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Could Cedar Fair have saved Six Flags Astro World?


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It's an undeniable tragedy what happened to the park, but this is a question I want to ask TPR. Do you believe that Cedar Fair, Busch, or any other amusement park corporation could have saved Astro World? Part of me says "Yes, Cedar Fair could have saved SFAW" and another part of me says "No" because of what happened two years later with Geauga Lake.

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If I'm not mistaken the biggest problem was the parking situation with the adjacent stadium. Had CF been able to figure a way out of that, no doubt they would've been able to save the park. And AW would've probably gotten at least a couple new coasters out of the deal

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If I'm not mistaken the biggest problem was the parking situation with the adjacent stadium. Had CF been able to figure a way out of that, no doubt they would've been able to save the park. And AW would've probably gotten at least a couple new coasters out of the deal

 

I would really love to believe that Cedar Fair would have been able to pull some strings like with California's Great America.

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Astroworld would not have been Geauga'd if CF had taken over. They would have finally had a property in the South, a region they do not have any parks in, which would have given Six Flags a bit of competition in Texas.

 

I never got a chance to visit AW,w hich I regret, but if I had to take a "what if" approach to AW I could see CF remove some of the smaller coasters and replace them with newer, customized ones or have moved some of Geauga Lake's rides down there.

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Astroworld would not have been Geauga'd if CF had taken over. They would have finally had a property in the South, a region they do not have any parks in, which would have given Six Flags a bit of competition in Texas.

 

I never got a chance to visit AW,w hich I regret, but if I had to take a "what if" approach to AW I could see CF remove some of the smaller coasters and replace them with newer, customized ones or have moved some of Geauga Lake's rides down there.

 

Technically AstroWorld died first, so Geauga got AstroWorlded....

 

But the more I look at this, both scenarios are pretty different. Six Flags AstroWorld's demise was so sudden, it was like one day BAM! "Six Flags Confirms Closure of Six Flags Astro World" With Geauga Lake, the park was dying a slow death. I really knew it was coming, right when Geauga started selling off their major steel roller coasters to other parks. Parks, especially Cedar Fair parks normally don't do that if they're financially sound, so I knew something was up.

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There is one event that is the indirect factor to AW's closure, and that is the season pass. The season pass allowed many rowdy kids and teens to roam the park all summer taking away from the family theme. Then the park fell into disrepair, leading to people staying away and traveling to larger parks like SFoT and SFFT. Due to Six Flag's debt , the smaller park (AW) got the short end of the stick.

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Astroworld's problem was that it belonged to a company strapped for cash for poor expenditures that happened elsewhere, looked at the park's location ("downtown! this is worth something!") and trashed it to make a quick buck. Astroworld's death was a significant factor in Dan Snyder's rise in prominence at Six Flags, as he was vehemently against the decision. SFAW died not because it was a failure or poorly performing, but because the owners had lots of other properties that were. In the end, it dropping helped no one except the Landrys.

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There is one event that is the indirect factor to AW's closure, and that is the season pass. The season pass allowed many rowdy kids and teens to roam the park all summer taking away from the family theme. Then the park fell into disrepair, leading to people staying away and traveling to larger parks like SFoT and SFFT. Due to Six Flag's debt , the smaller park (AW) got the short end of the stick.

 

Busch definitely could have transformed it into a more family-friendly park. I went to BGW for the first time last week, and I couldn't believe to stark difference in the clientele of both BGW and KD. Busch was mostly families and kids and KD was predominately teens and young adults. While Cedar Fair parks are family-friendly, they don't really pander 100% to them like Busch or Hershey does.

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It's so sad how this park was pretty much a place for other parks to dump their unwanted rides in. I always thought it was odd how during the Premier era, they were absolutely pumping money into places like SFA, Six Flags Ohio, Six Flags Marine World etc; Darien Lake and Six Flags America get 20 million dollar hypers while AW gets an SLC clone. Very very sad

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^^Well, you do bring up a good point considering SFA and Astroworld are somewhat similar, but Darien Lake is a different story. It was SF's first attempt at a resort, and received 4 coasters in 4 years. It's safe to say that Darien Lake is a much larger and more deserving park for a hyper. Astroworld was treated poorly, and I often believed that SF just wanted it for the money. (Being in the Houston area) At least the Grand Texas park is being built, and should bring back some memories for people who remember AW.

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In that case, Astro World was Six Flags' "Dorney Park" when it comes to being a dump place for old rides. Sadly, that's exactly what Dorney has become. The last three major rides to open were from other Cedar Fair parks. Possessed was from Geauga Lake, Demon Drop was from Cedar Point, and Stinger was from California's Great America.

 

It would really break my heart if Dorney is the next AstroWorld, it's my home park and I have so many memories attached to that place

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Astroworld's problem was that it belonged to a company strapped for cash for poor expenditures that happened elsewhere, looked at the park's location ("downtown! this is worth something!") and trashed it to make a quick buck. Astroworld's death was a significant factor in Dan Snyder's rise in prominence at Six Flags, as he was vehemently against the decision. SFAW died not because it was a failure or poorly performing, but because the owners had lots of other properties that were. In the end, it dropping helped no one except the Landrys.

 

Exactly this. Any new owner who wanted to keep operating Astroworld as an amusement park could have saved it. There was nothing wrong with it (other than a few nagging parking issues that could've been worked out.)

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The best thing for the park would have been a small owner who had nothing to do with a chain. It wouldn't be for the money or anything and would have not been pressured by other larger parks nearby. It always makes me sad whenever I see Astroworld because I always wanted to visit it and from what I heard was a great place.

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In that case, Astro World was Six Flags' "Dorney Park" when it comes to being a dump place for old rides. Sadly, that's exactly what Dorney has become. The last three major rides to open were from other Cedar Fair parks. Possessed was from Geauga Lake, Demon Drop was from Cedar Point, and Stinger was from California's Great America.

 

It would really break my heart if Dorney is the next AstroWorld, it's my home park and I have so many memories attached to that place

 

They did just get a massive new waterslide complex....

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In that case, Astro World was Six Flags' "Dorney Park" when it comes to being a dump place for old rides. Sadly, that's exactly what Dorney has become. The last three major rides to open were from other Cedar Fair parks. Possessed was from Geauga Lake, Demon Drop was from Cedar Point, and Stinger was from California's Great America.

 

It would really break my heart if Dorney is the next AstroWorld, it's my home park and I have so many memories attached to that place

 

Cedar Fair isn't doing any crazy accounting to make it look like they aren't piling money up and burning it. Dorney isn't going anywhere.

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^ Also, Astroworld and Kentucky Kingdom are surprisingly similar. They both have/ had locations near downtown, problems with parking, and were both arguably neglected. I'll bet that if Kentucky Kingdom was not on leased land, it might have gone the same way as Astroworld. Its kind of funny how the fair board/ leased land is part of what killed the park originally, and also what ultimately saved the park from total demolition. It does seem like if anyone could have saved Astroworld, it would have been Ed Hart.

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One key difference between CGA and AW: Cedar Fair had leverage at Great America because they had a lease that very clearly was in their favor. The city had to work with Cedar Fair if it wanted the stadium built. I don't recall Six Flags having any leverage.

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The situations at Astroworld and CGA were wildly different. The stadium already existed at Astroworld, as did a suitable nominee to be turned into additional parking. CGA was ultimately sold and set to be shuttered by Kinzel. Why the deal didn't finalize we don't know, but we do know that when it came time to talk about the deal collapsing, it was Matt Ouimet at the forefront instead. The pressure at CGA to close came from outside with the group building the new 49ers stadium. The pressure at Astroworld was from the Six Flags side of the equation.

 

So again: Astroworld shouldn't have had needed to be saved in the first place. It died because the business people in charge screwed up at other parks, and Astroworld's location in a growing and successful market actually made it more valuable and easier to be sold off and dismantled than other parks the chain was looking at doing the same thing with (SFMM, SFA). It died so the banks and investors that paid for SFNE's big parking lot or Sea World Ohio could get .5 cents back to the dollar on their investments. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh, but that's how things ultimately turned out. Without the cash from the sale, it is very possible that Six Flags doesn't have enough money to pay its bills or employees and goes deep into bankruptcy, possibly even Chapter 7, very quickly.

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