, as well as a place for every praise.  Not every business handled things perfect, and we make our decisions upon that.  If KI did not offer you what you think you should have received, take your money elsewhere, just like a restaurant that you receive bad service from.  You don't go back.  Or, you hope it was a one time problem and it gets taken care of, and you move on. 

 

I am a GP with a platinum pass with my wife, am I unhappy with KI, no.  Could they have done things better?  I don't know.  Am I going to renew my pass, probably.   

[ki95]

Back on topic… IF we do have Haunt this year, what would you all like to see come, go & return?! 

[BoddaH1994]

5 hours ago, ki95 said:

Back on topic… IF we do have Haunt this year, what would you all like to see come, go & return?! 

If it happens it’ll be 2019, but scaled back a little. I’d be grateful for that so long as it returns to normal next year. 

[disco2000]

15 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

If it happens it’ll be 2019, but scaled back a little. I’d be grateful for that so long as it returns to normal next year. 

So full on 2019 in 2022

[RadioRiders]

Can't we all just get along? #gaunt.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[jackinbox]

On 6/14/2021 at 6:47 PM, BeeastFarmer said:

@beastfan11

Six Flags parks have seemed to keep the calendar intact, but people complain more than ever because of lines, closed food locations and rides.

So far in 2021, I've been to Kings Island, Cedar Point, Dollywood, Carowinds, SF Great Adventure, SF St. Louis, SF Great America, Universal Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa, SeaWorld Orlando, Disney Magic Kingdom, Disney Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Hershey Park.    At the beginning of the year, I would have put money on Six Flags being the worst at staffing, lines, hours, etc.   Somehow, they've managed to be one of the best (at least so far this year).  I don't expect it to continue, but they are doing a much better job than many of the others who are normally very good.  

[ki95]

Haunt is coming back for 2021!!

[super7]

That’s just what this park needs after the fights this year.  A dark themed event that’s already problematic enough that they don’t allow re entry.   
 

Having indoor events is also still a bad idea given that appx 40% of the people are unvaccinated AND not wearing masks.   
 

But hey!  Short term profits. 

[MDMC01]

Slight change of topic, but still related to Haunt...

I recently found this older Haunt shirt, but I can't remember what year it is from. I know it is at least from 2014 as Banshee is in the background. Does anyone (on here ) know what year this shirt is from?

I've previously searched on KIC for info (as I know I found out about it on here many moons ago), but no avail. Thanks in advance for letting me know.

[AgentSoB]

I'm thinking 2014 for that shirt. They had the scream like a Banshee contest that year. Also, I'm pretty sure "it'll scare the yell out of you", was a slogan that year.

Also as far as the Blackout building is concerned, that maze was all about touching the walls and feeling your way around while being grossed out as to what you were touching. Although I don't know if it's being eliminated, that would be quite the reason to do so. Eliminate as many touch points as possible.