GAcoaster
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Posts posted by GAcoaster
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In most cases it has to do more with manufacturers than the parks. When a manufacturer goes out of business (like Arrow or Schwarzkopf), the parts become more expensive (if available at all) which usually means the end of the ride. All those Schwarzkopf flats of the 70's were great rides, but when they wear out they just become too expensive to maintain. Same thing with Arrows coasters and flumes. When you combine the scarcity of Arrow parts with the poor design of the rides (the coasters tend to tear themselves apart, especially the suspended coasters) parks have to weigh fixing versus replacing and when ridership has also dropped off with age it's a no brainer to remove and replace in many cases.
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YAY! Cyclone started out so good, but has become unrideable the past few years. Next summer when I get to visit I'll be able to ride again without as much fear of whiplash...
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Great PTR! We keep driving past and thinking about going, now I think I have to bring my niece so we can check it out. I'll make sure she uses the restroom first though...
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Awesome coverage of IAAPA. I've been sharing your updates for the past two days with everyone I know.
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Wow, it's been a while since I checked in here and I'm so happy to see my thread still goign and being so supportive and positive!
Maybe I should start a new one: "Are you a top or a bottom or versatile?"
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Even made me enjoy the old Neil Diamond chestnut, "Sweet Caroline".
Mmm I never knew Puck had such a great voice.
Check out the video: http://www.bestweekever.tv/2009-10-09/so-pucking-hot-one-more-reason-to-love-glees-mark-salling/
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we decided to pay the $15 and head to our parking spot to be greeted by no more than 20 cars.
Ummm...this was your second visit to the park this season alone, and you obviously have a season pass and plan to keep coming to the park (and probably SFNE since you're midway between them), why do you keep paying $15 to park each time instead of just paying $45 once and being able to park all year at all SF parks?
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Six Flags over Georgia - 1976
Only one of these Parachute Towers still exists, originally built at Six Flags over Mid-America, it now is at Six Flags Great Adventure.
I think SFOT still has their Texas Chute Out.
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Wow, great little film! You even got the old Rolling Thunder sign when it still worked right!
We are starting work a little (well really HUGE) project on theme park history, so I may tap you for some info and pics if you'd like to share them.
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If you enjoyed my post on Intamin's 1st generation Free Falls then you MUST check out this site:
http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/Freefall.htm
I don't know who runs this Great Adventure History site but it is top notch and full of GREAT things from this park.
Thanks, that's my site. We have a mutual admiration society going here since I've been addicted to your great blasts from the past!
There's one thing I've been looking for on the web but haven't been able to find yet and I'm hoping you might have it or know where to get it. I remember on the original 321 Contact they did a show that featured coasters which I remember watching over and over on video tape until someone recorded over it. I remember it featured Tidal Wave at Great America, and I wanted to ride it SO BAD just from watching it!
PS- Any Great Adventure stuff you have I'd love to get copies of
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Hmmm...Six Flags America is three words, and they are LONG overdue for something new and big. The last rumor I heard was Six Flags was adding 2 new GCI's for 2009. We know Magic Mountain, and rumor has been SFOT, but then again it may be something else going to Texas. Another GCI at SFA would be great and give them a great niche with 3 great woodies...
Just a thought.
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Glow in the Park is the best thing Six Flags has added in a long time!
It blew me away, and is the caliber of a Busch or (possibly even) a Disney endeavor.
I posted a bunch of shots on my site, but here are a few of them as a preview:
This really is something you HAVE to see in person! Six Flags New England actually got lucky with getting Glow in the Park instead of the Dark Knight. The Dark Knight is a fun family coaster, but it seems to be disappointing a lot of guests who were expecting a HUGE thrill ride instead of the themed family ride that it is. Glow in the Park was a great surprise, and leaves guests with a GREAT impression at the end of a day at the park. Everyone, MAKE SURE YOU SEE GLOW IN THE PARK IN PERSON! Pictures and video just don't do the parade justice.
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^ Bummer....would have loved to have mated with them.
They probably would have enjoyed a threesome:
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The Boy & Girl Scout days are VERY busy...hundreds of scouts plus their families. The gold Flash Pass is the way to go!
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From the New York Times
Footballs, Funhouses and FriesBy ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Published: February 9, 2007
Daniel M. Snyder, the entrepreneur and owner of the Washington Redskins, has agreed to acquire Johnny Rockets, the 1950s-inspired restaurant chain known for employees that sing and dance to vintage pop tunes every half-hour.
Mr. Snyder’s private equity firm, RedZone Capital, is planning to announce the transaction today, he said in an interview. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but revenues were $250 million, and analysts estimate the chain’s value could be more than $500 million.
The acquisition is Mr. Snyder’s latest high-profile transaction in a recent series of deals. Last year, he took over the Six Flags amusement parks after a bitter proxy battle and, over the summer, struck a deal to back Tom Cruise’s production company when Paramount Pictures unceremoniously shed Mr. Cruise.
Mr. Snyder’s deal for Johnny Rockets, which started in 1986 as a corner restaurant serving burgers and malts on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, is his first major entrance into the food business.
Johnny Rockets has been on a tear, growing at least 20 percent a year since it was started by Ronn Teitelbaum, a clothing retailer, who expanded it to 203 locations, with some restaurants abroad. Mr. Teitelbaum died in 2000, but his chain continued to grow. It now has three outposts in Dubai and a presence on Royal Caribbean International cruise lines.
For Mr. Snyder, who was a self-made millionaire at 19 and then created an advertising company that made him even wealthier, Johnny Rockets is an opportunity to leverage his marketing prowess and expand the chain across the nation, if not beyond.
“We think it’s a big-time brand,” he said, his voice filled with excitement. “You can see the business rocketing, no pun intended, in the future.”
He has ambitious expansion plans, anticipating opening 1,000 new restaurants in the next five years. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t have 15 or 20 Johnny Rockets in Dubai,” he said.
One of the first steps will be establishing a series of smaller restaurants, called Johnny Rockets Express, in airports, malls and urban areas. While the company owns about a third of its stores, its plans are to expand its franchise program. He also envisions opening Johnny Rockets restaurants inside FedEx Field in Washington, where the Redskins play, and inside Six Flags theme parks.
“The thing about Dan is he always keeps you guessing,” said Mark Shapiro, the chief executive of Six Flags, who left his job as ESPN’s programming director to work for Mr. Snyder. “If you had polled 100 C.E.O.’s about what Dan would buy next, this would not be on the list.”
Mr. Shapiro, who says the Oreo cookie shake is his favorite Johnny Rockets menu item, added: “Anything he touches, as long as you got the patience, turns to gold.”
Patience may be a virtue needed in his investment in Six Flags. Last year, its amusement parks recorded a 14 percent decline in attendance. Mr. Shapiro said he expected a turnaround this year after 7 of the 30 parks were sold for $312 million.
But Mr. Snyder’s life has always been a roller coaster ride. A dropout from the University of Maryland who was enrolled for only a few semesters, Mr. Snyder quickly leaped into several entrepreneurial ventures.
By the age of 20, he was leasing jets to ferry college students to the Caribbean. By 25, he had started a publishing business, but it ran aground, and a bank confiscated his sports car, a Lotus Elise.
But he bounced back. Fred Drasner, chief executive of U.S. News & World Report and a mentor to Mr. Snyder, nicknamed him “Timex,” because he “takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”
He created a marketing juggernaut, Snyder Communications, that in 2000 he sold to a French rival, Havas Advertising, for $2 billion in stock, a record for an advertising deal. Mr. Snyder pocketed nearly $300 million in the transaction.
Johnny Rockets was sold to Mr. Snyder by the Teitelbaum family, Apax Partners and Centre Partners.
Apax and Centre Partners became involved in 1995 after the company suffered a debilitating battle between Mr. Teitelbaum and Alfred M. Bloch, a psychiatrist who was then its controlling shareholder. Mr. Teitelbaum had sued Dr. Bloch and a partner, charging mismanagement and self-dealing.
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On the last conference call Shapiro specifically mentioned how he wants to get rid of BOGO at SFMM and SFGAdv, but they found it was necessary to keep it or it hurts attendance too much since both parks have done it for so long now and everyone expects it.
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Well, there is only one thing I can say:
You have got to be kidding me. Shaprio and gang should definitely have a better reason than "it's not family friendly".
From all accounts this is to fix the design flaw exposed last year with the incident. Apparently the rolls were putting too much stress on the train (as well as the riders). The decision may have been more on Premiere's part than Six Flags since the ride has been a lemon since it opened and they were probably threatened with legal action if they didn't do more to fix it.
Of course now it will also not be able to get stuck upside down in the rolls with passengers stuck.
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Six Flags and Nintendo Announce Strategic Marketing Alliance
Tuesday January 23, 8:30 am ET
Nintendo's Wii Video Game System Will Be the Official Gaming Console of Six Flags; Wii Gaming Stations at Six Flags Parks Will Offer Complimentary Game-Playing
NEW YORK, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Six Flags (NYSE: SIX - News) and Nintendo of America today announced a sponsorship and marketing agreement under which the Wii video game system will be the Official Gaming Console of Six Flags parks and Six Flags will offer complimentary game-playing at Wii Gaming Stations throughout select Six Flags-branded theme parks. In addition, the companies will collaborate on marketing initiatives, including a national sweepstakes promotion for Six Flags on Nintendo.com.
Nintendo's new Wii system became one of the hottest gifts this holiday. Consumers purchased more than a million Wii consoles in just the 44 days between U.S. launch and year end -- which represented every Wii console available at retail. As its popularity reflects, Nintendo's unique system brings gaming to the masses by providing something for everyone, from the most seasoned gamer to those experiencing video games for the first time.
"This agreement with Nintendo enables us to partner with a company, and a product, that has major relevance in the lives of today's families. When this audience is not in our parks, more often than not they are at home playing video games -- and now they can do both in one place as we continue to build Six Flags into a supermarket of entertainment," said Mark Shapiro, Six Flags President and CEO. "This alliance further illustrates our intent to partner with trusted and valued consumer brands that will increase our touch points and expand our reach."
"We look forward to continuing to build the Wii's leadership position in video gaming by making the system available to millions of guests who visit Six Flags every year," said Perrin Kaplan of Nintendo America. "The Wii system is dedicated to reaching a broad audience, and we look forward to sharing the ultimate gaming system with Six Flags guests beginning in 2007."
Six Flags, Inc., founded in 1961, is the world's largest regional theme park company. Six Flags, Inc. is a publicly-traded corporation (NYSE: SIX - News) headquartered in New York City.
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda and Pokemon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.
Smart move on Shapiro's part since obviously people who like Theme Parks also seem to like Wii.
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I'm so amazed at the maturity of this thread...but not surprised by the results.
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From Screamscape:The big announcement this week about the upcoming name change to the park may also reveal plans to add a Thomas themed area to the park.
OH...MY...GOD! Thats insane....They already have 2 kiddie areas!!! Im so mad. They are milking this "Family Oriented" idea way too much.
Aren't a few other Six Flags parks going to get this as well by 2008?
Why does everyone assume this will be a "new" area and not a re-themed section. With Six Flags current finances, re-themeing kids areas is the cheapest and most effective way of giving parks new attractions without breaking the bank. A couple of new kid rides, some fresh paint and some new scenery and any Looney Tunes/Bugs Bunny/generic kiddie themed area can become Wiggles World or Thomas the Tank Engine land. Those are far more marketable to families than the old sections they are updating.
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Press Release Source: Six Flags, Inc.
Six Flags Agrees to Sell Seven Parks for $312 MillionThursday January 11, 8:40 am ET
Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor in Valencia, CA Excluded from Sale
PARC 7F - Operations Corporation Will Purchase and Operate the Seven Parks; Financing Committed by CNL Income Properties Inc.
NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: SIX - News) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell three of its water parks and four of its theme parks to PARC 7F-Operations Corporation (PARC) of Jacksonville, FL for $312 million, consisting of $275 million in cash and a note receivable for $37 million. The seven parks are: Six Flags Darien Lake in Buffalo, NY; Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO; Frontier City and the White Water Bay water park in Oklahoma City, OK; SplashTown in Houston, TX; Waterworld USA in Concord, CA; and Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Seattle, WA. The seven parks are estimated to have generated approximately $30 million of Park EBITDA(1) and 3.6 million of attendance in 2006.
Six Flags Magic Mountain and the adjacent Hurricane Harbor water park in Valencia, CA are not included in this transaction and will be fully operational and open for business in 2007 and beyond.
"We're pleased with the sale price for this portfolio of parks, particularly since we were able to retain the Magic Mountain parks," said Mark Shapiro, Six Flags President and CEO. "This transaction confirms the value inherent in our major market branded parks."
The disposition of these seven parks is a key component of the Company's overall strategy to reduce debt and enhance operational and financial flexiblity. Company management stated earlier this year that its intent was to reduce debt by several hundred million dollars over the next several years. The agreement announced today, combined with the June 2006 sale of the land underlying its Houston AstroWorld theme park for $77 million, will result in gross cash proceeds of $352 million for debt reduction.
In their most recent operating years, the seven parks to be sold and the Houston AstroWorld park contributed approximately $35 million(2) of Park EBITDA, implying a valuation multiple of approximately 11 times the combined Park EBITDA.
"My new management team had several key priorities for Six Flags in 2006: transitioning our brand to attract families; cleaning up the parks; reducing capital expenditures; establishing a Corporate Alliances department to forge sponsorship and marketing partnerships with major consumer brands; increasing guest spending; and selling assets as a means to reduce the company's debt," said Shapiro. "With this announcement, all those steps are in full swing and we now have our agenda focused squarely on the 2007 season. A targeted increase in our media spend and our strong new entertainment alliances have us poised to realize attendance gains, making for a successful 2007 season."
The Company noted that obligations with respect to 2007 season passes and any committed park events, including group bookings and the previously announced Dream Nite promotion, will continue to be fulfilled under the new park ownership. Although the two Six Flags-branded parks involved in the sale, Darien Lake in Buffalo, NY and Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO, will no longer carry the Six Flags brand under the new ownership, any 2007 season passes purchased at either of those parks will continue to be honored at all Six Flags branded parks throughout the 2007 season.
As part of the arrangements for the acquisition, PARC will simultaneously sell the parks to CNL Income Properties Inc. (CNL), a Florida-based real estate investment trust, and lease back the parks from CNL pursuant to long- term leases. The sale is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and receipt of necessary third-party consents. The transaction is expected to be completed in March 2007.
The Company will conduct a call with analysts and investors on Friday, January 12, 2007 at 12:00 pm EST to discuss the transaction and revise its 2007 guidance to reflect the sale transaction. The teleconference will be broadcast live to interested parties as a listen-only Webcast on http://investors.sixflags.com/.
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Knowing Six Flags, they might just let it rot in a parking lot somewhere. That's what happened to all of Astroworld's rides, Zonga/Thriller/Tornado, and Greased LightningAre you guys stupid? It is going to be moved to Six Flags over asphalt, along with every ride from astroworld still in a parking lot!
I find it funny that everyone "knows" Six Flags, and they see this ride being neglected or sold, or rebuilt over asphalt...at this point even Six Flags doesn't know Six Flags. Those rides were old and unmarketable, and had little or no book value with the costs of maintenance and replacement parts being what they are. This is a B&M which can easily get replcement parts/trains, and offers a great, reliable ride and lots of appeal to guests.
The new management is a complete and total wild card. They are trying new things and doing things differently. Who knows, we may see something completely unexpected happen to this ride.
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Has anyone thought the red might just be PRIMER for the finished color? Most metal primer is a red like that...
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I'm still kind of surprised there aren't more lesbians...I've seen a few fe-mullets at ACE events.
Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
The Magic Kingdom wasn't too bad today since most people seemed to stay away. I posted pics on my site HERE.
It was weird seeing Main Street closed off:
And the backstage pathway was lined with Main Street vehicles and floats as scenery: