BeeastFarmer

Cedar Point General Manager Carrie Boldman to step down - cleveland.com Sounds fishy to me.

New Orleans Six Flags site demolition halted (wdsu.com)

What makes you think we will get a major thrill coaster in 2027? After financing and additional 1.1 billion dollars in the next two years, they are going to be pretty judicious in where they spend money. Apparently, Cedar Fair may have failed in the due diligence of combing over the Six Flags portfolio and now are seeing that things were held together there with band aids and Great Value duct tape. You will see investment in parks like Chicago, Jersey, both Texas parks ( and maybe Schlitterbahn if they don't sell it), magic mountain, Knott's and wonderland. Ki will get money to get it by, just no Alpen Fury type rides for a while. As long as passes, add ons, blue ice cream, funnel cakes and merch is sold, ki will remain a cash cow. Or not.

The difference with Marcus is, however, that he understands the industry and is an enthusiast. We are not talking about John Mattress here. Marcus could very well be wrong in his interpretation, but many enthusiasts are as well.

#someoneatthetopneedstoretire #family #familyGiGa Cedar Fair was very good to Kings Island, righting many of the Paramount's Kings Island wrongs. It looks like KI will be the Kings Dominion of the chain for the next ten years, like KD was from '11 to '22. But ki will still sell passes and groups like bonkers and be a cash cow. It will take a serious decline for them to veer away from the family demographic.

What about the Prestige pass holders?

TRTR is one of the reasons that "Paramount" was a terrible operator towards their end of the stewardship of the park. Lots of $ spent, great idea, and the theme looks on point, but the ride itself was not a long term solution. It should have been built on the other side of the park where it would have loosely fit in the jungle theme of Adventure Express, and the viewshed would have been more appropriate with fof there. Kings Dominion version, while not in a box and not a giant, was much better done and area appropriate. It was a sight to behold...I wouldn't have the stomach to ride, but I enjoyed watching it in between Volcano: The Blast Coaster rides.

I said similar. When I saw this photo, it struck me how much I do miss Vortex. I am hoping that whatever replaces it will be worthy of the site.

I never really noticed it, but to me, Valrvyn's paint job is similar to Vortex's paint job.

If possible, outfit it with the surfcoaster trains.

Sierra Sidewinder was too much for me

For The Vortex plot...the GCI hybrid coaster that was introduced a few years ago. A climate controlled eatery to replace killmart, with patio views of The Racer, Antique Autos and Orion. ( We need a climate controlled eatery on that side of the park if Winterfest is going to be around long term). A Verbolten style ride in The Crypt building, but themed appropriately to Rivertown, with the building exterior themed as well While we theme outdoor buildings, redo the exterior of FOF and the back side of KI Theater. I think projection mapping would be a good idea along with go away green paint. Redo of Action Zone with a significant coaster, flats and trees. Front entrance enhancement...make the big roof look more European, replace the flags above the arches, and add pavers. Put the big Kings Island topiary back in on the landscape berm, renovate the buildings on the left side to be more international. Put in a new dark ride. Staff the park with varying demographics so that the park could have extended seasons when kids are in school.

I just think it will need to be reliable, high capacity, and have a commanding presence. That is, if they evaluate the portfolio and determine that the park is a keeper and worthy of investment. The boomerang they just got, the RMC they got before that and then the free spin should be examples of rides that would go to a WOF or St Louis park in their current iterations.

My opinion and my opinion only. With the merger ongoing, they are trying to eliminate duplicated costs and other "unnecessary" costs in order to prop up the financial reports. Also, merging two different companies into one is a daunting task. Cedar Fair and Six Flags had many shared values but vastly different cultures. People are fighting to stay in or move up the food chain. This can lead to upending of cultures as now there are 42 entities vs 11 or 12 as before. Cedar seems to be running the show at the top and so Six leaders are probably fearful for their immediate and long term future. Cost cutting can be very detrimental in the long term, but seemingly beneficial in the short term. As far as Great Adventure, that park has a huge potential. But after what appears to be a very bungled 50th anniversary, I think upper management wants to start the new direction. If the Golden Kingdom ride removals do happen, it would likely lead to a huge investment in a massive expansion, most likely with a B&M GiGa. Or they might add another high capacity model and renovate Kingda Ka while removing Chang and Twister. The old Six Flags model of low capacity lower tier coasters in these massive parks will likely go to the wayside...GA should rival Canada's Wonderland and Dorney combine in attendance numbers. But I think with all the jockeying around of the companies, the underbelly of weakness will be exposed. Communication from both chains, as a whole, has historically been weak. So let's say they are going to do this massive reno at GA, I think the park comms team might be reticent to rock the boat lest they jeopardize their positions in the company. I haven't heard anything about Carowinds, but they rebuilt a significant portion of Hurler last year. Cyclone should be a relatively low cost machine, unless it is near the end of service life and requires costly upgrades. But, if they removed those two coasters and possibly the Drop Tower, it would open up some space. But it would make more sense to me, as an armchair enthusiast, to work with the available space where the whitewater ride was, or from a financial standpoint, remove the Borg Assimilator. That's a low capacity expensive ride to run. I don't think this will ever be a park to rival CP as a flagship, they have poured money in there and it's still a "meh" park. (Subjective, I realize). It would need resort amenities and whatnot would be difficult to justify as the park is in an industrial area and the draw in that region would gravitate towards Asheville. Subjectively, if I were going to Asheville, I'd choose Dollywood over Carowinds every time.

Six Flags says it has no plans to close any parks, despite media reports (live5news.com)

It's a shame that was not communicated to you and your group ahead of time.

I can attest to this. The experience was well worth it. Either.

Probably not, unless you add the all season unlimited desert prestige superdo pass

That was my point at the time; I postulated that between the Louisville and Lexington market, if they lost 2500 season passes plus an unknown amount of daily passes, they would also loose the per caps. I can't remember the rudimentary math , but if I company could laugh about losing, let's say $100k , thats significant. Of course things have changed since then. If HFE stays long term, I think KI will have no choice but to respond in significant ways.

From Q3 report 2024: "Six Flags today also announced the core objectives of its new long-range plan designed to deliver on the full growth potential of the Combined Company. In many cases, the new objectives represent the natural extension and evolution of strategic initiatives that contributed to the success of legacy Cedar Fair. Enhance the guest experience to deliver a stronger price-value proposition and drive demand . Identify incremental operating efficiencies that generate cost synergies and help drive margin expansion . Maintain a disciplined approach to the prioritization and activation of capital investments to realize the full market potential of each park, while maximizing free cash flow efficiency . Integrate technology stacks with a focus on harmonizing systems, eliminating redundancies, and enhancing the guest-facing digital experience. Review the park portfolio over time, to optimize the asset base , narrow management’s focus, and help reduce net leverage." (italics by me to point out the obvious) My take on this: They want to maximize attendance at all parks. The opportunity will be at legacy Six Flags parks as there is much opportunity there. However, look for a diminished experience at Six Flags parks that had high attendance prior to the merger and historically well attended Cedar Fair parks like KI and CP. Legacy Six Flags parks will need investments in hardware (more high capacity rides and perhaps more trains per coaster) and People. If they achieve higher attendance without enhancing guest experience, long term growth may suffer, or they may continue to attract crowds with a diluted experience with cheap passes, like we see at KI. As they attempt this, parks that fail to step up will be divested as they review the portfolio. Also, well performing parks may be sold off for a quick cash grab.

I remember when I was new here and KK was becoming reborn. That thread was a hot topic then. I was ridiculed for thinking the park would even survive the first season, much less pose any threat to KI At that time, I was told that Kings Island laughs about the thought of KK and Holiday World providing any competition. Times have changed, and Kings Island seems busier than ever. But I never thought I would have a Kentucky Kingdom season pass and would let my Kings Island pass expire.

I used my premium drink plan this weekend with no complaints. Hot chocolate was tasty, available and service was quick. I also got an icee and had no issues. For as crowded as Saturday was, food service was remarkable. Besides the park being unethical and tacky with the drained fountain and closed Eiffel Tower, I have no complaints!

You seem bitter.

Amen bro! We will show them!