Leaderboard

The private equity ownership is the problem. Hill Path Capital owns 49.7% of the company, creating significant influence and putting greater focus on share buybacks and driving value. The ownership structure of private equity means that any losses from this lawsuit will go against United Parks, not against Hill Path Capital. At least I think that's how it works, but unlike the other cases I've heard about, this isn't a leveraged buyout. Still, the priority is financial gain for Hill Path, not for United Parks. Customers don't matter. Employees don't matter. Only the shareholders matter. If the parks go downhill (and they will), possibly even bankrupt, Hill Path Capital may just sell off the remains while keeping the profits they made from stripping apart the parks. Private Equity has a large (and incomplete) list of bankruptcies on Wikipedia, and I wonder if United Parks could eventually join it.

I think you could do quite a bite with the existing facade to make it work. The castle dental molding should go, as well as the turret style features (which they seem to be addressing now). A lot of the existing colors in the art design (from what we’ve seen) could be incorporated into what’s there. Mocked up this concept over the last few days to try and visualize what it could be. Not sure how it would work, but I’d really love to see some kind of marquee added to the front inspired by the original: Excited to see what they do.

My suspicion is that the law suit will force United to pay then things will go on like always. This isn’t the first time they’ve stopped paying bills just to see how far they could push it—I’ve seen that before (granted, at least then the pandemic could be blamed)

I know its probably been discussed before, but I truly believe they should have concerts at Timberwolf again. Bring in acts (local and/or national) that draw crowds and give that space some use!

Yeah we need more people like Jeff running these parks! I think all regional GMs and park managers should take notes from him! I mean they usually bring in Hifi Honey and River City to do shows opening weekend and those weekends up until Memorial Day. I've said it before and I'll say it again they need to branch out and bring in more local bands than just those 2. Spread it out and maybe have one band in Festhaus, one on bandstand, and one on top of the bar in Action Zone (like Carowinds does). Then you also have some acoustic artists come in and do sets in the gazebo by Diamondback and the Mercado patio.

I think some short shows and a ceremony (either on the Bandstand or in the Festhaus/KI Theater if it rains) would be a good way to celebrate Opening Day. They wouldn't need to be high production or anything, just small and maybe including some snippets from previous season's shows! Six Flags Over Texas got to celebrate their Opening Day, although I have a feeling that is because of Jeffrey Siebert and his efforts to transform that park.

I love how opening day used to have its own logo. Kinda like MLB/Reds Opening Day. I wish they would do that again. Make opening day more special.

Now that you mention it, the image does remind me of the 2016 website (the second image won't load for me so see below)! The new ads all look like the legacy Six Flags ones to me with how they use different fonts/stretched fonts for emphasis. The differently sized dots (at the bottom) is also a legacy SF thing I've noticed. I think it would be nice to see more photos from inside each be used for promotions (see below for this as well), but I understand that's probably because of how Six Flags does their standardized promotional image templates at the corporate offices. I wish they could've gotten a new promotional image, though. That one from August is feeling a little too overused. I'd love to see how the Silver Pass sells from year to year, especially now that Silver = home park pass, Gold = regional pass, and Prestige = all-park pass. I think it'd be better to let Silver Passes work all year with blackout dates, but maybe it wouldn't sell as well?

Is it just me or am I getting serious 2016 vibes with this ad on the website? Reminds me a lot of the banner on the entrance back in 2016 Photo source: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122124750639113270&set=pcb.2797682560564843

Only $105 or five payments of $15, plus initial payment of $30. Oh, and applicable fees.

Looks like the silver pass has returned.

I believe in the recent quarterly earnings call, guest throughput was mentioned as a huge priority to the new CEO John Reilly. Whether or not those with more power (those on the board) agree with him remain to be seen. Hopefully that leads to better staffing on the rides as well as restaurants and shops. As a former op, I will say having rides at bare minimum was legit torture especially rides that are technically supposed to be 2 op rides, but are able to operate as a single op (ie Dodgem and Linus Launcher) or the triple op rides that can be operated in dual (Viking Fury and Monster) or Antique Cars that can get by with just one person at dispatch (the person who gets on the cars and brings them back into the station and loads the oncoming riders).

Given the recent sale of the SF parks (and the closure of another last fall), I am hopeful that there is some world where that translates to a better experience at Kings Island. There's nothing I've seen to indicate that that is a reality; but I just miss when all the rides were staffed well, shops were open, and landscaping was full.

It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to find out what festivals and events Kings Island will host in 2026. For the past two years the list dropped on March 4th, but if you check there today all you'll find are the same four Group Events that have been there since December. I'm a little surprised if they get much outdoor work done this week with all of the rain. Last time I looked at my weather app it showed pretty consistent rain all day and all night.

I've been checking the webcams back and forth and it seems like they have been moving WindSeeker up and down today Also I have noticed some trucks parked outside of the entrance to Phantom Theater right by the swings and kid dodgem

That's most of the customer base at KI!

Fiesta Texas is doing passholder extra ride time this Saturday after park close. I would love to see KI bring back passholder post close ride times! Both in KI and Soak City like in pre covid years

Double posting to update: I wrote to Six Flags about the issues with loading my pass within my Six Flags mobile app and am now waiting for a response. In the meantime, I decided to see if deleting the "expired" pass would work. It didn't immediately delete that "expired" Kings Dominion pass, but it did delete it from the Kings Island page of the app. Once I did that I was able to finally enter my pass number, confirm using my last name, and add my pass back to the app. It is now populated on each park page within the app, though some of the parks are missing the All-Park Passport and/or the All Season Drinks add-on badges. I suspect that the missing drink plan badge is due to specific parks not having their paper cup plans built in the app yet. Maybe they will have it fixed by their respective opening dates. I'll still see what Six Flags says to do and if they ask for more information.

From what I've understood your MVP Sale Gold Pass will get you most/all of the benefits advertised to you at the time of purchase. All-Parks access, free general parking (except at Knott's), early entry to parks that offer it (excluding Cedar Point), and access to seasonal festivals like Halloween Haunt, Tricks & Treats, and Winterfest. The only benefits that may have changed for you are how All Season Fast Lane will work at other parks and that Haunt mazes will still be an upcharge. Six Flags will hopefully have this all sorted out for 2027. I suspect it'll be the new system from then on; or until they decide that they still aren't getting enough people buying passes. I'm not excited that I'll probably have to buy a 2027 Prestige Pass for all parks access, but if that's what it's going to take then I'll probably do it. Watch out when you go into the Six Flags app and look for your pass under non-Kings Island park pages. Mine is showing up as simply a Gold Pass for parks like KI, Cedar Point, and California's Great America; a Gold Pass Midwest Region for Chicago's Great America; and a Gold Pass East Region for Six Flags Over Georgia and Great Adventure. For parks like Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, and Kings Dominion it only shows my 2025 Gold Pass under the "expired" tab. There are some parks that don't show my pass at all. The app shows people's Prestige Pass(es) across all park pages, just not Gold Passes. I intend to reach out to Six Flags to find out more about this before my potential trip to Kings Dominion for their Opening Day. If I don't get a clear answer or get a different answer at the gate, I'm also preparing myself to have a nice and civil conversation with KD's guest services.

Ok so I've been following the news with all this Gold Pass/Prestige Pass stuff but I'm still a little confused. My family bought the Gold Pass during the MVP sale thus getting access to all parks. From my understanding, it will act the same as my old gold pass for just this year, and then it changes next year. But I heard something that the Gold Pass no longer got you early entry for this year and it was only Prestige and resort guests that got that benefit? Does the MVP Gold Pass work for early entry at KI and/or CP? Or not at all? Maybe I missed something. I will say this is all very confusing and I wish they made it clearer.

Sadly, they have played this game before. Put in I-305 at KD and didn't get the return. Thought they could make Carowinds the CP of the south and Fury barely moved their needle and slowed down the spend. Maybe it will be different in Texas, but I think Spiegel pointed out once that parks started getting better handles on returns around the time Kingda Ka went in that it barely moved the needle. For most parks, the capital spends are to maintain the attendance and some nominal growth, but if they expect Texas to have a 20% increase in attendance this year or something more than say a percent or two, they will be disappointed.

I think if the numbers don't go up anymore then the buildings will slowly deteriorate back to how they were in/before 2024-2025 and the park will be a mix between low-tier Cedar Fair and middle-tier Six Flags. It'll take a couple of years to actually find out if all of the upgrades do what they're supposed to, though. 2026 will give a notion, but SFOT needs a lot more than just a few restaurant renovations and a massive coaster. If it doesn't work out then Jeffrey Siebert will probably just try to keep his parks where they are. Otherwise I'd love to see him come back to the Midwest Region to work some more magic for Kings Island and Cedar Point.

It has more to do with Six Flags has said Texas is an undersaturated market, so they are spending big there. Now what happens if/when that doesn't turn into the numbers they expect to see...

I think a lot of the improvements and investments at SFOT for 2026 (there are a ton of improvements) are thanks to Jeffrey Siebert being at the helm of both SFOT and Fiesta Texas. He's super dedicated to what he does and knows what it takes to make these parks amazing. I wish we could have 7 shows this season, let alone all of the other little improvements it seems KI currently needs. Some of those look really good! I hope they're available at more than just Grain and Grill, though. I'm not a healthy eater by any means, but having healthier meals served in at least two areas of the park would be great for those who are health conscious.

**DOUBLE POST** Six Flags Over Texas did an opening day ceremony for the park yesterday to kick off the 2026 season. I think KI should do something like this on opening day or even pass preview night since most guests are passholders anyway. I love what they're doing for their 65th anniversary. Since 2027 is KI's 55th, we could see another anniversary celebration season? Obviously I doubt they do something on the scale of 2022 (the 50th), but maybe a season with a dedicated logo and park improvements throughout the park if there isn't a new attraction next year. Also the fact they're adding 7 new shows this year is insane. Yet KI tends to have only like 4 stage shows plus the fireworks during part of the summer season and leaves the venues dark for a decent chunk of the season when they could be doing more (ie having bubbles for like 3-4 weeks in the KI theater and leaving it dark the rest of the season when they could add another show for the rest of the summer season). I also would like to see the park opening ceremonies return where a family is brought up each day to open the park at 10 am each day. That honestly makes the experience even more special! Video of Over Texas opening day ceremony:

Here's to the last full month of the park being closed!

Looks like some healthier dining options this season! Much needed.

This is the type of 4th of July event I think Kings Island should be doing outside of just a bigger firework show! This is Cedar Point's new America 250 event

Carowinds is planning to host a passholder q&a with park leadership as well as other festivities as part of pass preview night. I think KI should do something like this on pass preview day

There's also the question of if Coasterstock will be happening/how it will happen. If it does happen there's a lot of people wondering if it'll be 1 day vs. 2 days, if it will be open to non-coaster club members, and if the overall event quality will have gone down compared to the last two years. I think a more detailed list of what I'd like to see is Opening Day, Food & Wine, Grand Carnivale (honestly could be replaced by an Island Nights event atp), a 1 week America 250 event, Halloween Haunt, Tricks & Treats, and Winterfest. They should also do some short events like a Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare charity event, Run & Ride, Food Truck Festival, a second charity event, and some passholder nights/after hours events. For anyone else following the webcams: the white paneling (or whatever it is) has been taken back toward the turnstiles and there are no more enchanted opera box doom buggies sitting near the bandstand. The tree lights on the Eiffel Tower have been down for a little bit, but all of the artisan sheds are still out on the path. The park sign hasn't returned yet. The permanent lights have been on or off depending on the night. There was a night recently where one singular light tower was on, another where only the left side of the street's uplighting was on, and tonight is the first night I've seen both sides uplighting be on. The light that shines on the park sign spot was also recently turned on, though it looks a lot more square-ish than I remember.

It seems Carowinds has now removed whatever 2026 festivals they previously listed. If the calendar holds true from the last two years we will see Kings Island's festivals and events calendar released on March 4th (1 week away)! I'm hoping to see all of the festivals/events from 2025 return, though Grand Carnivale is so far up in the air right now in terms of will it/won't it. It'd be cheaper than changing but more expensive than doing nothing. The new leadership clearly understands why seasonal festivals are important after cancelling holiday events caused "self-imposed headwinds". I just hope they also understand that it's possible to do seasonal festivals and fun 1-2 day events.

Maybe with the new CEO, we will see the return of the tasting cards? Thinking positive here.

Carowinds has moved their Viva La Fiesta event to be a spring time event from April 17-May 17 other than peak summer. Looks like they're counting the Splash Water Parade as the peak Summer event or they have a new unannounced event coming. If Food and Wine is coming back I would like to see KI follow suit and move Food and Wine to a few weeks earlier and have it run from like the last weekend of April through Memorial Day as that makes the most sense to hold it imo https://www.sixflags.com/carowinds/events

They should already have the license for playing such. Legally, if they play any music over the speakers in broadcast, they have to have a license to play it, unless it's already in the public domain.

I think KI is getting the rights to Vince Guaraldi music because on Snoopy's Soap Box Racers, I heard Joe Cool playing in the station. That's a good start.

Yet another sign of opening day getting closer. Woodstock's Whirlybirds are on the track! Also the ride vehicles for Phantom's Theatre are starting to dissapear at the royal fountain stage.

Here's a video my friend made about our August 2025 visit!

I recommended that she be the one hired for the seasonal digital content coordinator position prior to the start of the 2023 season. I wish her well in her new position at P&G.

My feelings were never mixed, but this will be good for KI. I hope she finds success.

Elizabeth Nadeu, The digital marketing manager has announced she is leaving Kings Island to take the social media and community manager position at P&G: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUo86ZCDIpJ5QSkQbDTE6spzt7I1Y64vNya3PA0/?img_index=1 I know some of you have mixed feelings about her, but she was always nice to me and I will miss her around the park and I wish her nothing but the best moving forward.

I came up with a mausoleum concept for Banshee's queue. It goes over the main part of the queue that is usually first to open up when the line gets longer

I wonder if there's something Kings Island could do to revitalize that little section of the area (specifically from the DB Trading Post over to the log flume) outside of just putting up a sign that says "Rivertown". A sign would be nice, but it wouldn't help in the way the area needs. It's a bit of a shame that the seating around the Snake Pit/Tom + Chee booth was expanded into the back of that planter only for it all to become a bar that doesn't need any seating. The loss of that foliage isn't too bad, but there's still something off about it. I think it would do just fine as a dining location again, though. That way the tables might actually serve a purpose again.

I mean KD invited Clint Novak as well as Brian Sterowski who are both highly regarded KD influencers and aren't hesitant to criticize the park when things aren't great.

They should do this at KI but wouldn’t invite some who are among the bigger influencers and most trusted voices with fans. And as a result, the relationship between the park and these influencers would remain the same: not the best.

I was going to do a wait and see and renew my Gold Passes in April in case of any bait-n-switch. But for me, it was a no-brainer when we got all parks and my renewal was only $99. Just too good to pass up. I guess they would get us if they remove or restrict Halloween Haunt (more), Winterfest, or even Soak City. But even if I only had park admission and free parking, $99 is a good value. Just don't anymore up-charges or removals KI.

Camp Snoopy being next to Rivertown is not bad for cohesion if it was leaned into more.

If anything can be done for Banshee's queue, I'd love to see the ride photo room/arcade/former gift shop be turned into some in-line lockers (with the ride photo booth being moved somewhere across the path). After that they could see about installing some kind of better shelter in the rest of the queue. A haunted shed might not be the best thematically — I'd imagine a mausoleum might fit better — but the station is designed in the "Cedar Fair 2012-2016 big bricks" style so any major thematic choices won't matter as much as they would have for Mystic Timbers. This would be a great opportunity to continue the paranormal park storyline officially established with Area 72. As big as this theoretical project is getting, I'd also love to see more thematic cohesion brought back to Rivertown overall. Bring the log flume back into RT, put up more nautical (in the riverfaring sense) theming, and find a way to bring the "town" feeling back. [Also tear down the Tomb Raider building and replace it with a Beast Canyon expansion] Stuff like that.

Former arborist here. Larger box(ed) rooted trees are generally slower to establish and have a higher mortality rate than 5 or 8 gallon trees and balled/burlap trees. The need more bald cypress, hemlock and tulip poplar across the park. They are fast growing larger trees. Add in medium sized trees like dogwood red buds. Add sugar maples to contrast the autumn blaze maples. I counted 14 6 foot tall southern magnolias that have been planted this year too. Even though those are "tiny" they cost a pretty Penny, even wholesale. Those would likely not live as they have an extensive shallow root system. And if they would love, it would likely cost more in labor vs material for purchased trees. I do like the idea of native trees though. That's a great idea...start seedlings in pots and get them up to 6-8 tall. Between seedlings and cuttings, you can have an endless supply.

I hope Kings Island puts Adventure Port decals on the trash cans around the area like with the trash cans at Aeronautica Landing at Carowinds and the trash cans at The Boardwalk at Cedar Point. Just putting the Adventure Port logo seen on the construction walls would look really nice. Also, while I sound like a broken record at this point, I do hope that Kings Island puts up the banners around the area. That would make it way more immersive.

I don't think we are too big for a Gerstlauer. They can do at least 16 seats per train. This is more than BLSC and only one car less than Flight of Fear. Probably higher capacity than Invertigo as well. And honestly if Cedar Point thinks a wild mouse can handle their crowds than an Infinity coaster would be fine at Kings Island. It probably wouldn't be as quick of a line as the B&Ms but would still work. That said, your points for B&M are very true and would not be surprised to see more from them. There are still wing, dive and flying coasters that would be different from what we currently have. And while enthusiasts might not all be hyped about a dive coaster, they are popular with the general public so could see one of them going in.