BeeastFarmer

As we saw last year with Carowinds loosing Thunder Road, icons are fluid. I'd rather have a topper tracked Racer or a (gasp) Twisted Racer than no Racer. Now The Beast-I'd have to chain myself to it. haha

RMC--please don't ever touch The Beast (except for retracking). You can touch The Racer, and maybe even put topper track on it, just don't convert it! (Like my opinion has ANY pull!)

I'm not a Haunt type person, but I want to share an experience from 2015 that stands out. I work weekends. I was able to swap a shift and get off work for closing day 2015. So after working a 12 hour shift, I drove to the area, checked into The Shaker Inn (can't remember the name of the town) and went to the park with the intent of riding The Beast as many times as I could in 2.5 hours. It was raining, so the crowds were leaving as I entered the park at 10:30. With thinning crowds, almost everything I saw was a walk on. After riding The Beast, I decided to try out Slaughterhouse. No one was in the que. While the haunt itself was campy, the scareactors were great. I then decided to try out Urgent Scare (as an RN, I just HAD to!). Every scareactor was awesome. On a night that was not at all crowded, miserably rainy, and the last night of the season, the scareactors were excellent. The ride ops and (gasp) food service folks were great, too. Overall, I was able to eat at Street Pizza, do Urgent Scare and Slaughterhouse, ride Diamondback twice and The Beast 7 times AND had 100% positive interaction with incredible KI associates. Positive outweighs the negative.

I'd be happy with the Coney Mall sign making a return.

Sorry, The Interpreter. Did not intend to leave you or others out who do not have the dining plan. Please share your experience. And if anyone has any ideas as to why this seems to plague Kings Island, please chirp in.

I get the fact that most workers do not want to be in food service, and have other opportunities, and there is only a certain pool to select from. But my goodness, take the best and make them examples and have others aspire to be like them. Motivate with raises or awards for compliments. Dismiss the elbow leaners. Or do something simple like add a cashier and open up a side for drinks only---or add drink stations (they beat me to that!)

I ate at Panda Express a few times last year, and it was mostly a good experience, besides the long wait times. However, on the last day of the season, an employee was so busy on his phone that he almost dropped a load coming out of the wok to the serving pan. That is not multi-tasking, that is being inattentive. Not to mention the thoughts of the phone and how many germs reside on it...

So, I ask platinum passholders who have season long dining-is this slow speed of service/poor caring evident in other parks in the chain, or is it Kings Island specific? It seems strange that they do not appear to do much to correct it, especially since it seems to be the biggest complaint on the list. (At least from my perspective.) For reference: Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom-minimal wait times. Dollywood-very long lines, but having only been twice, and during the Christmas event, not a fair sampling. And the employees were trying to do the best they could, and seemed concerned. Unlike the 25 minute wait at Skyline in the area formerly known as Coney Mall where there were only 3 in front of me and the workers were leaning on their elbows making orders.

I was quite satisfied with my All Season Dining plan in '14 and '15 and will probably be so again in '16. I was not satisfied with the speed of service/motivation of some workers (Skyline on IS and the area formerly known as Coney Mall, to be precise). But disappointment passes, and the positives almost always outweigh the negatives. Now, I would be really ticked if I did not have a meal plan or a gold pass and had to wait that long. It'll be interesting to see how Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Cedar Point and possibly Dorney compare to Kings Island in terms of speed of service.

Speaking of PR/hype: For those of you who were around when Ed Hart first built up the park, how did he promote it? LIke it is being promoted this incarnation? I was raised here in KY, and the park always seemed to be not that big of a deal. I don't remember any of the early 90's with the park. Then again, I don't really remember any of the KI ads, except the one for The Beast when I was very young. I used to stay up way past my bedtime to watch late night TV and the commercial always scared me.

TombRaiderFTW, I read that somewhere to, but I can't remember where. It had something to do with lessons learned from Twisted Colossus--the maintenance crews had to remove paint from the wheels nightly. calakapepe, a guess here--maybe since there will not be as much wear on the lift, they did not take the time to not paint the strip? Not being a coaster expert, I am just thinking about the distance, but the time is a factor as well.

I'm looking forward to riding this, as well as Lightning Rod at Dollywood. I do think it will increase attendance, I just wish the park would hype it up some more.

Yup, you got it!

I'm trying to post a screen shot from my phone, but I can't remember how to post a photo. It seemed easier on a different thread. I'll find the thread that discussed photo files and then post it. If The Interpreter has Facebook, I am sure he could spot it right away. Magenta Lizard, if I stated what it was about the post, it would give it away, which I am interested in knowing if anyone else spotted the mistake.

Goble, my question has nothing to do with the photo--it is the text.

Did anyone else notice the March 1 15:32 Facebook post?

Pink eye can also be transmitted via lapbars, seatbealts and other "bugs" can come from the seats. I don't think I would use these, but I will never say never. After all, I rode Vortex and went to Kentucky Kingdom in 2015, two choices I am VERY glad I made. (This is coming from a germaphobic nurse, BTW.) Edit: I had put 2016 instead of 2015.

I'd be happy just to get the Coney Mall sign back.

This makes me happy. The Holiday World model, modified, is catching on. Free self serve stations at HW, self serve stations at KK, and now dedicated refill stations at KI, which may also come to other Cedar Fair parks. *Note: Please don't crucify me for the Holiday World model nomenclature, please keep in mind my only parks as an adult are KI, HW, KK, and Dollywood.

Thanks, calakapepe. That was it. When I saw "upper que"--I am talking about the first que section that is normally used. I call the other, rectangular que, the lower que. That's how my mind works.

Refresh my memory: What was in the building that is now the upper que for Diamondback?

This was in another thread last year at Halloween Haunt. I am sorry I don't recall the poster's name, but he posted a video of him and his son at Haunt. In the Octoberfest area, I heard the "old" lifthill music on the speakers. I commented and he replied that it was from the Independence Day soundtrack, but I can't remember the name of the song.

You know, I was soooo close to filling out an endorsement form and paying the fee to the Ohio Board of Nursing today, only to realize: 1. If I worked at KI as an RN, it's only seasonal and I love my current job. 2. If I did get a 2-day a week job at KI, that would be doable, but where would I stay? 3. If #2 was solved, who would take care of my pets and livestock while I was away each week. Sometimes it sucks being an adult!

I had heard that they had the second train last year but never added it. I take that with a grain of salt since I never saw it, or saw where it could be stored when it wasn't being used (like they do with the second train on Lightning Run.) Just another thing to look forward to finding out about. I think that is why I am such an advocate of this park. I went in with very low expectations, and my socks were blown off when those expectations were thrown out the window. But I tend to set the bar low for many things so I end up not being upset.

So I have changed my mind about The Beast music. I think the first lift hill is better without it. The announcement is annoying. I do like it on the second lift and have found my happy place. That means they will probably change it for 2016. Still kind of forlorn about not having The Beast as my first coaster in 2016, but will do Thunderhead so that my first 2016 coaster will be a woodie.