Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[FeelTheFORCE]

Not necessarily every decision at every park, I don't see Disney and Universal sparing any expense to create high quality attractions, or even Dollywood.

 

Sure, comparing the cost of additions between Six Flags/Cedar Fair and Disney/Universal seems like money is no object for the latter two, but you have to put into perspective how much revenue each brand generates. I'd be willing to bet that, relative to their revenue, Disney and Universal definitely prioritize ROI extremely highly. Just because attractions like Mummy were $40 million, doesn't mean they don't. Dollywood's three major coasters, TT, MM, and Thunderhead are all cheaper alternatives that are just as good as versions from larger companies like Intamin and B&M. I'm sure they could have built a B&M instead of TT, and an Intamin similar to Maverick or Fahrenheit instead of MM if money was no object, but chose not to because they wanted to maximize the total value received from that purchase. You even mentioning Dollywood proves my point, in that they have "high quality attractions" but spent much less.

 

I see your point about SOB, and I do agree that ROI will be priority number one, just that it's probably much more prevalent in mostly every major decision at a theme/amusement park...no matter how much $$$ they are sitting on.

[paiging_jen]

I still don't understand why they are limiting the hours of usage from 12-7pm, anyone have any insight as to why that is?

 

I'm sure after studying the trends for the rides and the park they determined those were the "peak hours" and would therefore be the most beneficial for guests who purchased the pass. There's really not much of a point of using the pass if the ride lines are not very long first thing in the morning anyway. And the times can always be altered in the future if it's determined it would be necessary. Just my thinking on the subject, do not know anything specific.

[SharkTums]

^That's all correct. I'm sure it's also a staffing issue. You usually have more staff midday and can therefore deal with a separate line easier then.

[Hilltopper39]

Yeah, I understand those points and they make sense but I still think it's a little strange that no other ride reservation system in the industry (to my knowledge) has limited hours like this one does. It woulld be intersting to ask someone from Kings Island what the specific reason for the limited hours is, and also intersting to see if that stipulation changes in the future. I got a feeling there is going to be a decent amount of test and adjust with this system at all of the Cedar Fair parks that eventually implemt it.

[WFChris]

^I agree with the others about the hours being dependent on staffing hours. Notice that it is conveniently placed in a 7 hour period? That is a full work day with a half hour of prep and a half hour of finalizing.

 

I also want to go ahead and say that they are probably reluctant to add it to Invertigo due to fears of adding a line-slowing system to a ride that perpetually runs a single train. Yes, it works at other parks, but CF needs to see how it works in their own system before they add new or different rides to the program.

[Geauga Dog]

Having just returned from two days at Kings Island (have to get the most out of my Gold Pass to make it worthwhile) the park was absolutely dead. So when the park has rides that were near walk ons to very little wait why would someone plunk down $50 bucks when it's actually not needed? And yes there were a few who took advantage of the program. I only saw people at Drop Tower and Diamondback use the system.

 

The Fast Lane booth is at the Return Visit/Ticket Upgrade to a Season Pass booth to the left of the main gate when you walk in next to where you get your photos from the park "papparazzi" when you first walk in in the morning.

 

The signs are everywhere, you can't miss them when you see them as they are the same sign as was posted on their website. In most cases you'll just walk up the exit ramp however there is a separate queue at Drop Tower that is next to the entrance that was already there when the ride was built. Diamondback's single rider line is no longer (and that was to be expected). I'm pretty sure Delirium uses the queue that is to the left of the actual ride queue.

 

At the Beast you will walk up the exit ramp but instead of taking the exit ramp all the way up, which is how you would enter the ride via wheelchair, you will branch off into what was an employee only access ramp. There was an employee stationed at the Fast Lane sign at the ride entrance so I wonder if he/she will escort you to the platform. I did not see anyone use it at The Beast the past two days. I took a photo of the Beast Fast Lane entrance to better show you how it looks.

[coastermaniac]

^ Interesting, thanks for sharing.

[99er]

Yeah, I understand those points and they make sense but I still think it's a little strange that no other ride reservation system in the industry (to my knowledge) has limited hours like this one does.

I wouldn't consider this new system a "reservation system" like other parks have.

[timfreeman]

It seems the decisions for this year have been to try and draw new crowds, not play to the passholders. First the lame Dinosaurs that most wouldn't pay $5 a person to see again. Now it's the line skipping. I honestly expected it more rapidly from the execs after Cedar Fair purchased the park. I'm surprised to hear it's not been busy as every time I pass the parking lot, it seems packed. Maybe everyone is hitting Boomerang Bay.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Imagine that, a business plan trying to draw in new people and make money. Cedar Fair is evil.

[timfreeman]

^Imagine that, a business plan trying to draw in new people and make money. Cedar Fair is evil.

 

I never said they were evil, I said I expected it years ago. I never said they were right or wrong for how they've handled the park. I do think they could cater to both crowds fairly easily. I visit the park mainly in the spring and fall, so I get my money's worth out of the passes. I don't think the fast passes will affect my visits as the crowds are normally sparse during those periods anyway.

 

There are 2 crowds in the conversation every time it comes up for every park. The first is the casual or one time visitors that love the fast pass idea. I'm actually happy for those attending the TPR trip hitting up KI and being able to get more out of their time in the park. The second is the local or younger crowds that these decisions affect more. Normally, I don't really care either way. In reality, most of the time the lines at Kings Island aren't due to extreme crowds, but of how the park is ran. Being a limited time and rides, I will not form an opinion until I can see the affects of the new passes. The only place I used to frequent that sells them is Universal, and I went there so often, the prices seemed outrageous for me.

 

People need to quit being defensive and dramatic around here and take the post for what it's worth.

[FeelTheFORCE]

I think their new system is great, and it doesn't make an option like going to a park such as Kings Island on a Saturday completely absurd and out of the question anymore. I was planning on making another park trip coming up here soon, and will probably choose KI now because of this.

[John Peck]

Has Vortex reopened yet?

[KI Kidd]

^No.

[Hilltopper39]

Yeah, I understand those points and they make sense but I still think it's a little strange that no other ride reservation system in the industry (to my knowledge) has limited hours like this one does.

I wouldn't consider this new system a "reservation system" like other parks have.

 

I use the term "ride reservation system" as a generic term for all of the different types systems that various parks have Disney's Fastpass, Universal Express, Flashpass, Q-Bot,Lo-Q, Qtxt, Quick Que at SeaWorld parks etc. KI's system is almost exactly like SeaWorld Parks' Quick Que, and Universal's Express pass.

[coastermaniac]

For anyone who's been to the park recently, are they still assigning people seats for Diamondback?

[KI Kidd]

^Yes, but if you ask for a certain row the ride op assigning seats will generally grant your request. (I have never once been denied a row I have asked for but have heard stories from others who have once or twice.)

[Geauga Dog]

Has Vortex reopened yet?

 

No, Vortex is still closed. They changed the early ride times from Windseeker/Vortex back to Beast/Diamondback. I would have thought they would have replaced Vortex with Firehawk or Flight of Fear.

[coastermaniac]

^^ Alright, thanks. I wonder why they do that for Diamondback and Backlot (I think they still do) but not any other rides.

 

^ Why did they change it from Beast/Diamondback to WindSeeker/Vortex in the first place?

[gforce532]

^I guess its because Windseeker is new.

 

I think they should have Firehawk and Flight of Fear as the Early entry rides. I mean why have it for the people eaters when you can have it for the rides that have the longest/slowest lines during the day, that would be a great perk. But I guess most guest don't think that way.

[coastermaniac]

^I guess its because Windseeker is new.

 

I think they should have Firehawk and Flight of Fear as the Early entry rides. I mean why have it for the people eaters when you can have it for the rides that have the longest/slowest lines during the day, that would be a great perk. But I guess most guest don't think that way.

 

I guess that makes sense.

 

I wouldn't mind it if they were to make the early entry rides Flight of Fear and Firehawk.

[zombi3elephant9]

What about Son of... Oh yeah that's right

[Reon]

Since no one has posted it yet, Vortex has been back up since Friday night! Its slowly getting back into shape since it hasn't run in nearly a month, but so far I've seen it run most of the time over the last few days. (there was a bit of down time on Friday/Saturday for the trains to match up with the breaks) I'm going to test it out tomorow after my swing shift ends around 7/8ish.

[Sir_Neidig]

I don't post much because I usually can't come up with anything good to say, so this is a rarity for me.

 

I visited Kinds Island today with some friends. It was pretty busy - Diamondback had a 30 min wait all day; Firehawk, 90 mins; Flight of Fear, 60 mins; plus 30-45 min waits on things like Drop Zone and Delirium. I was in a group of 5, but only myself and one other really like coasters, so when we saw the lines, we decided to check out the Fast Lane booth and got two wristbands.

 

I simply have no complaints. We were literally able to walk up to available rides, and allowed in as soon as possible,even picking the first seats on some and getting front row on Firehawk, since it loads front to back. Using the approximate wait times posted, we estimated saving around 500-600 minutes, nearly 10 hours. We weren't even at the park for 10 hours! The only wait times were short, maybe 10 mins, and were at rides like Diamondback and Flight of Fear, since you merge with the main queue at the station. Other than that, we spend the entire time doing one of the following: Walking between places, riding, drinking water and resting. We felt spoiled when we visited Boomerang Bay (no Fast Lanes there). Note: the wristbands are not 100% waterproof, but chances are if you have one, you won't be in water that much.

 

I was just really pleased with this new system and wanted to share what I felt. I highly recommend it if you visit the park on busy day. We went on Sunday, July 31st, and had clear skies, and a highish temp (high 80's I would guess.) Fast Lane was $50/person, but we were still able to have a great time for about $100/person for just the two of us who got it. That includes admission, fuel, and lockers.

[Hilltopper39]

^ It's nice to hear a positive review of the system, sounds like Fast Lane took what would have been a pretty average day with some decent waits and turned it into an awesome day with no waits.