Leaderboard

I’ve been super depressed coming back from my family’s Disney and Universal trip. The fact that Holiday World exists in my state makes things a little better. In reality I’m lucky to live close to Kings Island and Holiday World. Heck even Dollywood is only a 5-6 hour drive away. It could be worse. But yeah, Holiday World hands down has one of the best water parks for a seasonal park. I’ve been going once a year for as long as my memory serves.

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.

Today we visited Six Flags Darien Lake with our All Park Pass. The park is in the middle of no where, and was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel in Buffalo. We were in the area to see the falls, and Lake Ontario. We arrived at 11:05am five minutes after opening, and probably were one of 30 cars in the parking lot. We had no problems scanning in with our Kings Island Gold Passes, although the ticket lady admired mine for a moment. The weather was calling for thunderstorms around 2 so I wanted to make sure to ride, Ride of Steel first. This park I did a little research but did not look at the map. We quickly went towards the Ride of Steel, and found the entrance to Predator on the way. In all we rode all the roller coasters, and Moose on the Loose. The park is quite small, and reminded me of Michigan's Adventure. A tad neglected, a tad nostalgic, and a lot of fun. 1. Ride of Steel This was my favorite ride, it is an Intamin coaster that flies through its course. It is a very forceful coaster with good pops of air, and strong helixes that made me gray out. It does have weird straight piece of track that gets the ride over a lake. I rode this twice, and it was a blast. 2. MindEraser This ride was a lot of fun. It was intense and whippy. It had new restraints and was very smooth. I had a lot of fun on this ride, and wish I rode it again. 3. Tantrum SFDL newest coaster, it was quick and whippy as well. Very short, but packed a punch. If it was longer may be number 2 on my list. 4. Viper Rode like Vortex of my teenage years. Fun, and brought back a lot of memories. Those old arrow restraints sure do hurt now days. Is it old age or new coaster restraints are so much better. 5 . Predator A fun woodie with titan track on some of it. Parts that do not have it are extremely rough. Runs by the lake and is fun, but the rough ride knocks to to fifth place. 6. Boomerang I am not a fan of these. I rarely ride Invertigo, and this was rough. 7. Motocross was not opened while we were there. Moose on the Loose was a lot of fun. Everyone rode it and laughed through the track. Highly recommened it. Overall I enjoyed my time at Darien Lake. We were able to ride everything we wanted in 2 hours. With our meal plans and drink plans unavailable we did not participate in those activities. The park is small, and easy to navigate. However I would not spend more than a day here or make it my main objective in the area. If in the area again I would love to catch a few rides on Ride of Steel and Minderaser. The staff were very friendly, and the operations were one train, but quicker than expected after slow dispatches at SFOG, and Great Adventure. The park ranks in my Michigan's Adventure, Dorney Park tier. Which is enjoyable but glad it s not my home park. Bansheelover tiers Home Park Tier (Best of the Best I've Been to) 1. Kings Island 2. Cedar Point 3. Carowinds Visit Again Tier (Fun but not the best) 1. Kings Dominion 2. Six Flags Grand Adventure 3. Six Flags over Georgia Glad I went, but glad not my home park Tier 1. Michigan's Adventure 2. Dorney Park 3. Six Flags Darien Lake

When there is so much traffic that I have to drive to the park on Western Row, or I'm visiting Soak City, it sucks having to drive all the way down to the entrance. My idea is that they could add a new toll near the Soak City end of the parking lot. They could also add a new preferred parking and handicapped section. So I designed a new Soak City Parking Toll, as well as a brand new parking lot.

Speaking of parking, I guess when your company picnic is at KI, you can take up multiple spaces up close lol

You all are right- though it’s not very apparent unless you use the locker kiosk and see that a small locker is free. This sign is a bit misleading in that regard:

The lockers outside of TT2 are free, (at least last time I was there this year) You also have to go thorugh a metal detector for TT2.

The way things look, weather looks good for Tuesday for IB. I'm leaving Cincy at 6 am EDT, so if my calculations are correct, I'll be in Monticello a bit early, depends on Indy traffic. In Chicago, it's supposed to rain Thursday so I'll be downtown that day and Friday looks like great weather for SFGAm. I know Chicago flooded recently but from what I've seen, the streets effects have since improved. I think I've got things figured out for tackling visiting downtown. I will be getting to my 175th coaster in SFGAm if all goes to plan, and I'm likely making Whizzer that coaster. Can't see the Cleveland portion quite yet but I'm liking the temps from what I can see. I'm really hoping to ride Siren a few times to get a feel for the tilt on different parts of the train. TT2 I'm making a beeline to if I see it open at all.

I'm hearing nothing but good things about it so far. Tbh if SF sees it as a success, I could very well see a ride like AlpenFury come to KI. Maybe an Invertigo/Congo/Timberwolf/Skyflyer replacement?

The funnel fries and chimichanga looked really good! I'm tempted to split one amongst my group on my next visit. If not, it'll at least be something for me to try to make at home

Im guessing you don't remember when there were car advertisments all over the park in the early CF days? I believe also in late Paramount/early CF there were "ride fact" signs sponsored by Marathon Gas. So ads in the park is not new.

Yes, I've been in one of those private parties a Saturday night and it did offer fireworks views. It really is a great premium feeling space. I understand they do have quite a few private events, but I think they could stand to utilize the space more often, it's dark a little too often for a space they already have paid for.

From my understanding it does get booked out for private parties. I'm sure there is a time frame of when that can be done and not a last-minute thing. So, if it isn't booked with a certain timeframe, it should be an automatic punt as an offering to the general public on busy weekends for fireworks like you've mentioned. Offer a Dessert buffet, fountain drinks and a cash bar.

This right here is a prime example of part of the problem People don't care because they see the item/product in question as "just" this or "just" that and blame the applicable company for not doing enough to stop it. People NEED to care. If everyone cared even a little, I can promise you there would be significantly LESS theft. I'm not saying that there would be zero theft. But if people actually cared about theft, no matter what it is that is being taken, there wouldn't be such a rampant issue everywhere. I am completely fatigued by this apathy problem in our society. It's cool not to care? I will never understand that. Everyone should care. Theft is bad for everyone and ultimately comes crashing down on the honest folk in some way or another which then in turn ruins an experience/opportunity. You can't catch everyone. I would know from first hand experience. But we can, as a collective, call people out. I will say that from the rooftops. If you see it happening? Call them out. Make an example of them if staff won't step in. At the very least they will be seen in the act and it will, inevitably, catch up to them.

I honestly think they could offer the fireworks viewing experience every Saturday. Pump the music into the International Restaurant. Heck, if they don't have the people I'd even organize this for free for them for a year just to show them it would turn a profit and they'd finally use the IR for more events

I actually had that very thought that they could have had a premium seating option for Friday and Saturday utilizing the IR. Could have made it a whole package including food/drinks/snacks, a souvenir of some kind and of course the best seat in the house. It definitely would have sold out and probably been worth whatever the upcharge would have been to be in AC, away from the insane crowds and had the best viewing experience available.

^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.

The collapsible cup will be your friend at Epic Universe. We were very surprised and happy to see so many free water refill stations in the queues. Our only complaint was how slow the water flowed out of them haha.

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.

^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.

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.

Are you kidding me? Everyone on this forum should write a complaint to the park about that one lol. People can say whatever they want to say about how CF has the controlling interest in the merger but from what I'm seeing, most of the parks are getting downgraded to six flags standards not pulled up to CF standards which is most unfortunate

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.

I wonder when they'll put up "Share A Warm Diet Coke" ads.

Are Snickers bars on the dining plan?

That. Exactly. Ours would probably arch higher as they are closer to the center. That actually adds another “look” to the fountain, as opposed to “slightly crooked vertical, and vertical.

Canada's Wonderland has had theirs set up like this with sprayers very close to the left and right walls of the fountain basin. It looked really nice and made the fountain feel full and alive. Imagine the image below but with the Eiffel Tower and much smaller trees. I'm glad maintenance is at least trying to fix the fountain as it is now though.

I thought it was removed because Paramount wanted to install new rides on that land, but I could be wrong. Xtreme Skyflyer, Hypersonic XLC, and their go karts took the space where the station and part of the track were. Now WindSeeker is the only thing left right there. The Federal Railroad Administration regulation may have been a compounding factor, but I don't know that it applied to railroads on private property like at KI, KD, and BGW. The "missing middle" that super7 mentioned has been an issue at a lot of Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks. This is the first year in quite a few where the Kings Dominion Theater has been used for regularly scheduled live entertainment. If Six Flags wants to attract more people to visit their parks, I think an easy way to do so would be to add attractions like trains, riverboats, and more live entertainment that runs at least Memorial Day to Labor Day. At one point (around 1985 or so) Kings Dominion had 8 venues for live entertainment. Today, that number is about 3-4 (not counting meet & greets, Action Theater, or the beloved Singing Mushrooms). It would be really nice to see that park transform a little more with more attractions to fill in that missing middle. I personally think the WWC level crossing is fine as it is. They could try to find a new configuration for the entrance, but, barring any crazy developments, it definitely will not be happening anytime soon.

Yeah looks like the fountain is back to full strength. The middle show sprayers are back on and they're doing the little dance up and down the fountain

Looks like they want to ensure everything is up to speed for the holiday weekend. Good to see that.

There's been two or three people working on the fountain nozzles this morning. I captured this one shot with a technician taking apart the front sprayer on the left side

I disagree and agree @Tr0y. For the current night show, the spayers serve the purpose. However, is 5 minutes a day worth it? Remember, too, the narrative pushed by the park back in winter '19 was daytime AND nighttime shows. The previous iteration was signature KI. It added the elegance to IS. They could have had a great system, I would conjecture, if they had arranged the jets in a fashion that allowed what we have now, with a daytime option that had the pedestals present "virtually". Plumage in the middle, smaller bursts in the outside. Either this was/is not possible ( I'm not a fountain person) or they didn't consider it, it was out of the realm of spending. All that to say, I wish it was done differently. But, given the choice of no renovation of IS or what we have now, I'd choose what we have now. Much more visually pleasing to me. Are the still playing 6 jazz songs on a loop? While I enjoy those, they need to go back to 2017-2019 International Street music. That really set a great atmosphere.

The current fountain set up is nicer with the jets interacting with the nighttime firework show. The fountain pedestals are dated and get in the way, in my opinion. If anything I’d like to see more water jet features like a water screen be added to the fountains so the park can project a video and imagines onto it during the nighttime fireworks.

I had some hope park management would sober up sometime in the next ten years and restore the Royal Fountain to its former glory but that felt like a long shot even before the merger.

Even if they don't bring back the pedestals, installing fountains like Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland have would probably look more grand than this. What's there now is fine (meh), but if they're not going to be used as intended then there is no good reason to keep them in this configuration.

Imo if they aren't going to fix the water show jets, they should just bring the old bigger fountains back.

It looks like it is only kinda sorta working. The center jets still don't work, but more is working than before and they are at least changing again instead of being stuck turned on.

Looking at the webcam, it appears whatever was wrong with The Royal Fountain has been fixed.

So Voyage is running so well that is has dethroned Twister as my new #1 wood coaster. It is amazing in the back.

Has anyone been to Soak City recently. I assume it's packed with the heat, but are they staffing most of slides and have most things been open (or both wave pools running)? I've yet to visit the waterpark yet this year, but I went to Cedar Point Shores last week and it was such a joke. A good portion of slides and attractions at their waterpark were closed, and just wondering if I'll encounter the same issue... P.S. Our waterpark is so much better, sure there's the lake setting, but there's not an ounce of share by 99% of the loungers and chairs. Their wave pool or lazy river doesn't have a single shaded seat. I asked if there were any shaded areas they'd recommend and was told "that's what the cabanas are for. Or there's also the VIP lounge" I'll include this screenshot of their wave pool loungers, look at this abomination:

There is a lot that can be said about the overall feel of the park and even my oldest noticed last night saying something along the lines of he wishes we didn’t go to Disney all the time because he notices the things KI doesn’t do like Disney but on a more positive holy smokes The Beast is great. I don’t remember a time the ride felt this good. Last night we had a back train ride and yes it was rougher than the front but it was enjoyable. Never felt like it did a few years back.

That is why I come here to prove the facebook rumors wrong.

I saw a rumor on Facebook that there was Intamin track showing up near Orion. Any truth to this rumor?

It has been 3 trains more times than not.

For those who have been to the park recently, is Banshee back up to 3 trains yet?

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?

Update from June 16: dangling lights still dangling and tables still gross. Granted people are gross and need to learn to clean up after themselves... that said - this smeared material had dried long ago... Six has very intelligent/talented people in the C-Suite and they'll figure this out, but at what cost to the guest experience and loyalty... Attention to detail is not there.