Winter Chill Out 2026

As expected, nothing really headline-worthy announced at WCO this year. Updated bathrooms in Frontier Town probably the biggest news. Some new shows. No new dining; assuming Chickie and Pete's and Melt and Famous Dave's locations will remain sad shuttered buildings.

Here is a picture of one the new trains on Millennium Force. At least we know what they are doing with the old Snake River Falls boats.

Also, behind the scenes changes to TT2; getting rid of the twist into a tophat and simply making it the world's tallest overbanked turn.

And Maverick is now a bobsled coaster. With an extra seat in the back. Handicapped access?

1) Six Flags is using AI to cheaply design some of the new merch, and 2) Six Flags does not know how to use AI to design shirts.

It's noticeable, because over the past few seasons this was an area that seemed to show a lot of improvement.

More examples over on PointBuzz. My 'favorite' is the Raptor one.

What gets me is, they already have photos of all these coasters. If you're going for that look, just slap a few Photoshop filters on there to make it look like a painting/drawing and call it a day. Why bother with this uncanny valley nonsense, other than an excuse to use AI?

I haven't posted on Coasterbuzz in a while, but are these awful Cedar Point T-Shirts real or a joke? I've seen better designs on TeePublic & Redbubble.

Yeah, it all reminds me of that cheap knock off stuff you find in those generic "Disney" gifts shops along Rt. 192 in Kissimmee.

djgreghaus:

are these awful Cedar Point T-Shirts real or a joke?

Very real. I mean, trying to sell this to people as official merch is a joke, but it's sadly real.

That Raptor shirt is very gross. The "trains" are definitely bad, but I'm more offended by the abuse of the logo: going from one of the all time greats to what looks like a Disney villain's pet bird:

I know no one wants to hear this and I agree that the shirts look like terrible AI shlock, but most of the people buying them won't notice and even fewer will care.

Yes, there will be the group that won't notice. But I do find it rather comical how bad the artwork is on the merchandise.

Bakeman31092:

looks like a Disney villain's pet bird

They might as well draw the bird handing out an apple.

bigboy:

I know no one wants to hear this and I agree that the shirts look like terrible AI shlock, but most of the people buying them won't notice and even fewer will care.

And this is why very little effort was put into designing them.

birdhombre:

My 'favorite' is the Raptor one.

It looks like the new Raptor clamps onto your cranium and dangles you from your head.

jkpark:

They might as well draw the bird handing out an apple.

*No AI was used in the creation of this photochop.

Soulless, synthetic, and a window into what I imagine evil to be like. AI is deleting creativity from existence and subtracting what makes humans unique. It will lead to unexplainable horror that all humans on earth will suffer from. I never though this would be how it all ended.

To be fair, people have said largely the same thing about every significant technological advancement throughout history. It even has a name: "technopanic".

There has always been a selection of slop shirts in the gift shops. I bet they got these from the same distributor but they’re now using AI for the images instead of just replacing the text on the same designs they sell to Ocean City gift shops.

LostKause:

It will lead to unexplainable horror that all humans on earth will suffer from. I never though this would be how it all ended.

Tell me you've never seen a Terminator movie?

At this point, The Terminator's version of how the apocalypse arrives is the most likely to win.