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https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1128440032657017&set=a.644361881064837

Surprise guest Gary Wachs.

Adventure Express and Flight of Fear tour.

A bit from the Orion/Racer tour.

Welcome VP of Ops/Park Manager Tony Carovillano! https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/kings-island-shakeup-gm-retires-new-park-manager-employee-layoffs

Here ya go:

Same stuff happened when CF bought Paramount, then they had to go through years of trying to get back what those people brought to the table. Many of whom were around since early KI days.

The company railroaded all of their park VPs. This is NOT a good sign of things to come. These parks are going to the Six Flags level.

How do you start The Beast tour? With Beast Feast!

It is starting to look that way for sure. As much as I want to see Six flags flourish and be successful, I think they are in way over their heads right now. You can't get rid of the most experienced and dedicated people and expect it to keep running good or better than it was before.

All valid points. My quick take: They held a dog and pony Investor day to try to oversell their efforts and generate positive buzz and the investors saw right thru and asked the pointed questions. They are falling well short of the pre-merger synergy savings they touted as a reason for the merger. Eliminating a bunch of rides and counting the reduced O&M savings as a synergy of the merger was called out. Once you take the shine off the sell, they only have about $60M on hand, upcoming $350M in notes due, and carrying almost $6B in debt. They need money and they need it fast. Stock price down over 30% this year. With the dumpster fire of an Investor day, they feel a sense of urgency to act quick to try to gain investor confidence. We are now seeing the knee-jerk reactions and direction changes based on whatever direction the wind is blowing the Six Flags over the HQ at Charlotte. The media has latched on to the park head honcho terminations (or um retirements), but there are lots of other positions let go and at several levels below head honcho level that folks thought wouldn't get that deep. That is their story to tell, so I won't share how deep, but expect to see more cuts....just because you never heard about it or didn't know them doesn't mean they didn't provide tremendous value in your day at the park. Buy your silver pass....

Slaughterhouse tour.

That's for keeping us updated @chad_1138! Much appreciated.

Worth noting that Mike didn’t retire. He was laid off.

Backwards train ride into the shed!

Today, Saturday, May 31st Kings Island announced it is Mike Koontz Day. Mike was always supportive of KIC and answered any questions when asked. I am personally very sad to see him go. KIC admin wish Mike all the best in his next adventure in his life. Let's use this thread to post your congratulations , appreciation, and wish Mike all the best! Here you see KIC interviewing Mike at the opening of Adventure Port.

Wish I was there today (at Dollywood) really like Mike. Looked for him the other day (Tuesday) when I was at the park.

I believe its a local, regional and system team effort. For instance, Kyle Kruthoffer from KD is helping oversee it.

Jason McClure is the General Manager of about five parks. Tony will be park manager. Think of him as the manager on duty, while all decisions run through Jason. The park manager is well-below the rank and pay grade of what the General Manager/VP was. The park manager will be a point man, while still maintaining their duties - in this case, Tony will also be VP of Operations along with Park Manager.

Can someone explain to me exactly what has been restructured with the retirement of Koontz? What job positions have been eliminated/combined by having Tony as the new manager of the park? I'm assuming there has been some restructuring and that Koontz wasn't simply replaced. Any explanation is appreciated. I do like the idea of our new manager having ties to the park from back in his early career so hopefully we are in good hands

This was actually added in 2019. I was a little surprised the original Beast Canyon sign was visible again. I think they just did some touch ups of this sign during the offseason.

I hope they don't cut the fireworks and live shows.

He's a good guy. Glad to see this, although I'd rather see him be the General Manager, but y'know...

Congratulations Tony! Photo credit: https://www.worldsoffun.com/blog/2020/from-16-year-old-ride-operator-to-gm-tony-carovillano

Blog Post from his Role at Valleyfair: From 16 Year Old Ride Operator to GM: Meet Tony Carovillano Correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't he our assistant GM and current VP of Ops already? I know he was GM of Worlds of Fun for a bit as shown in the blog post.

Don't miss rhe bubble show preview at 7pm!

Maybe instead of the Q&A they will show the episode of Ghost Hunters

Jason McClure has no business being over several parks. Got promoted from dorney to cp. Ran cp into the ground while there and gets promoted again. Zimmerman and company run a good ol boy network

Commonly known as the yes-man

It was placed there, but in recent times, they put The Beast canyon cold drinks sign back up. Has it been switched back?

According to the pass holder Facebook page, a new sign has been installed at the entrance of The Beast:

“Retiring” and “leaving to pursue other opportunities” take on a different meaning when talking about corporate restructuring like this

They should show the lost Bert the Conqueror episode. (Wasn't there an attempted taping where there was some issue with the no reride policy and so nothing ever came of it?)

Thank you......if the same family his name is Wayne and been there since 1972....pretty sure.

Due to inclement weather, Soak City is closing today at 4:35 according to the PA announcement...

I don't mind that it was put up, but I will echo everyone else's sentiment that it was poorly placed and should have been placed at the Salt Water Circus lawn. I get the need for it, but it could have planned a little better.

I understand people's concerns about its placement blocking the Carousel. I also see where this will be helpful when it comes to Food and Wine, Carivale & general seating.

So got wrist band, shirt, and a frame for a beast picture. Kinda funny as it is from the 40th anniversary of Beast...(2019??)

Materials arrive via FedEx in a nice box. If you are a season pass holder, drink wristband ticket, meal tickets, and fun pic ticket are in your season pass account. So excited for Coasterstock this year.

Has anyone received their shirt and other items for Coasterstock yet in the mail? Rumor was it was sent out early May but no sign of it yet or heard anything.

It looks like the Cedar Fair-ification of Six Flags is well underway on the non-attraction side of things. Park policies have been updated across the chain, all-season meal and all-season bottle programs have been mostly standardized, and events are being shared across all of the parks under the new Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. Also in classic Cedar Fair fashion, one park will be permanently closed now that the merger has taken place; although, unlike Geauga Lake, visitors of Six Flags America have received ample notice. No word yet on when California's Great America will officially close, but I hope they are able to have their 50th Anniversary celebration next year alongside Six Flags Great America. Most Legacy Six Flags park maps have stayed the same (except for Great Adventure) while all Legacy Cedar Fair parks have updated to the new 2025 map style. Ride operations within each park have moved to using the system that Cedar Fair parks have been using. Parking has been largely standardized to include a dedicated Preferred Parking section. Smoking is now prohibited within all parks under the Six Flags umbrella, with a dedicated smoking area located outside each park gate. Events such as Viva La Fiesta, Tricks and Treats, and Winterfest will now be offered at parks from both chains. So much has happened so far, and yet so much has stayed the same. I would suspect any changes to Legacy Six Flags park websites will start to take place closer to 2026, with each website being rebuilt from the ground-up to better match the Legacy Cedar Fair / new Six Flags Corporate style. Ticket and Pass offerings will also hopefully be fully standardized for the 2026 season. Individual park mobile apps and maps may be rolled out for 2026 once those teams have had more time to develop them. I'd love to see paper guides make a comeback, even if it is in smaller quantities than before. The paper map guide from Winterfest 2024 was very nice to have. If any Legacy Six Flags parks are to be fully re-branded, I could see that happening between 2026-2028. Some contenders include SF Great Adventure, SF Great America, SF Magic Mountain, SF Darien Lake, and SF Great Escape. Parks like Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia will probably not be rebranded/renamed since they are original Six Flags parks whose names are actual references to the six individual flags that have flown over their states. Finally, SF Fiesta Texas and SF St. Louis could go either way, although SF St. Louis could revert to Six Flags Over Mid-America to keep Six Flags in the name. Anything that will reduce the size of that massive Six Flags logo for those parks would be great. We may still see some ride removals as the new Six Flags works to balance their budget sheet, but I hope we're past the worst parts of it. For standardized Season Pass and other offerings I'd love to see, read below. Cedar Fair pass structure (mostly currently implemented) Pre-K Pass (not currently available at all parks) Silver Pass Gold Pass (All-Park Passport eligible) Prestige Pass (All-Park Passport) All-Park Passport former Six Flags membership programs would be integrated into the Cedar Fair payment plan system (simply a name change). 2025 Legacy Six Flags meal plan program offerings 1 meal/day 2 meals/day (4hr apart) All-Park, 2 meals/day (4hr apart) Cedar Fair drink plan program offerings (all have 15min intervals Drink Plan (Fountain & Freestyle Coca-Cola products) Drink Plan+ (Fountain & Freestyle Coca-Cola products, ICEEs, coffee, hot chocolate) All Season Souvenir Drink Bottle (Fountain & Freestyle Coca-Cola products) Cedar Fair One-Day add-ons FunPix integration across all parks a new Return Time-based Fast Lane system guests would walk up to a kiosk (popping up at the entrance of most coasters), scan their Fast Lane, and get a return time. Or just stick with the Fast Lane system as it now stands. All Season Fast Lane add-ons could still exist Cedar Fair Season Pass Parking benefits Parking is included at all parks when a season pass is scanned. Cedar Fair Season Pass Locker Rental Six Flags VIP Tours these seem to work similarly to VIP Tours at Universal Orlando, where a tour guide takes a group through the park and provides information throughout the day. VIP Tour perks include VIP Parking Park Admission Priority Ride Access (seems to be different from a THE FLASH Pass) one Lunch meal/person one Dinner meal/person unlimited snacks Would probably be an easy money maker for the parks that could offer it. new After Hours events

You're not the only one. As far as trim-less Beast rides...wouldn't they have to physically remove the trims? If so, they'd either have to suspend operations toward the end of the day to remove them for ERT or leave it trimless all day for everyone. If not, then nevermind .

This may just be me, but beginning the sentence with "In fact," feels very unprofessional and/or too casual — even for a park speaking directly to its biggest fans (who weren't already going to Holiday World's event). The sentence would have been just as fine without it. It reminds me of how awkward and standoffish the little blurb about Monster's ordered-but-not-yet-received part felt. Does anyone else feel this way? Also, the "handful of surprises" make the itinerary incomplete (for guests) on paper, not "not final". Am I going too far into this? I'd appreciate more thoughts on the matter whether you agree with me or not. Trim-less rides on The Beast might be a nice surprise, but would there be a possibility of hurting the retracking done over the last few years? If I was going I think I'd rather take a trip to the Sign Shop than do something that would hurt the coaster. (I'd like to see inside there either way!) Sorry for nitpicking. This FAQ answer reads like someone trying to be cool and possibly failing at that. Thank you for coming to my unprompted rant.

Trim-less Beast rides and one side of The Racer turned backwards.

https://images.app.goo.gl/F25Qy7sJg2kbu8ge7

A sneak peek at the new 2026 "family thrill attraction"???

Anyone wanna take a guess on what the "handful of surprises that will enhance the event" are?

While not ideal to go head-to-head with another event, that's not why Coasterstock didn't sell out in minutes like it had in previous years. If the park wants to reach out to me, I can share with them for a nominal fee, of course, tips on how to sell out a roller coaster event in 15 minutes or less!

There’s just way too much going on that single weekend. To be frank with you I will be coming off a whole week in Epic Universe, I had no plans on doing HWN or Coasterstock as it’s just way too much happening all at once. I’m not shocked, in the slightest, that this event did not sell out because HWN took precedent as it went on sale first.

Looks like there are still tickets available 91 minutes after they went on sale.