The Biggest WINNERS & LOSERS in the Amusement World (April 2026)

Ajouté : 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]April has come and gone, and we're really ramping up the coaster season now. Most parks are open at this point, but that's only part of the story.

[00:00:07]There's also plenty of wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. And today, I want to look at the whole picture. These are the winners and losers of the theme park world, April 2026.

[00:00:31]Once again, I want to plug some great sources for theme park news. Coaster Hour on Instagram and also YouTube.

[00:00:37]Screamscape.com is very comprehensive.

[00:00:39]And if you're on Discord, check out Adrenaline Nation. Let's start with the winners and then move on to the losers.

[00:00:45]Number 15, Six Flags Great America. It looks like they're getting a Fakoma family suspended coaster next year.

[00:00:51]There's an image of a packing slip online that's set for Great America, and it shows SFC Phoenix, implying the part is for a clone of Phoenix from Dino's Wonderhe. This would make sense. We know they're doing away with Camp Cartoon and giving it an overhaul in 2027, and a new family coaster would fall right in line with that project. Number 14, Adventure Coast Southport in the UK. They're planning on adding a Gravity Group wooden coaster. In addition to the Gerslower Euro Fighter they've been talking about for a while, a park official has confirmed they're looking into getting a small wooden coaster also, possibly a family gravity group.

[00:01:24]So, this park can go from having just a wacky worm to having two very solid coasters in the near future. Number 13, United Parks. They released surveys for at least three of their parks. The three I heard about were SeaWorld San Diego, SeaWorld Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa. San Diego includes a small airtime coaster, kind of like Lightning Run, and a surf coaster, which seems like the perfect addition to this park.

[00:01:47]Orlando has a lot more options, including non- coasters like the country's biggest aquarium and a sea lion habitat, a dark ride where you pretend you're feeding animals, a rethe to Atlantis, a multi-launch indoor coaster, a wing coaster, and a giga coaster. Tampa is also pitching a giga in a multi-launch indoor coaster. Also a switchback indoor coaster, a family coaster, launched water coaster, a boat ride, and a flying theater. I know it's just a survey, but it's promising they're willing to invest so much.

[00:02:16]Number 12, Budoo Wind Sea Park in Belgium. They're set to get six of Oakwood's attractions. This includes two coasters, their Pinfari RC40, now called Angry Octopus, and a kids coaster, Croc Coaster. They're adding four other rides for kids in their new Peter Panthemed area, including an airplane ride in a swinging ship. Oakwood's Lost was definitely Booin's game. Number 11, Latte World in South Korea. Maple Island has opened. Maple Story is a game that Latte World recreated in their park equipped with in-game maps covering 2,000 square meters and having three new attractions. The park wanted to bring in a wider range of visitors and said this game that debuted in 2003 has a loyal following that spanned two decades and attendance rose 20% the first week this was open. Number 10, Leolandia in Italy.

[00:03:02]They opened their mock spinner reversum.

[00:03:05]This park already has a few small coasters and this isn't much bigger. A clone of Sierra Sidewinder at Knots, but right away this becomes the best ride in the park and should be a great addition to their family-friendly lineup. Number nine, parks by province in France. They opened their new Naruto themed Konoha land. This land is themed to anime and has two headliner rides as Empera Nebula Z and Kaubi Unchained a Zampa family thrill launch coaster having forward and backward sections. Number eight, RMC.

[00:03:34]They started testing their Wild Moose prototype. We've known about the Wild Moose for a long time, the Wild Mouse substitute inspired by the RMC pre-lift sections, but we haven't seen anything sold up to this point. So RMC upped the ante and built a prototype on their property and they've said they're set to send off the first one to an actual park in 2027. Number seven, Rivlly Roderdam.

[00:03:55]This park was sold to a new owner and wants to open it. This project goes back to 2012. The land lease to an entrepreneur through 2030, but there were a bunch of issues. The owner spent €50 million in the park and ran out of money. And for a while, it seemed like the lease would expire with no park opening. Now we know the park has been sold at auction for €6.5 million. and the new owner wants to finish the park and open it up. So, this could have a happy ending after all. Number six, All Speeds in China. This is reopening after shutting down last year. This clone of Terran at Fantasia Land opened in 2021 and then closed down in October of last year. Apparently, the park was having issues with maintenance. Intimate Engineers not being immediately available. It was getting expensive and it looked like the ride may be done for good at the end of last year. Well, something changed and they announced as of May 1st, all speeds will be back open for business. Number five, Kings Island.

[00:04:48]They opened Phantom Theater on opening day. Last year, Kings Island closed Boo Blasters and announced the return of Phantom Theater. Kind of the original Phantom Theater operated in this building from 1992 to 2002, replaced by Scooby-Doo and then Boo Blasters. And 24 years after its exit, it's back. Phantom Theater opening nightmare built by Sally Rides and having 26 interactive scenes.

[00:05:11]Number four, Six Flags New England. They opened Quantum Accelerator. It may be a year late, but they got it done. Last year, it was right on the cusp of opening and then all the Intimate Straddle Coasters closed down for a maintenance issue, I assumed. And right after that, Quantum Accelerator was confirmed to be pushed back to 2026. Its time finally arrived on April 17th. 59 ft tall, 2600 feet of track, 45 mph top speed, marking the park's first new coaster in 9 years. Number three, Walabi Rone Alps. They released their ambitious 10-year plan. The park that just added Mahooka a few years ago is still going full tilt forward, stating that by 2035, they want two more major attractions, going along with three intermediate attractions and two secondary attractions. Adding seven attractions over a decade is ambitious, but reasonable. So now the only question is what will these attractions be? Thrill coasters, flat rides, family coasters.

[00:06:06]They already have six coasters in their lineup and it'll be interesting to see how much better this park gets. Number two, Enchanted Parks. The Six Flag sale completed and they launched new websites for their parks. Early in April, the sale we learned about back in March was complete. EPR was in control of the seven Six Flags properties under the Enchanted Parks umbrella, and they've released new websites for their parks.

[00:06:28]This includes season passes being on sale, the hero pass and the legend pass.

[00:06:32]Both getting you into all the enchanted parks properties ranging from $65 to $90. Number one, the 10 new Six Flags presidents. They just got a nice promotion. After Richard Zimmerman did away with the role of park president, implementing regional managers instead, John Riley brought them back, but not for all parks, just the biggest ones.

[00:06:51]Five legacy Cedar Fair parks, five legacy Six Flags parks. So now Cedar Point, Kings Island, Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Knots, Great Adventure, Great America, Magic Mountain, Over Texas, and Over Georgia will have someone at the top calling the shots. More focused on their parks needs and being more plugged in than a regional manager could be. So it's a win for the parks and a win for the presidents themselves. So congrats to all 10 people who got the job. Those were the winners. Now, let's get into the losers and start with three honorable mentions. Park and Michelle.

[00:07:24]Their Gerslower Euro Fighter Zephyr has been pushed to 2027. This month they got the permits they needed to build this which was a positive but still these problems caused the project to be pushed off yet another year. Mouku sphere. This Chinese park was set to get an intimate spinner LSM halfpipe and LSM coaster.

[00:07:42]And now it seems like they need to sell these rides before the park even opens.

[00:07:46]So some park out there will be a winner but it's not Moku Spear. Speedy Gonzalez Hot Rod Racers at Six Flags Magic Mountain. After over a decade of operation, this has been officially removed from the park. Number 10, Wonderland Amusement Park Bangalore.

[00:08:00]They opened the relocated T3 and kept the comeback trains. Already home to a Vekoma Boomerang, Wonderland and Amusement Park Bangalore went for another relocated Vekoma. This time the worst SLC America has ever had. And a big part of T3 problems was the compact trains. This is now called Garuda Glide.

[00:08:17]And instead of replacing the trains with new age vests, they stuck with a comeback trains and I feel sorry for the poor people of Bangalore. This is their first new coaster in 10 years and it has to be this one. Number nine, Kishi Land in Switzerland. This shut down after 5 years. This indoor family entertainment center opened late in 2020, home to a zero family coaster called Octon, and the timing just seemed to be bad.

[00:08:39]Operating cost skyrocketed. They couldn't get new investors and the park entered liquidation, its final day being April 26th. Number eight, Monster at Cedar Point. This has been removed.

[00:08:51]Dating back to 1970, this Irely aircraft monster ride was on the Gemini Midway since before Gemini was even a thing.

[00:08:57]But 56 seasons was enough, reaching the end of its service life, parts being hard to come by, and Cedar Point just lost the classic flat ride. Though, Kings Island still has theirs if you're in Ohio and want to ride one. Number seven, RHC city in Brisbane. They're being sued over an unpaid engineering report. RHC is the developer of Infinity Planet Resort, a $2.6 billion entertainment city, having its own theme park in a 3,000 room hotel, also a beach and shopping center, and no cars inside the city. This project hit a snag last month when RMA Engineering sued RHC, saying they owe over $145,000 in fees.

[00:09:34]RHC blaming the war in Iran for making cash transfers less available. Anytime you start hearing about lawsuits ahead of big ambitious projects, that's never a good sign. But according to RHC, this will all be resolved and not impact the project, wanting to be ready for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Number six, Aquattopia at Tokyo Disney Sea. This was announced to close later this year. A park original, this trackless dark ride has been popular for 25 years, but this is being torn out to make way for a redevelopment of the Port Discovery area. So, this will be replaced with a more modern state-of-the-art attraction.

[00:10:08]It'll close on September 14th, and a special version of the ride called Get Soaked will be available from July 2nd all the way till its closing day. Number five, Canada's Wonderland. They announced Flight Deck would get new trains and be rethemed at Daredevil. A lot of people were hoping Canada's Wonderland would do away with Flight Deck already scrapping its neighbor Time Warp, but no such luck. This got the trains from Six Flags America's SLC, Professor Screamer Skywinder, securing its status in the park for now. And Canada's Wonderland doubled down on its future, announcing a rethe and repaint now to be known as Daredevil. And honestly, I don't think the new trains are going to help it. It needs track work also. And sometimes an SLC needs more than just new trains. Number four, Six Flags America. The land has been sold for redevelopment. This isn't a big surprise, but there was still a glimmer of hope the park would be bought by a theme park operator and it could continue on. Instead, it was bought by an investment group that includes NBA superstar Kevin Durant. The 500 acre site set to be used for entertainment.

[00:11:07]Described as a mixeduse development, the detail still being worked out, but appealing to all ages. It's just the final nail in the coffin for anyone who is going to miss this park. Number three, Six Flag St. Louis. They had a giant fight on opening day last month.

[00:11:22]We called Six Flag St. Louis a big winner. Enchanted Park said they wanted to make this into their flagship park.

[00:11:28]Now it's on the loser list, having a massive fight breakdown on day one of the 2026 season. The police call stated about 100 people were fighting both inside and outside the park, mostly teenagers. This leads us back to the chaperone policies that are widely used at these parks, including the other enchanted park in Missouri, Worlds of Fun. And after this incident, no surprise, St. Louis will be re-implementing the chaperone policy.

[00:11:50]Nobody under 16 allowed in the park without a chaperone aged 21 plus. One adult can supervise up to six minors and that just took effect on May 2nd. Number two, Six Flags dining pass holders. We can no longer use our dining pass at Enchanted Parks. Based on my chat with customer service, it looks like most of our legacy Six Flags membership perks will apply to the Enchanted Parks in 2026. But one thing Enchanted Parks did ask was the dining pass. If you have an all-season dining plan for Six Flags, you cannot use it at the seven former Six Flags now enchanted parks properties, Worlds of Fun, Six Flags St. Louis, Valley Fair, Michigan's Adventure, Great Escape, Laurand, and Schillerbon Galveistston. If you bought one for these parks, you can get a full cash refund, or you can get $120 toward an Enchanted Parks e gift card. That's about $20 more in the cash refund, or you can keep using that pass at other Six Flags parks, just not Enchanted Parks. Just be aware of this if you're on a road trip this year and expect Six Flags to feed you. Number one, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and every Six Flags park that didn't get a new president. As I mentioned before, 10 Six Flags parks got a new president, but that means nine other parks didn't. These are the mid-tier and lower parks for the most part, but that also includes King's Dominion and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

[00:13:03]Their long-term president, Jeffrey Sert, stepping away from the company at the same time this was announced. His current role being the general manager of the Texas Parks. Fiesta Texas lost a great leader in Jeffrey Seabbert. So that's automatically a loss and they won't be replacing him with a president.

[00:13:17]This is leading to speculation about these nine parks. If they aren't long for the chain, if they won't be invested in as much. Will nothing change and they were just deemed too small to have their own president? We'll have to see. But I wouldn't want to be one of the parks that wasn't assigned a president. It could be bad or could be neutral, but definitely isn't good.

[00:13:36]I have a bonus number one entry. A late breaking story in the last day of April.

[00:13:40]Niagara Amusement Park announcing it will not open for the 2026 season.

[00:13:44]Operating cost and low attendance being the driving reasons. Last month, I mentioned to keep an eye on this park.

[00:13:50]They hadn't posted on their social media in 2 months. Season passes were listed but not for sale and the jobs link was disabled. Now it's official and the park will be refunding season passes. We'll see what the future holds for this park.

[00:14:03]It's the second time this has shut down the last 6 years. Sheen Staples and his IB chain saved it the first time, and it's going to have to use another one of its nine lives to come back from this one and have life beyond 2026.

[00:14:14]That's a wrap on the winners and losers of April 2026. Let me know what stories I missed. And if you have any comments on the stories I mentioned, sound off in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video, please drop a like. And if you're new here and love coasters, please give me a sub. I want to thank my patreons.

[00:14:29]If you want bonus access, bonus content, and have your name listed at the end of each video, check my links below and join. Also, check out my second channel where I post copyright free off-ride footage. Thank you all for watching and I'll see you all next time.