For the most part, every enthusiast is familiar with the two titular amusement park companies Six Flags and Cedar Fair. And any enthusiast worth their salt knows that the battle between the two regional chains is never ending, and filled with animosity. However it has come to my attention by way of comments made to me by friends and readers that not everyone is familiar with this rivalry, nor are they really familiar with the companies in question (well, mostly Cedar Fair). So, to remedy this situation, I am going to …

Theme Park Insider’s Best Attraction In America Tournament will be kicking off this Thursday, and during the countdown, Robert Niles (TPI’s head honcho) has been releasing a new seed of one of the four brackets every day. Today, he finished off the roller coaster bracket with the #1 seed: Millennium Force. While some (including myself) will grind their teeth, there is still hope. Check out the sixteen seeds below to see just who Millennium Force will be up against.

1. Cedar Point’s Millennium Force [Intamin Giga/Mega]
2. Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Apollo’s Chariot [Bolliger & …

The Sandusky Register is reporting that Apollo Management is looking to acquire the bankrupt, Six Flags. Yes, the Apollo Management that is looking to snatch up Cedar Fair. While nobody cared to comment (what else is new?) this could be a very interesting development.
Seeing that the management styles of the two parks are slightly different, would they merge management styles? Keep them separate? Choose one over the other? The odds are that nothing substantial would change, except that the Six Flags Magic Mountain vs. Cedar Point debate would get all …

I had the chance to check out the new(ish) horror flick “The Crazies” yesterday afternoon. The film is a remake of a lesser known George Romero movie about a town that is (more or less) turned into violent zombies after their water supply is contaminated. This movie currently has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 71% – which is damn good in general, and for a horror film? That’s spectacular. So the critical appeal is already there.

Commercially, its doing okay. Not bad for a film without an audience at hand (Not …

New games are-a-coming to Toy Story’s Midway Mania according to a post on Blue Sky Disney, the popular insider Disney blog. With the release of Toy Story 3 coming this Summer, Toy Story Mania is to go down for a couple of weeks and pop back up with brand new games. Apparently, it IS that easy. According to the article, Disney had Don Rickles (the voice of Mr. Potato Head) record several bits for holiday overlays, like Christmas. So you can see the Nightmare Before Christmas at Disneyland and then hear …

While this comes as little surprise to most of us, Ghost Town In The Sky is likely to pass on to the other side once again according to Screamscape.
“Park News – (3/6/10) I’ve been told that BB&T has now given Ghost Town in the Sky a May 31st deadline to come up with $300,000 or else they will begin the foreclosure process on the park. It looks like Ghost Town may very well become… well… a ghost town again.”
I hate to be the buzz kill, but I think that it …

The popular Rock Band game is going to be landing at several Cedar Fair parks for this upcoming season. Clearly competing with the Guitar Hero using Six Flags, Cedar Fair plans to operate it in the same way – a competition of sorts between guests. You can find all the pertinent details here, but I want to talk about the idea of video games in amusement parks in general.

Ever since I was a pretty young kid, maybe around eight or nine, I was puzzled by the other kids that would …

The Texas Giant is currently undergoing an extensive refurbishment, and until today I thought it was just that. A refurbishment. Not so. According to a story by Amusement Today, the Texas Giant will become a one of a kind hybrid. They don’t call it a hybrid exactly, but I don’t know what else you could call it. The track style is difficult to describe through words, so check out this picture.

So here is what we are looking at: steel cross track (you know, the horizontal slats) and a red steel …

I’ve decided I like these top fives. It’s fun ranking and sorting important, unimportant and miscellaneous topics into a compact list. So, this week I’m throwing out my top five theme park themes. They will be chosen based on originality, cleverness, and quirkiness. Without any further ado, my top five theme park themes.
#5. Disneyland

I know what you’re thinking, “Jake, Disneyland is your favorite amusement park, how is it so low on this list?” – well, quite frankly, that would make this entire list very anti-climactic and a little boring.
Disneyland is …

Captain EO is back, and he is here to change the world. Through song. Well, it IS the 80s after all. So all kitsch is not counted against Captain EO, and may in fact help its cause. Centering on a “rag-tag band” that goes on dangerous missions, saving one world at a time… Well… You get the idea. George Lucas was one of the Executive Producers and it shows. Many a Star Wars reference abound, most of which were not easter eggs, and the 3D and other special effects are …