TheCrypt

As the season is winding down, I can't help but feel like it has been a rough year for the park maintenance-wise. I know we talk a lot about the ice and the shows, but even just looking at the assets they do reliably have, I feel like the rides have been down a lot more regularly, too. Am I just more perceptive of it now because of the Six Flags label? That's on top of things like Adventure Express and Invertigo not opening with the park, Bat on single train operations for the last few weeks, Beast to two trains for awhile, Congo Falls having only two boats, White Water's downtime for a few weeks, and Drop Tower being down for the last few weeks too...

I'm growing concerned by the volume of information being disseminated by news sources that has no direct influence from Six Flags. I understand being cautious and that the investigation is in progress, but news sources are only going to dig deeper and create new links that will make this worse for the company. If they were proactive with their media releases, and if they actually said anything, Six Flags would have an easier time moving on with park guests and potential guests feeling more confident in the product. But as it stands, I'm now seeing things like Tampa news sources talking about how BGT has 3 rides made by the same manufacturer, and several sources have commented on the widespread closure of similar rides to Goliath. Why no mention of Orion and Diamondback's seatbelts? Why no mention of the manufacturer's quantifiably stellar reputation? They need to steer the conversation, not let it happen.

I've seen a lot of conversation about altering a chunk of ArieForce 1's layout to accommodate an unload station, but what if the alteration would actually occur with the prelift section? Seems like that could be more cost-effective while preserving the ride's layout, and it could potentially allow them to add a car too. (Not taking into account how grading will impact its location or layout.)

I don’t think people are as oblivious as we make the GP out to be overall. There's certainly a strong sense of brand awareness. It's been used as a punchline on SNL, for example (2:01), and a quick Google places it at one of the most recognizable brands in hospitality and entertainment. It's also a high profile publicly traded company ranked in the Fortune 1000. People are aware of its presence in the world. Beyond that, the company has historically wanted you to say its name. You can't really get out of saying it if your home park has Six Flags in front of it, which is notably... every legacy Six Flags park, I'm pretty sure. In many ways, the park identity is tied to the brand which is tied to the park; and when guests talk about their time at the park, they have to talk about Six Flags first. We are conditioned to think of Six Flags parks as a collective, and they all offer comparable experiences. Now, taking their brand recognition into account, Six Flags has had some significantly sizable safety and legal issues over the years: consider the incidents with Kentucky Kingdom's Drop Tower, New England's Superman, Darien Lake's Superman, and Magic Mountain's X2, for example. When these incidents hit the news, it's not hard to see that "Six Flags" is the common denominator, regardless of the incidents themselves. Compare that with Cedar Fair's record: Dragster, Son of Beast, Xcelerator... Keeping the brand name out of the park's name makes these incidents appear isolated to the parks themselves. When Xcelerator's cable snapped, it wasn't "Cedar Fair's safety issue," it was Knott's Berry Farm's issue. It didn't have any connection to Dragster's reputation, whereas reporting on any Six Flags issue at one park makes it seem like it could logically happen at another. For proof, take this headline from CNN a couple weeks ago: "Riders suffer life-threatening brain injuries after braving famous Six Flags roller coaster." The caption beneath it references years of brain injuries reported. You have to be able to identify the roller coaster or click on the link to know it's Magic Mountain's roller coaster. Otherwise, it's Six Flags's mistake first. Again. And that reinforces people's impressions of the brand as they scroll through the news or their feed. Listen to guests talk in the park. They talk about the Six Flags brand.

Not gonna lie, my first thought when I heard they bought this was "With what money?" Judging by how they staffed Kings Island this weekend, it would seem like Six Flags doesn't have any room in the budget to spare. Operations across all departments felt like they were at bare bones despite it being a holiday weekend with great weather. Regarding the actual sale itself, I can't help but feel lukewarm about it. I'm glad the ride lives on, but I also can't really feel hyped about it. So much of the anticipation comes from the gradual reveal, piecing clues together, and looking forward to whatever the ride experience may be; but I feel like once we know where it's heading, that's going to be the end of the excitement. It might be nice to ride it again if it ends up nearby, but it's not something I'm itching to get on no matter where it ends up... And if it does end up at Kings Island, for me, it will always feel like a hand me down. There'd be no finer point to it not belonging to the park than it retaining its original name.

Honestly, the perks and other differences between the passes have confused me so much that I've just written off even trying to know the differences. The lack of clarity and consistency all the way around has turned me off as a consumer. Could I figure it out? Yeah, but I shouldn't need to dig and investigate for something like this.

I personally wish the park meaningfully engaged with its audience way more. The promo for Phantom Theater has been so stale that I feel like having a brand new ride hasn't even made waves within the park. Given that that ride hasn't changed the landscape of the park, they should be way louder and way more creative about its presence so more guests ride it and are excited for it. I fear the depths of this issue go so deep. Has anyone seen the sign by the highway? It cycles through the same ~3 images all day, and some of the images have been the same for years. It's almost like they go out of their way not to make an effort with any community engagement.

Ironically, they are dancing to some programmed light and fountain show right now. Looks like it's in prep for the 4th of July. Edit: After watching a few minutes of the varying sequences, it made me really wish I saw it in person. I'm left thinking about how I would actively go out of my way to visit IS during my park visits to see a fountain and light show, much like what I did for Haunt. I can't help but feel that the lack of a show makes for a missed opportunity on the daily for both the guest experience and the ability to draw people to a central shopping and dining location in the park. The Royal Fountains certainly need a more regal treatment.

^Not to beat a dead horse, but that is totally another example that boils down to details...

Six Flags or not, seasonal park or not, realism or not: Nemo is correct that a ride of this caliber requires significant maintenance and attention to detail day by day. A story-based attraction has to tell the same story at the same high level no matter what time of day or season, and anything less will not tell the right story. The park has already learned the impact of poor (and positive) SFX investment over the years. Adventure Express, Flight of Fear, Tomb Raider, The Crypt, Phantom Theater, and of course Boo Blasters have all taught valuable lessons for what theming can do to an attraction. The park chose to add this type of ride for this year knowing what it would take to put it at the top. What is conceivable to me is that they may not have the right people caring that those details are missed, or those people are limited by higher ups on what they can and can't do. While not a 1:1 example, I do think it represents the issue well. Take a look at how many burned out lightbulbs are around the park. Nearly every attraction, shop, menu, or roofline has something simple like this burned out, and they will go months at a time without fixing them. There's a park-wide permissiveness to let some things go. I think that's more of what we're seeing here.

I believe I read something awhile ago stating that Ohio's Department of Agriculture requires that operators comply with all manufacturers' recommendations, which, if accurate, could make that a viable theory. That would then leave the possibility open of other states not having to make the same changes if their laws are more relaxed.

It does look pretty fun for a kids ride. I do think, however, that it wouldn't be as good of a fit at Kings Island... maybe not even at Holiday World. The three that have been installed seem to fit each park's needs very well. Glad KK got another solid addition, and glad to see new age Vekomas keep cropping up.

Could this have been a manufacturer's change that they had to comply with?

The multiple voice lines in the previous Phantom Theater was absolutely a strength of that version. I was hoping for that to show up in this version so the story would feel less canned and more robust. That repetition ended up being a huge detriment to Boo Blasters because the audio was a) poorly timed and b) well heard throughout the ride, so you never really felt like the show was tailored to you. They definitely fixed the timing on this go around, but I do yearn for some variety.

Seems like a good spot for a bar.

I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I've literally been waiting to ride it for more than a year. It's been crazy.

It doesn't seem unreasonable to share information with the public before, as, or shortly after it's decided. It's not like these decisions come lightly or too fast for an Instagram post.

The way that this title made my heart race...

Some exciting updates from the webcams: in the last couple days, Adventure Express and Queen City both have gotten their trains on the tracks! I'm assuming they'll start cycling soon if they haven't already. Orion looks prepped for the same. There are also people and a crane working around Monster today.

I'm not sure Kings Island's coaster collection feels like it lacks something that a wild mouse would fill. Plenty of parks don't have the supporting family coaster lineup we do, so I'm perfectly fine with not scoring this one. (And even if we were going to get one, I'd much rather a ground up, modern version than an off-the-shelf, 3x relocated model.)

It's an allusion to the famous line in Shakespeare's As You Like It. The actual monologue is much brighter as it comes from a comedy.

I'm begging you to just Google what rhetoric is.

Am I the only one who looked at those pictures and thought they look kind of... sad? It's old news that the ride wasn't exactly a marvel, but seeing those cutouts and signs out of context really just illuminates for me the depth and quality of attraction that's been missing. I looked through the lots and was trying to find something that I'd maybe be interested in vying for, but it's really sticking with me that there's really nothing I find that I have to have. (Obviously, I'm glad there are people who are really into this. I just don't have the same emotional bond to the ride and that's what is clear to me now.)

Given the recent sale of the SF parks (and the closure of another last fall), I am hopeful that there is some world where that translates to a better experience at Kings Island. There's nothing I've seen to indicate that that is a reality; but I just miss when all the rides were staffed well, shops were open, and landscaping was full.

The cables are still drooping from Invertigo's first lift hill. I know there is still time before the beginning of the season but I really hoped that there would've been some sort of visible progress on it by now.