IBEW_Sparky

Tried absolutely as hard as possible to concentrate on watching the trains and loading/offloading and vehemently ignoring people in the line because 90% of what is seen and overheard (like one braintrust who was claiming his friends that Backlot inverted 3 times inside the building) in a line drives me bananas. Now, if I don't have FL... well I don't go without FL, but if I HAD to Id go to a park with someone to enjoy the time with.

Oh it gets better, Ive already thought of a "new Family thrill attraction" that the thoosies (that .5% I spoke of) would eat up, even as an upcharge. Put ZTRs in The Vortex plot, the plots around the Floral Clock and ET, and around the SOB station and operate them like KMAA...One lap around the plot in a ZTR with The Vortex plot being the biggest upcharge because of the "thrilling terrain" during the ride! Now why cant all of these consultants and others with six figure pieces of paper on their walls come up with that??

Ive got a good compromise.... do you remember or did you ever see the stunt show at CP? Id LOVE to see one like that at KI because here is the thing with me and what makes me enjoy Cirque and GB for instance, the stunt show they put on there spent 90% of the time showcasing the skills of the bike and board riders and as a former of each, THAT is what I want to see. I understand your point and you make a good one, especially with my example using 2 outside shows, and if the park can keep one show like that, and one "in house" show of that level Id be in 100% all day, every day along with the bandstand show you mentioned. Im a high energy person as some here may have noticed, and if Im going to spend 30 minutes sitting outside watching a show I need to be locked in with action like Dive at HW or the former stunt show I talked about at CP. And of course for the most part Ive always enjoyed the shows at Festhaus because yes I CAN throttle myself back from Mach 12 and relax sometimes, and its always been nice to be able to cool off for an hour or so and enjoy Kis very good performers in that type of environment. Also, with the exception of the guest segment that makes up about .5% of total guest headcount, being able to have SOMETHING to place marketing emphasis on (new or solid returning shows) is always better than "Hey check out our new addition, GRASS, because thats all thats coming!".

Yes, and also bring back a Cirque quality show... I know laying out the cash for Cirque performers has to be up there but again, the one the park had was DEFINITELY worth it and a show like Gazillion Bubbles was really fun and again showed skills that I watch and get drawn in. Good live E, and food offerings is what it takes if they want to push the Family park narrative.

Id like to place strong emphasis and agreement on some of your last points here. Given an already small number being available for any cap-ex in 2026, it would make me incredibly happy to have the amount earmarked for KI to be put towards those types of improvements.... right now $18 million (purely speculative number used for example) will go MUCH further towards turning a minefield into a parking lot, stocking drink cups and flavoring syrup for Freestyle machines, and allowing sufficient staff to keep 3 train ops and clean restrooms/midways than it will towards any wood or steel constructed ride or attraction. That is the reason this park drew me back and away from the joint up north, like I said good ops, food, and entertainment hold my attention far better than a new shiny $25 mil coaster at a dump.

I have got a lot of thinking and soul searching to do, as well as watching to see who gets put in place to winch the USS FUNtanic up from the sea floor before I make a decision on getting back in, and Im telling you if HW/SS were to implement their own version of FastLane Id take the option of their Season Pass instead. That is the one, single scale tipper for me.... yep First World problems and it makes me sound like a Richard, Im good with that... but thats what even puts the idea of a Six Flags pass in the running.

Grand Carousel at Worlds of Fun, located just past Guest Services on the right side of the entrance pathway. Built in 1918 and relocated from Geauga Lake, its absolutely beautiful!

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away!! Cannon AE-1 was my tool of choice in that era but Kodak was certainly the film of choice.

I unfortunately was introduced right at the height/depth of SF:WoAs prime time as my very first trip there was September of 2003 as a newlywed with my Cleveland-born Wife and stepdaughter and over the next several years watched this very thing on a smaller scale happen in front of my eyes through the end of SF and short-term ride scavenging of CF. The special circumstances and memories of the park made that whole thing hurt inside, and now Im sitting here watching the entire 40-howevermany park chain go through a near-identical in my eyes fall on a much grander scale which I have to say really SUCKS for those of you who grew up here, some from the parks infancy. As much as Id Love to see some regional groups breaking off and finding new life in a more manageable pack, the problems would be first and foremost finding other operators anywhere in the World right now with enough available capital to even think of coming to the table with a number to buy, and then if you can do that the other problem would be getting true equality through the packs as there will always be one powerhouse that will demand the larger share of any cap-ex.

Apologies for the double-post, but the most genuinely unfortunate part of this entire debacle in my case is the fact that within the past 2-3 years I had gotten to where I genuinely ENJOYED and looked forward to a day or weekend at KI. Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you that is saying a LOT because I am a very very difficult person to sway and once a person or place is in the gutter to me, it takes usually more than any place or person has to come back, and KI had truly done that to the point where I placed it on a pedestal above any other CF park Id attended, including that joint up north. Now with what's going on, I am just hoping my single outing this year for my Pride Night visit gives me the warm fun feelings the park gave me last year and the year before. The thing is, if they showed that they are honestly trying to make things better instead of constantly picking apart and making what people have already paid for worse, then I would look into becoming a passholder again, and I would GLADLY pay double the base price for the pass itself if that's what it takes for them to show me a solid value for it.

As I said before, when the quarterly interest alone is over a quarter BILLION dollars, the only words that can follow are... tick-tock... not if, but when.... tick-tock

Especially when one merges with the Temu of theme parks and then decides to start adopting their ways in what was a decent company.

Peoples main focus needs to be the fact that the quarterly INTEREST on their debt is over $250M….yes MILLION… dollars per quarter. The “B” word of the reorg variety will be spoken in 2026 if not before, along with more cuts, ride closures, and shopping smaller parks like WoF and MA. Just my take

That is the only phrase that needs to be uttered since the merger was first spoken of.

That will take the place of Coasterstock ‘26.