pashacar

Yeah, I think there is value. B-A-B is one of the first stores you see at Kings Island and had decent traffic on my recent visit. I ended up buying something in there and would never have set foot inside one at a mall. Plus, they had some park-specific items, so maybe they'll do the same for our store. There was an article in WSJ about SF trying to attract the "stroller crowd" (sound familiar, anyone...) and this fits right in line with that approach.

This is unfortunate but by no means unique to GA, SF, or NJ. I just spent two days at Kings Island, a better-run park in pretty much every imaginable way, and there were still people walking around with lit blunts, and I even had kids smoke weed behind me while we went up the lift hill of The Beast.

Nice report, Yoshi. I'm going down to Orlando in a couple weeks and will have half a day to kill near Universal. Is Fun Spot the best best? Any other attractions or activities you recommend?

Same here. I have always been a real SF loyalist, but it's getting dicey. I'll keep my membership as long as my SF Mexico one stays grandfathered at $3/month, but for the first time in my life, I have to say I would welcome Sea World or CF taking over – and with the chain's financial performance in a very rich moment for the industry, it seems more likely than ever.

Yeah, the park seems like a mess this season BUT I am quite happy to see characters out again. I haven't seen them in many years now.

Nitro is obvious, but Skully running 1 train is also truly awful. I rode a few times during HITP when that was the case and when it would have been a walk-on even with two, it got all backed up and people got frustrated. It's capable of the second-highest throughput in the park!

^ Are photos being fully discontinued? At the end of last season a supervisor there told me that they're just setting up with a new contractor.

Gotta love that they couldn't even bother to proofread it....

Funny you say this, because I think the industry is in the midst of another golden age. Wizarding World set off an arms race in destination parks, spurring investment that's totally unprecedented and has given us attractions, worlds, and even resorts far beyond anything that's been built to date. Even for regional parks, most chains are thriving, regularly building large new rides and keeping their parks clean and busy, and even building new properties from scratch, which was always said to be financially impossible. While it's not all sunshine and rainbows, it seems to me that the industry is booming and Six Flags is the unfortunate exception.

Agreed – the last time I was there a guy was puking his brains out in France at about 2 PM. That said, I think the solution is more or less what it is anywhere else: train your people to be aware of customers' states of sobriety, and cut them off when need be. Not that that doesn't get messy from time to time....

Whoa, quite a claim. Has me thinking they're going to announce they;re including it in theme park admission or some structural change like that. But if they are doing a big physical expansion, that would be GREAT.

I imagine "change everything" is a major overstatement, but does anybody have any guesses? Maybe we get an expanded Caribbean Cove (whose name always bugged me, for totally disregarding the original theme of the park...).

Where did you find that print, Harry? I'd love to find one of Dracula's Castle.

Good mystery! I would guess someone had to work on the roof and wanted to make his mark, but would love to find out....

The concrete is new, right? Not repurposed from Time Warp or the Festival Stage?

It's funny you say that, because to me it feels so different from that. Shapiro looked at numbers and removed rides, sure, but he also tried to "Disney-fy" the experience. The Glow in the Park parade was the best show the park has put in since the WB days. And the Saturday Night Lights fireworks were up there, as well. There were more walkaround characters and street performers. He would have never taken the 3d off of Justice League or cut the preshows from rides. So there's some overlap, but to me he at least understood some of the immersive, "magic" element that a theme park should have beyond a carnival.

The other thing that I haven't seen discussed is that Nitro is an iconic coaster, especially among GAdv visitors. Losing that would be foolish, so if they realized that and backtracked, I'm at least glad they did.

I also feel like they'll probably just keep the tower there....

I hope they do this right!

^ There is certainly some themed music, but it's sporadic. Almost seems like an accident when you hear it, just left over from the past. Some real effort here would be amazing.

I think they're off the plan now – is that right?

This looks like such a cute event, and it's so good to hear they've still maintained such attention to detail as the park has grown. I'm with you, Yoshi, in that it was basically a small water park when I grew up going!

There were long stretches where I wanted to badly to live near a Paramount park, or where I was so grateful that my home park was owned by SF and not CF. Now it's quite the opposite of that. Funny how these things continue to shift over time.

I feel like this spells bad news for HITP returning next year....

^ I see what you mean but IDK if that's quite fair. Jersey Devil, Justice League, Zumanjaro have all been cool additions; it's not as if they've stopped adding things completely. But it is time for another Nitro-, Medusa-, Ka-, or Toro-level addition, I agree...and I don't have much confidence we'll get it. In other news, I am *shocked* they brought package pickup back. Very happy to see that!