OMG the long lines!!! Is this normal???

Normally we go to the park for early entry and usually are out of there by 2pm at the latest. This weekend we took our family to Halloweekends and the park at night for the first time last Saturday 10/17/2015. I could not believe how long the lines were. It was over an hour for Gemini. Over an hour for Mean Streak. Usually these rides are 10 minutes or less. The park felt like it was mobbed with people everywhere. We have passes so it was free to get in, but I would have been really bummed if I had payed $200 to wait in at least an hour long line for everything. Maverick was down for some reason, maybe that had something to do with the lines? Is this normal for a Halloweekends on a Saturday night?

It's becoming the norm. From what I understand the park is busy during the day, but the rides themselves don't command as much as a wait once the haunts open. It also used to be that Fridays were nearly dead in Halloweekends but even that is no longer the case anymore.

I'm surprised to hear that it was that crowded with the weather being crappy and cold.

We were there Saturday from about 6-9p and didn't have any issues with lines. Magnum and Maverick were down but we walked or waited less then 15 minutes on Gemini, antique cars, gatekeeper, and many more. I was amazed at how light the crowd was for a Saturday!

Sunday was awesome. Wasn't too cold with the sun and lines were virtually non existent. Maverick was down all day till we left at 7 but millennium only had a 30 minute wait. Perfect day!

I'm glad you had a better experience than me. The queue arrow for Gemini and Mean Streak both said 60 minutes and we walked in to check it out and walked out of both queues after seeing how long the line was. It doesn't help that we still have one in our crew that is under 48 so I didn't want my wife to be waiting with our daughter for too long. It would be a different story if we could all wait together and then be pleasantly surprised if the wait was shorter than expected.

The park was mobbed on Saturday, almost as bad as Columbus Day weekend. Sunday was better, but am I wrong in thinking that a 30min. wait for MF is NOT an non-existent line? I thought it was fairly crowded on Sunday also, but I'm spoiled with some May and June weekdays when everything is a walk-on in the evening.

Yeah, my wife and I were there Saturday. It was just insane the amount of people that were there. We have been doing Halloweekends for a while now and the last few years it has gotten way too crowded. I figured the cold weather would cut the crowd down this weekend but I was wrong. I saw the lines you were describing and you are correct with what I observed too. We did not have to wait because we had fast pass, but I condole the people who did have to wait. Even though we had passes we still waited almost an hour for TTD and MF was about 40 minutes. I didnt witness the lines decreasing much when the haunt started, but we only stayed in the park until about 9:30pm. The haunt lines were just nuts and we didnt have passes for those so we just skipped them. We tried to get some snacks at about 9pm and that was very frustrating. The food lines were very long and didnt move much at all. We waited at Auntie Annes pretzels by the Windseeker gate for about 15 minutes and it never moved. People were so angry from waiting they were cussing the workers. We finally went to the funnel cake stand up near the front and actually got a pretty good cake there.

We decided we are not going on Halloweekends anymore. It has become just too overcrowded with people. Not that we have to wait more than an hour for rides cause we get passes, but you just cant enjoy anything because there are so many people everywhere. The scare zones are a joke now because you are just in the middle of a huge crowd running into everyone.

Another thing that really irritated me Saturday was the smokers. There were people smoking everywhere. I saw one guy throw his lit butt on the ground in the midway. Another group of three people had hopped over the Q rails at MF and were standing under the cooling fans smoking in a circle??!!

We are done, it will just be our usual June trip from now on. There are other things I could list about this weekend, but I wouldnt have enough space and you would get bored reading after a while.

Edit: forgot to add, we were at KI friday and it was just as bad. People everywhere! The security lines outside took almost an hour to get through just to get to the entrance to get in the park. Not even going to mention the disaster it was once you got in the park. No more halloweens!

I'm going this Saturday and Sunday. It's supposed to be in the mid-60's. My main objective is the outdoor scare zones and haunts for Saturday. I don't think I'll even attempt to go on a ride that day, I'll save those for Sunday. I think mid-60's is a perfect recipe for a massive crowd, but there is a chance of rain. However, after reading that the snow and cold didn't keep the crowds down last Saturday, I don't know if that will have any effect or not this weekend. It seems that weather doesn't affect the crowds during Halloweekends. I'm thinking with only 2 more weekends left and everybody wanting to get in a last trip, they will go regardless of weather.

Thabto said:

I'm going this Saturday and Sunday. It's supposed to be in the mid-60's. My main objective is the outdoor scare zones and haunts for Saturday. I don't think I'll even attempt to go on a ride that day, I'll save those for Sunday. I think mid-60's is a perfect recipe for a massive crowd, but there is a chance of rain. However, after reading that the snow and cold didn't keep the crowds down last Saturday, I don't know if that will have any effect or not this weekend. It seems that weather doesn't affect the crowds during Halloweekends. I'm thinking with only 2 more weekends left and everybody wanting to get in a last trip, they will go regardless of weather.

I hope you have good luck! I just dont know what to think anymore. Thats one thing we love about Halloweekends is the scare zones. But, its hard to enjoy them anymore because they really arent effective at all with so many people mobbed everywhere. About 10 years ago it was really nice. The crowds were not bad at all and you could really get the essence of the attractions. Maybe others can manage the stress of the crowds these days better than I can, LOL!

I made the laughable mistake of trying to eat at the Midway Market Saturday. There was a line going out the door, but I've seen that happen before without the wait being TOO terribly bad, and every other place to eat was just as bad, so we thought we may as well grin and bear it. This time, though, we ended up waiting around 45 minutes. The weird thing is that the entire right side of the restaurant was empty tables. I'm not sure what was causing the long wait, but table space wasn't it. The guy in front of me in line was trying (genially, not crabbily) to get the cashier to tell him what the slowdown was, but she wasn't sharing. It seems like it must have been really understaffed.

Yeh, im thinking they are getting seriously understaffed for this time of year and the crowds are growing out of control which make it worse. Most of the workers I observed in the food stands looked like deers in headlights, LOL! Just seems like not a good time of year to go anymore; for me anyways.

Friday was busy compared to Fridays other years and it was cold but it was a weird hit and miss busy. We just happened upon some short lines for things which were long when we were there last week on Saturday. Unless the weather was significantly different Saturday on the penninsula than the mainland I didn't think it was bad but that's my opinion from sitting in the hot tub at Castaway Bay until about 8:30 and that mile may have made a difference. Our method anymore is to hit all the haunts possible in September if possible so that each weekend we can just go with the flow and whatever we get to do we get to do. If I were paying for the day and not using my pass I probably would not be as happy with my last few visits as I was. I think HalloWeekends is just getting more popular but with the price for individual haunted houses as high as it is for some I can see why. I'm planning to go for a day the next two weekendsand closing day unless family emergencies come up or the weather turns to complete crap and it's going to take more than a chance of rain or cold temps to stop me. It will have to be pretty miserable.

I think we've all learned a very important lesson from this.

Never go to CP on a Saturday during HalloWeekends.

I learned that lesson 9 years ago. Aside from the years I've worked at the park (on and off), I have never stepped foot inside the park on a Saturday during Halloweekends.

deeturnerjr72 said:

Edit: forgot to add, we were at KI friday and it was just as bad. People everywhere! The security lines outside took almost an hour to get through just to get to the entrance to get in the park. Not even going to mention the disaster it was once you got in the park. No more halloweens!

Just for comparison, we went to KI on Sunday and arrived about an hour after the park opened. I expected it to be fairly busy since it was sunny and about 60 degrees but the crowds were light to moderate. Banshee, Viking Fury, Adventure Express, and The Bat were all walk-on rides early in the afternoon. The Beast was about a 15 minute wait and so was the Backlot Stunt Coaster. Later in the afternoon we headed over to Soak City so the kids could trick-or-treat and there seemed to be quite a few people over there. We rode the train back to the Rivertown station and it was full.

By far the longest wait of the day occurred when my youngest said she wanted to end the visit with a ride on the Flying Ace Aerial Chase. I think they waited at least half an hour for that but overall it was a pretty good trip.

Just for comparison, we went to KI on Sunday and arrived about an hour after the park opened. I expected it to be fairly busy since it was sunny and about 60 degrees but the crowds were light to moderate. Banshee, Viking Fury, Adventure Express, and The Bat were all walk-on rides early in the afternoon. The Beast was about a 15 minute wait and so was the Backlot Stunt Coaster. Later in the afternoon we headed over to Soak City so the kids could trick-or-treat and there seemed to be quite a few people over there. We rode the train back to the Rivertown station and it was full.

By far the longest wait of the day occurred when my youngest said she wanted to end the visit with a ride on the Flying Ace Aerial Chase. I think they waited at least half an hour for that but overall it was a pretty good trip.

Yeh, ide imagine sundays are better, but we like getting night rides and all the activites that come after dark. Guess we cant have our cake and eat it too, LOL!

Keep in mind that Kings Island doesn't open the haunts on Sundays. I went opening week I a Sunday for the haunts, and was kind of disappointed when they weren't open. However, the longest wait was for Flight of Fear, which was maybe half an hour.

Halloweekends continues to have the best attendance for the season. It is why they invest in it the way they do. Slaughterhouse was EXPENSIVE even though it is a converted storage building.

Pete said:

am I wrong in thinking that a 30min. wait for MF is NOT an non-existent line?

No. I felt like the park was moderately busy Sunday. I wouldn't have stuck around if I didn't have my free renewal wristband to use.

I'm a longtime season pass holder and I've made a weekend trip to Halloweekends every year since 2000, so it's a tradition for me. If it weren't... I'm not sure I would do it anymore. 2000-2007 I went with my ex-husband and we would always spend Friday and Saturday at the park, then go to the Merry-Go-Round Museum in Sandusky on Sunday afternoon then head home (3+ hours drive). (The MGR Museum is an important destination for me because, as my handle suggests, I'm also a carousel enthusiast.) By about 2005 we were already noticing that the event was changing into one with more lines on Saturday, when it used to be pretty light even on Saturday. Friday went from "eerily dead" to "very light crowds."

Around 2008-2009, I came to realize that Saturday was a madhouse and started wondering if I hadn't made a mistake in going Saturday instead of Sunday. Around the time I started going to the park with my new fiance/husband in 2010, I switched to going on Friday, then taking Saturday morning/afternoon as a break and doing my MGR Museum visit then, going in on Saturday night with no intention of actually doing anything (so expectations are low), then spending all day Sunday and making a rather tired drive home Sunday night. At first, Sundays were now about as light as Saturdays were in the early days -- that is to say, very good. I figured I had hit on the magic secret.

But this year, even Friday and Sunday were getting busy. This year I went 10/16-10/18 and in addition to the extremely crushed Saturday evening, I found Sunday had moderate crowds too. It wasn't bad or anything, but certainly wasn't the day of walk-ons that it used to be. (It did get closer to that near the end of the day, but MF always had at least a 15 minute line.)

Last year I went closing weekend, and the fact that closing day was both extremely cold and officially not part of Halloweekends (haunts were not open) probably helped, making it a very light crowd day. That may have given me unrealistic expectations for what my Sunday would be like this year.