Tiburon503

Nobody will miss Flashback. No doubt about it. However, I wonder what it would cost for GCI to come in and retrack Psyclone? GCI specializes in twisters, and I think the Millennium Flyers would work wonders on this. Toss in a Colossus rehab with an original layout (even with 2 train operation per-side, I'd say it's worth it.) and PTC return. I know GCI likes to keep the MF rolling stock exclusive, but money talks. A digression: I thought the Monorail couldn't be brought back because the OEM went belly up? Providing they plan to re-use the existing monorail network (a BIG if), I take it they decided it was worth the custom machine parts expense. Funny, SFI refused to show SFGAdv's Enterprise (didn't Intamin build Schwarzkopf designed flats?) the same love. Oh well, lord knows SFGAdv. has a plethora of working flats and a shortage of poured concrete.

I not so sure SFMM is the biggest revenue generator in the chain. SFGAdv is always packed and charges twice as much for season passes. SFGAdv Flash Passes sell out on a regular basis and a vast majority of that Flash Pass income is pure profit. SFMM might be open more days and have a lot more guests but many are repeat customers on season passes that are too cheap for the companies own good. I still can't believe SF had not considerably raised the season pass price for SFMM. That would make it a true cash cow. Shapiro followed in Burke's footsteps here by "giving away the gate". Mark felt the parking lot was worth more than the park I guess. Sounds like California Adventure to WDI. It's nice to know Six Flags hasn't committed the sale money to pay down the "crippling" debt. Mark Shapiro called into Jim Cramer's "Mad Money with Jim Cramer", and said management hasn't decided exactly what they're going with the proceeds. Mark seemed quite elated with this sale (I don't remember hearing anyone state Magic Mountain had to be included for a sale to go through. In fact, everyone said that Magic Mountain was a deal killer.) Notice how the term real-estate was mentioned in assessing sale value? Other than brag about pocketing a small sum of cash (against a debt exceeding $2B), he offered no vision for the chain's future or what they should do to addresses woes at one of their flagship parks. I do conceed it was a short interview, but you could easily commit to making an effort to seriously improve the well know issues at SFMM. Video Link P.S. I wish I still had the link where he bashed Tatsu on Media Day (after praising it just minutes before at the podium). Oh well, he slayed the dragon by not even advertising it to the local crowd. I could see El Toro ads everywhere here in NYC.

If Six Flags lacks capital; where did it find the $135M to pay Red Zone's acquisition costs? Six Flags isn't anywhere near defaulting on its loans. As long as they can keep making their interest payments, they're fine. The parks sold were not vital to the chain's success. Magic Mountain on the other hand, is a cash cow. You really want to send a company south fast? Sell off your profitable arms! Weaken your company's overall value, and watch your borrowing ability be flushed down the toilet. It's been said, SFMM, SFGAdv., and SFGAm, bring in 50% of SFI's profits. I bet you SFMM is the largest of the three in terms of that lion share profit. Certainly being in a climate that enables year round operations is a huge bonus. When you shrink revenues, no matter what the reason, stockholders take notice. Terms like liquidation and merger appear. Red Zone wants to dump Magic Mountain for real estate value. I don't care what Mr. Doublespeak Shapiro said today. The man has been contradicting himself constantly since day 1 (Red Zone lambasted Burke & Story badly only to make many of the same mistakes.). Red Zone didn't get the price they thought the Magic Mountain property was worth. They realized it's better to sit on that property now, because even with their ABYSMAL management at that park, it makes TONS of cash. When the real-estate value returns, or an offer is made they can live with, it's toast. Shapiro only stopped bashing the park because it seriously hurt attendance and dissuaded buyers. I'm sure this season the park will continue to be ignored, and will be sold when people forget Shapiro's comments. I'll take Burke & Story back in a second. At least they brought coasters to the party. Burke had a real vision and tried to buy his way there. Sadly, he tried to build Rome in a day. Had they perhaps flagged a single park each year, and spread the coaster wealth around over a period of years; I think it would have succeeded beautifully. I do believe SFI would have gone towards upgrading customer service when the parks were where they wanted ride/coaster wise. Towards the end, Burke had mentioned this needed to happen, citing SFMM.

Is Mark Shapiro's infamous media day sound bite in there? The one where he said he'd shitcan the project if he could.

I'm curious to know if the Safari will still be free with the Season Pass. I chalk the Safari ticket now being seperated from the main theme park ticket as a stealth price increase. Think about it.

Sounds more like starting price at an eBay auction. At $125,000, it would be more profitable to scrap it.

I believe Wiggles World will be filling the void. That's my opinion. SF announced this as a fourth children's area, so we know Looney Tunes Seaport is safe.

They did that at Six Flags Great Adventure with Lightning Loops. The chimps climb all over them. Actually, that is from the Great American Scream Machine. Those loop tops were added to the Safari shortly after the 1993 GASM modifications. Lightning Loops was separated and shipped to Frontier City and Adventureworld (née Six Flags America).

I'm not trying to flame or troll; so I apologize now in case it sounds like I am. Mr. Shapiro's salary and perks are very much everybody's business as SIX is a public company. The SEC is VERY serious about disclosure of officer benefits in the wake of Enron and Worldcom (I made a typo here and originally wrote Worldcon). I do agree with the fact we can't do much about the increase. Red Zone holds the controlling interest in SIX, and I do fear the board likes the idea of a real-estate sell off. They've seem to give Red Zone Carte Blanche to do as they wish with the assets. Funny thing is I remember Snyder ripping Burke for closing/selling Astroworld. Now he does the same with SFMM. Higher salaries and less cuts do have a positive effect on employee morale and retention. When you see Corporate recognize your worth to the company, and a willingness to invest in a better workplace; it builds pride. You feel like part of an extended family and actually desire to be there. You treat the park like your own, and take further care of it. Pride transcends to every level of the atmosphere. Proud employees go out of their way to make customers happy. Customers in turn bring their families and friends. Costco's management realized this and provided its workers with a "living wage" (average hourly salary of $17). They also provide GENEROUS health-care benefits. Costco as a result has the lowest employee theft and turnover rate in the entire retail industry. Costco sets a standard 15% profitability margin on its products; which pleases customers who know they're getting a good deal. They're buying name brand products at low pricing. Customers are not paying Heintz prices for Hunt's Ketchup. I'm not totally against selling certain parks. You simply don't sell off the profitable ones. If this means no coasters for the next 5 years chain-wide, then so be it. Build your brand on value (something Shapiro hasn't REMOTELY done; $15 parking???) and cleanliness. If the GP sees you're providing a good ROI, they'll come no matter what. You simply don't cut off a perfectly good hand to fix a gangrened finger tip. You ditch the tip. Debt is not totally a burden (and in some cases it's actually an asset!), as long as you can make the interest payments. SIX is not in danger of missing these. One day I'll stop being lazy, read the SEC filings, and do a real breakdown of the company under Burke and Shapiro. If I priced parks like SFGAdv., this is what I'd do: $49.99 General Gate Admission (versus $60 today) $34.99 HH Price. $79.99 Three park hopper pass. (1-day) $5 off admission Mon-Thurs. (with Coke can, no more BOGO Free) $25 Preferred Parking $10 parking (by eliminating $5 on the parking, dropping posted ticket prices, and eliminating BOGO with cans, you create an artificial price drop, but actually increase "get" pricing. Advertise the hell out of this too!). $129 Season Pass Admission (now with standard 10-15% off all park food and souvenir pricing) $189 Platinum 3 Park Pass (with 25% discounts universally) $40 Parking Option per pass. $99 renewal price (good for customers who opt for 2 year passes) I'd also drop ALL concession prices park-wide. What you lose in initial profits you'll make up in volume. Customers not feeling fleeced are more likely to buy and feel happy about it. Giving Season Pass holders further discounts is key. Most holders don't buy anything at the park. Food is expensive and lousy. If you find a way to convince them you offer value, you actually stand to make large gains (with families) as they enjoy the convenience of in-park eating. That's obviously a brief and simplistic approach. It's not that far off, or implausible to implement. It certainly is better than what Shapiro is doing (jacking up pricing to inflate profitability, while at the same time killing attendance and future ROI).

All the same complaints lodged at SFMM easily apply to SFGAdv. When SFNE was Riverside, I read many trip reports saying how the park was a horror show. Now it's on the do not touch list. Good management and decent capital CAN fix problems. Six Flags Corporate simply lacks the guts. Perhaps SIX is conceeding they simply don't know how to. If it's the latter, then Mr. Shapiro should be jettisoned from the company. Perhaps SIX should spend some of the revenue earned at SFMM on SFMM for maintenance and staffing. I'll keep sounding like a broken record on this. If SFGAdv. was on Long Island, and not in the New Jersey Pine Barrens; it would have been sold YESTERDAY.

Shapiro's performance at ESPN was shoddy by most people's standards. He tried to put the "entertainment" back in the channel's namesake, and failed MISERABLY (Playmakers anyone?). Mark's track record successfully followed him to Six Flags. RedZone fleeced a company for almost $130M+ for a proxy fight reimbursement, and raised the CEO's salary on a agreeably horrible season. People may say $300,000 won't make or break a company $2B+ in debt; then why did the company eliminate many seasonal, low wage employees? How much money did those cuts save the company? Why simply return those savings to a single officer? Mark Shapiro talks a good game, but is in way over his head. He couldn't manage the chain on the budget he was handed. If a company has budget over-runs, you forfeit your salary temporarily and take it back on the options end later on. (See Steve Jobs) That $300,000 (~27,272 man hours at $11) might have been better spent staffing Six Flags Magic Mountain. Oh that's right. That place is a pimple on the corporate ass not worth fixing. Let's simply dump it for the real-estate and pay ourselves a huge bonus. I'd like to see what SIX's earnings are when you throttle back the ticket/parking price increases. I bet those figures paint the future prospects of this company in a much bleaker fashion. Hopefully, some sleeping giant will see the theme park business is worth running. They have to salvage what's left of Six Flags before Shapiro sells it off. Then again, by the time Shapiro sells off enough parks to actually try and band-aid his vision, SIX will be ripe for a hostile takeover (I can see Cedar Fair wanting the Texas, Georgia, St. Louis, and New Jersey parks). Show me a company that sells off profitable entities, and I'll show you a company looking for an exit strategy to go out of business. I'm willing to bet SIX looks VERY different in 5 years, and much worse.

While the sheer overall beauty/experience of Universal Orlando kills my New Jersey home park, the HHN overlay looks kind of lacking. I honestly think SFGAdv. Frighht Fest decorations looks far more impressive. I'll probably take a beating for saying this, but that's my opinion. AmusementPics has some nice shots of the setup. http://www.amusementpics.com

Could we please use any (and I do mean ANY) open standard encoder over Windows Media? It really sucks on Macs and Linux boxes. If size is an issue, h.264 is your best friend.

SFMM's death sentence is cemented. I'll just count my blessings that the New Jersey Pine Barrens doesn't command the property values in Valencia. SFGAdv. would be an interesting story if it were put up for sale (which will happen).

Yes, I purposely stole that bit from Cuban. He's on the money with that statement. It's tailor made for Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Snyder.

If Shapiro can't transition Six Flags Magic Mountain into a "family park" (which is nothing more than marketing B.S. If SF decides to call it a 'family park" tomorrow; guess what? It is.); he's too inept to run a Dairy Queen let alone a theme park company. There's no reason SFMM can't transition. This park is prints money and has a good land footprint. (One time value realized by an asset sale hurts the long term viability of Six Flags as a whole.) He was hardly the wunderkind at ESPN that people make him out to be (Cold Pizza? Playermakers? The only success he saw at ESPN was poker). I'll miss you Six Flags. The electric company will turn the lights off when Mark and Dan forget.

I think it's time we all put to bed the "maximize profits for the shareholders" arguments. Truth of the matter is, that's only part of the story. A good CEO's job is to operate the company to best complete its mission statement, in order to maximize profits for shareholders. Considering Six Flags Magic Mountain is the 3rd. most profitable park in the chain, I can't see how selling it accomplishes entertaining families. Shareholders know the risks they get into buying a public company. Stock price doesn't suffer because they're doing too good of a job, which will see attendance and customer spending increases as a result. Daniel Snyder has decided to see Six Flags a real-state holdings company rather than a theme park operator. "Family Park" is a euphemism to stop spending major capitol on coasters. Like I said in a previous post within this thread "pursuing strategic options" is corporate parlance for a fireside sale or merger (read about KKR). Make no mistake. These parks are for sale. Apple Computer was damn near sold to IBM and Sun on 3 separate occasions, while they denied at the time talks were even happening. You do this to satisfy the SEC and not sabotage morale within the ranks. Six Flags Magic Mountain became a thrill park the day marketing decided to call it as such. Perhaps if Shapiro & Co. added half a dozen flat/dark rides and staffed them perceptions would change. Maybe they should send Mr. Six, a beloved character by many patrons of all ages, out there to tell people they're family friendly. Sorry, despite my love for comics; the Justice League hardly screams bring the kids for a full day of family fun. Instead, they decided to use the rowdy teen excuse to try and capitalize on the local real estate market value. SFGAdv. has many of the same perceived problems as SFMM, yet they're not on the list. Coincidence? Nope. Central Jersey farm land can't command the price that greater Los Angeles can. Unless someone gets Snyder & Co. out of Six Flags before the vultures circle for scraps; this company is done. As I said before: "I would love someone to sit-down Kieren Burke for a lengthy interview and get his SotU on SF. I would be interested in hearing what the industry power-players as a whole have to say. I actually liked what Burke brought to SF. He had vision and guts. I give him a large credit to reinstating the modern coaster revolution with his purchases. Kieren's downfall was he tried expanding too fast, and met his waterloo in Ohio (SFWoA). Perhaps had he not tried to make all the Funtime parks into megathemers overnight; SF as a whole would be buying Paramount instead of Cedar Fair (the fact Shapiro said he didn't even look at their books raised HUGE flags in my mind. The Paramount Parks are winners on the books despite my feelings on their coaster roster). When you stop trying to grow your business by exploring acquisitions/buyouts, you basically send the signals you're throwing in the towel. " Again, read about KKR. You'll see Redzone/Six Flags all over it.

This is exactly what I feared when RedZone/Snyder took over. When a company states their exploring "strategic options" or language to the like; they're basically announcing a sale or shutdown. Don't believe me? Explore similar language used in press releases by previously merged banks, telcos, oil companies, etc. The meat of Snyder's plan is becoming exposed. Six Flags's value is as a real-estate entity; not a theme park operator. (McDonald's, a major real-estate player believe it or not, acquired Boston Market mainly for their real estate (franchise properties) holdings for example). Snyder, and perhaps Shapiro sees this and are acting accordingly. "Family" park is the translation to stop spending money on the big capital projects like coasters (something Shapiro denies but his previous comments suggest otherwise), and jack up prices; while adding little value sans flowers. Snyder is taking a page out of the KKR school of business. RedZone is restructuring the company. They're claiming to sell off certain underperforming assets (or explore "strategic partnerships for those who didn't take business speak 101 in college). They're implementing a series of cost-cutting measures (mainly at the expense of coasters). This new, "leaner and more efficient" company will be resold, once Snyder feels he stripped mined it for all he can; most likely with a significant return on investment. Shapiro hasn't exactly had a long tenure I concede. His parades and character additions around the park are no brainers. The problem is they're not even close to the level of Disney and Universal. This is not necessarily a bad thing, until you take into account they price themselves in the Disney bracket without providing even remotely the levels of service you might see there. Six Flags claims they're within 50¢ of Disney with food offerings, but my taste buds tell me they're dollars behind in quality. Staffing and service issues don't change overnight, but SF has hardly taken any aggressive steps to remedy this situation quickly. Considering how RedZone chided previous management; you'd think they'd have such a policy to tackle this issue. I don't care how much people spend to park and see NFL games. I can park at Nassau Coliseum for $6.75. I can take my family to Jones Beach for the entire day at $8. $15 is ridiculous for parking no matter what anyone says. Keep your pretty park map and drop the price back down to no more than $10. That extra 55¢ out of Six Flags's pocket hardly warrants $5 out of mine. For all the people who don't think management changes can bring almost immediate changes (some for the better and worse), please see Mr. Jobs and a certain "fruit company". Shapiro talks about all the teens that hate his "no smoking policy" at SFMM as a reason to possibly jettison the park. Funny, this past Sat. at SFGAdv. I saw many age groups smoking all over the place like the policy didn't exist. Perhaps the lack of flat ride purchases, and operating attractions in addition to the coaster spending can explain the lack of family experience at many SF parks? How about the lack of even Anheiser Bush level theming giving most of the non-TW SF parks that intimidating carnival feel? Granted, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the people in the Gulf U.S. region plays a part on SF's bottom line; but it seems Shapiro's "realizations" about people willing to spend more money isn't panning out. This company is ripe for a fire-sale or buyout. Funny, I thought Snyder publicly opposed the sale of Astroworld? Apparently, that was before he rigged the vote to pay his acquisition costs. I would love someone to sit-down Kieren Burke for a lengthy interview and get his SotU on SF. I would be interested in hearing what the industry power-players as a whole have to say. I actually liked what Burke brought to SF. He had vision and guts. I give him a large credit to reinstating the modern coaster revolution with his purchases. Kieren's downfall was he tried expanding too fast, and met his waterloo in Ohio (SFWoA). Perhaps had he not tried to make all the Funtime parks into megathemers overnight; SF as a whole would be buying Paramount instead of Cedar Fair (the fact Shapiro said he didn't even look at their books raised HUGE flags in my mind. The Paramount Parks are winners on the books despite my feelings on their coaster roster). When you stop trying to grow your business by exploring acquisitions/buyouts, you basically send the signals you're throwing in the towel. Again, read about KKR. You'll see Redzone/Six Flags all over it.

This is exactly what I feared when RedZone/Snyder took over. When a company states their exploring "strategic options" or language to the like; they're basically announcing a sale or shutdown. Don't believe me? Explore similar language used in press releases by previously merged banks, telcos, oil companies, etc. The meat of Snyder's plan is becoming exposed. Six Flags's value is as a real-estate entity; not a theme park operator. (McDonald's, a major real-estate player believe it or not, acquired Boston Market mainly for their real estate (franchise properties) holdings for example). Snyder, and perhaps Shapiro sees this and are acting accordingly. "Family" park is the translation to stop spending money on the big capital projects like coasters (something Shapiro denies but his previous comments suggest otherwise), and jack up prices; while adding little value sans flowers. Snyder is taking a page out of the KKR school of business. RedZone is restructuring the company. They're claiming to sell off certain underperforming assets (or explore "strategic partnerships for those who didn't take business speak 101 in college). They're implementing a series of cost-cutting measures (mainly at the expense of coasters). This new, "leaner and more efficient" company will be resold, once Snyder feels he stripped mined it for all he can; most likely with a significant return on investment. Shapiro hasn't exactly had a long tenure I concede. His parades and character additions around the park are no brainers. The problem is they're not even close to the level of Disney and Universal. This is not necessarily a bad thing, until you take into account they price themselves in the Disney bracket without providing even remotely the levels of service you might see there. Six Flags claims they're within 50¢ of Disney with food offerings, but my taste buds tell me they're dollars behind in quality. Staffing and service issues don't change overnight, but SF has hardly taken any aggressive steps to remedy this situation quickly. Considering how RedZone chided previous management; you'd think they'd have such a policy to tackle this issue. I don't care how much people spend to park and see NFL games. I can park at Nassau Coliseum for $6.75. I can take my family to Jones Beach for the entire day at $8. $15 is ridiculous for parking no matter what anyone says. Keep your pretty park map and drop the price back down to no more than $10. That extra 55¢ out of Six Flags's pocket hardly warrants $5 out of mine. For all the people who don't think management changes can bring almost immediate changes (some for the better and worse), please see Mr. Jobs and a certain "fruit company". Shapiro talks about all the teens that hate his "no smoking policy" at SFMM as a reason to possibly jettison the park. Funny, this past Sat. at SFGAdv. I saw many age groups smoking all over the place like the policy didn't exist. Perhaps the lack of flat ride purchases, and operating attractions in addition to the coaster spending can explain the lack of family experience at many SF parks? How about the lack of even Anheiser Bush level theming giving most of the non-TW SF parks that intimidating carnival feel? Granted, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the people in the Gulf U.S. region plays a part on SF's bottom line; but it seems Shapiro's "realizations" about people willing to spend more money isn't panning out. This company is ripe for a fire-sale or buyout. Funny, I thought Snyder publicly opposed the sale of Astroworld? Apparently, that was before he rigged the vote to pay his acquisition costs. I would love someone to sit-down Kieren Burke for a lengthy interview and get his SotU on SF. I would be interested in hearing what the industry power-players as a whole have to say. I actually liked what Burke brought to SF. He had vision and guts. I give him a large credit to reinstating the modern coaster revolution with his purchases. Kieren's downfall was he tried expanding too fast, and met his waterloo in Ohio (SFWoA). Perhaps had he not tried to make all the Funtime parks into megathemers overnight; SF as a whole would be buying Paramount instead of Cedar Fair (the fact Shapiro said he didn't even look at their books raised HUGE flags in my mind. The Paramount Parks are winners on the books despite my feelings on their coaster roster). When you stop trying to grow your business by exploring acquisitions/buyouts, you basically send the signals you're throwing in the towel. Again, read about KKR. You'll see Redzone/Six Flags all over it.

Bart Simpson: "It still beats Disney's California Adventure." Lisa and the Simpsons: "Oh yeah, definitely."

Bart Simpson: "It still beats Disney's California Adventure." Lisa and the Simpsons: "Oh yeah, definitely."