CedarPointer

I like how they didn't fix the issues this had when they rolled it out at Carowinds, like passes not coming over correctly and not showing the photo, people not being able to log in, etc.

No show times in the app, of course. But at least they had time to add yet another pop up ad begging people to buy a pass.

They finally released the food menu. https://www.sixflags.com/blog/kings-island-winterfest-food-guide Strange that it says that the Grain & Grill turkey ball meal also includes all of the other entrees and sides, as does Coney BBQ.

I think the issue that shapes a lot of the discourse about food at the parks is that the passholders who have the dining plan and go all the time know which places have good food. For example, I know that the chicken tenders at Festhaus are the Sysco Special, so I just don't get chicken tenders there and go to Chicken Shack instead. But Tammy Ticketholder who comes to the park once or twice a year isn't going to know that and is going to assume the food is similar quality everywhere since the prices are similar everywhere. And then when she's disappointed with her $17 meal and shares her experience, passholders scold her for not knowing better and drop the classic "I haven't had any problems this year" line. On a totally unrelated note, I wish they had the buffalo chicken flatbread and harvest flatbread at Street Pizza all the time. They definitely looked a little sloppy and could be messy to eat, but I would take those over the regular LaRosa's pizza any day.

They ruined Juke Box when they started premaking all the food. The setup certainly wasn't efficient before, but at least the food was edible. Now it's $20 for a school cafeteria quality burger with no toppings... and they wonder why people aren't spending money in the park. It was nice when they brought the patty melt back, but it's 50/50 whether it's good or whether the bread has the texture of a crouton and the patties are more like shoe leather. On the bright side, I feel like Enrique's has been more consistently good this year. The portions can vary quite a bit (although, with the exception of the protein, I was never told "no" when I asked for more of something), but the quality was more consistent than I remember in the past.

I'm really glad that Yuletide Follies is back.That was by far my favorite show last year, although I wish it was in a better venue where the curtains aren't blowing open during costume changes.

This is what I've been saying with the change in hours at Carowinds so you have to look at the lights during the day (like the famous Kings Dominion daytime fireworks). Seems like someone wants it to fail so they can justify cancelling it (after taking people's money, naturally).

It looked like the floats for the parade were assembled the last time I rode Adventure Express. Honestly, I had been just assuming the entire event was cancelled (or that it would cost an extra $10 per visit to look at the lights) so it was nice seeing any sort of progress.

Interesting that this time only "unused" tickets can be used another day. I guess, too bad if you wanted to make the most of a day with bad weather not expecting them to close 5 hours early.

The park being clean and well-maintained is a bare minimum expectation, though, not something that new additions should be getting sacrificed for.

Oh, I should have been more specific, I was talking about Alpenfury. Didn't realize Siren's Curse also had terrible capacity (but, of course, they could have just, y'know, put it at literally any other park).

I mean, they did just build a coaster at one of their busiest parks that only has 2 trains of 12 riders each. Low capacity and long wait times are great for Fast Lane sales. Not so great for your brand reputation or repeat business, but that's a problem for tomorrow.

The sad thing is that Cedar Fair was always TERRIBLE about creating programs and benefits that all have different rules and restrictions (like the old gold pass perks that were like "get 10% off a Cinnabon between 4pm-4:30pm on odd numbered days of even numbered months), then not explaining it to the front line associates or telling them when anything changed. When I worked at the park, we often found out about changes because guests would ask us about them, and we'd look foolish because no one had told us that anything had changed. Six Flags has always been better in this regard. Things were clearly stated, and when they weren't, there never seemed to be an issue getting an answer. It's sad that now the whole company behaves like Cedar Fair, except with the added wrinkle of them not caring about your experience whatsoever once they have your money.

Sounds like something the park should have communicated to people when they took their money, instead of expecting everyone to know about a random policy change that wasn't communicated anywhere except "unofficial" Facebook groups. Apparently, you're supposed to "refer to the instructions on the ticket" to figure out how to redeem it... which, of course, you don't have because it's "on your pass".

Cedar Fair ALWAYS had issues with promotions being totally unclear and not particularly caring if the guest has any clue what is available to them. My favorite was the "voucher" for a Fast Lane wristband you would get for renewing early, but they actually only needed the pass and not the voucher, so people would give them to a friend or whatever and send them to the park, and they were out of luck. Six Flags generally was very clear about what you were entitled to and how you could use it. They really did combine the worst of both companies, didn't they?

It's supposed to be any ride, apparently. For example, at Canada's Wonderland, they say single use is "not available" for AlpenFury since they don't sell them, but I was able to use the one on my pass for AlpenFury. Explaining how benefits work has never really been Cedar Fair's strong suit.

It was a pretty common theme this year that I (and other people I know with prestige passes) would go and try to use their skip the line and, even though the scanner turned green, the ride op "never heard of it being on the pass" so you'd get turned away, and of course, by that point you'd already used it according to the system so you couldn't try again somewhere else, and having to hike up to GR to complain kind of defeats the purpose of the benefit. I think it's a side effect of the small number of people who buy the prestige pass and the fact that basically everyone else has a wristband they're scanning and so they think you're trying to pull one over on them when you scan your pass instead. I was usually able to get around it by scanning my pass on the kiosk and printing out the receipt, but those rarely actually work anymore.

Maybe the ride associates will finally be trained about the single-use so paying guests don't keep getting turned away after scanning their pass.

It's pretty widespread on social media, I can't imagine how many complaints the various parks have been fielding about it. It's going to be even worse when Haunt starts and you have the people who don't follow every nuance of the park's website showing up just to find an employee with their hand out asking for $99 for something that's been included with their passes for years. Yes, the website didn't necessarily say they were included when renewals went on sale in 2024, but no one would have expected it to- mazes have been included with event admission for decades. Of course, you're going to have the park cheerleaders telling everyone how paragraph 17 subsection 12 of the terms and conditions says they can take away whatever they want whenever they want, but that really only makes things worse. The fact is that, at best, a lot of people feel they were misled when they purchased their passes, especially since many people already paid for 2026 passes before the changes were publicized. Excuses from the parks and their supporters aren't going to help with that. Teaching people that you may or may not get what you paid for when you make a purchase from their company is not a good move.

Pre-merger Six Flags tried eliminating meal plans. Didn't work. You are NEVER going to get passholders to pay full price for food in the park again once you got them used to enjoying two meals every visit for one price. Just look at the widespread backlash with the Haunt money grab. I just can't believe that giving away the gate, constant ride closures, dirty parks, poor customer service, and taking away things people already paid for hasn't been a formula for success. Really shocking.

They already fell down.

The park responded to a Facebook comment and said it's not AI. I think it suffers from the fact that the style is so similar to the slop AI puts out when you say "generate an image of X in Pixar style".

The description and the way the "flashlights" are depicted in the promo art reminds me a lot of Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek at Tokyo Disneyland, where you point an actual light at the props to set them off. That would be a nice alternative to the current blasters, although I feel like that won't be how it actually works.

I'm cautiously optimistic, but I feel like the effects will work for about the same amount of time as the flag waving Snoopy on Soapbox Racers or, at best, the fog curtain in Boo Blasters. It's a huge relief that it's not screen-based.

I think the thing with all of this is, who can justify dropping money on anything at Six Flags when they've proven that they can and will change the rules on you whenever they please? I can't imagine dropping a grand on an All Season Fast Lane when, for all you know, you won't be able to use it on any coasters without paying an extra $10 per visit for your Coasters and More Access Pass. They blew through decades worth of goodwill with their most loyal customers in a desperate attempt to make a quick buck. And it's a lot harder to earn goodwill and good word of mouth than it is to lose it.