CoasterJack

As a Cedar Fair shareholder, this does not excite me... However I am a bit skeptical of this going through myself. The Six Flags earnings call is next week too, so it makes me curious if this is true, did one company in particular initiate the conversation? Also, personally, I don't see this merger being a good thing. One on side, yay my pass gets me into more parks. But on the other side, especially recently, the strategy of the companies has been so different, and less competition means higher prices for us potentially. Also that's a lot of regional parks, my fear is some will receive less attention or perhaps some will be sold off. However, if this did go through, would it be an equal merger, or would it be one company assuming the name of another. Too much unknown at this time, but this keeps appearing every couple seasons now, which makes me think one company is gonna go at some point or another.

Appears to be the front car of Falcon's Flight if you ask me

Made my first Haunt trip of the year last night. Would say the new Alien Abyss maze is definitely a step up from CHAOS. The park was packed, but still found plenty of things to do. Arrived around 6:30 to a 3 minute line for the ID and entry process, however my friend who arrived at 7:55 had a less exciting experience waiting for about 15 minutes through entry and security. Abandoned was a fun addition as a scare zone, I enjoyed the props more than the Rivertown Reaping in the past. I love all the decor throughout the park, but I agree that some of it feels a little stale. I love the theming and little details over the park, but some more additions could definitely help freshen up the experience. Again, not saying it was bad by any means, just that as someone who has attended Haunt every year consecutively for at least 15 years now, it would be nice to see a little more than just a new maze and scare zone per year. The DJ in Coney Mall was a bit of a strange vibe, but later in the night the area returned to its normal, demented carnival music. Had the pulled pork sandwich with Mac & Cheese at Coney BBQ, and definitely hit the spot. Rides were all quite busy, with a 30 minute Adventure Express and Banshee queue being the shortest of the night, but I'll never turn down any chance for a KI night ride, especially on AE . Overall, for a 5 hour visit, getting 5 mazes and 4 coasters on a Haunt night ain't bad for the level of crowd. Felt the staffing felt adequate except for Hotel Michelle, but also could've just been myself missing all the scares . Overall, I'd give my Haunt experience an 8.5/10. It felt good to be back in the park, witnessed minimal security problems as KI security was on any situation almost instantly. Food was great, maze lines moved quickly, a decent amount of fog in the main areas, and had a few personal favorite interactions with scare actors I've had in years. Not the best Haunt experience I've ever had, but certainly was a fun night in the park, especially for the amount of people there.

Earlier this year some friends and I were stuck on Drop Tower for about 25 minutes at the top. Needless to say, I won't be enjoying any more company with me on that ride after that experience, none of them will set foot on that ride for the next decade

Agreed, I've seen quite a bit of action going on in the Blackout building. However, they could have repurposed the building for something else, but I'm hopeful for some new mazes this year!

I'm all for sponsorships and advertising if it's done in a presentable manner. For example, how Disney in the past would have rides such as "Space Mountain presented by RCA" or "Siemens presents Space Ship Earth. Like I feel Aeronautica Landing at Carowinds would've been a prime example to be presented by one of the airlines. Like how hard would it be to put signs entering the area saying "presented by United Airlines" or something. I get maybe KI isn't as big of a market as the Disney & Universal parks, and I certainly don't want entire ride vehicles turning into adverts like Six Flags has done in the past, but I feel like there's a good middle ground to be found. I'm all for other companies helping fund the maintenance of these rides. Like perhaps a new Dark Ride presented by I dunno, P&G, TQL, GE, Kroger, etc. If it allows KI to focus funds elsewhere without majorly impacting the experience, I'm all for it. It just would need to be carried out in a strategic way, not just lazily slapping ads over everything that makes it feel like a discount experience. I'm open to anyone else's thoughts on this as well ...

Choosing a different SOB manufacturer over RCCA?

I saw this too. I'm thinking a new app would work better with mobile ordering. It sounded like that was part of the intention, along with promoting other food items, attractions and activities.

Just a heads up, those earnings are for this past winter. If you look at the very first screenshot, it shows that the earnings for the 2nd quarter are still scheduled to come out August 3rd. I haven't seen any official projections as of now, but I'll monitor to see if anything appears before tomorrow

It was actually playing this past Saturday on the climb. I could hear it from the first row at least

I've gathered the same thing from a few short conversations with Koontz. That man truly gives his all for the park, and you can tell he really cares about every aspect. He always has amazing expectations and great ideas, but I feel as if he's sometimes a little disappointed in what is ultimately allocated for them to work with. I feel he's one of the core reasons I feel the atmosphere and apperance of the park so greatly improved over the past few years. KI is very fortunate to have someone so passionate about the park. But this also worries me that with the frustrations of the corporate board mounting, he decides to call it quits, which would be a huge loss for us and for the park

I see two sides to this... On one side, it is disappointing not getting the "full experience" with a racing racer, water rides opening later, etc. Additionally, those whose hours are cut are potentially upset. Though we don't know all the details, they could potentially move some of those workers cut to other positions or rides for the time being. For example, an extra station worker or two at the more popular rides. I get it's a slippery slope of not cutting too much without sacrificing too much of the experience. On the otherhand, I get that they're also trying to use our money wisely. As someone said above, Cedar Fair has always played conservatively when it comes to spending money. They maintain good parks with good infrastructure, but you don't usually see them going on a mass spending spree. Well maybe the Paramount Parks purchase was rather large, but I would say that's been a good investment. What I'm trying to say is I also understand the business side. They want to pay down debt, while still being able to contribute towards new additions and experiences. As enthusiasts, we might not get everything we want. While I would love a huge $30 million dollar coaster every two years, I wouldn't want that to lead to our park being sold off or going under due to overspending (such as Six Flags Ohio). I also understand that things have been rather concerning in the industry on the upcoming condition of the economy. I don't blame them too much for wanting to stay prepared to be able to weather another financial recession if needed. That is their job after all. As the park guest, it's disappointing that I have to wait an extra hour or two for my ride to open, but if that means the park can starve off additional entertainment cuts, ride closures, and better survive an attendance/spending decline, then I'm here for it. Also as a side note, it's been a rough summer season. I help with some pool mechanics at a local pool, and while June started out strong, it's been dead the past few weeks with so many pop-up storms, cloudy days, or scorching days, I could definitely see how attendance could be affected by the weather in addition to other circumstances. Just a though...

Off topic, but the fun that could be had with some simple Photoshop and an "another fine project of RMC banner" hanging on the station. The amount of little effort that could go into trolling the entire coaster community would be a fun time had by the KI marketing department. I'm sure you could honestly get RMC in on it too

Are you talking about the instrumental intro, I think it was something like this. It's the theme, just without the guitar and has this dramatic feeling to it. I remember this playing throughout the station and with them loading the trains and the hissing of the brakes, it was one of the coolest feelings. Top Gun Anthem Instrumental without Guitar

There was one day in 2019 this was blasting on the Fun TV, and walking into the station, it felt like a rush of adrenaline and memories all at once. It was great

I have mixed feelings on this attraction. On one hand, it's a cool unique experience not a whole lot of other water parks this size offer, but that's also its downfall. It doesn't really seem to do well for a park as busy as Soak City. It has abysmal capacity, and I think a lot of people don't even consider trying it. I love it personally, but also I can see it being a huge liability issue.

While FoF was a nightmare at first, it's ironically one of the more reliable rides considering the technology was the first of its kind.

I'm gonna be honest, the ride felt and looked in its worst shape during the flight deck era. Especially when it was in dire need of a paint job. I'm forgetting which year this photo was taken, but I think the picture speaks for itself. Most of it was wear from the train wheels, but still, looking back, the orange track made a world of a difference.

The fact that it's now 30 years old already blows my mind.

Yeah, I can confirm from multiple sources Drop Tower isn't down due to staffing. For Delirium, I have no clue, but it seems to get caught up in getting specific parts every few years or so. Max-Air is the same way. I've heard from someone in maintenance last decade at both CP & KI at different times that this ride is "fun" to work on to say the least. The Bat is more of a mystery, they definitely had some equipment back at the ride working on sections of track, but that's about all I know. I will say, they recently replaced the station roof in I wanna between 2021 and 2022 (confirmed it happened, don't know when). They also did some upgrades to the motor and chain system, I believe (can't confirm this). Also, they were very quick to work on the ride after the wheel incident. So clearly the park still has put some work recently into this coaster, and I don't think they have any intentions I know of to let it go soon. However, if they use this opportunity for an extended refurb, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to a favorite of mine getting a little TLC. All I can confirm is the parts being the issue on Drop Tower and probably Delirium being parts, and that bat received a new roof and maybe lift hill work recently

I'll give this a try... 1. Kings Island will have an RMC product within the next decade 2. Cedar Fair will sell a park within the next decade 3. Cedar Point will work with Intamin on a new project before 2030. 4. No B&M coasters will be built within the next decade at KI 5. International Restaurant will open for regular operation by 2026

That's amazing!

This is the advantage of going to the park with your 6'4 brother and 6' 6" cousin. A simple "sorry, no" sends them right back to the beginning of the line Sadly, I did not inherit this same height advantage

I see it as another way to not tolerate any misbehavior. Like if I'm a guard and I see two siblings at 6pm browsing for a new squishmallow, I probably wouldn't say anything. But if there's kids causing trouble, being a disturbance, being rude, line cutting, etc, it's an easy way to just be like "hey, you're not supposed to be here. I need you to leave the park". I don't work for the park or am affiliated in any way. However, I could see this just being an easy way to eject any rowdy young teens when needed

Yeah, I agree with the fact that it's interesting that all the trouble in the past few years seems to be caused by 14-18 year olds. I mean even last week it was a 17 year old, who technically would still be allowed in. It's a shame because my youngest brother travels with his friends numerous times over the summer, and they're all 14-15. I think there's a better chance Six Flags buys Disney World than them getting in to trouble. And I know quite a few others that age that will definitely be disappointed. But also I completely understand. Over the past few years, even being there with my brother and his friends, there are people in line that act like they've never been in a public setting before, and it's a sad reality that some can't be responsible for themselves, even as a 17 or 18 year old. However, I think this was ultimately a good decision on the parks behalf. It sucks that some good kids have to get the short end of the stick, but sadly, that's just how life is sometimes.