wrs28330 Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I was contacted by Robb to post this here. We had the park-wide meeting with Mark Shapiro. I was personally quite impressed with him, and what he had to say. If we create buzz and demand, people will come back to the park. Roller Coasters have plagued us, into not being recognized as a family oriented company, which we need to change. We can only go up from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Thanks for posting, this is a much better place for this than the Tatsu construction thread. I'm also glad to see a confirmation of what I heard, as opposed to what some kids were saying! Again, the only place to go is UP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarmor Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 wow...im pretty impressed but that tid bit right there... Jarvis "paramount may wanna look out!" Morant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Thanks for providing that Info. It's always great to get stuff from people in tha know. Guy "I am now informed." Koepp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 It starts with every employee, to be completely committed to the guest. If you want you're employees to be completely committed to the guests...first you have to be completely committed to them. A large part of the problem with SFMM is the management doesn't give a flying F*ck about the employees. Give employees a reason to care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 For the price of 1 roller coaster, we could of had a once again beautiful park. That's about the smartest thing I've heard come out of Six Flags. Let's just hope he sticks to it! --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I agree! By the way what was that, 10 minutes ago you went to bed? Man you need some stamina work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Wow! sounds like they are gettin' their head on straight. Let's just see if they can follow through with it. If you want you're employees to be completely committed to the guests...first you have to be completely committed to them. A large part of the problem with SFMM is the management doesn't give a flying F*ck about the employees. Give employees a reason to care. Yeah, I think that is a problem with a lot of parks. A park isn't going to have a great atmosphere if the employees don't feel wanted and appreciated. Its so much easier to enjoy your job and do well if you feel appreciated and receive positive feedback. That was my problem with Cedar Fair this summer. I got sick of being told how much my ride's crew sucked when we were all working our asses off and doing the best job we could. It wasn't until I put in my two week notice did I finally feel like I was wanted and appreciated. MM is a bit different, we have built a niche as a roller coaster park in the valley, compared to other near by parks, which he does not view as competition, because we are a different style, no one else near by has 17 big coasters. So does that mean they actually intend on opening Flashback one day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 If you want you're employees to be completely committed to the guests...first you have to be completely committed to them. A large part of the problem with SFMM is the management doesn't give a flying F*ck about the employees. Give employees a reason to care. It sounds as though this meeting was a good start. --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XanderLee Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Heh..that sounds about like how the meeting went here, except they uninvited anyone below full-time. Gr. Oh well, I probably wouldnt have made it there by 8 AM the day after Christmas, anyhow. Shapiro and our GM came and rode Titan, though. Everyone in the park seemed to think he was pretty nice when he came by. Overall everyone says he was impressed with SFOT, but was quite upset with the amount of rides closed for Holiday in the Park, which is good because this year was a little outrageous. We had a 14,000 guest day on Friday the 30th. We need more than like 12 rides plus looney land to handle all those people. I guess we'll have more next year...we'll see. It's too bad I hate papa john's pizza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 ^Paul Pressler did the same sort of thing before destroying Disney too. However, I do give the new executive team credit for doing it. We certainly never got any invitations to a meeting with Gary Story and Co. (or even Del Holland for that matter...) while I was there, so they've already reached out to employees more than the past executive team did. However, talk is still just talk until action is taken. As long as the management of SFMM (all levels from Del Holland down) are mostly made up of political hires that are only in it for themselves and to help out their friends, it's still going to be an awful place to work. Add in the fact there is almost no employee parties (there was one operations BBQ and an X "preview" after the ride opened to the public as the only perks) and perks, minumum wage to start with pathetic raises, little room for advancement unless you kiss ass and/or are friends with management, insane hours (SFMM=Overtime galore), an employee services building that isn't even close to the park...I could go on, but I think you get the idea. It's unfortunate because a lot of great employees have been driven away from SFMM because of all the crap. Myself included. It's funny too, since now I work at USH and it's like night and day. Annual raises. Decent pay. Better employee perks. But most imporantly: at USH management actually appreciates my work and has done everything they can to help me to grow within the company. As just one example, the other day the Vice President of Attractions told me thank you for my work over the last peak week. That just doesn't happen at SFMM. You barely saw Fred Svenson in the park, and when you did...he certainly didn't compliment you for doing a good job running your attraction. Hell, supervisors in general barely freaking walked their area unless there was bad downtime, had to get up to sign the safety checksheet, or they wanted to visit one of their lead friends working... But hey, best of the luck to the new management team! There are some great people still working at SFMM, and I would like nothing more than for them to have a good park to call their own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 ^ While I can totally understand and appreciate your skeptism (I personally agree for the most part) you also gotta remember that when Pressler came in, he took a perfectly good park and destroyed it. I kind of see Red Zone coming in to try to clean up someone elses "Pressler" mess. I think Elissa said it right "The only place left to go is up" It would be pretty damn hard to screw the parks up more than Premiere! --Robb "I think they have a lot of good idea, but a lot of ideas look good on paper." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrs28330 Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 Flashback will not be opening again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrs28330 Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 Double Post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepp Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 He was really young. Probably no older than 35, but a family man he said, and that's why he said he feels qualified for the job. I don't know, doesn't that strike anyone else as...odd? "I drink a lot of coffee, which is why I feel qualified to be CEO of Starbuck's." And while my home park, SFMW, is a relative success in the chain at least partly because - IMO - it is so "family-friendly," and the make-up of the crowds reflect that, the ride selection pretty well sucks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I'm looking forward to seeing all this come into fruition. My family and I love MM. It is a perfect place for us to get away for several hours and enjoy each others company. I would love to see the park cleaned up. That is my only beef. I think they were starting a bit before Snyder came in. Probably his very public dissatisfaction with the company in whole made them jump a bit. I hope he works out well. It takes a rebel to shake things up. I know. I do it everyday. My contributions to the ant farm community are legendary. Guy "Shakin' up the ant farm." Koepp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrowfanman Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I dont know much about this guy, but I think I like him. Yes yes yes! I know! We dont want to be too accepting of him, so early on! Everybody wants to say "I told you so" when he messes up--regardless, he has a certain optimism that you dont see with these old farts. Really, recognizing the problem is the first step--we all know that. This is a pretty strong recognition. Probably didn't cover everything, but for the most part, yes. Now, we need to see a stronger layout of his plan for acheiving such goals. My biggest fear, however, is in the years that are to come--the idea that SFMM will contradict itself. People will be asking "Is it an Xtreme Park or is it a family park?" Lol...honestly. Its not an easy transformation to make! Well, I dont really know where I'm going with this, so I think I'll just shut up and leave! -Jahan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 wrs28330-that's good to hear that there are at least some people who still care, and that you fell appreciated. However, I think the key thing you mentioned is how you are part of the 2nd smallest department in the park. My point of view is coming from a former rides/operations department employee. I still talk to some people at the park, and it really sounds like not much has changed in the department. If they want to be successful, they need to improve morale in the largest departments in the park-the ones largely responsible for the day to day front of the line operations in the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalMAN123 Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 This did not surprise me one bit. To hear that Red Zone is going to improve this dump of a park is like a blessing. But the one thing I say for them to do is, FLAT RIDES!!!! They seriously need to add some more flat rides seeing that they're is probably under 15! ---Brent 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Nagel Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 To tell you the truth I feel that over the few years in more than one way, that what Mark plans to do is what Great Adventure has been doing. Although there are still many problems to be had and one is the employees. I have many friend that work(ed) at Great Adventure and i worked at Dorney Park and compaired to them they are treated like a no body. The pay for the lowest rank in rides is just below the highest rank in rides at Great Adventure. Plus we had a bonus at the end of the year but you had to stay on to your end date and not get canned. That the problem with Great Aventure the staffing is fine at the start but gets worse and worse. Then during Fright Fest they are always understaffed and the park is jammed pack (hell the last Saturday last the park was open had a all time record attendance of like 58,000)... I was at first thinking that red zone taking over was going to be bad but i'm now thinking maybe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calcajun Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 As much as I like a new coaster every year, I am excited to see this play out and hope it is successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DATman Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I am really excited for this, hopefully they go through with it. I do hope that they finally get rid of flashback, and just put a giant frisbee in it's place. They could do w/ a screamin' swing, but a normal one, not an upcharge. If they spant a year or two's budgets on flats, man, that would just make the park ten times better. It'd give people things to do other than ride coasters all day. (i revert to going to the arcade, cause basically all they have are coasters, and they have a couple fun games, like panic park!) Also, I like the idea of making it more family-oriented. Whenever I go, I see a ton of little kids at the park, and they have nothing to ride but a few flats and a coaster. Give them more, cause it cost's a lot of money to take a family to a park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrs28330 Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 ^Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 i probablly will be the most enthusiastic ticket taker ever. That won't take much!!! Seriously, they've had temps and volunteers doing tickets lately!!!! Good for you though, nice of you to help out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaos Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Don't get rid of Flashback! When I got my season pass, it looked like there was still enough room to keep it and add a small flat ride. I haven't had that many problems with the employees, but then again, I don't go there nearly as often as you guys do. -Luke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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