AmyUD06

So I just got to KD...eep. For perspective, here is the line for I305: And the Fast Lane line: Eep indeed

At least it's a quality DJ, as oppose to the most likely candidate for an event at that place, Pauly D.

It'll be interesting to see if they dismantle it with care or just chop it up. For the sake of everyone's brains, I hope its the latter.

Hexed and the Fearground Freakshow were both very very good, and the Eerie Estate wasn't bad either. Cornstalkers and Slaughter House both can be safely skipped unless you're really into the themes. Don't miss the Cut Throat Cove maze-but-not-a-maze between Maverick and the train either.

I get Racer, since it just got all that new wood, but I always found the chipped paint and rust as part of the charm of Adventure Express.

Better throw a </sarcasm> tag on there; in this thread these jokers are likely to take you seriously.

The park HAS gotten major investments recently. Just because you don't see them as such, it doesn't make it less true.

And this is exactly why you don't get a new coaster. You don't need it to draw in crowds. I feel like I'm talking to the walls here.

Photo TR: Friday, 10/15, and Saturday 10/16 This past weekend, as it was my only weekend off from work for the month of October, I decided to make a trek out to Kings Island to take in their Haunt festivities. Typically, their Haunt is one of the best out of the CF chain, and in the past I could definitely see them winning the "Best Haunted Park Attraction" award that they had plastered all over the place this year. But this year's Haunt? Laughable. Read on. I got into town around 4:30 on Friday, got checked in my hotel (the Super 8 across I-71 from the park), and made my way over to the park around 5:15 for opening. I found myself in a substantial line of cars, but it was already moving, and made my way to the main gate. I gotta say, I do appreciate the facade they erect in front of the standard main gate building. At 5:45, they opened the main gates, and in I went. Kinda standard Haunt entry decorations during the day (that turn into quite something else at night). The Squishmallows store is back open, albeit without any noticeable KI-specific ones. I made my way over to the Fast Lane redemption booth to claim my FL+ wirstband, and also buy a Fright Lane, where I was told that you cannot actually buy the Fright Lane in the park; you need to do it online. So I hopped out of line, whipped out my phone, quickly purchased the Fright Lane pass, then was back in line to grab that. As it turns out, I mostly wouldn't need it, but I did utilize it to grab two laps on most mazes (first just waiting in the standby queue and second using the Fright Lane), and as you'll see, I'm glad I did. My goal for Friday was to check out all of the Haunt stuff and get in whatever rides I could. My first stop was Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror, the wax museum maze. My initial run had around 20 actors, with some well done artistry and some nice visual gags, but it was a little dark. My later lap through this maze, I definitely noticed a lot more. Tons of great actors, many of which were playing the "wax statue" role wonderfully. They had a great "closing spiked wall" effect towards the end that was accentuated by a strobe light, so it was difficult to tell if the wall was actually moving (spoiler alert: it was!). Very nicely done. Next up was Slaugherhouse. As I've said in other reports, this is such a tired theme. But, this was decently done enough I guess...15-20 actors, no complaints. Round two later in the night was much of the same, nothing really worth noting. I then made my way over to what is typically the best of the KI mazes, Killmart. The grouper sent through a group of 25 people, which is way too big. That said, there were easily more actors inside the maze, and though nothing appeared to have changed from my 2019 experience, it was still solid. Maybe having worked at a K-Mart for two winters back in my youth gives me a soft spot for this theme? Round two later in the night was about the same, but I did notice a lot more nice animatronics this time through. Unfortunately, another 30-person conga-line group sent through at once. That said, this one was very well done. Next up was Chaos, supposedly themed to a laboratory. In actuality, it seemed like it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a science theme, a nightclub, or a mirror maze. Only counted 5 or 6 actors. Rather disappointing. Round two later in the night though was a whole different thing. Many more actors, and I got behind a good group of scaredy 14-15 years olds which were jumping at every little thing, which made the maze much more entertaining. I then made my way up to the Festhaus for the Monster Rock show. Yawn. Horrible acoustics, only decent enough vocalists, and a set list that included a lot more than just rock. I think it was the same show was it was back in 2019, but it was disappointing then and disappointing now. I then took in the You're Too Old to Trick or Treat Game Show at the Bier Garten. This was entertaining enough, I guess. The game I saw just involved dice rolling so not too many opportunities for jokes from the hosts. Maybe the other games are better? Add in the Drums of the Dead, a typical "dummers-playing-over-a-backing-track" show, which I skipped, and this was the entirety of KI's Haunt show offerings. How does KD blow this place out of the water in this department? Oh, remember how I mentioned the International Street area was better at night? Yeah it was. Excuse my phone camera's horrible performance at night with multiple light sources, but yeah those are pyrotechnic towers lining the sides of the fountain. My final new maze of the night was Cornered, a slightly different take on the tired corn-maze theme. This seemed kinda short, but it was long for the space they put it in. Unlikely most corn-mazes at park Halloween events, this was not just a stroll through a narrow corridor of corn, instead featuring some wider open areas which plenty of things for actors to hide behind. Better done than most corn-mazes I've been through this year, but still..,meh. Only one lap through here, as by the time I got to it I needed to use my Fright Lane the first time. And about wrapped up my experience with KI's Haunt attractions. You'll notice I didn't mention anything about the scare zones - that's because there wasn't really very much to mention. Decorations and artistry were meh, presence of actors was meh...that really about sums up the entire event: Meh. How do I rank the Cedar Fair Haunts I've been to this year? 1. Kings Dominion, by far. ... 2. Cedar Point 3. Kings Island, solely because of Killmart and Madame Fatale's. 4. Dorney Park Anyway, now it was time for some rides. I hopped on Bat for a two train wait for the front row. I don't know that I've ever been on this a night, but it was quite dark and summarily impressive. Next up was Banshee, a two train wait for the front row. Definitely another good night ride, but a little too lit up. Finally, it was time for Beast. 18 minutes for front row (the only place to ride this, day or night). This would turn out to be my only night ride on this of the trip, and man was it worth it. Classic. After that, I did another lap of the park, getting in my second rounds at each of the mazes that I hadn't used my Fright Lane on yet, and then left the park around 10:00, since I was pretty tired after my nine-hour drive to get here. On Saturday, with an 11:00 opening, I got to the park at a little after 9:30 and was greeted with this: Yay. Anyway, there's not really much to talk about from my Saturday experience, so I guess I'll just do a bullet list for rides, in order that they occurred (times with FL+): -Diamondback: Walk-on early entry for row 2, left side. -Woodstock Express: Two-train wait for back row. -Mystic Timbers: Two-train wait for front row, Man Eater and snake ending. -Backlot Stunt Coaster: One-train wait for back row. Everything working except the helicopter did not move. -Shake, Rattle, & Roll: One cycle wait -Kings Mill Antique Autos: Two-car wait -Zephyr: Half-cycle wait -Flight of Fear: 15 minute wait for back row. -Orion: 22 minute wait for back row. Yeah, that was with FL, at 1:00 PM. -Racer: One-train wait for row 2, red side. Did not win. -Beast: 15 minute wait for front row. -Racer: Two-train wait for front row, blue side. Did win! -Adventure Express: Two-train wait for front row. Everything working. -Invertigo: 15 minute wait for the "back" row. Honestly wasn't bad, I think that the extra non-seat-having trailing car when riding in the back row helps a lot. -Banshee: One-train wait for back row, left side. -KI & Miami Valley Railroad: Walk-on. -Beast: 22 minutes for front row. Noted that exit-pass use seemed quite excessive on that day. -Mystic Timbers: 14 minutes for back row. Same ending. This was all accomplished by 6 PM, at which point the crowds were getting a bit insane. A bit earlier in the day, I grabbed some garlic-bread grilled cheese from a food truck (one with bacon, one without), which was pretty good (especially for the price - $10 for both), but no Tom + Chee, which was closed all day both days I was there. I took a stroll up to the designated smoking area (actually inside the park, gasp!) and laughed at the group of riders stuck on Invertigo.... ...while I decided what I wanted to do. Really, I had accomplished everything I wanted from the trip, and the way the crowds were growing and reports from previous Saturdays, I decided I just wasn't going to have a good time if I had stayed, so I left. On my way out, I saw hundreds if not thousands of people walking towards the main gate, and on the drive out I was greeted with this sight: Yeah, that's cars backed all the way out to Kings Mills Road. So glad I left. All in all, not a terrible trip. If you're going to KI expecting an awesome Halloween time, prepare to be disappointed. Good thing they've got a ton of awesome rides, haha. I highly recommend going on a Friday or Saturday daytime, when crowds are much more reasonable, but Saturday nights just seem like a fun time for no one. Thanks for reading! I've still got a few more trips planned for this Halloween season, so stay tuned.

Don't worry, I'm sure it'll pop up once or twice a year like the Geuga Lake thread does with some crackpot theories about somehow restoring it.

Dude...just...I can't even.

Friday would probably be the better option, but Saturday with FL wasn't too bad at all, at least before 6:30. I didn't wait more than 20-25 minutes for anything except the front row of Beast, and most rides were walks-ons or one or two train waits (one cycle or less for flat rides). I have to imagine that, as @prozach626 said, at night once everyone starts diverting to the Haunt mazes, lines would die down some. Except Beast, whose line will only grow as the night goes on because its Beast at night. As for the staff, all that I encountered this weekend were top-notch. Every rides employee was hurrying their asses of. Beast went from triple-stacked due some station holdups to dispatching the next train before the next one in line hit the final brake run in like 5 cycles. Food service was hurting from a lack of employees, not necessarily low quality of the of the ones they had.

@prozach626Yeah, definitely glad I left when I did and was able to get my night ride on Beast on Friday. I'm surprised you didn't ask for Row 1 on that; the grouper was very good at honoring my front-row requests on both days. Anyway, guess it's my fault for not advertising that I'd be there, but I totally would have stuck around to grab a drink with you and the wifey.

So after getting a ride each on Beast and Mystic, I decided to call it a day. Yeah, it sucks to sacrifice more night rides, but even with FL dealing with the crowds isn't worth it. I accomplished everything I wanted to on this trip. For those curious about operational status, every adult ride except the water riders, Windseeker, and Drop Tower were operating (the latter two closed due to high winds). Invertigo was broken for about an hour at opening, opened during the day, and broke down again as I was leaving (with a train full of riders stuck on the initial spike). Food service was VERY busy, with many places closed (Tom + Chee, the Auntie Anne's in Rivertown, and some others). As I was leaving at around 6:30, there were still hundreds if not thousands of people pouring in the main gate and cars backed all the way to Kings Mills Road. If you're at the park, or headed there tonight, may the odds forever be in your favor. Full report coming soon.

For those who wanted an update on crowds, this is 2:30. I can also tell you that Invertigo's is back to the fried chicken place so take the times with a grain of salt. Most food lines are also backed out of their buildings and many food places are closed (including Tom & Chee unfortunately). It is busy, but a lot of families with kids...Flying Ace is posting 60 minutes and Woodstock Express 30. Edit: and at 5:00 below. Most of these are probably generously low. Several lines are spreading out from the designated queues onto the midways. And this is Mystic's FL line. Honestly debating calling it a day and heading out.

Behind these two license plates in line to get in. They claim to not work for the company, but fingers crossed, right? Just not for Beast!

@Zandwow. Yeah my plan for tonight was to take care of the Haunt stuff, which I did successfully, and grab some night rides on Beast and whatever else I felt like (which turned out to be Bat and Banshee). My goal for tomorrow day is to hit all the rides I want, then at night grab whatever more night rides that I can. I just left the park to go back to my hotel (10:00 PM), since I've been up since 6:30 AM and am tired from the 9 hour drive.

One hour after opening. On a Friday. Where the forecast was for constant rain and thunderstorms all night (until like 3 hours before opening when it changed). Yowch. As always, glad for the all season FL+ and Fright Lane for tonight.

You think that's crazy? After a summer of 7PM weekday and 9 PM weekend closings, KD is open until midnight on Friday/Saturday nights, and until 10PM on Sundays, AND is doing all of the Haunt stuff on Sundays with everything running and 20-30 actors per haunt maze. Even KI doesn't do Haunt on Sundays and has less than half of the shows on Friday/Saturday.

I guess I am. Apologies.

If you haven't picked up on it yet, no one really cares what La Ronde does. We get it, their passes are good everywhere. No one cares, just like no one cares that CF made Canada's Wonderland passes good through the end of 2022.

Who knows, because its not 2022 yet, but every SF park in the US lists Season Passes as not being valid at parks other than the one at which they were purchased, so I would expect that yes, that no longer works.

Yes, it's different than before. Did you miss the last several pages of discussion on this thread? That sounds like the procedure for Palace Entertainment Platinum Passes. Every Six Flags I've been to on a Season Pass just scanned the card that was issued in Jersey and they let me in.

And the SFGAdv page says the exact opposite, that Season Passes are only good at the park they're purchased at and Memberships are valid everywhere. No, I'm not going to bother taking screenshots to prove something that has been discussed ad infinitum. So what's your point? That everyone should buy their pass through La Ronde and then drive/fly up to Canada to redeem it first?

What he said.