Losantiville Mining Co.

Unfortunately these delayed openings have been a trend for both companies — even pre-merger. Kings Island opened Adventure Port and Camp Snoopy late. Apparently AP was a late decision, but Camp Snoopy had the same amount of time as every other addition normally does and was not finished until long after Opening Day. Great Adventure had to delay The Flash: Vertical Velocity's 2024 opening date to March 2025. Over Georgia had to delay Georgia Goldrusher by that same amount of time. None of these are to mention TT2 and its issues (the closing was justified, but it does not leave a good mark). This year makes it a trend with AlpenFury, Siren's Curse, Snoopy's Racing Railway & Charlie Brown's River Raft Blast, Quantum Accelerator, Wrath of Rakshasa, and Montezooma's Revenge all having delayed openings. Rapterra may be the only new roller coaster in Six Flags that opened with its park this year. I could understand if Memorial Day weekend (or the weekend before) became the new standard of when to open new attractions, but that should be the backup date IMO. I hope someone with a big enough voice in Six Flags right now has made a presentation that says "Why are all of our new major additions opening after June 15th?" and is at least looking at how to get things right for 2027 attractions. Money and the merger may be an issue, but I don't think guests will happily put up with that excuse. If I were a Silver Pass holder, I might be questioning my next moves for when passes go on sale (presumably) in August.

Has anyone seen development for rides at parks not listed in the November press release? Apparently there have been some B&M track shipments at Great Escape and some "theming" added to the Snake River Falls plot, but I haven't heard much else from other parks. Fiesta Texas will be celebrating their 35th anniversary soon and I think there's been some rumblings for that too. It's nice that they went back and corrected the spelling of Kings Island on the press release though — shame it wasn't caught before it first went out. I marked what the status of some of those projects are (from what I know), but I could be wrong on one or two.

Rumor has it that AlpenFury now has less than 2 weeks until opening. Some of the games they built look really nice and fit into the theming, and the areas around the coaster continue to be finished. Amusement Insiders (on YouTube) showed what they could from the fence line and it looks like the station might be the last thing keeping the ride closed. Canada's Wonderland has been receiving some semi-justified hate because of the ride's 2.5 month delayed opening. Hopefully Six Flags can see this and try to understand why it is crucial to plan for attractions to try to open by Memorial Day, not what ever has been happening these last few years. The ride, station, area, and the glockenspiel all look like they'll be beautiful when they're done. I can't wait to see it! I still feel bad for Silver Pass holders. Maybe some of them will upgrade to Gold for this year.

I'd love to see the Festhaus and Viking Fury either be sectioned into International Street and/or have Action Zone transformed into New Oktoberfest and connect it up to the remains of the original. I think the latter especially could work well, even if Banshee is kept the same (hopefully with a fresh coat of paint). I also hope the park eventually converts the rest of Planet Snoopy to become Camp Snoopy. That may have been a budget constraint — although it's odd that the most forested part of Planet Snoopy wasn't included. The most some of those rides would have needed would have been a new sign and maybe a name. Allegedly there are some new stakes planted in the Kingda Ka/Green Lantern/Parachutes plot at Great Adventure. Maybe this (late-ish) good news from Great Adventure could mean Kings Island's 2026 attraction is still on the table? With the way the company is going right now I could see a world where it gets cut.

Do you know if these (presumably somewhat correct) numbers are including or excluding the stock options? I'm not going to try to understand what goes into the top-level executive salary decisions, but $5 million per year off the top of three of those executives could help pay for a lot. That would be $20.43 million ($11.25m + $4.09m + $5.09m) down to $15.43 million ($8.25m + $3.09m + $4.09m). Whether that cash went into more staffing in the parks, small upgrades/installations to each park, or one new toy for Cedar Point (jk), it could probably do some good. I did this math without thinking everything through, so please consider it as a thought experiment and not business advice. Read it at your own risk! For context and some simple (too simple) math: a $13/hour paycheck, 40 hour workweek for 4 months will cost Six Flags $9880.00 in wages per Food & Beverage associate. That $5 million could pay the wages for about 506 new full-time (40hr/week) or 1,012 part-time (20hr/week) seasonal associates from May-August. Spread across 27 amusement parks that number comes down to about 18/36 associates per park, which isn't a lot, but could mean a little more consistent F&B operations if done right. I'd think it should only take 4-6 associates per park running around to deliver ice and syrup cartridges to every drink stand.

Hmm. Another day-of/hour-of announcement. It seems like they don't want to sell as many as they could if it had been posted yesterday or earlier this morning.

The new ads/sponsorships don't bother me too much since they just seem to be popping up around the midways and under some ride ID signs (Delirium — Presented by Snickers). If they start filling up the park to the point where everything has an ad, and where ride cars start to be wrapped in logos, then I'll be a lot more upset. If this is what Six Flags has to do for a few years to offset some of the budget cuts, then so be it. I'd rather see ads than have to experience another ride closure (which is not a guaranteed possibility either way). Did anyone else notice that Kings Island's Star Spangled Nights (presented by M&M's) logo says "Night" while Carowinds' Star Spangled Nights (presented by M&M's) logo says "Nights"? It's not really an issue, but it makes me wonder if this was a quality control (proofreading) issue or an issue with initial scheduling that would've only had one night of fireworks. The "'s" was not corrected for the event step-and-repeat outside the front gate either.

Thank you! I wish Six Flags would include showtimes and dates in the descriptions for each show on the website and mobile app.

Has anyone been able to get the actual showtimes schedules for this season? I'm trying to plan a day where I can come see all three shows (Country Crossroads, Trailblazers Xtreme, and Hot Rhythm Nights) and can't find a full list anywhere.

Interesting. That definitely doesn't seem as good of a method as holding most guests on International Street and only sending pass holders toward the ERT rides. Could the change be due to the reduction in staffing? I can't imagine a great reason to let guests into the rest of the park before anything is open, unless the rope drop crowds are just that insanely large.

A new Phantom Theater would be awesome! I really like when references are done indirectly as easter eggs, rather than having them be direct tie-ins. Connecting this storyline to the rest of the park would likely best work if it were done like it is over in Area 72. Kings Island would need to put a good chunk of money into making this project worthy of the name, and would also need to dedicate a nice portion of the maintenance budget into keeping it maintained. It would behoove them to create B-modes for each scene as well. Cedar Fair was developing a plan beginning around 2012/2013 to install new interactive dark rides in their parks, but it never panned out like they had hoped. See Wonder Mountain's Guardian (Canada's Wonderland) and Knott's Bear-y Tales (Knott's Berry Farm) to find out how the first two installations went. What do you think should happen with the other three Boo Blasters rides if KI received a new Phantom Theater? Could they also become a smaller PT, or should those parks look into updating using another Sally Dark Rides property? Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion is also licensed through SDR, so Cedar Fair could have chosen to keep that version of the ride. Hopefully sometime soon Boo Blasters (technically Ghost Blasters 2.0 with an overlay) will get a good retheme that is not just a bunch of screens and frame sets. Screens, while cheap and easy, would not live up to the rides that have filled that building with joy since 1972. For a Soak City retheme, I'd go more for something like River Country was at WDW and call it Wildwater Country or Wildwater Junction. There could be a wooden water tower right as you enter the water park (therefore having a tower at the entrances of both the dry park and water park) with some Ohio River and Little Miami River theming. Cedar Point Shores can keep the Lake Erie theming to themselves. Moving away from the tropical theming could certainly make the water park more unique and stand out more. Now if only they could do something to deal with their capacity issues... Welcome to KIC!

Canada's Wonderland has had theirs set up like this with sprayers very close to the left and right walls of the fountain basin. It looked really nice and made the fountain feel full and alive. Imagine the image below but with the Eiffel Tower and much smaller trees. I'm glad maintenance is at least trying to fix the fountain as it is now though.

I thought it was removed because Paramount wanted to install new rides on that land, but I could be wrong. Xtreme Skyflyer, Hypersonic XLC, and their go karts took the space where the station and part of the track were. Now WindSeeker is the only thing left right there. The Federal Railroad Administration regulation may have been a compounding factor, but I don't know that it applied to railroads on private property like at KI, KD, and BGW. The "missing middle" that super7 mentioned has been an issue at a lot of Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks. This is the first year in quite a few where the Kings Dominion Theater has been used for regularly scheduled live entertainment. If Six Flags wants to attract more people to visit their parks, I think an easy way to do so would be to add attractions like trains, riverboats, and more live entertainment that runs at least Memorial Day to Labor Day. At one point (around 1985 or so) Kings Dominion had 8 venues for live entertainment. Today, that number is about 3-4 (not counting meet & greets, Action Theater, or the beloved Singing Mushrooms). It would be really nice to see that park transform a little more with more attractions to fill in that missing middle. I personally think the WWC level crossing is fine as it is. They could try to find a new configuration for the entrance, but, barring any crazy developments, it definitely will not be happening anytime soon.

I thought there still was one. They definitely had the gates up before 10 earlier in the season.

There would still need to be a crossing guard if the setup were identical to the Soak City crossing. If the entire crossing were grade-separated like it was before 2016, there would need to be a series of ramps in addition to the stairs up to the bridge. Changing it now would probably require the removal of the plant tunnels and a funky looking structure for the ramps. I enjoyed the look of the old entrance, but the one that's there now is considerably shorter and works well where it is. Building a bridge would probably cost way more than it would cost to just hire an associate to man that position year to year. There's a small rumor floating around that White Water Canyon could be on the chopping block too if Six Flags needs to cut more rides from each parks lineup. I wholeheartedly believe that Kings Dominion should build a new railroad, even if it requires a level crossing to get over to Grizzly. That park could use a good people-eater family attraction. The biggest obstacles would be navigating it back toward their Soak City so it can function as a transport attraction, but it could work. I think Six Flags America has a railroad, so maybe the trains could come from there after that park closes. I think the baby trains may be a little better than having one full-length train because a train (even with three cars) will come around the circuit more often, but that's just me.

The park usually only allows non-passholders into the front half of International Street prior to the official rope drop at 10AM to keep the crowds moving. The plaza between security and the front gate is not large enough to hold everyone that may be there for the rope drop, and it is harder to control who can get through with that smaller space. The solution to this issue is to employ associates to direct pass holders and ticket holders to direct and separate the crowd just inside the gate — something that Six Flags is not willing to do.

I'm still seeing a lot of people talking about Cedar Point's next coaster and how some props/decorations were set up around Snake River Falls. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think we'll be seeing any major additions there (or anywhere) if the "B" word happens. Even with reorganization, I can't imagine anyone coming out of this doing well enough to add a major coaster.

The new Six Flags will still be desperate to sell more season passes and get some money in the bank, so I bet we'll see another announcement around 8/8 (or 8/7 if they choose to have it on a Thursday again) right when 2026 pass sales start up. Delayed announcements might waste time that they could be using to generate more revenue. I think they could generate a little more buzz for these new attractions if they held in-person announcements again, instead of putting up a press release at 3AM, but what do I know I doubt we'll be seeing any attraction teasing either, unless it happens within two weeks of the announcements. Then there are also the potential issues with tariffs that seem to be signaling doom for additions like at Great Adventure. The company has a lot of work to do for 2026, and not a lot to show for it right now.

Don't get me wrong, I really do like what Kings Island has gotten over the past six years. Orion and Area 72 are really nice and work a lot better than what was there before. I would've welcomed something a little bigger than one of the smallest giga coasters, but it's good nonetheless. The post-lockdown 2020 season was far better than what it could have been, and 2021 followed suit. The 50th anniversary celebration is by far the best event I've ever been to (and it brought a lot of love and nostalgia into the park). It's certainly much better than what Kings Dominion is currently being dragged through. Adventure Port, while small and late to open, is very visually appealing and works well as an area. Camp Snoopy on the other hand is very nice to look at, but has not lived up to what it was supposed to be. A new family coaster and some good TLC for the area is awesome; however, it is far outpaced by areas of the same name at Carowinds and Cedar Point. The new Soak City expansions were much needed and appear to have resulted in some positives for that area of the waterpark. Despite those positives, I don't believe they do much to help the capacity of what is now the only major regional waterpark in SW Ohio. Each of these additions seems to have been done for the sake of doing something — rather than being done to an appropriate scale for the park. Thrill park or family park, the scale is simply too small. My issues are not with the investments the park could have gotten on its own. They are with the fact that other top-tier Cedar Fair (Six Flags) parks have received much better investments on all scales in recent years. Kings Island has received some good and needed additions. I just wish they would have been a little better than simply good. Over the last three years Cedar Point has received a large new midway refresh, complete with a small roller coaster and a large new restaurant; a massive roller coaster refurbishment. even if it does act like a lawn ornament most of the time; and a third brand new roller coaster. In that time Carowinds also celebrated their 50th anniversary, complete with a new area; completed some extensive upgrades to keep Carolina Harbor cool; and received two new family attractions, one being a family coaster larger than SSBR and the other being a family river raft ride. Five more feet of height on Orion's first drop. More trees, land/ride inclusions, and thought put into Camp Snoopy. More cooling upgrades to Soak City. Those are what I feel Kings Island deserved being a park of its size and stature. This is partly why I fear the 2026 Family Thrill Attraction will be a flat ride in a box rather than a Vekoma Madhouse or an immersive Dynamic Motion Stage. If the new standard is to only receive massive investment every 5 or 7 or 10 years, then Kings Island and Six Flags will need to prove that they care about the park.

Even if they don't bring back the pedestals, installing fountains like Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland have would probably look more grand than this. What's there now is fine (meh), but if they're not going to be used as intended then there is no good reason to keep them in this configuration.

Unfortunately, it seems most of Kings Island's new attractions after 2019 have been designed with this mentality. Whether it is from Cedar Fair/Six Flags holding the park down, or from the reasoning that KI is the "most penetrated park", the thought process for Kings Island additions is very much pushing forward because they have to and delivering an (arguably) mediocre/mid-tier product.

More delayed attraction openings announced as Six Flags New England posted the following on their Instagram page this morning. I haven't seen any confirmed reasons as to why it's delayed, but someone speculated it's due to a recall from the manufacturer. This marks the sixth or seventh "New for 2025" attraction that has been severely delayed for one reason or another. How I miss the days when attractions opened by Memorial Day.

I have a feeling we may see something to the effect of While guest attendance was down for our California and Texas parks due to extreme heat, we remain committed to our goal of improving guest satisfaction and fulfilling our role as the largest operator of regional amusement parks in North America. Unless they are prepared to tell the truth and face the wrath of shareholders, the excuses will continue to sugarcoat everything. If sugarcoating doesn't go far enough I could see a world where they host another call where questions are not allowed. Guests are seeing some big hits to operations. Let's hope the $1B in investments come without any trickery like if a promised new attraction is actually just a 20y/o ride relocation from Six Flags America.

Funny you mention that! I've been thinking about this specific topic and thought it would be super cool for KI to get a ground-up RMC in the Timberwolf/Skyflyer/Bat plots with the lift hill rising above the back seats of Timberwolf and turning then dropping into the valley where the stage is for an incredible drop. Depending on how it was done you might even be able to get a pretty tall drop without needing such a high lift hill, similar to Orion's situation.

Is this new Vekoma suspended dark ride model basically a new version of the model Peter Pan's Flight at the Magic Kingdom? I haven't seen many of these, but they seem like a cool gimmick. My only question is how the ride vehicles are unloaded/how riders are evacuated during an emergency stop. I doubt we'd see something like this at Kings Island any time soon. One complaint I currently have about Boo Blasters is that all of the lighting and sound effects in the queue line got turned off sometime in the last 10 years. KI's Boo Blasters is the only one with an indoor queue (as well as being the outlier overall), so I can understand that it would've required even more theming and props in the first place. The only change I can see coming to the FunTV situation in the Boo Blasters queue would be the replacement of both TVs with more/bigger screens.