Six Flags St. Louis ended opening day early after fights involving as many as 100 juveniles, then reinstated what may be the strictest chaperone policy the industry has seen: guests 16 and under must be accompanied by a 21-plus chaperone, with a max of 6 guests per chaperone, daily, all operating hours. ICON Park introduced a similar policy the same week. Philip and Scott break down the "takeover trend," Scott's case that this is the first step toward the end of the family theme park, and the upstream question nobody is solving — why these kids are bored enough to organize fights at parks in the first place.
Then: Walt Disney World set the earliest start date ever for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party — August 7, 2026 — with a 38-night run, MNSSHP tickets ranging $119 to $229, and almost no new content beyond a Stitch-hosted dance party in Tomorrowland. We argue the calendar extension is the actual product, with Merlin's disclosure that October now drives roughly a fifth of its annual profit as the supporting case for why everyone is leaning harder into the Halloween shoulder.
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