I have had season passes off and on from 1992-2001, 2006-2011, and 2018 to present. I started getting them before Paramount bought them and I was probably about 12 years old. My mom never really road coasters, so her and my aunt would walk with us to ride find a people watching spot and wait for us at the exit. They did that till I got to high school. At that point we would ride rides and my mom and aunt would go watch shows and we would have to meet up with them at certain times.
Now I am going as a parent. Most trips I don't leave the kids area. One trip in the summer of 2020 I was waiting in line for Peanuts 500. The ride has been there forever since I rode it as a kid. Well they typically have 6 cars going at one time. They load three and three are on the course. Well on this trip we had a small line, but my boys had made it to the gate to load next. Right before they open the gate a little boy pushes his way through the rest of the line to the front. No parent or an older sibling with them. The employees working it saw it and did nothing. Who let's their 5 year old walk around Kings Island by themselves. The workers didn't want to get in trouble for saying something to a little kid. The parents ended up being at the exit, and had to see the whole thing.
I think Kings Island is running into problems for a few reasons. They are one of the few places open. That is causing more people to go to Kings Island instead of other options. The water park isn't open yet so park capacity is limited slightly. On top of that the unemployment benefits are too good right now. A lot of times you are going to get more money from unemployment than working a job like Kings Island. So because of this Kings Island is short staffed. For the last few years I have gotten the meal plan on my pass. This let's me get two meals at select locations for every visit. In 2019 when I had this option, I was able to figure out I paid about $3 dollars a meal I used this option a lot. I would sometimes even stop in for lunch when I had to work or drive by that area. A co-worker of mine who lives in Mason said he got the meal plan and would have dinner there three or four times a week. So if I am Kings Island I am trying to cut my loses on the meal plan and reduce the options for those meal plans.
Cedar Fair is having a lot of problems. I just read last week that Cedar Point isn't opening on Tuesday or Wednesdays because of their staffing issues. When the flag ship location can't find enough employees you are in trouble.