CoasterGuy06

Yeah I'm going to be really sad if Covid kills the printed park map. I love collecting those.

Same. And the coaster had foot pedals for the restraints that were on the opposite side of the train as the control panel. In my time there we also had several flat rides where we required two operators when I started but over time they made modifications to the rides/queues so they could be operated by a single person.

I mean it's 2021...even Cracker Barrel sells beer and wine now. It's so weird to me to see parks apparently having people to be open but needing to cut back hours. Times have definitely changed from when I worked in a park. When we had Friday night concerts they would usually end about 9 with a scheduled 10pm closing. We were frequently told (at like 9pm) we were staying open an extra 30 minutes- an hour if the concert drew a huge crowd to avoid having everyone hit the exit road at the same time.

I mean they already operate most of their rides in December anyways. Wouldn't be much of a leap from them to do it now, but a few more indoor rides wouldn't hurt.

The park does seem to be off to a great start attendance wise. Seems like every post on Facebook people talk about the crowds and the park recently announced they will be capping attendance on Saturdays and if the park reaches that capacity they will only allow season pass holders and people that purchased tickets at least 24 hours in advance into the park.

I wish other Six Flags GMs gave half the effort that Jeffrey Siebert gives to SFFT.

Add me to the list of people that think KI is the real star of Ohio. Yes I love CP too, but so much of that park is just a bland concrete jungle it feels like. Plus the crowds have always been more manageable at KI compared to CP and my days at KI in 2011 had the best operations I have EVER seen at a park. Here's a pic from that trip of Diamondback where one train is heading into the splashdown and the train behind it is cresting the lift. Sad is seems like recent CF training will prevent this from happening again.

Heads up for anyone going to HoliWood Nights. The park announced earlier today in the HoliWood Nights group on Facebook that Thunderbird is having issues and will probably be down through the weekend. To help compensate they are going to allow attendees a return visit any day later this season, will be keeping other rides on ERT open longer, and if you didn't purchase the all day Friday ticket you can now enter the park at 3PM in stead of 4:30PM.

Just curious, but what was causing them to have to check and rec-check seats?

I've been to KI when they had 10PM fireworks like 6 times and they never closed the lines early. I always timed my rides on other coasters so I could get in line for The Beast at like 9:50. The ride is usually already shut down for the show, but they allowed people to get in line right up until 10. About 15-20 minutes after the show ends they would usually get the all clear to re-open and they would cycle everyone in line through for the last ride of the night. Actually one of those nights they actually got a call that they could NOT reopen for some reason and instead they told us

The first time I saw the fireworks at KI it was on (I think) a Tuesday night in August 2011, and my friends and I were all like "That's it? Maybe just save the money and do good shows Friday-Sunday." Closing rides for fireworks is understandable, but when you've been closing your lines at closing for years/decades and you suddenly start closing them early, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

"What more can we do to piss off our guests today?" -Cedar Fair, probably

A ride being closed for a few weeks while a giga coaster is being constructed is one thing. A ride being closed for an entire season for a small off the shelf coaster is another. Feels almost like they figured they can use it as an excuse so save some money by not having to get the ride ready and staffed for an entire year.

Hell, SFOG recently announced they are going to be open daily until Labor Day (their last week of daily ops is usually the first week in August), but starting August 9th they are only open from 5pm-10pm during the week. CP couldn't even offer reduced hours??

This. I don't have a dinning plan since it's 2.5 hours to SFOG, but between my free membership drinks and 50% off food my lunch there when I went a couple of weeks ago was $6.88 for a pork sandwich, fries, and a Coke Zero. My friend got something similar, but they just have the super cheap season pass and their meal was $21 and change.