I don't know anything about Lost Island's financials but, like, truthfully, some of the worry is warranted, right? I'm not saying people should bring it up at every turn, but I also don't think it's fair to condemn people for their doubts.
Plus, in the context of Reddit specifically, there's a good chance the people making the comments at issue just haven't thought about Lost Island in a long time and posted what came to mind when seeing something about the park. They see the name Lost Island and think
"Oh, that's that theme park that opened in the middle of nowhere that no one goes to." I certainly don't want that to be the first thought that comes to thoosie's minds when they see Lost Island content so I get the frustration when that's always a narrative that surfaces. To be completely fair though, that sentiment also
isn't really totally wrong, right?
I
loved the park when I visited in 2023, Volkanu is probably my favorite non-Disney/Universal darkride ever, I think Matugani is criminally underrated (especially post-TTD/Ka), and multiple pieces of Lost Island merch are some of my absolute favorite bits of park merch I own. All that being said, yeah, I do worry about the park
a lot. There was a firefighter event at the park the day I visited and there was
still no one there. I think it's unfortunately clear that it's struggling.
The best argument for it not being on the verge of closure is probably that if profit motive were the driving factor behind the park, it never would have existed anyway, right? Hopefully that creative drive and passion that has gotten the park this far does, eventually, result in more financial success. In the meantime, I do hope everyone with the ability makes a trip out to Waterloo though. Even if you don't care about all the theming and deep lore that the Lost Island team so painstakingly produced for the park, Matugani, Volkanu, and now an RMC Raptor are totally worth the trip by themselves. Pair it with Adventureland and
Fong's—Iowa is a surprisingly strong pizza and thoosie destination right now.
But really, literally every turnstile click matters for Lost Island right now and I've already been considering a return trip... to both the absolutely stunning Lost Island and the truly life-altering Fong's. Adventureland is priority #3.
