BeeastFarmer

And Great Adventure is on the horizon as well. (Side note...in the best of all possible worlds, the Six Flags parks could be brought up to (former) Cedar Fair standards, hopefully before all the budget cuts) Orion-family friendly...I believe this was in @KIghostguy's book..Kings Island: A Ride Through Time.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I'd say everything is up in the air with all the realignment going on in the merged company. Perhaps Six Flags Kings Island wants to reel in business from the Koch and Herschend families and make ki a thrill capitol. Perhaps Mike K retires, is reassigned to another park, or is let go. Would the family park focus go away with him? Kings Island is now competing with several other "flagship" parks in the chain.

I mean, Orion is designed a family friendly coaster pet the GM/VP. Haunt is family friendly. Everything he has done in recent years, besides all of this years bars, is family friendly.

The current President and GM of KI has a stated goal of making KI family friendly. I don't know that a 10 inversion coaster would be seen as such in the eyes of the current administration.

This would also be true of the discussion about SOB. It would be akin to building a new ride named SOB but it's by The Gravity Group. It's a family wooden coaster in The Vortex plot. If you took Mystic Timbers and Kentucky Flyer combined and divided by half, that would be about the size of it.

Flying Bengal?

Does it suck that a people eater is down on a busy day? Yes. But it is what it is. Why should the park make a big deal out of it? For years, I never saw much if anything if The Beast was down for a day, or if the parade characters were going to not dress in costume because of the threat of summer rain. In a like manner, when I went to Camden Park last year Big Dipper was down. Disappointed that I didn't know, but glad I could enjoy everything else. Same with BGW. Tempesto and pantheon down. Just a sign at the rides. My point being...rides go down. As enthusiasts, we are passionate and want to know why etc. But I don't think it's an injustice if the park doesn't have the Royal Court of KI blow from the trumpets on the news station and social media that a ride is down for either a day, right now etc. An extended closure like TT2, sure.

Does CP have the same sort of people with attachment syndrome that KI does with roller coaster memorabilia? Or could it be that since the ride still exists, there is not an urgency to buy a piece that is, in reality, a piece of scrap? (I realize the same could be said of The Vortex, but that just feels wrong and dirty)

Massive renovations for Music in the Parks and Spirit Song!

I agree, but look at what happened when Salim attempted to raise prices. Cheap passes have been the model for a while and until they either change that model, or passholders drop off in significant numbers, they will continue. Usually, inexpensive things go well with my budget, but I really wish they would phase in a $200-$250 price target for a gold pass.

Haunt has devolved into a family event since about 2017. No Boo necklaces, high passholder percentage, fighting kids and young adults. The park must see a financial advantage to attract families and dissuade the fighters as well as less drama to deal with. People still show up in droves, and in years past, vote it a top event in USA Today polls, as much as they can be trusted as relevant.

You might want to be cautious! Saying anything negative about Six Flags may cause you to be canceled from media day events.

They rolled out the Premium drink plan in 2023 for 2024. By the end of December, they knew the amount they could forecast for 2024. They were woefully unprepared for the Icee roll out. That was either a willfull lack of budgeting sense or ineptitude. Six Flags and KI do have some pretty intelligent folks, so I doubt it was ineptitude. It speaks volumes that they build a bar in a week or two (The French Corner Reverie) but they cant complete a straight forward drink stand by The (Sysco) Chicken Shack

Oh, the neighbors are going to LOVE this! Will the drones rattle their windows like Diamondback does? ( Get it? A rattlesnake rattling windows? (But that was a complaint of theirs))

Not at all what I am trying to convey. Kings Island is a very pass heavy park. People have grown up with it and have an emotional bond to it. So Six Flags can bank on a certain amount of revenue each year from inexpensive pass sales. But they make their money on per cap sales, such as what I mentioned. They start things off really well, but objectively reduce expenses in following years. For example, Grand Carnivale. The first year was incredible. But each year since, it's been chipped away. ( Notably, I think this year's parade was the best one yet, but things like the performances in China, France, Germany, Italy etc have all been axed). Live entertainment has been cut severely this year. It seems the food has improved over the course of the season ( I haven't been since June) but they were cutting corners earlier ( Sysco chicken fingers at the chicken shack vs years past hand breaded never frozen fingers sticks out to me). The French Corner was redone into a bistro/bar. Alcohol is a high margin product, hence why they installed so many. But it seems that the bars are fully staffed while drinking refill stations are either closed or understaffed, so you have long lines, empty syrup boxes and no ice. But, the passholders still show up in droves and spend money. This is out of emotional connection, loyalty, or just a good bang for the buck but with reduced quality. That's the hook that Kings Island exploits, and rightfully so. I guess what your interpretation of my thoughts are could be partially correct, however. If pass sales decline significantly, per caps also decline. Given time, with a poorer financial condition, the park could invest money into quality and capital expenditures to bring the people back in. Like everything else, this industry is cyclical. The merger and post COVID debt will certainly be a challenge in the next few years. But we will see 2017-2022 glory years again. It will just take time and patience.

Not as long as people keep buying passes and spending money on meal plans, funpix, drink plans, posters, pins and sweets!

It depends on how press is defined. Given the social media revolution, many people with a camera phone think they are the press. When companies delete negative comments and ban posts from someone someone from further comments, is it the same principle? FTR, I was banned from an amusement park's Facebook page a few years ago and my comment removed, before I understood how the industry worked, for a subjective post about how the park was miserably crowded and people should avoid coming. It was petty IMHO, but wasn't any skin off my back. I don't think it is a media person's "right" to be in a dugout, or a media preview at an amusement park. If we are wanting objective reporting, those events/locations, by their nature, are created to give an opportunity for very subjective reporting.

Just like Son of Beast.

Corporate vs local: https://youtu.be/duq5w7tEn84?si=2PMpVH3pe0UZczoH

Hopefully they won't disable it now that the secret is revealed.

Looking at the webcams, they are re"hearse" ing at the park with thick fog tonight. Check out the IS camera, it looks great!

@johnjniehaus and @jbeast... agreed! I'm glad someone else calls it the Junkyard Coaster

I agree and disagree. For enthusiasts, a public statement seems to warranted. But for the GP, is it? When the teacher died at Raptor, CP made a statement. KI did not make an early statement on Banshee. Did it hurt the park? Did Banshee ridership decline? I don't know from objective or subjective data or experience. Likewise, I don't have any objective or subjective data on the Banshee bump, but there hasn't been a lot of chatter about the Banshee bump and people lined up to ride it.

Snow Flake Lake presented by Hershey's and Kroger...

It was said in jest. I'm sure it's a good product for those that find value in it. I'm the opposite of you. I have found less value in my pass this year. The park has seemed to settle in a period of mediocrity this year and last year. That could be park level mandates or corporate mandates, I don't know and don't care. It's not the ki that I've known since I started this hobby several years ago. Ive only visited twice this year and spent zero extra dollars. It's all very subjective, but until I get the tug at the heartstrings, I don't plan on coming back anytime soon. I've planned several national park trips next summer and will go to the Christmas event at Kentucky Kingdom this year instead of WinterFest. It could be that anything after 2022 is a disappointment because that was arguably the best season in ki history. Or it could be that seeing the discourse about Kings Island politics here and elsewhere online removes the magic. Or it could be that I need to step away and come back with a fresh perspective in a year or two to reignite the spark. Who knows?