1 hour ago, jsus said:

Locals know the Skyline and LaRosa's brands.  Many locals like those brands.  Those guests are more likely to buy and even spend more money because it's a brand they know and like, rather than an in-house brand.

Cedar Point spent a couple years running an in-house concept where Chick-fil-A once stood.  It did not go well.  They brought Chick-fil-A back.

To be fair they also now have a chicken restaurant toward the front of the park. 

48 minutes ago, Benjamin22 said:

To be fair they also now have a chicken restaurant toward the front of the park. 

Cedar Point's New Corral is a rebuild of the Old Corral, converted from a walk-up stand with a variety of items including "walking tacos" into mainly a chicken shop with inside, air conditioned service..  that on multiple occasions last season served me very hard, almost inedible chicken tenders with cold fries.  Again, not at all on the level one would expect from Chick-fil-A.

19 minutes ago, jsus said:

Cedar Point's New Corral is a rebuild of the Old Corral, converted from a walk-up stand with a variety of items including "walking tacos" into mainly a chicken shop with inside, air conditioned service..  that on multiple occasions last season served me very hard, almost inedible chicken tenders with cold fries.  Again, not at all on the level one would expect from Chick-fil-A.

Corral may not be what he is referring to.  There is a new fried chicken and tots stand  over by WindSeeker called The Roost that did not open until the whole 150th parade kicked off, have not eaten there yet.

 

1 hour ago, King Ding Dong said:

Corral may not be what he is referring to.  There is a new fried chicken and tots stand  over by WindSeeker called The Roost that did not open until the whole 150th parade kicked off, have not eaten there yet.

 

Corral is the one up by the front of the park, The Roost is over by the beach, yeah.  I don't know if it's any good, and I don't know if it's even open much.  They originally were going to have a mac & cheese / The Roost concept under the north Skyride station, but I don't know if it ever opened.  If so, it was rare.  It was like a side project to them that they didn't really care about.  Eventually IIRC that was the side that was converted to an ICEE/Coca-Cola stand.   Now, they've got The Mac Shack up between Toft's and the arcade where Pink's used to be, which seems to be open at least a good bit of the time.  They relocated (?) The Roost over to the fresh cut fry stand they operated the least, then didn't open it at all for the longest time ("coming soon").  They've supposedly opened it now but can anyone report if it's been open and if the food is any good?

2 hours ago, jsus said:

Cedar Point's New Corral is a rebuild of the Old Corral, converted from a walk-up stand with a variety of items including "walking tacos" into mainly a chicken shop with inside, air conditioned service..  that on multiple occasions last season served me very hard, almost inedible chicken tenders with cold fries.  Again, not at all on the level one would expect from Chick-fil-A.

I had those chicken tenders from Corral on Tuesday. Large but the bread was hard, dry and tasteless. I barely finished half. The fries were actually good for me though.

Be cautious with that TK Texas Sandwich Corral serves.  It is good but the last time I had it the Texas Toast was way overcooked and it was like eating a triple decker sandwich in between large croutons. Had to disassemble and eat as a salad.  

If I suggested that Skyline and LaRosa's should be removed to make way for better quality local alternatives, would that be wrong? Yes, they are both local establishments, like Graeter's. But, Graeter's is as good as it gets for ice cream. The other two, are not so good, IMO. Sorry...

What would you suggest to replace it that is local?  I doubt Jeff Ruby's would be on the meal plan lol.

A Harmony Hall style location where the petting zoo is.  Similar to Harmony Hall it could have an Italian line, a salad/sub line, and other assorted foods. 

I would also love to see an all season mac and cheese location.

No brainer. German Food in Oktoberfest. I went to Goettafest last night and saw a bunch of fun German dishes. I know they tried out some German menu items in the Beer Garden a handful of years back, but it was overpriced and tasted awful. 

I’d be so down with a Goetta restaurant, too. 

15 hours ago, NegativeGs said:

If I suggested that Skyline and LaRosa's should be removed to make way for better quality local alternatives, would that be wrong? Yes, they are both local establishments, like Graeter's. But, Graeter's is as good as it gets for ice cream. The other two, are not so good, IMO. Sorry...

Nothing wrong with disliking what you dislike.  I don't care for Skyline (though I'll get the coney dogs when I want something affordable) but my 18 year old nephew loves it and there are others out there.

LaRosa's is fine but if there was one in my small town with 8 pizza places, it would only be like the 4th best pizza in town. The smell is off-putting. It often makes me think there's some sawdust-covered vomit nearby.

I would like to see an Italian place similar to Cedar Point's, a seafood restaurant, a country style restaurant in rivertown (featuring country fried chicken/steak, breakfast options, and more similar to Cracker Barrell). I would also like to see a Cattleman's style eatery that you can get at your local county fair that serves ribeye sandwiches and other beef goods and be located in Coney Mall. I also would love to see an indoor dining option similar to Festhaus/Harmony Hall in Planet Snoopy that has been discussed about here before. 

4 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I would like to see an Italian place similar to Cedar Point's, a seafood restaurant, a country style restaurant in rivertown (featuring country fried chicken/steak, breakfast options, and more similar to Cracker Barrell). I would also like to see a Cattleman's style eatery that you can get at your local county fair that serves ribeye sandwiches and other beef goods and be located in Coney Mall. I also would love to see an indoor dining option similar to Festhaus/Harmony Hall in Planet Snoopy that has been discussed about here before. 

Wow! You and I should go on a foodie reinvention tour of KI. You think like me. I’d LOVE to see something more theme appropriate that marginal pizza in rivertown. Maybe with a large deck overlooking the new lake where Vortex was. Maybe even with a small stage (that didn’t look too ‘staged’ but more like themed propping where “mini shows” like BuskerJam could pop up through the day. That sandwich shop sounds like an awesome replacement for skyline in Coney. Or the fish could go there and steak sandwiches replace subway. I think they’ve proven they can up the good game with Carnivale, it’s time to keep it more permanent. 

2 hours ago, brenthodge said:

Wow! You and I should go on a foodie reinvention tour of KI. You think like me. I’d LOVE to see something more theme appropriate that marginal pizza in rivertown. Maybe with a large deck overlooking the new lake where Vortex was. Maybe even with a small stage (that didn’t look too ‘staged’ but more like themed propping where “mini shows” like BuskerJam could pop up through the day. That sandwich shop sounds like an awesome replacement for skyline in Coney. Or the fish could go there and steak sandwiches replace subway. I think they’ve proven they can up the good game with Carnivale, it’s time to keep it more permanent. 

Wait you think they'll just fill The Vortex plot with a lake? I don't think so. I highly doubt they would replace a ride that drew lots of people to experience it's last rides and was an icon to the park with nothing lol. I highly doubt they'll get rid of Rivertown Larossas as that is a park staple. I don't think they'll get rid of Coney Mall skyline or Subway either. Maybe they could turn the kill mart building into a restaurant. 

3 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Wait you think they'll just fill The Vortex plot with a lake? I don't think so. I highly doubt they would replace a ride that drew lots of people to experience it's last rides and was an icon to the park with nothing lol. I highly doubt they'll get rid of Rivertown Larossas as that is a park staple. I don't think they'll get rid of Coney Mall skyline or Subway either. Maybe they could turn the kill mart building into a restaurant. 

You have your dreams. I’ll have mine. 

That Eiffel Tower shaped French fry thread has now made me wish that park brought those back.  

Fresh fried potato chips.  

I want to see more food that is cheap and fast. Like hotdog carts at the entrance to longer queues. Nothing fancy. Just foil wrapped hot dogs with condiments.  Grab a few of those before waiting in line. Maybe get people out of the other food lines. 

Pancakes are cheap and fast.  

Canada's Wonderland is adding a multi level dining facility with an overlook patio in 2022. It'll be lodge themed. Honestly, I wouldn't mind something like that come to KI. They could put it where The Vortex station was and have it overlook The Beast, Diamondback, Mystic, and maybe a future coaster on the leftover land. 

 

I skimmed thru most of this, and I've mentioned this before, but I'd love to see the park (and Cedar Pointe as well) hook up with Schmidt's out of columbus.  Multiple type of sausages or side to choose from, plus one of their cream puffs to polish it off.  If only there were a German themed restaurant building to place them in.....

 

Between Skyline, LaRossa's Greaters and Tom and Chee's....they have a nice mix of "local" and traditional fare to choose from.

Just came from a week of six flags parks.
Kings Island does tons of stuff better than six flags… not notably the quality of options on the dining plan.

That said, some things I enjoyed about six flags dining were:

Ability to use a meal credit on a snack instead (ice cream, funnel cake, slushee, candy from the candy shops)… in addition to including one snack a day with their two meal deluxe dining plan. (I’m not even asking you add a snack… just allow me to use my meal credit on a snack instead would be really nice sometimes)

Online ordering and dedicated lines. I know KI has experimented with this… but the six flags system actually worked really well.
You order in the app and select your time, and then you can “pay” in the app with a credit card or just apply your lunch or dinner credit to your meal. Then the locations have a dedicated online order pick up line. Not only was it a lot faster to get my food, but all the payment is handled by the app, so the process is just faster for everyone.
The six flags locations could turn this off at any time if they got too busy… but having pre set reservation times I think ensured that not too many people were trying to order for the same time.


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Starting to see Skyline in cans outside of Cincinnati area. So far I have spotted some in Nashville, Texas, Michigan, and Tennessee.

The mobile ordering, snack inclusion and 50% off all dining for the top membership tiers help SF make up for some of their food quality deficiencies. 

The mobile ordering, snack inclusion and 50% off all dining for the top membership tiers help SF make up for some of their food quality deficiencies. 

Exactly. So if Kings Island could maintain food quality while adding mobile ordering (shouldn’t really cost them much and it spends up the ordering/payment process for everyone, so it could actually generate more via shorter food lines)…

Likewise if they would allow meal credits to be used on small items INSTEAD of a meal… they might also save (Ie if I use it on a $6 ice cream instead of a $13 pizza meal)


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Or a draft beer?  What does a beer cost them, a quarter?

The removal of Skyline, Subway and LaRosas replaced by ANYTHING that is barely edible would be an improvement 

McDonalds. Maybe like 2-4 of them spread around the park so they can keep the lines down. We actually like Subway, but the location is never open on time, and soon as it does open the line is like an hour. These days I go to Jimmy Johns the day before we plan to go to the park and buy a couple loaves of their bread. Make subs at home, pack 'em in the car. Saves about $40, and keeps us out of the restroom later in the day.

On 8/15/2021 at 2:14 PM, Vortex said:

Starting to see Skyline in cans outside of Cincinnati area. So far I have spotted some in Nashville, Texas, Michigan, and Tennessee.

You can buy Skyline in cans at some Kroger locations in Arizona.

Actually, ten years ago today, I ate at the Skyline in Clearwater, Florida!

I don`t understand the hate for Skyline or LaRosa`s.  If they ever got rid of LaRosa`s, I would think they would want to replace it with another pizza place.  Dewey`s Pizza is awesome, but I think the price point for Dewey`s is a bit high to be added to KI.  The first Dewey`s location was in Cincinnati`s Oakley neighborhood.  Now they have grown to about 25 locations, in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, St. Louis and Kansas City.

Visiting Carowinds and Harmony Hall today, it made me think of what Festhaus should be. I definitely think they should add more food options similar to what Harmony Hall has. Panda Express can be located somewhere else in the park and we already have two Larossas locations. Also, I tried Chickie's and Pete's. The cheese steak was very good along with their fries. I think a nice cheese steak place would be nice at KI. Maybe bring in Penn Station to the park similar to at Great American Ballpark.