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My boys and I went last night (I can’t believe I’ve been on this site long enough to go from solo trips to trips with a pre-teen). It was just a great little stroll through the lights. Trying to stay positive but Boo Blasters is really showing its age. But the Grain and Grill has some great foods this year. Glad we got our passes back and ready for the next year.

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.

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.

The purge continues, apparently: Anaconda Slated for Demolition - KDFans

I carefully chose the word usually because there are some scenarios (like Vortex) where the park completely ignores large areas for possible expansion.

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 agree that magic mountain is VERY coaster heavy and I could see them loosing Superman, Viper, Ninja, and X2. The Jet Stream Flume ride would most likely close with Ninja as they are kind of intertwined. I don't want to see magic mountain have coasters stripped out but unfortunately they have some aging ones that are unreliable and could get the same treatment as SFGAv... Now I don't think the executives are purposely ripping out rides at other parks to promote CP or anything but I do think it's interesting that CP gets 3 coasters investments back to back to back years and still has 5 operational arrow coasters while arrows everywhere else are reaching the end of their service life and other parks can't seem to get a new coaster for years and years. CP just closed Snake River Falls and their sky coaster but I'd bet high stakes that they don't leave that plot empty for 5 seasons like Kings Island has done with The Vortex plot

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 almost was.

Correct, they are moving the fence out and building a new maintenance drive for the new slides at the pumphouse. I am guessing the new easement is for a new Duke service pole and drop for the electrical service.

If corporate Cedar Fair called for budget cuts and mass ride removals perhaps the parks were not given opportunities to offer final rides. I'm not sure if the decision for ride removals was planned months in advance or if it was a quick end of season, knew jerk, type of move across the board. However, if The Bat escapes the initial purge and is open next year I would hope they would announce late summer that they plan to remove by the end of the season (provided that is the plan)

RCDB has picked up the info and appears to buy into it.

The Bat isn't going to be retired in the foreseeable future. Congo Falls? Invertigo? Drop Tower? Monster? Place your bets!

(Not directed at you specifically) I don’t think the removal of any of those attractions is anything more than “wishful” thinking from enthusiasts who’d like to see half the park demo’d in favor of concrete and lackluster coaster installations. Have there been any legitimate rumors saying this? Aside from regularly scheduled seasonal work involving Timberwolf? That said, I hope none of that comes to fruition, including the removal of Top Gun/The Bat. There are so many other areas of the park that need attention before AZ. I’m afraid that massive ride removals would only lead to large spaces of cleared land and wooden fences for 5-10 years.

Unfortunately I don't think with the current leadership and ride removal trends that The Bat will last too much longer but I hope they can get a 5 year plan in the works to retire AND replace the older attractions they want to get rid of. For example we all know that boo blaster, Invertigo, and Congo have to be on the short list of soon to be removed rides and The Bat can't be too far behind them. If they could remove all 4 by the end of 2030 and have built a new dark ride, a new coaster in The Vortex plot, AND a coaster in the Invertigo/Congo plot, I'd say that would be acceptable. However, making no investment and only removing rides is not what anyone wants to see happen to the park. While I hope we never see the day that The Bat gives it's final rides, all I'm asking for Kings Island, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, or whoever is in charge of these decisions is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give the fans a 3-4 weeks notice like has historically been customary to do and don't just tear down a ride that has been a classic at the park for over 30 years without any word during the off season. I understand that rides get old and are removed but please Kings Island have the respect for the guest and the fans of the ride to at least give them a chance to get final rides if that decision ever has to be made