Losantiville Mining Co.

So, what do we think? Has the new Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare performed well enough (so far) to convince Six Flags that they should develop more custom concepts with Sally Dark Rides? I certainly think it has. A lot of legacy Six Flags parks need a good replacement for their Justice League dark rides, Carowinds and Kings Dominion need a replacement or update for Boo Blasters, and Cedar Point just needs a dark ride in general. The chain should not copy Phantom Theater over to a ton of parks like they did with Boo Blasters (although it might be nice at Magic Mountain). I'd love to see each park get its own custom dark ride, but there's enough parks that I think each concept could be used twice as long as the parks aren't very close to each other. Great America and Six Flags Over Texas might spring for a Western theme to replace their respective Justice League dark rides. Carowinds' Boo Blasters building would be a great spot for a tastefully done custom dark ride with an even more custom ghost theme. I haven't worked this one out, but it would need to fit into the small 7,000 sq ft Boo Blasters building. It's located within the [Country] Crossroads area of the park and could have some kind of theme with that — though that area as a whole already needs revitalization. They could always turn that back into a theater and put a new dark ride in their Action Aeronautica Theater. Great Adventure will eventually need another dark ride, but they're already in the middle of rebuilding other parts of the park so this one can wait. Kings Dominion is proving itself to be a tough squeeze for a new dark ride, so either some new variation on Boo Blasters or a custom 7,000 sq ft dark ride would fit right in with the current setup. There are some 20,000 sq ft spaces in the park if they're willing to tear something else down, but I think they'd stick with the BBoBH building. Cedar Point has a few spots where a dark ride could fit, depending on which area could actually fit one without disrupting park operations too much. The pavilion and asphalt lot behind the One Stop redemption center takes up nearly 50,000+ square feet. This is larger than PT:ON's footprint by about 10,000 sq ft. One spot that has previously held a dark ride in Cedar Point is the former home of the Pirate Ride. It has about 12,000 sq ft without expanding into the former Chickie & Pete's restaurant. The current Coliseum Arcade doesn't take up a large amount of the whole Coliseum building, but I've estimated the arcade to occupy about 8,000 sq ft. That's enough for a smaller dark ride like Boo Blasters. Another location that may be able to fit a dark ride is the former Melt restaurant. Depending on how much of the building is dedicated to the former restaurant vs the employee dining room, I think the restaurant had a footprint of about, once again, 12,000 sq ft. This would likely require an outdoor queue to be placed between the ride and the Boeckling house, but it is relatively shaded and out of the way. Other spaces at Cedar Point could fit a nicely sized dark ride, such as the railroad side of Rougarou's plot, the former station building of Shoot the Rapids and the Frontier Fling plot, and the pond area from Snake River Falls; but I believe the park should build an omnimover with great capacity at the front of the park first. Anything at the front of the park could be themed to Disaster Transport, while anything toward the back of the park may require a more Frontier theme.

They are, but even Great Adventure is going to take at least a year or two more to be converted — and they got a head start. I think Chicago's Great America is either waiting for the real CGA to close (so they can have some of their stuff) or is going around the same pace as Magic Mountain (except MM allegedly got GAm's family area and caused the delay to 2027). I hate to say it, but right now I think even with all of it's problems, Gurnee's Great America might even have a higher guest satisfaction score than Cedar Point 😬

I think you should be good as long as you have your QR code. My physical pass might cause some issues since it's got the old barcode (that still worked as of last year, but may not work otherwise), so if I go I will be using the Six Flags app. Enchanted Parks said their mobile app would be out by Memorial Day, but it doesn't look to be out yet. This has also probably been said here before as well, but drink plans and Fast Lane will work (maybe with some issues though) and meal plans do not.

The park has the ability to see people using flash photography on the ride and call them out for it using the ride announcement system, so I think they could've seen someone breaking off the finger. In all reality, we don't know that it wasn't immediately caught and that said guests were not met by security at the exit. The broken drywall in the queue would've been much harder to see in the moment. At this point we'll just have to see if Kings Island fixes these parts or not. As for the possibility of the finger falling off on its own, there's a possibility that it could've been due to an issue with the hand mold. It might've also been an issue from the animatronic's installation. Both situations are unlikely, but anything is possible; again, we don't know what happened to cause any of these issues. I've been thinking of making my own version of BryanJay's Halloween Haunt overlay for PT:ON using my (admittedly limited) video editing skills. Most of it would be the same, but I have some additional thoughts of what could go in there. It'll also be a good way for me to dive back into video editing. Mainly, I'd add the toppling boxes/Bosco's door sound effects and do some alternate sound mixing. The stage scene could use one of the other songs from PTE. I think it would also be fun to see if I can mimic the difference in sound quality between in-car voice lines and diegetic lines.

Is that Larry actually within arm's reach? I haven't tried to reach out toward him, but I thought he was beyond the emergency exit pathway (the path you'd use if the ride vehicles needed to be emptied mid-course). At least his finger is easy enough to fix with some glue and matching paint if you know what you're doing.

Two more "windows" with closed curtains and light panels (instead of 3D windows) would've gone a long way on the other walls. I'm curious as to how much weight the ceiling above the entrance can hold because it would be a great spot for a pipe organ and/or a Christmas tree during a potential holiday overlay. The edge strips on the stairs just need better adhesive since those are brand new. The entire floor got replaced with this renovation IIRC. Speaking of which... day 20(?)(30?) of asking Kings Island to have an original Phantom Theater overlay for PT:ON during Haunt. Once it's been programmed, it would be one more attraction with great capacity that'd be open during the busiest nights of the season.

I forgot to mention it in my ride report, but if anyone from the park is reading this: there is a small hole in the wall of the queue right under Maestro's balcony. It might've been kicked in? There's also a small bit of wallpaper that looks to have been peeled. Is this the kind of thing that could've been done by some rowdy unchaperoned teenagers. Yes, but it could also have been an honest accident (that drywall is probably 23+ years old. Whatever happened, that's the kind of thing I hope someone can easily fix overnight.

I'm hoping that they will indeed take these next few years to fix their guest experience instead of adding another coaster. More in-line lockers (*cough* Raptor and Valravn *cough*), more trees and shade, and the additional staff/training I mentioned before. They could probably take on one ride from Six Flags America (I believe they had a teacup ride that hasn't been removed yet). Whatever they add, it should leave money for additional improvements.

Took a nice little ride through the theater tonight. The wait time was posted at 60 minutes, but I only waited for 20 minutes. It probably would have gone faster if all of the ride vehicles were working. As I got into the loading station I realized that they were having to skip quite a few opera boxes, presumably due to non-functional flashlights. Having all of those operating might've cut about 5-10 minutes off of my wait time. I noticed a lot of broken/misfiring effects tonight, but I won't complain too much because I know they'll be fixed overnight. There were at least 5 broken opera boxes that passed in the 3 minutes that I could see the turntable. When I got in, the first few audio lines were each messed up a little (Larry also blurted out a random "Thanks!" in the queue), and I noticed that one of my flashlights was broken. All of the tumbling boxes and shelves were working, as were all of Hilda's mirrors. My flashlight began to have some issues around the Electric Panel, but was mostly reliable during the rest of the ride. The first boiler TV was off again, but I'm glad that they still have the physical coals at the bottom to give it a B-Mode. While I commended the park on lowering the lighting throughout the ride in a previous post, it's unfortunately been turned back up [sad face]. If I had to guess, the ride has an issue with staying 100% operating throughout the day. It's still a magnificent ride! I'm glad they keep fixing it when it breaks and I hope the maintenance teams can keep it up.

I went to see the fireworks tonight and decided to grab a slice from LaRosa's on International Street around 9PM. They had already shut down half of the line, but the only thing increasing wait times was the amount of people trying to check out at the two registers. I wish they would try to keep the International Street dining locations at full capacity until the park closes since it's one of the only areas with open restaurants after 9PM. As for my pizza, it was great! Much better than Hugo's up at Cedar Point. The pizza slices and breadsticks were a nice size and my Coca-Cola was as desired — especially considering it was the end of the day. There was a kid trying to get Powerade and Sprite using a water cup, but his parent/guardian shut that down real quick. Has anyone here been to Soak City yet this season and tried the food? I'm considering heading over there one of these days to check it out again. I haven't been since they started beefing up the park food around 2018 and want to get the full value out of my pass and various add-ons this year.

We took a little Sunday trip up to Cedar Point because of the long weekend and had a nice time. I'd like to clarify, as always, that while my criticisms are many, I really enjoy every time I visit Cedar Point. Some of these can be easily fixed while others would require major changes. Some positives: My pepperoni pizza meal at Hugo's was good, though I'd have preferred a better dipping sauce for my breadsticks. This meal was on the lower side of a "good" rating. All of the associates I interacted with were friendly and seemed to do their jobs well. I enjoyed the pre-recorded spiels for some of the rides. That said, they need to be played louder and/or find a better soundproofing method overall. My second meal of the day was a Hot Dog Basket with Chips from Derby Dogs (hooray! it was open!!). There were four associates working the stand who kept the line moving swiftly. Two of them were assembling the baskets and the other two were manning the registers. The split-top bun (as opposed to a standard side-split) looked very nice and the hot dog itself was good. This meal was on the higher side of a "good" rating. Throughout the day I got at least 3 paper cup refills, and only one of them (a Coke from Hugo's) tasted odd. Honestly this is the one time I'll admit to wanting lids and straws offered (when requested) since all of the bugs are Some complaints: The associates are required to consistently ask about if you'd like to purchase a drink bottle even if you're already redeeming your paper cup plan. I think I saw that this was a mandate from their Coca-Cola supplier (or something like that), but I really wish the park would negotiate something that would let them tone it down. There aren't as many "fluffy-friendly" rides at Cedar Point as there are at Kings Island — a category which both parks are severely lacking in. Even Corkscrew (with Arrow's forgiving restraints) didn't look like it could really accommodate anyone with a larger belly or chest. Cedar Point is the thrill park, but I do think they need to have more rides that the entire family can ride together. I'm really just salty that they got rid of the riverboat expeditions. The lack of a dark ride is a major hindrance for the park. I think they need something the size of Phantom Theater, though having 50-ish cars in it would be better considering their crowd numbers. I'd love to see a Disaster Transport dark ride near the front of the park. A second good dark ride would be something taking over the plot from Frontier Fling and Shoot the Rapids' station. They would lose that access to the island, but would gain a big dark ride on the Frontier Trail. During our meal at Hugo's I saw at least 6 people go in/out of an emergency exit door. There isn't really much you can do about that besides giving it an actual alarm, but it was not a great thing to see. This last one gets a bigger point: Operations were less than stellar for it being Memorial Day weekend. This isn't the issue of the associates that were there, but more of an issue with Cedar Point's hiring practices. Having a group of older, full-time associates around the park who are more responsible and knowledgeable would help to provide a much better experience overall. I won't provide a possibly-AI-but-maybe-not solution though. You're not going to attract people who will stick around beyond a Summer job without paying enough for them to live in Sandusky year-round. Despite being posted at a 25 minute wait time, it took me 60 minutes to make it through the line for Corkscrew. The only thing that might've made it go quicker would be if the three associates working in the station provided a sense of urgency. I watched about three Top Thrill 2 launches between each train being sent on Corkscrew. The second train sat on the brake run for a good 3 minutes each cycle. My main point in saying this is that Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of the Summer season for parks. This is the weekend that a park like this should strive to have everything operating by. There were only two shows set to take place, and their showtimes were all after 3:00PM despite the park opening at 10:00AM. Maverick appeared to be closed until about 1:30PM: it had a line that stretched all the way back near the Stockade Refreshments with no associates attempting to corral guests into a smaller area. (Part of that issue was guests waiting outside of the queue and part of it was the lack of planning/execution on how to contain the line.) There are still a few things that I feel are fundamentally wrong with the park operations. Fast Lane has historically been oversold and sales need to be cut off sooner. There's no reason why a Fast Lane line should exceed 45 minutes IMO — so when it gets up there, close that queue for a little bit. The lack of associates on the midways as well as the closed Guest Services locations (on a holiday weekend) is concerning. If there isn't an easy way to fix the ride wait times then there need to be other things for guests to do. Live entertainment and play areas are a good start. A new/reopened park museum would continue the effort. I think Cedar Point is the kind of park that could sustain an all-season Haunt maze (even as an upcharge). More things for people to do that get them out of coaster queue lines. Ultimately, I still love Cedar Point. The park has one of the best ride collections in the world and still lives up to most of its reputation. It has a lot of things that absolutely need to be rethought. Better staff hiring practices, more boots on the ground helping to direct people and fix things in the moment, and an overhaul on some of how the park works would all do wonders. These are the kinds of things that would make guests a lot happier than another new coaster before 2030.

I haven't forgotten, but I don't think a few extra nights per season will cause a major rebellion — especially if those nights are on Fridays/Saturdays during the Summer months.

I like the idea of After Hours events at Kings Island, they just need to provide a little more than 4 coasters, no flat rides, and only 1 dining location open. See one of my posts above for more on that. Something I'd do differently is to put the dessert buffet in the International Restaurant. It has more seats and feels more premium than G&G does. If there are more people at the event than it can hold, then I'd make 1 hour time slots that start at 7:00, 8:30, and 10:30. That's 117 guests per seating (180 if they also open the Carousel Room), and 351 total guests (540 guests w/ the CR) for the event if you limit it to just however many fit in the dining room. I'll admit 30 minutes is a little short of a turnaround time between each seating depending on how many associates are dedicated to the event. They could also have guests use the compostable trays and paper cups if washing all of the dishes between each seating is an issue. I'd be interested to see how many guests would be needed to deem an event like this to be viable. I'm sure it's a lot more than 351-540; although maybe 1,000+ would work. In that case, sell the buffet as a slight upcharge.

My lunch trip to the park yielded me two great rides through the Phantom Theater! The wait time was 0 minutes (probably thanks to the rain) and I was able to speed right through. Despite the low crowds there was still a grouper at the accessibility door (likely for that reason), one grouper at the turntable, and two associates on the turntable itself. Something interesting was that my second ride placed me in Opera Box #1: the unpaired ride vehicle. It was honestly a really nice experience and I kind of preferred it to having another car right next to me. The only screens/effects/things that weren't working today were Hilda's second mirror (the TV was off) and I think there was an issue with something in Garbonzo's scene. Other than that I didn't notice anything else being broken. I'll give the park props on this: it looks like they've finally turned down the lighting so the scenes are lit more than everything being lit. One more thing for my laundry list of little changes I'd love to see made to the ride is that some kind of dim projection should be added to the Backstage door that opens right before we see Maestro at his organ. I think the original had one that looked like a windy Vortex mixed with an endless hallway behind the door marked "DELIVERIES". That would be a really cool way to spruce up a very rigid door movement — but it wouldn't do much besides fixing something you barely see.

Something I've noticed about the soundtrack is that it's now either Terror Toccata (at least I think that's what they're implying when they play Toccata & Fugue in D Minor) or the different arrangement of the original Phantom Theater theme. Both are nice, but I really want to hear the original during the ride in addition to/instead of the new arrangement. Hoping to get another ride in tomorrow if I'm able to make it out to the park!

I've been meaning to share some of the dining menus from around the park for a while now so everyone can get a better sense of pricing and meal variety (or lack thereof). Apologies in advance for all of the photos. Grain & Grill | International Street (Photo: Dave Stutey via the Kings Island Season Passholders group on Facebook) The rest of the photos were taken by me. Jukebox Diner | Coney Mall Dining and drink plan options: Rivertown Potato Works | Rivertown (includes the Beverage screen) Miami River Brewhouse | Rivertown Overall, I've noticed that the food quality has stayed about the same and the soda fountains have been consistently filled with syrup, carbonation, and ice. My worst meal at the park so far this season was at Potato Works, and most of that had to do with the orange-y pink(?)ish cheese sauce they started using. I think I've seen the other cheese sauce in posts this year, so maybe I'll try again soon. The overall prices seem to have increased as well with some platters listed above $20. I wish the park would update the remaining meal plan logos to use the new ones.

I'd also keep banners on the trusses, but I'd try to go for a 3-stripe variant like they had during the 50th (I believe this is technically called a "pale" in heraldry and vexillology) instead of the standard 2 stripe they have now. Let the lampposts have one color on each side of the lamp. As for the placement, I'd place an informational kiosk (with posters for events and shows) or a small planter (with a lamp in it) between Switzerland and Germany instead of a lamp. International Street really needs some more human-scale landmarks like carts and kiosks to break up the pathways.

Which boiler has the blast? I've noticed that the burning smell nor the hot air have been very noticeable. The smell is fine since you probably don't want to have it too strong, but I haven't been able to figure out if the hot air is supposed to be in the first boiler or the exploding one.

If we're lucky enough to see something like Busker Jam return to the park then I'd love to see it get a dedicated venue. The little grass area in front of the Tomb Raider cave would be great if the park can find a way to not let the music get beat out by Diamondback going through its helix.

For those who may have missed it, Kings Island has added a new "Military Days" event to their lineup! It runs May 22 through May 25. See the quote and screenshot for more details.

I forget what the reason was for not finishing — or rather not opening — Frontier Canada in the first place, but I'd have loved to see what it would look like. It might've been possible to complete if Splashworks was built in a different area/as a different shape/not at all, but right now the entire path between Minebuster and White Water Canyon just feels like a giant hallway instead of being a "land" in a theme park. As for Taft doing anything different with Kings Island, I would have loved to see a second dark ride placed somewhere on the left side of the park. If we're talking about after the park opened then I would've added a little more of an American area in International Street for the Bicentennial. The KI Theater feels a little lonely sitting there as the only American building. Either that or some "windows" on the front side of the International Restaurant.

The basin would probably be the largest expense depending on how much they want to do/change. I think the best option would be to rebuild a good portion of the infrastructure right there to make sure all components are working properly. The parts in orange would be good to replace if they go with a concrete basin (like Diamondback). I can't remember what condition the tower is in, but some new treated wood would be nice to have. Anything less than that size of pond probably would not be worth it. Put chicken wire or something to block people from throwing anything in the pond. I'll also reiterate my wish for Kings Island to reopen the old exit path and open a new ride photo stand under/next to the red roof. That shouldn't interfere with the new Fast Lane path too much. The current exit ramp is so tight as it is.

I think the liners are good for particularly soggy foods or foods that stick to the plates (cough LaRosa's pizza cough), but they definitely aren't needed for everything. Speaking of food that doesn't need a liner: Does anyone know what all comes on the Patty Melt at Jukebox Diner? I've been wanting to try one but I don't mess with onions. It would be nice if there was a list of ingredients somewhere. They've had descriptions like "A hamburger patty sandwiched between two slices of wheat toast with onions and American cheese." before, but now they seem to have been largely removed from the digital menu boards. While I'm here, here are a few fun KI food-related photos I've seen recently: (Photo: CoasterBob62) This was a screenshot from one of CoasterBob's Halloween Haunt videos. I believe it's a peek into the Wings restaurant (Miami River Brewhouse) circa 2006 or 2008-ish. It has a lot of fun Halloween decorations and shows how the building looked before it evolved toward the Brewhouse. I like the chandelier over above the jut-out of the wall. This is what the order screen looks like for Auntie Anne's mobile ordering — which is not yet available to use. I'll be curious to find out if I can get my Drink Plan refill with my food via mobile ordering. If not, that feels like it'll be less enticing considering I'd have to find somewhere to get it separately. (Photo: AmusementInsiders) This isn't Kings Island, but rather a new water station at Canada's Wonderland. I'd love to see some of these come to KI. The bottle filler would be especially useful if they put a water cup dispenser next to it.

Here's the real question: Is it cheaper for me to go get a season pass than it is to pay for a ticket and parking? I think the Silver Pass is about $10 more than the highest ticket+parking price, but the Gold Pass would either even out or be less expensive than purchasing the ticket+parking+drink bottle. For reference, it's only $6 more expensive to buy a Silver Pass to Kings Island than it is to get a ticket+general parking.

I think if there's any conspiracy theory here, it's that Coastermania was planned, then the park was told to scrap it because it cost too much. Then when they got tons of pushback and very few ticket sales for Morning Rush someone at corporate said "Fine." and told the park to bring part of it back. My question with the theory of MR being a diversion is why would the park be willing to take the risk of so much bad publicity? The only new thing for 2026 was a restroom renovation and a new event, staffing is apparently nowhere near where it should be, and guest satisfaction is getting lower and lower. Hopefully this new Coasterstock goes well!