I have definitely said forget it before, we grabbed a very quick cheap snack and ate outside of the park.
Christmas Town 2025
- Thread starter tursiops
- Start date
I plan my trips around saying forget it on BGW food now. They've successfully changed my behavior to their own detriment. I imagine there are many others like me too.
This experience is very different between season pass holders coming regularly and those guests coming once in a while. The out of town and irregular guests aren't likely to have the food situation gamed out and are stuck with garbage service they didn't anticipate being part of the bargain.
Oh, I agree, but BGW is still a locals park—the visitation mix is still, in large part, pass holders. After this many years of severely subpar food service, I have a hard time imagining that a lot of damage hasn't been done.
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Even if the margins are better with less food, service opening, it’s a stupid way to do business in the long run. It deteriorates the customer experience.
Just seeing that long line in Festhaus Wednesday night made me not want to come back and I wasn’t even standing in it.
Things like this are finally starting to show their ugly result as United Parks attendance is declining
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Obviously they started the cut but it’s interesting when something is a local draw and an area like F&B suffers.
It was being talked about at a PGA meeting I was at and the example used was hot dogs. Your supplier changed from one to another. Maybe you went from pork to beef hot dogs and people thought it was worse. So you sell less and F&B profits start to slip. Then you say, ok I’ll got from 1/3 pound to 1/4 pound to save a little bit and get that back. Then less people buy. So you go from good Heinz condiments to generic. So now even less people buy.
Their example was how sometimes you can inflict this hurt on yourself and it takes too long because you changed one thing at a time. And if at the start in that example the PGA Professional just said “hey let’s look at new suppliers or just lower the cost a touch, we will be ok” - they tried to chase the bottom line.
I really think that’s what happened with BGW/SEAS in general with their F&B program. Something changed on them then they started chasing the bottom line rather than understanding the underlying issue and correcting it.
I realize it's cynical, but I think they've figured out the minimum staffing they need for F&B to keep guests minimally satisfied, and see no payback from going above that. It's similar at other parks too from what I see. The guests who are going to eat will put up with the long lines since they have limited choice and arent going to spend more just because extra serving lines are open. Yes, locals may skip meals, but the high prices and small servings alone are a strong deterant to their purchases already.
We basically just eat before we come to the park, and the perks related to our passes are what we end up using for food, beverages, etc. Apart from very select times/rewards, we avoid eating in the park.
Just a note. At Kings Island Winterfest they have 14 meal locations open (plus numerous snack locations) and one of the meal locations has two separate food services. Plus they are giving away meals to season dining pass holders at this point. Busch actsells every meal.
There really is no excuse for the lack of foid service at BGW.
There really is no excuse for the lack of foid service at BGW.
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TheCoasterNerd
HAPPY PRIDE! Have I told y'all I'm nonbinary?
The only good food at BGW at this point is at Trappers. That's the only thing there I ever eat anymore, otherwise I just stop at wawa on the way home atp. Everything from Festhaus and all the other QS locations sucks
The alpine sandwich, although a shell of its former self, is still decent. But you're right, the food quality has plummeted especially in Marco Polo.
The ironic part in all of this is that the Food and Wine has some great choices and is a hit for BGW.
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I don't even wanna eat at trappers lmao I don't understand how anyone wants to willing give money for overpriced low tier ass food at any theme park. Unless you are diabetic or have kids and need immedeate food I literally don't understand. Eat before you go or on the way or bring something to your car. The only food/snack I ever will willingly buy is the Butter braid at KD or dippin dots anywhere. Don't buy $6 sodas and they give free water all day and numerous places. Only food and wine and mardi gras is kinda worth any price, but as a pass member they give you so much free items for those you barely gotta even pay for them
Might need to bring this discussion over to the politics thread...
If you're at a park for 6-8+ hours, it's kind of hard to avoid eating at the park. Sure, if you're local, you can time this on your visits. Otherwise you have to make due with what the park offers.
Pack food at the vehicle? You can completly avoid buying park food
