Coaster Radio: The Original Theme Park Podcast

Happy Halloween from Coaster Radio! Mike shows up in a Ghostface mask, and he and EB spend the cold open on why the original Scream still holds up. Then it's First Drop. Mike thanks EB for hosting last week's solo show and gives the latest on the Six Flags Over Georgia tragedy. There is still no official word on what happened, so the guys stick to the facts. The Six Flags CEO says the chain will add seatbelts to Goliath and to other coasters with similar restraints, including Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure and Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America, and will bring in independent engineers to review its rides. Mike and EB also look at which B&M hypers already have seatbelts and what other parks might do about coasters like Apollo's Chariot.

In Quick Hits, the Disney news comes fast. Expedition Everest now runs with the lights on full, so you can see the static Yeti ahead of its rumored replacement, and the hosts have a theory about why. Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland is back from a six-week refurbishment with bigger loose-article pouches, a fix for Jeeps overshooting the load area, and electric doors instead of hydraulic ones. That adds around 125 riders per hour, and the park claims 320,000 more rides a year. Mike also makes the case for bringing back the original sliding-door illusion.

Then there's a Tower of Terror update rumor, sparked by the voice of Rod Serling posting a photo outside Imagineering. The segment ends with Universal's soft third quarter, where theme park revenue fell 4.5% and Comcast pointed to marketing and to capacity and throughput at Epic Universe. After that, Mike and EB compare their home haunts. EB has a 12-foot inflatable pumpkin, a 25-foot snake, and a tentacle pine tree. Mike has singing projection pumpkins and ghosts flying behind his windows. The Halloween scare actor contest gets an update. The prize is now a check of about $35 toward your costume, the deadline is extended one more week, and a new entry comes in from Magic Mountain.

After the break, the Coaster Radio mailbag brings a prize closet haul from Tom in Louisville, including an Alice in Wonderland puzzle, Metal Earth Haunted Mansion models, and foreign-language Disneyland maps.

Then it's this week's interactive topic: which attraction designed to scare you actually did? EB picks the helix drop on The Beast at Kings Island. Mike picks a genuinely unsettling haunted house in Gatlinburg. Listeners weigh in with Demon Drop, Lex Luthor Drop of Doom, Oblivion, X2, Full Throttle's second launch, Verbolten, Tower of Terror, Catwoman's Whip, Kongfrontation, Jaws, the original Phantom Theater, and Tomb Raider: The Ride. Everything builds to the pick the hosts crown the scariest attraction ever put in a park: Alien Encounter at Magic Kingdom, with its evil robot, its lights-out chaos, and blood dripping on you in the dark. Want to enter the contest? Interview a scare actor in character, get them to say Coaster Radio, Mike, and EB, and send it to [email protected].

Mike is off this week, so EB flies solo from the Indiana studio for a spooky-season episode built around one very good guest: Tom Pointon, the self-described ghost expert of Alton Towers in England.

In the first half, EB addresses the tragic accident at Six Flags Over Georgia, points listeners to a ride mechanic's video explaining how B&M clamshell restraints work, and notes that the full story isn't known yet. In Quick Hits, Hersheypark reopens Candemonium after inspections by state-certified and independent inspectors, and EB shares the park's full statement about the ride's redundant safety systems. Construction is also underway inside Kentucky Kingdom's old 5D theater, and everyone is guessing it's a new indoor coaster.

After the break, Tom explains what Alton Towers actually is: a Gothic Revival house with roots going back centuries, an Iron Age hill fort, a king of Mercia, and a theme park built around it, home to Nemesis, Oblivion, The Smiler, Wicker Man, and Hex. He tells the story behind the ghost tours he created for the park. It starts with a staff ghost hunt in 2011 where three people, including a skeptical Tom, burst into tears at the same moment. Along the way he shares:

• The legend of the White Bridge and why he thinks it's probably made up
• The curse of the Chained Oak, the real tree that inspired Hex
• The night a shadowy figure kept following his tour group through rooms behind them
• The night he went into the towers alone after the park closed and lasted about 20 minutes
• How the tour sold out three times in a week

He also covers who comes on a ghost tour, what the 60-minute version looks like today, and why he thinks these stories matter to English culture. Tom shared photos from the tour, which you can see in the YouTube version of this episode.

This week. Mike and EB take on a story that goes well beyond roller coasters: Paramount Skydance's $110 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery. They skip the finance talk and ask what matters to theme park fans. Will anyone finally build a Star Trek land? Will Ferengis and Klingons return to the midway? What happens to Universal's Harry Potter rights at Epic Universe? They also cover Warner's park history, from Looney Tunes at Six Flags to Warner Bros. Movie World and Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, then go through the IP list. It includes Wayne's World as a 90s land, a Godfather restaurant, and a Wizard of Oz boat ride. Mike also explains how the Six Flags "Over North Ohio" clip took off on social media.

In Quick Hits, Disney is reworking its parking plazas with digital price signs, which gets Mike and EB talking about surge pricing, "gamification," service fees, and tip screens in gift shops. There's a rumored Rise of the Resistance refurbishment, plus a question about how long the sequel trilogy story will last. A guest at Epcot's Food & Wine Festival dives off the Gran Fiesta Tour boat. Joe Rohde is on his book tour and says Lightning Lane is like skipping to the car chase in a movie.

The back half opens with the Coaster Radio mailbag, including a commemorative brick at Six Flags Great America's 50th anniversary walkway that reads "Eat a Cricket, Half Price Ticket" for Fright Fest. Then two more entries arrive in the Halloween contest, where listeners interview a scare actor and get them to say the show's name. Ben's audio from Hersheypark Dark Nights features a man carrying a severed head and a Pennsylvania legend. Caleb's video from Six Flags Great Adventure stars Jelly Boy the Clown, a sword swallower. EB shares his three-question trick for landing an interview.

Finally, Mike and EB settle what separates a great haunt from a bad one, using local haunts, haunted hayrides, and Universal as reference points. The topics are detailed sets, great actors versus bored ones, inventive special effects, too much darkness, conga lines versus pulsing groups, IP that lives up to its name, and storylines that make sense. It ends with Bunny Man Bridge and goblins sliding into Mike's studio mid-recording.

Want to enter the contest? Interview a scare actor in character, get them to mention Coaster Radio, Mike, and EB, and send it to [email protected]. The prize is your Halloween costume, paid for by the show.

Happy Halloween, everybody — Mike and EB kick off spooky season with the old Crypt Keeper cold open before diving into one of the strangest stories in recent Six Flags history: a leaked survey sent to passholders asking how they'd feel about renaming flagship parks like Cedar Point, Carowinds, and Magic Mountain into options like "Six Flags over North Ohio" and "Cedar Point, a Six Flags Experience." The guys break down exactly why every single option on the list is worse than just leaving the names alone, and make the case that Six Flags has some serious brand rehab to do before anyone wants their name slapped on a park.

In Quick Hits: X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain is officially closed for good after years of lawsuits and injury allegations, prompting a trip down memory lane for one of the most notorious rides ever built. Lagoon finally reveals its mysterious 2027 attraction: J3 Grand Prix, the first Intamin Hot Racer coaster built in the United States, replacing the aging Jetstar 2. Busch Gardens Tampa quietly fixes a long-standing complaint by making lockers free for two hours on Iron Gwazi instead of charging riders full price. And after a years-long saga, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park has officially sold for $14.8 million through bankruptcy court following the tragic death that led to a massive judgment against the park — Mike walks through how Chapter 11 sales actually work and why the family is unlikely to see anywhere near the full settlement.

The back half of the show is all about ArieForce One: Mike and EB go through dozens of listener predictions for which Six Flags park will land the relocated coaster, debating the cases for Kings Island, Carowinds, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags Great Adventure, and a few delightfully out-there picks (frequent-flyer-miles traveling coaster, anyone?). Then they reveal the full audience vote breakdown — and it's not particularly close. Plus, an update on the show's Halloween scare-actor interview contest, including a few spectacular early failures.

Coaster Radio is back after a week off, and there is a lot to cover. First Drop: Cotaland, the park next to Circuit of the Americas outside Austin, Texas, just held its grand opening as a full-time amusement park. It now has the world's first shuttle Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster (Palindrome), a tilt coaster (Circuit Breaker), a Schwarzkopf Wildcat, a log flume, and a 150-foot Star Flyer. Mike and EB explain why they both thought ArieForce One was headed there.

In Quick Hits, Mike and EB salute Arthur Levine, who is retiring after decades covering the amusement industry and has appeared on the show 40 times, far more than any other guest. Lagoon is teasing a racing-themed 2027 announcement for October 3rd. The Fun Spot Atlanta auction has 413 lots, and the prices so far are hilarious (a Dragon Wagon coaster for $3,600 and a 4D simulator for $200). Then EB files a two-part trip report from Family Kingdom in Myrtle Beach, covering the 1968 wooden coaster Swamp Fox, the Twist and Shout wild mouse, and a field where an RMC Raptor will open in 2027.

After the break, the Halloween contest gets its first entry, a very threatening clown. Then the mailbag delivers park maps and a mountain of stamps for the Snail Mail Club. The main event is the 2026 Golden Ticket Awards. Dollywood dethrones Busch Gardens Williamsburg as the world's most beautiful park, Europa-Park takes best amusement park, and Voyage edges Phoenix for the top wooden coaster. Fury 325 tops the steel list ahead of VelociCoaster, Steel Vengeance, and Iron Gwazi. ArieForce One comes in at #11, and Mike and EB are both shocked it isn't higher. Along the way there are hot takes on Flying Turns, Apollo's Chariot, and Guardians of the Galaxy, plus a debate over whether AI can crunch 10 years of Golden Ticket rankings.

Want to play along? Send your ArieForce One prediction (one park, plus a few sentences on why) and any scare actor interview entries to [email protected].

Mike holds down the studio solo this week while EB spends a spontaneous day at Six Flags Great America — but the real story is one nobody saw coming: Six Flags has officially purchased ArieForce One, the beloved RMC that was headed for demolition just weeks after Fun Spot Atlanta announced its closure. Mike breaks down why this genuinely surprised him (the budgeting alone for a chain like Six Flags should have made this financially implausible), walks through everything that has to happen before this ride finds a new home — disassembly, cataloging, transport, an entirely new station to fix its known capacity issues — and floats his own guesses for which park might land it when Six Flags reveals the destination later this year.

Meanwhile, EB reports live from the midway all day: riding the new Wrath of Rakshasa dive coaster, revisiting old favorites five years after his first trip to the park, and later checking out the Dark Knight coaster. A listener trip report from opening day of Night Flight Expedition at Dollywood reveals a rocky first outing — a four-hour wait, a failed test, and a mad dash back into line — but genuine excitement for what the ride will become once it's fully worked in. Then Mike covers Six Flags Magic Mountain's announcement of an entirely new roller coaster category: the Thrill Glider, a prone, face-forward "hover cycle" experience blending flying coaster tech with a full sci-fi storyline. Plus, a look at Alton Towers' elaborate new Halloween dinner theater experience, Dine With the Dead, and EB caps off his day with a nightcap at a favorite Chicago tiki bar.

This week, Mike and EB pay tribute to Dolly Parton, reflecting on a career and a spirit that somehow united an entire divided country in genuine admiration — from her decades of quiet, unpublicized generosity to the way Dollywood itself became an extension of who she was rather than a monument built in her name.

In Quick Hits, the guys cover a CNN investigation into a string of serious injuries on X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain, including a wrongful death settlement tied to a 2022 incident, and talk honestly about whether this ride will ever run again. There's also news on expansion plans spotted near Monsters Unchained at Universal's Epic Universe, and Six Flags St. Louis's rebrand to Mid-America Adventure under new ownership.

After the break, a Kings Island trip report on the reimagined dark ride Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare, plus the Coaster Radio mailbag packed with rare international park maps. Then Emmy-winning WGN-TV Chicago anchor and longtime friend of the show Marcus Leshock returns for the first time in over a decade to talk about his own personal history with Dolly Parton — including firsthand stories from spending time with her both on and off camera — and shares his take on this year's Halloween Horror Nights lineup at Universal Orlando, from the scale of the original haunted house concepts to what changes as the season progresses.

It was one of the biggest weeks in the amusement industry in years, and Mike and EB have a ton to cover. First up: D23 - Disney's biannual fan convention, which featured Neil Patrick Harris hosting a full award-show-style presentation packed with 33 announcements about the future of Disney Parks and Experiences. The guys break down the highlights, including a Carousel of Progress refurbishment featuring new voices from Bryan Cranston and Jamie Lee Curtis, a Coco-themed attraction (the IP's first ever), a Magic Kingdom Villains Land finally getting its official name, and Dream Finder and Figment returning to Journey Into Imagination at Epcot. But the biggest surprise of the night: Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom will see the return of The Yeti. (HE'S HUGE! HE'S HUGE!)

Then it's Quick Hits, where Mike and EB dig into the opening of NightFlight Expedition at Dollywood and the genuinely mixed early reactions — much of it, they argue, coming from riders misunderstanding the ride's intentionally storybook visual style. Plus a live call-in from the base of Top Thrill 2 at Cedar Point, giving listeners a real taste of the launch in action.

The back half is a can't-miss exclusive: Silver Dollar City's Director of Content and PR, Joey Thorsen, joins the show fresh off the announcement of Miner's Mountain Express, walking through a full POV narration of the ride, introducing its brand-new skunk and bat mascots, discussing the final year of the beloved Thunderation before it closes in January, breaking down how the new Daredevil Pass connects two previously separated areas of the park, and telling the wild true story of how the ride's real 15-story mining head frame ties back to America's 250th anniversary.

Mike spends National Roller Coaster Day right where he wants to be: at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, riding walk-on after walk-on during the park's Brews & BBQ festival. Between food samples and short lines, he gets reacquainted with old favorites like Apollo's Chariot and Escape from Pompeii, takes the family on Roman Rapids for the first whitewater ride he's been on in years, and gives a full breakdown of Verbolten's surprising overnight refresh — new queue storytelling from an animatronic witch, reworked lighting and scrims inside the show building, and a genuinely creepy new glowing tree effect that makes the whole ride feel reborn without changing the layout at all.

Then it's the segment you've been waiting for: the full, exclusive 30-minute interview with Erica Rutledge, Herschend's Senior Director of Guest Experience Development and Creative Director behind NightFlight Expedition, along with longtime Dollywood PR Vice President Pete Owens. They go deep on how the ride's Mack Rocking Boat vehicle came directly out of lessons learned building Big Bear Mountain, the full legend of Secret Lake and characters Cora and Jasper, how a chance conversation turned the ride into four completely different adventures in one — plus hidden Easter eggs connecting it to Big Bear Mountain's shared universe, and just how much work goes into an attraction that's still being "plussed" even after it opens.

Six Flags Great America is getting a brand-new family area called Camp Timber Trail, anchored by a Vekoma family suspended coaster that's essentially a clone of Phoenix at Deno's Wonderwheel Park. The area has nine attractions total, mixing new builds with clever re-themes of park classics. Mike and EB break down why these smaller, heavily-themed family coasters might matter more for a park's long-term health than another record-breaking mega-coaster.

Then it's time for Quick Hits: Cedar Point's season-long Fast Lane add-on is going for a jaw-dropping $1,999 after the park closed last year's loophole of buying a cheaper Fast Lane at a different Six Flags park. Mike and EB do the actual math on how many visits it takes before that price tag makes any sense at all. Kings Dominion is running its classic dark ride Flight of Fear with the lights on every night in August, giving longtime fans a reason to ride a coaster they've been on a hundred times before. And in the biggest tease of the week, newly surfaced test footage...along with a mysterious social media post.... all but confirms that RMC's long-rumored Wild Moose coaster — a compact, maneuver-packed ride built entirely around those beloved pre-lift RMC moments — is headed to Kentucky Kingdom. Mike also circles back to Busch Gardens Williamsburg's still-mysterious Corkscrew Hill rebuild, wondering out loud what it could mean for the park's aging motion simulator theater.

Coaster Radio also has a genuinely stacked week ahead: an early, embargoed interview with Hershend's creative director about Dollywood's NightFlight Expedition, a Silver Dollar City interview tied to their upcoming 2027 announcement, and Neil Patrick Harris himself joining the show to talk D23, Hong Kong Disneyland, and his connection to the Muppets' Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.

The back half is this week's interactive topic, and it's a good one: listeners were asked what ride needs to leave their home park to make room for something better. Kings Island's outdated log flume, Six Flags Over Georgia's Blue Hawk, Lagoon's Double Thunder Raceway, Six Flags Great America's Superman, Cedar Point's Kiddy Kingdom, Hershey Park's train and monorail, Knott's Berry Farm's Accelerator, and Six Flags Magic Mountain's Scream, among many more.