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Honestly, last year they had a great year and did lots of things right. This year, it’s like the chains entirely switched places. I really think the issue was the price hikes, not anything they did last year.

Nice footage! The commentary never gets old.

Take a ride on the legendary Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain!

Hey, you know I would be there Friday if I didn't live 900 miles away. Proud of you for the effort and whatever you end up doing that day is fine, whether you ride anything or not! Hopefully everyone will put this in perspective and maybe we can play nice for a while on here. For those that don't know it was through this forum that I met Bert and his wonderful husband and made the decision to meet them when they ventured forth to SFSTL 3 years ago, despite not being at my best that day after an ill advised neighborhood Mom's bourbon tasting party to celebrate the end of the school year the night before ; and I am so glad I was able to make such good friends that day.

I went to multiple parks in 2020 and 2021. I would actually go so far as to say that I enjoyed the park visits I had in 2020 to a degree I rarely had before, in part because the few parks that were open were well staffed. 2021 was a different story: Everything was a disaster. I've been to one park in 2022, and that's probably all I need to do. It's just shortsightedness all the way down from people who have no creativity left in them. Here's an example I've heard about: the major operators opted to cut costs by reducing the number of menu items to the basics. Except now, of course, everyone operating a seasonal park is just selling the same exact stuff. So the already stretched supply chain on certain items gets even tighter and prices increase even more. Completely predictable except to everyone but the people in charge because the people in charge are not very good at this industry (especially at Six Flags). I also don't feel any need to be mad online about it by and large. Six Flags thinks they have a product worthy of the kind of cash outlay I had at Universal 5-6 years ago. They can believe that all they want, because I don't owe them my business for an inferior service that costs significantly more than it used to while not being any better. If parks start to close, well, you know what, the fun was wrung out of them for me and I guess that's how it ends - with a whimper, and not a bang.

Yea, I'm sort of in this boat, too. I've been much less active; I haven't been to any amusement park since pre-COVID and haven't really been clamoring to make it back any time soon. It started off because of social distancing, then it was because I needed to get my weight back under control, then it was because I had a daughter last year. All this time, though, I've been following everyone's experiences at nearly every park (save the ones already mentioned) and seeing the negative directions many parks have taken, and I've decided that it's just not worth the hassle. There are other things I'd much rather spend my money on at this point. I know the pandemic was rough on the industry, but a lot of these cuts and changes go beyond just trying to keep themselves afloat during hard times. Not mad about it, not gonna spam some customer service mailbox - just going to stay away for now. Maybe I'll reassess in a year or so as my kid gets older.

Having ridden it since the first public rides (pure luck, but was there the day they had media doing interviews as people came off the ride. Had a nice chat with Pete Owens that day too) I really don't think it has changed in any significant way. Sure the original zero car looked better, but that doesn't really change the ride. The whole point of I-Box and Topper track are that they ride like wood with less maintenance, and I don't notice any differences in the two nor the re-tracked sections.

Their CEO came in and decided that he would do the Mark Shapiro thing of "cut costs, increase prices" which would in turn generate bigger revenue numbers. The open letter brings up the Mark Shapiro reign as a comparison point, and Mark ran up prices to the point at which the offset of lost attendance actually made things worse. That's the scenario here, with the (rumored) claims that the current CEO has not and will not read any reports from any individual parks about how their capital expenditures are being spent and is openly critical of using money to maintain existing infrastructure. In short: He has no idea what he's doing. And he's going to fail miserably. This latest move with the season passes? Let me explain something - that agreement that Six Flags has with you about the membership lays out that they are to inform you in advance of price hikes. They didn't. Ergo, they're in breach of the contract they set out with you and you can sue them. They know this. I guarantee it. They don't care and almost certainly are taking the tact that literally stealing money from people through the membership increases will be more profitable after losing a class action lawsuit than not stealing money from guests would be. That's the kind of leadership in charge. I used to post a lot more here, but this hobby sucks right now in the US. Aside from Universal Orlando, basically every single park in the entirety of the US is worse off in every way than it was pre-COVID. I don't think it's fun anymore, and the people in charge clearly don't care about me as a customer because they believe they are entitled to my money. They're entitled to nothing and most of them will probably watch their businesses circle the drain while they figure out how they can spin it during the countless TEDx talks they'll give about how their failure wasn't really their fault and they'd be a great consultant.

Can concur the flume is open for the season as is Pirates. Ghost Ship will not open this year. Capt Jacks is great and all but if you've never had a drink upstairs at Joe's Fish Co, you should. Their food is good too. Best view on the island for thoosies like us.

Ghost Ship is still closed for this season, according to their website. No indication that either Zoom Phloom or Pirates are currently closed, and I remember seeing Bill post about riding the flume just a couple weeks ago so you should be good on that front. Don't forget that two out of the three piers have a late opening on Mondays. They don't start operating the rides until 5 PM on Surfside and Adventure, so plan accordingly.

There's an open letter from someone who claims to be in a position of management at Six Flags making the rounds on Reddit, and having read it and heard plenty of other things this year from People I Trust ™, I'm here to say that the company is screwed and has extremely poor leadership. I've even been told specific parks that could ultimately face an untimely demise and/or be sold to competitors (of which there are zero with the capital to make such an acquisition). Changes like having "regional" group sales managers because they have cut their executive management teams to the bone are just totally self defeating moves and their CEO is completely sold on it. Short of bankruptcy and reorganization, I dunno what changes in the immediate future.

Rumors say park presidents at SFNE, SFGAdv, SFA, SFOG, and SFSTL were all let go last week. SFGAdv's pres has announced his 'retirement'. Appears this may all be true. Earnings call Thursday. Could be interesting to hear more about this disaster of a chain right now.

^Is Kings Island really succeeding though? I mean they couldn't even replace their Vekoma flyer with a real giga. /sarcasm

Sadly, some of these people will take you seriously and agree.

Dragster is a crowd pleaser as it is now. They're either going to keep it the way it is and needlessly redesign the queue, or get rid of it and put something in its place. As people have said time and time again, the launch did not cause this issue. It could have been replaced years ago if Cedar Point wanted to do it. This incident was a freak accident. It could just as easily happen on any roller coaster near any path. Heavy high velocity objects with multiple moving and bolted on parts can shed lethal objects at any given time. Cork Screw's loop over the midway. Mavericks sweeping turn over the pond. Millennium Force's passes near the queue and over the pathway tunnel. Gatekeeper over the main entrance. Raptor's cobra roll aimed at the pathway. The freaking sky ride... 37 deaths and 113 injuries have been documented from vending machines since 1979. This is a terrible accident, but it doesn't need to change the way the world works. I can promise you the lake has the potential to be far more dangerous than any of the roller coasters at Cedar Point. Pay out. Put reasonable measures in place (fences/nets), and move on.

Success! Just got off Lightning Rod ! No assistance needed! Fun ride. Wish I could have ridden it in its "heyday". For any riders of "exceptional size" out there, stick with a plan. In March I was 332 and was denied a ride on Pantheon. 42 pounds down later I'm the skinniest man alive.

^Glad to hear bout the Scream Machine being open. Haven't seen it run at ALL this year. Went today and an empty train was stopped on the lift. Took my kid today as a reward for doing well for the first week of school. He's got some behavioral issues so this was actually a pretty big deal. Got to meet up with a friend, Doug, from the boards and the Mini East Coast trip several years ago. IT was awesome seeing him and meeting his kids. Got a few rides with them before heading our separate way. My kid LOVES water parks, even the one there. I am NOT a fan at all He did awesome in school last week for the first week of school, so I took him today and we went to the water park. Their biggest slide, with the toilet bowl and boomarang wall....they hand you this massive and heavy 4 person raft and have you carry it up 5 flights of stairs. My 6 year old did his best to help, but my tired old ass did not enjoy it....AT ALL. Spent the whole walk up hoping I wouldnt die and the whole ride down trying to catch my breath. Definitely a one and done for us. The wave pool must have been on "high" because it was kicking out butts. Kiddo loved it....me....not so much LOL Dry side was not crowded at all, which was awesome. Rode Dare Devil Dive with like a 10 minute wait (which is nothing for that.) Also managed rides on Mindbender, Catwoman, and Blue Ninja Hawk. One train on Blue Hawk, but the ops were on point and doing a good job and seeming to enjoy themselves - so kudos to them! Food service was miserable, as expected, but the food was good and there was plenty of it so I guess it balances out. If he's good again this week, I guess I'll be repeating this next Sunday.

if anyone was wondering, I "disappeared" from online for a bit due to an illness and death (that I don't think I'll ever be over). so I missed the grand opening, VIP party, and all the events surrounding the opening of Dr. Diabolical. i'm going to attempt a visit to the park this coming week (the last week of daily summer operations), as I'm still off work for bereavement. . . tho not sure i'll be up for actually riding anything, I'm going to try. So will see how it goes, and if I like the new ride. bert

To have Fedex come in and look at it so they could give them a quote on moving it to Ohio.

Splash Mountain 2: Electric Bayou Boogaloo