"Skeleton Key. #KIHaunt" Was Tweeted by @KingsIslandPR earlier today.

Meaning?

Four and a half hours after I posted this!

If it's like Knott's, I think this'll be a big seller.

It's something from Knotts.

Get that and Fright Lane

Get that and a key around your neck, get different queue then a new room to start the haunt off with. An actor will give the haunts backstory and chase you out of the room

Skeleton Key was introduced last season at several Cedar Fair parks. Guests with the special pass got access to an exclusive room in several mazes. Some parks included it with Fright Lane passes, while others sold it as an add-on. EDIT: or what goodyellowkorn182 and Devan said.

It will be interesting to see what Kings Island does with this.

Got info on pricing at the other parks?

Got info on pricing at the other parks?

At Worlds of Fun, standard Fright Lane on Fridays was $35/person (same as KI, I believe); adding Skeleton Key increased that to $60/person. Saturday prices were slightly higher.

Hmm. I'm interested, depending on the price.

Consider me interested, at least until the pricing is announced. If there's one thing I could ask for out of KI's haunted houses, it's more of a storyline.

IMG_9479 by ki_faerie_wench, on Flickr

Well, it's a cute souvenir.

Was the extra room worth the up charge there?

From what I was able to do that particular night, yes. I caved and got it only because of the lines that night, a Saturday night at that, were horrendously long but my night was cut short due to a medical emergency I had (nothing Haunt caused). But I was glad I did get it as the extra stuff I did get to see was pretty cool. One of my best friends worked Dominion of the D*mned as one of the kings, he insisted I come through every night and there was no fuh-lipping way I was going to wait almost 2 hours for a maze and that was the case for majority of the mazes there...really no maze is worth it.

A thing is worth what people will pay for it. There is a price that maximizes revenue.

Below that, money is being left on the table. Above it, profitable sales are being lost.

This can also be looked at in the short term or the long haul.

A thing is worth what people will pay for it. There is a price that maximizes revenue.

Below that, money is being left on the table. Above it, profitable sales are being lost.

But you know I lack patience lol

Good thing you aren't a physician.

Lacking patients would not be good.

All numbers made up, as an example. The formula used for this is

(XY+price) × [Z - (XA)] = C

X is the number of increases

Y is the amount of increases

Z is the predicted sales at normal price

A is the predicted loss per price increase

A thing is worth what people will pay for it. There is a price that maximizes revenue.

Below that, money is being left on the table. Above it, profitable sales are being lost.

This can also be looked at in the short term or the long haul.

Thought it would be appropriate to show off my math skills (ones that I actually did right on here for once

On an on topic moment, I enjoyed the haunts last year, but none of them were, to me, something that I felt man I could have spent an extra $60 for.

Knott's Skeleton Key includes an exclusive first room that standard visitors don't get to experience. These rooms take up space and need to be easily accessible, plus must be located near the start of the maze so that they can easily merge with the actual maze. This brings up the question, where will Kings Island incorporate these extra rooms?

I can't think of any space in Club Blood's, Wolf Pack's, or Urgent Scare's show buildings that they could add a new scene. Which makes me wonder, will the park instead take a pre-existing scene, build a wall around it, and call it a "new" scene that only guests that pay the premium will get to experience?

On an on topic moment, I enjoyed the haunts last year, but none of them were, to me, something that I felt man I could have spent an extra $60 for.

This. Qualities are different between the parks even though both are Cedar Fair parks. But someone like me I'm more likely to spend the money at Knott's since I don't get to see it as much during the Haunt season as opposed to KI really.

The thing with this is, all the mazes would have to be (somewhat) rebuilt to include the special entrance/room, I wonder how they're going to pull this off! After I see the responses from it I may get one myself!

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Yea was wondering that as well. Some of them would be easier to do like Urgent Scare or Board To Death since there is open space near the entrance. But others like Wolf Pack and Club Blood have no space at all.

Also I agree about pricing being a key thing for me. I would pay $35 or so for the Fright Lane pass to be able to get everything in at night and have more time to do stuff instead of standing in lines. But not sure I'd be willing to shell out $60 or more for it ad I know most of my friends would never pay that either.

Fascinating idea...somehow I never heard of this throughout CF infrastructure. I'm the guy that rides dark rides three or four times at state fairs. I love them. LOVE THEM. They are theme park in a box. I don't care how cheesy or lame. They are my favorite rides.

So yeah...what now? What was the question?

We need them. Badly. Greatest thrill out there...if you can get past the 80s fascination...and low budget...and just plain crap of the most of them.

Regardless....the worst dark ride you ever rode...would bring me great thrills and laughs. I love them.

Yea was wondering that as well. Some of them would be easier to do like Urgent Scare or Board To Death since there is open space near the entrance. But others like Wolf Pack and Club Blood have no space at all.

Also I agree about pricing being a key thing for me. I would pay $35 or so for the Fright Lane pass to be able to get everything in at night and have more time to do stuff instead of standing in lines. But not sure I'd be willing to shell out $60 or more for it ad I know most of my friends would never pay that either.

You just made a compelling argument for the pricing structure. The whole point of it is not to attract MANY who are willing to pay $35 for Fright Lane but rather to attract SOME who would be willing to spend $60+.

Sadly...I would spend 60 for this. I'm a haunted house sucker...I love them. darnit!

It would have to be a superior haunt from top to bottom for me to buy a FOL pass.....great sets, great make up, great scares....sorry, in my opinion, (with the exception of Slaughterhouse which is very close to BGT and USO in quality) what I've seen so far at KI does not qualify for an upgrade. (Busch Gardens and Universal have spoiled me in that department) Yes we are talking bigger budgets, etc, at those parks, however, KI went for quantity rather than quality in their lineup. I'd have 5 really good haunts rather than 13 understaffed, lower quality haunts.

My biggest complaint is that when Fearfest started it was a Halloween event with a few houses that happened to be in an amusement park.

Now for Halloween Haunt, its an amusement park that happens to have too many haunted attractions.

Do I like Halloween Haunt....yes....but not enough for a Skeleton Key/FOL...(unless of course the Haunts quality at KI goes through the roof).

Well, unstop, thanks for saying that for me.

It would have to take a lot of umph to justify the dime.

Also, I've noted your praise of Slaughterhouse suits my observation as well.

Slaughterhouse is the only one that actually startled me in a couple of places.....

It would have to be a superior haunt from top to bottom for me to buy a FOL pass.....great sets, great make up, great scares....sorry, in my opinion, (with the exception of Slaughterhouse which is very close to BGT and USO in quality) what I've seen so far at KI does not qualify for an upgrade. (Busch Gardens and Universal have spoiled me in that department) Yes we are talking bigger budgets, etc, at those parks, however, KI went for quantity rather than quality in their lineup. I'd have 5 really good haunts rather than 13 understaffed, lower quality haunts.

My biggest complaint is that when Fearfest started it was a Halloween event with a few houses that happened to be in an amusement park.

Now for Halloween Haunt, its an amusement park that happens to have too many haunted attractions.

Do I like Halloween Haunt....yes....but not enough for a Skeleton Key/FOL...(unless of course the Haunts quality at KI goes through the roof).

Sometimes I feel like what KI needs is competition and by competition I do mean another amusement park. KI has potential to be top dog in the midwest at least, they just need some help, lol.

Sadly...the park I have in mind we've yet to know will survive on passed this year...

Kings Island once had some pretty intense competition! Just in Ohio, the de facto leading Paramount Park was down the highway from a Six Flags park, a SeaWorld park, and Cedar Fair's flagship. That's not to say things were so black and white, but Ohio really was sort of the nation's leader in parks after the year-round states like California and Florida.

Now? Well... What was the world's largest Six Flags a decade ago now faces biting competition from lawn sprinklers and Slip'n Slides.

The world's largest Six Flags park--then and now--is in New Jersey.

Not that it really matters, I guess, but Six Flags described Worlds of Adventure in press releases as a 750-acre entertainment complex, using 690 acres. Other articles mention that Six Flags Ohio was 520 with SeaWorld being 230, which would again add up to 750 all together, with 60 being the lake. Cedar Fair's press release to announce the acquisition of the park described it as a "family-oriented theme park situated on 690 acres, including a 50-acre spring-fed lake."

Great Adventure's spokesperson Kristin Siebeneicher said last year that, when the Safari park was added to the thrill park, their combined acreage would create the largest park currently in the world at 510 acres. Granted, they may own many more... But... In terms the park itself. I don't know what counts and what doesn't.

I truly don't know. I had just always understood Worlds of Adventure as the largest. Doesn't really matter anyway, I guess!

The Great Adventure complex exceeds 2,200 acres...