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^While that all makes sense, sadly, until they estimate the loss is greater than the cost of loss prevention, they will let it continue. Speaking of, did you see the FB post where someone was calling out a mom that had her kid steal pizza at Festhaus and the comments were either trolling and/or thieves themselves as so many jumped on the OP and telling her to mind her own business and it is just a pizza. This is a business, not a charity. Theft is theft and will result in higher prices.

Going to be interesting to see what happens in the months ahead. As for The Vortex area? My dream would be something like Stardust Racers. I know full well that’s not going to happen. But man is that a fun ride.

^That mentality contributes to the problem - I guess you steal if the odds are in your favor? Sounds like victim shaming on a corporate level...Blame the park for the theft... You realize retail loses BILLIONS annually to theft even with loss prevention personnel. Companies spend millions on cyberand still get hacked. And sadly it is a level higher than the companies - the law is in favor of the criminal. Watch what happens when a store loss prevention employee touches or tries to physically stop the thief... No place is immune from theft. People get creative no matter how much restriction is put in place. Could the park do more - yes - could the guests do better - yes. Like I said, the park must feel that the cost to prevent is higher than the loss due to theft. Still doesn't make it right to steal. What we may see is removing self serve drink stations and requiring the employees to fill them. That would stop a lot of it. The moral/ethical compass is completely out of whack right now and using KI as an example people seem to be perfectly content with the stealing cause pop is just pop and they are a billion+/year company... We see the same arguments when someone posts about a big screen TV being stolen from Best Buy or a generator from Home Depot and ignore the lost prevention personnel commands and people say they are a billion/yr company so no big deal.. End of rant lol https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/shoplifting-statistics/#:~:text=Stores lost an estimated %2445.0,cost retailers %24461.86 in 2020.

I believe the only thing the park can do is raise the price of season passes. Giving away the gate may have something to do with what you experienced. The amount of entitlement of people is just unbelieveable. It's definitely a sign of the times that civility seems to have taken a break in our current climate. In my humble opinion, just as it comes from parents, it comes from the top. Just my 2 cents.

I know you are correct. It is just frustrating and more than likely they won't invest in those measures until as you said, it starts hitting their pockets harder. Since I am not on FB, no, I did not see that. However, I am sadly not surprised. There seems to be a major shift in culture where wrong is right and right is wrong and it has naturally applied to that sort of backwards mentality in these third spaces. Incredibly sad that people act this way. Absolute garbage behavior.

I know they wouldn't do this amidst the budget cuts, but man do I wish they would hire actual loss prevention associates. Plain clothes at that. Before I got into law enforcement I did LP for Best Buy and it was always so much fun catching people who thought no one was watching. Because if I learned anything at all during my time doing LP, it's not "just" a Coke, its not "just" a pack of stickers or some other small item. It's not "just". Every small thing that someone takes the liberty of stealing will find its way in cost back on honest consumers. And this is why we see the silly song and dance about the water cups. This small yet convenient act of kindness is now made more inconvenient due to the dishonest folks stealing pop. It is, in fact, a big deal. And with how affordable it is now to get a drink wristband or season pass add on, why the heck does anyone feel the need to steal? I realize there will never be a clear answer to this problem amongst many others, but wow. Also, this theft of time/product is applicable to line jumping. We already know this has been a major issue for years now and seems to be getting arguably worse. They need to have posted security rounds in and around Orion as I am sure most of you are aware there is one spot in particular line jumpers think they are being so smart about. When one enters Fast Lane line, right inside the hanger, people think they are being swift cutting the line from that point. I have seen it way too many times. If they can't have a physical body making rounds in that general area, they need to install surveillance cameras there and any other problem area. If the park doesn't want to pay adequate bodies to provide regular physical security, they could just do cameras and dispatch someone as necessary to those areas. I realize that might make too much sense and sometimes, if I have learned anything through my career, things that make too much sense don't often get implemented

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No. It's been like that for quite a while, at least at Wonderland.

Not even the crews fault. The worker kept saying "the only way your getting in is with a gold or prestige pass" but people still crowded. I get people want to make the most of their day, but listen to the workers.

Hey buddy! Great questions! 1. We had Pizza Moon for lunch. It was our favorite food of the day. For dinner we were in Le Gobelet Noir, had the beef stew which was decent. Naturally had butter beers to wash it down. For a snack we had the viral Mac and cheese bread from Berk. It surprised us how good it all tasted! 2. It’s a tie between Hiccup’s Wing Gliders and Stardust Racers. Wing Gliders is so good, so fast and smooth. The theme and scenery are perfect. Stardust Racers at night is almost a life changing experience. The ride just gets better and better as it goes on. 3. We stayed at the Grand Helios Hotel which gave us our own special direct entry into the park and early access. I highly recommend it for that feature alone, even if the views from the non-park side are not good. We rope dropped an hour early (9am) and went straight to Donkey Kong. It’s easily the longest wait on average throughout the day so it’s a good idea to get it done first. Then we went straight to Battle at the Ministry. We managed to get those two rides done before 11, which gave us the rest of the day to explore. 4. The park according to Universal “closes” at 9pm, but they’re actually keeping the whole park and rides open until 10. This is the time to get in the big roller coaster rides. The wait times for us was almost walk on. From 9-10pm we rode everything we wanted to. Excited for you! I can’t wait to go back already to Orlando!

The new ads/sponsorships don't bother me too much since they just seem to be popping up around the midways and under some ride ID signs (Delirium — Presented by Snickers). If they start filling up the park to the point where everything has an ad, and where ride cars start to be wrapped in logos, then I'll be a lot more upset. If this is what Six Flags has to do for a few years to offset some of the budget cuts, then so be it. I'd rather see ads than have to experience another ride closure (which is not a guaranteed possibility either way). Did anyone else notice that Kings Island's Star Spangled Nights (presented by M&M's) logo says "Night" while Carowinds' Star Spangled Nights (presented by M&M's) logo says "Nights"? It's not really an issue, but it makes me wonder if this was a quality control (proofreading) issue or an issue with initial scheduling that would've only had one night of fireworks. The "'s" was not corrected for the event step-and-repeat outside the front gate either.

I remember someone who used to be active here, Kingdingdong, discussed bringing in a collapsible cup that fit in his pocket. He used that and filled up at the water fountain. While this is not the best solution, it is one. It is a shame that the people who steal have caused this. It surprised me in the comments on Facebook where people stated that it's just a Coke no big deal. It's theft.

Took my family down to Florida for a 10 day Disney/Universal trip and saved Epic Universe for our last two days. It is a beautiful, and true to its name epic park. It has some flaws, but I think over time it will grow to be one of the best parks out there. I will warn those who plan to travel down: be prepared for lots of exposure to the elements. It’s a new park, so the trees are very young. That means no shade in a lot of places. The summer sun is very unforgiving for those who don’t have a tolerance for it. Nintendo World is stunning but especially lacks in shade. Prepare for rain! One major downside to the park is the fact that lightning shuts down pretty much all rides in the park except for Mario Kart, Monsters Unchained and Battle at the Ministry. Keep that in mind for those afternoon storms during the rainy season. For our trip, we attempted to ride Stardust Racers and Hiccup’s Wing Gliders throughout the day and each time lightning would shut them down. I had almost given up hope when miraculously right at the final hour of operations they reopened them. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders might be for family riders, but it deserves a seat in the world class section of roller coasters. It is simply one of the most fun rides from start to finish. And Stardust Racers? You guys have to ride it at night. It makes the entire experience much more impactful. One of the best night rides of my life. The trains glow and sparkle, so as you’re racing you truly feel as if you’re in a powerful dance / ballet with the other train. Simply magical!

The Maestro saying "You'll be back... you'll be BAAAACKK!" while exiting Phantom Theater.

With glowing eyes for nighttime rides.

Alright. So my fiancé and I decided to brave the crowds of the park Friday night for literally no reason other than to see the fireworks display. It has been many years since I have been at a park on the 4th and figured why not. It would have been crowded literally anywhere that night that had a display, so it was a "pick your environment" type of deal. I will just say this. Never again. I knew it was going to be crowded. I knew it was going to be insane. And to some degree, that can be worth putting up with when the product meets or surpasses the expectations. But my two biggest complaints? Lets just start with the fact that post COVID, people's spatial awareness is completely GONE. The amount of grown adults running into each other without saying excuse me and the amount of un supervised children literally running around and acting crazy just....I can't. Absolutely ZERO regard for anyone around them. I have no tolerance for rudeness and will very loudly announce this with no hesitation. It was around 2130HRS when we decided to take a seat up against the main entrance near the lockers and the gift shop because I felt that was the safest spot to be away from the absolute insanity closer to the fountains. Well, I was right until I was wrong. People started clamoring looking for places to sit or stand and what not. And while I get it, the last straw for me came when a woman with her child got right next to me, bent over IN A DRESS showing everything absolutely no one wanted to see and then proceeded to sit down next to me without asking if that was ok. Her young child then proceeded to kick me in the arm and no apology was given for this action-all the while two loud teenage girls were fighting over a wall outlet on the other side of my fiancé to charge their phones. After getting kicked in the arm by said toddler, I stood up, yelled a few profanities ( not sorry ) and proceeded to leave the park. We intended to still see the fireworks, but we opted to sit in the grassy area in front of the entrance. This was all fine and good for the most part as at least there was room to breath and a slight breeze, but of course kids were running around into people and no supervision to correct said behavior. I knew leaving the parking lot post show would be a nightmare as stated above, leaving any fireworks show from anywhere I have ever been has always been an experience in and of itself. But this is where lot attendants are needed. Big events like this ABSOLUTELY NEED to have staff out in the lots guiding and directing traffic to get things moving because sitting in a standstill for an HOUR is unacceptable. I was thinking we would at least be inching along out of the lot, but nope. Literally just sat there. And the amount of people getting impatient pulling dangerous stunts to get out and cutting people off....again...need some traffic control for these large events. Even if it has to be outside help. For safety as well as throughput. I realize this may just be a sign of the times ahead. I had a moment while we were inside the park thinking to myself "the appearance of this place really give SF vibes and not CF vibes" because the park has truly let so much slide. The amount of half-clothed, inappropriate attire I saw running amuck gave "trashy" vibes in a way that I can't quite articulate without sounding absolutely judgmental. I'm all for freedom of expression, but there are limits and the park just felt like a cheap sellout in the way that I bet annual Geauga Lake patrons felt when their beloved park sold out to SF. Unrelated to the holiday weekend but related to my above sentence, we were at the water park a few weeks ago when we saw something incredibly disturbing. It was an incredibly inappropriate tattoo that should have NEVER been allowed to be seen in a public space due to what it stands for. And I realize this individual more than likely came into the park fully clothed and staff wouldn't have seen it upon entry. But the fact is, the tattoo was large and on full display for all to see and staff had every right to ask this person to leave as that tattoo absolutely violated a park policy. The fact that this man was not ejected from the park baffles me. And this just leans into the standards being so low that the bar is in hell at this point. I miss the days when things felt more together. Now it seems like anything goes and no one is able to stop it. My memories of this event from 2010-2012 are vastly different than what this past Friday showed. So were the fireworks good? Yes. The park did a great job. But after the fiasco that it was, we won't be attending this event again. And I really hope in the future the park finds a way to better manage the parking lot situation at the very least. Anyone else go and have a similar or better/worse experience?