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Ride Wait Times 2021 Season


IndyGuy4KI
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4 hours ago, SnakePlissken said:

 

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I got into the park itself around 1130. I went on Orion first. It was about a 40 minute wait. Next I went to Flight of Fear. That was easily a good hour and a half wait but a ton of fun. Went to The Beast afterwards and that was about a 30 minutes wait. That was one of the most incredibly amazing wooden coasters I ever rode. The last part where you go down the hill slightly sideways into the two tunnels was absolutely incredible. I then took a ton of photos. And decided I would save the rest for another day. The reason I did that is they said my ticket is good for another admission free so I plan to make the 10 hour drive back from Pennsylvania before the season is over. Overall I thought the park was awesome even though I only did 3 rides.

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Well, I made it as far as Kings Island Drive, and once I saw the vehicles at the intersection and the line on the road going to the toll gates, I spun right back onto 71 south and came home.  Its been a good run folks, but seeing that just made me realize that this is it.  It isnt the rides that did me in like happened to my Wife in 2005, but the people and the crowds.  I hope you can all enjoy this hobby for many years to come, it was a good one for me for about 20 years.

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^ yep and I hope I am wrong, but I think the typical slow days at KI will be slammed, especially with CP closed on Tue and Wed in June and reservations, KI will pick up many people that would have been going to CP.  Plus all the pent up demand and so many passes sold that people want to get their money's worth...

The 8pm closes may deter some, but apparently not today lol!

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^ yep and I hope I am wrong, but I think the typical slow days at KI will be slammed, especially with CP closed on Tue and Wed in June and reservations, KI will pick up many people that would have been going to CP.  Plus all the pent up demand and so many passes sold that people want to get their money's worth...
The 8pm closes may deter some, but apparently not today lol!

Judging by what I’ve seen this year I will take a stab and say many that usually don’t buy passes bought them with stimulus money.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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3 hours ago, IBEW_Sparky said:

Well, I made it as far as Kings Island Drive, and once I saw the vehicles at the intersection and the line on the road going to the toll gates, I spun right back onto 71 south and came home.  Its been a good run folks, but seeing that just made me realize that this is it.  It isnt the rides that did me in like happened to my Wife in 2005, but the people and the crowds.  I hope you can all enjoy this hobby for many years to come, it was a good one for me for about 20 years.

Because there's crowds you're taking your ball and going home?  I wish I had the park to myself but it is what it is.

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4 hours ago, IBEW_Sparky said:

Well, I made it as far as Kings Island Drive, and once I saw the vehicles at the intersection and the line on the road going to the toll gates, I spun right back onto 71 south and came home.  Its been a good run folks, but seeing that just made me realize that this is it.  It isnt the rides that did me in like happened to my Wife in 2005, but the people and the crowds.  I hope you can all enjoy this hobby for many years to come, it was a good one for me for about 20 years.

Over the long-term I think the park being packed will hurt business (compared to right now), and we'll see things balance out. However, as we're just coming out of a pandemic with a bunch of money printed and thrown to the masses, I don't think it balances out well anytime soon. That said, there's still opportune times to get in and out of the park in a hurry and hit some rides, pending your schedule. Regardless, I respect your decision either way, and understand. We've all got a bazillion choices to make with our time and money right now. Standing in line for an hour+ to ride a 2-minute ride is not for me either.

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For me its not the crowds but how the park handels them.  We went to Carowinds over the weekend and it was crowded however we never had to wait more then 5-10 minutes for food or to use our drink passes.  The staff was alot more friendly than Kings Island as well.  One of the staff members played rock paper scissors with my son.  Its the little things to us that mean alot.  Every single bathroom was sparkling clean and the park overall was much cleaner.  Carowinds is my new fav. Cedar Fair park.  Kings Island has alot to learn.

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10 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

maybe someone has an ax to grind?

Probably. I've had so many positive experiences interacting with KI staff I could write a report going on for I don't know how many pages. And I don't know how clean Carowinds is, but KI certainly isn't dirty. 

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4 minutes ago, bjcolglazier said:

Probably. I've had so many positive experiences interacting with KI staff I could write a report going on for I don't know how many pages. And I don't know how clean Carowinds is, but KI certainly isn't dirty. 

Even in pre covid times carowinds ops and employees are way below KI IMO.

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@flightoffear1996 - was this your first time to Carowinds?

Your experience this weekend was different than this?

On 5/30/2021 at 3:32 PM, MrSourNinja said:

I understand where your coming from but the park being unable to staff enough roles tells me they just weren’t prepared. You can’t make money by being closed. One thing Six Flags has definitely done better.


I would say Kings Island was busier than a Carowinds yesterday. The main reason I had a good day was due to fast pass, without it the day would have sucked. Operations here at Carowinds are just not good. For example, I am here again today and Fury just had a 20 dispatch hour. That’s awful for a Huge B and M like Fury. 
 

And I would have never thought but they did! Load times were around 10-15 minutes per train on goldrusher. Absolutely insane!

 

On 5/30/2021 at 5:46 PM, MrSourNinja said:

To be honest, I am not sure. I got here after opening yesterday and today. Operations are a big problem though. The coasters here are dispatching consistently slow. They really could use some more training or something because it’s nowhere near as good as KI. That’s a shame too because their top 4 rides here are fantastic. 

 

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2 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Interesting - in another thread someone said how bad the operations were and how understaffed Carowinds was?  20 trains in an hour and Gold Rush only had 2 employees and 10min dispatch times?  

This is a very rare circumstance but I understand where FOF is coming from and I think several of you missed his point.   He said nothing about ride operations, it was about Food and Beverage in both how they were staffed and the moral of the staff.  “The little things”.  It is one thing to have long ride lines on a busy day, we all expect that. It is quite another when you get off a ride after a two hour wait and have to wait another hour just to get a drink or a bite to eat much less served by a less than enthusiastic associate.  “The little things” and they do mean a lot. 
 

Also, while the restrooms at KI are way ahead of CP, they are still poorly ventilated, stinky and atrocious. (Don’t get me started on CP restrooms.)  Something, in my albeit limited experience, other chains have excelled at. 

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36 minutes ago, bjcolglazier said:

I think the bathroom patrol has been especially good since covid. And he did totally diss KI staff, which is honestly almost always very good. And he didn't mention another chain. He was talking about another park within the same chain.

Regarding KI staff, I do not see how stating one park’s staff is more friendly than another’s staff is dissing one.  It is simple stating that one is better and that can likely be chalked up to as southern hospitality. Something some of us northerners could learn from.  
 

Bless your heart.  :lol:

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IMO KI and CP have the best ride OP operations and speed. Knotts comes in a close 3rd out of the CF parks I have visited. Carowinds and KD are very laid back, which at KID not necessary a bad thing, but Carowinds is a pretty busy park now. For those of us used to KI and CP speeds it seems they are very slow. 

Go to Indiana Beach, Holiday World, and a SIX park. :o  I do not have any ride op experience, but you want to go show them the speed they could be going to get trains out. KI really is the example in this regard. 

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10 hours ago, King Ding Dong said:

Regarding KI staff, I do not see how stating one park’s staff is more friendly than another’s staff is dissing one.  It is simple stating that one is better and that can likely be chalked up to as southern hospitality. Something some of us northerners could learn from.  
 

Bless your heart.  :lol:

For some reason Charlotte area missed the memo about southern charm IMO.  

 

8 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

IMO KI and CP have the best ride OP operations and speed. Knotts comes in a close 3rd out of the CF parks I have visited. Carowinds and KD are very laid back, which at KID not necessary a bad thing, but Carowinds is a pretty busy park now. For those of us used to KI and CP speeds it seems they are very slow. 

Go to Indiana Beach, Holiday World, and a SIX park. :o  I do not have any ride op experience, but you want to go show them the speed they could be going to get trains out. KI really is the example in this regard. 

Not all SIX parks are trash operations.  Nitro has the fastest dispatches of any ride in the US.  Train is starting up the lift before the train on the track hits mcbr.  

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6 minutes ago, coaster sally said:

Not all SIX parks are trash operations.  Nitro has the fastest dispatches of any ride in the US.  Train is starting up the lift before the train on the track hits mcbr.  

I never said trash. Six is so hit or miss like you have pointed out.

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21 hours ago, Twirly said:

Why are the wait times on the app always so off?
Disney (I know, I know) manages to keep theirs accurate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

not always and for deliberate reasons...

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