How do you feel about the changes Cedar Fair has made to the park?

[BoddaH1994]

Since the park has been in operation, I was just wondering how you feel about all of the changes.

Ryan

[Mikewhy]

I feel the changes are overall positive. Like I mentioned before, I hate the music they are playing on I-street, although I will admit that it LOOKS better than ever!

[PKIVortex]

The park does look great.

[The Interpreter]

The park is much cleaner than before, but seems to just lack a certain something. Perhaps it is because I visited opening weekend, and ALL the music in the park was far too low in volume.

The food prices are unrealistically high and will, in my opinion, either force many out of the park to eat and/or cause some to not come back either next year or later this season. People have a tendency to remember paying $11 for a cup of cold Potato Works fries and a small Coca-Cola. Or more than $30 for a pizza and four soft drinks.

On the other hand, all the coasters were running better than they had in many years.

[PKIVortex]

The music was turned up where you could actually hear it last weekend, at least from what I noticed on International Street from opening weekend.

[Airromeo4Ever]

Hello everybody!

I have yet to visit Kings Island so far this year, I plan to in a few weeks. I live in VA about a hour southeast of Kings Dominion actually. Now Kings Dominion looks awesome. I'm amazed at some of the changes, and I know even better things are going to happend.

I have also heard some awesome things about Kings Island this year, and the impression Cedar Fair is making on the park. It can only mean great things to come. I for one am confident that Kings Island is a top priority park for Cedar Fair, im guessing right behind Cedar Point! I'm highly antisipating my multi-day visit.

I keep hearing everyone complain about food prices. I think everyone forgets that a theme park is still a bussiness. Cedar Fair has aquired a billion plus dollar dept in less than a year with the purchase of the five former Paramount Parks. They have to somehow make that money back. Praying that the dept will go away wont cut it.

Everyone has the option to either eat before arriving at the park, leave for a hour or so and grab something at one of the thousand fast food places and sit down restaraunts within five miles of the park, or pack a lunch and eat it in the parking lot.

All theme parks over charge for food and beverages. Most of the time the food is very good, but if your fries are cold then just go back to the counter and "KINDLY" demand new fresh fries. That goes for anything your not happy with: cold pizza, warm drinks, cold burgers, or stale popcorn. It's up to YOU to create a wonderful experience. No food stand or restaraunt actually sets a goal to serve cold or bad food, but sometimes things slip pass them. I have rarely experieced a bad meal at any theme park, and I'm well aware its not going to be cheap before even entering.

A Good Example:

Most movie theaters charge around $18.00 for a bucket of pop corn and two medium drinks. That pop corn and drinks is whats keeping that theater open. Most of the ticket price goes to the studio (Paramount, Universal, Waner Brothers, Lions Gate) of the movie your about to see. People arrive at theater expecting to pay that much. Your actually getting less than a dollars worth of popcorn and drinks. Imagine that.

Trust me it takes millions of dollars every season to keep Kings Island and other major parks in the world open for bussiness.

For the most part Kings Island is rather affordable. Who goes to a theme park broke? What I'm saying is expect large crowds, long lines, technical glitches, and high food prices. It's a living breathing bussiness.

Don't sweat the small stuff, just be happy that Kings Island and all the former Paramount Parks are in the very very very good hands of Cedar Fair! Awesome things are definately on the horizon!

Make The 2007 Season The Best One Ever!!!

[coasterlova054]

I really have enjoyed being at the park under Cedar Fair's operation! The park looks great and I think the overall atmosphere is a lot more pleasant!

[bear295]

Hello everybody!

All theme parks over charge for food and beverages.

Then you obviously haven't been to Holiday World! They offer almost the exact same food as other parks and charge about 25% less. They even have FREE Pepsi products all over the park. They also include FREE sunscreen in the water park.

Here is a link showing food and prices at Holiday World.

Holiday World Foods and Prices

[CoastersNSich]

Explaining my vote...

Overall Vote: 4 Cedar Fair was the kind of company (or better yet, THE company) that I hope would buy Kings Island.

What's Improved:

- Cleanliness. You can't miss the Cedar Point-esque-labeled trash cans! I was around Dick Kinzel and the CF management team, and they were picking up every little thing off the ground. The park's ecology team seems to be everywhere, from the midways to the bathrooms. And their yellow shirts do look nice. Overall, the park just has a better appearance than in the past few years, IMO.

- Food choices: I'm not going to get into prices, but it's nice they're keeping the buffet at Wings Diner, the favorite Cincinnati foods (Skyline, Graeter's, LaRosa's), while adding new choices like Panda Express and new stuff at other locations.

- Ride Maintenance: It seems the coasters are running a lot better, especially The Racer and Beast!

- Merchandise: They have changed some of the shops around, and so far, the stuff looks good, though I haven't bought anything yet. Also nice to see that space on Coney Mall as a grunge-like shop again, even though that might not be my style.

- Other: Security has an increased presence throughout the park, and the uniforms look a bit better, especially with the caps. I also like seeing the metal detection workers now wearing security uniforms rather than the cheaper yellow concert venue shirts. Keeping the metal detection was also smart - it puts me at ease knowing that line jumpers or other ignorant guests aren't packing heat.

Also, I like the change in music, it's a bit more relaxed.

What NEEDS to Improve:

- Ride Capacity: Do the ride operators still wearing the Paramount Parks shirts have something to do with this? Vortex is stacking like crazy, Racer still not racing at times. My impression with Cedar Fair was that staffing was supoosed to improve, especially with greeters to check height at entrances so they don't have to delay loading in the station. Hopefully this aspect gets better, but there seems to be a Burger King attitude here.

- Pricing: While the pricing of daily admission and season passes is still reasonable, I still find myself less than impressed with the prices of food and drinks. If I had to point out the most marked-up items, it's the soft drinks by far. The food may be pricey, but drinks are just insane, when comparing to what's outside the park - or even with other parks. Others have said that Six Flags is a bit lower, and even Disney charges remarkably less for food/drink! I know that CF needs to raise some money to pay off the Paramount Parks purchase, but why not do it by selling more than just charging more. And LORD knows I hate to resort to McDonald's or other cheap fast food as lunch for a theme park visit.

- Admissions: It took way too long to pass through parking tolls on Opening Saturday. I know it was the first day, but not only was this a safety issue with the back-up, but also with the slow moving traffic, Al Gore would have a fit!

[Browntggrr]

I think it is still too early to really have a grasp onto what CF has in store for KI. Last year CF could not do too much since they aquired the park in July, and the park has only been open for 4 days so far this year.

The end of this season may actually be too quick to actually see what CF is going to do long term.

What CF has done so far has been nice. I am really looking foward to year 3 to see how the park is doing.

[hauntguy]

I am going to agree completely with the pricing on food and beverages. If you look at Holiday World, what they is amazing. That's why that park is one of my most favorite parks to visit... yes, above KI! -Hauntguy

[ohhs02highlander]

Okay yes you do bring up a valid point with Holiday World...however look at the market they are in. They are in a very small market as they are pretty much out in the middle of nowhere and need to have something other than santa clause to draw in people to their park/area. I'm not discrediting anything that Holiday World has done as they have kinda revolutionalized the industry with being such a small park yet building such huge and awesome wooden coasters. It's been a few years since I've been and I can't wait to hopefully go back this year. Also one thing that I noticed when i went a few years ago was the horrible turnover time. This partly in fact the only have like one train running on Raven and Voyage. I was just wondering if this is still true or if they've done something to fix it and if it was just a one time thing or what??? And how many trains do they run on Voyage...I can't wait to ride that. Also one other point Holiday world for the most part doesn't put the money into there park as much as other "major" parks do as well for one like I said they are smaller market and have to cut costs in some area's i.e. food, beverage and parking, to help draw a crowd. Holiday World/Splashin Safari though has done a great job at over coming their small park status and building some absolutely amazing woodie coasters...they're keeping woodie's alive

cheers,

nick

[CoastersRZ]

Ok, I`m slightly confused with your post. You are saying that Holiday World doesn`t put money into the park like other major parks? Well, for starters, both the Raven and Legend started off as one train rides. But do to the popularity of the rides, and growing attendance levels, Holiday World added a second train to those rides. Additionally, the additions in 2006, their 60th season, was the most amount of money they had spent on new rides in a single season in their entire history. So I am failing to see your 'lack of reinvestment' concept that you claim Holiday World is suffering from.

And part of why Holiday World has been successful, is their emphasis on friendly courteous service. Not to mention the fact that they try and keep the park as clean as possible for the guests. Throw into the mix the "free" soft drinks and "free" parking, and you have a park that appeals to families. And will keep them coming back for more, despite its relatively remote location.

[The Interpreter]

And it is NOT just a matter of lower priced food and beverages...at Holiday World the food is FAR higher quality than that served at most theme parks. The Koch family is out in the park and cares, too.

And new this year is a new food option whose pricing is going to shock a lot of people who only go to larger parks...Plymouth Rock Cafe.

To quote the wonderful Paula:

... about our soon-

to-open Thanksgiving-themed restaurant. :0)

The purpose is to share the happy news that the Plymouth Rock Cafe

prices originally posted on our Restaurants page ( http://holidayworld.com/food.html ) have been replaced with lower prices.

As our food-services folks have gotten closer to opening the

restaurant, they're not only playing with the menu ... they

discovered they could take the prices down a bit more (without

changing the serving size).

And for this, we give thanks ...

Paula Werne

Holiday World PR

[Vortex]

Anyone know why the flowers are missing in the clock and date areas? Why are some coasters stacking?

[The Interpreter]

The missing flowers is not a new thing. Usually at this time of the season, they haven't been put out yet. It wouldn't surprise me if they showed up this weekend or next...

[westcoaster]

Customer service, great food prices, and care in the park is whats driving Holiday world to success. Kings Island has to stay focused, and cad do plenty of stuff;

[PKIVortex]

The Clock and the Date hasn't been planted yet. As far as trains stacking on the coasters, alot of it has to do with new employees and just the fact it's the beginning of the season. They will get there groove back.

[bear295]

Anyone know why the flowers are missing in the clock and date areas? Why are some coasters stacking?

I seem to remember in the past that the flowers aren't put there until they are ready for 7 day operation. Actually, makes sense from a monetary and work load standpoint. The manpower required to keep a minimal view area could be used more efficiently getting other seasonal displays ready.

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

To comment on the cleanliness of the park; has anyone looked at the park from the Eiffel Tower lately?

It's pretty nasty looking from up there. A lot of the roofs on the buildings around International Street are horrid. The fountain looks very dirty from up there and so does the stage where they have the Hot Island Rhythms show.

I know that the overhead angle of the park is probably a blip on the radar for the maintenance department, but if the symbol of your park is a huge tower and you're going to have people up in it looking down at your property, you should make the view a little more pleasing.

[The Interpreter]

Be careful what you wish for. One solution to this "problem" would be to close off public access to the tower. One I am almost surprised they didn't do until the Son of Beast work was finished anyway...

[Browntggrr]

It's pretty nasty looking from up there. A lot of the roofs on the buildings around International Street are horrid.

I suppose this means that the birds will have to aim at a better looking target.

[fryler87]

Hello everybody!

All theme parks over charge for food and beverages.

Then you obviously haven't been to Holiday World! They offer almost the exact same food as other parks and charge about 25% less. They even have FREE Pepsi products all over the park. They also include FREE sunscreen in the water park.

Here is a link showing food and prices at Holiday World.

Holiday World Foods and Prices

Compare Holiday World's overhead with King's Islands. I know nothing of the matter on real esatate, but I would assume that Holiday World pays much less in taxes than King's Island due to its out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere location. Granted, King's Island isn't PRIME property, but I've heard that the City of Mason is not too forgiving with taxes and the like.

Although I will agree that King's Islands' prices are MUCH higher than they should be and Holiday World is taking a small hit with free sunscreen, soft drinks and parking. However, it's to Holiday World's benefit. I'll go back to HW this year, not just for the fantastic atmosphere and rides, but also for the perks. Even though tickets may seem higher for a park of its size, to me, the value of all the extra free stuff is MORE than worth it all.

[Browntggrr]

Although I will agree that King's Islands' prices are MUCH higher than they should be and Holiday World is taking a small hit with free sunscreen, soft drinks and parking.

That may not be necessarily true. Even though HW does give away free soft drinks, they don't have to have employees hired to sell the soft drinks. The syrup used for soft drinks is actually very cheap to purchase.

It would be intresting to break down the costs involved for both parks, but again, I am not an accountant.

[PKIVortex]

We know Kings Island is getting total profit from the soft drink sales. The price of a 20 ounce bottle in the machines is more than half what a 20 once bottle cost anywhere else. $1.27 is about how much a 20 ounce cost at Target for most brands. So Kings Island is racking in the money in drink sales.

[hauntguy]

^ They may be "racking in the sales"... but it does make KI that much LESS appealing to go to! I was talking to a teacher of mine who has 7 (seven) kids and says he'll NEVER take them to KI because it's MUCH too expensive. He says it's not the tickets, but the feeding and care of his kids (food and beverage) is why he'll never take them as a group!

Hopefully CF will change this! Seriously, food and beverage at Disney AND Universal are much more affordable than KI! -Hauntguy

[The Interpreter]

CF HAS changed this. They HAVE adjusted the pricing. So far, in an UPwards direction.

[PKIVortex]

I believe CF added .10 cents to the price of fountain drinks, and lowered the price of the machines by .25 cents. But remember it was CBS who raised the prices to begin with. Also remember guest spending also went up in the former Paramount Parks during 2006. Most reason's for this though would be cause of the higher prices. I do agree though the prices are way out of hand. Does anyone know if the prices for food and drink were also raised at the other Non Paramount Cedar Fair parks?

[The Interpreter]

Well, Cedar Point opens next weekend. Dorney opens today. Valley Fair isn't open yet. Geauga doesn't open til Memorial Day weekend! So how would anyone know unless perhaps someone has been to Knott's or to Worlds of Fun lately?

If you also remember, last year Cedar Point and the other Cedar Fair parks had lowered food pricing, especially the loss leader of 25 cent cotton candy. It is my understanding that will not return.

At Kings Island, the Wings Buffet went up substantially (it is now approximately $15). French fries are now $3.50. Potato Works fries went up substantially. Nowhere were potatoes anywhere near what they are this season. At Carowinds, baskets that came with fries no longer do, and free refills at Wings went away. At Kings Island, the price of fudge has been adjusted since the park opened. Yes, it went up.

[Browntggrr]

I was talking to a teacher of mine who has 7 (seven) kids and says he'll NEVER take them to KI because it's MUCH too expensive. He says it's not the tickets, but the feeding and care of his kids (food and beverage) is why he'll never take them as a group!

Tell your teacher to invest in a cooler(s) and have lunch, dinner, and snacks at the car! Even before my wife and I had kids, we would do this. It's cheaper and more relaxing.