Kings Island Prestige Pass

[jsus]

2 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

You forgot how they treat the Prestige pass holders LOL .  I wouldn't expect them to provide carbonated Coca-Cola LOL.  Prestige would get flat drinks.

Heck even when they were providing bottled drinks, everyone said they were kinda warm LOL. 

I didn’t say the lounge staff would do a good job keeping up with CO2 refills and BiB replacements…

Let’s also not forget the lack of an ice maker shown, so like a lot of other locations at the park, they’d have to manually load ice in the top of the fountain throughout the day. 

Does the lounge even have ice to go with that (presumably unfiltered) water as it is?

[disco2000]

23 minutes ago, jsus said:

I didn’t say the lounge staff would do a good job keeping up with CO2 refills and BiB replacements…

Let’s also not forget the lack of an ice maker shown, so like a lot of other locations at the park, they’d have to manually load ice in the top of the fountain throughout the day. 

Does the lounge even have ice to go with that (presumably unfiltered) water as it is?

Exactly LOL because it is merchandise that staffs VIP not Food and Beverage....oh wait F&B frequently have machines with no ice in them too LOL.

They store ice in a cooler and then bang ice bag on the ground to break it up and then let the bag that was touching the ground touch the water and unwashed bare hands help get the ice into the fancy cooler...

[Stoan]

8 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Exactly LOL because it is merchandise that staffs VIP not Food and Beverage....oh wait F&B frequently have machines with no ice in them too LOL.

They store ice in a cooler and then bang ice bag on the ground to break it up and then let the bag that was touching the ground touch the water and unwashed bare hands help get the ice into the fancy cooler...

It's mineral water then

[disco2000]

On 7/3/2023 at 4:59 PM, BoddaH1994 said:

Always look at the source before you get your hopes up. 

Surprised he isn't posting they are offering apple pie in honor of the 4th lol

[Tr0y]

Just left the water park and now in the VIP changing lounge. 

[disco2000]

2 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Just left the water park and now in the VIP changing lounge. 

Does it have AC 

[Tr0y]

7 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Does it have AC 

Yes and amble locker storage.. Could’ve had better privacy tho. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

41 minutes ago, Tr0y said:

Yes and amble locker storage.. Could’ve had better privacy tho. 

Coke machine? 

[Tr0y]

1 minute ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Coke machine? 

Just Bottled Water. Very warm tho, maybe next time there will be a cooler. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

In all seriousness, I feel bad for those that made this upgrade. At Valleyfair a Coke freestyle machine was at a stand which was not very weather protected on the front side. That tells me there is no reason they could not add one of those in the VIP area. The VIP area should get a freestyle machine if it is too get a machine. 

[Michael H]

19 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

In all seriousness, I feel bad for those that made this upgrade. At Valleyfair a Coke freestyle machine was at a stand which was not very weather protected on the front side. That tells me there is no reason they could not add one of those in the VIP area. The VIP area should get a freestyle machine if it is too get a machine. 

I wished they had some soda in the VIP as well, but we have an all season bottle and right next door is the freestyle machine, so it is not that bad.  We are glad we got Prestige plus passes.  We feel for us at least it has paid off ok. We have been 30 times already and got 2 more trips planned this month. We are also going to Michigan adventure this month as well as Kings Dominion and Carowinds . I guess it is how much you use it and if it is worth it to you or not.

[IndyGuy4KI]

2 hours ago, Michael H said:

I wished they had some soda in the VIP as well, but we have an all season bottle and right next door is the freestyle machine, so it is not that bad.  We are glad we got Prestige plus passes.  We feel for us at least it has paid off ok. We have been 30 times already and got 2 more trips planned this month. We are also going to Michigan adventure this month as well as Kings Dominion and Carowinds . I guess it is how much you use it and if it is worth it to you or not.

It will be telling how many repeat passes they sell next year.

[gforce1994]

Just now, IndyGuy4KI said:

It will be telling how many repeat passes they sell next year.

[disco2000]

On 7/3/2023 at 4:59 PM, BoddaH1994 said:

Always look at the source before you get your hopes up. 

Looks like the source is at it again LOL:

[BoddaH1994]

Saw in the KI Season Pass group that the Prestige Pass has gone up substantially. This isn’t abnormal for any pass this time of year, but it does mean that it’s time to start looking at 2024:

So my question to you is:

What would it take for you to renew? If the perks and the price remain the same will you?

Personally, it will take a LOT for me to want to do it. I think that this is the most disgusting swindle that the park has ever pulled. The product today is NOT the same product that we were sold last August. 
 

Look at the breakdown:

Preferred parking - Good

Skip the line - Good

Availability at other parks - Complete incompetence. Everyone was able to use them at Carowinds or Cedar Point until we found out via Tony’s blog that we couldn’t anymore (after they got your money. Terms are subject to change. No refunds.) Carowinds even openly admitted to changing the policy as of May when some friends of mine went, and basically said it wasn’t their fault that they changed the policy.

Drinks in the VIP - Had it until they got your money. Now we get free tap water. They even took away the crappy infused water. This right here was theft by the park. The park stated (probably lied) that it was because of theft. That’s terrible, but that’s not my problem. I paid. I expect what I paid for. Preventing theft is someone else’s problem. If you aren’t competent enough to prevent “theft” at a staffed shelter, how can we believe that you’re competent enough to maintain the rides? We all saw Fury. 
 

Snacks in the VIP - Nice snacks, then they took them away for no-name, and I suppose they got enough complaints so they kind of brought them back 

VIP Lounge - They built it. Okay. Why does it close an hour before the park closes? Last year it was open as long as the park was. Why does it randomly close due to “weather” when the rain has stopped? I’m going to guess: they don’t want to pay the person. Also, wedging it into a small space between the restrooms and the dumpster is a perfect indication of what they think about you.

”Enhanced” Pass Perks: HELLO? This isn’t even a thing. They hired a Pass Perks guy like five years ago who still has yet to deliver on the program. You honestly expected “Enhanced” Pass Perks to be a thing? Was this guy really so incompetent that he couldn’t deliver the program in this time frame? What was “Enhanced” Pass Perks anyway? Even if they delivered on the program today it would be half way through the season, so it would have been another swindle. Again, if you think that this level of incompetence is “quality work” then how can we trust you to maintain the rides, guard the pools, or prepare food?

If only the park had a person who is supposed to speak on behalf of the park that can address this. Maybe instead of taking selfies with guests because they got called out for never actually being in the park they would actually answer to the concerns that I, and others, share. Oh, and just to get ahead of the game - no, I will not DM you my number. Just do your job. 

[BeeastFarmer]

It seems our communication director likes to hide as often as he can, or take a selfie to take credit for someone else's work. I don't understand, for the life of me, how he can get away with this.

 

Was he this bad at his job when he worked for Herschend at the Newport Aquarium?

At least you had an opportunity to have a private discussion, the Choad blocked me

 

[BoddaH1994]

2 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

It seems our communication director likes to hide as often as he can, or take a selfie to take credit for someone else's work. I don't understand, for the life of me, how he can get away with this.

 

Was he this bad at his job when he worked for Herschend at the Newport Aquarium?

At least you had an opportunity to have a private discussion, the Choad blocked me

 

It’s cool. I got blocked on LinkedIn. At the time I hadn’t met him. I posted on here asking if anyone else had had an experience like that with him. He sent me a message on LinkedIn saying that I was critical of something he had done years ago (so he blocked me on LinkedIn?) and that he would love to connect and sent me an invite request.  Since I thought he was trying to make things right, I asked for Brad to remove the post. As soon as the post was removed, he deleted the message, retracted the connection request, and made it so I couldn’t add him. 
 

That’s your spokesperson, folks. 

[jsus]

7 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

It seems our communication director likes to hide as often as he can, or take a selfie to take credit for someone else's work. I don't understand, for the life of me, how he can get away with this.

 

Was he this bad at his job when he worked for Herschend at the Newport Aquarium?

At least you had an opportunity to have a private discussion, the Choad blocked me

 

Wait, you mean this is not how you represent your employer or its business partners?

Quote

Showalter said Kings Island does not own Camp Cedar, just manages the property.

He released the following statement:

“Small Brothers, LLC and Terra Firma Associates, the joint owners of Camp Cedar, informed Kings Island today that the campground will not open on June 24, as expected, due to continued construction delays. We were disappointed to learn this, but agree with the owners that there are outstanding issues which need to be addressed before the campground can deliver a high-quality experience for its guests. As the property manager, Kings Island is not responsible for the construction or completion of Camp Cedar.”

https://www.fox19.com/2021/06/22/opening-kings-islands-luxury-campground-delayed-again/

[BoddaH1994]

4 minutes ago, jsus said:

Wait, you mean this is not how you represent your employer or its business partners?

https://www.fox19.com/2021/06/22/opening-kings-islands-luxury-campground-delayed-again/

As you may recall, when Camp Cedar had the car go into the pool they hired Gameday Communications to handle the press. I’m not sure if it was KI’s responsibility or not to cover the PR for them, but the fact that it was “Kings Island Camp Cedar” at the time and they appeared to trust a third party over their own guy was a huge black eye. Not sure if the average person would notice but the media most certainly would. 
 

Then again, what would they get? No returned call? A prepared statement? Go back and look at any of the negative stories over the past five years. How many had a reasonable intervention by the park’s PR? Spoiler alert: none. 

[disco2000]

44 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Saw in the KI Season Pass group that the Prestige Pass has gone up substantially. This isn’t abnormal for any pass this time of year, but it does mean that it’s time to start looking at 2024:

So my question to you is:

What would it take for you to renew? If the perks and the price remain the same will you?

Personally, it will take a LOT for me to want to do it. I think that this is the most disgusting swindle that the park has ever pulled. The product today is NOT the same product that we were sold last August. 
 

Look at the breakdown:

Preferred parking - Good

Skip the line - Good

Availability at other parks - Complete incompetence. Everyone was able to use them at Carowinds or Cedar Point until we found out via Tony’s blog that we couldn’t anymore (after they got your money. Terms are subject to change. No refunds.) Carowinds even openly admitted to changing the policy as of May when some friends of mine went, and basically said it wasn’t their fault that they changed the policy.

Drinks in the VIP - Had it until they got your money. Now we get free tap water. They even took away the crappy infused water. This right here was theft by the park. The park stated (probably lied) that it was because of theft. That’s terrible, but that’s not my problem. I paid. I expect what I paid for. Preventing theft is someone else’s problem. If you aren’t competent enough to prevent “theft” at a staffed shelter, how can we believe that you’re competent enough to maintain the rides? We all saw Fury. 
 

Snacks in the VIP - Nice snacks, then they took them away for no-name, and I suppose they got enough complaints so they kind of brought them back 

VIP Lounge - They built it. Okay. Why does it close an hour before the park closes? Last year it was open as long as the park was. Why does it randomly close due to “weather” when the rain has stopped? I’m going to guess: they don’t want to pay the person. Also, wedging it into a small space between the restrooms and the dumpster is a perfect indication of what they think about you.

”Enhanced” Pass Perks: HELLO? This isn’t even a thing. They hired a Pass Perks guy like five years ago who still has yet to deliver on the program. You honestly expected “Enhanced” Pass Perks to be a thing? Was this guy really so incompetent that he couldn’t deliver the program in this time frame? What was “Enhanced” Pass Perks anyway? Even if they delivered on the program today it would be half way through the season, so it would have been another swindle. Again, if you think that this level of incompetence is “quality work” then how can we trust you to maintain the rides, guard the pools, or prepare food?

If only the park had a person who is supposed to speak on behalf of the park that can address this. Maybe instead of taking selfies with guests because they got called out for never actually being in the park they would actually answer to the concerns that I, and others, share. Oh, and just to get ahead of the game - no, I will not DM you my number. Just do your job. 

I have pointed this out before, but when was the last time his name was referenced in a local media news report.  It is either Mike with the quote or they say "whatever the item is" was provided to us by the email by the park's spokesman and didn't mention his name.  It is clear the local media doesn't respect him as he hides behind pressers and not actually engaging in conversation with them.  They don't know him, so they don't reference a sterile presser by name.

Almost every media report I have ever  seen, whether is was an amusement park or Duke or AT&T or whatever, where they get a quote they name the spokesperson by name.  I bet the local media still think Don is the spokesperson...

[Coastercrush]

Tony Clark vs Chad Showalter?  Tony  locked me on Twitter cause I was critical of the way Fast Lane does not help much on steel vengeance 

[jsus]

15 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

As you may recall, when Camp Cedar had the car go into the pool they hired Gameday Communications to handle the press. I’m not sure if it was KI’s responsibility or not to cover the PR for them, but the fact that it was “Kings Island Camp Cedar” at the time and they appeared to trust a third party over their own guy was a huge black eye. Not sure if the average person would notice but the media most certainly would. 
 

Then again, what would they get? No returned call? A prepared statement? Go back and look at any of the negative stories over the past five years. How many had a reasonable intervention by the park’s PR? Spoiler alert: none. 

Part of management and operations would generally imply, y'know, communicating with the public.  Managing relations with the press.  Rather than releasing that statement, he should have either represented KICC to the best of his abilities, or pointed the media to the appropriate PR contact for CC if it wasn't his job.  Instead, he basically through the owners under the proverbial bus with statements like that.

It's not surprising why many here on KIC were skeptical about how transparent Carowinds would be regarding the support failure incident, given the contrast in the two parks' PR departments lately...

Also, I originally noted that the PR contact for the pool incident was not KI but rather the contracted PR firm back when it happened. 

 

[disco2000]

54 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Saw in the KI Season Pass group that the Prestige Pass has gone up substantially. This isn’t abnormal for any pass this time of year, but it does mean that it’s time to start looking at 2024:

So my question to you is:

What would it take for you to renew? If the perks and the price remain the same will you?

Personally, it will take a LOT for me to want to do it. I think that this is the most disgusting swindle that the park has ever pulled. The product today is NOT the same product that we were sold last August. 
 

Look at the breakdown:

Preferred parking - Good

Skip the line - Good

Availability at other parks - Complete incompetence. Everyone was able to use them at Carowinds or Cedar Point until we found out via Tony’s blog that we couldn’t anymore (after they got your money. Terms are subject to change. No refunds.) Carowinds even openly admitted to changing the policy as of May when some friends of mine went, and basically said it wasn’t their fault that they changed the policy.

Drinks in the VIP - Had it until they got your money. Now we get free tap water. They even took away the crappy infused water. This right here was theft by the park. The park stated (probably lied) that it was because of theft. That’s terrible, but that’s not my problem. I paid. I expect what I paid for. Preventing theft is someone else’s problem. If you aren’t competent enough to prevent “theft” at a staffed shelter, how can we believe that you’re competent enough to maintain the rides? We all saw Fury. 
 

Snacks in the VIP - Nice snacks, then they took them away for no-name, and I suppose they got enough complaints so they kind of brought them back 

VIP Lounge - They built it. Okay. Why does it close an hour before the park closes? Last year it was open as long as the park was. Why does it randomly close due to “weather” when the rain has stopped? I’m going to guess: they don’t want to pay the person. Also, wedging it into a small space between the restrooms and the dumpster is a perfect indication of what they think about you.

”Enhanced” Pass Perks: HELLO? This isn’t even a thing. They hired a Pass Perks guy like five years ago who still has yet to deliver on the program. You honestly expected “Enhanced” Pass Perks to be a thing? Was this guy really so incompetent that he couldn’t deliver the program in this time frame? What was “Enhanced” Pass Perks anyway? Even if they delivered on the program today it would be half way through the season, so it would have been another swindle. Again, if you think that this level of incompetence is “quality work” then how can we trust you to maintain the rides, guard the pools, or prepare food?

If only the park had a person who is supposed to speak on behalf of the park that can address this. Maybe instead of taking selfies with guests because they got called out for never actually being in the park they would actually answer to the concerns that I, and others, share. Oh, and just to get ahead of the game - no, I will not DM you my number. Just do your job. 

Sad thing is even with the bait and switch and lowering quality of the Prestige, folks will still line up in droves to buy the 24 pass when it becomes available.  Thus proving to the park they don't have to make improvements.

[BeeastFarmer]

What a missed opportunity that Cedar Fair had with Camp Cedar. Have you noticed just how much the place has done since not being managed by Kings Island?  They have events, they publicize themselves and seem to set themselves up for success. For a company that runs sucessful resorts like Breakers, Sawmill and even partners withKOA at Kings Dominion, when you have an incompetent person like Chad at the helm, dollars are lost. 

Coupled with the fact that Don is no longer at KI, I have serious concerns about the future. Most of my visits have been very low crowd days. Granted, I go during the week, but I do look at webcams at work on the weekend and it looks like low crowds. Why is our communication director not doing what he can to boost attendance by putting Kings Island on the radar?  As I've said before, Dollywood and Kentucky Kingdom spokespeople are on new broadcasts in Lexington and Louisville.  Nobody is talking about KI around here... except me. 

[silver2005]

^Kings Dominion has ads for a similar type campground all around the park for comparison.

[jsus]

Just now, silver2005 said:

^Kings Dominion has ads for a similar type campground all around the park for comparison.

It's almost like corporate secured the management contract and KI (PR) staff had no interest...

[FUN&ONLY!]

1 hour ago, BeeastFarmer said:

What a missed opportunity that Cedar Fair had with Camp Cedar. Have you noticed just how much the place has done since not being managed by Kings Island?  They have events, they publicize themselves and seem to set themselves up for success. For a company that runs sucessful resorts like Breakers, Sawmill and even partners withKOA at Kings Dominion, when you have an incompetent person like Chad at the helm, dollars are lost. 

Coupled with the fact that Don is no longer at KI, I have serious concerns about the future. Most of my visits have been very low crowd days. Granted, I go during the week, but I do look at webcams at work on the weekend and it looks like low crowds. Why is our communication director not doing what he can to boost attendance by putting Kings Island on the radar?  As I've said before, Dollywood and Kentucky Kingdom spokespeople are on new broadcasts in Lexington and Louisville.  Nobody is talking about KI around here... except me. 

I agree that Camp Cedar was a missed opportunity by Kings Island. I drove around the campground on Friday, and I was surprised with how busy it was. Honestly, I feel that it would have been a good business decision for Kings Island to build their own campground nearby and/or a hotel.

Ever since the pandemic, Cedar Fair has cut spending on marketing, which has been noticeable. I see the occasional billboard and online ads still, but that is about it. I hear this issue is chain-wide, though. If you drive through Charlotte, North Carolina, I hear there are more Dollywood ads than Carowinds ads. I assume, however, that the costs associated with booking time slots and doing interviews on local news are minimal, so I do not know why we are seeing so little of that from Kings Island.

A lot of the issues people have with Kings Island and other Cedar Fair parks this year seem to part of Cedar Fair’s cost-cutting initiative. Restaurants will be low staffed or closed altogether while food workers are getting sent home early to save money. I have even heard some workers have quit altogether because Kings Island would not schedule them many shifts. Cost-cutting is also likely why food options are now more limited and food quality control had taken a hit. The cost-cutting is also evident across other departments. Ever wonder why some games like the basketball game or soccer game next to The Beast have just been sitting like eyesores all year when they were open last year? Ever go into the park and see less ride operators on the floor than in previous years? Ever notice notice that the train and water rides now open later and close earlier? Ever get off a popular ride and the Photo Booth been completely shuttered? The reason behind all these developments is because Cedar Fair is trying to be cheap. Since staffing is so dependent on crowd level these days, unless you go on a guaranteed busy day, don’t expect everything to be open.

That being said, I have heard that Kings Island has been less affected by the cost-cutting than other parks. For instance, I have heard that you will be lucky to find more than one open merchandise location at Carowinds on select days. Live entertainment is very scare beyond Cedar Fair’s top parks. And by just following other parks on social media, it is crazy how many times Cedar Fair parks have been closing HOURS earlier than advertised. Like some parks will close at 4:30 PM when they are supposed to close at 10:00 PM.

[BoddaH1994]

 

4 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

I agree that Camp Cedar was a missed opportunity by Kings Island. I drove around the campground on Friday, and I was surprised with how busy it was. Honestly, I feel that it would have been a good business decision for Kings Island to build their own campground nearby and/or a hotel.

Ever since the pandemic, Cedar Fair has cut spending on marketing, which has been noticeable. I see the occasional billboard and online ads still, but that is about it. I hear this issue is chain-wide, though. If you drive through Charlotte, North Carolina, I hear there are more Dollywood ads than Carowinds ads. I assume, however, that the costs associated with booking time slots on local news are minimal, so I do not know why we are seeing so little of that.

A lot of the issues people have with Kings Island and other Cedar Fair parks this year seem to part of Cedar Fair’s cost-cutting initiative. Restaurants will be low staffed or closed altogether while food workers are getting sent home early to save money. I have even heard some workers have quit altogether because Kings Island would not schedule them many shifts. Cost-cutting is also likely why food options are now more limited and food quality control had taken a hit. The cost-cutting is also evident across other departments. Ever wonder why some games like the basketball game or soccer game next to The Beast have just been sitting like eyesores all year when they were open last year? Ever go into the park and see less ride operators on the floor than in previous years? Ever notice notice that the train and water rides now open later and close earlier? Ever get off a popular ride and the Photo Booth been completely shuttered? The reason behind all these developments is because Cedar Fair is trying to be cheap. Since staffing is so dependent on crowd level these days, unless you go on a guaranteed busy day, don’t expect everything to be open.

That being said, I have heard that Kings Island has been less affected by the cost-cutting than other parks. For instance, I have heard that you will be lucky to find more than one open merchandise location at Carowinds on select days. Live entertainment is very scare beyond Cedar Fair’s top parks. And by just following other parks on social media, it is crazy how many times Cedar Fair parks have been closing HOURS earlier than advertised. Like some parks will close at 4:30 PM when they are supposed to close at 10:00 PM.

The way it’s supposed to work is that the park lays out the PR opportunities for the year and then budgets for things like radio ads in the gaps in between. 
 

My guess is that the park currently lays out excuses and peppers in radio ads or whatever. That’s why you see less of KI around town. The marketing budget is probably lower, but the perception is likely that the park is not top-of-mind anymore because things like Adventure Port opening, Phantom Theater Encore’s announcement, (I could go on, but you get the point), are all very quiet. The best you get is copy/paste affiliate articles and a severe lack of live hits, look lives, and out-of-the-immediate-market in-earnest stories. So that’s why it feels like the park isn’t doing anything.

Maybe the TV producers were disgruntled that someone couldn’t be reached for comment when they needed to work with them. Believe me, that sort of thing does matter. 

[BeeastFarmer]

@FUN&ONLY! I understand. But what I fail to understand is that given these issues, Choad was bragging on Twitter that KI had a wait-list for employees.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out you will have attrition.  So those potential employees would go elsewhere.  Now with all the people who have left because of those cut hours, the park will suffer on busy days. If there are any busy days this year because apparently, getting the message out is a low priority for him. 

[BoddaH1994]

5 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

@FUN&ONLY! I understand. But what I fail to understand is that given these issues, Choad was bragging on Twitter that KI had a wait-list for employees.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out you will have attrition.  So those potential employees would go elsewhere.  Now with all the people who have left because of those cut hours, the park will suffer on busy days. If there are any busy days this year because apparently, getting the message out is a low priority for him. 

…or furthermore, if they close restaurants, drink stands, etc., they can’t claim that it’s because of “staffing issues.” If you are told that, it’s a lie. Your spokesperson essentially said so. He was clearly doing this to suck up to whomever his boss is, but he just outed the park.