beastfan11

Need something similar for Coney. Glad to see this happening!

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.

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.

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

Ditto. That last hour of the auction was wild. Love to have a piece, still.

Just added the site/app to my phone Home Screen per the prompt. Looks great! Thanks to all who made this happen.

Ryan the Ride Mechanic said pretty much the same thing in his first video about this situation. Screamscape is always going to Screamscape, so I’m not sure if they have actual sources or are just piggybacking of off his expertise, but yeah… the reopening of coasters outside the Six Flags chain looks pretty darning, whether they’re ultimately at fault or not.

Be nice if these coasters stopped trying to kill people.

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.

I’d retheme it to a revamped, beautifully landscaped area of Coney Mall with a moderate/thrilling family-style wooden coaster from The Gravity Group, a collection of new and classic flat rides, and maybe even a new quick service restaurant. There’s so much underutilized space in and around the Junkyard Coaster. It could become something more than just “one” new attraction. I miss that area of the park from before it was a parking garage. A lot. Something like this alongside the Eiffel Tower, Grand Carousel, and the new covered seating area could be an appropriate way to bring some character back to that area specifically. Honestly above a Vortex replacement on my list.

The media doing media things: Repeating myself and others, but… The Six Flags brand is utterly detrimental to the future success of the chain and its portfolio. It’s insane to me how forced this entire merger has seemed. It’s been lambasted as a terrible idea since the beginning and people may be getting harmed/killed as a result. Edit: Don’t want to double post Ryan The Ride Mechanic provided some well informed insights regarding the accident in a video posted a few hours ago:

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.

Outrage, sure. But I think mostly total denial. How many people are still using Paramount ride names? Haha. They could try to change the park name but I don’t think anyone would listen.

Absolutely horrifying if something happened to the integrity of the restraints. Hard to believe that would be a B&M issue. But in an era where the chain is slashing maintenance budgets much as they are, it would be absolutely devastating to learn this happened as a result of something that could have been avoided if the chain cared more about safety as opposed to their wallets.

Hard to imagine the restraint totally failing. Curious to see what happened. Some (hearsay) reports are saying the train came back into the station with the restraint up/open. If that’s true, it’s probably more realistic to think it was never properly locked in the first place.