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100% spot on, my dude. The park is in better shape than most claim/assume. There’s plenty to be improved upon, as is always the case with any park. But the last six years have been solid for KI. Grateful for that, especially in the context of the BS merger.

Personally I was more in the camp of not wanting AF1 for KI. Although the ride is rated highly in the GTA. The ride itself has low capacity and there wasn’t really a good place to put it at Kings Island without it seemingly being out of place. What I mean by that is how does the coaster fit cohesively within an area of the park without being gaudy. Beautiful parks like Dollywood, and Busch Gardens don't stack coasters on-top of each other for the sake of having a coaster, those coasters more of less flow within their respective areas. I understand the notion and feeling that “KI hasn’t been getting anything” but in reality Kings Island has been getting something new almost yearly. 2020: Area 72 and Orion. 2022: Park’s 50th birthday with a lot of refurbishments around the park. 2023: Adventure Port and 2 new rides with Sol Spin and Cargo Loco. As well as a much welcomed refresh of The Adventure Express 2024: Camp Snoopy and Snoopy Soap Box Racers. 2025: River Racers 2026: Phantom Theatre Opening Nightmare Yes, none of these outside of Orion have been major thrill rides, but a lot of people have been missing the major details over those years. Kings Island’s crown jewels, I.E. their wooden coasters have been receiving major overhauls over those years. Not just simple new track but entire sections of coaster being torn down to the foundation and rebuilt. The Racer was finished and repainted and here soon enough so will The Beast. The Beast itself will almost be entirely new if rumors are true and the remaining track sections are completely this offseason. That can’t be cheap.

Just thought I'd share my unique story here on KICentral. I worked at Haunt from 07-12 as a slider. Met my wife in 2009 as I was working and she was a guest. We were both in our teens at the time. We are still together and married after 17 years. I would like to share some clips and recent clips of us together to this day. November 1st we will be celebrating 17 years together. We are now 36 and 33 years old. The haunt video shown will be from 2010 and recorded by Karen Simpson. VID_20261018_192444.mp4 VID_20261018_221843.mp4

A sad day for the amusement industry indeed. I suspect he was probably of larger size and the restraint barely connected but the light turned green. We may be going back to the two click system. And sadly another death likely could have been prevented had a seat belt been in place. Everyone says the B&M design is safe, and sure it has had a great track record, but seat belts are so cheap. Either around the waist like Orion or connect to the restraint like Banshee. This may add seat belts to every coaster. I know I am not comfortable on TT2 without one and rode it once for the credit, but not again until there is this simple addition. Doesn't mean something else can't happen, but had there been a seat belt, that kid on the drop ride in Florida and this guy would likely still be here. Along with a few other deaths in the industry.

Herschend's massive reinvestment in Louisville is continuing next year with a new indoor coaster in the former 5D Theatre building and two new themed areas. They haven't posted a ton of info about the new coaster yet but everything about this shows that Herschend is committed to making Kentucky Kingdom the family thrill destination of Louisville. https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/explore-the-park/whats-new/ New coaster - 1130-foot long indoor wooden coaster (supposedly from Gravity Group based on renderings) with "11 airtime moments" Two new themed areas - Bluegrass Downs and Happy Valley Farm with re-themed rides. In particular, Lightning Run will be re-themed to "Stampede Run" and the antique cars will be re-themed to "Country Cruisers". It's great to see someone finally taking an interest in investing in the park. Hopefully the partnership between Herschend and the fair board will continue for a long time.

It’s getting closer each day to WinterFest 2026 and with Kings Island announcing some big news today, the park will be open now 12 pm to 10 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, no better time than now to make the thread!Get Park Tickets

Fascinating...I was correct as a novice enthusiast and The Interpreter was wrong. Lol

After a while this sounds like a talking point. When they spend money they are "a home of world class thrills," when they invest small they are "catering to families." When they invest nothing it's we just had "[name investment] ____ years ago." The fact of the matter is that Kings Island used to invest in both families and thrills and they used to invest a lot more than they do now. The "off years" used to be the waterpark or a kids' area revamp. Now the off years are nothing. Non-ethusiasts realize this too. People realize when the park acts like a politician, marketing itself in whatever way is convenient at the moment. Also, the 6.9% attendance decrease for Kings Island from 2024 to 2025 is more relevant than where it is ranks in the chain attendance-wise.

Keep in mind the TEA reported attendances are not official and those in the know will tell you that KI and CP declining from 2024 to 2025 is wrong.....and will say KI actually beat CP. Case in point, breaking from tradition, last year Cedar Point actually announced that they generated record revenue in 2025 and came within a few thousand guests of breaking its 31-year-old attendance record that was set in 1994. They were one of those random closed Tuesdays in May/June last year from setting their attendance record, which is why they didn't close mid-week this year and stayed open hoping to build upon last year to break the record. Yet when you look at the TEA report, it says Cedar Point went down 283,000 guests in 2025 compared to 2024..... If that were the case, then how did they get within 5,000 guests of the 31 year old attendance record in 2025 and not have broken it in 2024.....

Six Flags faces another major financial challenge in January 2027, when approximately $367.2 million comes due to the limited partners of Six Flags Over Georgia. The payment stems from the company’s December 2024 decision to acquire the remaining 68.5% limited partnership interests and assume full economic ownership of the park. Originally estimated at $332.6 million, the obligation has since grown to $367.2 million through inflation adjustments and accrued interest. To put that into perspective, the payment represents roughly 44% of Six Flags’ available liquidity and nearly 2.7 times its reported $134.5 million cash balance as of mid-2026. The challenge for Six Flags isn’t simply finding the money to meet its financial obligations. It’s finding a sustainable path forward while balancing debt, capital investment, operational performance and the guest experience. At some point, financial restructuring and cost-cutting alone won’t be enough. Six Flags needs a strategy that restores investor confidence without sacrificing the very things that bring guests through its gates.

After seeing the amount of trees with lights on them already as of October 25 it doesn’t look like they’re cutting back in the lighting this year. I saw some trees with lights on them that did not previously have lights.

Since you all liked my FOF alien, I thought I would share another KI project I worked on. I was lucky enough to get a Boo Blasters prop from the auction, and I spent my time off work over the summer getting it working again. Here is a link to the video, in the description there is a link to my website with more info about the restoration. Restored Boo Blasters Prop Demonstration

What qualifies those people to know whether or not the restraint locking does or does not "sound right"? Think for a moment the number of times you've heard wildly incorrect information from normal/non-enthusiasts standing in line. Take what those people said in this scenario with an enormous serving of salt. People are pointing out the relative safety because context matters, and because people are terrible at analyzing risk in varying contexts. This is obviously an unimaginably terrible tragedy, to put it mildly. But at least some of the folks who are pointing out relative safety/risk aren't doing so to minimize the situation. They are doing so to counter the predictable wave of folks arguing in ALL CAPS that we must prevent all bad outcomes all the time at all cost. Emotional responses such as those, while totally understandable, should not be guiding ride engineering decisions. You know what else would prevent roller coaster deaths? No roller coasters. Point being, there is no way to eliminate risk entirely. The only thing that can be done is to reduce risk to an acceptable amount. Yes, automobile seatbelts save lives, but they do not eliminate automobile deaths completely, so why stop there? Why not require drivers to wear helmets and full race gear? Why do we allow vehicles at all? If we want to eliminate risk associated with driving, simply adding seatbelts and airbags (etc.) won't cut it, we need to ban driving outright. Obviously that's not going to happen, because we are willing to accept a certain amount of risk for the convenience of personal automobiles. Roller coasters are no different. These B&M rides have probably provided a billion+ rides over the years without a rider dying, meaning the odds of dying are astronomically tiny. Adding a seatbelt might reduce the odds, but mathematically would only take them from imperceptibly minuscule to imperceptibly minuscule. Additional safety measures have tradeoffs. Just like with automobile seatbelts, adding a seatbelt won't eliminate risk entirely, so why stop there? Why not limit their height, speed, and layouts so that an ejected rider would land safely in a foam pit? Why not have lapbars, OTSRs, and five seatbelts just in case the first four fail? The point being, don't assume those of us pointing out the uncomfortable statistical reality are callous "thoosies" who simply don't like long lines or whatever. Some of us can simultaneously mourn this horrific tragedy while not being blinded by our emotional response. To be clear, I am not arguing dogmatically against seat belts on coasters, just on the assumption that there's an engineering/safety case to add them.

When the merger went down and when the questions were answered about why go with "Six Flags" due to "brand recognition" I considered it lipstick on a pig. When the X2 story broke a few months ago and finding out knowledge issue goes back YEARS and combined with the company downturn in value the thought did enter my mind that "Six Flags" was used to fail and "Cedar Fair" could come back and rebrand the company. Now- even worse news with the fatality that isn't going anywhere -especially with new information coming out that a kid had similar restraint locking issue on Goliath earlier in the day (obviously we don't know what seat). Unfortunately these stories are going to continue. Most of us here can decipher a park issue vs. guest issue but to the majority of the public- they don't care. Put up or shut up. We know lack of staffing is why Gemini is closed on Fridays during Halloweekends. Does the once-a-year guest know that or care? No. The see a large coaster not operating and other coasters with 90 minute wait times. Granted- it's a "conspiracy theory" type thought and does do not answer the question about making poor business decisions up till now and obviously a name change will mean squat until leadership changes or long term goals change. Sorry for the rant. I just never felt good about SF even before the merger and with each passing incident/ story etc. my desire to hear "Cedar Fair" grows.

Seat belts alone aren’t going to save lives when the geriatric, corporate board of executives are more concerned with lining their pockets than they’re are with guest safety. This merger is starting to reveal itself as an abhorrent example of predatory capitalism that’s resulting in injury and death. Disgusting however you look at it. I’m embarrassed for the park and myself for being a member.

What about Siren's Curse? I don't recall anyone anywhere seeing that one coming?

Unreal. To think this place was more or less written off. Can’t wait to make it back next year.

Prices went up as expected once the sale ended. That said, I haven't renewed yet. I'm still weighing my options. The 20-meal and 30-meal plans are still good value in my opinion. My holdup is whether or not I want to go with prestige and do unlimited. Being able to travel with the meal plan and also redeem 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) is enticing. However, forking over $600 to a company with a track record of switching things last minute doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence.

2026 Haunt is in the books. I always enjoy the different seasons of Kings Island, and understand it is a local amusement park trying their best with limited budgeting, and staffing. I did not try any of the extra foods, as I do not care for super spicy flavorings, but I did enjoy the mazes, and scare zones. The best maze of the year was Jason, I liked how each area was themed towards a different movie. The ending water effect showed where Jason drowned in Crystal Lake. The numerous Jason's throughout also being different to show the movies was a great details. If not for Jason Order of the Dragon would be the top, the attention to detail on the dead people around the table is awesome, each murdered in a different way. The hanging vampires towards the end is always interesting as well. I don't quite understand the connection of dracula and the dragon, but still love it. Alien Abyss is my third favorite due to the darkness, I wish more were like this. Metal Massacre has potential needs more scare actors, but a good idea. KillMart and Slaughterhouse may have ran their course. I still like Slaughterhouse for all the blood, but Killmart is boring anymore. I did the Conjouring not knowing anything about the movies. I did it three times, and the first time it was just my daughter and myself. It was fantastic. I did not know a Six Flags amusement park could pull something like that off, the young lady who led us through was fantastic. The scare zones are interesting, I think Hooked needs to be its own maze a lot of potential. Pumpkin Eaters with all the pumpkins and village setting is great, Needs to be in a more condensed area to maximize the scare actors. Abandoned is a lot of fun, I see the most people running there due to the chainsaws. It too could be its own maze. With a few tweaks, Haunt can be even better. Less is more, and focusing on making the experience better will make Haunt something everyone can enjoy for years to come.

This has been talked to death on this forum. We understand families spend more per capita. However, what few here ever seem to realize is that the families and the gold pass thrill seekers are the same people! If the park plays its cards right, today's kids enjoying Camp Snoopy are the future thrill seekers who spend less. Later on, they become the parents of their own kids and hopefully bring their own families to the park and spend the big bucks. You cannot exist in the business and only cater to families unless you're on the level of Disney. What also seems to be missed here is that the "family window" is a pretty short span of time. That's going to be parents with kids aged 3 – 12 or so. After that, the older kids will ride what they are tall enough for including The Beast and Diamondback. After this age the kids also tend to want to go to the park without their parents starting around 14 or so [insert chaperone disclaimer]. Regional amusement parks are low margin and must cater to both thrillseekers and non-thrillseekers just to get by. Ultimately thrills are what separates Kings Island from the zoos and museums of the world and even the lower tier amusement parks.

But where do things stand as far as revenue? Disney parks have historically shown stagnant or decreased attendance in some cases, but if revenue is up attendance is mostly irrelevant. And for certain Disney parks, that can certainly be the case. I think that applies to parks like KI pretty significantly given how dominated it is by season pass holders with drink/meal plans as a major incentive. Those people aren’t necessarily spending a lot of cash visit to visit, and often times that’s the sane demographic calling for major coaster additions (which have also proven to have a lower ROI ceiling , I.e, Orion). I mean, I’m totally ready for something to replace Vortex, finally. Don’t get me wrong. But there may not be the incentive as there was, say ten years ago. Not to mention the abysmal state of the chain financially. The later, golden era of Cedar Fair, pre-merger, proved that there’s a healthy balance between catering towards two, broad demographics: thrill vs. family. That strategy saw a combination of both, but even when it was weighted towards the former, a smaller coaster like Mystic Timbers outperformed the constantly demanded Giga with Orion. All that said, it can vary park to park for sure. But outside of the turn of the millennium ‘coaster war’ years, KI has certainly catered more to the family demographic than just appeasing coaster heads. And if attendance is down slightly as a result of this, it begs a few questions: Who decided not to come back? Did it affect revenue negatively in a meaningful way? Were they able to replace that net attendance loss with another demographic willing to spend more in the park(s)? Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa can ride the Antique Cars, Phantom, and even Mystic Timbers in some cases with their kids/grandkids. Can’t say the same about Son of Beast, Banshee, etc. The family of six who visits the park has inherently more value as a source of revenue versus the single gold pass holder who shows up once a week to use their meal and drink plan, ride Diamondback, and leave within a few hours without spending a dime. So, attendance might not be the end all be all in some cases. And the more “family focused” strategy has proven to work pretty well for the park. I don’t think the (mostly empty) threats of passholders threatening not to renew because of a lack of new coasters, higher meal plan prices, etc. is something to be terribly concerned about, from KI/SF’s point of view.

I get that the park closed X2. But I am a bit puzzled by the fact that they already have Twisted Colossus, and are already getting a new coaster for next year. Doesn`t seem like a wise use of capital dollars to move the needle. Seems like there are other parks that have not received some big capital that could have benefitted with this installation. And yet parks like KI are getting nothing in 2027. I wasn`t necessarily a fan of KI getting Aerie Force One, but I think KI is going to need to install something soon. That Vortex plot of land is just begging for some kind of attraction on it. I know Tony Caravillano is probably pushing for something, but wants it to be the right attraction. Given the current Six Flags situation, who knows when we will see something there.

The extended hours are appreciated but I wonder if this is like the most recent Carowinds WinterFest where the additional daytime hours for riding were added to balance reductions in decor and shows.

Looks similar to the part that came off Top Thrill Dragster.

In spite of the current situation with Six Flags, the park felt really good during my visit last night , Thursday October 15. Everything was clean, the food was above average, and ride operations were quick and efficient all night. The only real cleanliness issue I noticed all day was a urinal in the front restroom right at park open that had dried urine crust on the rim. Aside from that oversight, the midways and facilities looked great. Crowds were mostly well behaved too. I ran into two different groups of hyper teens who were spewing language in line, but both groups actually apologized and toned it down when I asked them to. It was definitely strange walking around the park without the constant roar of Diamondback in the background. With both the hyper and the giga closed right now, if I were in park management, I would have tried to open both sides of The Racer to help handle some of that crowd spillover. Even with those closures, the ride associates were friendly and energetic across the board. The Beast was running phenomenally, and Adventure Express was running great as well. Food and drink service was mostly solid. I stopped at Enrique's, which was quick and efficient. When I started eating, I realized they had given me pork instead of chicken. I took it back up and the crew happily remade it right away. They did not even ask me to toss the original plate, so I guess I could have scammed the system and given it to a friend, though I did not. As for the drink plan, ice was available every time I went for a refill. The refill stations that were open had very friendly staff, with the exception of the guy working in the Brewhouse who was pretty salty to everyone. The haunted mazes were very well done this year. Jason and Order of the Dragon were both great from start to finish. Metal Massacre ended up being a total sleeper hit for me. The reviews for it have not been so hot, but it was well staffed, had lots of good scary spots, and was very well put together visually. Killmart is pretty much the same maze as before, yet it feels upgraded this season and had noticeably more scaractors, making it a big improvement. Slaughterhouse never disappoints and delivered like usual. Alien Abyss was the only disappointment of the night, though I expected it to be. Even without a long queue outside, they packed everyone in way too tight and there were very few scaractors inside. It is just not a good maze. Out on the midways, the park decor was very scaled back compared to past years, but what they did put out felt elevated and the fog was heavily concentrated. I was glad the Royal Foundation is still functional and that Christmas change over hasn't started. I made it through all of the scare zones except for the pirates. There were plenty of scaractors inside the zones themselves, though there were not really any roaming around the general park paths. I also did not see a single slider all night, which was very disappointing since they are always my favorite part of the event. Overall, this is probably the best Haunt experience I have had. It did not feel overdone, and it also did not feel watered down to a level that seven year olds could handle.

Yep. And now the Cedar Fair executive group is basically gone. I’ve always been biased against Six Flags. And that’s just my own personal reasons… every time I tried Kentucky Kingdom it was a horrible experience. It was a small snapshot, but from the ride maintenance, to the absolute poor customer service… I just never felt like this merger was ever going to be a good idea. Cedar Fair was taken for suckers.

^ I'm aggravated over those who are spinning how safe coasters are compared to other things. Are coasters safer than cars? Yes. Should coasters be safer than cars? Absolutely! Riding a coaster does not & should not have human decision error come into play (just one quick example). And the seatbelt discussion is insane as well. People are trying to justify not having seatbelts due to load/ unload times. A MAN DIED PEOPLE! SMH

I’m on the side of closing all clamshell B&Ms until investigation findings come out. If the reports of the restraint returning to the station open are true that changes a lot and in itself deserves further investigation.

Good morning, good afternoon, and goodnight Terpy, wherever you are.

I saw this is the current service animal relive area in Rivertown. Could this be a bathroom reno in the making or just something for WinterFest?

That drove me nuts when I worked there. People would constantly hop over the fence instead of going all the way around.

FYI: Pink means temporary survey markings.

Sad but inevitable. Considering the location, this is a valuable real estate. I need to get out there next year.

This closing hits close to home for me. I served as interim public relations manager at California’s Great America in 2012 and was there for the announcement of Gold Striker. It’s sad to see a park with so much history and so many memories preparing to close its gates for good.

Here's how the new lands are going to be split. (the map is a bit outdated so some rides are missing)

Within the current lineup, I'd say the parks on the chopping block are Dorney, Frontier City, Darien Lake, SFDK, SF Mexico, SFNE, and Kings Dominion. What I'd prefer, if parks are being sold? Kings Island and Kings Dominion are sold to Herschend or United.

Catering toward who the majority of their guests are versus the enthusiast community with the recent additions. That strategy has worked as Kings Island continues to be one of the top attendance parks in the chain.

I hope they rebuild it in the parking lot. For old times sake.

Unfortunately, many of our rides are old and take more maintenance as they get older. The trains take a lot of abuse and need some TLC when they get the age they are. I still think KI has some of the best maintenance in the business. And yes, to the guests it stinks when a ride isn't going or is down a train, but in KI's situations, it has been because maintenance found something and repaired it. Knock on wood we haven't taken a page out of other parks and reduce train ops for light attendance. Look at all the folks saying Beast would be down 2 trains the rest of the year and how many accused the park of going to one train on The Bat to start winter maintenance early. Both of which were not the case. And the easy answer for The Bat would have been to simply let it go with one train ops, but maintenance worked on it and got it back to two train ops. Also, keep in mind, the park can do additional testing during the week when the park isn't open, and they routinely find things that taking a train offline now for a few weeks reduces the risks of a bigger issue later.

The rides are closed because their safety is in question. Their safety is in question because there may have been a mechanical failure on the train. The money reason they're closed is because if the unthinkable were to happen again before the investigation is done then that would be a company ending event.

This time they better save something for me. I was too broke for the auction.

Question is, will the parade return to KI this year during Winterfest? I certainly hope it does. Especially with the lengthened hours on the weekends. If true, the cuts to the live entertainment are disappointing. That was always a hallmark of the event. Lets just hope that the 12 Days of Christmas is in better shape than it has been the last couple of years. If anything has grown stale at Winterfest, it is the decorations on this "experience." Winterfest 2005, the train was just magical with a story behind it.

Made it down to Mammoth Cave this past Wednesday for a quick escape. It was a warm, muggy day for about a two-hour drive, but totally worth it. The park was way more crowded than I expected as every cave tour was completely sold out when we got there. That honestly didn't bother me too much since we just wanted to do the basic tour that heads back to the Methodist Church room anyway. The visitor center just went through a massive renovation and looks great, with nice food spots, good gift shops, and friendly staff. Plus, the surrounding forest is just pristine. It felt so good to get back out into a National Park, and I'm definitely planning to squeeze in more trips using my pass this coming spring and summer. (I've also been hitting up some KY state parks lately for day trips, and the fall foliage right now is just unreal.) As for the cave itself, the ambient temp down there is wonderful, you definitely need a light jacket. This particular route is super accessible for kids and older folks. You start with about 60 easy, mostly dry steps down the historic entrance, followed by a pretty steep slope leading into the Methodist Church room. Our ranger was a young guy named Nick, and I have to say, he was easily one of the best park storytellers I've ever listened to. He spoke with total authenticity, his tone and texture of his voice and his facial expressions just showed how into the history he was. He walked us through the whole history of early cave ownership, including how it operated as a saltpeter mine during the War of 1812 and helped the U.S. win the war. One thing that completely blew my mind down there was seeing all the concrete lining the pathways and stairs. I finally asked Nick how on earth they managed to haul equipment and materials deep underground to pour all that. He told me they literally lowered everything down in five-gallon buckets—water and all—and mixed, poured, and stamped the whole thing foot by foot. Unreal engineering. He also pointed out some ancient cave drawings along the walls that most casual tourists would completely walk right past. Of course, I had to investigate his stories to see if they were tall takes, but they were all verified on reputable sites. Great day overall. Really scratched that national park itch. I'm thinking Smokey Mountain National Park will be on the agenda sooner than later.

Let's postulate so I can try and follow the logic Six Flags may be using: We will open the rides at noon. So 8 or 10 more hours of ride staffing across the park. We will reduce entertainment and roaming characters by XX amount. Does it cost more to staff the rides for the extra 8 (or 10) hours each or does it cost more to maintain characters and entertainment? Ideally, they would have rides open during the day, maybe add in a couple of more, and then cut out the thrill rides at night and double down on entertainment and atmosphere. That could keep people in the park longer which would, ideally, increase per cap spending. We are fast becoming a worlds of fun or a Dorney parking the trajectory they followed post Paramount acquisition.

You should give Kentucky Kingdom a second chance. The park is doing a lot better under Herschend.

And just when we thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel, it was just another train...

Apparently survey markings are already appearing at Carowinds in the rumored area outside the never used South Gate between Afterburn and Thunder Striker. While doesn't confirm anything, I think the odds that Carowinds is the one receiving this ride has sky rocketed!

Not that it’s important given this incident, but the Six Flags brand/name is dead. Time for some serious change, selling off parks, restructuring, bankruptcy, whatever. It’s over.

And then there were cranes, send in the cranes.