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Six Flags is a publicly traded corporation with a market cap of 5 billion dollars. Schlitterbahn is a family owned small chain. The resources available to both are likely not the same. Insurance has limits. Changes WERE made to the ride, but as Allen pointed out, that doesn't necessarily matter with our legal system. Perhaps no regulation may come from this, but I would imagine the dad is surely making some phone calls to make sure a full and proper investigation is conducted (which may not bode well for the company depending on what is discovered). Of course, it's all speculation at this point. This is just my opinion with nothing much to go off of at this point.

There would have been MULTIPLE stamps of approval from engineers. From the foundations to the supports to the netting, everything gets designed, reviewed, and signed by an engineer. If they don't have in-house engineers, then they have consultants who take on the same amount of responsibility. I suspect that Schlitterbahn was more involved, considering they used to own NBGS and built everything in house before shutting that company down. Ultimately all parties involved will still be named, but it will be interesting to see how this impacts the company.

There are a lot of things that don't appear to bode well for the park.... 1. The fact it's a smaller family owned company 2. The fact it was designed in-house (no manufacturer/engineer to name as co-defendants) 3. The marketing statements (wasn't there also video of it ejected rafts?) 4. The whole son of a state representative thing That being said, the investigation is not complete so there is no way of knowing who was at fault. I hope with insurance the family will be taken care of and the park can move on, as I am sure it is devastating for the owners and the staff who had to see/respond to that too. Just the fact the ride was not intended for kids under 14 means that at some point the parents or whomever their guardian was at the time was complicit in ignoring that restriction, whether it was willful (read the sign and didn't care) or unintentional (left two kids unattended in the park on their own for the day).

Knotts made their first haunt announcements last weekend at midsummer scream: skeleton key this year will be four unique experiences instead of the add on's to mazes. Prey Slasher Zozo Visions

This was such a great scare zone...can't wait to see it as a maze.

I think the phrase "a rising tide raises all ships" applies to Orlando. It's been discussed here numerous times...I don't think Universal is having anything but a positive impact on the Orlando area. There is probably only a very small percentage of guests choosing to stay at/spend more time at the UO resort vs. extending their WDW vacation by a few more days to visit Universal. I suspect all will still be reported as well during the earnings call. Imagineering layoffs were bound to happen with Shanghai open and other projects finishing as well. Those who didn't make the cut to move on to Star Wars or other projects (who were probably project hires to begin with) are definitely looking for work.

^It's not a rumor. They announced at their panel. It will be 40,000sqft somewhere in Psyclone Bay, so Deja Vu's space would make sense.

New family raft ride? Awesome, since their current one is woefully short.

I would imagine they shrank the park hours because they are not expecting the crowds to be as large, so...

I will have a full midsummer scream trip report soon, but until then, Six Flags announced some new offerings for Fright Fest this year... The big news is that Gotham City will be home to the Suicide Squad this year! They also announced "Aftermath 2: Chaos Rising" will be coming to Psyclone Bay and be the largest maze they have ever done at 40,000sqft!

It is still available during peak times.

Not sure how profitable it will be for the company at that price...

I need to get back to Dollywood/Pigeon Forge. The food and atmosphere are so unique. Looks like you guys are having a blast.

Surprised we haven't been talking about HHN in here.... So far they have announced: Exorcist, Freddy vs. Jason, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and another Halloween maze based upon the second movie. Pretty solid lineup of iconic horror characters and movies!

^Yeah. The whole Hollywood section has become very disjointed/dead with the shuttered buildings and contrasting themes.

I would imagine that re-doing ToT was done intentionally as the first phase in creating a proper super hero land that will eventually swallow up the backstage space behind it and be the anchor of another 5-10 years of expansion that will likely also include some of the things you mentioned.

pokevision was down.

Probably. Purchasing Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm has ensured Disney has a catalog of IP's that will keep the studios, theme park, and consumer product divisions printing money for ages...

Pfft...that's just a cash grab for the parks....

Any good finds at parks? I caught a Jolteon, Gengar, Ghastly, and Koffing at USH. Dragonite was a shadow on my nearby, but I couldn't find him.

Let's just say that ANYTHING is possible as long as there is enough money in the world. Not only that, but apparently the contract covers key Marvel characters, and not ALL Marvel characters. Supposedly, the Guardians rights are not appended to that contract, as well as other lesser popular characters (at that time). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1262449/000119312510008732/dex1057.htm My (by no means official) interpretation of the contract is that it it's not limited to just the characters being used, but the entire universe by which those characters are connected. In any case, I am sure there are lawyers being paid a lot of money to figure it all out and make it so Disney can build what they want. On the flip side, it also forces Universal to keep their Marvel attractions current in order to not lose the rights---so everybody wins!

The last comment on the instragram photo is so fitting...

Here is the contract: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1262449/000119312510008732/dex1057.htm

^There are still some restrictions on the west coast on how they market/use the properties. Notice the name of the Guardians of the Galaxy ride does not feature "marvel" branding & Joe Rhode's ear was very careful to call this "the first of a whole new universe" without mentioning Marvel by name as well. It's also probably not an accident they are starting with a property that Universal did not utilize.

I would imagine they would place that on their website...and it's not there, so..... I also imagine that they are shorter staffed than usual because of the fire though.