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I hope Dollywood continues to be a beacon of light in a very dark corporate end game world... So many private equities and companies out there buying out beloved chains and local places just to shut them down...

So... we basically go back to what it was like before the merger happened in the first place? LOL... I'm with you though. It's a mess and probably shouldn't have happened... Also, I still find it interesting how Cedar Fair didn't learn from the sins and mistakes of Premier Parks during the first Six Flags acquisition process years ago. Newsflash to corporate executives, it's probably not a good idea to take the name of the struggling company you're buying out... Especially when that struggling company's name and brand is synonymous with "lower quality" to the general public...

More than just tradition, too. Hate to be so corporate minded about this long standing tradition, but it keeps people in the park until close. More people in the park = more money to spend. I feel like John Reilly’s recent comments about the lack of revenue as a result of canceled seasonal events would apply here, too. But who knows.

Funnily enough, there is a KIC discussion topic on whether it's time to retire the phrase "Vortex replacement" lol. The immediate slope of the hillsides would make it much harder to install any flat rides there without, again, installing a large retaining wall. Putting flat rides there also reduces the amount of space to put in a coaster (I'd really prefer they not cut down more trees near The Beast), so a coaster is still the best option. For those wanting a new indoor restaurant I think it'd be better to tear down Jukebox Diner and build a Grand Pavilion-style restaurant where KillMart currently is. That would also help to straighten out the midway and remove the awkward bottleneck that exists right there. Let Invertigo live out the rest of its life, replace Congo Falls with a MACK Rides water battle when its time comes, and then build another coaster stretching from Invertigo over to the Timberwolf Amphitheater (but NOT going over the front entrance of the park).

What were coaster enthusiasts supposed to do? They/we have no sway over anything. Not sure those are good examples. Last I checked Tennessee and A&M are still underperforming considering their revenue and fanbases. And Cracker Barrel...well, okay they should have known better but the change was completely harmless. I still can't believe I had to hear about that nonstop for a full week as if it was a national tragedy.

Everyone with a brain knew merging with Six Flags would be a disaster like almost any merger that has happened in history! I literally can't believe coaster enthusiasts and CF employees/stockholders didn't try and at least attempt to organize some sort of revolt/protest to try and stop the merger. (not that it 100% would've worked but we've seen proposed mergers get stopped by protests in the past). Plus it would've gotten insane news coverage if a revolt got organized and happened. Sports fans remember Greg Schiano to Tennessee? That was stopped bc fans (and others higher up) put their foot down and spoke out against it as they knew it wasn't going to work. Also Mark Stoops to Texas A&M or Cracker Barrel and the proposed rebrand.

Yes! I'm not entirely a "This merger was a mistake and should never have happened" guys, but I do think splitting the company up would help in the long run. The fact that they took on the Six Flags name still baffles me. They chose brand recognition for a bad brand over making up a new name and trying to start somewhat fresh. Six Flags also still uses the legacy branding on their social media accounts despite having a new logo and a whole other set of branding conventions that they could use from the Cedar Fair side of the company.

Some exciting updates from the webcams: in the last couple days, Adventure Express and Queen City both have gotten their trains on the tracks! I'm assuming they'll start cycling soon if they haven't already. Orion looks prepped for the same. There are also people and a crane working around Monster today.

Dollywood has been named one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Entry-Level Employees in 2026 by Newsweek, highlighting its employee culture, benefits, and impact on guest experience. https://themeparksbydon.com/dollywood-best-entry-level-workplace-2026/

I hate to say it... but with another major recession on the horizon I doubt we see any development for a while... I worry parks all across the country are going to see some rough decline in attendance.

The only problem I have with another gift shop is that they don't have enough unique merch. I feel like stuff is getting too repetitive in the parks.

^ The legacy six flags parks will not change overnight. Plus, you have to remember that Kings Island is one of, if not the only, CF park that ran all trains consistently. Besides that, he has only been on board a short while and has a lot of stuff to do. With the dire straights the company faces currently, revision of SOPs may not be top of mind. If things get even more shaken up with Jana flexing their activism, the board might completely change, and probably not for the better.

I feel decisions like this come from above him. Ik he talked about throughput/capacity being important to him, but multiple Six Flags parks that have opened recently have been only running either one or two trains as well as restaurants and stuff being closed. Ik that could be maintineance delays, but it very well could be six flags being six flags. John Reilly I fear will have his hands tied by the board and a lot of his visions/ideas for improvement won't make it past the board as they are basically penny pinchers. Then he'll get blamed for everything and be pushed out in a few years then rinse and repeat!

The backlash would be MONUMENTAL if they cut fireworks especially since KI has kept 10 pm closings throughout the summer. Cutting fireworks would be their ticket to closing at 9 pm instead of 10. It's been a tradition since 1972 to have nightly fireworks. Even Paramount did fireworks. The only year I remember them not doing nightly fireworks is the covid year 2020. Also the park on the special events page has a picture of a firework show so they're still sorta advertising they do fireworks so I don't see any reason why there won't be at least some sort of firework show.

Already using that $8 million wisely. Great. (Thick Sarcasm)

Looks like it was built for giants.

I certainly hope not! 😆

Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of Six Flags as we know it. I'd rather take a little gamble on who owns Kings Island than see it continue to stagnate.

*Topic Bump* I will be back in USO on Saturday, plan is to fly down, do Epic half day and do the rest of the resort the other half of the day before flying back that evening. The worst part about this trip is that Stardust has been delayed AGAIN, which I'm hearing through the grapevine this is a really large overhaul to make the ride as seamless as possible for operations moving forward. Excited to check out the new Super Mario merch for the new film, but curious to see how Mardi Gras is looking as I haven't been back to USO for a few weeks.

The wait time sign will be a welcome addition, and may be the first attraction in this building to have one! I suspect the electrical blueprints were able to be released because they don't actually show much about the ride besides scene names and some figure/prop and screen locations — which most of the latter is hard to figure out if you've never seen this kind of plans. It also might be because the company completing the work is (presumably) based in Ohio (and therefore subject to the OPRA mentioned above), unlike Sally Dark Rides who are based in Florida. There might be something about the new PT's potential as a dark ride at other parks involved as well, which would explain the "trade secret" part.

I disagree with the notion of putting a water ride in The Vortex plot. KI already has 3 different water rides in the dry park with WWC nearby in Rivertown. I know for around 15 years or so WWC and Kenton's Cove coexisted, but KI doesn't need another water ride in the dry park. I truly believe The Vortex plot deserves a grand and photogenic coaster. I believe the ideal ride for The Vortex plot is a Ghostrider model from Vekoma. Its minimum height requirement is 48 inches which makes it very accommodating. It would also give KI a modern launch coaster. The layout can be customized to fit the uneven terrain of the plot that can easily include moments of airtime and inversions. If done well, it could be the stand out steel coaster of KI. Considering the recent track record of Vekoma projects here in the US, a Vekoma Ghostrider seems like a slam dunk in the making.

Right. And that has been my personal vote of choice since Vortex's removal would be a Vekoma new-gen looper of some variety

Too much time has passed for whatever might eventually go in that spot to be a Vortex replacement. There wasn’t a plan for that spot when Vortex was retired in 2019 like there was with other rides. If Kings Island could go back in time, they wouldn’t have retired Vortex. They would have done what Busch Gardens VA did with Loch Ness Monster and put the money into it to preserve the ride for future generations to enjoy.