Thanks so much! If there are any topics you want to hear me ramble on, let me know!

Thanks so much for the love, Tyler! Right? Texas A&M has a "Texas Gig'em" phrase where you also give a thumbs up, think we need to start doing a "Texas Giga" in some of these vids. Even though Fiesta just got a dive machine, I think going over the 300 foot mark could really make the Arlington one a destination/unique ride and attendance driver.

Themeparkanxiety! Thank you so much! Any particular topics you'd like to hear about? Could be for anything in entertainment... movies, parks, content, toys, etc.

@chrismercaldo I love your stories of your experience in the industry. It gives rare insight into the how's and why's of their thinking when making decisions

@@Themeparkanxiety I'll definitely keep them coming! I think you'll love the one I do covering the Monster Jam project I worked on trying to get the Monster Jam IP specifically into the Cedar Fair parks. And thank you for the kind words!! Any time there's a specific topic you want to hear more about, just let me know here in the comments!

@ absolutely. Listening to you talk is fascinating . You have a gift

@@Themeparkanxiety Thank you so much!! This is a very nice thing to say (and hear). Like I said, I'll keep these coming!

General shelter throughout these parks and indoor attractions are both sorely missing throughout a lot of regional parks, particularly the SF/CF parks. The CF parks have gotten a little better with it over the last 10-15 years, but the SF parks have been on a dramatic decline for the last 40 years. Would love to see more ADA Accessible attractions as well! That was something we were hyper-focused on for when we built the Monster Jam Ride Trucks for the Monster Jam Thunder Alley experience... both were brand new builds built ADA accessible/compliant and we had a lift to the platform! We can definitely talk about that in the videos.

@@chrismercaldo love that. Had really great experience w/local parks (Luna/Deno’s) getting on the coasters, wheel, and horror house was surprisingly doable. Vekoma harness are surprisingly supportive of my torso-phoenix at least. I have torso control but it’s just not what it used to be pre-injury. ||Flat rides really need to have more ramps and accessible boarding. ||Haven’t been to any regional parks yet but have been chatting w/hershey to prep. And they seem to be pretty accommodating. Have to get on Storm Runner before there are no hydronic launch coasters US installations are left. By The Way if you ever work with a team who needs an ADA consultant i have plenty of **cough** lived experience.

Brooklyn! So close to where I grew up! And agree, Freedomland USA "in our backyard" is hard to believe. Once you build the park send me a link or take a video overview, would love to see it!

@@Airtimeparks Yeah, it was a disappointing moment for sure and for me completely changed our relationship. At that point, she would have seen a few of my decks and the quality of them versus whatever hodgepodge this thing was that got shared and presented. Was a bummer for sure! There’s nothing wrong with simple jobs! And thank you for the credit/acknowledgment; definitely a busy life and career I’ve chosen but I do love it. I’ll try to use some of my old pitch/concept decks and walk you through them on here. PowerPoint can be such a powerful tool when it’s used for tell a good story or try to convince someone to take action.

@@tahjo7 I’ll make sure I talk about this in a future video! Remind me in the comments if I forget. They may still be trying to figure out how they want to tackle the SoCal market now that both parks are under the same ownership. There are also some easy growth opportunities for the seasonal markets and I would imagine Tim Fisher is doing a similar “expense” review of Magic Mountain’s many coasters similar to Great Adventure. MM may slim down a bit and rightsize/improve operations before something really, really major gets added again. It’s a park that should probably be doing 2X attendance. Knott’s on the other hand I think is likely so heavily Season Pass driven that its X million attendees are likely 1/3 or 1/4 that in unique visitors where as for a seasonal park like Cedar Point that might be like 1/5 or 1/6. What that means is the value of each attendee for Knott’s may actually be way less than 1 additional attendee at a Cedar Point or a Great Adventure, especially when you start adding in things like parking which is usually included with a lot of Season Passes. We’ll dive into it more! Knott’s is one of my favorite places on Earth and you’re right, that park deserves the best!

@@Starlit43 I think it might be the world’s first launched B&M Giga.

Thank you so much, will do!

Thank you so, so much for the kind words here! I’ll definitely keep the content coming and don’t hesitate to comment any topic ideas you want to hear more about! Queens baby, home of the World’s Fair and so many other good things. I think us New Yorkers have a special fondness for theme parks since there are truly none super close to us (GADV and little Adventureland being our best options, but GADV is two bridges and the NJT away)

⁠@@chrismercaldo totally agree. I live nearby flushing meadows park. It’s where I go on runs and there’s a credit I never got (yet) with the E&F Miler there and I totally agree with you. My grandparents would take me on the carousel there all the time. It took me a long time to even get on Cyclone and it’s a top 10 ride for me to this day. It’s a shame that the sky ride at GAdv is going cuz I loved the history and knowing that it was part of the Worlds Fair here. Also even though it was technically a rumor, this past weekend at GAdv was just awesome to see. Everyone from the tristate came to say their goodbyes and even the Midwest. I really have never seen a turnout that huge at great adventure from fellow enthusiasts

@ So when I was working for Ride Entertainment, the little amusement park (used to be called Fantasy Forest) was built and operated by us! We had won a small RFP to add a few small rides around the Carousel that had been there since the 1964-1965 Fair. Somewhere I have an instruction manual for that coaster (we opened an identical one in Staten Island) and I learned to operate it! Was a wild experience because it’s all manual unlike most coasters that are all sensor driven. You literally have to hold a button to keep the train driving though the station and up the lift and manually stop the train in the station… it requires quite a bit of practice since you need to release the drive knowing the train will glide a few feet before stopping but you need it to lineup with the station. Crazy! Love to hear about (and see) the community outpour love for Ka. She deserved it.

Mr. Ray! Thanks so much for the kind words here! Strong Island proud! I’ve heard similar things about the Adventureland Gravitron being great early on. I actually wrote the history book on Adventureland; I’ll dig up the vintage pics I have and do a walkthrough on here! Gravitron is in there!

@chrismercaldo Cool! I just ordered the book on Amazon. I love books on history. Formerly of Valley Stream and Levittown ✌️

@ That’s so cool, thank you so much for buying the book! I hope you enjoy it, it covers the first 50 years of the park from 1962 to 2012/2013. No way! My dad once owned a small mom & pop pharmacy in Valley Stream (he was the pharmacist) and I was raised in Wantagh. My library and school district were both Levittown!

Right?! “I’m going to go to bed soon…” proceeds to talk for an hour! Can you tell I love this stuff? You’re spot on. Investments HAVE to be beyond rides. Rides are important, arguably the biggest attendance driver, but F&B, entertainment, landscaping, infrastructure and general maintenance, etc. drive the experience, repeatability, length of stay, word of mouth marketing because you had such a good time, etc.

@ Exactly my thoughts, thank you talking about more than just the usual same old conversation about the rides. I mean that’s the main reason why we go, but the overall experience is what will make or break you coming back. Like I’ve seen so many people say they will never go back to a six flags park because of horrible restaurant experiences and bad customer service. I’ve never experienced that, but I don’t put my self in middle of the summer weekend visits either. Thanks again for chatting! My wife gets sick of talking about it with me 🤣

@@alexalbin1187 Ha! We can talk about it any time! Again, any topics or anything you want me to cover on here or that you want to hear more about just say so and I’ll always do my best to cover it

@@mattkopp2346 Matt! Thanks so much for the kind words! Find and add me on LinkedIn and then send me a message!

Thanks so much Alex; and I totally get it. Where's home base for you? I might be able to recommend some Six Flags and non-Six Flags alternates for you depending on how far you're willing to travel, what's close to you, etc.

@ Oh hey man, Chris? Yea we live in Idaho, Boise area. I mean we have Silverwood up north, and Lagoon in SLC, both about 6 hours away. But for coasters and a big family trip, they aren’t the heavy hitters. My “home park” is Magic Mountain. I used to live in antelope valley. So we’re looking for something with plenty of coasters and attractions for at least a 4 day vacation. Cedar Point has been on my radar but it’s always so busy… thanks for the reply man!

@ It would be a lot of roadtrippin, but Kings Island, Cedar Point, Kennywood, and then Hersheypark would make a killer sequence. Hersheypark really is amazing. We can definitely talk about it; if you have to use some of those days driving or flying, either both OH parks or both PA parks would be great.

@ Yes, that would be a pretty cool coaster trip, expensive but cool! We usually go in the off season to avoid crowds, like when school is in session. But none of the parks have next years dates updated yet. So we will have to see. I’ve heard good things about the Herchend parks though.

@ I can definitely do a video on the Herschend Parks. Both are amazing, but I prefer Silver Dollar City over Dollywood.

@@MATTMRN Absolutely and thank you so much for the kind words! What would you like to hear more about? Anything in particular, could be any park ride attraction or really anything in entertainment

@ I like things like this. Any coaster I’m not picky. Long form discussions like this is my favorite to listen to when driving. You bring an interesting perspective to the topic given your experience. Subscribed. I’ll see you in the next one.

@ Thanks so much, Matt!

@@trevorweinstock4867 Trevor!! Thanks so much for the kind words here. Any particular topics you’d like to hear more about?

Also, had a few friends work for Premier when I was living in Maryland!

Thanks so much for the kind words, Tyler! I hope we see it break Fury's record too; with the Cedar Fair Corporate HQ (now Six Flags HQ) being in Charlotte, we'll see if the "pride" of 325 at the home CF park will be lifted a bit as I think a minimum of 350 FT is what will really, really drive the general public interest. Totally agree about needing to differentiate from Nitro but we've seen it before of double B&M Hyper and Giga at Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, and Kings Island. It's a page out of the CF Playbook for their big market parks. In those cases, the Gigas generally focused more on speed whereas the Hypers focused more on airtime.

Major operational/cost savings for Six Flags to add another Beemer to the Great Adventure fleet. Manufacturer discounts, wheels/parts discounts, great relationship between B&M and Six Flags/Cedar Fair, etc. The Gigas have been major, major attendance/pass/per cap drivers for any of the Cedar Fair parks that already had B&M Hypers: Leviathan (Canada's Wonderland / Behemoth), Fury 325 (Carowinds / Intimidator), Orion (Kings Island / Diamondback). Fury 325 made sense to me, Leviathan and Orion surprised me. All three have been major attendance drivers for the 1A market/size Cedar Fair parks. Great Adventure fits right into that 1A sizing for the new Six Flags team.

@@chrismercaldo So are you predicting that a giga will come to GAdv or are you sure that's what's happening? Love the video by the way, this insight was great

@@Kjphsuubsjf Thanks so much for the kind words! Is there any particular content you’d love to see me cover? I think Cedar Fair management loves the financial impact of adding B&M Gigas to their “1A” parks that already have B&M Hypers. I’d love to see Great Adventure get something from the Mack portfolio eventually but definitely see a B&M Giga heading their way first. I’m just following the pattern of Carowinds, Canada’s Wonderland, and Kings Island + my sources on this one.

Thanks so much! If there are any particular topics you want to see or hear about, let me know!

Definitely thinking a B&M Giga; my sources have confirmed that and so that's what I'm thinking as well. I'd say you can also look at Cedar Fair management/Tim Fisher and Richard Zimmerman's decision making at their "A" Parks, meaning, look to Kings Island, Carowinds, and Canada's Wonderland ("A" Parks by attendance, potential market size, revenue, etc.). All of them have a B&M Hyper and a B&M Giga. Given the size of the Great Adventure market, a B&M Giga fits right in with that pattern and honestly is one of the few worthy replacements for losing Ka.

It's definitely going to happen sooner; Great Adventure attendance and season pass sales needs the pop.

Thanks for the kind words! We'll keep these coming! If you want to hear any specific topics, ideas, etc. let me know!

@ i’d like to hear about what legacy six flags parks you think will be heavily invested in, what parks will be sold off and some predictions on investments!!!!

@@x-coasters Great request!! Can do!

If I were Tim Fisher and Richard Zimmerman, I think they would be afraid that The Flash isn't significant enough of an addition to the park to be a meaningful driver on its own. I'm sure they're looking at sales/attendance drive/per cap lift historically for something like Jersey Devil and The Joker versus something like a Nitro or a Kingda Ka; they have the historical data for their other "A" Parks too like Carowinds (how much of a driver was Fury 325 versus a smaller addition to the park, even if it was also a coaster add?). So, I wouldn't rule out a surprise 2025 extra announcement given B&M's capacity at the moment and Wall Street really wanting to see the new Six Flags perform. 2026 more likely, but I wouldn't rule out 2025 at all. From what I heard, the Ka tower is coming down ASAP.

And thank you for the kind words! We'll keep these kinds of videos coming!

Exactly what I was planning for the family next year…. Ka was the main driving point for making Great Adventure our next amusement park vacation…

This is one of those situations where a real, meaningful closure announcement ahead of time (and not just a PR newswire) would have been really helpful. There's still a lot of great things to do at Great Adventure, but it definitely feels like it just had a significant part of its lineup ripped out. Nitro is one of the best B&M Hypers (still my favorite after all of these years) but is it and El Toro enough to make the park a destination park anymore? I don't think so. Still a ton of great parks you could bundle in with a GADV visit like Hersheypark, Dorney Park, and even Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Kennywood depending on which direction you want to drive. I'd likely save that GADV trip for 2026, but still a lot of great things to do there and around the area.

Thank you so much! We'll keep them coming! Is there anything in particular you want to see or hear or learn more about?

I don’t see app number one happening or number three Maybe number two from b&m

I don’t see nothing going in there until 2026 and the extended layout probably ain’t gonna happen because of a TT2 and how it’s gone I see them putting it in a giga coaster for the 2026 seasons 2025 will be an off year coaster will come in 2026 or 2027. I could definitely see them using some that land for a on-site hotel though.

I had completely forgotten about The Flash and its delay before making this one quick; but I think Six Flags new management realizes it will not move the needle for pass sales or attendance for 2025. B&M does/did have capacity for 2026 and Orion was built very, very quickly due to a mild Ohio winter (not something you can plan for but did happen). I fixed in a comment and in the title likely a 2026 opening but 2025 is not completely off the table.

I totally get the sentiment. I was MAD when I was working for Cedar Fair and we were sending Volcano off with no warning AND no meaningful replacement immediately.

@@MLDesigns *2026, just updated in the video title as well. I totally forgot about The Flash sitting but not opening this year. I do know B&M had capacity though, but likely a 2026 open. I think Six Flags will want a big attendance driver ASAP and realizes that Flash won’t really move needle. So don’t rule out 2025 completely, two coasters for two coasters, but likely Flash 2025 and Giga 2026 And thanks for the great comment! Just because the merger was completed recently, CF CEO and COO (now SF CEO and COO) would have been looking at expenses and accounts way earlier before the actual close of the merger. This was likely in the works for some time.

So was SF already planning to remove Ka if there was no merger? ​@chrismercaldo

​@@ES-hd8xyI believe so. But I believe things were expedited after the merger.

Before the merger, it was rumored that Great Adventure was working on something big for their 50th, but they weren't going to have it ready in time, so they added Flash for now (which was also not ready in time, but at least it's built now). It looked like the big new coaster was going to go at the back of the park where an old arena was being removed, so I'm guessing this plan was in the works for years, but just got shifted to the front of the park.

Also, El Toro Ryan's Ka closing video discusses recent investments in Ka that indicate this was most likely a post-merger decision. Recently printed marketing for The Flash even shows Ka and Zumanjaro operating in the background.

Jones Beach Theater is my hometown theater! Such a beautiful place to hear a beautiful version of a beautiful song! (James is such a nice add here!)

Me too! You can find it here on KZbin (the studio recording) and I think if you Google Paste Magazine Ruston Kelly you can find the original hi-res download as it was a free album from Paste! (I'm sure you already know this, but just in case anyone else coming here is looking for it too!)