Leaderboard

Another set of interesting notes from today's video: Most of the black ceiling tiles in the queue room have been removed. The FunTV screen(s) are still up in the queue room alongside the hurricane-style lamps on the right hand balcony wall. The fake windows, queue railings, and center part of the linoleum tile floor have been removed. Some of these elements are leaned up against the front wall. The door nearest the photo room is painted white on the inside. Both the extended cover and the underside access panel for Maestro's queue room balcony have been removed. (This could be an awesome sign for what's to come!) Maestro's curved stage right after the loading station is still in place and looks like it is merely dirty and only received a little bit of paint. The door to the left of the photo room ("Not An Exit") leads to a backstage hallway that appears to either be painted to resemble a cave or to have a tarp over the wall. The wall to the left of this door is labeled as the "YARD" scene with "A-17 [up arrow]" (presumably denoting the scene and prop element that goes there. Scene #8 | Kitchen I think walls have been removed from the back of the BBoBH bedroom scene. A new pallet-looking item is leaned up against the wall where No Legs Larry once beckoned guests into the theater. The turntable and platform still exist, but there is a big cutout in the wall that leads to the former theater stage. The newer interior walls use metal framing, if anyone was curious. The only remnant of the large parlor scene appears to be the painted checkerboard floor. Everything else looks to have been replaced by new walls. Scene #13 | Pipe Organ Scene #15 | Dungeon Lab The ride operator's telephone and black curtain remain in the loading station for now. You can still see the old Phantom Theater wallpaper and paneling that has been painted over, especially now that the house lights have been turned on. The upper wallpaper will need to be replaced or removed if they hope to emulate the original station. (Which I very much hope they do!) The only look into the bust hallway shows that the floor and queue dividers have been removed. This final interior shot also shows that the wall formerly used for the camera has been replaced. Boocifer lives on in the spot where Boo Blasters defeated him, now removed from behind his stone arch. The green "grass" paint remains under his unmoving figure in another room that appears to have been given new drywall. Metal wire chasing boxes sit beside Boocifer. Some of those will presumably be used to send the scoring system data to new screens at the end of the ride, similar to the Justice League attractions at other Six Flags parks. No work has begun on the exterior facades. Even the Boo Blasters Safety Guides are still posted. Areas of the building that we didn't see include the bust hallway, the graveyard, the portrait hallway(s), the former PT electrical room, half of the now-former dungeon, both skeleton scenes, and Boocifer's last stand. Some parts of the track also look to have been pulled up, possibly to change which direction the opera boxes will face. The completion of the demolition phase and the beginning of "intricate" electrical work give some insights into the transformation process. The article (posted above) in Amusement Today states that there will be 26 interactive scenes with 1 static figure and 33 animatronics inside. The new character of Sir Pretzel joins the now-named Arpeggio (or Archie for short) and Rick the Electrician. The ride will end with "...a grand on-stage musical finale with all cast members" — I believe this might go in either the larger skeleton room or the leaderboard room. Lauren Wood Weaver, VP of marketing at SDR, also stated that the company was approached several years ago and that this project was approved in November 2024. This just goes to show how much time and planning goes into these attractions before they are even announced. Tuesday, November 18th can't seem to come soon enough! I think they might show off the first functional animatronics and maybe another little glimpse into the new attraction or two.

33 animatronics is significantly more than I expected. Granted, they’ll surely be limited in their movements when compared to Universal/Disney, but 33. Wow. Unreal. Sounds like they’re really going for it. Any bets on the static figure? Return of the centurion?

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I don't personally see it as abuse, that's just the word I see associated most with it. It's like how people claim passholders "abuse" the dining plan while Six Flags continues to offer it. I think this would be a good change, but I don't know how many people would actually settle for the [glorified] Single-Use FL bundle.

The Holiday Meatloaf Burger is back for WinterFest. It’s moving from Miami River Brewhouse to Juke Box Diner.

As long as his face and audio works. Hate seeing the later POVs of PT where he's completely lifeless and faceless

I still have a bit of PTSD whenever I hear the word “Blackfish” I wonder if the talks with CF occurred when Jim Atchison was still CEO, or if this was something initiated after Joel Manby came in 2015? (If the release of Blackfish wasn’t public knowledge yet, I’m guessing it was under Atchison.) I’ve long maintained that if Blackfish would have happened when Busch Entertainment Corp owned the parks, the entire situation could have played out differently. Anheuser-Busch would have had the messaging and communication expertise to counteract the effects of the documentary (or, at least address it head on). After all, AB makes an addictive product that kills people and everyone still seems to love them… But the timing was such that it occurred right after the spin off, and the leadership at the time just didn’t have the expertise to address it. Not only that, but I fully believe that after years of being the “good guys” who loved and cared for animals, they just couldn’t believe that public perception about them could change. Of course, we know how that turned out…

For now I think we can just hope that the efforts from the portfolio optimization and some good boosts from improvements to core parks will help Six Flags in the long run. If the chain does indeed get itself down to 15-ish good parks, I think that "Great Reset" that's was foretold with the merger could become reality. Awesome article, Don! It's got me thinking of what could have been and who would've won out in terms of names and how the company would present itself. Right now I'm thinking the Cedar Fair name would be kept or a new name chosen entirely, but I can't figure out whose branding might've stuck. Much to ponder!

What could have been and maybe what should have been. https://themeparksbydon.com/cedar-fair-seaworld-merger-story/

At this exact moment I have not bought the season long FL for my pass yet ( and am not sure quite yet if I am going to as I have a few other things I may need to focus on...but I have a few more months to see what happens before I decide ) But as someone who has had all season Fast Lane, I have bought it and may consider buying it again for a couple of reasons. For one, it makes my park trips less stressful. No matter what the crowds are, I know I will get to ride what I want and not be stuck in line. I hate waiting in long lines which leads to point 2) I genuinely cannot handle the long lines anymore. People are far too unpredictable and kids are so poorly behaved that it just causes far too much discomfort for me to want to stand and wait more than 10 minutes for a coaster I've ridden countless times. It comes down to comfort and safety for me and the ones I go with. Going to the parks is something I enjoy doing to relieve stress, not obtain more.

I honestly wonder if they're going to put old theater style carpet in the queue. I believe Haunted Hotel (a recent Sally creation) has themed carpet in the queue.

Man I absolutely LOVED seeing this! I was actually wondering if they would show any construction process and it did not disappoint!

I wouldn't call it abuse since it's been allowed...there's not been any thing that says "you must visit a separate attraction for each use." I have always had FLP so that change wouldn't do anything to me. I pay the premium to be able to lap my favorite rides. Sure I pay to ride the other rides too, but I'd rather spend time at my favorites for a bit before moving on.

Columbia Carousel at SFGAm- Chef's kiss.