abovethesink

We don't see a lot of non-launched, steel coasters have these sort of extended issues these days. It makes me wonder if it isn't somehow the foundation or the ground under footers not being strong enough.

Haha yeah, I was being facetious. Obviously it is a stylized, cartoony Bobcat. They just don't have stripes like that all the way through their outside of their fur. Just hints of them as you can see from your picture. They also aren't orange. They basically hybridized a Bobcat and an exotic cat like a Leopard/Jaguar/Tiger/whatever for effect.

They revealed the front car for The Bobcat and it is beautiful. Personally I would have put a Bobcat on it instead of whatever that weird hybrid cat is, but it is still an awesome front car regardless. Again they exceed my expectations with what the chain would ever do at Great Escape.

My view on this has evolved to basically one smaller concern that impacts manufactures and by extension mostly us coaster nerds. Think about the last decade or so, (not going to worry about an exact window) and compare what coasters Six Flags and Cedar Fair have purchased for their parks. Cedar Fair has, for the most part, gone with the tried and true big manufacturers and their established, proven models. Six Flags has been much more willing, for the most part, to play around with the cheaper and more experimental upstarts. Six Flags may have been moving away from this anyway prior to the merger, but whether they have or not we have lost the reality of two different companies having the potential of having two different minds as to what type of attractions that they want to build. The big example is RMC. They probably never get off the ground without the penny pinching Six Flags we have known. The chain also tossed up 4D Free Spins, brought back the compressed air launch, worked with Premier Rides, the new Vekoma boomerang model, etc. How much we like these things individually aside, they were decisions Cedar Fair has been much less likely to make. By extension they are decisions that the new combined company would be unlikely to make had they not already happened. Of course, you can easily flip this too. Six Flags wouldn't have done all these Gigas or worked with the more expensive Mack Rides as obvious examples. The loss isn't specifically the chances that Six Flags has taken, but that we will have lost an entire independent way of thinking about these decisions. Where there were two corporate minds, there is now one. The coasters going into all our regional parks going forward are going to be much more homogenous in nature. Maybe better overall, maybe worse overall, maybe there will be no overall quality change. Either way, there is likely to be less variety. That is a bummer to me.

There is no ground for the FTC to block the merger. There has to be a legal argument that the chain would be anti-competitive and there isn't one like there is with the big tech companies that the FTC is going after. Whether those arguments against the tech companies are strong enough to be legally valid is beyond the purview of a forum like this, but they are easy to understand and follow with a couple minutes research. What argument could they put forth about this being anti-competitive? There are the three well documented markets with arguable competitive crossover, but those markets are still saturated with other competitors. No argument there to block the whole merge. Maybe to divest one of the properties, but with all the other nearby competition that would be a tough argument to make. I think the "nightmare" scenario for the new chain is that they have to pick one each of SFMM/Knotts, SFA/KD, and SFGA/Dorney and sell off the other and I would call even that unlikely. There is nothing to work with in terms of blocking the whole merger.

They have competed because they had different ownership. Parks next to each other don't necessarily have to compete. They can use a synergy based strategy instead. The main example of this in the US right now is all the sister parks in Orlando. If there is a market big enough to replicate that in, I would say LA fits the bill. Sell two day passes with a day at each park, offer a shuttle if it makes sense, offer a cheaper season pass option that includes those two parks and excludes the rest of the chain, etc. There is a small change regulators make them divest one of the properties but I doubt it.

On the bright side, while you probably will have to take out a mortgage for it, there will likely emerge a one price pass for all of Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks after a while. That will be great for us enthusiasts.

Ya'll ready for Six Flags Cedar Point? Joking (hopefully, I don't think they would mess with that branding) aside, this leaves me with a sick feeling in my gut. If we get an elevation of the Six Flags parks towards previous Cedar Fair standards, I will be the first in here and everywhere I post to praise the new mega-chain. That just isn't what my gut is telling me to expect. When corporate power consolidates in a well developed industry, consumers suffer more often than not. Here is to hoping this is an exception, I guess. There certainly is a world in which the mega-chain maintains the Cedar Fair standards and slowly elevates the key Six Flags parks up to say a King's Island or Cedar Point quality experience. It isn't like the elite Six Flags parks are THAT far behind, I guess. I just don't feel good about any of this. Maybe it is just the Six Flags branding sticking around that is getting to me. Maybe that is a meaningless distinction. In one sense it was probably a no brainer to go with it from a marketing perspective. Six Flags is a nationally known brand while Cedar Fair isn't. I just don't want one national brand. I want unique regional experiences.

I don't think Darien Lake is getting anything, but there is reason to suspect that the announcement wasn't all-encompassing for the chain. Discovery Kingdom, for example, has been teasing taking the park to "new heights" in 2024 and didn't have anything in the video.

Yes, my dream would be to get hand me down family coasters from the chain when they close and replace Steamin Demon with some sort of small but real thrill coaster. An original raptor clone would be a dream, but it could be something as simple as a Euro-fighter. I would be less thrilled with say a 4D Free Spin or a Sky Rocket II, but beggars and choosers. Any of that would be a huge upgrade. As for the hand me downs, a wild mouse and a family spinner would be great when other parks need the room. Re-using the old building, as you suggested, would be the cherry on top. I'd say none of that will actually happen unfortunately, but I would have said the same about The Bobcat. Pretty hilarious that The Great Escape will have Six Flags first Gravity Group.

I did not expect them to actually replace the Bobsled maybe ever and they are doing it immediately with a perfect fit for the park! This is 100% a family park and adding good family coasters is the absolute ideal. Amazing news. Anyone know if this is a clone of an existing GG Family Woodie or is it a unique layout?

Lots of speculation that this park is getting a new age Vekoma Boomerang by the front entrance.

I am very happy to see this, don't get me wrong, but I am a little surprised to see all the "perfect fit" comments. Of course I do get that literally any new coaster is basically a great fit because the park has been so starved for one. However, I wouldn't have chosen this model even though I expect to like it fine. Yeah, it has the beyond vertical drop, but otherwise it is a B&M sit down steel looper not too dissimilar to Hyrda and at least in the same realm as Talon. There are tons of models that would have been a better fit in my opinion. A modern woodie, any RMC, a B&M surf coaster, any flyer, anything that spins, a launched coaster with an actual layout, etc. I could keep going. Beggars and choosers, I know. To be clear I am not remotely upset about this. I am thrilled, actually. I haven't been back to Dorney in close a decade even though I live in NY and visit PA parks almost annually. There just has been no reason to go back so I always skip it. Now there is a great reason and I look forward to not only checking this out but also re-experiencing the rest of the lineup. It is just that my reaction to this has been "wow, that's amazing that Dorney is getting this, but also kind of a weird choice" and everyone else seems to be thinking "great choice!" so I couldn't help but comment on that.

Honestly I think this is a bit of a push in terms of ride quality. Lose the great launch, add a fun, 300+ foot backwards vertical incline and vertical drop, and end up with a more full length coaster. I don't think this is any better or worse. It is just a different ride. And if the ride quality is a wash, then the added up time should make it a win if it actually delivers on that promise. Seems like it should.