"Tony Hawk" "Wiggles" and "Thomas" to leave Six Flags?

[coasterfreaky]

I guess the cost-benefit-analysis is that these brands cost a lot, and the revenue in return wasn't worth it. Seems pretty obvious even without the C.B.A. I'm curious if they will replace the food brands with something run by the park, or hire a third party contractor to take over?

[gisco]

Terminator was always an odd theme for a wood coaster.

[Sunfire]

Ugh, capacity nightmare much? Since I've been working at CGA for 3 years now, I know that when lines get long, you have to fill the trains up as much as humanly possible. Were they sending out half empty trains even when the lines were crazy?

YES! I would sit there and watch a half-empty train go around the track while the line was 30-40 minutes long!

 

WTH?! Come to think of it, when I visited the park in June (On a Saturday mind you), my friends and I waited in line for nearly 2 hours, and I did see some less than filled trains, which made me think, "Come on, I could do better than that!". Then again, what do I know about ride operations? I only won CGA's Ride Op of the Year award (I don't mean to brag, just making a point).

 

EDIT: Okay, sorry that got off topic about the liscense change. Let's discuss the theming removal again.

[A.J.]

Curious - does Cedar Fair only have licensing to the Peanuts characters?

 

Maybe Six Flags will come up with more original names and themes for rides now. Isn't El Toro the youngest coaster at a Six Flags park to have a theme other than DC, Looney Tunes, etc?

[Sir Clinksalot]

I'm glad they are keeping the DC and Looney Tunes as they are as much a part of Six Flags now as anything else. Not so upset about the loss of Tony Hawk, Thomas, etc. THRILLED that this hopefully means we won't have to sit through the pre-show at Terminator.

 

I'm most worried about the food places and hoping that this doesn't mean a return to less than mediocre food, because let's face it the food went from bad to mediocre at best with Johnny Rockets, etc.

[COASTAH FREAK]

Ugh, capacity nightmare much? Since I've been working at CGA for 3 years now, I know that when lines get long, you have to fill the trains up as much as humanly possible. Were they sending out half empty trains even when the lines were crazy?

YES! I would sit there and watch a half-empty train go around the track while the line was 30-40 minutes long!

 

So true! Don't want to go too far off topic, but I had to stand in that line for an hour. Oh yeah it was also 110 degrees and theres barely any shade in the line whatsoever.

[Sunfire]

^^^Character wise, Peanuts is all CF has. However, they do have some food place liscenses as well. I know that CGA has a Panda Express (I think Knotts has one too, but I've never been), but I'm not sure what other food places they have.

[rcdude]

I figured this would happen eventually. Other than having to get used to new names for rides, I don't think the removal of the ride licenses will have much of an impact. The theming is generally minimal, and in the case of a ride like Terminator it will actually be a good thing as the preshows probably cut the actual capacity down to around two-thirds of the theoretical capacity.

 

The food licenses...I'm not so sure how that will end up. Like a lot of people are saying, Six Flags had some pretty horrible food before they were brought in. Hopefully the loss of brand names doesn't equal a decrease in quality.

[PKI Jizzman]

That sucks. Papa Johns better not leave!

[robbalvey]

Isn't El Toro the youngest coaster at a Six Flags park to have a theme other than DC, Looney Tunes, etc?

There were a couple of Goliath's and Tatsu all went in around the same time as El Toro. Give or take a year or two. And I guess if you count X2?

Edited November 29, 2010 by robbalvey

[djbrcace1234]

This just gives Six Flags a better chance to actually use there base brands to begin with. The licenses they have had for the longest time is what made the chain what it is today, so I would love to see the parks use those to their advantage.

 

I just hope Six Flags uses this to their advantage, because there is a lot of potential even in just the DC brand alone. The Green Latern name is just the beginning, and I'm eager to see what is to come.

[DBJ]

Certainly wouldn't mind to buy one of the prop Terminators from the pre-show. And without being forced to watch it, the line should move much quicker. Great time for a naming contest for the park to run on Facebook for a replacement name.

[ArizonaGuy]

Wow....so Terminator to change as well. I had totally forgotten about that one.

 

I'd be surprised if they didn't rename it "Wooden Rollercoaster: The Ride". Considering SF did a good job of already renaming Evel K.....I'm hoping they can do the same with Terminator. And YES!!! Get rid of the preshow!!!!

 

As far as food goes........leave a few options but don't take them all out!!!!!

[fatdaddy]

Thomas Town was closed when I went to the holiday thing at SFDK, which sucked because I had to distract my son so he wouldn't see it. I had hoped he would get to enjoy it before they started retheming.

 

Glad to see them keeping LoonyToons and DC, I think those are what you expect to see at the parks, and it would probably be weird if those characters weren't there. I think Big Spin really need the Tony Hawk brand to make it more than just a cheesy spinning coaster, somehow the branding on it made it seem bigger. And, I just hope with the removal of the food brands, that they keep the food quality up, it was really terrible at one point. Terminator with no preshow would/will be great, my cousin has been on it once (last year) and still hasn't stopped complaining about waiting through it.

[Joe Cool]

I like the American Thunder name taking over Evel Knievel. Goes good with the American Flag trains.

[VelociRaptor]

Eh, I see this as a good thing at this time- this way, SF will be able to focus more on their original licenses (DC and Loony Tunes). Also, most of these themes felt so out of place and awkward to me at the parks.

[Blind Idiot God]

Given Terminator's proximity to Riddler's Revenge, I'd say that a DC retheme isn't out of the question.

[Cameron]

With regards to the chain restaurants in the parks .. how come it doesn't work like a food-court in a mall? Six Flags could rent out those spaces to whomever wants to serve food. I imagine companies would be lining up for the opportunity to sell food (at inflated prices) to 20,000 people a day. Was Six Flags really paying the chains? That seems so backwards..

 

That said, I really hope Panda Express stays - it's the only thing edible at Six Flags Great America.

 

Cameron.

[Calicoasters]

Given Terminator's proximity to Riddler's Revenge, I'd say that a DC retheme isn't out of the question.

 

I consider them to be nowhere near each other.

 

I guess with some changes the pre-show rooms can easily be transformed into a super villain hideout.

[coasterfreaky]

With regards to the chain restaurants in the parks .. how come it doesn't work like a food-court in a mall? Six Flags could rent out those spaces to whomever wants to serve food. I imagine companies would be lining up for the opportunity to sell food (at inflated prices) to 20,000 people a day. Was Six Flags really paying the chains? That seems so backwards..

 

That said, I really hope Panda Express stays - it's the only thing edible at Six Flags Great America.

 

Cameron.

 

I have no insight into how Six Flags runs their Food Operations, but perhaps the liason(s?) between the chains and the parks was a job position that was cut? If that were the case, then i would guess that these empty chain vendors would be folded into the same procedures that Six Flags currently uses for its "in house" food service, i.e. the non-chain stuff. That is a great point though - food vendors would be excited about the prospects of selling their products to loads of guests.

[Sir Clinksalot]

^^ Same ... Riddlers and Terminator are nowhere near each other. It takes at least 5-7 minutes to walk from Terminator to Riddlers so that's not really "near". Plus you pass by Jet Stream and Gold Rusher to get there. It takes a few minutes to get from Batman to Riddlers but the coasters themselves are pretty close. I'm wondering if they are going to create a shortcut between the two when Green Lantern opens.

 

Regarding the food, why don't they stop messing around and bring McDonald's into the food locations. It's better than anything they currently have in the park. Weren't the McD's at Disney parks actual McD's employees and not Disney employees? Why couldn't they get the same deal now that McD's is out of Disney.

[Calicoasters]

It takes a few minutes to get from Batman to Riddlers but the coasters themselves are pretty close. I'm wondering if they are going to create a shortcut between the two when Green Lantern opens.

 

I think that would be much easier to do if a certain water ride wasn't in the way. In all seriousness, I actually hope Tidal Wave stays, it's a quick refreshing ride for those brutal summer days.

 

^Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember SFMM used to have McDonald's several years ago in Cyclone Bay?

[Coaster Cow]

I don't know how they're going to survive without the chain food stands. When I went to SFMM they were literally pretty much ALL that was edible (except for the BBQ) and probably made up about 50% of the vendors. Same goes for other SF parks I've been to.

An interesting thing is how this relates to the ads on rides that they've been applying lately. Does anyone know if the chains paid SF for the right to put their stores in or is it a financial reason for SF taking them out?

[CGA_88]

^^^Character wise, Peanuts is all CF has. However, they do have some food place liscenses as well. I know that CGA has a Panda Express (I think Knotts has one too, but I've never been), but I'm not sure what other food places they have.

 

Knott's has Johnny Rockets. But back to SF, in regards to SFMM, I'm really glad this is happening. Having 3 Johnny Rockets is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I love Johnny Rockets, but it tastes so much better when I'm not paying double at the park. Papa John's just sucks in general. I hope they keep Panda Express because I never really trust a park version of teriyaki bowls; I feel better of a chain restaurant, although more expensive. Cold Stone, Wiggles, and Thomas Town I could care less about. Terminator, good riddance. I never liked the Terminator franchise, so I would have hated the theme on any type of coaster. I do, however, like the whole apocalyptic theme in general, so I hope they keep that.

[Jew]

I guess the cost-benefit-analysis is that these brands cost a lot, and the revenue in return wasn't worth it. Seems pretty obvious even without the C.B.A. I'm curious if they will replace the food brands with something run by the park, or hire a third party contractor to take over?

 

THIS.

 

I imagine that Six Flags was essentially just a large franchisee for the companies they placed in their park. I'm sure they got some sort of special agreement to take advantage of the unique partnership opportunity, but I am also guessing the costs were still much higher than before.

 

Instead of being able to buy their food from any random vendor, using the chains locked Six Flags into having to buy from Papa John's, Johnny Rockets, Subway, TCBY, Panda Express, and Coldstone's directly. I am also going to assume that involved purchasing special equipment and other associated higher costs to maintain the expected quality from those brands.

 

In the case of Johnny Rockets, it had to sting even more...six Daniel Synder owns Johnny Rockets.