johnjniehaus

Don't get me wrong CP is my favorite amusement park ever and I'm happy to have it in Ohio but it's interesting that they get 3 new coasters back to back to back years and the newly acquired six flags parks instead of getting new coaster get coasters taken away from them.

Just as I suspected... Six Flags: "we aren't removing anything. It's all just rumors" ACE Regional Rep: "demolition has already begun" The lack of communication or pure dishonesty is more upsetting to me personally than the actual closures/ride removals.

Here's a response from the ACE regional rep I got this morning confirming the la vibora and El Diablo removals. I contacted the park as well but they've been pretty tight lipped about all the potential removals so far so I'll most likely get the typical check the website and attractions are subject to availability automatic response

Literally right! I prefer a standup over a floorless but even if they move green lantern to another park and convert it to a floorless it's still better than scrapping it. There ride isn't that old. Heck if they moved iron wolf and it's still beating the crap out of people at six flags America, they by golly had better let green lantern live on at another park where people would be really happy to ride it. Imagine how much people would love it if it went to one of the smaller six flags or if it went to valleyfair? People at those parks would value that ride much more. It's not that green lantern is a bad ride but it faces a similar situation that Mantis at CP did which was that it's one coaster in a sea of other good coasters and it just so happens to be more uncomfortable than some of the others so the ridership is lower and the complaints are higher. (I personally never thought it was uncomfortable but I have an amazing track record with stand-ups) My point being please six flags don't scrap it but let it live on and delight some guests at a smaller park who would be thrilled to have it in their lineup.

I'm not opposed to a top spin going back in there but I think the point is that it's never going to happen. They are maintenance heavy rides that in general do not get high ridership at the parks that do have them. How many parks do you see building new top spins versus parks removing top spins? I think lost Island built some kind of top spin but Kings Dominion, Six Flags Great America, and now Six Flags Great Adventure are all parks that I can name immediately that got rid of their top spin. As for the madhouse concept, I loved Houdini at great adventure and waited 30 minutes for it twice. I think madhouses are more about the illusion of flipping upside down and about the story/thematic elements. Sure a top spin is more thrilling but which ride will have less maintenance and higher ridership? I'm just saying that a high thrill ride that only daredevil teens and park enthusiasts will ride is not what the current park leadership is going to invest in. A mad house is right up their alley of trying to appeal to a wider audience with a new attraction. You can have smaller kids on a madhouse, teens, parents, and grandparents. It really is a family attraction that everyone can enjoy while being a very rerideable ride if the story is compelling and the effects are done well. The Houdini madhouses are possibly some of the worst ones compared to some of the ones they have in Europe. So while I'd enjoy a top spin, a madhouse is still a really really good option and there aren't very many of them in the USA so at least it would be something unique and different.

Maybe we can talk Mike Koontz into getting Twister from Six Flags Great Adventure when it gets removed... Top Spins are alot of fun if I do say so myself

Hey thanks to @AlexCutlerDDN for starting this forum to get the opinions of the fans. First of all, Vortex was a very special coaster with historical significance to the park. To this day I'll never understand why they demolished that beautiful station house that was used for both the original Bat and Vortex. (Meanwhile they leave the action theater, tomb raider, and Son of Beast station house sitting around looking terrible) So back on topic, I have some ideas for The Vortex plot and on new attractions in general. I feel that there has been a strong family focus on the park since the addition of Banshee in 2014. Mystic Timbers was a good family coaster (48" height requirement) addition, the antique autos was a great family ride, they revamped Octoberfest into adventure port with some new flats, and we had two planet/camp Snoopy additions in 2016 and 2024 respectively. Orion has been the only real big bad thrill ride addition and I'd like to see something a bit more on the thrill level replace Vortex. Just about anything by Mack rides would be fantastic, I'd go for an Intamin launch coaster like pantheon, or I'd love to see a new gen Vekoma (especially a flying coaster that could use that terrain and pay homage to Firehawk as well as Vortex). As for other additions, boo Blaster needs to go sooner rather than later and I am 100% behind a phantom theater revival. However, one could make the case to build a ground up phantom theater elsewhere in the park and that would be great as well as long as it stays true to the original attraction and does use practical effects and animatronics. I would like to see an indoor coaster or dark ride return to the tomb raider building. @Cedar Fair Fanboy has a great idea of a vekoma madhouse in that space and I think it's a really solid idea. We all know that Action Zone needs a refresh/retheme however, I would much prefer to see The Vortex plot addressed, phantom theater return, and a new attraction inside the tomb raider building before removing or retheming rides in Action Zone. I think the Action Zone refresh can wait until around 2030 and let the other projects take priority. I guess that is my opinion for what it's worth and the only other thing I should mention is they should do whatever refurbishment/maintenance necessary to keep the Monster and The Bat operating for many more years to come. Keeping both of those classics is more important to me personally than getting a new ride of any kind.

Does anyone have information concerning Six Flags Over Texas potentially removing rides? I'd say la vibora is probably toast but I'd like to travel down there to ride shockwave if anyone can find substantial information that it is going to be removed as well

They need a new big coaster that's for sure but rumors are la vibora is closing (RCDB already has it listed as defunct). They could do something in that front section if they moved some of the flats and/or got rid of the Larson Loop. Shockwave should never have to make way for something else when there are much worse coasters in the park. I of course am sad to see la vibora get removed if that is what is happening but it was an ok ride as compared to shockwave which is easily in my top 25 out of 300 something credits. That ride has such solid positive Gs in the first half and crazy negatives (airtime) in the second. Also it's a beautiful coaster from the interstate. Come on six flags just keep it around but if you are going to close it please tell us so I make plans to go get my final rides...

The one I'm going to be angry about is if they take down shockwave at SFOT. That ride is still one of the best in that park and they've done refurbishments to mindbender and revolution so Texas better get things in gear and save shockwave

I'm interested in what others are hearing. I have been getting all sorts of rumors from fellow ACE members about multiple unannounced coaster removals in the works across the chain. According to the rumors I've heard, Six Flags Great Adventure is removing green lantern and Kingda Ka will not reopen in its current form. Rumor has it that six flags over texas is removing La Vibora (already listed as defunct on RCDB) and Shockwave. Then I hear that Carolina Cyclone and Hurler are getting the axe over at Carowinds... My question is, have any of you heard or can confirm these rumors and if the rumors are true, why would the chain hold off till the off season to make announcements of massive ride removals or will the announcement it at all? I understand people are going to be furious about certain removals but I don't understand the strategy of "then we just won't tell them". I'd prefer to be told in a timely fashion and have a chance for last rides rather than have multiple coasters removed over the off season with no official announcement from the park.

https://sanduskyregister.com/news/549800/cedar-point-begins-removal-of-ride/ Apparently the sky coaster is being removed along with snake river falls .... that was kind of predictable if you ask me

Adventure Express and Backlot would be the only other coasters because they are more family type attractions. In terms of flats, Viking Fury would be fun and I would also like to see the Monster open but that might not be possible considering how many parts there are to take apart and put together during the off season for that ride. Something in Action Zone would be a welcome addition to the ride lineup but all of those rides would be so COLD!!! That's the only other concern is that some rides are just too cold in the winter to interest the average guest.

Well everyone knows that looney tunes has an "interesting" history to say the least. In a world that we can't have br'er rabbit, br'er fox, br'er bear and zipidy do da day I'm shocked that we can have kids areas themed to Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny. I know the newer looney tunes are a lot more politically correct in terms of their style of humor but I'd be curious if the chain is looking to retire the looney tunes IP...???

The Racer being open during the event because I personally like it better than Mystic Timbers. Love love love tinker's toy factory Thought I might try the buffet this year as I've never been in the International Street restaurant I also have the meal plan this time around so I am looking forward to getting food and hopefully some of the holiday offerings will be included on the meal plan

Yeah I can see that gift card increasing the show budget quite a bit...and I did feel like the show was less attended last year. Will say that $10 gift card was a nice perk to a participating audience member. My dad got to play Scrooge once and he was doing really well until he had to dance a jig. (My dad doesn't dance and whatever he did looked like a peanuts costume character dance that was kinda ridiculous) Overall great show and it'll be missed.

Sad to see What the Dickens got budget cut because that was one of my favorite shows however it was poorly attended both nights I saw it last year. I'll consider The Racer and Snoopys Soap Box Racers a worthy replacement for losing my second favorite Winterfest show. I'd like to see them bring back a Dickens Christmas Carol show at some point but perhaps do a bit bigger production with less comedy and make it a good Shakespeare style show. Different direction.

Maybe we can just replace The Bat with a B&M family invert named The Bat: The Bat's Revenge... For real though, I think The Bat has some time considering Invertigo is probably also on its way out. I don't think The Bat is going to last forever and I do not see the park making any big investments in it like BGW did with Loch Ness but, I don't think it's being removed anytime soon. Hopefully KI doesn't prove me wrong on that...

Interesting take! I can agree it's a two trick pony but man does it do those two things 10x better than any other coaster! Same here. I'm trying to not spark a bunch of controversy with anyone who thinks we all need to get on the pumpkin wagon and call it by the new name but man it's going to be so hard to quit calling it I-305. Even when I say Top Thrill 2 I still say it in a very sarcastic tone of voice and if I'm being serious about the ride it's still "the Dragster"

Sell - they are never going to do something that large scale especially when it comes to altering one of the most iconic rides in the park to that extreme. I'm not sure who thinks it's a good idea to make the world's longest wooden coaster even longer (and accept risks involved of potentially ruining the ride in some way) rather than just build a new ride which does carry some risk of maintenance issues but at least you aren't losing an existing ride if it doesn't work out. Buy or Sell - Dollywood will retire Blazing Fury and replace it with a new RMC version of the ride by 2030 much like SDC did with Fire in the Hole.

I personally do think the final helix and airtime hills on fury 325 are weak compared to the injector and the really forceful helix near the end of Orion. However, all things considered, Fury is the superior ride. Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland while still run is clearly the worst of the B&M trio of gigas. Having said that, I personally will take an Intamin giga over a B&M giga any day. Millennium Force and I-305 (now pantherian) are both in their own league. The sense of speed and the low to the ground elements are unmatched and the speed is really showcased. You could argue that Fury has the best collection of elements on a giga coaster and also has the highest top speed but the intensity of I-305 blows Fury away for me. Even millennium Force still has a crazy amount of straightaways and turns that highlight the pure speed of the coaster. You do have to treasure milli for not having a single trim the entire ride

It would be nice to see the Coney Island model purchased by Kings Island and displayed inside the festhaus or perhaps the Kings Island theater but I know that'll never happen

One of my friends suggested Ignition 305 which I personally would have totally been behind. Keep the race car theme and the abbreviation of I-305. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of the new name as it's much too close to Pantheon as has been already pointed out. I understand they want to incorporate the ride into jungle expedition but gosh some of these new names for rollercoasters man I'm telling you. It's like comic book writers and preschool kids are naming the rollercoasters these days Whatever happened to good coaster names like The Beast and Millennium Force?

Buy - I think that while currently we haven't seen much investment in Kentucky Kingdom, the fact they are running holiday events, is a really good sign and a step in the right direction. I'm hoping to see a really solid coaster addition to replace T3...heck maybe they can convince six flags great adventure to give greenlanter/chang back seeing as there's rumors floating around concerning the possible removal of Green lantern. I think Kentucky Kingdom is a solid local park but I would like to see it become a park that people know they must visit when they come to the tristate area to visit Kings Island or Holiday World. Herschlend can most definitely run and manage a park very well but I just don't know what they long term goal is with Kentucky Kingdom. I'm buying that they will figure it out and make it successful. Buy or Sell: Top Thrill 2 will be open for the Cedar Point opening weekend 2025

I agree that is ridiculous and I can answer the question for you right now on why does the park invest in bars and not invest in hot chocolate while saying they want to be more family friendly - Answer: alcohol can be marked up a ridiculous amount at theme parks and sports stadiums for the sake of just making more money. As for the hot chocolate, why would they care about that because they already have your money. Same issue as them never having ice in the drink machines. Why have ice and invest in a good product when you already have everyone's money? With alcohol, they have to make a good product because they have to actually sell it and make the money that day and people aren't going to pay a ridiculous upcharge on alcohol if the product sucks. As for being family friendly, what is more family friendly than Mom and Dad having a few drinks while their hooligans are off unsupervised line jumping and fighting with other teens? I personally don't drink alcohol, I have nothing against anyone who does and I have some good friends who usually go buy an alcoholic beverage at Kings Island when they visit however I agree that it's hypocritical to say we want to be more family friendly but then have a garbage product on things like hot chocolate and soft drinks that families want during their visit. If not every location is going to honor a season pass hot chocolate drink plan, you shouldn't have to go to guest services to figure it out. There should be a sign outside the dining location advertising the hot chocolate drink plan or at the very least put out a sign that says it can't be used at that location.