Kings Dominion Season Passes

[I305Evan]

Historically, next year's passes have always been the cheapest the first month or so they go on sale. I have not seen Cedar Fair do a Black Friday sale. From here on out, the passes will continue to raise in price. If you look at the first post of this thread- I used to track price changes a few years ago. Take a look at that for comparison.

Also, they do let you buy your pass outright without signing up for the payment plan. It's just not default option at checkout. At the page where it gives you the payment schedule, there will be an option to pay in full.

 

[CoasterTalkBob]

Also, I have to report that we DID have a drink plan issue yesterday. This was the first visit to a CF park this year and we used our pass to get a paper cup "refill", except the person first tried to give us a plastic cup and I told her I wanted the paper cup refill. So she gave me that. Same with my son. However the next time we tried to use it they told us we didn't have it on our cards! So we just went without. I went to guest services to see if it could be sorted out but all they could tell me was that it was not on our passes. And I told them the passes were purchased from CW, and then they said maybe it doesn't work at other parks, which I know is not true because we used it last year just fine. So that sucks. But in the end it only mattered for yesterday because our passes expire next week and we won't be back before then.

I've had this happen the first visit to an alternate park but only that first visit. I think it has something to do with CF's system or perhaps the person selling the plan to begin with that doesn't complete the transaction to the upstream systems and stays at the park level. I actually think I only had it once or maybe twice since 2015 with the drink plan but the FunPix season pass seems to be an annual occurance. I always just take a picture of my receipt when I buy the plan and it's never an issue when I go to guest services at the second park and show them the picture of the receipt -- often times they don't even need the receipt as they can actually see the purchase on my card and force it to transfer to their system.

To be clear though this always only happens to me once a year (if at all) and it's never an issue beyond that.

 

[I64 Trekker]

I've had this happen the first visit to an alternate park but only that first visit. I think it has something to do with CF's system or perhaps the person selling the plan to begin with that doesn't complete the transaction to the upstream systems and stays at the park level. I actually think I only had it once or maybe twice since 2015 with the drink plan but the FunPix season pass seems to be an annual occurance. I always just take a picture of my receipt when I buy the plan and it's never an issue when I go to guest services at the second park and show them the picture of the receipt -- often times they don't even need the receipt as they can actually see the purchase on my card and force it to transfer to their system.

To be clear though this always only happens to me once a year (if at all) and it's never an issue beyond that.

FWIW, I had no issues with the drink plan at Schlitterbahn yesterday, which was my first non-home park visit.

 

[Crunchewy]

Does the meal plan work at all parks with a platinum pass? Thinking we are going to do a Cedar Point/Kings Island trip next year, with a couple days at each, plus whatever visits we make to KD (might only be a couple) and hopefully a trip to Dorney. If I can use the meal plan at all those parks it might be worth it.

On a related noted, has there been similar improvements with food at the other CF parks, or is it just KD that has had that?

 

[I305Evan]

Does the meal plan work at all parks with a platinum pass? Thinking we are going to do a Cedar Point/Kings Island trip next year, with a couple days at each, plus whatever visits we make to KD (might only be a couple) and hopefully a trip to Dorney. If I can use the meal plan at all those parks it might be worth it.

On a related noted, has there been similar improvements with food at the other CF parks, or is it just KD that has had that?

Yes it works at the other parks.

I can't fully answer the second question, but I just came back from Canada's Wonderland about 2-3 weeks ago. I wouldn't say their food was Kings Dominion quality, but it was decent. Issue I had with Canada's Wonderland was the most that they served was chicken tenders + a special sauce or mac n cheese + sub par toppings. It was difficult to find, but I managed to find a few places that were different and good quality (still not on par with KD). Overall, I'd say more than half of CW's restaurants were chicken tenders or mac n cheese.

Kings Island's executive chef was just promoted to corporate, but will still be working at KI. So I would imagine that they have seen many improvements similar to KD. Not sure about Cedar Point.

 

[mwhinva]

Yes it works at the other parks.

I can't fully answer the second question, but I just came back from Canada's Wonderland about 2-3 weeks ago. I wouldn't say their food was Kings Dominion quality, but it was decent. Issue I had with Canada's Wonderland was the most that they served was chicken tenders + a special sauce or mac n cheese + sub par toppings. It was difficult to find, but I managed to find a few places that were different and good quality (still not on par with KD). Overall, I'd say more than half of CW's restaurants were chicken tenders or mac n cheese.

Kings Island's executive chef was just promoted to corporate, but will still be working at KI. So I would imagine that they have seen many improvements similar to KD. Not sure about Cedar Point.

To be honest, Chef Dennis at KD has elevated food options at the park above most of the other CF parks. The only parks that are on par or ahead of KD is Knott's and maybe CanWon.

Nothing against KI's executive chef; but, looking at the KI meal plan menus for 2022 on cpfoodblog, he has almost nothing menu related to what is offered at Grain & Grill and Outpost Cafe. KI's chef focus seems more on BBQ and smoked meats. I hope he lets Chef Dennis keep doing what he does at KD, because he has hit it out of the ball park for food options in 2022.

 

[netdvn]

Can you renew a Platinum Pass at a park you did not get the pass from? I.e. my platinum pass was purchased from Canada's Wonderland and is set to expire soon after a lot of covid extensions. Can I renew it at Kings Dominion and get the renewal perks at KD?

So I bought my pass through CW and renewed it through them. You'll still get a renewal discount and you save a bit more money due to the exchange rate between the US and Canada. If you wanna maintain your plat pass, I'd recommend just renewing through CW.

If you're looking to downgrade, I'd say just let your plat lapse and buy a new one through KD.

 

[ManitobaMoose]

Might be a dumb question, but if my 2022 pass expiries on 1/1/2023 and I buy a 2023 pass today, will the '23 pass start when my current pass ends or will it start today and run for a year (end on 9/11/23)? I made the mistake with BGW when I bought a membership during their black friday sale thinking it would start when my then current one ended, but I ended up just having two concurrent passes for a few months.

 

[Zachary]

Might be a dumb question, but if my 2022 pass expiries on 1/1/2023 and I buy a 2023 pass today, will the '23 pass start when my current pass ends or will it start today and run for a year (end on 9/11/23)? I made the mistake with BGW when I bought a membership during their black friday sale thinking it would start when my then current one ended, but I ended up just having two concurrent passes for a few months.

All Cedar Fair passes are CALENDAR YEAR passes, not 12 month passes. In other words, it doesn't make any difference when you buy it, it will always have an expiration date of 1/1/20xx. The earlier you buy it, the better the deals are so the proper gameplan for KD is always to buy ASAP.

 

[ManitobaMoose]

All Cedar Fair passes are CALENDAR YEAR passes, not 12 month passes. In other words, it doesn't make any difference when you buy it, it will always have an expiration date of 1/1/20xx. The earlier you buy it, the better the deals are so the proper gameplan for KD is always to buy ASAP.

Thanks for the info! Really wish BGW would do that.

 

[warfelg]

Thanks for the info! Really wish BGW would do that.

BGW being now a year round park makes it harder. KD being a seasonal park makes it easier. Of course there's the other value part to consider, at KD if I do a payment plan, I'm paying for quite a few months that I technically can't use, where in BGW at least I can use it.

Working for a company that switch from "soft" start and end dates (doing the stacking) to a "hard" start and end date, there's been some tough things, but it prevented our students from "staking and storing" lessons by buying multiple years worth during a sale and holding on to use them at a time they aren't on sale.

BGW should keep the current format, but they should start a loyalty of a big discount on adding 12 months super early (like 2 months out), a smaller one early (like 1 month out), an even smaller one right at the week of, and bonus benefits (like QQ, BB, or upgraded parking) for renewing within a month of expiration. That would let them not have to continually change prices.

Back to KD's timeline though. With their Winterfest potentially going past the current end date of their pass date, I wonder if they will ever shift this to be 2/1/20XX over 1/1/20XX.

 

[YachtyLogs]

Can you renew a Platinum Pass at a park you did not get the pass from? I.e. my platinum pass was purchased from Canada's Wonderland and is set to expire soon after a lot of covid extensions. Can I renew it at Kings Dominion and get the renewal perks at KD?

Yep! I redeemed mine this year at Kings Dominion even though I have a Canada's Wonderland one (I've never been to Canada's Wonderland)

 

[lightninlady]

I personally need some advice about KD passes! My roommate and I are considering getting Gold Passes so we could attend Haunt and Winterfest during the school year. Probably wouldn't be very useful during the summer (she lives in Alabama, and I hesitate to go places by myself haha) but for the price we think it will be worth it. Anyway, on KD's site it says that getting a Gold Pass accounts for the rest of 2022 and all of 2023, would that account for Haunt next year too? I think I heard some whispers of Haunt becoming a separately ticketed event, so I was just wondering how that would change things if it does happen.

 

[Diamond Dave]

I personally need some advice about KD passes! My roommate and I are considering getting Gold Passes so we could attend Haunt and Winterfest during the school year. Probably wouldn't be very useful during the summer (she lives in Alabama, and I hesitate to go places by myself haha) but for the price we think it will be worth it. Anyway, on KD's site it says that getting a Gold Pass accounts for the rest of 2022 and all of 2023, would that account for Haunt next year too? I think I heard some whispers of Haunt becoming a separately ticketed event, so I was just wondering how that would change things if it does happen.

Looking at the gold pass benefits here- https://www.kingsdominion.com/season-passes, you get access through the rest of this year, and all of next year. According to the website, the silver tier does not include Haunt access, but I'm not sure if they're planning on kicking people out if they arrive in the afternoon and stay for Haunt.
I bought a gold pass for this year last fall, used it twice for Haunt, and have not been this year, but it will get me in when I go to Haunt this fall.

 

[Diamond Dave]

Would anyone be interested in a small parkfans meetup at KD sometime this fall?

I don't know anyone closely that has a pass.

 

[ManitobaMoose]

So will a 2023 silver pass allow for unlimited visits during the spring? It’s only the Fall and Winter that it’s limited?

 

[I305Evan]

So will a 2023 silver pass allow for unlimited visits during the spring? It’s only the Fall and Winter that it’s limited?

The 2023 Silver Pass is good every operating day now until the end of October 2022 and from the start of the 2023 season to October 2023 with the exception of 2023 Halloween Haunt (you can visit during the day in October, but won't be able to enter the park when it closes at 5pm and reopens for Halloween Haunt at 6/7pm). Note: 2023 Silver Passes will have access to 2022 Haunt.

 

[warfelg]

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Last day for Platinum at $19

 

[Coasternerd]

I mean I’m paying $8/month for my 2023 Gold pass, glad I picked it up when I did

 

[ManitobaMoose]

We went ahead and got gold passes today. We have been going to BGW since 2018 but recently had a kid. KD is closer and by all accounts is better quality for the money. When we can get two gold passes for the price of one BGW membership it is a no brainer.