KI Guy Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 3 minutes ago, CoasterJack said: I don't think Apollo buying CF would've worked out well. I think they'd mainly be in it for the land and extracting as much money with as little investment as possible. Unfortunately they're already doing that. See CGA and Six Flags America. Also notice the lowered level of investment chainwide. Kings Island is not one of those parks that would be scrapped out and sold off for housing development. It's one of the best performing in the chain and the land still has its most potential being operated as an amusement park. If the chain keeps operating as it is parks are going to be lost regardless or at least change hands. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonHelbig Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 2 hours ago, robintodd said: I agree. I do think that the 59.99 for all Haunt season is too high. At 29.99 or 39.99 I'd be tempted, but 59.99 would be what I would expect to pay for ALL parks (with a passport of course). Even if they did the 29.99 or 39.99 without the Conjurng it would be better. Some may just feel like the new experience is too intense, plus with the limited availability it would seem more senible to make it an additional charge reguardless (maybe 5 or 10 for those with the full haunt season?). Either way, as I've always stated KI is a family park. For that reason I can see a path where this upcharge strategy absolutely bombs. What will they do when 2-3 weeks into the Haunt season there are a bunch of scareactors with nothing to do in the mazes?? I think it would have been better to just do the upcharge for the Conjuring and enforcing the "no boo", no strollers/wagons & age restrictions at the enterance to the lines. Your season pass should have your age information and for people without, they could get a "haunt" band that would require proof of age. Either way it will be an interesting Haunt season. They’d have to have a bunch of scareactors in the mazes for them to have nothing to do. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco2000 Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 9 minutes ago, KI Guy said: Unfortunately they're already doing that. See CGA and Six Flags America. Also notice the lowered level of investment chainwide. Kings Island is not one of those parks that would be scrapped out and sold off for housing development. It's one of the best performing in the chain and the land still has its most potential being operated as an amusement park. If the chain keeps operating as it is parks are going to be lost regardless or at least change hands. Have you seen the Warren County Master Plan and land-use report showing the best and highest use of the property or are you just speculating? Keep in mind just across the street, golf courses that operated year round were removed because it can make more money for 2 weeks as a non-paved parking lot for a tennis tournament...There was a time they would just fence off the greens and tee boxes and have cars park in the fairway for those 2 weeks. Your speculation may be correct or it may always remain KI, but land development can be weird, and if a developer offered Six Flags the right number, any park could be gone...just like many of the golf courses surrounding KI that have been turned into high end subdivisions, Kroger, other retail, etc. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robintodd Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 35 minutes ago, FALLINLOVE09 said: I believe it says 59.99 for all year with "fright lane" I don't think that's too bad actually. If it was without skipping the regular line then yes it would be way over priced You are correct, it does say priority access. Still I believe that whreas I may be interested in going into all mazes each time I go, I feel the Conjuring will be a once or twice thing. Maybe a 39.99 tier that includes all mazes, only 1 conjuring for the season and regular (not prioirty) access would get my money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KI Guy Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 @disco2000 We can infer based on what we see. Land is not at an ultra-premium like it is in Silicon Valley where CGA is. Look at the nearby Beach Waterpark—that would never sit for almost a decade if the area land were THAT valuable. Also KI brings Mason a lot of money and it helps distinguish it from any other upper middle class suburb. Mason wants it there. Your example of the Cincinnati Open complex parking kind of helps my point. It is a highly specialized and under-utilized piece of land in terms of how often it is used. Land doesn't sit vacant for anything if it's valuable enough—it becomes housing developments, retail, or office parks. The land makes money at all times. Of course things can change and the park's future is not guaranteed; I just don't see it being in any significant danger of closing any time soon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CartersCoasters Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 (edited) The cherry on top of this season is that EVEN PASSHOLDERS have to pay for the mazes, and have to pay $60 dollars for a pass add-on that only lasts 6 weekends, and you don't even go to Haunt every weekend. A drink plan that lasts YEAR LONG is less. And I'm not even joking around when I say this, I'm sure you'll have to pay to watch the WinterFest parade. Edit: Just found out that the cost for a single Haunted House pass only starts at $10. Saturdays are 20 PER PERSON, and you don't even get to experience half the mazes because it'll be so busy. Edited August 12 by CartersCoasters more information 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBBE1 Posted August 12 Share Posted August 12 WOW. That's dirty Six Flags. Most Saturday's are $30 for the Maze access. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swiftdrawer Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 This thread is bumping. Dang. Anyway, I don’t have much to add to what everyone has been saying. I don’t trust corporations one millimeter and the current Six Flags’s actions are really bad optics in many ways. Makes me wonder how the executives on the board of directors would do if each of them was challenged individually to play the scenarios in the original Roller Coaster Tycoon trilogy. (RCT World is a terrible game..) Sure, they can run parks in these games like money pits but the park rating mechanic and overall park management mechanic means they can’t just sit around, doing not much but adding flat rides, pre designed coasters, restaurants, stores, etc. When a corporation chases profit no matter what, something that happens extremely often, things get nasty for customers. Real nasty. You know, if the new CEO ends up being a totally unexpected pick somehow in the form of Ed Hart, who was behind the revitalization of Kentucky Kingdom in the late 80s/early 90s and then its reopening in 2014 and further growth up till 2021, that might actually do a lot of good. Zimmerman made almost $30 million last year, including bonuses. Realistically, a person doesn’t make to be a millionaire to live well and happily. Things would be very different if the board of directors weren’t being paid millions of dollars. Very different. One more thing: someone brought up the use of AI generated images by Six Flags for online designs and such. That doesn’t even surprise me given the strange surreal feel of the animations that play during Nytewalkers. Something is very off about those animations, as if Cedar Fair pre merge just let AI generate them all which is an extremely sleazy move. Things like Midjourney and ChatGPT shouldn’t exist. I won’t go all into it because this is a thread about KI’s Haunt but all I will say is that both rely on the blatant theft of media created by illustrators, writers, animators, and more in order to be able to generate anything. And that’s bad. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super7 Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 Six Flags is no longer an entertainment company. They are not about improving the customer experience and providing the highest quality of entertainment. They are an asset management company. They are trying to squeeze as much out of the assets as possible. When the assets fail, they will be sold Unfortunately the whole company is headed in the direction of failure. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr0y Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 On 8/11/2025 at 12:24 PM, disco2000 said: People will be ticked. People will still pay. But this is different than the pay Winterfest. With this you still get access to the park, just not the mazes. And to many people that is all they do for Haunt. But this will make ride lines longer. But people also don't pay attention, so the outcry to Guest Services will be huge. Take last night as an example. A lot of ticked off people at Guest Services at close and arguments with security last night at 8pm because people thought the park closed at 10pm, despite 8pm close being on the calendar since January... Sounds like spending time in Guest Services on the first Haunt weekend will be better than any of the mazes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUN&ONLY! Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 Does anyone know anything more about this “new” scare zone? Apparently, it was on Kings Island’s Halloween Haunt page when it first went live, but now there’s no mention of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I...am SteVe Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 The KI haunt site now shows sponsors for Slaugtherhouse (Skittles), Alien Abyss (Snickers), and KillMart (M&Ms). Please don't tell me they're about to put a ton of ugly "presented by ______" signs on each of those. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexpostal Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 3 hours ago, I...am SteVe said: The KI haunt site now shows sponsors for Slaugtherhouse (Skittles), Alien Abyss (Snickers), and KillMart (M&Ms). Please don't tell me they're about to put a ton of ugly "presented by ______" signs on each of those. They are absolutely going to have ugly presented by signs on each of those, no question. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super7 Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 Seeing tacky advertising on what should be a themed experience doesn’t exactly make me want to buy that product. They serve to give the consumer a negative feeling about the product IMO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted August 13 Author Share Posted August 13 15 hours ago, FUN&ONLY! said: Does anyone know anything more about this “new” scare zone? Apparently, it was on Kings Island’s Halloween Haunt page when it first went live, but now there’s no mention of it. I saw someone say that The Gauntlet was planned, but will not make it to the event as a named scare zone. It sounds like it may be a similar situation to last year's un-named scare zone between Jukebox Diner and the Rivertown LaRosa's. 7 hours ago, I...am SteVe said: Please don't tell me they're about to put a ton of ugly "presented by ______" signs on each of those. "Presented by" will be on each mention of a sponsored attraction at Halloween Haunt at Kings Island (presented by Snickers), since that is how sponsors work. You will definitely see the Skittles, M&Ms, and Snickers logos wherever you see the sign/name of those mazes. I can't guarantee that they will be big and tacky, but they'll be seen well enough. I'm still curious as to why the fences went up around The Crypt's building, unless it is to hide any props being staged outside for The Conjuring: Beyond Fear. I'd love to see how it is being set up and whether it will be more of a maze or an escape room-type layout. The interactive maze concept would be cool, but the escape room would probably allow for multiple rooms to be constructed. Maybe the queue line will also be decorated to somewhat resemble the Warren's haunted museum or maybe it will look the exact same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJay Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 (edited) Not sure if anyone’s posted on another page about this yet, so sorry if this is a repeat, but I saw this merch in the park today, and it is interesting to me that they acknowledged the 25th anniversary on the merch but not in any advertising around the park. Edited August 13 by BryanJay Realized that upon a glance the merch I photoshopped as a bit might’ve misled people 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted August 13 Author Share Posted August 13 The giant Snickers logo is a bit too on the nose for me. What makes it weirder is that I don't think any of the Six Flags Fright Fest merch has the Snickers logo on them, and it is definitely not that large. Talk about being the equivalent of a full-page magazine advertisement. I'm very glad they're at least acknowledging the 25th anniversary though. Maybe we'll see some more stuff during the event, even if it's minimal or just less than how SCarowinds is celebrating their 25th anniversary. This makes me hopeful. It would be really cool if they had a big celebration spot / photo op for it with any of the props and stuff from years past! Are those drink coasters or magnets in the first photo? Maybe I'll head over tomorrow and take a look at them. Also, is this in the KI Trading Company? I'd love to see both the north end of the Emporium and the KI Trading Co. be the two designated Haunt merch stores this year since they also had two last year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJay Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 3 minutes ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said: The giant Snickers logo is a bit too on the nose for me. What makes it weirder is that I don't think any of the Six Flags Fright Fest merch has the Snickers logo on them, and it is definitely not that large. Talk about being the equivalent of a full-page magazine advertisement. Are those drink coasters or magnets in the first photo? Maybe I'll head over tomorrow and take a look at them. Also, is this in the KI Trading Company? I'd love to see both the north end of the Emporium and the KI Trading Co. be the two designated Haunt merch stores this year since they also had two last year. (Sorry, the last shirts don’t have the snickers logo in it, I photoshopped them in for a bit, but honestly looking back I could see the park doing that lmao) This was at the KI trading company. I think they might’ve been put out today. They had the 25 merch on magnets, a button, shirts, and a hoodie. They also had some new pins and shirts with a pumpkin design. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted August 13 Author Share Posted August 13 I commend your photo editing skills, they had me convinced! The new merch will be fun to see either way. I think I might pick up the magnet with my extra 20% off Pass Perk. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CartersCoasters Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 57 minutes ago, BryanJay said: Not sure if anyone’s posted on another page about this yet, so sorry if this is a repeat, but I saw this merch in the park today, and it is interesting to me that they acknowledged the 25th anniversary on the merch but not in any advertising around the park. The Cedar Fair logo on the bottom right shirt... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swiftdrawer Posted August 13 Share Posted August 13 34 minutes ago, BryanJay said: (Sorry, the last shirts don’t have the snickers logo in it, I photoshopped them in for a bit, but honestly looking back I could see the park doing that lmao) This was at the KI trading company. I think they might’ve been put out today. They had the 25 merch on magnets, a button, shirts, and a hoodie. They also had some new pins and shirts with a pumpkin design. Nice photoshop skills! Pretty convincing. It’s funny how I fell for it when I literally got a certification in Photoshop in October 2021. It expired last year and it’s been a while since I’ve dusted off the photoshop skills I have myself but still. I also could see the park putting sponsor logos on shirts. These 25th anniversary shirts scream: “merchandising. Where the real money from the movie is made.” to me. But hey, at least they aren’t actually shameless plugs like the Spaceballs themed merchandise shown in the Spaceballs movie itself are. Instead, they’re actually a good move. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikid74 Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 Haunt at KI is PACKED. Any idea the size of the pass-holder crowd vs the one-day ticket crowd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 Haunt merch has dropped at KI! The skyline hoodie looks great, the 25 years design? Not so much. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted August 15 Author Share Posted August 15 I actually kind of like the 25th Anniversary merch. It reminds me of the old FearFest website from 2005 and is a mix of the general mid-2000's to early-2010's aesthetic. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastfan11 Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 1 hour ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said: I actually kind of like the 25th Anniversary merch. It reminds me of the old FearFest website from 2005 and is a mix of the general mid-2000's to early-2010's aesthetic. Geez. You just blew my mind with that screenshot. Good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco2000 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 For all those complaining that the upcharge was stupid and would fail, the season long option is now sold out.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted August 19 Author Share Posted August 19 I wonder how many they sold. 200? 400? It'll pay for itself in two Saturday nights at Haunt, meaning less money that the park could make off it. The all-season express pass at KI was also $20 cheaper than the all-season normal pass at Six Flags Over Texas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarPointer Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Coasterstock "sold out" too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJay Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 14 minutes ago, disco2000 said: For all those complaining that the upcharge was stupid and would fail, the season long option is now sold out.... I do wonder how limited this was, I didn’t think this would be something that would sell out (Admittedly if they had a non-express option for like 30-40 maybe, I would’ve gotten that, even though just paying per night would be way more effective. I also am curious what the lines will look like this season, because the upcharge could be inconvenient enough for families with younger kids or passholders just trying it out so it’s included enough for them to skip the houses. But I feel like comparatively, the house+expresses+ conjuring ticket is too close to the base prices for the regular tickets that I can see the express-regular queue ratio being off for this event. (Also let’s face it, even if it’s slightly less crowded people will still pay and the upcharge will stick. Really the only people in the park being affected by this are the poor customer service workers and line attendants who’ll get screamed at by the 90% of people who don’t know the houses are upcharge this year) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco2000 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Yeah, we would all love to know that number. But given the rumor that season long FL sales are now uncapped (and based on the lines the past few years on busy Saturdays and Haunt Saturdays, one would probably agree they are not capped), one would have expected this money grab to be uncapped as well. Unless they truly do plan to keep the lines minimal and the attraction top notch. I guess we find out in a little over a month! But I am sure the procrastinators that were going to buy this are now ticked! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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