BeeastFarmer

I didn't say that HFE would invest in major thrill ride(s) if they acquired KI. Everything in this industry is cyclical. Outside of of Universal, to specifically include regional parks, the business model is family. Look at the mainstream capital spending. Outliers like Tormenta and that Canada coaster I can't recall the name of, has been family-centered. That's what brings in the dollars. At some point in time, major thrill coasters will be en vouge. Unfortunately for Kings Island, I think most of the thrill rides will go to select LSF parks because of the lack of investment there, on a very targeted basis. If there is another sell off of parks from Six Flags, I would venture a guess that a flagship ready park would have to be included, similar to how enchanted/EPR wanted St Louis. That park would most likely be Dominion but you never know. I think HFE is maxed out, myself. But I have no idea of their financials and their ability to take on more assets and debt. Stranger things have happened, but I never thought I would see people on kic choose Six Flags to run the park than HFE Maybe they swap KI for KK lol

If HFE somehow absorbed Kings Island, it would likely be another diamond in the crown. It's too big, it makes too much money, and it has a huge generational pass base. They would do what they could to make it a resort, even though Cincinnati isn't a destination city like Gatlinburg or Joplin.

Just don't put your data center on my farmland!

I wonder why Six Flags is not using the naming convention for National Roller Coaster Day? They are calling it National Coaster Day on their socials. Is a trend amongst the TikTok generation to shorten names? Does the social media lead and/or committee not know what the naming convention is? Is it purposely done to assert dominance? Or does it really matter?

Do they have to have some sort of training about safe food handling?

Very smart to screenshot it.

That's rough.

You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette. Alternately, some times you have to plunge a toilet to flush a turd. For too long, alot of management at the company has been turds. Flush them out. With less passes sold, maybe they will take notice and new blood can reinvorgarate. The problem with a park like KI that is highly penetrated is that people will still come. Nostalgia can be a stronger motivator than price. KI is hurting from too much penetration.

I agree about silver all year access. Now I'm pondering Mexico ..I assumed it was part of the all parks access, but it specifically says "north American parks".

^the park could face fines for not completing basic maintenance. Without a huge security barrier, someone could get hurt or killed as well. The ultimate solution would be to build a huge fort around it to fulfill the promise to The Beast that the park made...when he gave the land he inherited from his son when he died, the park promised never to tear the lair down.

Which I get, but it just gets back the complexity of the legacy Six Flags pass offerings. That's why I stopped with them. Legacy CF was much simpler...but now with this idea, it makes it even more complex. The best thing I could see is raising the price of a silver pass and giving two tickets at a regional pass from may thru September. Same thing gold, except it's all north American parks. (Side note, is Mexico a separate fee like the new park at Quiddya?). You are giving an upsell opportunity to the next highest tier. What's ultimately going to happen, in my conjecture, is one of two things: 1. Bankruptcy to shed debt before the next maturity date. 8 or 9 parks left after this 2. Drastic downsize of portfolio to raise money to retire debt before the next maturity date. Bankruptcy seems to be the path of least resistance.

We finally agree on something!

If they did that, hard pass for me. I'm fine with paying a higher pass price and add ones if it's worth it, but it's becoming more and more less valuable to me. Silver...home only. Gold...regional. Platinum...chain wide. Each pass could have a premium level as well. Eliminate the variables ( parking not included, access to Scary Farm not included etc) Finally, why is buying a pass from Canada such a big deal? The company still gets its money. If people never blabbed about it publicly, it might could still work for people. If folks are of the opinion that US residents doing this are costing the company money, then they should raise the Canadian prices to be approximately the same price as the US top tier parks.

^ that's been very controversial this week. The event is being moved from Iroquois Park to the lazy river. The organizer has had it at Iroquois Park for quite some time and funds benefited Louisville parks. Parking evidently was a nightmare and was cited as the reason for the move. The city park officials are organizing a replacement event. The original organizer has two or three other events around the country. People are saying that this is corporate greed and they will never come to kk again etc. I'd imagine it's been quite a week for kk pr folks.

Chef Perez is now at a casino in southern Indiana.

I think it's started at 9 for the last couple of years. It's better in the dark.

Now you've done it! He's here! ( Said in my best no legs Larry imitation). You realize that since it's been put in the universe, just for spite, they could make a post about it.

For Kings Island, I think it did. KD, Dorney and a few of the others were the parks that didn't get an "upgraded" Haunt but still attempted to charge. People still bought at KI, CP, Cwland. I can't remember about Cwinds. They may not have liked it, but they bought the mazes.

The thing I liked about Cedar Fair vs Six Flags was the simplicity of, for the most part, the CF pricing structure. Platinum pass= all park access. Drink plan= choose paper or plastic and get a refill every 15 minutes. Meal plan= two meals per visit with four hours in between. Six Flags was more convoluted. You can buy a pass at Labor Day but it has to be activated at that park by November first ( but the park is closed the majority of that time frame) You have to have a plastic cup. I never really used the meal plan extensively, but the year I had it, it was fairly easy, but the food choices were limited. With many things, the company is making things more complicated. If you change the meal plan to be more complicated, it would add to that. Once the company stabilizes, and can actually start to "premiumize" as Bassoul called it, that would be the time to pivot, not now. Current strategy is to pivot to the lowest common denominator, which is cheap pass prices. I would conjecture that they still make a killer profit from the meal plan. Not every park is KI with a huge season pass base, they likely use the law of averages. And with moving away from locally sourced food to national distribution for bulk prices, the cost per meal is probably lower now, even with increased prices in general nationwide. They have made a killing on me, as I have only redeemed it four times because I just don't go often enough, and I bought it last year out of habit, not thinking I would continue staying away from the parks.

You are late to the party. Everyone knows that is the first stage of construction for Step Sister of Bavarian Beetle!

Interesting. I just watched a YouTube video about The Sphere last night, and the plan to roll them out worldwide, but in different scales. Subjectively, I don't think Six Flags would have the money, or if they did, actually invest the money in one of these. I think for a mini sphere the cost they projected was around $250 million plus the operating expenses are exponential. The Las Vegas sphere took in something like 1.25 billion in top line revenue and was still in the red in spite of the luxury experience and spend. Unless Kings Island had this open every day of the year, I think it would be a paperweight, and probably the end of Six Flags as we know it.

You want to do what with your what?!?! This is a family park! ( Done in my best pte Maestro voice)

Interesting that John Reilly thanks Tim Fisher for his time with Six Flags and the integration of Cedar Fair. Those of us who supposed that the CF "feel" would out shadow the stank of most of Six Flags have been disappointed for the majority. This "thanks" is a CEO manifest of that for me. Or maybe I'm being paranoid, pendantic, or pointed. Also, why did they repeat his bio?

TruGreen ChemLawn stopped using "ChemLawn" in all but a couple of locations in 2007. They, from what I'm told, encourage the use of the name incognito. They dropped the name because of the association of ChemLawn with poisoned playgrounds. The trademark is abandoned now, almost 20 years later. The point being, CF saw the value of the name Six Flags, even with all the negative connotations in the investor community, the industry and the enthusiast community. Hopefully, when the ship rights itself, the name will have either redeemed itself, or they retire it.

While not a result of the merger, another intamin install haunts former CF. Georgia Goldrusher is down for the rest of the season.