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I’ve been saying there’s more removals to come. And there still are… Re: SFMM.. I have heard there are as many as 4 coasters potentially on the chopping block at SFMM alone. Of course that park is, IMO, over saturated with coasters. So I don’t think the loss of them would prove too detrimental. Im not as sentimental about any of the removals as many. Just kind of the way of the times. I do hope that the SF execs look at a variety of opportunities as their replacements… like more flats and water rides. For years parks have gone coaster heavy. As I age, I’m more attracted to a wider variety of attractions- rather than just coasters.

I think many of us have just been spoiled by Cedar Fair with how we used to get big new coasters every 3-5 years. Now that Kings Island is under the new Six Flags chain, it definitely seems like they're taking a more budget-friendly route by hammering in on the family demographic while the chain is investing more into other parks like Great Adventure and Magic Mountain.

The situations involving the removals of Snake River Falls and Vortex are vastly different. Cedar Point stated that Snake River Falls was removed "to make way for future expansion", so it's highly likely that the park already has a plan for that area. Last time Cedar Point said something like that was when they announced the removal of Wicked Twister, and we know that was removed to make way for the Boardwalk expansion with the Grand Pavilion and Wild Mouse. For Vortex however, that was removed primarily due to the high maintenance costs it would've required to keep that ride operational. There was no replacement planned for Vortex, as the park was in the process of building Orion by the time they decided to pull the plug on it. It's also worth noting that a potential replacement for Vortex was likely delayed even further because of the pandemic that affected the entire amusement industry in 2020. Although Six Flags has already announced replacements for Kingda Ka and La Vibora already being built for 2026, some of the other coasters that closed in 2024 might have to wait a bit for their replacements. I imagine the Anaconda plot in particular is going to remain vacant for quite some time, as that was removed in almost the same fashion as Vortex. (Both Arrow loopers that were removed due to maintenance costs on years both parks were in the process of building new B&M coasters next to Flight of Fear) The main difference being that unlike the removals of Anaconda and pretty much every Six Flags coaster that closed for good in 2024, we were actually told of Vortex's closure beforehand.

I was able to do the Winterfest Holiday Buffet last night at the international restaurant. I thought the food was good and the restaurant is beautiful. For $40 it was worth it. I do question if $130 for NYE is worth it or not considering that's more than you'd pay for a meal at Jeff Ruby's. Last night I was able to get rides in on Racer, FoF (lights on), Mystic Timbers, cargo loco, zephyr, and boo Blaster. My dad, sister, and I all made master blaster which is what happens when all 3 guns in your vehicle actually work.

With enough money anything is possible. The park completely takes apart the trains and rebuilds them. Running until 12/31 and opening mid-April means a shortened time to perform this maintenance. Or do they wait until Memorial Day to open? Adding more maintenance staff could turn it around quicker. The park/chain has to decide if that additional expense justifies keeping those rides open during Winterfest. The 50 foot platform doesn't have wheelchair access (elevator doesn't stop there), so between that and all the wiring, it won't be re-opening anytime soon. Again, with enough money they could cut out elevator access, reprogram the elevators, re-route the wiring, but it is worth the expense?

It would bother me the way they're doing some things now, like removing rides without notice so guests can get in their last rides and say goodbye.

So that means they've checked to see if it's gonna work or not. If not then we're still going to be bang around.

I think this is the best Kings Island Winterfest so far. This is my favorite time of year to go to the park and it’s nice to have a winter fest that actually feels like winter with the temperature again. The entire park is open with lights in every single area. They have been adding more lights each year with the Drive In added this year. It’s the best light at KI so far. But their lightning in trees with lights in the canopy is still inferior to Carowinds who puts twice as many lights in every tree. Most of the trees where they wrap the trunk and branches look great though. I also don’t understand why they go to all the trouble of putting the live cut Christmas trees around the park and then only string 25 lights on each one. The ride lineup is definitely the best so far. Adding racer and soap box adds to the event. It’s great that they went to the staff expense of running both sides of racer for this event. It’s a much better coaster when it’s racing, although the racing element is flawed as red gets to the lift hill first. Also it’s impressive how cold of temperatures they have run the roller coasters in for this event The event operated in fall on a rainy Monday, so the park is sent out the message that it’s safe to go to the event any day and still enjoy it fully The live entertainment has never been good (the level of production, not the performers!). So this year is about the same quality as every other year. However, it is nice to see them add a new show as the same exact shows every year get stale. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there’s actually a few decent food items at this event. Especially at the bakery. The only thing that I have noticed that is not as good as previous years is the snow on international Street. The way they are presenting it is good, but there is hardly any snow. They only have three machines working on each side of the street and it only works once an hour for about a minute. I do think it’s time to do something else with the train ride. Many of the form lights aren’t working completely properly and it just isn’t that impressive of a ride to start with when they are working. Something like Busch Gardens Williamsburg does would be better. The Holly Jolly trolley and the DJ on Coney Midway could probably be eliminated and the labor could you be used better elsewhere for something like running the pirate ship There aren’t many people that participate with theand the Holly Jolly trolley is low capacity and it’s annoying walking down theand having to move to the side. Especially for the people watching the mistletones. Plus both play music that overrides the soundtrack in the area Really the only two things that are holding this back from being one of the best Christmas events is the density of the lights in the trees and the quality of the life entertainment

I was one of the first riders on Anaconda in 1991. Like Vortex, it was a great visual. It's a real classy move by Six Flags to remove rides without giving advance notice so fans of the ride can get in their last rides and say goodbye. They're not giving it any thought or care about their guests doing it this way.

Is anything that you guys are talking about visible in this picture? This is from July 1994.

Louisville theme park donates thousands to Norton Children's Hospital | whas11.com

It almost was.