Jew

That's proprietary information. Park executives all know exactly how many people are in the park, but that information always stays only with those who need to know. That information being public knowledge would be bad for business. Some parks post wait times, but that is all you are going to get. It's not hard to figure out that big wait times=busy day.

Just remember that being a ride op is actually a job. The "wow" factor of working at a park just because you are into coasters wears off real quick.

BTW, just to put in perspective why I think all this talk about how the company is suddenly in much better shape now that it's in chapter 11 and under new management might be overblown... I happened to come across THIS article when looking up info on Six Flags and EBITDA. Of interest: So it looks like the new management is taking a page right out of the old managements playbook....

^They didn't make $275 million. That was their EBITDA.

Here's something I am interested in hearing: What is their plan for the remaining $600 million in debt that remains?

Which any otehr leader would do too. He has to throw some sunshine up everyone's a$$es, otherwise they'd have even more issues of people ditching left and right. Not that it won't happen, but you can't go promoting doom and gloom, it won't get you anywhere. I'm just getting tired of seeing the SF hating from the same people over and over. I don't care fro USH, but I'm not bashing them to know end every chance I get. You obviously didn't have a good experience at SF. Let it go. My bad experience working at SFMM has nothing to do with the facts about Six Flags accounting practices leaving lots of "wiggle room" to improve the numbers. Reducing their net loss to "only" $134 million is a sign things are possibly going to get better...But even after restructuring, if they continue to lose money while touting a nice EBITDA, history has shown companies who follow that pattern are destined to die.

^My point exactly. The old management was proud of their positive EBITDA too. Considering the last mangement wasn't even making money, and spending money they didn't have, I'd say it's a step up. It's day three, I think we can all stop the SF is lying talk. As with everything else you have to give it time. And stop pointing fingers at a management plan thats at least trying to fix the issue. That's more than what we can all say about the last management, which got them into this problem in the first place. Matt "Tired of the same Six Flags haters in here" Jacobs You'll have to forgive me for being skeptical of a company whose leader blatantly misled employees with the "we made $275 million..." statement in his open letter. Furthermore, I suggest you do some research on how EBITDA and Free Cash Flow can be manipulated. How they depreciate the value on everything and how they decide what is a maintenance capital expenditure play a huge role in those calculations. Hell, even all the costs of a new ride can be moved all over the balance sheet to make things seem better. None of this is illegal or anything, but there is a reason they are both not part of GAAP. The only thing that matters is Six Flags is still losing a lot of money. Getting rid of that debt will help a lot...so now we will be able to see what the new management can do, since ridding themselves of the obligations/interest payments will potentially clean up the numbers that really matter like net income and other GAAP metrics.

I thought I was the only one suspicious of Six Flags numbers. Touting non GAAP accounting practices (EBITDA and their calculation of free cash flow) as their big wins should raise some raise some red flags. I guess only time will tell.

Uploading photos is easy: right underneath the posting box is a box to upload a photo. The photo just has to be 800x600. Click choose file to select the file you want, add a caption in the box right underneath that if you want to, then click the "add photo, video, or other attachment box" to upload it.

^^The $275 million was actually their EBITDA. That's not profit.

^The key words being so far. Of course it's disappointing when a team that was in the world series last year is currently only 1 game over .500. ...But they are still only 6 games behind that team with the giant payroll. And like Joe mentioned, the +61 run differential suggests the team is still very good.

The two things you mentioned have nothing to do with winning. It's all about money. They got the new stadium, so they aren't going anywhere. Contraction was Bud Selig's douchebag way of squeezing a new stadium out of Minnesota and starting the process of hooking his buddy up with the Red Sox. With a new stadium, there's no need to contract. And they would need to find another team to disband as well, otherwise it would be impossible to keep the 162 game schedule. There's also no need to move, since walking away from a new stadium is probably impossible due to contractual agreements. All of the teams have the resources to win. Investing in scouting/player development works just as well as having a giant payroll. It's just a matter of creating the right system for your team.

I'm not blaming new management. I'm merely saying I don't think there has been an accurate way to really measure their performance. Like I said, anything bad simply gets blamed on the old management. Which very well may be true, but what happens when that excuse goes away? Now that they are in Chapter 11 and able to restructure the bad debt, we will be able to see their true colors. Can't blame old management anymore if you restructure their bad debt. So we'll either continue to see the positive trends they want you to believe is the future (which may very well be the case---I'm not disputing things are better) or have more excuses as to why they couldn't finish the turnaround.

I'm not sold on the chain being turned around. The mantra has simply been "we're doing great...everything is the old managements fault!" There are definitely more bright spots than before, but everytime something is still bad, it's always "it takes time...turnaround...blah blah blah." There's never any blame placed on the current management. While there's no doubt that the old management is to blame for a lot of the current trouble, I'm also not sure how much of that is just an excuse that could be covering up current managements mistakes. Now that they are in Chapter 11 and able to shed more of the old managements bad debt, we'll be able to better understand just how good or bad the "new" Six Flags is.

Party and Robb and Elissa's apartment tomorrow! Everyone is invited and encouraged to make as much of a mess as possible. And the bathroom will actually be their bedroom for this special event.

Where was Orki?

Be forewarned: if you choose to use this option, you are parking on private property and can have your car towed.

8/10 for me. Could have been all 10 after this summer if Fuji-Q didn't have the worst operations in the world.

^A search for 'SFMM Hill' could have found the answers to your question. Or you could have bothered to read through the thread just a little bit, as it was only 10 pages prior that all the construction around SFMM was being discussed.

^I suggest you do in fact use the search function on the site. If you continue to repost things that have already been discussed because you are "too lazy," you may run into problems, as one of the sites posting rules specifically mentions doing a search first. The discussion of development around the park was only a few pages back...

^Go back and read the last 10 pages of this thread and you will have your questions answered.

I believe they tried to cheat the system by measuring V2's height compared to another point in the area (I think it was the hills by the lake). They argued that the ride was only 150ft tall from that point, instead of its actual height.

^Because the previous owners really didn't care about building a park that could last. All they cared about was bailing out their failed entertainment/shopping venues!

I'm going to lock this thread for now. One of the posting rules asks members to: . Please repost this with a more descriptive title or shoot me a PM and I'll edit it to what you want and reopen the thread.

^A perfect example of why the park is going to fail. How could you drop the ball on something like that? Another question for locals: are they actually partnering with other hotels, agressively advertising, etc?