Kings Island Fast Lane

Raven-Phile said:
FYI - Even healthcare providers think paying for premium access is a worthwhile venture:

I think the fact that healthcare providers like it is a pretty good argument against such a system. ;)

From the ride ops I have talked to at KI, it is not being used very much at all and is making no real difference to the regular line as to wait times.

This is all still pretty new, so time will tell if it will become more popular. The park has a huge sign right as you walk in the gates and others at the rides.

Diamondback is using the former SRL and Beast is having people go up the exit to the point where the line meets the station. Left would take you to the exit, but right takes you under the station and to another set of stairs on the lift hill side of the station. They have also blocked off the back half divider in the station so now everyone has to go down the front half before heading to the rest of the seats.

Thanks for the update - how did they work FL into Flight of Fear and Windseeker. I'm guessing for most of the participating rides they are using the former gold pass lane, and Firehawk could use the ADA access path. (Or I could be wrong about that one too)

Didn't ride those in the 2 hours we were there last night. I would guess that they will bring people into the FOF station from the exit up past the drop boxes that they don't let you use.

So DB has no SRL at all now? That sucks. I know people mistreated it, but I loved it.

Used it a lot considering the one time a year I went last year and will go this year is during Fright Fest or whatever they call it on a Saturday (go with friends, could care less what I ride since I have ridden everything).

The two days I was at Kings Island recently, I cannot recall one instance of a ride op attempting to pull a single rider out of the line to fill and empty seat. I spent the vast majority of the time as the single rider of a 3 or 5 person group and rode one time with someone else on the Beast at night. And that was at the request of some other people in line so they could ride on the same train. Not sure I have seen a park with a lower priority for filling empty single seats.

It looks like Kings Island has extended the 7 hours to all day now.

http://tickets.visitkingsisland.com/shop/shopping_corporate_partners_list.cfm

Well, that explains the picture I saw in the Toledo Blade this morning, which indicated the FOL pass is now an all-day thing.

Mr. Innes said officials at Cedar Point are still evaluating the program at Kings Island, saying that it’s possible it would be implemented in Sandusky “even later this year.” Mr. Speigel, the industry consultant, said the Kings Island idea could be rolled out to other Cedar Fair parks.

“It’s all about earnings and how can parks make more money. If this makes money, they’ll keep it,” Mr. Speigel said.

Just saw on Twitter that Kings Island has lowered the Fast Lane price to $25 per person for this week only. My guess is they are trying to get more people to use it. Most reports have been than only a handful of people have been seen using it on any given day.

EDIT: Just noticed that this only applies when a group purchases Fast Lane passes. See here:
http://tickets.visitkingsisland.com/shop/shopping_corporate_partners_list.cfm

Makes sense to do it that way. It encourages families and large groups to buy in.

I still think they should sell a toned back version as well. I don't care for unlimited power riding. I think most people traveling as a family would agree.

I'd rather have a $35 version where I get on each ride once, or have unlimited rides but still have to wait an allotted time in between rerides.

I'm sure Cedar Fair's aversion to technology would prohibit this, though. Paper wristbands are indeed more their style.

Let's not lose focus on "could be implemented in Sandusky "even later this year""

If the program is indeed making Kings Island a tidy sum of cash, with reportedly no significant degradation in the regular guest experience it would seem to be a big instant win to fast track the Fast Lane program chain wide. I wouldn't be surprised if parks are instructed to at least think about how they would implement this at their parks. As I mentioned before, Kings Island is a great test case because they already had the dual queue infastructure in place from the former gold pass program, and I suspect Cedar Point has some in place from Ticket to Ride and Freeway. Other parks might have a harder time implementing.

Also, I really hope they do offer this during Haunt and include the Haunts as well. Heck, they could even have two wristbands the "Fast Lane - Rides" and "Fast Lane - Haunts" or "Instant Scare Package" VIP access to Haunts isn't exactly new for Kings Island, with the ticket based system at enthusiast events and bundled into the Fright Feast package. I know I had no remorse over bypassing a 2 hour haunt wait last October. As I've said, the season pass is already paid for, so if they tell me I can get instant access to all the mazes and trails for $50, I am so in. In fact, I think the haunt community will be even more accepting of the idea than the ride community at least locally, I think USS Nightmare, Land of Illusion, and possibly even some of the small independent operators have a front-of-the-line ticket already.

Front-of-the-line access is becoming pretty standard at seasonal haunted attractions. I've even used it before at a few busy haunts.

Did you get yelled at or called names because you line jumped?

^Travis u no-good line jumper!

He just did :)

kpjb said:
I still think they should sell a toned back version as well. I don't care for unlimited power riding. I think most people traveling as a family would agree.

I was just at Kennywood on Saturday, and I liked the way their system worked, with just 1 ride on each coaster. I was even going to buy it myself if only they had advertised the details better. I didn't know until I went up to the booth that they have two "sessions", and that the second session ran later than I was planning on staying and I had already missed the first one.

LostKause said:
Front-of-the-line access is becoming pretty standard at seasonal haunted attractions. I've even used it before at a few busy haunts.

Tsk Tsk My friend - That just opened up a can of worms right there LOL

Lance from Screamscape just gave his opinion of the "Fast Lane" subject on his site. I found it a very interesting read, and I always enjoy hearing that other people hold the same beliefs on the subject that I do. :)

With all due respect to Lance, it reads like the typical 'stuff is expensive' whining you can find on any enthusiast forum.

With the sole exception of the inclusion of the word, "unfortunately" this paragraph near the end hits the nail on the head...

"In short, I think we’ve got to the point where the true POP era (Pay One Price) of theme parks has come to an end, and has been replaced by the Upcharge Era where guests can add-on a variety of experience options and thus creating an unfortunately extremely tiered guest experience."

...and your old buddy Gonch has been telling you this for years now. :)

And then this closer:

"A tiered experience based entirely on the cash in your wallet, which cuts to the heart of the matter, because parks are now admitting that virtually anything you want is for sale… for the right price. And that just kind of takes a big chunk of the “fun” out of visiting the fun park, doesn’t it? "

No, it doesn't. It makes it about 1000 times more fun because I can go to the park and have exactly the experience I want to have.

The idea of paying one price and standing around like cattle jockeying for position on rides is going to seem humorously ridiculous in the not too distant future.

I guess my biggest thing is, ignoring the capitalistic nature of these things entirely, is I'd hate to see the day where the local amusement park becomes the place that "only the rich kids" get to enjoy. It's just one of those classic childhood things that every kid should get to enjoy, but more and more families are being priced out of it. I know everyone will respond with something like "capitalism doesn't have emotions", but frankly, that doesn't matter to me. There's way more to enjoy in life than just money.