Losantiville Mining Co.

I have a feeling that if Six Flags actually finds a way to right themselves more by July 2026 we will not see as nice of a deal next year. The new CEO could bring some good changes to what gets cut and how those things get cut, which could help the sentiment we're currently seeing. It definitely will not be that "40+" parks for the already-discounted price of one unless they somehow retain every park for '26/'27 and split more water parks into completely separate admission. Maybe the FUN Jumper pass (regional All-Parks add-on) will be expanded across the entire chain. I could be entirely wrong about my prior statements, but with a company hurting this bad it would be foolish to keep either the pass prices this low or to keep the number of parks so high. For those wanting some quick math: The current number of "separate" park properties is 41 and has everything where you have to cross a road listed as a separate property/park. That number keeps parks like Fiesta Texas and Hurricane Harbor San Antonio together while Separating Cedar Point and Cedar Point Shores — all being parks that require separate tickets for entry. Removing Six Flags America brings that down to 40, but separating more water parks from their respective dry parks would drive that number back above 40. At the very least I could see Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun, Carowinds/Carolina Harbor, and Kings Island/Soak City all being split into separate admission parks for 2026. That would take the total up to 43. The "total" number of parks (including Six Flags America and all included-but-separately-named waterparks) is about 58.

I didn't really think about the part where they'd take partial ownership, which as you said doesn't make a lot of sense. My understanding about the automotive industry bailouts is still coming into focus (even though it's been almost 20 years). Thank you for reminding me about that. Alienating sections of the customer base would indeed also be bad. I will mention the fact that (IIRC) Kings Dominion only gave "finishing our theming efforts" for Pantherian. Six Flags is going to be in some trouble when they officially announce that they've cancelled a number of their previously promised 2026 additions, so hopefully they will do some actual work to offset that.

According to a poster between the Kings Island Theater and the newest refresh station, Kings Island's Halloween Haunt is now presented by Snickers. While no sponsor is currently listed for the event on the park's website, it can be believed that the event website is currently under extended revision/maintenance. There's no body text on the Haunt website right now either. As I've said before, I'm mostly fine with the sponsors and ads because they are a way to generate more money for the park. I think the logo with the sponsor looks a lot better than the Fright Fest logo with the sponsor. My main qualm would be how they go about attaching a sponsor sign to the big gravestone-esque event I.D. sign. It would be a travesty if the big sign was either heavily modified or replaced entirely just to add a sponsor's logo. Long Live the Big Sign (Photo: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/haunt)

I wonder if Six Flags is avoiding listing tariffs as a secondary cause/scapegoat for project delays because they either 1) are euphemizing everything including tariffs, or 2) are hoping to get some kind of relief from the federal government if/when they declare bankruptcy (as companies like GM have in the past).

I would say to go with Door #1, renew and get a $99 Kings Island Gold Pass for the rest of 2025 and all of 2026 included. This is a low enough price point where two visits to any park would make the price worth it, and it allows you the choice of going/not going to Six Flags parks on your own terms. With an all-parks meal plan and standard drink plan that price goes up to about $300 total (after taxes and fees). Even that is a good deal considering the fact that Dollywood and other chains passes are up around $250-$300 without the dining plans. I wouldn't get Prestige unless you plan to go on days where crowds are normally lower because otherwise you'll be contending with all of the other new Prestige guests for access to Preferred Parking, the VIP lounges, and the Fast Lane lines. Buying now for 2025/2026 would let you visit any parks that might soon be sold/closed by Six Flags. It might even make for a good series of on-site blog posts for you to write for themeparksbydon. If Six Flags ends up declaring bankruptcy or selling assets sooner than expected then you would also be able to document that. You could wait until 2026 to see if (and when) this offer comes back out for 2026/2027, but then you would lose out on the pre-paid pass access to all of the Six Flags parks and not be able to go as spontaneously as you might want to. If you'd like to continue the course you're currently on in regards to access to parks, dining plans, and other benefits: renew now. If you're fine with going to the parks less and paying for access each time, wait until 2026.

I wonder if that could have been caught and fixed while the ride was down, or if the water system is only able to be thoroughly tested while the ride is in operation.

That is true, but I'd still like to see another stand-out coaster beyond Vortex's replacement and more attractions that the entire family can handle

I wouldn't be so quick on the Warner Bros. Discovery naming schemes. They are currently looking to un-merge and become separate Warner Bros. and Discovery Global again in 2026. I can't recall which company would get which properties, but I think the DC characters and licenses will stay with Warner Bros. while the Looney Tunes properties may go with either. I fear that any changes beyond new signage and paint will only lead to the area having less trees and awful appearances.

I'd assume any agreement they have would either include a clause either allowing time to remove all of the branded theming/characters or one stipulating that the business may continue to run any rides using those characters until the end of the operating day on the specified date. Since the park's NYE operating day would technically still be ongoing for those wee hours on New Year's Day, they'd likely have the ability to at least run some things. They might run into issues for parks that stay open until January 4th (or around then), but there may even be a clause allowing usage until the end of the park's operating season. It all depends on what the contract says about the transition between IPs. Taking down a sign is easy, but they are not going to do that while the park is in operation and the area(s) is (are) open. The license agreement with the Nickelodeon characters would have allowed them to be used beyond 2010, but Cedar Fair chose to end it early. Rights-holders may be super-picky about their IPs, but I doubt anyone involved in this most recent Cedar Fair (now Six Flags)/Peanuts licensing agreement would have allowed it to be so strict about having IP areas closed/removed by midnight on the date the license ends.

Who knows, it might be a great place to install the new* Riddler's Revenge! *Actually about 50 years old and relocated from Six Flags America, America's most recently closed amusement park. It would also be unfortunate because Kings Island was already lacking a little on the other end in terms of things that non-riders can do. If the chain wants to keep it as strictly a family park, why aren't they installing more family attractions that the whole family (including grandparents) can enjoy at once? The KI & MV RR, the Grand Carousel, KMAA, and Boo Blasters are pretty much the only four attractions at the park that I would feel good taking my grandparents on. Add the five shows (with some that don't even run most of the normal season) and that's only nine things for older/non-rider family members to do. That's a market Kings Island could play into more that they aren't. There's also the argument that the park needs 1-2 more super thrilling, stand-out coasters in its lineup beyond the imperceivable Vortex replacement. Families can come to the park all they'd like, but when those kids get to the age where they are looking for a place to go, they won't find as high intensity coasters as they'd like at Kings Island.

Photos have popped up on social media showing crews removing items from Invertigo's station with what looks to be a dumpster on or near a path in front of the coaster. Is Invertigo the next ride on the chopping block? I'll admit the photos appear to be from a known poster (I saw them second-hand in a cropped screenshot), but I would not put it past this company to remove a coaster mid-season with no warning. The temporary fence could itself soon be replaced by a more permanent fence if this turns out to be more than just some temporary movement. Do you think this movement around Invertigo is a sign of it's imminent removal, or is it simply a mid-season temporary closure like we've seen for White Water Canyon and Snoopy's Space Buggies?

I'm sure the parks would miss the ad revenue they bring in.

You could also see a lot of "Why is [coaster x] down???" while you're standing in line for [coaster x]

A new purchasing website for Kings Island's new The Conjuring: Beyond Fear experience has been found. Ticket prices range from $15-$25 based on date of admission and do not include admission to the event or to other attractions. I'm going to withhold from posting a screenshot and from giving out the link out of respect for the park, but I have seen it with my own eyes. I'd like to allow them to provide more information and to release that specific ticket link on their own terms.

The new Haunted Attraction Pass and Haunted Attraction Express Pass have been returned to the Kings Island ticket purchasing website with dates lining up for each night Halloween Haunt is open. Prices are currently set to (HAP/HAEP) $10/$29 for Fridays in September and Thursdays in October, $15/$34 for Fridays and Sundays in October, and varying prices on Saturdays throughout the event. The first Saturday of Haunt is listed as costing $20/$39, while the next Saturday is listed at $30/$54, and the following and subsequent Saturdays listed at $30/$59. November 1st is listed as $30/$54 as well. So it is all but confirmed that Kings Island's mazes will be upcharge attractions this Halloween Season, and that the new HAP/HAEP will not include admission to The Conjuring: Beyond Fear. This information is currently only available by going directly to the website and cannot be found on Kings Island's Halloween Haunt webpage or on the normal ticket purchasing portal. Are you excited? Does this throw a wrench in your plans? I remain hopeful that the mazes will be upgraded this year, at least in terms of staffing. I will have a second post about tickets for The Conjuring: Beyond Fear. Kings Island's ticket purchasing website where this information can be found: https://cf-ki.store.cffunki.com/fastlanewizardstatic/HauntedAttractionsPass?_cid=1750345194.1744563098

I'd think most of the unused land around Kings Island would be harder to develop than it is worth. A nicely-sized neighborhood could probably fit to the east of the Associate Dorms and south of the new Kings High School area, but the entrance(s) to it would be super odd to handle. Then as you get closer to the river you get into flood zones and everything. Anyone who moves into that area would also have to deal with the Kings schools traffic/activities in addition to having Kings Island in their backyard. If they're looking to sell a larger park to another chain I'd hope they could choose something that isn't a former KECO park either. Bankruptcy would be an interesting time to live through. I wonder if they'd force a rule where potential buyers cannot buy two parks that are in the same state/region. That would at least separate Kings Island and Cedar Point from competing in the same chain.

Renovate the food serving lines/register setups to be more like Harmony Hall and put in an American Fare (hot dogs/hamburgers), Chinese Fare (Panda Express), and an Italian Fare (LaRosa's pizza) each as its own line. They've got Mexican fare taken care of at Enrique's and the BBQ at Coney Bar-B-Que, so those may be redundant. Someone else mentioned that the Festhaus might also be a good place for the stunt show to move to. Whatever they do, I just hope it is comprehensive and done well. We do not need to see the building become another soulless gray and beige eatery like so many places like to do these days.

Too bad you can't bring a deck of cards into some lines at these parks anymore At this point they could just show TikToks that the park has made. They already have some with the AI voiceover trend in it. (also, I would like to see less AI in the parks. It is part of what makes places look trashy and low-budget)

My question would be why would they be putting those walls up in a backstage area this late in the season. If it is for Halloween Haunt, shouldn't those walls have gone up when they started the project months ago? Even if the maze/experience was a late decision I'd think it would have already been in the construction stage before now. Adventure Port was a late decision, Camp Snoopy opened late, and I'm certain River Racers would have opened late if it had been something in the dry park. If there is indeed no 2026 attraction coming to Kings Island then I would still wonder why they put the walls up in a backstage area. I'd like to believe that the fences (specifically with the banners) were put up so that they could block that space off while using the area around it for the Slaughterhouse queue. It could entirely be a case where they just keep the banners on the fences, but having them up now just to take them down in a month feels odd.

Including a weather forecast that (I don't think) gets updated throughout the day.

FunTV's main purpose is to be a space for ads. Some of the park-specific programming is still there (all of the switch-around games use the park logo), but other parts of it are generally similar to what's available overall. I would assume that we aren't seeing any ride reaction videos because Kings Island hasn't installed a major thrill coaster since Orion, and Snoopy's Soap Box Racers and River Racers don't necessarily work as well for that kind of video. The ride POVs are good entertainment for places like the Festhaus and it would be nice to even see some stuff from other parks come to KI's programming loop. My complaint about things like FunTV is that the programming loop never seems to be terribly long — especially in the Festhaus. There have been times when I've spent a morning at the park and seen the same loop three times in three hours. Much like the music playlists throughout the park, it feels like they turn on one playlist/loop with a very limited amount of things on it and replay it every day with no variation at all. It's definitely more work to create different or longer programming loops, but is it not worth it to make some of the guest experience better? The solution to this problem is to start printing physical tickets/season pass cards again while also providing accessible methods for charging phones. Six Flags America had FuelRod stations throughout the park/gift shops that are just a small battery bank. I'd like to see things like that come to/return to Kings Island. If the park could install the smaller free lockers in each coaster line and start printing season pass cards again, then that would take care of two major complaints park goers have.

The issue with this is that anything in The Vortex plot would need to deal with the ravine so any paths or ride foundations would be much harder than it is worth to do. Turning the area from KMAA over toward the Rivertown LaRosa's into a new mini-land would be a possibility, but I think Kings Island already has enough mini-lands as it is. A new indoor restaurant is definitely needed. My idea for a Moonlite Gardens replica building could be used to accomplish something like the Grand Pavilion did. Its a bit of nostalgia from Coney Island combined with a new indoor dining location. The Festhaus has not historically done well when serving purely international options. Reconfiguring and transforming it to be set up more like Carowinds' Harmony Hall would do wonders by consolidating the food lines a little and leaving more room for additional tables. The largest drawback to expanding it would be the amount of service courtyard that would need to be taken for it. Any offices in there would likely also need to be moved.

It's either get this started for 2026 or hope you're still around to do it when (if) the situation fully improves. I'm a huge advocate for dropping the brand name from a lot of the parks entirely. The largest issue they'd have to deal with is making sure the trademarks are up to date and processed for each name after dropping the "Six Flags" from it. Frankly, I think all of the park trademarks need to be cleaned up in general. Once things stabilize/the will becomes available, I'd start out by letting the top-tier parks have more unique logos and identities, then create a new and consistent branding identity for the lower tiers of parks, and then keep working to improve the experiences in each park. If it continues to be a massive company some more variation amongst the parks would help out the vibes in each park. One of my biggest issues with Six Flags has been that they treat themselves as one giant brand with multiple locations instead of multiple parks that sit under the same roof. Zimmerman stepping down will hopefully allow someone else to come in and at least stabilize things. He's not entirely in control of things, but as CEO he hasn't entirely been great at leading the combined company. Six Flags might get a breath of fresh air when a new CEO is finally appointed, and hopefully it will be someone who is able to finalize the merging efforts and get through the rest of the growing pains. The 2026 announcements need to be made, the new apps and websites need to be released, and the company as a whole needs someone at the helm who will be able to make a much-needed course correction.

Part of me wishes Kings Island would build a new set of restrooms between Jukebox Diner and Coney Treats to free up that space. It would replace an older restroom set and make it so that guests don't have to fully walk to either end of Coney Mall just to use the facilities. The renovated restrooms over by Diamondback seem to be holding up well so far. My only remaining issue with them is their lack of partitions between the urinals.

Adding quality live entertainment is probably one of the easiest ways to improve the attractions & experiences lineup at any park. It doesn't require the construction of a permanent venue (as a ride would) and can be taken down if it doesn't work out. Any area can become a venue as we've seen with the small stages for Carnivale and Tricks and Treats. Six Flags Over Texas is currently renovating their Palace Theater venue, which makes me a little hopeful that someone at Six Flags understands the need for entertainment spaces. Kings Island currently has five main performance venues (KI Theater, Festhaus, Bandstand, International Showplace, and Peanuts Showplace) plus International Street for the nighttime fireworks shows. There are also areas for temporary stages in the Action Zone shade tent, Oktoberfest, the Mercado patio area, the new festival tent next to the Grand Carousel, the Mistletones stage in Coney Mall, the Sounds of the Nativity stage in PS, and the one-time location of Busker Jam in Rivertown. I'd love to see a permanent stage return to Rivertown, maybe back by The Beast.