Six Flags 2010

[nhman93]

Is it just me or does it seem that Six Flags as a chain is kind of slacking with their new ride announcements as a whole this year. It seems like the past couple of years the Chain has announced all of their new rides for the upcoming season on a specific date (in September the past couple years) and this year many parks have not made an announcement or just claimed that their will be a new ride but providing no other information. Also even for the parks that have announced their new rides the websites contain little info about the ride and no updates at all. Does anyone think their is any reason for this or just a different business policy?

 

 

MOD EDIT: The spell checker is your friend.

[larrygator]

Maybe it is due to the fact that there are not major capital ride installations at Six Flags in 2010.

 

Or possibly the fact that the company is in fiscal turmoil and is focusing PR efforts in other major areas.

[ebl]

^ Agreed. I think most Six Flags parks are not having major upgrades, so it's hard to justify spending a bunch of money on small coasters, little improvements, etc.

 

Also, maybe what's in store for most Six Flags parks in 2010 will pale compared to what 2011 will bring and they're saving up for that and all the hoopla that will accompany those plans. I would think that the economy will be much improved by then, too.

 

Eric

[snowboard83]

^ Yes. The only semi major NEW attraction I can think of next year is (oddly enough) at SFA...with their mega Thomas Town. (New as in was not an SLC sitting in a NY field that got moved to a certain park in Quebec...)

 

Shapiro has said before 2011 will feature something MAJOR at every Six Flags park. SFA is even looking at a major roller coaster that the park president has already deemed coaster fans will love...

 

I just REALLY hope it isn't the restart of the ride rotation program...

[JEAPUgrad]

 

Shapiro has said before 2011 will feature something MAJOR at every Six Flags park. SFA is even looking at a major roller coaster that the park president has already deemed coaster fans will love...

 

I just REALLY hope it isn't the restart of the ride rotation program...

 

He's also said publicly that the coaster is going to be a steel coaster as many of the higher up feel for the size that SFA is that there is already too much wood at SFA.

 

No Intamin pre-fab for SFA.

[netdvn]

I just REALLY hope it isn't the restart of the ride rotation program...

Well, you've got Goliath at SFFT, Chang, and the old SLC going to La Ronde, so this might very well be the beginning of another ride relocation program.

 

There are multiple factors to why a

- The economy is bad, so most parks aren't getting as many major investments.

- They withhold the name/type of ride to create hype. They release a vague information in order to cause speculation, which in turn creates hype.

- They're slow at making announcements.

[TheRapidsNerd]

If one is in heavy debt, it's not a good idea to buy things with money one doesn't have.

 

With the economy, 2010 isn't a good year to put up expensive rides. Better to wait and conserve.

[Airtime&Gravity]

I just REALLY hope it isn't the restart of the ride rotation program...

Well, you've got Goliath at SFFT, Chang, and the old SLC going to La Ronde, so this might very well be the beginning of another ride relocation program.

 

I would hardly say that this is the start of a ride-relocation program.

 

Goliath was sitting unused at a destroyed park.

Chang was thought to be put to better use elsewhere

The SLC at La Ronde is the odd one though, but I guess they figured Great Escape didn't need it, so they sent it to another park in the region.

 

 

I think the lack of 2010 rides is, as said before, Six Flags just doesn't have the money right now. They are trying to emerge from bankruptcy, and adding major rides at the parks wouldn't help them. Plus, they are saving for what should be a great year in 2011.

[Manic Monte]

Seems to me the major work at Six Flags in 2010 is going to be cosmetic. Painting, upgrades and aesthetic work to make the parks pop and look better.

 

I don't expect any major attractions until 2011.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

I also agree that Six Flags isn't lagging. They just aren't doing anything major this year. Other than what Magic Mountain is alleged to get this spring, they've made all their announcements already. I don't see anything coming out of left field this year...

[CoasterLover]

Ya, but all of the announcements have been sort of pseudo-announcements. La Ronde has announced a new SLC coaster, but didn't mention anything about a name (very odd considering this partial announcement came months ago). SFMM has done similar with their "family-coaster," though they really haven't released any details as far as what sort of ride they are getting. SFA has probably put the most out there, but said just as little. Their website mentions Thomas Town is coming in 2010, but says nothing about what rides or where in the park it's going. There have been blurbs by various people and the parks facebook page about it being the biggest Thomas Town in the US, but no official press release. Most of the information we have on SFA's addition comes from a window display they had at the park during Fright Fest which had the schematic drawings (SFAFans.com has pictures of these in their gallery).

 

It's like instead of popping the balloon in a press release and getting all the information at once, they poked a hole in the balloon and are letting out just a little info at a time.

 

Now, I can see why SFA may be holding back telling too much info as they still may be working with the planning board to get final approval (they had an issue before with announcing/constructing rides before they were officially approved and have vowed to stop doing that), but I'm not sure why they haven't at least provided more information for the SFMM and La Ronde attractions.

[Homer]

Also, SFGAm, the whole Little Dipper for 2010 thing seriously came out of left field. Good news though, but again, be patient.

 

Six Flags is keeping the hype machine for 2011.

[Capitalize]

Well, you've got Goliath at SFFT, Chang, and the old SLC going to La Ronde, so this might very well be the beginning of another ride relocation program.

 

The only ride being moved from an open park to another open park is Chang. The other two were moved from now closed parks (SFAW forever and SFNO looking very bleak at best). And SFKK could very well be next on the chopping block to Astro World'd or Geauga'd... I would say that those ride movements don't signal the start of ride rotation starting again.

[CHILLERLC1]

I think Coasterlover is really looking forward to a "new" SLC. I think given the state of the company, this past year overall, forget any real press coverage, all the additional work for marketing other than the minimal park map and commercials in 2010. A SLC in a park that already has an invert: not worth the whoop of the Bizarro treatment, any flashy releases/campaigns. The new SFMM family coaster and the SFGAM woodie probably only deserve cover art on the new maps and maybe a commercial mention.

 

I don't have a problem with Six Flags' approach this offseason. There's bigger things like the reorganization to get through. Soon enough it will be March and we'll probably then hear about it.

 

I think it's realistic that now at 5 years that some of the rides from the closed properties just start moving like the SFNO and SFAW ride, the SLC. It's more a redistribution than a ride rotation program.

[ebl]

^ And that would certainly explain the Roller Skater from SFNO that is rumored to be heading to SFMM. There's no need to scrap perfectly good rides.

 

Eric

[Chroniq]

To give everyone a little background regarding SIX. They are going through a bankruptcy reorganization due to outstandling long term debt. We are talking billions here. People say they have a tough time internalizing what a billion dollars is.... Let me make it easier for you. 1 Billion Dollars is between 40 and 50 Intamin Giga-Lites. Oh I fogot to mention this, Six flags, before reorganization, was in about 2.5B in debt. For everyone playing at home thats between 100 and 125 E-Ticket Class rides. That being said, you can understand why you aren't getting a Kingda Ka at your local park this year.

[Squid]

SFKK won't be closed, but the major rumor is that it will be converted into a water park only by 2011. Most of the rides will be shipped out to other parks, but there will be major capital improvements at all parks for 2011.

[nhman93]

I think people took this topic the wrong way I was not complaining about Six Flags not adding many ride this year and I understand why they can't add any Hyper or Giga's this year or for a while. I was just wondering why they are not doing much as far as updates and such on the rides they have announced.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

No I don't think anyone "took it the wrong way". Overanalyzed it maybe, but no one took it the wrong way. To sum it up as best I can, I think that a bankruptcy filing took its toll on all departments, including marketing and PR. I think thats the biggest thing right now. The chain has more important things to worry about than press releases.

[sam06pr]

I think the theme park industry in general is not announcing new attractions due to the economy slowdown...

[CoasterLover]

Well, a press release really doesn't cost the park any money. I can understand not including computer generated images of the new attractions (as that would cost money), but just releasing a press release with text and a logo would be a start and none of the parks have really done even that (SFGAm and White Water Atlanta would be the closest). In most markets, PRs will be picked up by the local media creating free advertising.

 

Possibly they are delaying these PRs till closer to season opening so they can use them to drive season pass or early group bookings, but the whole point of building a new attraction is to get people to come to your park and if people don't know a new attraction is available, the new attraction is nothing more than a very expensive lawn ornament.

 

While I agree it might not be the best idea to go all out and build giant billboards, push TV commercials, and take out full page ad space in the local newspapers for these new attractions before the season begins, there is a lot more they can do that really wouldn't cost them anything to promote these attractions now and generate some early sales.

[larrygator]

Well, a press release really doesn't cost the park any money.

 

You have to pay the PR people. It is likely that parks have made cutbacks in their PR departments and existing PR employees are overwhelmed.

[ginzo]

^Also, as Robb has learned, those park rep jobs have extremely high turnover. Newbies won't have as good of contacts in the press, etc.

[mcjaco]

Possibly they are delaying these PRs till closer to season opening so they can use them to drive season pass or early group bookings, but the whole point of building a new attraction is to get people to come to your park and if people don't know a new attraction is available, the new attraction is nothing more than a very expensive lawn ornament.

 

With SFGAm, they're closed for the two weeks of Christmas and New Years.

 

Quite honestly, I don't think anyone in the Chicagoland area is really wondering, or cares, what SF is going to annouce as a new attraction during December, January and February.

[Squid]

From working at one of the parks for a year... I really do believe the slowdown in attractions this year is due to two reasons.

 

1) Saving money for 2011's big anniversary celebration. All of the (remaining) parks are supposed to get a major attraction, and this has been in the works for about three years now. That's going to be a lot of capital expenditures in one year, so any money saved now goes toward 2011.

 

2) Most of the parks have been due for a "sprucing up/rehab" year for some time. SF seems to be doing them all this year in order to have all the parks looking their best for 2011.

 

Squid