Six Flags Conference Call Details, 6 Parks Possibly For Sale

[Jon Sabo]

I also would like to acknowledge some of the comments from TIBURON's post. There were some insightful comments and perhaps others posting (same thing over and over) should take note. It provided some of the most in-depth point-of-view on almost the entire thread.

 

Whether or not you agree with his statements is open for discussion, but have the courtesy to back up the facts with posted links to the information. Otherwise, we are just adding pages to the thread that just keep repeating the same comments over and over. It should be a forum open for discussion as an enthusiast, not to "bash" other members (or park executives) over something silly.

 

View link p. 17: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26124&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=160

 

Also, it would be wise to consider that the company statements on the Six Flags website would also be of interest for some members to actually read the entire text

 

View link: http://investors.sixflags.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61629&p=irol-irhome

 

**Assmuming A-B would become a player in the possible sale of any of those park(s) listed, expect a possible announcement from the A-B quarterly review coming up in July. Assuming that your a shareholder or employee. I am on the fence regarding the A-B "possible" interest in perhaps purchasing one of the parks 6F listed.

 

http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=bud&script=2100

 

Being a former manager/employee of A-B and a current shareholder, I would believe that if A-B did purchase one of the parks, that they could add their unique touch to the park and quite possibly turn it into a quality theme/amusment park. The values and quality-management can greatly add to the park(s) environment and provide a positive impact within the park(s) as well as the surrounding community.

[BiCoastal Kid]

OKAY, and of all the really crazy things said in this thread, I'm surprised nobody has been like,"Why doesn't ACE buy it and save it???? There are so many members I'm sure they could do it!@!!!!"

 

If every member on TPR donated their vacation money to TPR, maybe TPR could buy SFMM!

 

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I can't believe I missed that.

[kenban]

Its funny the one thing that could save the park no one is talking about. Its easy go to the park and spend money there. A better bottom line is the ONLY reason to keep the park.

 

I would be amazed if more then 1% of the people who live near the park moved there because of the park if anything closing the park is going to INCREASE land values. A lot of people do not want to live near a park and they easily outnumber the people who do.

 

Six Flags has a huge debt of around 2.4 billion dollars. Here's the problem the debt service on that amount of money is HUGE and the worse your debt the higher your interest rate. If banks think you can't pay it off your interest rate goes up even higher. I have no idea what the companies rate is but even if its only 5% that's 120 million a year and your not paying down any of the debt. (I actually think that because of the poor debt rating Six Flags has the rate is higher then that)

 

I think the real reason Six Flags actually NEEDS to get rid of the park is because selling the park will pay off so much of the debt that the decrease in interest is larger then the amount the park makes in a year. Even if its not in the long run its better for the company to sell the park and pay down the debt some now then how little the park makes compared to how much it is worth.

 

NO ONE in the business world cares about the history of a park. I really don't think this is about the parks image either maybe he says that but I really think this is nothing more then the need to get rid of some of the companies debt.

 

Important note the company as a whole is worth a NEGATIVE amount of money. That's right they owe more then the company is worth. I think selling SFMM might be very important to the overall health of the company. I hope a company steps up and buys it to continue to operate the park so that it does not end up being destroyed for more housing but I do think Six Flags needs to get rid of it.

[dougstanton]

WARNING: Six Flags Magic Mountain fanboys may get uncomfortable feelings in their stomach when reading this post.

 

I hate to say this, but SFMM isn't that great of a park. I was talking with one of my friends about this the other day. What roller coasters stand out as great there? They have 17...when all of them are working.

Batman- A clone that so many Six Flags parks have.

Canyon Blaster- Just a little kiddie coaster, obviously nothing to get excited about

Colossus- Not necessarily a bad wooden coaster, but there are so many better than it.

Dejavu- A ride that is rarely operating, but when it is, who cares? not that fun of a ride and rather rough, I will give credit to a front row ride though....oh yeah, you can't pick your row haha

Flashback- CLOSED

Goldrusher- A mine train, a lot of parks have one, and this one sure doesn't stand out as one of the better ones

Goliath- Won't say anything bad about this ride, a lot of people seem to like it, although I haven't heard someone say that it is better than the one at SFOG

Goliath Jr.- Another kiddie coaster

Ninja- Few people like suspended coasters, not much of a thrill in them. I still hear that Top Gun at PKI and Big Bad Wolf beat it.

Psyclone- So many people complain about how rough this ride is. Nothing more.

Revolution- A great ride....when there were no over the shoulder restraints. Now, it just provides headbanging and extremely slow due to all the brakes throughout the ride.

Riddler's Revenge- A lot of people say it is the best stand up. I am not a fan of standups.

Scream!- Rougher than its east coast sister. It is in the middle of the parking lot....extremely trashy looking, they didn't even take the time to paint over the parking lot lines.

Superman The Escape- Possibly one of the most disappointing rides ever?

Tatsu- That is definitely a good roller coaster. Haven't heard many bad reviews about it.

Viper- It's a rough looper...nothing great about this ride.

X- So many people complain about how rough this ride is also. Good idea for a ride, but I guess the way the train spins the seats provides an uncomfortable ride.

 

This park may have a lot of roller coasters, but so many parks that have a lot fewer rides still beat this line up. On top of the rides, it is a very dirty and trashy park. Workers also seem to be some of the unhappiest. I guess I should prepare myself to back up all of these complaints that are about to come.

[TriboElectric]

Doug:

While Magic Mountain is not the best park in the world, it does have lots of coasters and is the only serious rollercoaster park on the West Coast.

Revolution- one of Schwarzkopf’s incredible creations.

Riddlers Revenge is the biggest standup coaster in the world.

Goliath is still in the top 5 tallest coasters list.

X is a one (two now) of a kind coaster that regardless of what some people say is a amazing experience that can be found in currently only one place in the world (soon Japan as well)

Tatsu is an incredible flyer!

While Magic Mountain certainly has its shares of problems (as do many parks) Losing Magic Mountain would be a terrible loss for Roller Coaster fans all over.

Here's to hoping someone steps up to the plate and buys the park and keeps it running as one of the world’s great coaster parks.

[map2]

WARNING: Six Flags Magic Mountain fanboys may get uncomfortable feelings in their stomach when reading this post.

 

I hate to say this, but SFMM isn't that great of a park. I was talking with one of my friends about this the other day. What roller coasters stand out as great there? They have 17...when all of them are working.

Batman- A clone that so many Six Flags parks have.

Canyon Blaster- Just a little kiddie coaster, obviously nothing to get excited about

Colossus- Not necessarily a bad wooden coaster, but there are so many better than it.

Dejavu- A ride that is rarely operating, but when it is, who cares? not that fun of a ride and rather rough, I will give credit to a front row ride though....oh yeah, you can't pick your row haha

Flashback- CLOSED

Goldrusher- A mine train, a lot of parks have one, and this one sure doesn't stand out as one of the better ones

Goliath- Won't say anything bad about this ride, a lot of people seem to like it, although I haven't heard someone say that it is better than the one at SFOG

Goliath Jr.- Another kiddie coaster

Ninja- Few people like suspended coasters, not much of a thrill in them. I still hear that Top Gun at PKI and Big Bad Wolf beat it.

Psyclone- So many people complain about how rough this ride is. Nothing more.

Revolution- A great ride....when there were no over the shoulder restraints. Now, it just provides headbanging and extremely slow due to all the brakes throughout the ride.

Riddler's Revenge- A lot of people say it is the best stand up. I am not a fan of standups.

Scream!- Rougher than its east coast sister. It is in the middle of the parking lot....extremely trashy looking, they didn't even take the time to paint over the parking lot lines.

Superman The Escape- Possibly one of the most disappointing rides ever?

Tatsu- That is definitely a good roller coaster. Haven't heard many bad reviews about it.

Viper- It's a rough looper...nothing great about this ride.

X- So many people complain about how rough this ride is also. Good idea for a ride, but I guess the way the train spins the seats provides an uncomfortable ride.

 

This park may have a lot of roller coasters, but so many parks that have a lot fewer rides still beat this line up. On top of the rides, it is a very dirty and trashy park. Workers also seem to be some of the unhappiest. I guess I should prepare myself to back up all of these complaints that are about to come.

 

dang it i don't want the whole quote oh well

 

goliath-its not as good as SFOG's not even by a long shot. SFOG's is a lot more smoother (due to the fact that it is newer). even though SFMM is taller, has a loner drop, SFOG has a much better layout with a lot more elements. sure SFMM'S is infamous for the positive Gs, it lacks negative Gs. SFOG is more balanced with nice positive Gs but awesome negative Gs. SFOG's goliath is much better than SFMM's goliath

 

scream- i agree with you on that, probably the yackiest looking roller coaster ever. the ride looks more like it belongs in a fair where the ride is up for a few weeks and then gone for the rest of the year.the fencing is horrible looking, looking like construction is going on, it just looks like they put it up there without any planning done

 

psyclone- very rough ride. but the georgia cyclone is quickly catching up with psyclone in roughness

 

superman the escape- amen to that. i remember watching one of those coaster shows on the travel channel and watching paul ruben saying it is a one of a kind experience. yeah right!

 

oh well magic mountain will be here for another 35 years so you can experience all of these disappointments with your children and your grandchildren

[BiCoastal Kid]

Superman isnt a disappointment, they just don't run it like they should anymore. Honestly, it makes me wonder when they'll get around to installing more modern, cost efficient LIMs.

[ParkTrips]

Revolution- one of Schwarzkopf’s incredible creations.

 

Dont bring Anton into this!!! They f****d that one up so bad it doesn't deserve to wear the Schwarzkopf badge.

 

 

Totally OT but

 

goliath-its not as good as SFOG's not even by a long shot. SFOG's is a lot more smoother

I thought that MM's Goliath was the smoothest coaster I have ever been on, though I still greatly prefer the one in Georgia.

 

- Joe, who'd off to sign the petition

[Jon Sabo]

Come on now. Just as a courtesy, please use proper punctuation and actually use capital letters when starting a new sentence. Some of the posts now appear to be "lazy" and I find it difficult to follow what the person is actually saying. Just take a couple of moments to look over your post(s)-please. Then others won't ask what you are saying and repeat each other over and over. Just as a common courtesy. I don't feel it would be right to "call-out" any specific name(s) here, because they already have posted their comments.

 

Check #4: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21962

[Crazy4Coasters!]

I was just hearing the webcast of the conference with Mark Shapiro and he reiterized that they have not cemented into stone selling SFMM. he said they are willing and open to discussions about it if a buyer wanted to maintain it as a "thrill" oriented park or in real estate. He also mentioned he just wanted to explore options about SFMM and other properties. Another important note is that this anouncement doesn't mean that Six Flags isn't willing to invest for the furture in the park as an oriented family park. I don't know about you but if you really would to understand what Six Flags is doing here there should not be a cause for panic or alarm... at least not yet. Remember mark Shapiro said that SFMM still has 70% of their season ahead of them... this can be a crucial time to see if SFMM can step up into the beginning stages of mark Shapiro's vision and hopefully can stratch off SFMM off his "option" list!

[Darien Laker]

I wonder who (if anyone) would buy Darien Lake. People say Kennywood would be a "good" choice, but that's just mere wishful thinking. The land is really worthless for anything other than the park it is. There's so much extra land too, and it's all in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

[niiicolaaah]

This is what they should do with SFDL:

 

Boomerang, Mind Eraser, Twister - Sell

Water slides - Sell

Everything else - bulldoze

[QueerRudie]

Dont bring Anton into this!!! They f****d that one up so bad it doesn't deserve to wear the Schwarzkopf badge.

 

If they decide to get rid of SFMM, perhaps somebody would be smart enough to figure out how to rebuild a terrain layout for Revolution. It would be a terrible shame to eradicate Herr Achterbahn's first looper for the sake of condos, even if it's been modified all to hell over the past decade or so. Just because there are lawyers out there hell bent on ruining rides does not mean that we should give up on a classic masterpiece of steel engineering.

 

Second: If SFMM did disappear, would anybody really be sobbing for too long? Yes, I know, I'm being harsh on this one, but having had a rather disappointing trip there 18 months ago, I felt that a carnival was better run. When you have a single train and a full queue house when the ride is desgined to hold many more people than that, it shows a lack of forethought on the part of management. If there is trash on the ground, and few garbage cans, it shows a lack of care for a park. When paint is peeling off a ride, and the trains look battered and worn, it shows a lack of detail that needs attention. Six Flags might be having difficulties financially, but there is no excuse for letting a 'flagship' type park go into disrepair that way.

 

The same could be said for a few other parks in the chain, including the local SFA. The staff is rather unruly as a general rule, and that's something that a GP would notice right off the top. Considering what most parks charge for a single day ticket, they could really use a tip or two from a few of the other better run parks out there.

 

I'm not saying that they should sell of SFMM per se. But if SFInc/RedZone entertainment is going to turn the company around they need to worry less about making records and more about the guest experience as a whole.

[Angry_Gumball]

Just as a funny coincidence about the whole SFMM deal, today's paper had an article about Six Flags and what's going on. It was titled to something like "Six Flags takes a rough ride" or something to that extent and it had a picture of Viper on it. Either a coincidence or whoever wrote the article must have been a coaster enthusiast.

 

On topic, I really hate seeing that Waterworld in Concord is going as that's a local waterpark for me. I also hope that SFMM doesn't get sold and be replaced by tons of useless houses...beginning to sound like my city, overloading every empty space with overpriced apartment-like houses and nothing recreational to do...we don't even have a theater in our city...Let's hope the best for SFMM, though I doubt it'll be gone.

[SLUSHIE]

If SFMM sells and closes, I highly doubt Six Flags would take any coasters from it. Afterall thats part of the reason they are considereing closing it, because it's a thrill park. I don't think they would take the rides and put them into other SF parks, because then they would just be making thrill parks out of their other parks.

[brattius]

If SFMM is to sell and be redeveloped as real estate, I am gonna cry!! Personally, with the stock shares as low as they are right now, I am trying to make sure this is not a ploy for Dan Snyder to either unload the company to someone esle or buy up the remaining stock for himself to become the sole owner. That announcement caused the stock to decrease by 25% in a day. If I had the money, I would personally buy all the stock in Six Flags. Family park is great but lets face the truth, SF will never be Disney. Even if the park doesn't fit in with their "family friendly" image, they should keep it. It's the west coast counterpart to SFGA.

Really disappointed in this latest fiasco.

[Darien Laker]

This is what they should do with SFDL:

 

Boomerang, Mind Eraser, Twister - Sell

Water slides - Sell

Everything else - bulldoze

 

That's a horrible thought....but if it comes down to it, that's probably pretty close to how it would be.

 

Maybe S:ROS will be relocated, but Viper and Predator will probably be scrapped.

 

I'm hoping it won't happen.

[coastercraze2005]

Are thse parks still open while they're up for sale?

[Luxo]

Don't let the buisness men take over Mt. Ridesplace!!! Where else can I find more rides than me, or my grandmother, can handle?

[map2]

Come on now. Just as a courtesy, please use proper punctuation and actually use capital letters when starting a new sentence. Some of the posts now appear to be "lazy" and I find it difficult to follow what the person is actually saying. Just take a couple of moments to look over your post(s)-please. Then others won't ask what you are saying and repeat each other over and over. Just as a common courtesy. I don't feel it would be right to "call-out" any specific name(s) here, because they already have posted their comments.

 

Check #4: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21962

 

Whoops sorry about that!

[Astat]

Are thse parks still open while they're up for sale?

 

They aren't even for sale yet!

[mudvayneimn]

Thanks for summerizing the key points, save me the trouble of listening to it. I figured SFEG would be talked about the possiblities of selling it, I'm surprised SFKK wasn't talked about.

 

That's because Shapiro really liked the park. He approved the money to repaint Chang and SFKK was one of the first parks to recieve capital investment money for the 2007 season.

[waterviper]

All Shapiro cares about is the money!!! His heart isn't into what the people think!! He could care less about us!

 

Im gettin so sick of the business point of views!! What about the peoples point of views!! We go to the amusement park to go and and have fun, to not worry about lifes problems and be care free for a day!!! To enjoy some rides on coasters that bring thrills and enjoyment into our lives!!! They want to take that away from us!! Shapiro doesn't give a flyin rats ass about people! All he cares about is payin off some depts at the peoples expense!! He completely dont give crap who buys it either or if some damn land developer buys it and tears em down for some damn houses!!!!! Just the mear thought of that seriously pisses me off!!

 

Go ahead tear down all the theme parks, amusement parks, water parks and places for us to go and enjoy and lets see how much life gets worse!!! We need those things and places to help us get through some of the crap life throws at us! And Shapiro is launching a huge load of flamin crap from a trabuchent aiming right at us!!

[Jon Sabo]

I am having vivid flashbacks of the movie "Vacation" (Chevy Chase).

 

6F next proxy statement to shareholders:

 

"Sorry folks, we're closed. (Marty) Moose out front should have told you!"

[QuakerOaties]

^^

 

If Shapiro wasn't worrying about money he wouldn't be doing his job. After all, he is the CEO of a publicly traded company. His job is to maximize profit for the shareholders.

 

Mark "I still like Shapiro" Luskus