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I was extremely pleased with the reprofiling of the turn into the brake shed as well as the removal of the first set of trims on Beast. Going over that 2nd drop without the trims the first time totally took me by surprise. I'm excited to get to try it in a few different spots along the trains to see where it gets the most air on that 2nd drop. Seeing Queen City Stunt Coaster get some love was also a pleasant surprise. I will say it was a pretty good preview day all things considered, especially with the food service. And good googly moogly was it crowded. I may or may have not parked nearly to the Soak City entrance today (though I came at around 3). A solid first step into the Six Flags era.

I made this quick concept for a Zamperla spinning coaster akin to Wild Mouse at Cedar Point for the Xtreme Skyflyer plot.

Looks like there's a survey flag in the fourth photo. Could this fit the bill for a family thrill attraction?

Season Pass Holder Day 2025!

So I decided to just make a post in this thread instead of making a trip report update on my trip report topic as it's a little more relevant here. I want to be very clear, I am not pessimistic about the park to be a downer, far from it. I worked in the park for years, I still know people in the industry, I respect their careers and the employment of every employee at the park as I know the struggles they go through throughout the year. The park today was an interesting reflection on market pressures that we have seen on people buying season passes at lower rates. The fact that I got to the park around 12:50 and the parking lot was already to the brim was shocking. Better yet, being a Prestige passholder expecting to check in at the preferred parking guard shack, I found no one. In fact, anyone could park there today which I honestly didn't appreciate. I paid money for this perk, I want to make sure those who also paid for the perk are being allowed but everyone and their brother parked there. In fact, as I was leaving there were cars parked in non parking zones without tag or ticket which just added to the proverbial circus going on there. The new security entry just screams issues in the future. I hope the park can be flexible and move the stations to support higher volume days but the current set up has me concerned for lines out the door for events like Haunt and Winterfest. The park itself was busy, and that's an understatement. Lines went all the way out into the midways, there were no precautions to support guests and lines accumulating to the point where the enrique's line and Racer was practically back-to-back. Alas, eventually turnstiles were eventually opened but the park was packed beyond belief. That coupled with the fact that Coney BBQ had to open the second side around 1:20 says everything about the crowd situation. As for operations, I know it's the preview day, people are new, I'm not going to disparage anyone for being fresh and getting on board as that is normal to have going into the season. The fact Diamondback is in 2 train operations was concerning. I will say that doesn't mean that the visit was without concerns. I walked into the Larosas today and the ac was Off or just not running at a high enough tempo the fact that it felt more intensely hot in the Larosa's quick service in International Street than what it was outside made me seriously consider the working conditions for the employees in that moment. Could it have been that something was going on in that given moment and was fixed after my visit? Who knows, my point is that it was intense and I couldn't believe it. The merchandise situation, well that's changed as well. Emporium itself has a new line of cosmetic soaps and lotions, which my sister who would be in that target demographic was even confused as to why the park would offer this. The middle section just felt off in comparison to the rest of the store, which I wish the park offered some home goods for the park in that section as I think it would fit well with the flow of the store in general. The merchandise at Island Collection & Trading company was the usual flare, but the park is seriously pushing squishmellows, even those not associated with the park. Which the new layout for Trading Company just feels very Point Plaza, which is a great thing to have a modern, fresh location that has easy access to park merchandise. I have to give credit where credit is due, the new button up shirts are a welcomed addition to the merchandise line up in Island Collection, same for the quarter zip jacket. I will most certainly be wearing this in the office Monday but I wish we had more business wear from the park like this. I want to lastly touch on the VIP Lounge experience, the people who work there are honestly some of the most hospitable people I spoke to the entire day. Ride ops in Boo Blasters didn't even ask us if we enjoyed the ride, just stayed silent and pointed for the exit. The group who works it is incredible, and I cannot say anything ill to them. What I can say is that the Coke machine was flat, but at least I got my cookie. My capstone is this: The park overall is trending in positive directions in most directions. Tropical Plunge got a new paint job and it looks stunning. River Racers looks amazing, so I have no major qualms there. I feel like the food quality (rather have more fleshed out menus than almost every location having chicken tenders, am I really the only one who has a problem with every location that isn't Larosa's, Enriques, Skyline or Panda having chicken tenders?) has some improvement, I'm a foodie at the end of the day, we were spoiled by Major taking chances and bringing our experience up a level. I APPRECIATE the fact Chef Perez was in the kitchen at Coney BBQ and was really bringing everything he could to support the team, I think he has amazing talent and I'm hoping he has the chance to showcase that more with improved offerings throughout the year. I know he makes good food as the Chef's Plate is wonderful, I just would like to see more robust menu options and more catering of certain foods to certain venues to drive more demand. (hint hint chicken shack) Also, Mike Koontz was on location and met with Perez at Coney BBQ. That's the kind of leadership I want to see from the park and I support that a million times over. As always, I am hopeful for the future, I am critical as I know the level of professionalism the park can bring to the table; I want the park to thrive, I want new enthusiasts to have memories like I did when I was younger.

Now that Xtreme Skyflyer is no more, what do you think will end up in it's place? Here is the photos I look on Pass Holder Preview.

It could still be possible. Looking at an older video from Amusement Insiders, Canada's Wonderland's Xtreme Skyflyer was removed in early March 2024, while ours was removed around mid-late March. Mind you, theirs was removed because of a major coaster that was going to be built for the following year.

Last year I was told that they "don't do it when it's busy", which defeats the entire purpose of the benefit.

The core of what you say is what frustrates me. It also gets me in trouble with the “if you hate it so much don’t go” crowd for my critiques and observations. I don’t hate the place at all. I love it and so want the park to live up to its full potential.

Gotcha, I didn't understand that you were routing it this way. It makes sense to use existing infrastructure and they could have the photo booth there as well. And it could bring a much needed cosmetic boost to that building. However, a wild mouse is a minor coaster, so I don't think they would put much effort into it.

I think it could be the family thrill addition they were teasing about last year, I'm guessing a coaster, but we'll see, we have plenty of time still to see if they're going to continue working on this area,, if they do that is a sign for something to come here in 2026, and seeing a flag is already in place, it's pointing to it.

Park looked great today. Food lines went quick and the only long line in the park was The Beast with a full queue. Love that touches on Stunt Coaster, nice refresh to tie it to Cinci. The number of trees cut down by The Vortex plot's fence is very obvious. Not sure why all the clearing but it seems to me like they are preparing for something. My thoughts are that next year the Family Fun Attraction will be in the old Xtreme Flyer spot along with a refresh to the area in general and constuction will begin early-mid next year for a large coaster in The Vortex plot for 2027. 2027 would be the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Screamin Demon, also the 40th anniversary of the opening of Vortex. Just sayin

So seeing this section today I also noticed how much the area just needs an upgrade. A spinning coaster at that location for family's would be a nice complment to The Bat as a tween step. Also it may bring more people to that area and renew The Bat's ridership.

That NOC was filed last fall and had nothing to do with 2026. It was "labeled 2024 and 2025 additions and modifications" for example the one filed in 2018 for what became Orion was "2018, 2019, and 2020 additions and modifications"

It would be interesting to see a Zamperla Wild Mouse themed to Bavarian Beetle

Along the preferred parking issue, I heard from several Prestige passholders that the park was not enforcing the two-hour Prestige Line that is marketed either as a benefit they paid for. Supers were telling them the priority of the park was to get all passholders in quickly. If you can't provide the benefit, then don't offer it! But to be fair, KI never enforces that line like KD does....

I am beyond thankful that I took a ton of photos of those last year. Very upsetting that the last vestiges of BB are gone but the wood was looking worse for wear. I'm looking forward to the additions, I'm excited to see other slides if they got new paint jobs like Tropical Plunge and I'm excited to see if we get some new landscaping as we desperately need trees and lush landscaping.

This park kills me. They care so little about a lot of details, yet are still adding little finishing touches to Adventure Port 3 years layer. The fact that they finally distressed the LED fixtures they added last year is impressive. They were just shiny black last year. Wish we could have that level of finish and care applied to everything.

Technically I think Yukon Striker does. Rapterra exits through a gift shop and so will AlpenFury.

Flat ride sounds like a "thrilling family addition" I just want that next coaster so bad and it better have inversions I just cannot believe for the life of me why they would add another flat ride in Action Zone. That grassy aera behind the outdoor theater behind Diamondback would be so cool to see a new flat there.

Considering there are no markers in Vortex plot Do yall think Drop Zone is safe?

@BB1 You articulated some of my thoughts much better than I could have. Thank you for being critical! A number of people tend to forget that loving something also means being critical of its decisions because you want to see it do well. The crowd levels yesterday were simply insane, and I don't think the park was entirely prepared for that many people to be there. A number of the issues are fixable while other issues just came down to lapses in planning judgement. I'm of the mentality that the Passholder Preview should be a snapshot into an average mid-size-crowd day, not one of the busiest days in the early season. It would be a shame to put a limit on who/how many could attend the event, but yesterday's crowds were just way too big for it not even being the official Opening Day. My group arrived around 11 and was shocked to see that the parking situation was being treated like a private buyout event and not like a regular public operating day. Besides getting people through the gates quickly, was there a reason to not have anyone in the toll booths? Did the parking attendants not need to gain any experience yesterday? Normally if the parking tolls are backed up then associates will visually check passes and wave people through — which should have been everyone coming in yesterday. We parked and got through the new security just fine, but the south side of the entry plaza filled quickly and people seemed to keep flowing in through all open checkpoints. There should definitely have been a shift to only using the northernmost checkpoints once the plaza filled on the south side. Security began forming more lines in front of the turnstiles around 11:20, and guests were scanned in and let into the front half of International Street around 11:30. Those extra lines should have been formed from the beginning with dividers between each line. There are a set number of scanners, so why not have that many lines? The fact that Prestige passholders didn't get to use their parking and turnstile benefits feels like a major oversight, especially since it was the Passholder Preview. Getting into the park itself went rather smoothly, and I got to check out the new shop which looked really good. I have to agree with the complaints about having the same merch throughout the front four stores. As much as I really really like the vintage varsity merch, I don't think it needs to be in all four front gate shops. I'll make another post in the Newest Merchandise topic to go in more detail. The renovated Camp Snoopy/Diamondback bathroom was super nice. It looked contemporary and appeared to have new fixtures throughout. I did notice the lack of a handicap door button, the lack of a handicap accessible sink, and the fact that there were no urinal dividers. I don't know what happened there but it seemed really odd for them to be missing after a total renovation. We ate lunch at Miami River Brewhouse and had an awesome experience. There were some oddities there as well though. The receipt said "King's Island" at the top and we found out that there were also no handicap buttons on the doors (closest to Diamondback) to exit the Brewhouse. Otherwise, our food and drinks were really good and I would've happily finished my Big Dog if I wasn't already so full from the large portion size. As for other food offerings across the park I can really enjoy the fact that most dining locations have something standard in addition to a diverse menu, but part of me wishes that said standard item wasn't chicken tenders. I've been very lucky to visit Disney World twice and appreciated the fact that almost every quick-service location offered something like an Uncrustable as a standard item. I wish the new Six Flags would do something like this so families with picky/restricted eaters (a big deal for some toddlers I've known) could all get food from the same place. I know that if I don't like anything from a certain dining location then I can go grab something else and meet my group at a table, but some groups don't have that option. It would also be a good idea to have one more totally Gluten Free dining location in the dry park and one in Soak City. Backlot's update to become Queen City Stunt Coaster is a welcome change in my book, and I hope we can see some more work done to make it look even better. If anyone can find out what all of the new Ohio license plates on the trains say I'd be really interested to see! The new drink stand in Action Zone also looks really good. This was an excellent Passholder Preview for me, but the issues are absolutely shining through the cracks. The parking lot is in desperate need of an overhaul, and the flow of guests from their cars to the front gate is consistently messy. This could be a great multi-year project that would go along with the other general improvements we saw over the off season. The new security setup looks a lot better, but something still feels like it's missing. Maybe if we get a front gate renovation (not a total rebuild like at Carowinds) we'll see much more happen. Finally, yesterday was the first time I really noticed some of the accessibility issues at the park. Making the park more accessible where possible would also be a worthy general improvement project! I love Kings Island a ton, which is why I criticize it like I do. Any solutions I offer are really just my immediate thoughts. This park puts a smile on my face with every visit and I'd like to see it continue going strong for generations to come. If y'all have more thoughts, please share!

That, and companies usually stay on Notice of Commencements even after their projects were completed. (like B&M and GCI) Zamperla could've been on there because of Cargo Loco and Sol Spin.

I think either a Wild Mouse or a thrilling flat ride could go there, but I don't think we'll see its replacement until after next year. The timing of its demolition seems to line up more with the last of the forced ride removals than the planned ones.

Turned off, or broken?

I 100% agree! I think it would be perfect for that plot of land. I can picture it just towering over the back half of Action Zone as you walk in.

The helicopter scene is still there, however the theming was turned off.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity! The weather was perfect, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. People were being considerate, kind, and not complaining about anything. It felt like we were all on the same page, understanding that this is just the beginning. If things don’t go smoothly right away, we know they’ll get better in the coming weeks. Thanks to all the hardworking folks who were doing their best to keep up with the high demand. It was a very successful preview day, and I can’t wait for season 54!

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity! The weather was perfect, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. People were being considerate, kind, and not complaining about anything. It felt like we were all on the same page, understanding that this is just the beginning. If things don’t go smoothly right away, we know they’ll get better in the coming weeks. Thanks to all the hardworking folks who were doing their best to keep up with the high demand. It was a very successful preview day, and I can’t wait for season 54! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Was heading to the park yesterday at 1pm with my wife and 17yr old son. When we got on I-71 at the South Lebanon exit (the exit just north of the Kings Island exit) traffic was VERY slow. As I slowly got to about 1 mile from the KI exit I realized that the right lane was at a standstill ALL THE WAY to the exit!! There was no opportunity to even squeeze in, so I drove on down to the "south KI exit". When we went by the KI parking lot, it looked like a Saturday in JULY!! We all said "No freaking way!!" and went to Sonder Brewing instead I don't know why I expected a "regular" season pass preview day... No one in school, lots of people off work, beautiful weather. Absolutely INSANE!! We'll go back on a Sunday morning in a couple weeks...

Shout out to The Beast crew last night! We got in line at 8:55. Mid and lower queues were completely full and we were about 30 people back outside the entrance. The fastlane line also stretched back to almost the photo pick up. We ended up on the next to last train and were off the ride at 10:16. They were totally on it and having a blast doing it! Oh, and the retrack is a thing of beauty!!!

So does the “Queen City Stunt Coaster” still have a helicopter shooting guns or did they re-theme that scene?

Exactly. Someone asked if they tell the associates to wave people in to the FL line or the VIP lounge when they aren't busy....Fair comparison LOL.

Klassy, right??

The trash is the piece de la resistance!

I wa super impressed with the food operations today. We are at the Coney BBQ. There was line about 50 people long outside the building. We made it through in about 15 minutes. I had the rotisserie chicken. It was hot. It was juicy. It was properly seasoned. Last year they struggled with seasoning and keeping things juicy. My kids had the chicken tenders. They were also not over cooked. I was shocked. on the way out I grabbed my kids pizza at the fest haus. Once again it had a long line. And the line moved fast. Everything was properly staffed. People were moving with intention. The people working seemed to care. I really hope this continues. Such a. Improvement over last year.

Yes, Banshee and Orion are running 3

Any pics/updates on what the skyflyer area looks like? I saw a pic on facebook that there is already a survey flag placed in there. Maybe that's the 2026 family thrill attraction spot?

This was a really creative idea. I wonder if this was a project that they wanted to do for a while or if this was something that came to mind last minute.

Don't eat or drink for 2 days and sit in back row lol

Six Flags Investments Some notable items for 2026: Carowinds will introduce a record-breaking water ride Canada’s Wonderland will add a new record-breaking water attraction King's Island will introduce a new family thrill attraction Knott’s Soak City will receive a water park refresh and aesthetic enhancements Six Flags Magic Mountain will debut a first-of-its-kind coaster in North America Six Flags Great America will celebrate its 50th anniversary, debuting a new kids’ area, commemorative events and park enhancements Six Flags Great Adventure will unveil a record-breaking launch coaster Six Flags Over Texas will unleash a record-breaking dive coaster Six Flags Mexico will introduce a family thrill boomerang coaster So, as far as Kingda Ka, I have noticed that there is no mention of the removal of Zumanjaro. Now, that could mean it will still be announced or, it could also mean that it will also be a re-imagining similar to TT2. However, there's no saying that Zamperla would be the one to do so. Other manufacturers presented bids for TT2 as well, including Intamin. My wish is for Intamin to handle it and if successful, being re-considered for future attractions in the chain.

It is a little interesting that this press release pointed out SF Great America's 50th anniversary, but didn't say anything about a celebration at California's Great America. Now, only 9 out of the 27 Six Flags amusement parks were listed, but I wonder if this will turn out to have been another indication about how soon CGA will close. At this point I'm just more curious as to what the parks will look like as the merger continues. Will we see the Cedar Fair style 50th celebration at SF Great America? Will their new kids area be Peanuts, DC Comics, or Looney Tunes? Will Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland's record-breaking water attractions be clones or will they be special in their own ways? Will Knott's Soak City's refresh be like South Bay Shores or Kings Island's Soak City refresh (barring the potential for SBS signs and stuff to just be moved to Knott's)? Will we see another good thrill coaster at Kings Island after this family thrill attraction? I ask too many questions.

Apparently I was mistaken about Kingda Ka. It is definitely being removed. Now why Zumanjaro wasn't mentioned is not clear to me. I am hopeful that Intamin will make a return to the Cedar Fair side of this Six Flags chain one day. It seems their reliability issue is not as bad as once was. The other big sticking point was how they kind of blew off safety concerns after what happened at Cedar Point. I understand that building attractions is an international business, but I would think not having one of the largest regional chains purchasing your rides would have to be a huge oversight. I would be making extra effort to bring them back into a business relationship.

Same here. I thought Intamin should have been involved in the TT2 project from the beginning. I do think it's probable that we will see a similar conversion of Kingda Ka seeing as there's not any demolition permit filed for it like there is for greenlantern, parachute ride, and twister. Also, it is official now that they are removing their skyride. Happy 50th anniversary Great Adventure! Your new coaster didn't open, your log Flume refurbishment got WAY behind schedule, and they just closed two of your major coasters, your top spin, and your skyride. As for six flags over Texas, la vibora and El Diablo getting removed was predictable but I'm still saddened by the fact that it was the last Intamin bobsled still in operation meaning that coaster model is now extinct. I do think the new dive coaster is a great addition for that park though and I hope to get back down there soon especially considering that I love shockwave and with the current trend of closures, I frankly don't trust the new six flags chain to keep maintaining classics like that. Also I'm very interested what we'll see going to magic mountain in 2026...

Queen City Stunt Coaster……Rethemed and not in operation currently.