Kings Island Searches for Executive Chef

[DonHelbig]

Kings Island is looking to elevate its food and beverage program with the search for an Executive Chef. The role will oversee all culinary operations throughout the park, including quick-service locations, full-service restaurants, catering, and special events. The successful candidate will serve as the park’s senior culinary leader, helping shape dining experiences for millions of guests each season while driving innovation, quality, and operational excellence across the resort. Hungry for a career in the amusement and theme park industry? This could be the ultimate recipe for success.

Apply online: https://jobs.sixflags.com/job/mason/executive-chef/42509/96527403440

[CedarPointer]

Didn't they just post a video with their other chef yesterday? 🤔

[DonHelbig]

1 minute ago, CedarPointer said:

Didn't they just post a video with their other chef yesterday? 🤔

Yes they did, with executive chef Joseph Perez. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Curious if Joseph stepped down, got the boot, or was promoted/demoted? 

While I hate to see anyone lose their job, I cannot deny that food quality has declined at KI in recent years. Just look at posts/comments on the KI pass group/other fansites including on here. 

[CedarPointer]

I think the problem with food is that they, as a chain, are trying to do two things, which are diametrically opposed: 

1. Act like their food is "elevated", "fancy", etc to try to get people to pay out of pocket for it
2. Continue selling hugely underpriced dining plans because (as Disenchanted Parks is finding out) passholders will not pay out of pocket for food after having dining plans for 11 years, and raising the prices will only get the people they actually make money off of to stop buying them

The thing is that a lot of the issues with food don't have anything to do with the chef or even really the park, it's corporate budget cuts due to the failure of the merger. Even the worst chef would admit that, say, selling a $20 burger that doesn't come with any toppings is an obvious fail, but the parks do it because it saves a little bit of money.

[DoomPlague]

21 hours ago, CedarPointer said:

I think the problem with food is that they, as a chain, are trying to do two things, which are diametrically opposed: 

1. Act like their food is "elevated", "fancy", etc to try to get people to pay out of pocket for it
2. Continue selling hugely underpriced dining plans because (as Disenchanted Parks is finding out) passholders will not pay out of pocket for food after having dining plans for 11 years, and raising the prices will only get the people they actually make money off of to stop buying them

The thing is that a lot of the issues with food don't have anything to do with the chef or even really the park, it's corporate budget cuts due to the failure of the merger. Even the worst chef would admit that, say, selling a $20 burger that doesn't come with any toppings is an obvious fail, but the parks do it because it saves a little bit of money.

I had the same thoughts.

And any complaints I've had seem to have little or nothing to do with anything the executive chef would decide but are clearly financial. Whoever the executive chef is will almost certainly deal with constraints that a self-respecting chef doesn't want.

The company knows how many passholders KI has and how many have dining plans and how much they use it. I was at CGA recently and was shocked at what they charge for the dining plan there: $99 and I don't think they charge tax or processing fees either. I guess they at least realize they can charge more at KI but its still too cheap when you have an army of people who show up 30 or 40 or 50 times or more a year.

[DonHelbig]

1 hour ago, DoomPlague said:

I had the same thoughts.

And any complaints I've had seem to have little or nothing to do with anything the executive chef would decide but are clearly financial. Whoever the executive chef is will almost certainly deal with constraints that a self-respecting chef doesn't want.

The company knows how many passholders KI has and how many have dining plans and how much they use it. I was at CGA recently and was shocked at what they charge for the dining plan there: $99 and I don't think they charge tax or processing fees either. I guess they at least realize they can charge more at KI but its still too cheap when you have an army of people who show up 30 or 40 or 50 times or more a year.

Food has become a commodity at Kings Island and other Six Flags parks. They treat food as something guests need rather than something guests should want. 

[disco2000]

51 minutes ago, DonHelbig said:

Food has become a commodity at Kings Island and other Six Flags parks. They treat food as something guests need rather than something guests should want. 

What was the quote " people gotta eat" lol

[BeeastFarmer]

One my one visit this year, and my one visit last year, food was still very good. 

I had terrible Coney BBQ pulled pork in the past , though, and that was under the direction of Chef Major.

Food was really good under the direction of Chef Nate, too.  Maybe he will come back.

I do realize, that my experience is anecdotal.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I want to clarify by saying, I myself have yet to have a bad KI food experience to where I can't finish what I eat. I've enjoyed everything I've had at KI. However, I will say the food isn't as good as it was under Chef Major and over the last few years, I have seen numerous complaints about food being undercooked, food being left out under the lamp too long, food being overcooked, among other things that really take away from the guest experience. While some of that stuff is at the fault of the food employees, the fact it continues to happen despite all the complaints comes down to training/management which falls on the executive chef. 

Things like portion sizes, no ice in the machines, watered down drinks, machines being out of drinks is a budget thing while things like properly preparing, cooking, and/or storing food has nothing to do with budget. That's a management/training issue.

[DonHelbig]

3 hours ago, disco2000 said:

What was the quote " people gotta eat" lol

I remember that being said, but the question he was asked was about the food prices, not the quality. 

[BeeastFarmer]

My memory of Kings Island food in 2014 and prior was that it was basically bland, besides pizza and chili. (Not being from the area, skyline and La Rosa have been a treat typically reserved for Kings Island.  Before I started going to ki alot in 2014, I only ate skyline and La Rosa when going to the park).  I remember the hamburger meat was terrible in 2014, the patties still had the round extruded look and feel, and tasted terrible. It wasn't until 2015 coasterstock that I was eating some sandwich special at Reds that Chef Nate designed that was really good, that I took much of an interest in park food. 

[kingsislandfan1972]

Hold the phone... I know a guy! ⬇️

[super7]

On 6/24/2026 at 3:07 PM, CedarPointer said:

I think the problem with food is that they, as a chain, are trying to do two things, which are diametrically opposed: 

1. Act like their food is "elevated", "fancy", etc to try to get people to pay out of pocket for it
2. Continue selling hugely underpriced dining plans because (as Disenchanted Parks is finding out) passholders will not pay out of pocket for food after having dining plans for 11 years, and raising the prices will only get the people they actually make money off of to stop buying them

The thing is that a lot of the issues with food don't have anything to do with the chef or even really the park, it's corporate budget cuts due to the failure of the merger. Even the worst chef would admit that, say, selling a $20 burger that doesn't come with any toppings is an obvious fail, but the parks do it because it saves a little bit of money.

IMO The dining plans are absolutely the reason for the low quality food.   As these plans are overused they don’t end up making much money on the meals if anything at all. So they continue to cut quality and portions to combat that.

That being said, Kings Island has absolutely some of the worst food quality and selection in the chain.    The food has never been good there and they really didn’t increase their food quality much during that time When the parks actually were increasing food quality (that time is well over).  

[IndyGuy4KI]

7 hours ago, super7 said:

IMO The dining plans are absolutely the reason for the low quality food.   As these plans are overused they don’t end up making much money on the meals if anything at all. So they continue to cut quality and portions to combat that.

That being said, Kings Island has absolutely some of the worst food quality and selection in the chain.    The food has never been good there and they really didn’t increase their food quality much during that time When the parks actually were increasing food quality (that time is well over).  

What do you propose they do to increase the quality? If you were to design the food for the park, what would it look like?

[DonHelbig]

8 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

What do you propose they do to increase the quality? If you were to design the food for the park, what would it look like?

Six Flags has optimized food and beverage for dining plan sales rather than guest experience, and it is time to rebalance the equation. I have ideas on what they can do that would be better for Six Flags, food and beverage associates, and guests. But they wouldn’t want to hear it. 

[IBEW_Sparky]

On 7/2/2026 at 5:54 PM, kingsislandfan1972 said:

Hold the phone... I know a guy! ⬇️

Sorry, that guy’s in Charlotte on the Board, SF’s version of the “harumph” guy in Blazing Saddles.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I've been thinking about how the chain might change or get rid of the dining plan a lot recently, and I feel like the safest solution would've been to make any adjustments under the "New Management" excuse right after the merger happened. Neither legacy chain probably thought too far ahead on that matter though. The second-best option at this point would probably be to raise the Dining Plan prices and offer a new set of options. Some of the parks now offer both a 1-meal/day plan and a 2-meal/day plan. It might help for the chain to also price things out depending on pass tier. 

Enchanted Parks decided to not offer a dining plan, and now they're being forced to develop a new DP program. Their meal prices also didn't go down much at all. It's still about $17 for a meal that doesn't come with a drink. It's worth noting that if the parks decide to drastically change their dining plans because guests are "abusing" them, then Six Flags should expect to see lower turnstile numbers after the changes are implemented. Anyone who popped into the park for lunch probably won't do that, leading to lower numbers.

Maybe I'll look into doing a deep dive on various park chain dining plans... I know Six Flags (plus the legacy companies), United Parks, and Disney World definitely have dining plans. I believe Herschend and Universal mainly deal in event tasting passes. Enchanted Parks has nothing yet besides their one-time meal voucher tied to their passes. What chains am I missing?

[IndyGuy4KI]

22 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

Six Flags should expect to see lower turnstile numbers after the changes are implemented.

Their flash sale looks like the turnstile numbers are not panning out this season anyway. $22.50 is dirt cheap to get those numbers up. 

[DonHelbig]

3 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I've been thinking about how the chain might change or get rid of the dining plan a lot recently, and I feel like the safest solution would've been to make any adjustments under the "New Management" excuse right after the merger happened. Neither legacy chain probably thought too far ahead on that matter though. The second-best option at this point would probably be to raise the Dining Plan prices and offer a new set of options. Some of the parks now offer both a 1-meal/day plan and a 2-meal/day plan. It might help for the chain to also price things out depending on pass tier. 

Enchanted Parks decided to not offer a dining plan, and now they're being forced to develop a new DP program. Their meal prices also didn't go down much at all. It's still about $17 for a meal that doesn't come with a drink. It's worth noting that if the parks decide to drastically change their dining plans because guests are "abusing" them, then Six Flags should expect to see lower turnstile numbers after the changes are implemented. Anyone who popped into the park for lunch probably won't do that, leading to lower numbers.

Maybe I'll look into doing a deep dive on various park chain dining plans... I know Six Flags (plus the legacy companies), United Parks, and Disney World definitely have dining plans. I believe Herschend and Universal mainly deal in event tasting passes. Enchanted Parks has nothing yet besides their one-time meal voucher tied to their passes. What chains am I missing?

Nobody is abusing the dining plan. You’re allowed two meals per visit as long as they’re four hours apart. That’s what you paid for. The park does what it can to make it hard to get that second meal for guests that arrive with five hours to go in the operating day by closing restaurants earlier than they did in the pre-dining plan era. So who’s cheating who? 

[CedarPointer]

Can't forget that pre-merger Six Flags tried to get rid of the dining plan, because of the news story about one (1) person using it every day at Magic Mountain. It didn't go well for them, and they had to bring it back. If they're concerned about abuse, perhaps they should look into the giving away of used Fast Lane and All Day Dining wristbands that happens daily on Facebook.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

1 hour ago, DonHelbig said:

Nobody is abusing the dining plan. You’re allowed two meals per visit as long as they’re four hours apart. That’s what you paid for. The park does what it can to make it hard to get that second meal for guests that arrive with five hours to go in the operating day by closing restaurants earlier than they did in the pre-dining plan era. So who’s cheating who? 

There are some loud voices who use the word in an effort to say why the parks should get rid of the dining plan, hence why I put it in quotation marks. It was just a thought to add to the list of facts  

 

2 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Their flash sale looks like the turnstile numbers are not panning out this station anyway. $22.50 is dirt cheap to get those numbers up. 

This is a chain-wide flash sale (excluding Knott's), so I'm curious as to whether this is a reaction to overall visitation numbers or if it's something to precede changes to the upcoming pass sales — especially considering the fact that memberships are now on the table. Parks like Kings Dominion have the two days for just $35 while Cedar Point has them for $49. Maybe we'll find out during the next quarterly earnings call.

 

I hope whoever becomes Kings Island's next Executive Chef is able to help advocate fixes for some of the issues we've noticed this season. Not enough indoor/covered dining, slow service times in the Brewhouse, and ensuring drink machines have ice throughout the day are just a few noticeable inconsistencies.

[brenthodge]

13 hours ago, DonHelbig said:

Nobody is abusing the dining plan. You’re allowed two meals per visit as long as they’re four hours apart. That’s what you paid for. The park does what it can to make it hard to get that second meal for guests that arrive with five hours to go in the operating day by closing restaurants earlier than they did in the pre-dining plan era. So who’s cheating who? 

Thanks. I get so tired of the “guests are abusing it” excuse. You scanned into the park. You get 2 meals 4 hours apart. Unless you are acting like someone else by leaving, putting on your disguise and scanning in again (I’m sure someone has done it or at least thought about it) it’s not cheating. Getting a lid and taking it to go isn’t cheating. Sharing it with your kid isn’t cheating. 

[super7]

On 7/6/2026 at 9:42 PM, CedarPointer said:

Can't forget that pre-merger Six Flags tried to get rid of the dining plan, because of the news story about one (1) person using it every day at Magic Mountain. It didn't go well for them, and they had to bring it back. If they're concerned about abuse, perhaps they should look into the giving away of used Fast Lane and All Day Dining wristbands that happens daily on Facebook.

They’ve backed themselves into a corner. Season passholders now expect this dining plan.   Take it away and they lose customers
 

Keep it, and they lose profit and are forced to offer lower quality food     The plan is not generating as much profit for them because of the amount of times most past holders use it.    There’s no other chain offering a dining plan like this.  Hershey does have a dining plan, but it’s only for the summer.   That seems to indicate it’s not a profitable business plan.
 

 

[super7]

On 7/6/2026 at 8:26 AM, IndyGuy4KI said:

What do you propose they do to increase the quality? If you were to design the food for the park, what would it look like?

To start with, have the equipment to keep the food warm.    Those warming tables that they have only warm the bottom of the pans.  Most of the food at the park is lukewarm or even cold.

I just don't find anything unique that would make me want to wait to get the park to eat it.   Most of the food there amounts to fast food items that can be purchased down the road at better quality.   The menu at (at what should be) the "premier" sit down restaurant is a great example,   Hamburgers, BLT, salad and a few other things with the one option of tater tots.  Then there are locations like Coney Bar-b-que using lower priced ingredients instead of the best bar-b-que ingredients like brisket and ribs.

This isn't going to be fine dining, but it should be better quality and more interesting menu that fast food places down the road.   Parks like Hershey, BGW (although their food is severely overpriced) and Knoebels come to mind as far as parks that have a good variety of more unique items on the menu.

 

[super7]

On 7/6/2026 at 8:41 PM, DonHelbig said:

Nobody is abusing the dining plan. You’re allowed two meals per visit as long as they’re four hours apart. That’s what you paid for. The park does what it can to make it hard to get that second meal for guests that arrive with five hours to go in the operating day by closing restaurants earlier than they did in the pre-dining plan era. So who’s cheating who? 

Right, anyone using the dining plan is within the current rules.  The computer system will not allow anyone to go outside of those rules.

However, there are people using it to the extent that there could be changes forthcoming to the plan.   There are people that go to the park just to eat and go so far as to go there and carry the food out.  I have seen it myself.  Tower Topics reported this week that KI had someone stationed outside the gate counting the people taking food out of the park.     The indicates that the park/company is unhappy with the way the plan is working currently.     This company is infamous for bait-and-switch and changing terms after purchase, so don't be shocked at anything they do.......

[brenthodge]

4 hours ago, super7 said:

Right, anyone using the dining plan is within the current rules.  The computer system will not allow anyone to go outside of those rules.

However, there are people using it to the extent that there could be changes forthcoming to the plan.   There are people that go to the park just to eat and go so far as to go there and carry the food out.  I have seen it myself.  Tower Topics reported this week that KI had someone stationed outside the gate counting the people taking food out of the park.     The indicates that the park/company is unhappy with the way the plan is working currently.     This company is infamous for bait-and-switch and changing terms after purchase, so don't be shocked at anything they do.......

Again, how is going to the park just to eat abusing it? How is getting it to go abusing it? Scan in, use dining plan, wait 4 hours, use again. That’s the policy. 

[DonHelbig]

1 hour ago, brenthodge said:

Again, how is going to the park just to eat abusing it? How is getting it to go abusing it? Scan in, use dining plan, wait 4 hours, use again. That’s the policy. 

It’s not abusing it as you’re allowed up to two meals within four hours. However, counting how many guests are just coming in, grabbing a meal and carrying it out says the park thinks these guests are. If I were the park, using the person keeping tabs to stock ice would be a better use of the labor.

[brenthodge]

9 hours ago, DonHelbig said:

It’s not abusing it as you’re allowed up to two meals within four hours. However, counting how many guests are just coming in, grabbing a meal and carrying it out says the park thinks these guests are. If I were the park, using the person keeping tabs to stock ice would be a better use of the labor.

the phrase "tripping over dollars to save pennies" comes to mind.

[brenthodge]

Wonder if more of a “point” system would work. You purchase a plan based on number of points pr day, 1-4 with no time limit, and have CLASSIC items, SIGNATURE items, and PREMIUM dining experiences. Classic items are 1 point, Signature are 2 and Premium are 4 or 2+ half the cost of the experience. Let people decide how to use these points through the day. If you are at the park less and only want a burger each time you come, buy the 1 point and buy other food on days you stay longer. If you come a lot of longer days, or always want more elevated food, buy the 2 or 4 and eat more, or better each time. If you want that International Restaurant Peanuts Breakfast Buffet, you know you are using all your points for that one experience and will be paying for any other food that day, but as Don said, make each of these tiers truly reflective of their “price”.