👟 Big ups to Vessi for keeping my feet dry! Check out vessi.com/eltororyan for 15% off your first order! Free shipping to CA, US, AUS, NZ, JP, TW, KR, SGP.

Congrats on a successful ElToroRyan-ElToroWifey merger!

Congrats on becoming a dad!!!

3:10 i love needing to devote a few minutes of a video to remind your viewers that normal people exist lol

One thing they do need to improve on is operations. It's only going to be harder to sell a pricey experience that involves waiting 1+ hours for 30-60s of fun or a burger. If you can improve ops you'll sell a richer day to guests.

This merger also means that some parks like Magic Mountain and Great Adventure have the potential to get better investments, like....a giga coaster!!!

Welcome to the world of fatherhood Ryan! Congratulations on your first child! Most videos I skip the commercials but I look forward to seeing how you segway into your Vessi spots!! I’m a fan of the merger. If it keeps the theme parks competitive and modern that is a win win! You did an excellent job of explaining why the merger is a good thing.

First and most importantly... congratulations on becoming a dad! That's fantastic! Second.... thank you for this video. Well said and presented. These are some points I've been making with my friend group who have been yelling monopoly. Excellent analysis and top tier presentation.

19:27 Someone's shoe came off!

Congrats, ElToroDad!!!

This definitely helped clear things up. I never believed the competition and monopoly claims were anything to worry about. If anything, I feel like Disney itself is closer to a monopoly in the entertainment industry than these two companies combined, so more power to them for finding a good way to cut costs, even if that means the loss of some higher ups.

I’m really excited for the future of both companies going forward. This looks exciting but I’m hoping it does go well

Congrats to you and El Toro Mom. From Idiot to Dad it's been fun watching your journey all these years man.Youre a great dude and def on the Coaster KZfaq MtRushmore.

It's literally not a monopoly. Thoosies are a bit unhinged sometimes.

2 take aways. 1: So exciting, congratulations on the new baby. We also added “Baby Dude” to the world a few days ago. 2: loved the deep dive on the Vail Epic Pass. I had no idea my home ski resorts were part of that chain. Keep up the great work and here’s to our babies growing fast and healthy so we can start working on their credit counts.

Congrats on the baby, ETR! I feel like this merger is like T-Mobile and Sprint.

As both a skier and an enthusiast, I’m glad you mentioned the comparison to Vail. This merger really does remind me of that whole debacle, but whereas vail is essentially the only ski operator, the new six flags definitely does have competition, so who knows what will happen

Looking at this merger as a way to keep up with the entertainment industry and not just other amusement parks is a great way of looking at it. Theme parks are expensive but entertainment centers, zoos, escape rooms, etc. are cheap in comparison. And if this merger can give a lot more love to these parks, guests will see that and put them back in the game of getting more foot traffic and purchasing season passes. I loved your segment about distances from each park and how having a new "all parks season pass" can truly have it's benefits. I live 30 minutes away from Kings Island and the next closest Cedar Fair park is Cedar Point. My friends and I are planning a trip to go next summer but that is only going to be one visit. I considered getting the all park passport added on to my Gold Pass but I would have to go to at least 2 visits to a different park other than Kings Island to get my moneys worth. I do have friends that live up in Grand Rapids, MI close to Michigan's Adventure and could use it for that but I'm lucky if I go up there once a year and plus it's one of the "lower tier" parks in the chain so it's not like I'm going to be making a whole trip up there just to go there. However, I grew up and still have family in the Chicagoland area and we went to Six Flags Great America at least once every summer and would love to go up there again sometime since it's been about 13 years when I visited the park. Just with that one additional park I would actually consider getting an all parks pass knowing that it would get me into 4 parks that would (hopefully) make up the difference depending on how much they're selling the pass for. I hope that this all turns out for well for everyone involved and that they can make the parks even better and offer more options to visit. Not just new roller coasters but dinning options, quality entertainment, better operations all around (not just for the rides), and better perks for season passholders. Only time will tell...

YOOOOOO!!!! Congrats dude!!!! ElToroRyan? More like ElToroDaddy!

Babies first book: "tickety, tok, roller coaster block" 😂

If the FTC didn't stop the Viacom merger, they're not touching this.

YOU DECIDE TO DO A BABY REVEAL IN YOUR AD?! EVIL! jk jk congrats DadRyan!

You’re a snowboarder too?! I love that I share so many hobbies in common with you lol. You also got me hooked on Vessi shoes, so I appreciate that too!

(5:20) No credit for the person who took the video of SFGM Goliath in the snow in your Vessi ad? Hope you are paying them for use of their work. Other than that .. congrats on the new baby!

Congrats on becoming ElToroDad! Wendover Productions did a fantastic video about Vail and consolidation in the ski industry. I appreciate the comparison of Vail to the new Six Flags. I am cautiously optimistic about the merger!

Congrats on fatherhood. Can’t wait for the all park pass and hitting some parks out west.

Another great Vessi plug along with the announcement of adding more kiddy rides to your credit- I mean being a father! Congrats 🎉

The only people that would make the claim that Six Flags is a monopoly would be Disney.

13:06 fun fact, that infograph is incredibly misleading, as the parks are ranked based on their 2019 attendance figures. Referencing their attendance statistics from 2022, the top 5 spots would actually go to Magic Kingdom (17.1M), Disneyland (16.8M), Islands of Adventure (11.0M), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (10.9M), and Universal Studios Florida (10.7M). Given how this video was made to address the concerns of competition amongst regional entertainment, I find it interesting how the largest companies in the theme park industry seem to be more competitive than ever, especially in Orlando.

Great video! I really like how you outlined how this could help drive sales of all-park seasons passes. Even a lower priced regional multi park pass could help incentivize season pass holders to buy a multi park add-on and drive up attendance in neighbouring parks. I would love to see Darien Lake tap into the huge number of Canada's Wonderland seasons pass holders.

Congrats on the kiddo!!! New coaster fan in process!

CONGRATULATIONS on becoming eltorodad

In a world full of enthusiasts talking excessively about ride experiences and looking for things to nitpick, you're incredible at providing deep and informative INSIGHT. You and McLovin are a spectacular team and I really hope you work on some more videos in the future.

Congratulations on the new edition, Ryan and El Toro Wifey!! 🎉🎉🎉

As a kid who grew up at great adventure, it sure was special bring my kids there for the first time! Congrats!

ElToroBaby’s gonna be four years old and teaching the kids in Planet Snoopy about block zones

Congrats On ElToroBaby! The newest thusie!

This is even better than the last one about the merger. You did forgot to mention symphonies, ballet, musicals, operas and rock concerts. I saw Metallica in Frankfurt and Gotterdammerung by Richard Wagner at the Vienna State Opera both in May 2009 and the only coaster I rode on that trip was a mountain coaster in Merano Italy; I think it's called Merano 2000. I haven't skied for a long time but I'm intimately familiar with Whistler and Blackcomb in the 80s and Whistler/Blackcomb in the 90s. I even skied the Whistler creek bunny hill cable tow in 1976 at the age of 6! I skied Whistler then Blackcomb in the 80's multiple times and started skiing on both mountains the same day like you can now in the 90's and naughts. The skiable terrain hasn't expanded much since the 90's, but I oughta somehow get back, but I've been busy doing something else, not including music 😉 (BTW I never ruled out learning how to snowboard). But this only goes to show how many other things there are that people are interested in that aren't about roller coasters. I oughta know. It's nice seeing my instincts about this reflected in your thoughts. Time will tell, but I'll let what I said last time keep riding: I think the merger is a positive thing overall. Again, nice seeing you w Brandon at Carowinds in April! That was a shock that matched my already bedraggled coaster ridden hair, matched w edibles. 😵‍💫 Since then I went on two separate coaster trips to King's Island and and California's Great America respectively from Surrey B.C. Canada. I can't ride a coaster again until Playland opens (which I only visited this year during the PNE fair without riding anything) and my next trip is probably gonna be my 1st trip to Holiday World. Thanks for posting, Cheers! Also congratulations for the new baby.

Ayeee man congrats on being a dad! A lil enthusiast in the making! ☺️☺️

Congrats ElToroDad. Finally no more shame in riding kiddy coasters

Love you bro THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK

Congratulations 🎉 Ryan! Also, is there going to be a part 3 of this?

Completely agree, Ryan. Not a monopoly. Congrats on your baby. VERY good point about “competing” parks could sell more all-park passes.

Congrats on the baby. Also, I’m def gonna cop a pair of Vessi.

Always knew you were a mountain creek homie, I'd recognize that barren dirt boundary and 3 inch snow cover anywhere

Congrats to you ans El Toro Wifey on the baby mang! Being a dad is amazing. You're going to love it!

Loving the 60fps uploads - noticed it distinctly on some of these fast-moving clips, so smooth! :D

Congratulations on the baby!!! ElToroDaddy??

I think you’re right that most people don’t realize that the parks are competing with other forms of entertainment. My sister has a gold pass to Cedar Point. She won’t drive to the other parks because they’re too far for her. Meanwhile I’ll go to other parks in the chain, but getting a hotel and everything else gets expensive. With a combined pass with Six Flags I’ll go to those parks, but somebody like my sister won’t. They’re just too far for her.

Maybe with the merger, Michigan's Adventure will finally receive love again

the thing we should hope for is them clearing their debt so they can reinvest more into each park annually, the other thing i can see is the destination parks like Cedar point retiring a mainline coaster to a smaller park

I want to hear more about ElSnowboarderRyan now lol

Hope this leads to SeaWorld going back to their roots in zoological focus to differentiate themselves more

I’m scared 0:50 Dear god the tower is swaying

Congratulations on Lil Toro!

Thanks for explaining clearly. I work in consulting for a worldwide firm where we focus on mergers and acquisitions. This merger is all positive and people are very misinformed. You had some great explanations here. No monopoly here, parks are not and never were competing, and investments will continue to roll as normal- if not at a higher rate.

As a fellow skier I love the compare/contrast of Vail Resorts! I’ve thought about that exact thing, I actually got an epic pass for the first time last year and I was like “it’s just like my six flags pass! I can go whenever I want and it’s ‘free!’”

Hi Dad! What a nice surprise! I bet your baby is really cute! Congratulations!

15:39 Uggh, there is no cover over those HDPE pipes... need at least 1 foot from finished grade or bottom of flexible pavement.

Ad skippers will never know what they missed. Congrats!

Ughhhh and you shred. Confirmed we would be awesome friends haha

Congratulations on fatherhood brodie 🗣️💯‼️

Interesting comparison with the ski resorts. As a Colorado resident, the way the system is set up discourages people greatly from single-day use and has forced a lot of people into making whichever pass they get a part of their personality. The other result is that the resorts are all packed because so many have access to several of them instead of just one or two. With more variety, the snow lovers can go every week and keep the resorts full compared to maybe a once a month trip to their favorite spot. The other aspect though is that during the winter, there are considerably less activities for people to do. The competition of ski resorts in the winter against other activities is less than the competition of amusement parks in the summer against water or mountain activities, outdoor sports, etc. All of that to say I'm really interested to see what this merger does to single day/park entry and passes and whether it starts to breed a different type of consumer, the way the ski resorts did once they became a conglomerate instead of separately owned.

I live close to San Antonio and New Braunfels, so this is great for Schlitterbahn and Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Congratulations ElToroDad!

I think also the food and the things to buy there are expensive in theme parks compared to beaches, bowling, and other venues that are cheaper than theme parks. I'm just saying, it's this reason that, why I absolutely love to ride roller coasters (and also love to build roller coasters in say NoLimits2, Roller Coaster Tycoon series, Planet Coaster, or any theme park video game that I can play for hours on end, including open source community project ones), going to these theme parks is expensive as hell. Not to mention having so many passes, I might as well buy one ticket for each park considering I may only go there once or twice per year and that's it, not every single week. Also, I think what Cedar Fair and Six Flags should worry about is if video game mascot and character lands pop up in Universal Studios theme parks or even the Super Smash Bros. area of the theme park. Once that occurs, there would be no way Cedar Fair or Six Flags would recover from the amount of money people would go to Pokemon themed parks and such.

I love how he just dropped the news of El Toro Pequeño outta nowhere. Thanks for making drop by bowl of Flaming Hot Cheetos in lemon juice on my carpet! Jerk…😆😅

THANK YOU. People have been complaining about monopolies and lack of competition and I’m just not buying it

Interesting video. You skiing comparison is interesting, but I wish you could compare to other forms of entertainment. For example movie theaters especially the big chains (AMC, Regal, and Cinemark) have a history of antitrust and anticompetitive issues.

It’s sick to see someone else who is a coaster nerd and a snowboarder especially one that loves terrain parks!

I feel the big question would be, Especially for enthusiasts is will you be able to visit 2 parks in the same day. Hit great adventure in the morning and dorney in the afternoon.

It's this video, and not the first one, that was actually depressing for me. In the United States, so many parks aren't transit-accessible, often located in the middle of nowhere, making many other entertainment options easier to get to. So the new Six Flags is making this move while most of their parks are *only* accessible by car, which I hope by now many people understand the negative externalities of such a car-centric world, including limiting how many people can get there in the first place.

When I think of this, one thing comes to mind. Kmart/Sears and we all know how that turned out.

EXACTLY. I've been commenting on any video that says this will ruin the parks that the new Cedar/6F competes with ALL entertainment not just other theme parks. Just because they have fewer theme parks they are competing with after the merger, if they don't continue to improve the parks they will lose out to other forms of entertainment. They will most definitely continue to improve the parks AND hopefully the parks will improve even more and faster than if they didn't merge.

congrats on the baby!

Congrats on the lil mang mang

Damn I've got a block zone shirt, but what about a monopoly shirt? you gave a real good definition in there brother

Congrats to you and ElToroWifey!!

thanks for the insight on this merge ryan and to mclovin too with his inside on it as well too and I was wonder if you could a video on I Roc since cedar fair uses IRco and six flags does it would be interesting to see if they want to remove it or make some changes to Iroc to make it less issues for ride ops

I've thought of this ever since I heard of the big news about the 2 chains merging

Congratulations on achieving the highest, most important position you will ever have in life. There are no better 4 words to hear in life than "I love you dad".

Congrats on the new babe mang!!

Congrats on your Baby!!

Congratulations! You should totally come out and do a shoe signing at the Vessi store!

I hope this merger means Cedar Fair can start buying RMCs again and Six Flags can start buying Gerstlauers.

19:26 someone lost a hat lol

Congrats eltorodaddy!

When I go to a theme park, I want a clean place and good food! I enjoy watching the rides in motion even if I hesitate to try them out! I used to love most rides including roller coasters when I was younger!

I live in Northeast LA, so MM is much more accessible than Knott’s. I haven’t been to Knott’s in years. With the merger, I’m gonna schlepp my butt down to Buena Park on a regular basis FOR SURE. Also the greater LA area is more like 20mil people. And Knott’s is technically in Orange County, which adds another 5 or so. Doing a combined pass deal is going to be massive.

Wow congrats on becoming a dad! Pays to watch an ad I guess!

Congratulations to you and Eltorro Wifey on the success of your special delivery!!!! So, who does Eltorro Baby look like more... You or Wifey???

Ryan out here riding white ropes of death.

Where’s that snowy clip from in the ad?? I so desperately want to ride a rollercoaster in the snow.

Hi Ryan! I noticed that in one of your videos you were comparing use of electricity! I find that very interesting! Are you aware that they are selling the LOMI on the internet! I was wondering what you think about this gizmo because you are a smart engineer. Does it use a lot of electricity?

"regular people" really need to get their priorities strait! I think there can be significant cost savings in terms of management, HR, and other overhead. I would hope that they put that savings back into keeping the parks not only healthy but growing! There is no way this merger could be considered a monopoly! Great video... you keep setting the bar higher and higher for yoursel!

Congratulations!!! One thing that makes Silver Dollar City and Dollywood so great is how much Herchend has resisted massive expansion. If there's a new property that want to manage, they will leave or sell off another site. I think Six Flags and Cedar Fair were doing separate things well. I hope they take this slowly and let go of excess staff over time rather than suddenly. I understand shutting down Six Flag's Arlington HQ but it would be beneficial to let employees remain remote until they retire or get another job. Their experience and knowledge can benefit every park.

Aw congrats ElToroDad!! The newest little coaster enthusiast 🥹❤ xoxo

I am a husband and father of 3. I live 25 min away from one of the largest GA in the north east. This news doesn't change my opinion about purchasing a season pass at all because the parks are just to crowded. I'm not going to stand in line for a ride for 2 1/2 hrs. I will just drive 20 min further and visit the jersey shore or go to the Poconos for the day. Over crowding is a huge issue and It need to be addressed for the overall encounter for the patron.

Eltorodaddy is real! Congrats🎉

19:25 I hope that person found their hat.