CoasterJack

I would say it's highly likely, same with Winterfest. My prediction is Haunt will be Snickers, Tricks & Treats brought to you by either Kroger, that pretzel sponsor I can't think of the name of from years past, or M&Ms. Winterfest I'm unsure, maybe Kroger, or one I've yet to see make a return from the Paramount days is P&G. It's worth noting Mars also sponsors Disney's Not So Scary Halloween event in Disney World

I gotta know how much KI or SF is making off of all this. I hope it's at least a few million for the entire chain

Yeah, I don't think it was based on a response from the park. I agree with Don that while it's important to bring up the issues, it can become tiring just talking about the negatives. While important to hold the park accountable, it's also important to recognize everyone at the park level is trying to deliver the best park experiences they can with the resources given. Especially teenagers being paid $14/hr. I think being a theme park enthusiast, it can suck the fun out of the hobby focusing on trying to find the negatives. Especially doing it with a podcast, and as Don said, he's grown up with KI his entire life and I'm sure it's hard seeing and continuing to talk about issues people bring up. Not that they won't ever highlight issues, but that I think they want a break from it being the primary focus of most episodes.

TT2 Uptime Calendar | RFDB This great resource for viewing the uptime of the ride. Looks like its hovering around 55% uptime.

That's honestly a better prize than any of those stuffed animals. Might have to take a crack at the ring toss... not that I'll have any luck probably

I think they'd let the park go if given enough cash, especially right now if they're looking for ways to pay down debt. But the number would probably make it hard to justify the purchase price for whoever purchased the park. I assume it would at least have to be in the $500-600m range, and even then, the buyer probably wouldn't be all cash and would have to finance some of their own debt.

KI being able to reinvest all of its own profit back into the park would be such an interesting scenario that I'd be all for. No debt, no obligation to shareholders, just being able to do what benefits the guests and the park long-term. While being a part of a larger chain does have its resources and benefits, a chain burdened with debt and private equity looking over the shoulder seems to do us as a park more harm than good.

Yes, I've been in one of those private parties a Saturday night and it did offer fireworks views. It really is a great premium feeling space. I understand they do have quite a few private events, but I think they could stand to utilize the space more often, it's dark a little too often for a space they already have paid for.

I honestly think they could offer the fireworks viewing experience every Saturday. Pump the music into the International Restaurant. Heck, if they don't have the people I'd even organize this for free for them for a year just to show them it would turn a profit and they'd finally use the IR for more events

I've had lovely times at Castaway Bay, Breakers and Express hotel. While I agree with what was mentioned above, it can be quite pricy and can definitely double the price of the trip. You'll have a great time at the Express, and if you really enjoy it, could always come back again someday to experience the Breakers. As for the park itself, obviously the two new (one mostly new) attractions get quite the wait, but also people entering the park tend to flock to the rides near the main entry of the park. So obviously get your early ride times in, but my recommendation is afterwards, head to the back of the park. Steel Vengeance, Maverick, and Millenium Force tend to garner longer lines. Hit things like Valravn, Raptor, Bluestreak, and Wild Mouse later in the day, as their wait will normally decrease over time as people will spread out to the back of the park. Early Entry includes: -GateKeeper -Iron Dragon -Millenium Force -Top Thrill 2* (TT2 was added and then removed from the early entry lineup list, as they had issues getting it consistently open at 9. HOWEVER, it's recently been opening between 9-9:15, giving some good opportunities to ride in the morning). Also note that CP early entry starts at 9, not 9:30 like KI. So don't miss out on those extra 30 minutes

Yeah looks like the fountain is back to full strength. The middle show sprayers are back on and they're doing the little dance up and down the fountain

There's been two or three people working on the fountain nozzles this morning. I captured this one shot with a technician taking apart the front sprayer on the left side

As a precaution, Flight of Fear has been running reliably, but they haven't been filling the last 2-4 rows. It was explained to me that because of everyone running their AC within the park and within Mason, the stators don't have the power to launch a full train without repeated rollbacks. So, the capacity has been even more abysmal. Had a great ride Friday night while everything else was closed for rain

Money persuaded them into Fast Lane at Winterfest

Has anyone been to Soak City recently. I assume it's packed with the heat, but are they staffing most of slides and have most things been open (or both wave pools running)? I've yet to visit the waterpark yet this year, but I went to Cedar Point Shores last week and it was such a joke. A good portion of slides and attractions at their waterpark were closed, and just wondering if I'll encounter the same issue... P.S. Our waterpark is so much better, sure there's the lake setting, but there's not an ounce of share by 99% of the loungers and chairs. Their wave pool or lazy river doesn't have a single shaded seat. I asked if there were any shaded areas they'd recommend and was told "that's what the cabanas are for. Or there's also the VIP lounge" I'll include this screenshot of their wave pool loungers, look at this abomination:

Drove by again yesterday, I agree it might be some sort of maintenance, but I think it's something more. They've torn out all the foliage around and behind moonlight gardens, and there's some tarps thrown over the back pavilion part of moonlight gardens, it's all a lot of moving dirt. For reference, basically everything is flattened up to the dock where the pedal boats used to be. I feel like if they were just dredging, they would've chosen a different entry point with less foliage and tree carnage

Drove by on the way home from work yesterday, it seems they have fully drained lake Como and had two excavators working near the road in the lake, it'll be interesting to see where this goes. Wasn't able to snap any photos as I was actively driving during rush hour

Between two days you should be able to survive. But I agree with the points made above. My personal strategy is that most of the crowd flocks to the front rides, and those rides tend to have less waits later in the day. So, I would hit the back first, ride Steel Vengeance, TT2, Maverick, and Millenium Force. Now, Maverick is trick because sometimes, if not often it doesn't seem to open right at 10, they almost always seem to have issues and it opens like 10:15. So maybe start with something that looks open, such as SV or MF, or even TT2, and then hit Maverick soon after with a 45-minute wait vs a 90-minute wait later in the day.

Watched this episode as well, I agree with somethings... Do I agree with Don that there have definitely been some staffing cuts: yes, I've had the same issue sitting on The Racer brake run for a prolonged period of time. We were delayed as the operator was held up on a call with what I can assume was the rides department. But I do agree it's been rough on some rides only staffing one person for each side of the train. However, I've also had countless visits with better staffing, two on both sides of The Beast, with both The Beast and Diamondback dispatching approx. every 55 seconds. Restrooms: I've been in quite a few that have someone actively cleaning, to which I've always thanked them. However. I will agree I've been in a rough one by the Rivertown Larosas that was quite rough with no paper towels, soap and trash cans. But for the most part they haven't been bad, just not sparkling Path & Park Cleanliness: Have I run into the occasional beyond full trash can, yes. Have I sat in ketchup on a bench in the Festhaus?: also yes . I would say the amount of staff cleaning has been reduced, but I still see many employees wiping down tables, sweeping trash, cleaning spills, far more than I've encountered at most SF parks or Cedar Point. It's not like we've never seen a dirty table before, and might I add, THE AMOUNT OF TRASH SOME PEOPLE LEAVE AT THEIR TABLE IS OBSURD. But I do agree, there has been a time or two I've had to walk to a different trash can. However, I can attest that I've also seen gold tags helping out when things get dire. Even had one ask I they could wipe off my table as there was BBQ sauce on the other side. So, the upper management at least seems aware and is trying their best. I agree with Ryan that the fact they're willing to be in the park helping clean tables does show that they care and are trying with the given resources. Drinking Fountains: Now I can 100% agree I've run into many issues this season. Has ice been an issue in past seasons... yes. Do I think it's devolved as more people get drink plans, also yes. I think a little bit might have to do with staffing. The freestyle location was closed because they literally didn't have any freestyle cartridges stocks on property, which was definitely an oversight on someone's part, but apparently, they're new after a full-time staffer was let go. The ice doesn't bother me, but I agree if I was paying full price for a soda that would be frustrating. I also tried at least 8 different drink locations before I found one with root beer still in stock. That one my friend went to a different location because they were out of Diet Coke. So, I don't think I'd say the park is at the level of a "trashy" Six Flags legacy park, but that they do need to be careful on how corporate decisions affect the guest experience. I've had many great visits this season, and I can tell the staff that is at the park does care and tries their best to make up lighter crew, but not to say I don't notice some differences, granted I do also look for these staffing shortages more than the average guest. It's not like F&B has never had issues with Ice or soda syrup, I've been in that battle for years , I think sometimes their ICEE machines just simply can't freeze enough to keep up with crowds. I personally think sometimes, people are looking for something wrong or unkept to immediately highlight the issue and make it seem it's a terrible miserable experience. That's only true 2% of the time (when getting a drink)

I can confirm it was also open yesterday, went in twice, once around 2 and once around 8. Both times the machines had very few options. When I stopped the second time, there was a F&B supervisor loading the machines, so I asked and they said it hasn't been a lack of staff for the freestyle, but rather an issue of SF changed around some off the F&B full-time positions and the first order from the new position was messed up so the park didn't have any more Root Beer Syrup for the standard fountains, and no Freestyle carriages came in their last two orders, so they've been trying to space things out until the next shipment. He seemed confident it would be a temporary issue

The rumor on the street is one of the pumps is down and they're waiting on the part. It hasn't been functioning during the nighttime shows either. There's only enough flow to run the outside jets.

Still doing the same thing this morning, only powering the side sprayers. Mike's fountain is sad he's gone...

They're at half-staff for Mike's last day . In all seriousness though, there is a banner on the Eiffel Tower today with his name on it. At least I can see it from the webcams. Anyone able to snap a photo today at the park?

Blog Post from his Role at Valleyfair: From 16 Year Old Ride Operator to GM: Meet Tony Carovillano Correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't he our assistant GM and current VP of Ops already? I know he was GM of Worlds of Fun for a bit as shown in the blog post.

I don't have many great photos, but I do have this one I took a few weeks ago. I was watching from The Beast queue and there were two electricians laying wires and working on the power management system inside the door seen open in this photo. Sorry because of the lighting I couldn't capture what I saw from my eye level.