Jew

IIRC there was another CEO as well who was president at Great Adventure before this guy took over. Probably it's more that the investors pulled a ton of cash out of this for themselves, and when that's the case, it doesn't matter who's running it or whether or not the park is "viable" to stay open. It's like Blackstone and SeaWorld - if they can make 3 billion dollars parting out a park and running it into the ground instead of 2.75 billion to run it properly, they'll pick the former. That’s the same guy. He tanked hard rock, did private consulting work, ran sfgadv, did more private consulting, ended up at apex through consulting with them. The reason I say it’s not viable for anyone is because unless someone is buying it specifically to preserve it and doesn’t care about seeing a return on their investment, who is going to want it? Taking the profit and never pouring money back into it will leave the park in the same situation again when attendance/profits are down because no money has been put back into the park...

The wealthy benefactors of 2020 don't see "a classic piece of amusement park history that needs to be preserved and modernized", they see "prime real estate for a profitable mixed-use development with high-end apartments". If we take Apex comments at face value, it's just not a good investment. Makes a profit, but not enough to re-invest to keep it viable. If you're making a profit, it isn't a question of viablity (literally profit is viability), it's a question the margins being such that the return on investment won't be great enough. I don't know how they think dumping a butt ton of used rides and equipment on the marketplace is going to recoup that any faster, but I also would guess that they're probably not the most competent crew actually running the show. I'll venture to guess that the real estate sale may have been enough in and of itself to mine value out of the park. We said the same thing. There isn't enough profit for their expected cut AND money leftover to re-invest. The CEO who took over after Al Weber unfortunately passed away was the President of Hard Rock Park, so...

The pricing is ridiculous, but my assumption is that they are pricing high right now when they are the only game in town. Come summer when all the normal summer outdoor recreation activities are available and other water parks are open, if they still expect people to pay $105....

Playoff Japanese baseball where beer is delivered to your seat via keg backpacks > Fuji Q.

It should be dead with schools in session.

The wealthy benefactors of 2020 don't see "a classic piece of amusement park history that needs to be preserved and modernized", they see "prime real estate for a profitable mixed-use development with high-end apartments". If we take Apex comments at face value, it's just not a good investment. Makes a profit, but not enough to re-invest to keep it viable.

I suspect two things: 1. this was the discounted one for sale at IAAPA 2. RMC probably gave them an even better deal to showcase the fact this ride can be built anywhere and operated by any type of park (water park, FEC, or actual amusement park).

Sounds like someone will be getting a nice tax break if they do buy the park... The lack of clarity on refunds also makes me think a bankruptcy might be in the cards...season pass holders would be low on the list of creditors to get anything, so they could just be keeping their cash and running...

Here’s a picture of the facade. Looks like it will fill a giant hole in USH lineup: family dark ride with real animatronics! Just like the movie!

Or Apex Parks Group asking price was too much...Marginally profitable only works if you get a good price on the park and have enough capital to support re-investing in the business while you slowly get your investment back. Park clearly wasn't strong enough financially for anyone just looking for a quick profit.

Fun fact: the CEO of Apex Parks Group was the GM of Hard Rock Park...

Etlich Gardens sits on prime real estate in Denver and scandia sat on prime real estate for industrial warehouses being near Ontario airport and the 10 freeway. They were worth more as development land than theme parks (which are profitable, but not anywhere close to what a developer can offer). If I had to guess, These parks seem to have fallen victim to the hedge funds apex group is owned by expecting more profits than could feasibly be delivered even if they were successful parks.

Clementon was owned by Premier Parks.

Theme parks are very capital intensive. I'm sure they would give anyone a hell of a deal on buying the park, but getting a return on your investment would take a LONG time after buying it, making sure you have the cash to operate it, and then pour more cash into it to actually grow the business.... Sounds like that's why this Apex park group is bailing on the theme parks business.

A few more after hour special events and marathons should do the trick... I agree with Larry. They will use creative accounting and other business units to offset this. I would imagine there is also insurance policies that might cover this sort of thing for them as well.

You can practice from home. Get the app and try to get a BG right at park open. If it doesn't say "Estimated Land Wait: Backup Group" then you're probably good. Obviously once you get to what would be the confirmation page it will tell you that you're not in the park, but you'll get a feel for how long they last and what the process is. I guarantee that they're not gone in 5 seconds, that's probably just Californians bragging about how awesome they are for miraculously defying all odds and getting one. 45-60 seconds is more likely. Yesterday they didn't hit backups for 7 minutes but it seems like 45-60 seconds is the average which is PLENTY of time to hit like 3 buttons. I don't think that was an exaggeration the opening week when they opened main street 2hrs before park open each day. Now that things have normalized, I'm sure it has gotten better and 45-60 seems about right. Still think they should just call this the soft open if they have a 3hr standby queue they aren't using...

Everything this^. If it didn't duel, people wouldn't complained. Now it does duel every time, and people still complain because they have to wait. Really? I also agree that in general, the Pit Stop waits have been pretty short. Occasionally you may have a long delays, but it's more because of a guest delay more than the crew itself. Yes really. Perhaps if they invested more than the $2 into the pitstop show, it wouldn't be a problem since it would be entertaining while you wait. But some subwoofers and videos of cars being pimped isn't exactly exciting stuff while you sit there and wait for the station delay as I had to for about 5 minutes. Completely killed any excitement for me. I'm sure it is more fun when there isn't a delay. But for me there was and it was a complete buzzkill.

The boarding group kiosks are tied to the same system and I don't believe they are any reserved JUST for the kiosk. They won't be of any help if you're not in the park before open and one of the first to use them.

Ice Breaker looks more intense than WCR. That could play a role, but I'm no expert. Honestly I always thought it was the state that mandated height requirements, not the manufacturer. If Ice Breaker is more intense, then it makes even less sense for WCR to have a 54" restriction. I think it's a combination of many things (park, state, manufacturer, track layout/g-forces). I think the parks definitely play a role, since some height requirements can vary across parks for the exact same ride (like wild mice, for example). But of course, the park will never impose a height requirement that the manufacturer does not approve. I do think WCR is more a intense family coaster rather than a "high thrill" ride, so it is a bummer that kids cannot ride it when they can ride X2, Twisted Colossus, and other (more intense) rides. The state has nothing to do with restraints except for verifying they meet ASTM standards and the park is operating the ride as the manufacturer intended in their SOP. The ride itself? The pitstop is dumb and ruins it. The "high 5" element is cool after both launches, but it's hard to be excited for it the second time around when you sit there for 5 minutes when there is a delay in the station....

Manufacturer. Parks can ask, and manufacturers MIGHT comply, but ultimately it rests with the manufacturer. Whatever is in the SOP from the manufacturer is what goes.

Probably a case of “here, buy these from us cheap so we get some money back on what would otherwise be scrap!”

I actually appreciate that Universal and Disney book acts across all different genres for their concert series. I certainly don'y have interest in seeing a lot of the names on that list, but I do recognize almost all of them as being big within their genre (I only had no idea who Why Don't We is).

I actually understand not having a giant stock of such an expensive part, since that is a lot of expenses with no return until the part is actually needed, but it is odd (and yet so Six Flags) to not budget anything towards replacements if they KNOW they need them and they're going bad. I just wonder what the actual cost savings is purchasing a used LSM from the other side of the world given Tower of Terror II was 11 years old when it closed. Perhaps it makes sense if they had extras in stock that are still new or their's were recently replaced with low cycle times on them. Otherwise it just seems like they are buying more motors that will also need to be replaced...

Superman closes to save money during slower times. This has been a common practice for the past few winters. I think this was already covered, but one of the ride electrician supervisors has been tasked with procuring the working LSMs from Dreamworld in Australia now that Tower of Terror is closed. Hopefully we'll see all of the LSMs actually working at some point in the future and the ride actually (reliably) goes 100mph again... They have had a lot of LSMs go bad over the past few years and Six Flags doesn't allocate the budget to have them replaced/remanufactured so getting a bunch of 'still good' LSMs from Dreamworld could definitely extend the lifespan of Superman. And yes, maintenance intentionally under-powers the working motors to not stress them so that the motors' lifespan is extended. The park sill could (and does) launch the ride at 100mph, at least empty, but they would be killing a lot more motors a lot quicker if they were consistently doing full power launches. This is the most SFMM post ever.

Disney should be calling this a soft opening. The amount of downtime and limited capacity is definitely not a full open.