Six Flags [FUN] Corporate Discussion Thread

[coneyislandchris]

Hello all, CNBC just dropped a really interesting video/article about Six Flags and how they plan to survive the current situation. "How Six Flags Plans to Survive Coronavirus"

I watched the video last night and felt like it was 17 minutes of CNBC not saying a whole lot of anything. If the video is called "how they plan to survive coronavirus" I would think it'd be the focus of the video, not like two minutes of throwaway comments at the very end of it. But hey, lots of great stock footage...

[tuxedomask5432]

Hello all, CNBC just dropped a really interesting video/article about Six Flags and how they plan to survive the current situation. "How Six Flags Plans to Survive Coronavirus"

I watched the video last night and felt like it was 17 minutes of CNBC not saying a whole lot of anything. If the video is called "how they plan to survive coronavirus" I would think it'd be the focus of the video, not like two minutes of throwaway comments at the very end of it. But hey, lots of great stock footage...

 

I agree, after finishing the video it was more about the company's financial history; not so much about what they plan to do. But I suppose them securing funding is one thing. They also touted the innovation in rides. They claimed that 2022 will be a huge year for technological advances in attractions. I hope they're right! Maybe that's when we finally see one of those S&S concepts come to market.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Hello all, CNBC just dropped a really interesting video/article about Six Flags and how they plan to survive the current situation. "How Six Flags Plans to Survive Coronavirus"

I watched the video last night and felt like it was 17 minutes of CNBC not saying a whole lot of anything. If the video is called "how they plan to survive coronavirus" I would think it'd be the focus of the video, not like two minutes of throwaway comments at the very end of it. But hey, lots of great stock footage...

 

Agreed. - What I did find interesting was the guy saying "I think 2022 will be a record breaking year for Six Flags." Like... Wait, we gotta wait till 2022?!?!?!

[Canobie Coaster]

I tried the Live Chat and the representative was shocked there wasn't a cancel for the user. The rep was able to cancel my reservations for me.

 

For anyone interested, Six Flags has finally added an option to cancel a reservation yourself online.

[JG-77]

Sweet! No more waiting an hour to talk to a customer service rep!

[coasterbill]

About time...

[Lotologist492]

I received an interesting survey over this past weekend. This go around, the survey was all about 'ticket bundles', or added perks that could be added to single day tickets. While the subject has little relevance to me as I am a member, I did find some of the 'perks' very interesting.

 

There were ten rounds to the survey and in each round you had to select three add-ons out of a group of eight. Most common were tickets with included items such as on-ride photos, merchandise discounts, flash passes, premium parking, skip the line passes and so on. Among the most interesting were "premium Wi-Fi access", "Access to shop in private DC superheroes store", "Two hour self guided VIP tour" (self guided??), "Stay one hour past closing", and "Enter the park an hour early".

 

What makes this interesting is the SF chain is clearly looking for innovative ways to bring in more cash, which will be of utmost importance in a COVID recovery world, plus knowing there are more avenues to explore for memberships as some of these perks could create a new top membership level. Someday, Diamond Elite members will be able to upgrade to Titanium Member.....

[A.J.]

Six Flags has announced their results for the second quarter of 2020.

 

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200729005096/en/Flags-Announces-Quarter-Earnings

 

Revenue for the second quarter of 2020 was $19 million, with attendance of 433,000 guests, both a decrease of 96 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The decrease was due to the pandemic-related suspension of park operations for most of the quarter. The decrease in revenue was also attributable to a $29 million reduction in sponsorship, international agreements, and accommodations revenue due to the previously announced terminations of the company’s contracts in China and Dubai, which generated revenue in 2019; the suspension of most second-quarter sponsorship revenue while the parks were not operating; and the pandemic-related suspension of nearly all accommodations operations. The company partially offset the decrease in revenue by implementing cost savings measures immediately after park operations were suspended.

 

The company’s net loss during the second quarter of 2020 was $137 million, a decrease of $216 million compared to the prior year period, primarily due to reduced attendance and an aggregate increase in reserves of $8 million associated with several legal claims. The net loss per share for the second quarter of 2020 was $1.62, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.94 in the second quarter of 2019. Adjusted EBITDA1 for the second quarter of 2020 was a loss of $96 million, a decrease of $276 million compared to the prior year period. The second quarter 2020 Adjusted EBITDA calculation reflects an add-back adjustment of approximately $6 million of non-recurring costs related to the transformation initiative.

[liltrekkie]

Six Flags has announced their results for the second quarter of 2020.

 

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200729005096/en/Flags-Announces-Quarter-Earnings

 

Revenue for the second quarter of 2020 was $19 million, with attendance of 433,000 guests, both a decrease of 96 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The decrease was due to the pandemic-related suspension of park operations for most of the quarter. The decrease in revenue was also attributable to a $29 million reduction in sponsorship, international agreements, and accommodations revenue due to the previously announced terminations of the company’s contracts in China and Dubai, which generated revenue in 2019; the suspension of most second-quarter sponsorship revenue while the parks were not operating; and the pandemic-related suspension of nearly all accommodations operations. The company partially offset the decrease in revenue by implementing cost savings measures immediately after park operations were suspended.

 

The company’s net loss during the second quarter of 2020 was $137 million, a decrease of $216 million compared to the prior year period, primarily due to reduced attendance and an aggregate increase in reserves of $8 million associated with several legal claims. The net loss per share for the second quarter of 2020 was $1.62, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.94 in the second quarter of 2019. Adjusted EBITDA1 for the second quarter of 2020 was a loss of $96 million, a decrease of $276 million compared to the prior year period. The second quarter 2020 Adjusted EBITDA calculation reflects an add-back adjustment of approximately $6 million of non-recurring costs related to the transformation initiative.

 

Ouch.. Just shows you how much the entertainment industry was hit. Hopefully third quarter will be better, since a lot of parks are reopening, although at reduced capacities, and lets hope the world improves enough we won't have to re-shut them down.

[RaceBoarder]

Well, here we are in Aug. and I've been paying into my Diamond Elite membership for a full season now without any use. I think it's time to pull the plug since I can essentially get 2021 for free now since SF has said that I will be comped for any months that I paid in, but was not able to use my pass at my home park (SFGAm)...

 

This really kind of sucks and I really hope that they will stand by their offer, given that the overall picture looks bleak heading into 2021, 2022 and beyond.... I'm curious how many people they were able to convince to keep paying in....

[thrillseeker4552]

^I can totally see where you're coming from.

 

If SFMM weren't a year-round park, I would feel the same way. But given that it can basically open at any time in the year, we figured we may as well keep paying. Although their original deal was that if you keep paying, you get a free upgrade to the next tier membership until the end of 2020. But given that I could easily see SFMM staying closed for the rest of the calendar year, I wonder if they will modify that deal.

[grsupercity]

I haven't used my membership since Feb but when I logged into my portal I can see where they did upgrade me for free.

[RaceBoarder]

What exactly is a "Golden Friend Ticket"?

 

That along with two additional skip the line passes are the incentive for me to keep paying into my Diamond Elite membership that has been unused since Dec. 2019.

 

As I stated in this thread earlier, I kept paying during 2020 as I viewed it as an advanced payment for 2021.... At this point I really don't see the benefit for me to pay an additional $100 to keep my membership active until March 2021.

 

As is, I am already getting 2021 free since SF owes me March-Sept. + 3 months "free" at the end of my membership.

[Haymaker]

^ its a bring a friend anytime pass i believe.

 

The email I got today said that if I keep paying ill stay Diamond until the end of 2022. Not a bad deal IMO

[tndank]

Looks like all season passes and addons were also extended through 2021. Nice.

[Haymaker]

They extended them to 2021 a while ago, do you mean 2022?

[tndank]

They extended them to 2021 a while ago, do you mean 2022?

 

No. Parks that were open were still saying "Extended as long as we were closed" until yesterday.

 

They also introduced a Diamond Elite VIP super level for DE folks that keep paying membership fees.

[ALT2870]

Where you seeing this at? I have a Season Pass and no email. Granted I no longer see a expiration date on the app like it used to show so I am hopeful.

[RaceBoarder]

Where you seeing this at? I have a Season Pass and no email. Granted I no longer see a expiration date on the app like it used to show so I am hopeful.

These are memberships... Not passes...

[tndank]

Emails have started going out. Season pass holders at various parks opened and closed have started receiving them.

[coneyislandchris]

Where you seeing this at? I have a Season Pass and no email. Granted I no longer see a expiration date on the app like it used to show so I am hopeful.

This link from Great Adventure has a complete, thorough breakdown of what the company is doing for each various level of their season passes and membership program. While that one is from Great Adventure, pretty much every park in the chain has something similar on their website currently.

 

The short-ish version is:

- If you have a 2020 season pass, your pass is now valid through the end of the 2021 season. The same thing will apply to any season pass add-ons you may have purchased for the 2020 season, such as the dining plan or an all-season Flash Pass.

- If you have a current standard or gold membership and your account is in good standing, you get a lifetime upgrade to Gold Plus at the very least. (This was implemented at the beginning of the 2020 season.)

- If you have a Gold Plus or higher membership and your account is in good standing, on March 3rd, you will get an automatic upgrade to the next tier through the end of the 2022 season. IE Gold Plus becomes Platinum, Platinum becomes Diamond, Diamond becomes Diamond Elite.

- If you have a Diamond Elite membership already, on March 3rd, they are creating a whole new level just for you called "Diamond Elite VIP" that you will be permanently upgraded to, with a total of four skip the line passes every visit, one golden friend ticket per year, an extra 1000 points per month in your member rewards account, and an exclusive member card for your lanyard.

- You have the option to pause your membership and not pay anything until next March. If you choose to pause your membership, you will not get these upgrades mentioned above.

[jconsolmagno]

Wow, Six Flags going above and beyond. Was happy to see I am Diamond Elite until the end of 2022. No plans on cancelling, so this is clearly a bonus.

 

Headed to Six Flags America tomorrow to celebrate!

[ALT2870]

Where you seeing this at? I have a Season Pass and no email. Granted I no longer see a expiration date on the app like it used to show so I am hopeful.

These are memberships... Not passes...

 

If you had only read the message three above mine...

 

Looks like all season passes and addons were also extended through 2021. Nice.

 

..you would of realized that was what I was referencing to. All I ask is read carefully, I didn't ask for no reason.

 

Thanks coneyislandchris! I plugged in overtexas in the URL to confirm it's there as well and sure enough. Though I am curious if they will ever send out an email. Probably in December once everyone has renewed.

[Golddisk]

Six Flags announced that they would be cutting 10% of their full time workforce or 240 employees last week. Not totally surprising to see the cuts but it is pretty late into the season and this whole mess.

Source - Market Watch

 

[coasterbill]

I'll leave this right here...

Quote

In addition, optimizing our rides will save us enough capex to fund a new ride every single year. Our park Presidents, engineers and maintenance teams have studied the performance of each and every ride, calculating the cost against the ride's throughput productivity. We now know which rides to redeploy across parks, which rides need to be refurbished, and which can be removed entirely. We are eliminating 15 underperforming rides this year, reducing maintenance costs, and freeing up significant capex resources.

Full conference call transcript.