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William C. Price, Kings Island's third general manager, passed away recently at the age of 89. He was originally hired by Taft Broadcasting in 1974 to be the marketing director for Kings World, their planned park in Chicago. When plans for that park fell through, Taft moved him to Kings Island as the park's director of corporate sales. In 1975, he was promoted to the marketing director position. He was Kings Island's vice president and general manager from September 1976 to October 1980, when he was promoted to a position in the Taft corporate office. On a personal level, he was the second person that I ever interviewed for my book. He was so supportive of the book project throughout my entire writing and publication process, which meant a lot to me. He had been hosted at the park a few times in recent years, including for the park's 50th birthday on April 29, 2022. His legacy includes bringing Evel Knievel to the park for his record-breaking jump, and spearheading the projects to bring The Beast and the original Bat to life. His tenure helped put Kings Island on the map, and established Kings Island's position as one of the world's most prominent amusement parks.

The Beast is back to running 3 trains....

Doesn't a good chunk of park guests view Orion as "Diamondback but taller"? Putting ArieForce One at Magic Mountain would be like putting Thunderbird into Cedar Point when they already have GateKeeper. Yes there are some differences but they're both the same style of ride.

As much as they’re cutting costs — and it shows around the park — I don’t believe this is a cost-cutting measure. There has to be an issue with the train for them not to be running all three trains. Same at The Bat with a train issue seeing them operate with only one train in recent weeks. Restaurants and drink locations closed, theaters dark, not having the staffing scheduled to keep ice machines stocked, trash can overflowing? That’s a result of cost-savings efforts.

A sad day for the amusement industry indeed. I suspect he was probably of larger size and the restraint barely connected but the light turned green. We may be going back to the two click system. And sadly another death likely could have been prevented had a seat belt been in place. Everyone says the B&M design is safe, and sure it has had a great track record, but seat belts are so cheap. Either around the waist like Orion or connect to the restraint like Banshee. This may add seat belts to every coaster. I know I am not comfortable on TT2 without one and rode it once for the credit, but not again until there is this simple addition. Doesn't mean something else can't happen, but had there been a seat belt, that kid on the drop ride in Florida and this guy would likely still be here. Along with a few other deaths in the industry.

Maybe I'm biased, but I don't see Flight of Fear going anywhere. The building is in good shape and would be expensive to tear down (just look at Tomb Raider), there is also a whole crane system in the ceiling for assembly of the ride. It's very integrated into Area 72, removing it would mean reshaping the whole area. FOF is also for the most part a crowd pleaser, I've seen a lot of people get off the ride laughing and saying it was worth the wait. The long line can be attributed to its poor capacity, but people still wait for it. People also go wild for the launch out of the station. I believe when FOF's time has come, it will get new track, supports, new more accommodating trains, and an updated launch. Maybe we could see a layout change, but for the most part I think the building and all the infastructure will stay.

What about Siren's Curse? I don't recall anyone anywhere seeing that one coming?

Your spidey senses need some adjustment. 😜

Six Flags Over Leveraged

I stand corrected I guess. So this is more of a problem with Six Flags being cheap (shocker) via understaffing and or management not caring. But my opinion still stands. I've been to other countries and while they're not perfect, I really wish our society would take a bit more ownership in cleaning public spaces. Japan is not the ideal perfect society. But what they get right is facilitating a culture that takes pride in everyone doing their part to keep places clean. Students and children are taught at a young age to clean their desks, their rooms and places they frequent. It's a sign of immense respect to others and nature to keep areas clean. Maybe I'm being stupid and ridiculous. I don't mean to imply I'm better than anyone else. But when I'm out with my family, it doesn't matter if I'm at a fast food place, a sit down restaurant, an amusement park or a theater: if my children or I make a mess I darn well make sure we clean it up.

And yeah, the show selection stinks real bad. I want to watch a midget BLEEEEEEEEED again.

Went last night and if mazes like Jason are what's to be expected by new mazes every year then take my money!!! This is what I was hoping for when they put on the upcharge last year. The maze is well done, there are plenty of scareactors, I thought it was nice that not all of them were Jason. Very creative and visually impressive. I'm hoping they add non-slip's to a particular section just in case (maybe they did, I didn't look down because looking up was so entertaining. I believe Plauge has the rights to Evil Dead. Hopefully next year we can get that house to replace Alien Abyss. Metal Massacre was ok, the nod to the past haunt attractions, as stated before, was a very nice touch. All in all great night, love that the fountain shows are back. Good start to haunt, looking forward to next weekend (I will NOT be going today, Toyota day is just way to hectic in the evening).

Looks similar to the part that came off Top Thrill Dragster.

Seat belts alone aren’t going to save lives when the geriatric, corporate board of executives are more concerned with lining their pockets than they’re are with guest safety. This merger is starting to reveal itself as an abhorrent example of predatory capitalism that’s resulting in injury and death. Disgusting however you look at it. I’m embarrassed for the park and myself for being a member.

^ I'm aggravated over those who are spinning how safe coasters are compared to other things. Are coasters safer than cars? Yes. Should coasters be safer than cars? Absolutely! Riding a coaster does not & should not have human decision error come into play (just one quick example). And the seatbelt discussion is insane as well. People are trying to justify not having seatbelts due to load/ unload times. A MAN DIED PEOPLE! SMH

I’m on the side of closing all clamshell B&Ms until investigation findings come out. If the reports of the restraint returning to the station open are true that changes a lot and in itself deserves further investigation.

Good morning, good afternoon, and goodnight Terpy, wherever you are.

There were signs.

I am gladly happy to pay extra money if things get significantly better, like the houses have.

Pulling a train on one of your busiest rides during the busiest part of the season to "cut costs" is a terrible way to cut costs. If there's a time you need all your trains it's now! I saw reports of the Fast Lane line being longer than the standby line which is an absolute waste of money! So either they found something wrong with the train and it needs fixed which is understandable or those on the board disagree with John Reilly's vision of maximizing guest throughput! If it's the latter no wonder Jana is pushing for more changes!

I think adding the minimal upcharge with the Haunted Attractions Pass is doing wonders. Some folks will continue to refuse to pay for something that they used to get for free, but I can't imagine Haunt would be doing any better continuing down the path it had been on.

I know some people never have a good word to say about the park since the Six Flags merger, but they are improving the Haunt at a stunning rate. Last year, I may have thought Dragon was better than the Conjuring House and both were absolute top tier houses. If Metal Massacre and the Jason house both deliver, it will be unbelievable what they have done since taking over.

“What do Disney, Universal and Dollywood understand? The product comes first. They understand that yesterday's great ride eventually becomes today's old ride. Most importantly, they understand something financial engineers sometimes forget. The guest experience creates the financial result. The financial result does not create the guest experience.” Dennis Speigel

I appreciate the park continually updating The Beast by refurbishing the 2nd drop hill this season.

An important thing to note too, is that it is inside. That's a huge plus of bad weather days.

The new 2026 Halloween Haunt map has been posted! I'm happy to see that it finally only includes Haunt stuff again. From what I can see there is only one issue on it where the icon for Outpost Frozen Cocktails is in the wrong spot, but other than that it's just the gray vs green grass areas that look weird. It's too bad that Phantom Theater will be closed during Haunt and won't have an overlay. Kudos to the KI team for posting it more than 36 hours before the start of the event! Link to the map: https://qr1.be/AS58UZ

Yep. And now the Cedar Fair executive group is basically gone. I’ve always been biased against Six Flags. And that’s just my own personal reasons… every time I tried Kentucky Kingdom it was a horrible experience. It was a small snapshot, but from the ride maintenance, to the absolute poor customer service… I just never felt like this merger was ever going to be a good idea. Cedar Fair was taken for suckers.

When the merger went down and when the questions were answered about why go with "Six Flags" due to "brand recognition" I considered it lipstick on a pig. When the X2 story broke a few months ago and finding out knowledge issue goes back YEARS and combined with the company downturn in value the thought did enter my mind that "Six Flags" was used to fail and "Cedar Fair" could come back and rebrand the company. Now- even worse news with the fatality that isn't going anywhere -especially with new information coming out that a kid had similar restraint locking issue on Goliath earlier in the day (obviously we don't know what seat). Unfortunately these stories are going to continue. Most of us here can decipher a park issue vs. guest issue but to the majority of the public- they don't care. Put up or shut up. We know lack of staffing is why Gemini is closed on Fridays during Halloweekends. Does the once-a-year guest know that or care? No. The see a large coaster not operating and other coasters with 90 minute wait times. Granted- it's a "conspiracy theory" type thought and does do not answer the question about making poor business decisions up till now and obviously a name change will mean squat until leadership changes or long term goals change. Sorry for the rant. I just never felt good about SF even before the merger and with each passing incident/ story etc. my desire to hear "Cedar Fair" grows.

Apparently survey markings are already appearing at Carowinds in the rumored area outside the never used South Gate between Afterburn and Thunder Striker. While doesn't confirm anything, I think the odds that Carowinds is the one receiving this ride has sky rocketed!

Not that it’s important given this incident, but the Six Flags brand/name is dead. Time for some serious change, selling off parks, restructuring, bankruptcy, whatever. It’s over.

And then there were cranes, send in the cranes.

I've walked around Coney Mall ever since those "markings" were reported and I could never find them no matter how much I tried. Very likely they've been removed since.

I think the first sign is if we see any land surveying being done in the plot of land where it would go. I've been up on the Eiffel Tower the past two weekends seeing if could spot anything "unusual", but haven't been able to spot anything yet.

A new video from Coaster Hunters on YouTube, showing the coaster has now been halfway deconstructed (not demolished).

I've been a pass holder ever since they offered season passes and I can tell you the old scanning would take up to 30 seconds to show after scanning. The new mobile devices are instantanious. I have the same issue going through the right side of VIP parking. Going through the left is much quicker. Not sure if it's true but I was told that the older the pass, the longer the old way takes to look up. I did notice that saturday they had the mobile devices hooked up to the screen and scanners so you wouldn't have noticed a difference unless you looked close and on Sunday they seemed to be back to the hand mobile phones. I'm sure they'll get it figured out but I noticed the lines to get in moved much quicker than in the past (with the exception of people trying to find their passes on their phone.)

Excellent work! Love what you’ve done with these. Makes me want to ignore work and mock up a few of my own! Haha. I’d love to see what you do with the water parks next.

At one point they had a Haunt on the train. Unfortunately every time I did it, the train would break down and I’d have to walk back through the woods to get back to the park. Pretty freaky. Dead Cowboys, Headless Horseman… saw some crazy stuff. Joking aside, the KI&MVRR is severely underutilized for both Haunt and Winterfest. I’d love to see them do more with it. @mikejenkins1 - Not sure if this is helpful to what you’re looking for, but it’s been running during the day the last two Sunday’s I’ve been at the park. Not sure about Saturday’s, though.

As the long gone but not forgotten Terpy no doubt would say, there is the issue that both are registered trademarks of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation.

The Sweet Spot has one of the best dessert lineups that I have ever seen in the park right now. Highly recommend checking it out. I tried the cotton candy cheesecake and it was phenomenal

Six Flags Over This Stupid Merger

I got a rock. 🤣

My Spidey senses are telling me it's because they cut maintenance staff to cut costs and thus off-season maintenance begins now in order to fit everything in before 2027.

Or maybe as part of the more detailed inspection that can happen when daily ends, they found issues that needed addressed. Same with The Bat. Same with Drop Tower. I think the entire train would be gone if it were scheduled off-season maintenance. Maybe they pulled the cars with issues off and will fix and get back on yet this season? I think even with the financial issues the chain has, they wouldn't cripple rides for the sake of getting a jump start on the offseason during busy Haunt season. It just doesn't save them anything. Much better to start the early season down a train than do it during Haunt. Likely we will never know for sure as the park probably wouldn't make a statement. And let's hope it hasn't got to this that they shut down or cripple rides during their busiest season just to get a jump start on the offseason!

I wouldn't call Wild Mouse a major addition by itself, but as part of the broader Boardwalk renovation I think it was a major enough investment to justify the saltiness from fans of other parks. There isn't really anything pointing to Cedar Point receiving something new in 2027, though I do think they could add a flat ride in 2028 to appease some of their rowdier guests. Kings Island is a park that definitely deserves something custom that fits better as well. Arieforce One would fit better at Carowinds or even a smaller Six Flags park. Carowinds especially since enthusiasts already flock there for Fury 325. The coaster seems to be getting dismantled now, so I guess we'll see where it ends up soon enough.

It's also worth considering that adding a block zone (a requirement for an additional train on the circuit) would not necessarily increase capacity, and could actually decrease it. Depending on interval, adding a third train could just mean a third train regularly stacks on the brake run. Before Siren's Curse was dumped into CP's lap, the last major installs were TT2 in 2024 and SV way back in 2018 (I think we would agree that Wild Mouse is not exactly a "big project"). We can infer that nothing is coming until 2028 at the earliest, so that's 3 "big projects" in 12 years and counting at CP. That said, I don't see CP getting AF1, and if KI were my home park I'm not sure I'd want it going there either. I'd much rather see KI get a proper RMC custom designed for the park, even if that meant waiting a few more years.

Yes, the immersiveness is why we go to Universal 4-5 times a year and keep a season pass. Every turn you make, any path you go down you are in another world. I know they have big budgets but I think the Cincinnati Zoo does a great job too . . just thinking about there is a street with old houses only 30-40 feet away while walking thru Jungle Trails. But you're in the jungle. Kings Island got me as kid in the 70's walking thru the gate and seeing International Street. The buildings, grand fountains, smells, sounds and then the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing. I miss walking around Swan Lake, The Beast lake, the Ivy Tunnel. I am not trying to beat on KI, maybe I just got too familiar.

I agree that planning such events is not a huge hurdle, it's the cost and logistics of actually executing them that make these events unappealing for parks. I'm not saying that's how it should be, but it seems like that's the way these things are viewed by and large. In other words, I don't think it was some conspiracy or personal vendetta by Clark that any of these things get s-canned. Agreed, and I would assume these events did not result in the boost they hoped for, hence their becoming endangered. To be clear, I loved the smaller events I've attended over the years, mostly in the aughts, but they have become a different beast as years went on. Anecdotally it seemed more and more people complained every year no matter what parks did to accommodate them. "Too crowded! Boo!" So, parks raised prices... Cut to: "Now it's too expensive! Boo!" "Not enough ERT! Boo!" So, parks added rides to ERT... Cut to: "How can I possibly marathon MF and SV when they're so far apart! Boo!"

Coasterstock on paper may have looked copy & paste year-after-year but the itinerary wasn’t the purpose of the event. It was designed to create camaraderie, unity amongst the different clubs, and to be a gathering of like-minded people where new friends were made every year. It was designed to feel like a big family reunion for returners. That was the purpose of the event. And it worked as intended.

Apologies for the Facebook screenshot clutter, but kudos to Kings Island and Six Flags for finally snagging the kingsisland.com URL. It redirects to the sixflags.com/kingsisland website, but the thought is there. The visitkingsisland.com URL also still works/redirects in case you're wondering. I remember typing that into the address bar when I was a kid and it coming up as either a tourism website for somewhere in Australia or a domain for sale. (It entirely could've been registered before the merger, but I would've thought they'd used it on ads and such if that was the case.)

There is definitely a need for a launch coaster, but I'm not so sure that Flight of Fear isn't also on borrowed time. I know it's an energy hog and it's quite old. I wouldn't be shocked to see it gone within the next 6 or 7 years. I'm all for ArieForce One because most of what Cedar Fair / Six Flags have put out lately has just been ok rather than outstanding. AF1 is a surefire top 10 coaster. Also, I don't think that getting AF1 necessarily means that KI doesn't get another (launch) coaster 3 years later on The Vortex plot. AF1 might just be the odd one off.