Live Entertainment

[BeeastFarmer]

I guess my point is:  If they are happy with the numbers the park is producing, why spend the money?

CP has hotels to fill (and basically an economy to support) so they likely have more robust entertainment to fill those rooms.

Kings Island, on the other hand, has people who visit the park multiple times a year, buy add ons, and enjoy a solid park, with "just good enough" additions.  

I would personally love more enterainment:  clown band, a train show, pop up shows, PTE-level season long shows in KIT.  However, keeping the fireworks every night, having Grand Carnivale, Winterfest etc is a better use of entertainment dollars IMHO.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Hot Summer Nights!

 

[SPONGEBOB_FAN_97]

They should do a show called Tower Topics: Live! in the KIT.

It has guest interaction, trivia on our phones, and maybe a t shirt cannon? 

Thoughts?

[DonHelbig]

36 minutes ago, SPONGEBOB_FAN_97 said:

They should do a show called Tower Topics: Live! in the KIT.

It has guest interaction, trivia on our phones, and maybe a t shirt cannon? 

Thoughts?

The Kings Island Theater will be dark after July 6 for the rest of the summer. A live Tower Topics show would fill the theater. But it would never happen. 

[SPONGEBOB_FAN_97]

2 hours ago, DonHelbig said:

The Kings Island Theater will be dark after July 6 for the rest of the summer. A live Tower Topics show would fill the theater. But it would never happen. 

Never is a long time…

[YuYuYuuki]

What Charlie Brown show is playing this year?? I'm going this summer, and I can't wait to see another weird Peanuts production.

[SmartCat7162]

I would rather the park cut a whole show if that means they could schedule more people to clean the park and help staff the drink locations. But that is just me personally I know a lot of people love the shows, but they eat up so much budget when you think about it.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

This summer's entertainment lineup does not include any productions featuring the Peanuts characters. There is only a meet and greet in the Peanuts Showplace, available select days until mid-August.

 

I don't think cutting a show would be the best way to help with the cleanliness issues popping up this season. The issues with the drink stands and refill cups this year also seems to stem from lack of management. There should be someone who delivers and installs syrup/CO2/ice to each location, but whoever it is likely got moved or fired. Shows and live entertainment take a lot of money to put on, yes, but Kings Island needs its entertainment more than other parks. If it wants to be a strict "family park" so that Cedar Point can be the "thrill park" (an awful way to run a business IMO) then KI needs to have more things for families and non-riders to do. Even Cedar Point has more shows that run for longer all season than Kings Island does right now. 

[YuYuYuuki]

18 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

This summer's entertainment lineup does not include any productions featuring the Peanuts characters. There is only a meet and greet in the Peanuts Showplace, available select days until mid-August.

Meanwhile KD has Charlie Brown's Hoedown... I can't believe they're actually the LUCKY ones! (KD is the inferior park solely because the UFO in their FoF isn't complete unlike KI's, and their FoF doesn't a photo, and the lack of "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT," and so on and so forth)

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 hour ago, YuYuYuuki said:

Meanwhile KD has Charlie Brown's Hoedown... I can't believe they're actually the LUCKY ones! (KD is the inferior park solely because the UFO in their FoF isn't complete unlike KI's, and their FoF doesn't a photo, and the lack of "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT," and so on and so forth)

Well, I will say we have been open more than them though. 

[super7]

Six Flags is not in good shape financially that’s because the high majority of their parks only install attractions for thrill riders and little children. They have limited their target market severely by doing that.  Installing more attractions for these people just regurgitates the same customers and does not grow their customer base.
 

If they  cut live entertainment (which is the case at most of their parks) and not having enough true family attractions like transportation rides are darks, they have sent the message to the non thrill riding adults that they don’t want their business. All of the food festivals in the world with mediocre food sitting in warmers it’s not going to bring these customers in if there are not attractions and entertainment for them.

this is also a big reason these parks have to close when school starts. Their target market is in school and they don’t appeal to adults that can take vacation during school season

There’s a good reason that Dollywood can operate daily.  They have so much live entertainment for the people that don’t want to ride the rides. And those are the people that are supporting the park when school is in session.
 

So cutting live entertainment to finance something else in the park is just cutting out future customers 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Parks like Six Flags Over Texas desperately need new things for non-thrillseekers to do in the park. A family member of mine recently went there and, as a non-coaster rider, didn't have a ton to do. They said food was really good and that Pirates of Speelunker Cave was super good, but the carousel (the first thing you see in the park loop) looked like it needed a lot of love. There was approximately 1 show happening that Saturday in the middle of June, and it was outdoors and not listed on the park website or app. That park has an indoor theater, but it seems to have been dark these last few seasons.

Kings Island needs more shows and live entertainment overall. They definitely need more that last from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This trend of leaving theaters dark for half of the operating season needs to stop! I'm sure the only reason why Country Crossroads and Hot Summer Nights have the longest runs is because they're in the two most visible venues. 

20 hours ago, super7 said:

So cutting live entertainment to finance something else in the park is just cutting out future customers 

I can see Six Flags cutting/gutting live entertainment after they cut another level of management. I hope they don't do that, but it's possible. The executives and financial planners up in corporate are probably going crazy trying to find things they can cut from the budget without breaking too much more. If they want to save money, Six Flags should really focus some investment on entertainment across all of their parks (CF and SF) as well as doing some work to fix their family lineups. Notably, Kings Dominion could use a new train ride and Carowinds could use a new Carolina Sternwheeler attraction (I hear Disney World might have one for sale soon lol). 

[IndyGuy4KI]

Trailblazers X-treme! 2025

 

[CartersCoasters]

Outdoor entertainment times have been cut in half because of the heat, and I think there’s an exception for hot rhythm night’s 8pm and 9:30 shows.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Has anyone been able to get the actual showtimes schedules for this season? I'm trying to plan a day where I can come see all three shows (Country Crossroads, Trailblazers Xtreme, and Hot Rhythm Nights) and can't find a full list anywhere.

[Michael H]

15 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

Has anyone been able to get the actual showtimes schedules for this season? I'm trying to plan a day where I can come see all three shows (Country Crossroads, Trailblazers Xtreme, and Hot Rhythm Nights) and can't find a full list anywhere.

Country Crossroads days off are on Mondays,  Trailblazers day off is on Wednesday and Hot Rhythm days off are Thursdays, if that helps.   Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are the days you can see all 3.  Enjoy and have a good time

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Thank you! I wish Six Flags would include showtimes and dates in the descriptions for each show on the website and mobile app. 

[CartersCoasters]

A version of Bands in Residence at CP would be great to see at Soak City since they don't have entertainment. Other parks including Dorney Park and Valleyfair have done this.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Here are the show times boards for some of this season's Live Entertainment! Shows that I do not have pictures for are listed as well using available information.

• "Country Crossroads"
  • May 24 – August 10, 2025
  • 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 4:00 pm, 5:00 pm (No shows on Mondays)
  • Festhaus 
• "Gazillion Bubble Show: Aurora"
  • May 31 - July 6, 2025
  • 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm (No shows on Thursdays)
  • Kings Island Theater
• "Hot Rhythm Nights"
  • May 24 – August 10, 2025
  • 7:00 pm, 8:00 pm, 9:30 pm
  • International Street Bandstand
• "Kings Island's Nighttime Spectacular"
  • May 23 – August 31, 2025
  • 10:00 pm nightly
  • International Street and Parkwide
• "Meet-N-Greet Experience"
  • April 18 – September 1, 2025
  • 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
  • Peanuts Showplace
• "Trailblazers X-treme" presented by The Original Bomb Pop Extremes
  • June 21 – August 3, 2025
  • 2:00 pm, 3:30 pm, 5:00 pm, 6:30 pm (No shows on Tuesdays)
  • International Showplace

[Timchat2]

The showtimes for Country Crossroads, Hot Rhythm Nights, and Trailblazers X-treme will be changing with the start of Grand Carnivale on Saturday 7/19.

If the app is accurate, Country Crossroads will be 3:30, 4:30 and 7:30. Hot Rhythm Nights will be be 6:30 and 7:30. Trailblazers X-treme will be 2:30, 4:30 and 7:00. Not sure what the days off will be for the two weeks of Grand Carnivale.

[brenthodge]

Be THRILLED with whatever we have-regardless of how thin it might seem. My goodness Kings Dominion is SAD with entertainment for their 50th no less. The Bubble Show started Saturday. Ran 2 shows and is now “cancelled” with no shows scheduled- not sure why. Not much else. Their bandstand show is “ok” and the nightly “celebrate light show” is beyond lame. It’s sad to see such a BEAUTIFUL park so light on experiences. I have to believe the catch 22 is in effect. No one is here, so why have shows. There are no shows, so why be here. This park is DEAD! First time here and was planning on Fast Lane to get all the bigs in. No need. 1) half of the coasters aren’t on the list 2) did em all between 6:30-900 last night. Seriously crazy here. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think I heard their Gazillion Bubble Show is canceled for the time being until they can make the floors less slippery from the bubbles. The Kings Dominion Theater hasn't been regularly used in years so I'd assume there is a difference between the KD Theater and KI Theater that wasn't taken into account. Kings Island really had it good for their 50th anniversary celebration. It makes me wonder what both Great America parks 50th celebrations will look like next year.

The lack of quality entertainment (and lack of advertising for said entertainment) may be a plausible reason to add to why Kings Dominion can't seem to attract families on the scales they might want to. There is a noticeable absence of quality, slow-moving attractions and things to do for non-thrill-seeking across the Six Flags chain. Maybe they could bring in more families by adding a new train ride, a few new small attractions, and more shows with more showtimes. 

Parks like Six Flags Over Texas don't have many shows either. Hopefully Six Flags can recognize the importance of entertainment when finding new ways to attract more guests and dramatically increase attendance across all of their parks.

[brenthodge]

It’s hard. I mean, I can’t blame them for not having fireworks last night as there HAD to have been only a few hundred people in the park by 9:30 (we literally were the ONLY people riding Grizzly 3x last night), but if you don’t provide any compelling thing to keep people, then you’ll have that. The park has a wonderful kids area, with a giant outdoor theater (like our showplace) sitting dead. It’s just sad because they made this big deal about the “return of live entertainment for the 50th.” I don’t care since it’s the same bubble show we had, but the park deserves better. Even IF the show was running, it wouldn’t be enough. 

[Imperial79]

Looks like they're doing a practice run for Grand Carnivale right now on the webcams if anyone else wants to watch.  

[IndyGuy4KI]

One of these are not like the other. Experience tells me the physical sign is accurate and the app is not. This is why you need a local communications person to disseminate the correct information. 

 

[Timchat2]

MAJOR props to the Entertainment performers and crews on Saturday night! Despite a very iffy forecast and rain right before 6PM they pulled off an amazing (and oh so humid!) opening night of Grand Carnivale. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I finally got to watch this season's Live Entertainment this week and I have to say it was really good! I'm not a Gazillion Bubble Show guy, so that is the only one I missed. I also did not visit the Peanuts Meet & Greet because that both not my thing and not a show. See my reviews below. 

Country Crossroads: My most viewed show for 2025. I absolutely love the music, live band, set, and the costumes. The only complaints I have about Country Crossroads is that 1) the sound mixing is just the slightest bit off, and 2) its location in the Festhaus doesn't allow it to command the attention it deserves. 

Gazillion Bubble Show: I didn't watch the GBS in 2025, but it was a nice enough show in 2024. It's a good show for families and kids. That being said, the Kings Island Theater should have a show that can occupy the space from Memorial Day to mid-August/Labor Day. Even a simple 15-30min short film would allow the space to be used without extensive set work. I'd much prefer if it had another show like Phantom Theater Encore, but I'll take this over no shows in there. 

Hot Rhythm Nights: When I saw this show on Monday I was super confused. It lasted about ten minutes and seemed a bit odd for a bandstand show. Then, after seeing it tonight, I realized that I had seen an abridged version due to the heat. The full show was really good and reminded me of the version I saw last year at Dorney Park. It could be improved by lowering the overall volume (a common theme), connecting the set pieces a little more so they aren't just static boxes, and re-doing some of the video board effects. The pumping equalizer/volume bars are currently just one graphic spread across all of the screens, but they could be elevated by making each of the vertical screens its own equalizer bar section. The rap section in one of the songs is also odd to me, but it's fine as is. Oh, I almost forgot, it also needs a live band to perform as its backing track. 

Trailblazers XTREME: This show is very good in terms of the super talented performers and had an old classmate of mine in it during my viewing. The set also looks really good, especially since it is hand-painted before each Summer season and Haunt. That's about where my likes for it end. I'm not a huge fan of the stunt shows as they exist in the International Showplace (move them to the upper section of Timberwolf and I'd feel better about it). The music is far too loud and drowns out the two speaking characters voices during their lines. I can understand needing to work against the sounds of the park around it, but the volume feels like it's way too loud even for that. For now the International Showplace Theatre kind of just sits there under the stunt set. I hope we will soon see a new show occupy the IST that utilizes it as it's meant to be used. This would be a great spot for the next Country Crossroads show and a new version of Hot Blooded during Halloween Haunt.

Grand Carnivale Opening Ceremony: It was a little loud and boring, but the concept is good. There isn't a big "activation" moment like there is with the tree lighting ceremony. I wish it had just a little more action since there's at least 50 performers up on stage and more around it. Anything more than just making them stand there for extended periods of time while the characters talk. 

Spectacle of Color Parade: I watched the parade on International Street and was immediately very happy to have been there to see it. In a time where the future of Grand Carnivale and parades at Six Flags parks are uncertain, this parade got me really pumped up. The atmosphere and aura it gives the park are what make it amazing. We were a little sad to not have the opportunity to get a bead necklace (they were sitting on a hook on the float the whole time), but at least we got to see the parade. International Street was (literally) made for parades like this, and I hope they continue to return in the future. 

Kings Island's Nighttime Spectacular: This is the only show left that I have yet to see during the 2025 normal season. I was able to see it from a distance recently, and even then it looked really good! The nighttime fireworks have been a staple at the park for a long time and the Kings Island experience would be made less if they weren't there. The drones are really cool as well — I just hope they do not hinder the chances of receiving an adequate Vortex replacement. Keep the nightly fireworks. 

 

In conclusion, Kings Island still has great shows! My complaints boil down to the current location of each show and the lack of adequate volume/sound mixing. Live entertainment is a great way to attract families and increase time spent in the park. Keep high-quality entertainment at Kings Island if you want to keep season passholders like me happy. 

[Timchat2]

Considering it was built as a show venue for large-scale productions (including ice skating shows) I've wondered how Festhaus eventually became a noisy food court where some still very good shows are met with indifference by what feels likes 80% of the guests who are there mostly for chicken tenders, Panda Express, and air-conditioning.

[brenthodge]

6 hours ago, Timchat2 said:

Considering it was built as a show venue for large-scale productions (including ice skating shows) I've wondered how Festhaus eventually became a noisy food court where some still very good shows are met with indifference by what feels likes 80% of the guests who are there mostly for chicken tenders, Panda Express, and air-conditioning.

It always had food. I think mainly -sadly the audience has changed (plus there was quite a while it was nothing more than TVs or whatever banal crap was in there, so people took it for granted. I’d love for the stunt show to move there. There’s technically height for it with some stage modifications  (and maybe downscaling the show a bit) it would make it more comfortable for the cast, allow for actual lighting, and be the type of show you don’t really need to “pay attention” to. It’s big spectacle that you can glance at. Maybe even make it 15-20 min with more frequency to align with dining turnover. The concept could even translate to WF with a stunt elves meet Santa and tinker vibe lol.

Move the music show to showplace with more evening shows staggered with the bandstand show.