I always wondered if Top Thrill 2 and Iron Menace would’ve even been projects to consider post FUN/SIX merger as opposed to pre merger like what had actually happened. Thoughts?

TTD would likely of had work done on it from Intamin since SIX is currently having a coaster built by the company, and it would have been cheaper to bundle. 
 

Iron Menace would likely have not been a thing considering the last ground up B&M built at a SIX park was X-Flight in 2012.

 

Reasons 2,416 and 8,348 why this merger is ominous for the future of CF parks.

11 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Iron Menace would likely have not been a thing considering the last ground up B&M built at a SIX park was X-Flight in 2012.

They added a dive to FT in 2022

Fiesta Texas built a B&M Dive Coaster of similar scale that opened in 2022, and even purchased 4 trains even though it can at max operate with 3.  Just so they can always have one train being rebuilt and still operate at maximum capacity.  If they are willing to make that kind of investment, it honestly looks and feels a lot like we could still see rides like Iron Menace.  Because they literally just built a very similar ride that with the extra trains, Iron Menace only runs two, likely cost more.

Top Thrill 2 was a special case, but it’s also a similar investment to what Six Flags has done building their topper track RMC conversions, although these were done under previous management.  Taking an existing ride and renovating it with a modified layout, new trains, etc.

A better question is would they have done rides at the scale of Fury 325, Orion, Steel Vengeance, etc.  The rides where Cedar Fair has built attractions on a scale that few other parks have been willing to do.

I think the days of building large rides like Fury 325 are likely over.  Why spend $40 million on a ride, when you can spend $30 million for a slightly smaller ride that will still be marketable and bring in about the same number of guests?  It all comes down to return on investment.  It will be interesting to see if the Cedar Fair or Six Flags strategy of capital expenditures comes into play.  Remember there was a time a few seasons back where Six Flags wanted to add zero new attractions to any of their parks.

In my guess, I'm not so sure if TT2 would've happened under a Six Flags ownership unless the state of Ohio forced Cedar Point to significantly modify the ride (which I believe is the case), and in that regard it most likely would've been Intamin, as they are continuing to work with Six Flags, and I believe Ka has been much more consistent than Dragster in terms of operation, and don't get me wrong, some of it is by design with the ability to launch fewer trains an hour, with achieving more throughput and less downtime verses the original Top Thrill Dragster. As for Iron Menace I don't believe that would've changed too much, as KenBan already said, Six Flags is more than willing to invest in a big new ride like a B&M dive coaster, and even new trains for new and existing rides, I think Dorney has a pretty bright future ahead of it if this project goes well for them, and I don't think it would've changed anything for Dorney.