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^ If they put the webcam dead on it and they're running tests then I'm assuming it will open today barring some other insane breakdown which... probably I'm hesitant to answer this out of fear that it will derail the conversation but it's a legitimate question so... uh... here goes... It's impossible to know. The country (almost) as a whole seems to be pretty much over Covid. Numbers are rising quickly but anyone who wants a vaccine in America can get one within hours and rising numbers are of minimal concern to vaccinated people so the consensus seems to be that we're at the point now where there's seemingly no reason to cater to people who can get a vaccine within an hour if they want one but choose not to get it, and I think that's 100% the right approach. They don't want us to cater to them so why should we cater to them? If the UK goes through with reopening while numbers are surging (and it sounds like they will) then it seems like both countries are basically on the same page. International travel will resume when we all just accept the fact that this virus is never going away and the benefits of an international labor pool and tourism dollars are too much to turn down. I think we're close to that point, but it's hard to know when everyone will throw in the towel since it's going to be totally arbitrary and you really are running out of time. (And as for states putting travel advisories on other states, that's a political move. Zero people are going to listen to that, especially since it only applies to unvaccinated people who already don't care)

Just to build off of what Kim said above, I'm going to link to a post I made a while back on the subject. The comments are pre-COVID, but it's still speaks to her points: Short answer: more and more teenagers are focusing on their education, including an overall increase in college enrollment and an increase in students taking summer classes. As someone previously stated, the days of a bachelor's degree being enough to stand out in a job market are long gone (hell, I'm kicking myself for going straight to grad school and getting a generic MBA instead of waiting and choosing a more specific masters degree in my field to help my resume stand out more). Are there lazy kids out there? Absolutely, but that’s no new thing - I worked with plenty of other teenagers growing up who had questionable work ethic. It’s important to avoid the rose-tinted glasses when discussing this subject. I myself am one of those middle-class adults who tends to wax nostalgic about my summer job experience and used to have pretty strong opinions on "making sure my kids grow up right, know the value of a dollar, understand the meaning of hard work, blah blah BS BS yadda yadda". However, facts and statistics don't lie, and, once my kids are old enough, I'll need to consider what the culture, education environment, and job markets are like in order to figure out what's really best for their future before I choose to “gift” them working papers on their 14th birthday like my mom did to me. In fact, recent statistics are showing that there may be a reversal of that trend, with many teenagers opting for summer employment again. Teenage employment is currently at its lowest rate since 1953. Again, as with my post from a few years ago, there'll always be a group of kids one can point to in order to help support whatever pre-conceived notions we already have about "kids be lazy, man". Gotta look at the macro level, though.

Thank you, Kim. As usual, teachers know better than anyone else exactly what's up.

As a just retired teacher and parent of an 18 year old that has worked at SFSTL for the last three seasons I can tell you that teens working traditional teen or summer jobs has been on the decline for a long time, the pandemic just exacerbated it. The parks were already having trouble filling spots before the virus hit. Many suburban teens are being pushed to spend summers doing extra classes and unpaid internships, in my opinion to their detriment, in order to beef up college admission resumes. Unfortunately, they are missing out on real world skills that no amount of extra classes can give you. But it has become a bit of a "looked down upon thing" to work that summer type job a lot of us did as kids. I actually had parents in my neighborhood quite shocked that I was "allowing" my son to work. Crazy. I don't think a lot of them can see that we are raising a lot of people that look good on paper but cannot handle day to day challenges. And for some dumb reason they cannot seem to make the connection of continual school/too many activities with the fact that we had two successful suicides and and multiple attempts at our very well off, large suburban high school. On the other hand students in very poor areas, with few job opportunities, that could really use the money; have a very difficult time actually getting to the park. Let's face it, parks in large metro areas are not usually near the more inner city neighborhoods. I worked in a very poor district but it is easily a 40-50 min one way drive to the park IF you don't hit traffic. Not feasible for most. SFSTL has a bus that brings employees from one of the metrolink stops in a disadvantaged neighborhood to the park BUT not only is it a hell of a long ride, the employees have to pay for it which cuts down on their paycheck. I know that is a long winded answer but the changing morays of teen life and the realities of the economic divide all affect staffing at the parks. Would a pay raise help? Sure. Somewhat, they did raise the pay a bit here, but the problem is too complicated to be solved that easily.

I can't wait to see what five rides are open on Thursday nights.

YES! I love my parents to death, but they are still in the group of people saying "people are still just sitting at home, making more doing that than actually working." I really just want to bring up that the enhanced unemployment benefits ended a month ago and places are still short-staffed and that if they are still sitting at home making more, then it should be a bigger problem that their job was paying them so little. What the previous user said as well with suburban teens and such, as a college student in Springfield, Missouri, I am seeing fewer and fewer of my classmates working jobs through school. Granted, I go to a private college where most of the families are upper middle class or just rich, but many of them do sports that require training through the summer. This is a bit obscure, but many of these kids train all throughout the summer just to ensure that they get and then maintain sports scholarships that pay more towards their schooling than what they could have earned from a summer job. Through school, I've been working about 35 hours a week, and I am exhausted all the time and it really does detract from some of the quality of my school work. Granted, I am still pulling a 3.8 GPA, but I know that other students struggle a lot more than I do and really do need to spend all the time they have on studying and schoolwork.

"Take emotion out of it and think about it logically". You are arguing to take emotion out of something while injecting a healthy amount of it into the discussion by saying the kids aren't worth what they are being paid, while giving no real evidence of anything. I'd argue that these employees are ABSOLUTELY worth what they are being paid, because the other option is for the parks to not be open. You are also comparing these raises (50-100%) to cost of living adjustments (2%, your stated figured) for something that is apples to oranges. These are seasonal employees for the most part, who made minimum wage before. This 50-100% increase isn't someone going from 60k to 120k a year in a career-type job. It's way less, and, again, it's seasonal for the vast majority. It doesn't take an economist to see that this is basic supply and demand and employees are very much in demand. Without them, the parks have no profit. And yes, you are crapping on them. Which is fine, I guess, but at least own that's what you are doing.

I've been looking forward to Coasterstock TR's. Thanks for sharing.

Friday, 7/9 - So I didn't sleep all that great, despite how tired I was, due to a mix of excitement & being in a room directly across from a stairwell. That typically wouldn't be much of an issue, but remember the hotel was sold out *and* one of the two elevators was not working. So that resulted in folks going in and out of that stairwell - and the resulting door slam behind them - up to ~3am. (I didn't complain, but I did, on the next night, put a towel down at the bottom of the door, so it won't slam shut, and that helped a lot. I believe we had planned to meet down in the lobby/breakfast area at 7:45, but I was up and ready by 7:15 anyways, so got ready (got peer pressured into wearing my Coasterstock shirt, even tho I felt like the kid that wears the concert shirt to school the day after the show!), and headed down to the lobby to partake in breakfast offerings. honestly, not bad at all. The Coffee left a LOT to be desired, but the omelettes (pre made, I'm sure) were decent and the hash brown patties and sausages were quite good. Lots of fresh fruit, oatmeal, dry cereal & waffles offered as well, but I didn't want to over-do it, since I tend not to be a breakfast person anyways. And we knew that there would be donuts offered at the ERT this morning by Diamondback anyways in a couple of hours. eventually Kim made her way down, then Joel, and by 8;20 we were in the car for the short trip across the freeway to Kings Island. I was so excited, I missed having my camera out to get the main entrance sign - even tho I was sitting in the back seat (thanks again for driving to the park each day, Kim!). But here's the view from the toll entrances at ~8:35 am. Coasterstock gets you free parking both days, and the parking opens ~2 1/2 hours before the park officially does. we parked pretty far up in the lot, and here's my first view of this wonderful place from the parking lot: yes, I'm a nerd. . even the Kings Island logo on the trash can excited me. . LOL we made our way up to the front gates, stopping for pics along the way (well. . I was stopping, and they kept waiting for me - hey, they'd been there before. . 1st time for me!) and we got thru the security gates eventually, and lined up for the main gates to open up for us right at 9am (during that short wait in line, Don & Chad - who organized the whole shebang went up and down the line saying good morning to everyone, and double-checking that everyone had their coaster club membership card (for whichever club/clubs they are a member of) . . Don and I briefly chatted about Carousels (we had discussed via email how excited I was about the Carousel ERT/anniversary) and then the gates were officially open, and I stepped foot into Kings Island. and who do we meet literally seconds after going thru the turnstiles into the park? Why we bump into Stacy Gretchen - who I last saw at Cedar Point on the TPR 2018 USA tour I introduced her to Kim & Joel, and we ended up seeing her (and her friends Adam & John many times during the event - including sitting with Stacy and John at dinner both nights. TPR representing! the morning's first ERT was at Mystic Timbers and Great Pumpkin Coaster (and then overlapping with Diamondback & Flying Ace Arial Chase), so I / we followed the crowd thru Camp Snoopy, and headed over to Diamondback. Yes, I rode Wilderness Run at Coastermania! at Cedar Point back in 2017, but that was historical as the 1st Intamin. I really had no interest, whatsoever, in riding a roller-skater loop kiddie coaster (tho it did get a bit of a line, as those with no shame lined up to get on it). I didn't *need* the credit tho, so we kept walking towards Diamondback. I'm not familiar with this charity "A Kid Again" but it seems to be a similar organization to "Coasting for Kids" - and I loved that they have a dedicated statue just outside the Camp Snoopy area. .so of course I snapped a pic of it. the design work on this (Boo Blasters, I think it's called) was so great. it wasn't open yet, but we would ride it the next day, and it surprisingly is an Omnimover type ride, that's also a shooting ride) as many of my friends know. . I'm a photo-op whore - it's very difficult to get me to walk past a character photo opportunity (especially at a park i've never been to before). and remember, we were getting to Diamondback THRU Camp Snoopy. . . soooooooo edit: just noticed you can see the line for Great Pumpkin Coaster behind me in this pic LOL but we did eventually make it to Diamondback, and got in line for my first ever ride in Kings Island. and what a great ride to start with. Diamondback is an airtime machine! especially in the front car.. wow, your butt doesn't even touch the seat for the majority of the ride after the 1st drop. for 1st ride, I waited for front row, but it was so good, that we immediately got off and got back in line (something that's rather odd for me. . I usually ride once, move on to next thing, and then go back for rerides on things I liked later. . but this one was so good? twice in a row!) Front Row: and Row 2 (which was a little more rattly, due to wheel I think, but still amazing): after two rides (and a quick hop into the Donut line - which had gotten way shorter by now. . they had lots of varieties too - I had an eclair - and I remembered to pop some Tylenol to prepare myself for the day using the frozen orange juice they were handing out as well), we headed over to Mystic Timbers. it was time to find out what was in the shed! a peek at Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown's flume. . still empty this early in the morning. .but looked like a fun flume ride (and wet, as we would find out the next day) Ok, so "what's in the shed?" is way, way overhyped - even if Kim was disappointed that I didnt' get the full "experience" - although the tape deck lit up, there was no 80's music playing, and it didn't play for the whole time we were there, even tho I got multiple rides (I think 16 total) on MT. But I did get to see all 3 ending options for the Shed multiple times. but yes, even overhyped, and kind of silly - tho I liked the use of the screens - the ride is absolutely incredible. Sustained speed, tons of airtime, and I adore how it hops over the rapids ride, interacting with it. To say nothing of that incredible banked 1st drop. Easily jumped to the top of my Wooden Coasters list. . . and I think it will be my #1 for a long, long time (probably forever). we laughed at our FunPix and I asked the guy whom I had shared front row with how it works, and he directed us to go back to the Diamondback funpix (which we had missed, since it was in the giftshop and we bypassed it to get back in line) where they had staffed the counter to set up CoasterStock attendees with the included FunPix accounts. so a quick trip back to Diamondback, and we had Funpix set up - as well as stopping to get our all day drink bands (also included). .then right back in line for Mystic Timbers: there's not a bad seat anywhere on this coaster - and I rode it in many of the rows - but I think I preferred it most in Row 2. But really, any row was great! it was getting towards the end of ERT, and the only other coaster open in the morning ERT was Flying Ace Arial Chase - a Vekoma Junior flyer. . . I knew it would suck. (and I had ridden the same ride at Carowinds). . but using the logic of "it's my first time here, i wanna ride everything" we headed over that way to find: no line. literally. . . Joel and I rode it in the front row with a train all to ourselves. ~600 people at Coasterstock, and no one in line to ride the Vekoma. LOL the operators were joking with us about how I kept saying I knew it was gonna be really shaky and rattly, and they were laughing and agreeing, and even took a pic of us for me, since no photo op on this ride. Glad I rode it this one time tho, during ERT, as it was down the entire next day. So if hadn't done it, would have missed my chance. but yes, it stunk. and oh yes. . it stunk to high heaven. Even in the front car, it was so headbang/shaky that I was glad I had popped those Tylenol! man, did this suck. .and what's funny, is that the two worst coasters at Kings Island are both Vekoma Suspendeds (this, and Invertigo). Coincidence? I think not! ERT was coming to an end, and the park was about to open to the public. One of the promoted options this morning for CoasterStock was to spend an hour in Q&A with the Train engineers (with a photo op at the engine) and then to take the 1st ride on the train for the day. since Kim had never been on the KI train, and I like trains well enough (tho not enough to want to do the hour Q&A . . I wanted to ride things) we headed over to the train station to get on the 1st train ride of the day. heading that way, one gets this fantastic view: but what's that I see coming up on the right? yup. . LOL: . . to be continued. . . .

Really REALLY wish they would commit to bringing back LIVE entertainment. It's been 16 months and still no Fantasmic, Castle shows, real parades, Beauty & The Beast, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, Finding Nemo, Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Turtle Talk etc. And no mention of Candlelight Processional. Come on.

Thurs, 7/8 after going back and forth about if I had to get up super early and park at the airport or not, my Spouse (who tho said it was OK to go, had gotten a little passive/aggressive about it) had decided the day before that he would drive me to the airport and drop me off - so I got to sleep in until 7:15am. the trip to the airport takes about 40 minutes and was uneventful, so after dropping me at the terminal, I fairly quickly made my way thru security (no checked bags, since this Southwest flight had a connection in Denver - yes, I went a timezone in the wrong direction before going two time zones in the other direction to get to Cincinnati. But at least it was only a ~2 hour layover in Denver instead of a ~5 hour layover at the Orlando airport. 99.9% complied with the masks must be worn in airport mandate, tho i did see TSA have to tell one family to put the masks on or they would be asked to leave the terminal and would not be allowed thru security. It's a rule people. you may not agree with it, or like it, but it's a rule. . you wanna fly somewhere? you gotta wear a mask. not too crowded this early on a Thurs (it was ~8:20am) but still not everything open yet. so I sat down to read until the coffee place opened (no Starbucks here, because. . . Austin. . gotta be local coffeeshops only) but eventually the local brew place opened and got me some coffee. some very interesting art in the Austin airport. . such as the Space BattleShip Yamamoto giant metal sculpture on the wall: there was a woman on our flight (just 1) who was sitting at the gate area, fanning herself furiously, and keeping her mask in her lap. The Gate agent asked her to put her mask on, and she kept telling her she was getting overheated. I thought to myself, "great. .this woman is going to cause problems on my flight. . we BETTER not get delayed" but she did give in and eventually put on her mask, and was allowed to board towards the end of the boarding process after most of us were already seated on the plane. she immediately asked the Stewardess for a glass of ice (who told her she'll get her one once they do the safety spiel), and then she loudly started to explain how she can't wear her mask because she's overheating. Many of us on the flight started nervously eyeing each other, but the Stewardess said "oh, I have some very light paper masks, I'll get you, you can wear one of those" and she went and brought her a light mask, along with a cup of ice. then we sat for about 20 minutes waiting for . . something. . who knows. But the moment we started to back away from the gate, this woman got up and headed for the bathroom - the Stewardess got on the speaker and said that everyone MUST be in their seats, and she went back to her seat. she made it thru the safety presentation, and then the Captain told the Stewards to buckle in , and we'd been cleared for takeoff - and this woman BOLTED up the aisle, both hands clasped over her mask and into the bathroom (thank goodness no smell of vomit tho). . and she was in there for the entire take off. about 15 minutes into the flight, she did eventually go back to her seat, and the Stewardess gave her another mask.. . which lasted about 30 minutes then another "clasped over mouth" bolt to the bathroom.. . happened a couple of more times during the flight. . . AND during the landing. I'm still kind of shocked that we weren't diverted to land elsewhere, if she was that ill. . . but I kinda think that she was faking so she could hang out in the bathroom with her mask off. regardless, even with our late start, we did make it to the Denver airport and landed on time (they made up time in the air), and the I got to hang out at the gate there for a bit (no, I wasn't hungry after watching this woman purge for a 2 hour + flight). . . . flight from Denver to Cincinnati wasn't eventful, tho we did leave about 40 minutes late, and that annoyed me a little bit because it meant that we landed later and I was hoping to drive in the daylight (not realizing that it was gonna stay light until 9pm in the Timezone that Kings Island is in). no luggage, so off the plane pretty quick, and made the walk to the Ground Transportation and got there just as a shuttle was loading up for Hertz - but I noticed it had a "Thrifty" and a "Dollar" logo taped up on the windows too, so I asked the driver and he said he goes to all. . so was the last one on the full shuttle, and off to the Car Rental place. prices are NOT cheap for car rentals nowadays, but I lucked out in that 1) my trip was a few days *after* the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and 2) I booked via Priceline, so got a decent deal. it turned out tho? the reason the shuttle serviced Hertz, Thrifty, and Dollar, is because the Thrifty and Dollar locations had been shut down, and all were being handled from the Hertz location. which had three desk clerks (since it was the Hertz location), and all Thrifty or Dollar customers had to get in a line at the far end to deal with the one counterclerk - who I guess drew that short straw. so yeah. .that took about 25 minutes (with only a few folks in front of me, but way more behind me). . tho I did get the amusement of watching a young guy insist on getting a mustang convertible (he "had PAID for that and he wanted that!") and then he promptly drove forward over the high curve, ripping off the front bumper completely (instead of backing up to exit as EVERY SINGLE SIGN POSTED said) so that was amusing. eventually I got up to the counter for my turn, she upgraded me to a nice SUV with no extra cost as an apology for the wait (and we had been chatting about the Mustang-idiot so we bonded while I was waiting in line) - I carefully backed out of my spot, and was on my way to Mason - home of Kings Island. oh, I could tell I was in Kentucky. . . lots of bumperstickers referencing an ex President, lot of Rebel Flag bumperstickers, and very few drivers going the speed limit! Not even close, either. . the speed limit was 65 in most places on the way to Mason (about 40 minutes from Airport), and people were going 40. really. the SUV was a new one that kept making noises and dings every time I passed a bad driver who moved over close into my lane (or could have been me drifting, I suppose, since i was looking at directions while I was driving - - yes, i printed them out. . I'm an teh old). but soon enough I pulled into the Hampton Inn (*by Hilton) across the freeway from Kings Island. I can't really describe how I felt when I saw Banshee, Diamondback, and Orion from the freeway as I exited for the Hotel - no picture from that, as was driving - but it really was a kind of Euphoria. check in was easy/peasy - I did it thru the app, so had my room and key on my phone already. The lobby is lovely, and the food options were nice, tho the room was a bit older and certainly could use a refresh: for a place to sleep tho? was reasonable, and really close to the park. Kim and her son were staying there too - she's who had recommended this hotel, and I grabbed it so we could be together and go to the park together - I knew we were hanging out all weekend. was a really good call, and the hotel was sold out for the weekend, so if you do go, pre book! she was driving from St Louis (think it was 6 1/2 hours she said) and they weren't there yet. . so i made a quick trip to grab some snacks from the CVS just up the street and realized I hadn't eaten all day, really. . so since they weren't in yet, I went to a Wendy's - they were advertising all over the sides of the restaurant to try the new Bourbon sauced options. which, of course, they were out of that sauce when I tried to order something from those options (go figure, right?).. . . so I ended up with a Jalepeno Popper Chicken Sandwhich (something we don't have in Texas Wendy's, but was pretty good). I wolfed it down, and got a text from Kim they had arrived. Her son was watching some video game competition (I think that's what it was about? maybe it was a coding competition?) so she came up to my room on the 3rd floor to visit - and I could send proof of life to my spouse. . . LOL we visited for about 45 minutes, and then made plans for the morning - Kings Island opens gates for parking at 8:30 for our event, so we planned to meet at 7:45 to eat down in the lobby, and then I would finally be able to check another park off my bucket list. until then tho? took a shower, relaxed in the room for a bit, and then tried to turn in for the night. . wasn't very successful. I was too excited for the next day! more to come. . . .

I'm really shocked that no one has mentioned the thousands of car accidents that have happened this year shockingly involving people traveling to theme parks. It's shocking. This summer has been horrible. I'm shocked.

so. . earlier this year, TeacherKim (whom I had met and hung out/spent day with at Six Flags St Louis) eventually made it to Texas for an event at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. the Universe was against her - I think it took 3 tries, with crazy flooding, and a freak ice storm that shut down San Antonio the 1st two tries, but she eventually was able to re-plan: coming to a group event at SFFT on April 10 that was being run by Thrill Seekers United (a Texas based park group), but they had invited ACE members to attend. .hence Kim and her son, Joel, coming. We had kept in contact - even thru the prior cancellations - and as the event was coming up we were chatting in Early April and she mentioned CoasterStock. I had no idea what that was, but she filled me in that it's a 2 day event at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio (outside of Cincinnati). ok, KI is a bucketlist park for me (on an ever shrinking list) - has been for decades, ever since I saw the Partridges go there (and then the Bradys - stupid Jan with her yogi bear poster almost messing up Mike's deal!). The Beast has been a coaster I've wanted to ride for over 30 years! So told her I'll think about it, and she goes. . .well, think fast, since tickets go on sale Monday. I mentioned it to my Spouse (who wasn't thrilled, but eventually was okay with it, since we're fully vaxxed so it seemed safe enough) and on 4/5 at 10 on the dot, I attempted to get a CoasterStock ticket. the thing sold out in less than 15 minutes! but yes, I got a ticket! thus kicked off a whirlwind day - since I had a ticket to the event now, I had to figure out plane flight, hotel, rental car, etc. . . . but it all got booked (including FastLane Plus for Saturday the 10th), and by the time I logged off work that day, I was all set for my first ever trip to Kings Island on July 9th & 10th. here's my TR for this experience. . I took over 600 pics, and tho won't share all, I DO tend to share a lot - so I'll do this in sections. hope you enjoy following along!

Two gigas in one city?!?! But all kidding aside, this has been a highly entertaining read thus far. It's always great to see Diamondback getting the heaps of praise it deserves, and having Mystic Timbers right next door just adds to the experience.

The weekend of Sept. 25 should be the first weekend of Freight Fest assuming that we are back on the "traditional" schedule. Fright Fest is just a single admission for the day, open to close. All major rides should normally operate except for water rides. Flash Pass would need to be either Gold or Platinum. FF is the one time where having a Platinum can be a bit more efficient than a Gold. You also will have Maxx Force on Platinum.

Scare zones != Mazes. The scare zones existed although with barriers. We're getting really close to this labor conversation getting off topic again guys.

I like the discussion here because it shows actual real world examples of how the job situation is much more complex than this whole "people are lazy, cut their employment and they will get back to work" nonsense. Many industries and societal norms were already changing, for better or worse, and the COVID ordeal hastened the change to something faster than many businesses could/can deal with....and it sure seems to me instead of having a conversation about what the real problem may be with certain said businesses, there is just this odd aim to blame "lazy" people which really doesn't accomplish anything. Parks having to combat kids not working because of over-study or too many activities I can see being a real issue. I also do find it to be sad, because so many practical skills are learned at those first jobs. Skills that I'd argue are probably of more value than many of those advanced mathematics or other "impress the college" courses. I'm not sure what the parks are going to do to solve the issue. While Covid may be keeping some of their usual temporary labor at home for this season, I see what Kim says as a trend that isn't going to stop.

This shouldn’t be a concern. The ride breaks down every few hours. The fact that the queue opened today means the ride is back to being as “open” as Dragster can get, which means open sometimes with like 5 breakdowns per day.

I had to run to the store, and just got back and checked it out and. . . the queue IS open. but there are also a lot of folks headed *out* of the queue. . . so seems like maybe they did open it, and it's already having issues? (as Bill predicted). . LOL

For the record the students that work these jobs typically don't qualify for unemployment. Often even the enhanced unemplopyment. And the enhanced program has been canceled for a month in Missouri and it hasn't changed the labor situation.

Queuetimes.com always seem to be really inaccurate for Carowinds (maybe for most parks?). The wait times almost never match up.

Great report so far! Thanks for sharing.

^I believe that's supposed to be mostly in-house again like Cannibal, and I suspect ART Engineering will be involved in the same function they were for Cannibal and Bombora

More like Mudpittus. The coaster looks pretty friggin' sweet, though. Turn on the faucets!

Do me a quick favor and read the topic title again, please. I'll wait. Done? Cool. Now we're on the same wavelength. Please allow me to retort...

Current situation...

I didn't mention that since it was awhile ago but I absolutely thought of the year that New Texas Giant threw and killed someone and RMC shut down all of their coasters following the incident, then the next day a Shoot The Rapids fell all the way back down the lift hill, flipped over and then held a boat full of people underwater in restraints that they couldn't get out of. It's a miracle nobody died from that.

Why would teens want to work at a fast food restaurant or a theme park for pennies? Doesn't make sense vs. investing their time in academic or athletic pursuits that are likely to result in much greater returns through college scholarships/admissions. Besides, can't just rely on 14-17 year olds to make Taco Bell food or ring up groceries at 1AM on Tuesday nights. So hours are shortened and more like they were 20-30 years ago. Also LOL yeah I bounced around a little when I was younger doing minimum wage jobs. That's what's supposed to happen, isn't it?

Huh...seems like writing might be skilled labour too.

Sounds great! We loved Lost Gravity and are shocked we never saw more of them.

Please, keep this discussion on track and don't argue about stuff we've been arguing about for over a year now, thanks.

If we're going to argue about minimum wage, can we at least throw in some COVID safety arguments, too? I long for all of this. If only we could find a way to add abortion and gun right debates into the mix. We can make it relevant, because one correlates to the amount of potential customers, and related to the christianity undertones throughout the park, and the other is related to park safety. Who's up for some international tariff arguments, since it may be related to the cost of building materials?

Seriously though, it's hard to remember everything but here are a few things from just the last few years: - Quimera derailed and killed 2 people - Two frisbees overseas broke apart and killed a bunch of people - Valravn crashed in the station - Boulder Dash crashed in the station - Top Thrill Dragster was closed for half the summer in 2019 and a year or two prior it basically vaporized a brake run and was closed for a month then too - Steel Vengeance trails collided on opening day - Hersheypark and Kennywood are determined to have one or more coasters closed for entire seasons at a time because they suck basically every year. A band new hypercoaster is closed for an entire season+ - Xcellerator closed for half-a-year - A frisbee at the Ohio State Fair broke apart and killed people - An inverted coaster in Scotland totally derailed and crashed into a nearby kiddy ride - The Smiler accident, people lose limbs - Daytona Beach coaster derails because of an elaborate cover-up to hide all maintenance issues - Tons of people drown in wave pools - Tons of fights every Halloween everywhere - Disney Skyliner crashes a hilarious number of times - El Loco at the Adventuredome throws a rider - Crackhead builds a waterslide that decapitates a child in Kansas City - Castle Park log ride did exactly what Great Adventure's just did - Timber Mountain Log Ride did exactly what Great Adventure's just did - A kid died on Hoosier Hurricane because of a pre-existing condition - Star City burned to the ground entirely - An entire section of Europa Park burned to the ground - Six Flags over Georgia's train bursts into flames ... and I'm forgetting a ton.

In the states where they terminated the UI, there's not any evidence yet of improvements in labor availability. Old people who were on the cusp of retiring or working part time are done now (or more pessimistically, dead). There's few foreign visa employees because of restrictions for entry and those that are here are arriving very late. The labor shortage in the US has been reported about with frequency in the United States since at least 2014 if not prior. It simply was able to be glossed over for most. Not any more.

Theme parks in this country have been running low on staff for years and overly reliant on foreign labor since at least the 1990s. The pandemic and the lack of imports just excacerbated the problems the industry created for itself for its "rightfully deserved" (LMAOOOOOOOOO) profits. I too have thought about it, so much so I've written about it and researched about it using stuff like the Department of Labor's statistics. This was inevitable, especially as parks extended their seasons and hours. Anyways, I was thinking of posting something because I haven't enjoyed going to parks this year. It feels like opening day every single day, which is to say "a hot mess". Combined with some existing COVID restrictions at some parks and or just flat out insane guests since people forgot how to interact with each other in person, and I have little or no desire to go to more places this year. The only park/park resort in the country that feels normal is Universal Studios Orlando.

I'm absolutely not here for assigning blame or fault.. just compiling the stories that made headlines. Clearly Holiday World was not at fault, it's just something that happened. The King's Island fights shut down the park and resulted in 6 criminal indictments... that's definitely a significant incident. Also... don't crap on theme park employees finally making decent pay for one season by saying they aren't worth it. That's gross and so disrespectful, especially in a freaking theme park appreciation message board.

Fixed that for ya.

The park is indicating Fright Fest is returning.

Saw the video of Mindbender testing. I was worried about pacing due to shorter trains, but it looks like it's moving pretty well.