10 hours ago, RollerColt said:

I didn't like the merger when it happened, and I still don't like it today.

I think it's possibly the worst thing to happen for our specific park.

Luckily, we have not seen to much of a change inside the park, but I still as not a big fan either.

I wonder if the genius(s) that thought the brand recognition of the Six Flags name was worth keeping are regretting that or laughing as they float in their golden parachutes?

Several people in my sphere asked me about the X2 situation and have told me never to ride a roller coaster again. The media reports Ive seen here, rarely say MAGIC MOUNTAIN but always say Six Flags.

Oh, and I listened to a podcast yesterday on the way home from work, apparently KI's PR person is based out of California but is responsible for KI, KD, Cwinds and Canada. Make it make sense.

On 8/29/2026 at 4:49 AM, BeeastFarmer said:

I wonder if the genius(s) that thought the brand recognition of the Six Flags name was worth keeping are regretting that or laughing as they float in their golden parachutes?

Several people in my sphere asked me about the X2 situation and have told me never to ride a roller coaster again. The media reports Ive seen here, rarely say MAGIC MOUNTAIN but always say Six Flags.

Oh, and I listened to a podcast yesterday on the way home from work, apparently KI's PR person is based out of California but is responsible for KI, KD, Cwinds and Canada. Make it make sense.

I guess that explains why @DonHelbiggot the Knott's marketing he received. Proofreading and attention to detail is a lost art.

1 hour ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I guess that explains why @DonHelbiggot the Knott's marketing he received. Proofreading and attention to detail is a lost art.

Speaking of proofing and attention to detail… decent?

On 8/30/2026 at 11:41 AM, DonHelbig said:

Speaking of proofing and attention to detail… decent?

Relentless Decent should be their new corporate slogan. “Don’t aspire to be amazing, just be relentlessly decent and barely meet some expectations”

Apologies for the double post, but this seems to be making the rounds as yet another causality of this lovely merger. Grain of salt and all that…

I'd say this is becoming less of "Cedar Fair and Six Flags merging" and more of "Six Flags has bought out Cedar Fair and is now dumping off assets".

It’s tough to see someone lose their livelihood, but I’m not disappointed with Tony Clark being let go. Coasterstock and Mother’s Day brunch were axed because of him, with no replacement to follow. Also, his “Morning Flush” event did not go over well and was, quite literally, flushed down the drain.

This company badly needs fresh minds in more positions of power. The old guard is stuck in their ways, and holding up progress. Six Flags needs to pivot to current trends with guest experience being at the forefront.

As Bob Iger at Disney once said. “Innovate or die.”

9 hours ago, Tr0y said:

This company badly needs fresh minds in more positions of power. The old guard is stuck in their ways, and holding up progress. Six Flags needs to pivot to current trends with guest experience being at the forefront.

As Bob Iger at Disney once said. “Innovate or die.”

Well said! John Reilly was able to make some good improvements after the legacy CF/SF execs left. I hope whoever has/will take over Tony Clark's position is able to do better than he did these last few years — especially with his apparent bias toward Cedar Point.

Even Bob Iger seemed to stop doing good innovations at the end of his tenure as Disney's CEO, which is why we're seeing some nice changes in the parks with Josh D'Amaro in the CEO position. Overall, I really hope we see folks who are comfortable changing the company in positions at all levels.

On 9/15/2026 at 1:39 PM, Tr0y said:

Coasterstock and Mother’s Day brunch were axed because of him...

Can you elaborate on this?

4 hours ago, DispatchMaster said:

Can you elaborate on this?

He said that it would return in an ACE event. Only for it not too afterwards. A lot of people considered Coasterstock the superior event to Coastermania. That didn’t sit well with Tony Clark, considering Coastermania was his thing and not Coasterstock.

https://www.ridewithace.com/blogs/ace-news/2026/02/21/ace-western-great-lakes-no-coaster-con-2026

But was it Tony's decision to cancel Coasterstock?

44 minutes ago, DispatchMaster said:

But was it Tony's decision to cancel Coasterstock?

Considering Cedar Point’s Coastermania was of his making/responsibility, and after our director was let go. Tony was given oversite of Kings Island as the “Regional Manager”. Therefore it is/was his job.

If I remember correctly, Coasterstock, and the Mother’s Day brunch sold out last season. Now, why would anyone with any business sense no longer host an event that sells out??? Either sheer laziness, or because the person in charge didn't like the fact that an event they didn't create was better than theirs.

Stupid decision making like this, is one of the many reasons Six Flags stock is right now cheaper than a 24-pack of Coca-Cola at Kroger.

On 9/18/2026 at 4:32 PM, Tr0y said:

Now, why would anyone with any business sense no longer host an event that sells out??? Either sheer laziness, or because the person in charge didn't like the fact that an event they didn't create was better than theirs.

Or, a third possibility: hosting enthusiast events seems roughly equivalent to the seventh circle of hell, which may be one reason such events have been dwindling down and/or disappearing over the years. Entitled enthusiasts with their never-ending complaints about what was or was not offered, etc., though, to be fair, it seems such issues are anecdotally more prevalent at the more major events like CM.

Plus, it's no secret that these events are not necessarily big money makers for the parks. So just because an event "sells out" does not necessarily mean the juice was worth the squeeze in terms of profit.

In any case, I have no dog in this fight, but it doesn't seem to me that the most likely explanation for these events getting cancelled is because Tony threw a hissy fit or whatever.

On 9/18/2026 at 4:32 PM, Tr0y said:

Six Flags stock

To me, the overall state of FUN (price, company debt, economic forecast, etc.) seems far more likely to be the cause of such events getting cancelled rather than the effect. Though it's also possible that cancelling these events could contribute further to a downward spiral. But that presumes these events are holistic money makers in the first place, a premise of which I am skeptical.

15 hours ago, DispatchMaster said:

Plus, it's no secret that these events are not necessarily big money makers for the parks. So just because an event "sells out" does not necessarily mean the juice was worth the squeeze in terms of profit.

In any case, I have no dog in this fight, but it doesn't seem to me that the most likely explanation for these events getting cancelled is because Tony threw a hissy fit or whatever.

I think we should also consider the events that are/aren't happening at other Six Flags parks this year. Carowinds, for one, held a ton of one-off events earlier in the season for things like meteorology. Canada's Wonderland held a whole host of events that included park-sponsored leadership conferences. I agree with Tr0y to an extent because Cedar Point was at least planning to have some kind of event, whereas Kings Island got nothing.

It might be easier for the parks to put the park event organization responsibility on enthusiast clubs, but I think that really only works to satisfy the enthusiast crowd. Events like the Mother's Day Brunch could spur more in-park guest spending each season depending on how well they are put on. One of John Reilly's goals for the company was to improve guest experience, wasn't it? Short one-off events feel like a good way to do that. I think it would be nice to make Coastermania/Coasterstock each a bi-annual event that switch off between even and odd years (like D23 and whatever it's alternate was), but that would require communication between the parks as well as communication between the parks and their guests.

In other news, does anyone know if/when the Six Flags America land deal is supposed to go through? There are still a ton of (seemingly) salvageable rides there that Six Flags would be a fool to leave behind — especially if the park's land is going to be almost completely redeveloped. I've heard that the county/buyer does not want another amusement park there so I'd assume they wouldn't keep all of the rides.

5 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

One of John Reilly's goals for the company was to improve guest experience, wasn't it? Short one-off events feel like a good way to do that.

Why do we presume enthusiast events are a net-positive for parks to the extent that such events are worth the never-ending hassle of hosting enthusiasts? Enthusiast clubs/groups/events have historically been an avenue by which to communicate to and through enthusiasts as ambassadors of the parks. With the Internet and social media this has largely become irrelevant.

Now, that is not to say that smaller, more niche events hold no value. But I just don't agree with the assumption that parks need such events, or even that parks benefit from them anymore, especially the larger ones like CM.

Also, "improving the guest experience" in the broader sense is not likely to be achieved by hosting a minuscule fraction of guests for a special one-off event that those guests will almost certainly complain about no matter what the parks do (it's too expensive, it sold out too fast, the food wasn't as good as last year, we only got 7 hours of ERT, they ran out of T-shirts in my size, they didn't tell me their entire cap ex plan in detail for the next decade, etc.).

5 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I agree with Tr0y to an extent because Cedar Point was at least planning to have some kind of event, whereas Kings Island got nothing.

Yeah, and CM got cancelled this year, didn't it? Does that not kick the legs out from beneath the whole "Tony cancelled KI's events because those weren't "his" events" theory?

2 hours ago, DispatchMaster said:

Or, a third possibility: hosting enthusiast events seems roughly equivalent to the seventh circle of hell, which may be one reason such events have been dwindling down and/or disappearing over the years. Entitled enthusiasts with their never-ending complaints about what was or was not offered, etc., though, to be fair, it seems such issues are anecdotally more prevalent at the more major events like CM.

Plus, it's no secret that these events are not necessarily big money makers for the parks. So just because an event "sells out" does not necessarily mean the juice was worth the squeeze in terms of profit.

In any case, I have no dog in this fight, but it doesn't seem to me that the most likely explanation for these events getting cancelled is because Tony threw a hissy fit or whatever.

To me, the overall state of FUN (price, company debt, economic forecast, etc.) seems far more likely to be the cause of such events getting cancelled rather than the effect. Though it's also possible that cancelling these events could contribute further to a downward spiral. But that presumes these events are holistic money makers in the first place, a premise of which I am skeptical.

The reason Coastermania has had more issues with unruly attendees is because it is an event that is open to everyone. Not just specific coaster groups which Coasterstock was limited to.

1 hour ago, DispatchMaster said:

Why do we presume enthusiast events are a net-positive for parks to the extent that such events are worth the never-ending hassle of hosting enthusiasts? Enthusiast clubs/groups/events have historically been an avenue by which to communicate to and through enthusiasts as ambassadors of the parks. With the Internet and social media this has largely become irrelevant.

Now, that is not to say that smaller, more niche events hold no value. But I just don't agree with the assumption that parks need such events, or even that parks benefit from them anymore, especially the larger ones like CM.

Also, "improving the guest experience" in the broader sense is not likely to be achieved by hosting a minuscule fraction of guests for a special one-off event that those guests will almost certainly complain about no matter what the parks do (it's too expensive, it sold out too fast, the food wasn't as good as last year, we only got 7 hours of ERT, they ran out of T-shirts in my size, they didn't tell me their entire cap ex plan in detail for the next decade, etc.).

Yeah, and CM got cancelled this year, didn't it? Does that not kick the legs out from beneath the whole "Tony cancelled KI's events because those weren't "his" events" theory?

Coastermania did happen this year. Tony Clark flushed his Morning Rush idea down the drain and "quickly" came up with a Coastermania event. Which unsurprisingly, sold out: Coastermania | Roller Coaster Event | Cedar Point

I mean how hard can planning an event like CM be when it's almost rinse, recycle, and repeat, every season. Surely, Coasterstock wasn't much different in that regard. It wouldn't surprise me if Tony Clark had an event lined up for Kings Island, similar to his Morning Flush event, and when people didn't buy CP's morning flush, he canceled the event for Kings Island before it even went to market.

8 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

In other news, does anyone know if/when the Six Flags America land deal is supposed to go through? There are still a ton of (seemingly) salvageable rides there that Six Flags would be a fool to leave behind — especially if the park's land is going to be almost completely redeveloped. I've heard that the county/buyer does not want another amusement park there so I'd assume they wouldn't keep all of the rides.

John Reilly said on the last earnings call that Six Flags has a signed purchase agreement for the land. Due diligence is going to take some time and the transaction won't close until late 2027/early 2028.

Coaster Club events are by nature, niche.

Besides a fun time for the attendees, I would assume the hope from the business would be that loyal guests ( which club members usually are) would begat future guests.

I grew up going to ki. It was fun. But when went on a dead rainy cool May in 2014 and could ride The Beast over and over and over I was hooked. I went 15 times that year, each time bringing someone else. At some point,we saw people wearing lanyards, and asked. They were there for a coaster event. I got hooked.

The next year, I went to the first coasterstock. I met my first coaster friends and saw my first coaster annoying people. The next year I branched out to other parks, so much so that I went to all Cedar Fair parks except cga, wide and vf.

Coasterstock did become very copy/paste, but it didn't matter. Met new people each time that I still keep up with.

The ACE spring conference was better than any coaster stock, but it had a different purpose and I suppose was easier to let the club handle logistics vs the park logistics being pared down some.

For the last coaster stock, I didn't go, it was not a priority like all the other years. I was actually glad there was not one this year so the decision was made for me lol.

All this to say that these events are good and bad. If the positivity the parks expect form the most loyal customers dwindles, they likely won't continue them. Or, maybe coaster stock was not done because Tony had too much on his plate with being a pr person for most of the company.

Speaking of him, I've seen online that he and six flags have parted company. Is that true?

18 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Coaster Club events are by nature, niche.

Besides a fun time for the attendees, I would assume the hope from the business would be that loyal guests ( which club members usually are) would begat future guests.

I grew up going to ki. It was fun. But when went on a dead rainy cool May in 2014 and could ride The Beast over and over and over I was hooked. I went 15 times that year, each time bringing someone else. At some point,we saw people wearing lanyards, and asked. They were there for a coaster event. I got hooked.

The next year, I went to the first coasterstock. I met my first coaster friends and saw my first coaster annoying people. The next year I branched out to other parks, so much so that I went to all Cedar Fair parks except cga, wide and vf.

Coasterstock did become very copy/paste, but it didn't matter. Met new people each time that I still keep up with.

The ACE spring conference was better than any coaster stock, but it had a different purpose and I suppose was easier to let the club handle logistics vs the park logistics being pared down some.

For the last coaster stock, I didn't go, it was not a priority like all the other years. I was actually glad there was not one this year so the decision was made for me lol.

All this to say that these events are good and bad. If the positivity the parks expect form the most loyal customers dwindles, they likely won't continue them. Or, maybe coaster stock was not done because Tony had too much on his plate with being a pr person for most of the company.

Speaking of him, I've seen online that he and six flags have parted company. Is that true?

Coasterstock on paper may have looked copy & paste year-after-year but the itinerary wasn’t the purpose of the event. It was designed to create camaraderie, unity amongst the different clubs, and to be a gathering of like-minded people where new friends were made every year. It was designed to feel like a big family reunion for returners. That was the purpose of the event. And it worked as intended.

3 hours ago, Tr0y said:

I mean how hard can planning an event like CM be when it's almost rinse, recycle, and repeat, every season. Surely, Coasterstock wasn't much different in that regard.

I agree that planning such events is not a huge hurdle, it's the cost and logistics of actually executing them that make these events unappealing for parks. I'm not saying that's how it should be, but it seems like that's the way these things are viewed by and large. In other words, I don't think it was some conspiracy or personal vendetta by Clark that any of these things get s-canned.

1 hour ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I would assume the hope from the business would be that loyal guests ( which club members usually are) would begat future guests.

Agreed, and I would assume these events did not result in the boost they hoped for, hence their becoming endangered.

To be clear, I loved the smaller events I've attended over the years, mostly in the aughts, but they have become a different beast as years went on. Anecdotally it seemed more and more people complained every year no matter what parks did to accommodate them.

"Too crowded! Boo!" So, parks raised prices... Cut to: "Now it's too expensive! Boo!"

"Not enough ERT! Boo!" So, parks added rides to ERT... Cut to: "How can I possibly marathon MF and SV when they're so far apart! Boo!"

47 minutes ago, DispatchMaster said:

I agree that planning such events is not a huge hurdle, it's the cost and logistics of actually executing them that make these events unappealing for parks. I'm not saying that's how it should be, but it seems like that's the way these things are viewed by and large. In other words, I don't think it was some conspiracy or personal vendetta by Clark that any of these things get s-canned.

Agreed, and I would assume these events did not result in the boost they hoped for, hence their becoming endangered.

To be clear, I loved the smaller events I've attended over the years, mostly in the aughts, but they have become a different beast as years went on. Anecdotally it seemed more and more people complained every year no matter what parks did to accommodate them.

"Too crowded! Boo!" So, parks raised prices... Cut to: "Now it's too expensive! Boo!"

"Not enough ERT! Boo!" So, parks added rides to ERT... Cut to: "How can I possibly marathon MF and SV when they're so far apart! Boo!"

You can keep questioning all you want. Tony Clark said Coasterstock was coming back. It didn't. If he wanted to do it, it would have happened. Now, question it again as you do everything.

3 hours ago, DonHelbig said:

Coasterstock on paper may have looked copy & paste year-after-year but the itinerary wasn’t the purpose of the event. It was designed to create camaraderie, unity amongst the different clubs, and to be a gathering of like-minded people where new friends were made every year. It was designed to feel like a big family reunion for returners. That was the purpose of the event. And it worked as intended.

Which is why I said it didn't matter and that it allowed me to make new friends every year.

28 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Which is why I said it didn't matter and that it allowed me to make new friends every year.

They didn’t do it this year in the spring and word of mouth from the guests representing around 30 states, Canada and Europe about Kings Island wasn’t there. Guess which park wasn’t a Top 5 for Best Guest Experience in the Golden Ticket Awards for the first time in several years? Coincidence?

1 hour ago, DonHelbig said:

They didn’t do it this year in the spring and word of mouth from the guests representing around 30 states, Canada and Europe about Kings Island wasn’t there. Guess which park wasn’t a Top 5 for Best Guest Experience in the Golden Ticket Awards for the first time in several years? Coincidence?

I'm not sure how this extrapolation came about. I said it didn't matter if it was copy/paste because I was able to make ( and see) old friends.

Unfortunately coasterstock has died. Maybe at some point it will return, but I think it would be in name only.

Or if the right people did it, it be as good or better then before.

10 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I'm not sure how this extrapolation came about. I said it didn't matter if it was copy/paste because I was able to make ( and see) old friends.

Unfortunately coasterstock has died. Maybe at some point it will return, but I think it would be in name only.

Or if the right people did it, it be as good or better then before.

The intangibles that made it a great event wouldn’t be there, as illustrated in 2025. Nobody coming in would know what those were.

Six Flags is facing renewed pressure from activist investor JANA Partners, which is calling on the company to immediately hire an investment bank and explore a potential sale. The hedge fund is also pushing for leadership changes, including replacing Six Flags’ board chair and CEO.

They know if it isn't sold, bankruptcy is likely next.

8 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

They know if it isn't sold, bankruptcy is likely next.