Does the All Park Passport cover parking at your non-home park?

[BeeastFarmer]

1 hour ago, jimlaheyscar said:

They went on sale last August.  

Knotts is the only park open this year. 

The pass system needs work.  For instance, I went  to Carowinds before Kings Island a few years ago. Because my pass has not been "processed", I had to pay for parking. Guest services refunded me, but for 2016, my home park was Carowinds because of this.  

If the merger commences, I'd expect more frustration until they commit to a unified system. It's my understanding that Cedar Fair adapted Paramount's ticketing system...this is now at least 20 years old. Six makes it very difficult to be a pass holder in that they make you process at a park you bought at, and have a deadline to do so.  Plus they have 2572 different pass options. 

It sounds like Mr. Kootnz had to solve another problem that a park vp/GM shouldn't have to solve by talking to Knott's Berry Farm.  This is very bamboozling to me, but shows his commitment to guest satisfaction. 

[jimlaheyscar]

9 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Knotts is the only park open this year. 

 

All of the parks were open when the passes went on sale.  They've had nearly 7 months of these passes being in the wild and things like parking are still (or were) being screwed up? 

It's exhausting for the customer to guess what will actually work or be may be granted now days. It's exhausting fighting all the time just to get what you paid for.  It's the nature of The Beast and seasonal workers, etc. I get it. But supervisors should know what's going on and be able to handle this without another park calling them, etc.

 

 

[Tr0y]

Comparing the descriptions for each park’s website. Canadas Wonderland does not mention parking being included for the All Parks Add on:

[BeeastFarmer]

1 hour ago, jimlaheyscar said:

All of the parks were open when the passes went on sale.  They've had nearly 7 months of these passes being in the wild and things like parking are still (or were) being screwed up? 

It's exhausting for the customer to guess what will actually work or be may be granted now days. It's exhausting fighting all the time just to get what you paid for.  It's the nature of The Beast and seasonal workers, etc. I get it. But supervisors should know what's going on and be able to handle this without another park calling them, etc.

 

 

I understand that, but issues will always present themselves when something new rolls out.  In this case, either the small minority that has gone to Knott's over the last two months have not had an issue or they did not speak out about it.

Mike Kootnz went over and above to solve this problem and it sounds fixed, and hopefully a memo has been shared thru the chain.  As Kings Dominion and Carowinds open soon, we will see if it's repeated.

Even though one customer experience is too many, the truth is that this affected a very small percentage of one percent of the customer base.

[jimlaheyscar]

23 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I understand that, but issues will always present themselves when something new rolls out.  In this case, either the small minority that has gone to Knott's over the last two months have not had an issue or they did not speak out about it.

 

All Parks Passports have been out for over 6 months, not just 2.  Great that it's fixed, but shouldn't have been a problem in the first place.  That's all I'm saying.  Just typical poor training.

Although I do suspect it was the employees working at the time not being aware of policies.  All Parks Passport worked fine last season at non home parks.

[IndyGuy4KI]

10 hours ago, jimlaheyscar said:

All Parks Passports have been out for over 6 months, not just 2.  Great that it's fixed, but shouldn't have been a problem in the first place.  That's all I'm saying.  Just typical poor training.

Although I do suspect it was the employees working at the time not being aware of policies.  All Parks Passport worked fine last season at non home parks.

I do not know anything about the ticket gate system, but one could assume the old prestige pass plan was still in effect until Jan 1st 2024. Which then makes the new pass valid the same day. 

[BoddaH1994]

We discuss this in the latest Tower Topics:

https://linktr.ee/towertopics

[tuxedoman52]

Worked fine for me at Carowinds tonight.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[super7]

When I went to Carowinds at New Year’s my all parks pass didn’t work at all.  If I gave them my name at the main gate with ID, they could look it up on the system, but the pass on my phone did not work.
 

Addionally, my dining plan did not work anywhere during that visit. I had to go to customer service and get meal tickets.   They could look up  my pass at customer service, but not at the restaurants.

it was three different results at three different places in the park (gate, customer, service, and dining)

i’m assuming my pass was not working at the parking lot either but they waved me on because of the back up of traffic

 

[Oldschool75]

I’m not sure who the corporate communications director is for CF but they are not getting the job done. Every year it’s one fiasco after another. I mean every job I’ve ever had if you didn’t effectively do your duties you got canned.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tr0y]

6 hours ago, Oldschool75 said:

I’m not sure who the corporate communications director is for CF but they are not getting the job done. Every year it’s one fiasco after another. I mean every job I’ve ever had if you didn’t effectively do your duties you got canned.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, if it’s the same Comms Director that undercooked my fries then I agree. Shame on them! 

[BoddaH1994]

15 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Well, if it’s the same Comms Director that undercooked my fries then I agree. Shame on them! 

Why was the Corporate Communications Manager serving you fries?

Unless you're talking about Dollar Days in which... yeah, those people had to help serving fries...

[disco2000]

Based on FB chatter, appears folks are having issues at Carowinds with various passport add-ons.

[BoddaH1994]

On 3/16/2024 at 10:24 AM, disco2000 said:

Based on FB chatter, appears folks are having issues at Carowinds with various passport add-ons.

You know, I can forgive stories of “my pass didn’t work” or “I had trouble with my meal plan.” That comes with the territory. It’s the associates telling people incorrect information that concerned me. Between that, and the less-than-ethical business practices that we’ve seen out of the company in the past year or so that makes me and others hesitant to purchase prepaid plans. I’m not sure if that will get any better anytime soon. 

[DispatchMaster]

13 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

...hesitant to purchase prepaid plans. I’m not sure if that will get any better anytime soon. 

I wouldn't expect it to change until enough people move from "hesitant to" to "unwilling to". Hard to say when things will reach that tipping point.

[BoddaH1994]

4 hours ago, DispatchMaster said:

I wouldn't expect it to change until enough people move from "hesitant to" to "unwilling to". Hard to say when things will reach that tipping point.

You are correct. 
 

Same with passes in general. “We can do anything we want and they’ll still come.” Won’t change until they don’t come.

[DeltaFlyer]

3 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

You are correct. 
 

Same with passes in general. “We can do anything we want and they’ll still come.” Won’t change until they don’t come.

That tipping point was this year for me. Last year, my wife and I both had Platinum passes with the dining plan, drink plan, and all-park, all-season Fast Lane; easily $3,000 between us. 

I waited a long time before deciding one way or the other, but budget cuts, devaluation of our passes, safety concerns, unknowns due to the merger, and a complete lack of park communication are just some of the reasons we came to this conclusion.

Instead, we got Dollywood passes for the first time. This will be the first year I won't have a pass since I was a child, which does make me sad. Unfortunately, I can't imagine my choice will make much of a dent. Unless a large percentage of the passholder base follows suit, nothing will change. 

[Tr0y]

Being that I visited KI 34 times alone last season, I’d say the passes still provide incredible value, even with the cuts.

However I’m going to be spending less in park due to the fact there is no loyalty or rewards system in place for it. Nothing like spending over $1000 in park for the season only to be nickel and dimed over something trivial things such as whipped cream or house sauce. The park is essentially giving me the middle finger at that point.

 

[DispatchMaster]

1 hour ago, DeltaFlyer said:

I can't imagine my choice will make much of a dent.

Individually, no. But I speak from experience that it feels good to not hand over hard-earned money to an entity that doesn't value your business. Spending that money at Dollywood is a wise choice, and I'm sure you guys will have a great time there! I'm jealous!

[DeltaFlyer]

10 minutes ago, DispatchMaster said:

Spending that money at Dollywood is a wise choice, and I'm sure you guys will have a great time there! I'm jealous!

We are heading there this weekend. My first time in several years (pre-Wildwood Grove) and her first time ever. 

It does feel nice to spend the money someplace that genuinely cares about the guest experience. 

[BoddaH1994]

You’ll notice that you are valued at Dollywood. Their welcoming attitude and appreciation for its guests is as adorable as it is predictable. 

[BoddaH1994]

3 hours ago, DeltaFlyer said:

That tipping point was this year for me. Last year, my wife and I both had Platinum passes with the dining plan, drink plan, and all-park, all-season Fast Lane; easily $3,000 between us. 

I waited a long time before deciding one way or the other, but budget cuts, devaluation of our passes, safety concerns, unknowns due to the merger, and a complete lack of park communication are just some of the reasons we came to this conclusion.

Instead, we got Dollywood passes for the first time. This will be the first year I won't have a pass since I was a child, which does make me sad. Unfortunately, I can't imagine my choice will make much of a dent. Unless a large percentage of the passholder base follows suit, nothing will change. 

No, it won’t make a difference; however, I’m willing to say that every top spender that gets fed up and leaves is replaced with the no-money-spending, payment plan, gets-in-fights type. 

[StormChaser97]

At Carowinds today with my all park passport gold pass add on out of Kings Island. Butter smooth entry at the parking tolls and at the gate, whew!

[CoastersRZ]

Just curios, do you have any other season pass add ons?  Going with the family to Carowinds tomorrow and Friday.

[StormChaser97]

12 minutes ago, CoastersRZ said:

Just curios, do you have any other season pass add ons?  Going with the family to Carowinds tomorrow and Friday.

Sure do! I was most scared about those but they’ve been smooth too. I have all park season Fast Lane and the premium season drink plan and no issues. The employee was even nice enough to ask me “soft drink or icee?” So hopefully those initial training hiccups at the beginning of the season are getting ironed out. Having a great day here. Sunny with some considerable wind. No ride closures yet, fingers crossed! 

Tomorrow, I’m doing a day at Kings Dominion and I’m interested to see if it goes as well there. Does Carowinds just have better run park? We shall see haha 

[IndyGuy4KI]

8 hours ago, StormChaser97 said:

Sure do! I was most scared about those but they’ve been smooth too. I have all park season Fast Lane and the premium season drink plan and no issues. The employee was even nice enough to ask me “soft drink or icee?” So hopefully those initial training hiccups at the beginning of the season are getting ironed out. Having a great day here. Sunny with some considerable wind. No ride closures yet, fingers crossed! 

Tomorrow, I’m doing a day at Kings Dominion and I’m interested to see if it goes as well there. Does Carowinds just have better run park? We shall see haha 

Keep us updated on your KD experience.

[StormChaser97]

23 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Keep us updated on your KD experience.

All park pass and add ons went smoothly today too at KD! The park’s ride operations? Not so much lol one train ops on everything except Dominator. Carowinds had at least 2 trains on all the coasters yesterday. Still had a great time but the park is just not on Kings Island and Carowinds’ level operations wise. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

2 hours ago, StormChaser97 said:

All park pass and add ons went smoothly today too at KD! The park’s ride operations? Not so much lol one train ops on everything except Dominator. Carowinds had at least 2 trains on all the coasters yesterday. Still had a great time but the park is just not on Kings Island and Carowinds’ level operations wise. 

I have never seen better operations at a CF park than KI. They are the gold standard and we are very lucky. My rankings for CF parks in my past experience: KI, Knott's, CP, Carowinds, WOF, MA, KD, VF, Dorney. 

[disco2000]

3 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I have never seen better operations at a CF park than KI. They are the gold standard and we are very lucky. My rankings for CF parks in my past experience: KI, Knott's, CP, Carowinds, WOF, MA, KD, VF, Dorney. 

 

I tell people often that they get complacent with what they have and go visit another park to regain the appreciation of what we have!

[DonHelbig]

3 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I have never seen better operations at a CF park than KI. They are the gold standard and we are very lucky. My rankings for CF parks in my past experience: KI, Knott's, CP, Carowinds, WOF, MA, KD, VF, Dorney. 

KI since 1972 has always had industry-leading operations. If you think it's really good now, you should have seen it in the 1970's and 1980's. It was a priority back then to fill every train to capacity, pairing up single riders.