SonofBaconator

I know the population density on the east coast is large but I have a hard time believing that Six Flags America will last in this new chain.

I was this park was talked more about

I’d argue you could utilize a larger footprint:

Millennium Force is 1,274 feet longer than Orion. If you’re going off of height and speed, Orion’s a short ride. I actually prefer riding Diamondback at times because while I’m going 10 mph slower and dropping 85 less feet than Orion, I feel like I’m getting a better value in my ride experience so to speak. In terms of ride duration, I feel like Millenium Force has the better value: If you look at these two POVs, you get about 12 seconds more ride time on MF than you do Orion. That might not be a huge difference to some but I know I’d enjoy Orion even more if it had 12 seconds more of ride time. I understand why we got what we got, I just think Millennium gives you more bang for your buck.

With the merger potentially reprioritizing future projects and the need to replace Vortex, I have this hunch that Invertigo will be gone by 2030 a the latest and not replaced given its overall size and capacity. If they did decide to replace it, they’d need to remove Congo as well.

You’re absolutely right. Someone broke park rules, trespassed, and paid the ultimate price for it- that’s not on the park. If I was in charge of PR, I’d want to get the facts out as soon as possible so that media personnel don’t have to speculate. “At approximately (insert time) last night, a park guest entered a restricted area in the Action Zone area of the park and was struck by the Banshee roller coaster. At this time we are unable to provide information on the condition of the individual nor the riders who were on the ride at the time of impact. We are working with the state of Ohio as well as local law enforcement as they conduct their investigations into this matter. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the individual and their family, as well as the riders on the train, park staff and others who were involved. We will provide more information once it becomes available. All inquiries should be directed to info@visitkingsisland.com.” What I said was transparent and to the point. It took me 5 minutes to come up with that and it A.) acknowledged that an incident occurred. B.) Provided information. C.) Expressed cooperation and sympathy. D.) Redirected inquires to the park’s email.

Double post but I’ve made it known that I don’t like when a park has the name Six Flags slapped over it: Magic Mountain, Great America, Great Adventure, and so on. There are some, however, that work: St. Louis, Georgia, etc. Which CF parks would benefit from a Six Flags name slap?

I’m no wood coaster engineer but it looks like Renegade’s toast if it’s sat in water that long

Even though we joke(r) about DC being in a lot of their parks, with CF leading way I like to think that they’ll be strategic with DC/WB IP.

That’s an interesting question if you really think about whether or not it could be classified as a powered coaster. According to Wikipedia: The only reason why someone would argue against this is because all of the ride vehicles take up the entire length of track and maintains constant momentum unless stopped by a ride operator as opposed to Thunder Run where a single train runs through the course and stops. I’m not sure if you’re being sincere in your question @TOPGUN1993 and I don’t mean to detract from your quest for more Phantom Theater media @BryanJay because I want to see more to but I have to ask…..Could Tumblebug have been considered a powered coaster or does it fall into the Surfdog/Larson Loop category? https://KICentral.com/forums/topic/32820-kings-island-coaster-logos-of-old/

I’m curious how people think other chains like Sea World, Palace Entertainment, Herschend, Universal, and Disney reacted to the Cedar Fair/Six Flags merger. Are there chains that feel legit threatened, chains that are indifferent, or even chains that see this as a win for them somehow.

I’ve often thought about what a Six Flags park would look like under control of Cedar Fair. This is an example: Six Flags New England gets rebranded to New England’s Riverside. You see the park drop the WB and DC IP in favor of Cedar Fair names and standard Six Flags names. Ride names like Flashback, Great Chase, Pandemonium, Thunderbolt, and Wicked Cyclone would stay. Superman would be rethemed to Patriot and receive a blue color scheme with white supports. This would use the current CF IP while being an indirect tie into the New England Patriots. Batman-The Dark Knight would be renamed Revolution which is a name Six Flags owns and plays on the American Revolution and repainted red and blue. Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum would be renamed Paul Revere’s ride (in grasping at straws here) Joker would be renamed Total Mayhem and given the orange, red, and black color scheme the Great Adventure model was supposed to get Catwoman’s Whip would be given a generic name like Taxi Jam Riddler Revenge would be something generic like Flight Deck Flat rides would have their names altered to remove DC and WB IP. The kids area would be a Camp Snoopy. The generic names can be more personalized but I’m doing this as if they have a year or so to change the names over like CF did with Paramount. This is just all for fun and nothing is based on any form of speculation or rumors. This is also a scenario where the WB and DC IP had to go- this will likely not be the case.

3 years have gone by and I’m still curious as to why it shut down. I know nothing about what the weather does in Kansas City during the winter but I always assumed conditions fluctuated just like us so I don’t know how much weather played a factor in the event’s demise. Looking at the map, most of their coasters were closed; which makes sense. The one thing that confuses me a little is why they chose to close down their train ride. Most holiday events that feature a train ride are pretty popular: Winterfest, the Zoo’s Festival of Lights, Busch Gardens, Dollywood, etc. I’m not saying not running the train was a defining factor, but it helps- maybe it was a maintenance thing. Another possibility is staffing issues but I don’t really know if thats a reasonable thought considering they’re able to staff both an amusement park and waterpark during the busy summer months. Whatever the reason, it’s a shame it got shut down. I felt like the one thing WoF had going for it was its size. It’s not nearly as big as Kings Island so they could really pack the park full of lights and decorations.

That’s a bit of an overreaction. A lot themed rides involve that type of verbiage. On Adventure Express, you’re distributing the ancient ruins On Mystic Timbers you hot-wire an old truck and there’s a shed full of sketchy stuff that they’re trying to warn you not to go in One of the signs on Diamondback says “do not disturb” On Boo Blasters you are told you are trespassing During Phantom Theater, one of the lines was “you’ve defiled our world, now escape if you can” On Hagrid’s motorbike ride, you’re literally going into the Forbidden Forest On Tomb Raider The Ride, you’re disturbing an ancient temple On Big Grizzly Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland, you get switched from tunnel 8 to tunnel 4.(8 being symbol for good luck in Chinese culture and 4 being a symbol of death) In Mystery Mine you’re entering an abandoned mineshaft and warned subtly that you’ll die Verbolten is a play on words the word Verboten which is translation for Forbidden in the German language. Cobra’s Curse is centered around people entering an area at the threat of being cursed I could go on When you’re riding these rides, the overall message is F*ck Around and Find Out-it’s part of the theme, fun, and thrill. Someone carelessly disregarding park rules and common sense by hopping a fence isn’t cause to call into question the verbiage of other rides.

Phantom Theater IP. When I say this, I’m not only referring to the ride, but all aspects related the story, theme, characters that were essentially wiped from the park. The only semblance of this was the recycling of props during Haunt. The park could’ve used the IP for a seasonal Fearfest/Haunt building that focused on the old ride’s story and characters but they didn’t. They could have character meet and greets during the regular season or even during haunt but they didn’t. They could’ve sold merchandise specific to the characters, but again they didn’t. It wasn’t until 2022 when the park finally decided to take advantage of the IP through the show in the KI theater and small amounts of merchandise. With all the characters that were created for the park, the applicants for what they can do are limitless, yet they don’t capitalize on it. A while ago I shared some merchandise ideas that someone made online which is what’s provided in the images you see. When it comes to original IP, The Phantom Theater could be a cash cow yet Paramount chose to archive it and CF has only dabbled in it. I fear that with the merger coming that they’ll focus on the new IP’s acquired and Phantom Theater will again be shelved.

If you watch Defunctland’s video on Tomb Raider, he talks about the comparison between companies. I'm not entirely sure if they could’ve done Marvel because the early Marvel Cinimatic Universe films Ironmans 1 and 2 Thor and Captain America were all distributed by Paramount. I can’t remember what they had to do with Iron Man 3 but I remember seeing the mountain before the film began. I feel like they could’ve milked the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America properties in a Six Flags-esque way.

I feel like Paramount owning the former Taft parks was problematic for one major reason: location. If their parks were in very touristy locations, I think they would’ve done fine and possibly survived during the split in the 2005. However, this wasn’t the case. When you’re a film company and you’re trying to promote your IP, it’s kind of hard to do when your parks are seasonal compared to companies like Disney or Universal who can use their parks to promote their brand year round.

I’m in the camp of, “be prepared.” If you have valuable articles, then come to the park with a running belt, cargo shorts, shirts with front pockets, etc. I have no clue what this guy was wearing so I cannot judge but there will always be a chance that any possession you have might fall off. This isn’t the first time someone’s lost something on a ride and it won’t be the last, even if lockers are available. This is just a horrible incident and a cautionary tale of what happens when you go into a restricted area. I really hope the guy pulls through and my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family as well as everyone involved. I just hope people learn, no item is worth it.

Also, the ride reaches its top speed during the pretzel element. Not that being struck during any other part of the ride would be any less significant but if this took place during the pretzel element then this guy was in the worst possible place to be in terms impact speed.

I’m still in the camp of putting another water ride in Rivertown.

Pulled from Facebook

I understand the reasons behind why we didn’t get those models, nevertheless I like that we got them late in the game as it allowed the park to work with B&M on more creative designs after learning from all the respective inverts and hypers that had come before. I argue if we got an invert or hyper in the late 90s/early 2000s, like so many other parks did, they wouldn’t stand out and just look more cookie cutter.

I always felt like that was our trend if you think about it. We were late to the hyper party, the invert party, and so on. Personally I don’t mind being behind the trends because we can improve on something that has existed for years. With Banshee, we got new trains, a drop without a pre drop, and different elements you hadn’t really seen on inverts before. I feel like if we got on the RMC trend in the 2010s like everyone else did, it wouldn’t be as special because it would have been one upped at some point the following year by another park. At least if we got a RMC in the future, it would be different than other RMCs from years prior. I guess it’s what Mark Twain said about Cincinnati: everything happens 10 years later.

The reuse of The Bat IP proved to be successful amongst park fans which got me thinking, will the park recycle an old IP for a new ride? Some might consider it lazy to recycle something that’s since been gone but I argue it’s creative and a money saver in many respects. That being said, which IP do you think would be the easiest to resurrect for a new ride?