After the big Six Flags press release last week detailing their $1 Billion investment in the parks over the next two years I decided to head up to the park last Friday to check out some of the off-season projects going on at the park. And there are a LOT of them.
In fact, I've got an email out to the parks PR department to see if we can get a list of the projects so we can make sure we're covering them adequately this off-season. Stay tuned. The work even extends outside of the park. Let's get right to it!
Superman: Escape from Krypton![]()
Wanted to talk a bit about Superman: Escape from Krypton. As we all know, Kingda Ka is being removed from Six Flags Great Adventure. This would seem to indicate the chain is getting rid of low-capacity, high-maintenance, high-cost coasters. I honestly can't think of any coaster that fits that description more than Superman.
The Greatest Coasters Ever Built Mural
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Six Flags to Invest More Than $1 Billion Over the Next Two Years to Enhance Guest Experience11/14/2024
New rides, attractions, themed areas, dining upgrades, technology and infrastructure improvements planned across network of 42 parks in North America CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: FUN), the largest amusement park operator in North America, today announced it will invest more than $1 billion over the next two years to enhance the guest experience at its 42 parks. The investments, which will total between $500 million and $525 million in both 2025 and 2026, will include new rides, attractions, themed areas, dining upgrades, and technology enhancements that are sure to deliver an unparalleled level of fun and excitement to guests of all ages. “Our capital investment plans for the next two years reinforce our commitment to providing unmatched thrills, immersive entertainment and lifelong memories to guests of all ages,” said Six Flags President & CEO Richard A. Zimmerman. “The new Six Flags has a unique opportunity to refresh and renew the guest experience, one so compelling that a visit to one of our parks will be viewed as an indispensable choice in family entertainment.” In August, the company unveiled its capital investment for the 2025 operating season. Those plans include seven new roller coasters, along with an expanded roster of popular seasonal events. In addition, the new All Park Passport Add-On will allow season passholders and members to visit all 42 of the Company’s amusement and water parks beginning January 6, 2025. Among the capital investments currently planned for the 2026 operating season:
More information on these and other investments will be shared by both Six Flags and the individual parks as details and timetables are formalized. “This is an incredibly exciting time as we lay the foundation for growth for the new Six Flags and focus on what our team does best: make people happy by delivering the best possible experience and value to our guests each and every day,” concluded Zimmerman. ABOUT SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: FUN) is North America’s largest regional amusement-resort operator with 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties across 17 states in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Focused on its purpose of making people happy, Six Flags provides fun, immersive and memorable experiences to millions of guests every year with world-class coasters, themed rides, thrilling water parks, resorts and a portfolio of beloved intellectual property including Looney Tunes®, DC Comics® and PEANUTS®. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Some of the statements contained in this news release (including the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section) that are not historical in nature are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements as to our expectations, beliefs, goals and strategies regarding the future. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “create,” “expect,” “future,” “guidance,” “intend,” “plan,” “potential,” “seek,” “synergies,” “target,” “will,” “would,” similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. These forward-looking statements may involve current plans, estimates, expectations and ambitions that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct, that our growth and operational strategies will achieve the target results. Important risk factors that may cause such a difference and could adversely affect attendance at our parks, our future financial performance, and/or our growth strategies, and could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations or otherwise to fluctuate or decrease, include, but are not limited to: general economic, political and market conditions; the impacts of pandemics or other public health crises, including the effects of government responses on people and economies; adverse weather conditions; competition for consumer leisure time and spending; unanticipated construction delays; changes in our capital investment plans and projects; anticipated tax treatment, unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, expansion and growth of the Combined Company’s operations; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the merger, including difficulty in integrating the businesses of legacy Six Flags and legacy Cedar Fair; failure to realize the expected amount and timing of cost savings and operating synergies related to the merger; legislative, regulatory and economic developments and changes in laws, regulations, and policies affecting the Combined Company; acts of terrorism or outbreak of war, hostilities, civil unrest, and other political or security disturbances; and other factors we discuss under the heading “Risk Factors” within Part II, Item 1A of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, in legacy Cedar Fair’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, in legacy Six Flags’ Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the other filings we make from time to time with the SEC. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document and are based on information currently and reasonably known to us. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the publication of this document. Related Videos
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Happy Wednesday everybody and welcome to our review of Fright Fest Extreme 2024 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. In this update we'll take you through this years event and give you our overall thoughts. We have lots of pictures and video to share with you as well, including walk-throughs of all of the new mazes for 2024. If you'd like to check out the event overview (no review) that I posted on Thrillgeek, you can check that out here. Fright Fest Extreme ReviewBefore I get into my thoughts on this years event I want to start with this. I know how much the creators of Fright Fest Extreme love this event. I've known them for years, some for 10-15 years. They absolutely love this event and want it to be as good as it can be. That being said ... We've said this in the past, but we're going to have to say it again. The event is too big. I realize Six Flags Magic Mountain is the EXTREME park, but you can be Extreme by creating a smaller footprint. I don't know where the decision came to add 3 new IP mazes and also keep every single maze that has been there for years, but I'm guessing it came from very high up. Just so they could say they have the most. I will say I was honestly shocked when they announced that all of the mazes were coming back at Midsummer Scream. New Mazes:Trick r' Treat: This maze/house was featured at Halloween Horror Nights in 2018, and to be honest, we weren't the biggest fans of it. I absolutely loved the version at Fright Fest. Easily my favorite maze of this years event. It has the heart and fun of Trick r' Treat with some great scares. Kudos to the team for this one, and for getting it built in record time. Saw 20th Anniversary: Saw was featured at Fright Fest in 2023 and at Scream Break earlier this year. The maze features some of the same scenes as the earlier version, but has definitely been enhanced for Fright Fest Extreme. We all really enjoyed this one and it is highly recommended. The Conjuring Universe: Another maze that is a repeat from 2023 but that has been completely revamped and plussed for 2024. This maze was super fun, had some fantastic effects and great scares. If we had one thing to suggest for this one, the effects in the first room need to last a bit longer when a new group enters. By the time we got to see Annabelle, all of the "Conjuring" effects were done. Stranger Things: This was a real "get" for Fright Fest Extreme and Six Flags, and I was really looking forward to it. I will say that the "upside down" sections were fantastic. However, being that this was just featured at Halloween Horror Nights last year, the comparison has to be made. I think the rooms here are too large and there is a lot of dead space. There are some very inventive scares here but I hope that if they bring this back next year they tighten it up a bit and make it a bit longer. They have plenty of room in this warehouse to do so. Army of the Dead: Based on the Netflix movie of the same name, Army of the Dead takes up the first half of Aftermath 2 that has been at Fright Fest for a number of years. If you've done Aftermath you know what the first few scenes look like, but once you get into the "hotel" the maze really shines. Some fantastic scenes and some funny stuff in here. They did seem to have some issues with the maze throughout the weekend, hopefully they've gotten them resolved. Returning MazesHere's a quick rundown of the returning mazes, we all know what's there, but I definitely have some thoughts. Willoughby's Resurrected: There was a new entrance this year, gone is the intro room where you had to walk down a few stairs, which is fine. Nothing new in here and a little light on scareactors. Sewer of Souls: Another returning maze that actually seemed to be much better this year. I don't think there were any changes in the maze itself, but this was packed with scareactors. Aftermath Nocturnal Hunt: I know the park is labeling this as a 'NEW' maze, but think of the second half of Aftermath 2, but reversed, and a few new twists and turns, and there you have it. Truth or Dare: Now in it's 3rd year, this really promising theme of a maze really doesn't deliver. We did do a video walkthrough of this maze, it was 4 minutes long, there were 4 total scareactors in the maze. Vault 666: I'll be honest, I've never been the biggest fan of this maze, and it doesn't really bare any resemblance to it's first iteration which was some Island of Dr. Moreau thing going on, and now it's just a mish-mash of things. It's well passed time to retire this maze. Condemned: They have abandoned the "house party" theme for Fright Fest and gone back to the original theme of the maze. I'm not sure why, but this is another maze that should be retired. Scare ZonesScare Zones are really where Fright Fest (Extreme or otherwise) has always shined. And this year is no different. New Scare Zones include:
And the classic returning scare zones including Nightmares, Devil's Triangle, City Under Siege, CarnivHELL, The Deadzone and Exile Hill. Final ThoughtsThe question always comes down to "would you recommend this event", and this year the answer is yes. Despite a lack of scareactors in a few mazes and a few mazes that have been around for more than a few years too long, the event is always a blast. That being said ... Six Flags Magic Mountain is simply too big to have haunts and scare zones in every nook and cranny of the park. It's literally exhausting trying to get everything done in one night. I ran a 1/2 marathon the weekend before in the extreme heat and I was honestly more tired from Fright Fest than I was from that race. Not only does having a large footprint for Fright Fest require an amount of scareactors that are simply not available in the busy Southern California Halloween market, it also requires makeup artists, costuming, line control staff, maze security and more. I would much rather them concentrate on QUALITY over QUANTITY. And for too long, they've been concentrating on quantity. If I was in charge this is how I would change Fright Fest in 2025. The Willoughby's are a Fright Fest staple, and they should always be represented at the event. They are as classic to Magic Mountain as any of the parks classic coasters. That being said, Willoughby's Haunted Mansion needs a complete facelift. In fact, I would completely abandon the existing location and move it to where Vault 666 or Condemned are. In addition I would retire Sewer of Souls and Exile Hill. Meaning no haunts or scare zones up on the hill. Truth or Dare, Condemned, Aftermath and Vault 666 should be retired. If Trick r' Treat is coming back, let's give it a permanent location in the warehouse where Truth or Dare is. I'd love to see what they could do with that space and that IP. If Willoughby's is moved to Condemned, The Conjuring should be moved to the Vault 666 location. This means that instead of 11 mazes with varying levels of quality and some devoid of talent, you have 6 mazes (Saw, Trick r' Treat, The Conjuring, Stranger Things, Army of the Dead and Willoughby's) where you can move those resources to. All of your mazes are located from the front of the park to back near Apocalypse. No more Exile Hill and no maze near Tatsu. The only scarezone outside of that area would be Nightmares, which definitely should not ever leave. Lastly, abandon superfluous scare zones just for the sake of having "more than any other park". If you can't fill the scare zone with scareactors, it shouldn't exist. So while we loved the lighting of Grimmlore Ridge, it's simply not big enough and there weren't enough actors there. This also applies to The Deadzone. I'd much rather them concentrate on filling up the centralized scare zones with monsters than having 1 or 2 monsters in a scare zone. Have you visited Fright Fest Extreme this year? What were your thoughts? Related Videos
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