@BB1 You articulated some of my thoughts much better than I could have. Thank you for being critical! A number of people tend to forget that loving something also means being critical of its decisions because you want to see it do well.
The crowd levels yesterday were simply insane, and I don't think the park was entirely prepared for that many people to be there. A number of the issues are fixable while other issues just came down to lapses in planning judgement. I'm of the mentality that the Passholder Preview should be a snapshot into an average mid-size-crowd day, not one of the busiest days in the early season. It would be a shame to put a limit on who/how many could attend the event, but yesterday's crowds were just way too big for it not even being the official Opening Day.
My group arrived around 11 and was shocked to see that the parking situation was being treated like a private buyout event and not like a regular public operating day. Besides getting people through the gates quickly, was there a reason to not have anyone in the toll booths? Did the parking attendants not need to gain any experience yesterday? Normally if the parking tolls are backed up then associates will visually check passes and wave people through — which should have been everyone coming in yesterday. We parked and got through the new security just fine, but the south side of the entry plaza filled quickly and people seemed to keep flowing in through all open checkpoints. There should definitely have been a shift to only using the northernmost checkpoints once the plaza filled on the south side. Security began forming more lines in front of the turnstiles around 11:20, and guests were scanned in and let into the front half of International Street around 11:30. Those extra lines should have been formed from the beginning with dividers between each line. There are a set number of scanners, so why not have that many lines? The fact that Prestige passholders didn't get to use their parking and turnstile benefits feels like a major oversight, especially since it was the Passholder Preview.
Getting into the park itself went rather smoothly, and I got to check out the new shop which looked really good. I have to agree with the complaints about having the same merch throughout the front four stores. As much as I really really like the vintage varsity merch, I don't think it needs to be in all four front gate shops. I'll make another post in the Newest Merchandise topic to go in more detail.
The renovated Camp Snoopy/Diamondback bathroom was super nice. It looked contemporary and appeared to have new fixtures throughout. I did notice the lack of a handicap door button, the lack of a handicap accessible sink, and the fact that there were no urinal dividers. I don't know what happened there but it seemed really odd for them to be missing after a total renovation.
We ate lunch at Miami River Brewhouse and had an awesome experience. There were some oddities there as well though. The receipt said "King's Island" at the top and we found out that there were also no handicap buttons on the doors (closest to Diamondback) to exit the Brewhouse. Otherwise, our food and drinks were really good and I would've happily finished my Big Dog if I wasn't already so full from the large portion size.
As for other food offerings across the park I can really enjoy the fact that most dining locations have something standard in addition to a diverse menu, but part of me wishes that said standard item wasn't chicken tenders. I've been very lucky to visit Disney World twice and appreciated the fact that almost every quick-service location offered something like an Uncrustable as a standard item. I wish the new Six Flags would do something like this so families with picky/restricted eaters (a big deal for some toddlers I've known) could all get food from the same place. I know that if I don't like anything from a certain dining location then I can go grab something else and meet my group at a table, but some groups don't have that option. It would also be a good idea to have one more totally Gluten Free dining location in the dry park and one in Soak City.
Backlot's update to become Queen City Stunt Coaster is a welcome change in my book, and I hope we can see some more work done to make it look even better. If anyone can find out what all of the new Ohio license plates on the trains say I'd be really interested to see! The new drink stand in Action Zone also looks really good.
This was an excellent Passholder Preview for me, but the issues are absolutely shining through the cracks. The parking lot is in desperate need of an overhaul, and the flow of guests from their cars to the front gate is consistently messy. This could be a great multi-year project that would go along with the other general improvements we saw over the off season. The new security setup looks a lot better, but something still feels like it's missing. Maybe if we get a front gate renovation (not a total rebuild like at Carowinds) we'll see much more happen. Finally, yesterday was the first time I really noticed some of the accessibility issues at the park. Making the park more accessible where possible would also be a worthy general improvement project!
I love Kings Island a ton, which is why I criticize it like I do. Any solutions I offer are really just my immediate thoughts. This park puts a smile on my face with every visit and I'd like to see it continue going strong for generations to come. If y'all have more thoughts, please share!