Kings Island Prestige Pass

[Shaggy]

I typically give KI a break.  But this year we upgraded to “Prestige”.  I was curious about the VIP lounge and knew that it would be a temporary location.  However I simply cannot believe the VIP area entitled us to… water… in Dixie cups.. and plain Lays potato chips.   No, I’m not joking - that was it. 

[disco2000]

14 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

I typically give KI a break.  But this year we upgraded to “Prestige”.  I was curious about the VIP lounge and knew that it would be a temporary location.  However I simply cannot believe the VIP area entitled us to… water… in Dixie cups.. and plain Lays potato chips.   No, I’m not joking - that was it. 

Yep...now just imagine all the folks that bought said pass after visiting the lounge last year when it had bottled drinks and all you want variety of snacks and purchased pass based on that experience and now get cooler water in flimsy cups and they ration the snacks.  Many call it the bait and switch.  At least they are Lay's this year.  For a while last year it switched to no name chips lol..

Wait till you see Soak City where all KI mentions is seating...well exclusive seating... and no mention of water or snacks or TVs...

[Rallyomalley]

20 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Yep...now just imagine all the folks that bought said pass after visiting the lounge last year when it had bottled drinks and all you want variety of snacks and purchased pass based on that experience and now get cooler water in flimsy cups and they ration the snacks.  Many call it the bait and switch.  At least they are Lay's this year.  For a while last year it switched to no name chips lol..

Wait till you see Soak City where all KI mentions is seating...well exclusive seating... and no mention of water or snacks or TVs...

I’m in that camp. Literally can’t believe this is all we get for 3x the renewal cost. Really feeling like they pulled the ole switcheroo.
 

I thought the “do not enter” barrier they put up at the entrance to the preferred / prestige parking lot (only partially full) was a nice touch too.

[Oldschool75]

I typically give KI a break.  But this year we upgraded to “Prestige”.  I was curious about the VIP lounge and knew that it would be a temporary location.  However I simply cannot believe the VIP area entitled us to… water… in Dixie cups.. and plain Lays potato chips.   No, I’m not joking - that was it. 

I see a possible class action lawsuit.


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[Benjamin22]

3 minutes ago, Rallyomalley said:

I’m in that camp. Literally can’t believe this is all we get for 3x the renewal cost. Really feeling like they pulled the ole switcheroo.
 

I thought the “do not enter” barrier they put up at the entrance to the preferred / prestige parking lot (only partially full) was a nice touch too.

I feel the same way, the lack of bottle drinks is extremely disappointing. Them closing the preferred parking lot would upset me significantly since atm that’s really the only big perk of this pass imo.

[disco2000]

2 hours ago, Benjamin22 said:

One thing I do want to mention is that it’s a nice touch to be greeted by name when entering the vip area!

You go to the right associate entering the park and you can get that for the price of your gold or platinum pass LOL

Pay me $200 and I will greet you by name as well 

[Coastercrush]

Is there a prestige only gate to enter the park?

[Rallyomalley]

22 minutes ago, Oldschool75 said:

I see a possible class action lawsuit.


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I have a sneaking suspicion you’re right. My real question goes something like  “how are they charging a pretty decent premium and then serving up a turd?” 
 

I’m willing to throw money at the park. I have all the add-ons except funpix, I just can’t wrap my head around how they consistently under-deliver. It is not that difficult to offer a “vip” experience.

A tiny plastic cup of water and a sample bag of chips for 3x the renewal price feels a bit…scammy?

[Tr0y]

Honestly I’m not entirely surprised with the current woes of the prestige pass. It’s new for the season and the park is going to have to deal with some teething problems to get it right. I remember when the all season dining plan came out and I was an early adopter. That season was probably the worst experience I have ever had with food and food service at Kings Island, and I wasn’t the only one. Kings Island has come a long way since then, and I’m happy to be on board with the dining plan again, but I completely understand your all’s frustration and I hope the park can mitigate the problems soon.

 

 

[disco2000]

I suspect those that bought the pass did so for one or more these reasons:

• Preferred Parking
• Bottled drinks and snacks
• Front of the line pass
• Lounge

The way it was marketed initially was that preferred parking was a guarantee, now it is subject to availability.  That would be like saying the season long FL is subject to availability.

It was marketed, promoted, and sold as bottled water and snacks and then that was taken away.  Many bought Prestige after walking by the Lounge last year and saw what was being offered to only have it removed weeks later.

I know people with handicap plates that bought Prestige just so they could show up later since the handicap lot fills quickly and the preferred is basically at the same general location (just other side of walkway).  

I know people with allergies to the dyes in drinks so they cannot even get water from the Coke machine since they share a drink with the water dispenser.  They would buy bottled water and essentially decided to go with Prestige as essentially their bottled water drink plan.

So they have kept the front of the line pass and the lounge, and of course the two free guests, but is it worth 3x the price now?

And then the lounge for Soak City is being marketed as only having seating and no other amenities.

Unless some additional benefits show up or they restore some of what was lost, I see many not renewing Prestige next year.

[Stoan]

Front of the Line and Bring 2 Friends a year was what sold me on it. The VIP area is one of those, If you read the book the movie is terrible, sort of things. Like we went to the VIP area as soon as the Prestige Pass was up for sale last year and saw what it was. Comparing it to this year, yeah it is a huge downgrade. However I will be happy with just a place to sit and some fans on it in the height of summer, and in Soak City even if it is really just dedicated seating I will be happy to not have to get in at opening just to find a place to set my bag.

 

 

[BoddaH1994]

7 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Exactly.  Let's hope this is a test and they bring back bottled drinks, or at least bottled water.  I am sure many people got prestige for the convenience of a bottled drink with a lid.  Those dinky flimsy cups and cooler water don't cut it for most people.

Or offer a Coke freestyle machine in permanent area.  But I don't see that happening as they need to have guest turnover and not spend a lot of time in there so that there is room for all the prestige passholders lol.

I’m really bummed about the bottled water. That was the big selling point for me and my girlfriend. I suppose I’d settle for having at least the drink cup cups there since the Kinzel Cups aren’t really great for actually quenching thirst. 
 

Someone from Carowinds came into VIP. They were told they weren’t allowed in but they’d make a one time exception. I’ll never understand this. I also with this were clarified earlier rather than just in a Tony blog in September in which myself and others were able to access the CP VIP before, during, and after his blog. Additionally, when we got our line skips we were assured that they were good there - and they printed them for us three days in a row without question. 
 

I just wish there was more clarity when people bought them. I understand that the emails inviting people to buy were sent out in error but still - not my problem. They also haven’t had any issue taking my money each month. 
 

To be fair, the parking is nice. The new VIP looks cool. No used getting the line skips at KI. 
 

They also said “enhanced” Pass Perks. Maybe that’ll be cool?

We shall see…

[NegativeGs]

The only Prestige benefit today for me compared to Platinum last year was the Preferred Parking. I had to drive around the 'Do Not Enter' sign, because there was no attendant. Still, Preferred Parking had plenty of spaces. 

[robintodd]

10 hours ago, Oldschool75 said:

I see a possible class action lawsuit.


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Wouldn't advise it after what happended to the last one over the 2020 season passes.  Would only be a waste of time and money.  I made the decision to wait and see how it went the first year before making a decison on next season.  I believe the intention was right, but just gave the impression of a money grab by the park to me.  I guess next they will have the Super Presetige Pass and then in 2050 the Super Duper Prestige Pass. 

In my opinion, Regular, Gold and Platinum are just fine. They should treat the Singe Use Fast Lane pass as an add-on.  In other words you pay for the addition of 1 Single Use Fast Lane Pass per visit and add it to your pass (like you do with Fun Pix, the drink plan or the dining plan).   Same thing could be done with the VIP and other perks like parking, etc.  That way people can pick and choose what is the best value for them.  It would be easier to assess what people are wanting.  It's a $210 difference between Gold and Prestige.  Not alot of people would go for that, but if it was $75-$100 to add a single use Fast Lane Pass per visit to the Gold card, I think that would sell.  Maybe $50 - $75 for the preferred parking add-on.  In my opinion that strategy would not only make it easer to know what you're getting, but also would potentially bring more targeted value for the consumer and more money for the park in the end.

[BoddaH1994]

13 hours ago, Rallyomalley said:

I’m in that camp. Literally can’t believe this is all we get for 3x the renewal cost. Really feeling like they pulled the ole switcheroo.
 

I thought the “do not enter” barrier they put up at the entrance to the preferred / prestige parking lot (only partially full) was a nice touch too.

What “do not enter” barrier?

[Rallyomalley]

9 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

What “do not enter” barrier?

A fold out sign/ barrier that said “do not enter”

[disco2000]

You know, the sign they put up when they don't staff the lot at the end of the night lol.

So people pay for Prestige and a few that bought said pass take too many bottled drinks so they eliminate a paid benefit, yet so much theft from stores of bottled drinks and people taking water cups and filling with soda with no recourse...crime pays apparently...

[Benjamin22]

35 minutes ago, Rallyomalley said:

A fold out sign/ barrier that said “do not enter”

If they’re going to close off the preferred parking lot because they don’t want to pay for monitoring its capacity then it’s only fair they offer a $15 voucher imo. Ridiculous, greedy move by the park.  Also the parking lot filling up in the first place is also entirely preventable, a data model could easily make a semi accurate prediction on how likely the lot would will fill up on a given day.

[disco2000]

The VIP lounge closes an hour before park closes so why not preferred lot too 

[Rallyomalley]

55 minutes ago, Benjamin22 said:

If they’re going to close off the preferred parking lot because they don’t want to pay for monitoring its capacity then it’s only fair they offer a $15 voucher imo. Ridiculous, greedy move by the park.  Also the parking lot filling up in the first place is also entirely preventable, a data model could easily make a semi accurate prediction on how likely the lot would will fill up on a given day.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at your “data model” statement. I’ve heard other users on here make statements that CF/KI have mountains of data, but I’m convinced they have no clue how to interpret said data.  

[Benjamin22]

4 minutes ago, Rallyomalley said:

I couldn’t help but chuckle at your “data model” statement. I’ve heard other users on here make statements that CF/KI have mountains of data, but I’m convinced they have no clue how to interpret said data.  

 Most of the data the park has is probably just from the ticket booths & whenever a transaction occurs tbh. I’m not quite sure how they collect the number of riders an hour. For purposes of the preferred lot I don’t think they keep track of how many people leave the lot or enter the lot (although I could be wrong here and they just assume all prestige pass ticket holders + Daily purchases enter the lot). Could totally be wrong on all this but that’s just my assumptions. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

41 minutes ago, Benjamin22 said:

 Most of the data the park has is probably just from the ticket booths & whenever a transaction occurs tbh. I’m not quite sure how they collect the number of riders an hour. For purposes of the preferred lot I don’t think they keep track of how many people leave the lot or enter the lot (although I could be wrong here and they just assume all prestige pass ticket holders + Daily purchases enter the lot). Could totally be wrong on all this but that’s just my assumptions. 

Kings Island does count the number of people entering and leaving the park with counters that are above each “turnstile” and exit. Ride crews also record the number of riders each cycle and the number of guests who use Fast Lane each hour at the ride. These measurements are not always exact, but they are typically fairly accurate.

[Benjamin22]

Went to the park an hour before close, the preferred parking lot was still open so it seems like they may have learned from yesterday.

[CoastersRZ]

Yes, KI counts the number of ride cycles in an hour and the number of riders in an hour.  Some of the coasters automatically track the number of cycles, and they have an "empty seat counter" button to push to count the number of empty seats.  The computer knows how many people a train can hold and then deducts the number of empty seats.  Other rides, like Sky flyer use hand held counter clickers to track the number of riders and cycles for each hour the ride is open. 

The last few seasons that Coney had rides, we too counted the number of riders per hour.  In fact, the last season the rides were open (2019), the overall season had higher ridership numbers than the previous two seasons!

[Tr0y]

On 8/7/2022 at 12:37 PM, Tr0y said:

Hopefully this is similar but not exactly like what is offered through Busch gardens and Seaworld. I have a platinum pass for Busch Gardens, and there is so much fine print involved that it takes away a lot of the perks. Most of the perks are only useable for the “Florida parks.” And not the rest of the properties owned by Seaworld and Busch gardens. 

Can’t say I didn't see this coming. 

[CoasterDad64]

On 4/15/2023 at 10:46 PM, Oldschool75 said:

I see a possible class action lawsuit.


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One weekend,  opening weekend at that, and you want to sue? 

[Stoan]

21 hours ago, Benjamin22 said:

 Most of the data the park has is probably just from the ticket booths & whenever a transaction occurs tbh. I’m not quite sure how they collect the number of riders an hour. For purposes of the preferred lot I don’t think they keep track of how many people leave the lot or enter the lot (although I could be wrong here and they just assume all prestige pass ticket holders + Daily purchases enter the lot). Could totally be wrong on all this but that’s just my assumptions. 

For the longest time I always thought it would be a cool idea to have a check-in, check-out thing at each of the major rides. A little pipe with a QR scanner, or RFID the passes right at the entrance to the big ones. Then a 2nd one right as you get to the end of the line. As you walk by just scan your pass to check-in and scan again to check-out when you get out of the line. It can be a little thing for you to help count your rides, maybe an incentive for CP to give you those Pass Perk things that they say they will use but never do.

 

But the real purpose is to count ridership, AND give real-time updates to line length. If it took Gold Pass holder 12-098754392017 thirty minutes to walk from Pole 1 to Pole 2, the line must be 30 minutes. Dump the data that is twice the current average, and you get actual useful data for riders and the park to see what rides need help and which are running smoothly. So much data to be gathered in this un-intrusive way for the park. Where are guests going, how long are they willing to wait for things, what rides are running well, are some rides struggling at certain times of day. But instead they have the linekeeper stand there with a button clicker to simply count people.

[disco2000]

27 minutes ago, Stoan said:

For the longest time I always thought it would be a cool idea to have a check-in, check-out thing at each of the major rides. A little pipe with a QR scanner, or RFID the passes right at the entrance to the big ones. Then a 2nd one right as you get to the end of the line. As you walk by just scan your pass to check-in and scan again to check-out when you get out of the line. It can be a little thing for you to help count your rides, maybe an incentive for CP to give you those Pass Perk things that they say they will use but never do.

 

But the real purpose is to count ridership, AND give real-time updates to line length. If it took Gold Pass holder 12-098754392017 thirty minutes to walk from Pole 1 to Pole 2, the line must be 30 minutes. Dump the data that is twice the current average, and you get actual useful data for riders and the park to see what rides need help and which are running smoothly. So much data to be gathered in this un-intrusive way for the park. Where are guests going, how long are they willing to wait for things, what rides are running well, are some rides struggling at certain times of day. But instead they have the linekeeper stand there with a button clicker to simply count people.

The upside to this is it would pretty much stop line-jumping because if your pass or QR code was too far off when people entered the line, then it is an easy catch.

[BoddaH1994]

My thing is, if when the park is extremely busy, VIP or Preferred Parking fills up, that’s a pill I can swallow. Like, less than five times a year.

If it’s a situation where you have to get there at 10:00am to park in Preferred then that’s a problem. This isn’t a Gold Pass benefit. This is something for which I paid extra. 
 

Plus, this wasn’t marketed as “first come, first serve” when most bought the passes so I think that many assumed the park had a plan when they clearly didn’t. If you buy season tickets to a baseball team, do you not get your seat you paid for if the game sells well?

[BeeastFarmer]

Seems to me that this whole program should have had a targeted test pilot roll out. Communicate with your top 100 gold pass holders.  Give them a non sharable activation code. See how it works before a wide roll out.

If you have platinum prestige, make sure every other park can have the main benefit... parking, skip the line pass.  If they have VIP area, give them access to the fruit water and generic chips.

The people who bought are now the test subjects, and it seems the benefits do not weigh against the cost. I hope it improves.  Cedar Fair is looking to premiumize the parks, an admirable goal and a money maker. I'd bet if they offered an elite package of very early entry, ascend to the top of Orion, personal tour guide, admission, elite parking, personalized dinner and ice cream at fireworks in the international restaurant, and charged a premium, they would sell it consistently and make money.