I finally got to watch this season's Live Entertainment this week and I have to say it was really good! I'm not a Gazillion Bubble Show guy, so that is the only one I missed. I also did not visit the Peanuts Meet & Greet because that both not my thing and not a show. See my reviews below.  Country Crossroads: My most viewed show for 2025. I absolutely love the music, live band, set, and the costumes. The only complaints I have about Country Crossroads is that 1) the sound mixing is just the slightest bit off, and 2) its location in the Festhaus doesn't allow it to command the attention it deserves.  Gazillion Bubble Show: I didn't watch the GBS in 2025, but it was a nice enough show in 2024. It's a good show for families and kids. That being said, the Kings Island Theater should have a show that can occupy the space from Memorial Day to mid-August/Labor Day. Even a simple 15-30min short film would allow the space to be used without extensive set work. I'd much prefer if it had another show like Phantom Theater Encore, but I'll take this over no shows in there.  Hot Rhythm Nights: When I saw this show on Monday I was super confused. It lasted about ten minutes and seemed a bit odd for a bandstand show. Then, after seeing it tonight, I realized that I had seen an abridged version due to the heat. The full show was really good and reminded me of the version I saw last year at Dorney Park. It could be improved by lowering the overall volume (a common theme), connecting the set pieces a little more so they aren't just static boxes, and re-doing some of the video board effects. The pumping equalizer/volume bars are currently just one graphic spread across all of the screens, but they could be elevated by making each of the vertical screens its own equalizer bar section. The rap section in one of the songs is also odd to me, but it's fine as is. Oh, I almost forgot, it also needs a live band to perform as its backing track.  Trailblazers XTREME: This show is very good in terms of the super talented performers and had an old classmate of mine in it during my viewing. The set also looks really good, especially since it is hand-painted before each Summer season and Haunt. That's about where my likes for it end. I'm not a huge fan of the stunt shows as they exist in the International Showplace (move them to the upper section of Timberwolf and I'd feel better about it). The music is far too loud and drowns out the two speaking characters voices during their lines. I can understand needing to work against the sounds of the park around it, but the volume feels like it's way too loud even for that. For now the International Showplace Theatre kind of just sits there under the stunt set. I hope we will soon see a new show occupy the IST that utilizes it as it's meant to be used. This would be a great spot for the next Country Crossroads show and a new version of Hot Blooded during Halloween Haunt. Grand Carnivale Opening Ceremony: It was a little loud and boring, but the concept is good. There isn't a big "activation" moment like there is with the tree lighting ceremony. I wish it had just a little more action since there's at least 50 performers up on stage and more around it. Anything more than just making them stand there for extended periods of time while the characters talk.  Spectacle of Color Parade: I watched the parade on International Street and was immediately very happy to have been there to see it. In a time where the future of Grand Carnivale and parades at Six Flags parks are uncertain, this parade got me really pumped up. The atmosphere and aura it gives the park are what make it amazing. We were a little sad to not have the opportunity to get a bead necklace (they were sitting on a hook on the float the whole time), but at least we got to see the parade. International Street was (literally) made for parades like this, and I hope they continue to return in the future.  Kings Island's Nighttime Spectacular: This is the only show left that I have yet to see during the 2025 normal season. I was able to see it from a distance recently, and even then it looked really good! The nighttime fireworks have been a staple at the park for a long time and the Kings Island experience would be made less if they weren't there. The drones are really cool as well — I just hope they do not hinder the chances of receiving an adequate Vortex replacement. Keep the nightly fireworks.    In conclusion, Kings Island still has great shows! My complaints boil down to the current location of each show and the lack of adequate volume/sound mixing. Live entertainment is a great way to attract families and increase time spent in the park. Keep high-quality entertainment at Kings Island if you want to keep season passholders like me happy. 

With their recent rollouts of the MVP: Most Valuable Pass sale in the last week of July, the Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has proclaimed their new "Clear As Mud" incomprehensive operating strategy. This bold strategy is already seeing bold returns as potential 2026 pass holders are asking "Huh?" "What does that mean?" and "Is that actually included?" when looking to purchase or renew a season pass.  I'm posting in jest, but this sloppy season pass rollout and having each little issue build up at each park is very confusing across the board. Six Flags America is currently directing potential 2026 passholders to purchase from Kings Dominion. Ten other parks don't even have 2026 passes currently for sale, despite the announcement press release stating that all 2026 pass sales would go live on July 31st:  Hurricane Harbor Phoenix  Michigan's Adventure Six Flags Great Escape Six Flags Darien Lake Frontier City Hurricane Harbor OKC Hurricane Harbor Splashtown LaRonde Six Flags Mexico Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec Do we need to begin worrying about these parks future with Six Flags? Some of them are currently only operated by SFEC, but others have been fully owned by the chain['s predecessors] for nearly 25 years. The water parks on this list would be less concerning if both Schlitterbahn parks had not begun selling 2026 season passes alongside the rest of the parks hosting the MVP sale. Will guests need to pay an upcharge for haunted mazes at Legacy Cedar Fair parks beginning in 2025? What other previously-free attractions will now be placed behind a paywall? How many of the additions promised in November 2024 have so far been delayed or cancelled? Are any Park Memberships going to be offered after the end of 2025? The upcoming quarterly earnings call may shed some light on portions of these questions and discrepancies, but the concerns will continue to mount until impressive steps are taken to improve the trustworthiness of Six Flags as a whole.   Please post your questions about the company/2026 passes that should've been answered in the rollout. Maybe we as a forum can find and share the answers. 

I believe the difference between the "2026 ALL SEASON DINING GOLD - ALL PARK* ADD-ON" and the "2026 ALL SEASON DINING GOLD - ALL PARK* UPGRADE" is that you can purchase the Add-on on its own while the Upgrade is for if you have already purchased a Home Park Dining Plan and wish to then dine at all of the parks.  For those who've been speculating: 2026 admission to Soak City is indeed included with a Gold or Prestige Pass. It says it directly in the pass comparison table on the purchasing page. That being said, it does not say "Unlimited Access to Soak City Water Park in 2026", which I'm sure us worriers will have a field day with. Similarly, Haunt and Winterfest are listed on the individual pass pages and the non-purchasing comparison page, but not on the pass comparison table on the purchasing page. Tricks and Treats is only listed on the non-purchasing comparison page. Nobody should have to go dig just to see all of their pass benefits — even if the pass is severely underpriced. Hooray for more discrepancies and unclear products, I guess   The omission of the Silver Pass from a lot of the parks pass lineups tells me that it may not have sold terribly well at parks that have Fall/Winter events. Gold and Prestige seem to have won out instead of Silver and Gold. Then there is also a discrepancy in which parks offer a Pre-K pass and which do not. Parks like Carowinds, Cedar Point, Kings Dominion, and Valleyfair all offer them while Kings Island is left without one (probably to keep pass sales up for that age demographic). Oddly enough, parks like Michigan's Adventure and Frontier City don't even offer 2026 passes at time of posting. Most of the Legacy Six Flags parks also still offer Park Membership programs with no sign as to if those will be going away anytime soon.  Even though I can understand why a chain would like to continually sell passes 24/7/365, I've now changed my mind and do not like that 2025 passes were still for sale within 1 week of 2026 passes going on sale. No disclaimers and no forewarnings of a future sale were put out on each website. Anyone who theoretically bought a 2025 Kings Island Gold Pass for $155 before today is now out of luck and paid $40+ for a product that is now irrelevant.  Speaking of websites, weren't we supposed to see new versions of the Six Flags websites and apps by some time in July? Here we are quickly approaching August with no sign of brand cohesion at all. Colin, from Coliwood Studios on YouTube, recently stated in a livestream that he's seen an early version of the new websites and that they look similar to the current Six Flags app; although he doesn't know what is taking so long to publish these new websites. I have a feeling that they may look similar to the current website for Six Flags Qiddiya City based on that comment, but nothing has been shown yet. Don't even get me started on the lack of the new-for-July Squishmallow that Kings Island has been teasing and advertising about.    The thing that frustrates me about this answer is that it is literally the same copy-paste answer that has been posted under every add-on question. Rather than allow someone to take a moment to actually sit and answer each question and tack this on the end with it, Six Flags seems to be forcing their social media people to paste this non-answer with no variation.    This is one of the only things I feel works better with the Park Membership model over the Season Pass model. With a membership you can (presumably) begin/end the membership at any time you please, and any add-ons could be set to expire rather than needing to void one pass to begin another. This pass sale roll out is losing its sense of desperation while beginning to reek from the stench of incompetent and/or inexperienced management. Why is a company whose passes have worked well enough for years now struggling to accomplish some of the most basic things? They can't even say this is an issue of combining benefits between the former chains because all of the 2026 passes use the Cedar Fair structure and benefits! To add on top of all of this, we're also seeing the Legacy Six Flags logo on most 2026 pass marketing. Unless this is a tactic to allow for brand rehabilitation in the coming years, I don't know why they wouldn't choose to utilize the new logo that is supposed to show off the fact that this is a new, merged company.  Thank you @brenthodge for once again asking the good questions — even when they shouldn't need to be asked at all!

The one at Valleyfair still has it! It gives you a pretty good jolt if you aren't expecting it 

I did not ride any flat rides. There was a storm coming and I wanted the coaster credits