What should Six Flags do?
Jonathan Wilson
company around?
Would you sell off stuff? (if so, what/which parks?)
Would you close parks/rides?
Everyone keeps mentioning how six flags is in the crapper finantially, how
can they turn it around and return to profitability?
Kip Ross
Apparently, there are some things in the works. My friend said there
was an article about Six Flags in the Asbury Park Press just recently.
I didn't see the article, but he said that:
*Bill Gates is having Six Flags' policies investigated
*Daniel Snyder wants to get on the board
Etc.
I wish I could find this article and read it firsthand. Is it online?
-kipross
Jonathan Wilson
coaster at SFA or SFGA or whatever park it is.
Now rides are NOT going to SF out of the sinkhole.
Some ideas:
Close rides that are huge problems (i.e. rides that are costing a fortune
in maintainence and/or have a very sporadic opening schedule, e.g. Deja-Vu)
Also close the less popular rides.
Sell off more parks (how about SFA or whatever the one that everyone keeps
complaining about is)
Get better ride ops (more trains, faster ops etc) at the parks where it is
a problem (for example, WhyTF does Six Flags only ever run 1 train on X.
They know how immensly popular it is, if they ran 2 trains things would be
better.) Remember that people waiting in line for a ride are people who
could otherwise be looking in gift shops at overpriced merchandise or
eating over priced food or drinking overpriced soft drinks.
Dont spend any more money on new captial works, new coasters or rides WONT
help SF out of the sinkhole they are in and (at least not the stuff SF is
likely to install) WONT get people to come back.
Spend money on staff training.
Spend money on making the parks nice places to be (I dont know which, if
any, six flags parks have this problem)
Season Passholder
Obviously the trend for the last few years have not done the company any good. Perhaps they should look at something totally out of
the box here. Here are a few crazy ideas. Some may sound awful and some really would be good, its all in the eye of the park
patron.
1. Eliminate the season pass program and reduce gate admission to 15-20 dollar range. Advertise the heck out of the reduced gate
prices. Keep the same price structure in the park for food and merchandise. Offer discounts for historically slower time periods.
This should increase the take on the front end. Lower gate prices would also entice more spending within the park on other items.
2. Offer a package deal at the gate that would give the park patron a meal of their choice at selected sites in the park. Roll
this into the price of admission.
3. Try a minimal parking and gate fees and introduce a pay per ride system. Offer a season ride pass, instead of a season gate
pass. Passes would not be good at all properties. Ouch!!!!
All of those really suck for the avid enthusiast and would come at a huge cost to most of us. But lets face it, SF needs to figure
out something to get the $$$ flowing.
4. Introduce more quality food choices and dining opportunities.
5. Expand park operation hours for Friday and Saturday nights to midnight.
6. Offer more *quality* concerts and special events on a charge per event basis.
7. Introduce resort lodging onsite.
Or....
8. Close the doors of a few parks for a year. Re-open the following year with a huge party!!!!
Those ideas are terrible. They have a long road ahead of them. I wish them luck!
A Former Season Pass Holder
Marshall
"Jonathan Wilson" <jon...@tpgi.com.au> wrote in message
news:413d08db$1...@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
> Well one thing they should not be doing is erecting that Intamin Rocket
> coaster at SFA or SFGA or whatever park it is.
>
This is right on, but not for the reason you think it is.
> Now rides are NOT going to SF out of the sinkhole.
>
I assume you mean "new" instead of "now", but you're wrong either way you
look at it.
Most of SF's worst parks are the ones that havn't gotten anything worthwhile
"new" for a long time, and investing 2/5th to 1/2 or more of your capitol
budget for the upcoming year on ONE RIDE at one of your BEST performing
parks is the epitome of the bad decisions SF is making and will just result
in the lesser parks in the chain dropping even further.
> Some ideas:
> Close rides that are huge problems (i.e. rides that are costing a fortune
> in maintainence and/or have a very sporadic opening schedule, e.g.
Deja-Vu)
> Also close the less popular rides.
>
What?!? That is half of the PROBLEM with most six flags parks. Every time
you go, there is less there/operating than there was before. Reducing the
amount of attractions in a park is NOT going to get more people in the gate.
> Sell off more parks (how about SFA or whatever the one that everyone keeps
> complaining about is)
>
Only if you can get rid of the ones that are a drain, and who is going to
buy a park that isnt making money? Selling off SFWoA was a HUGE mistake.
Just as the park was starting to get an identity and management was starting
to get a clue about how to run it, Its gone. THAT was a pure desperation
move that is going to cost them in the long run...OTOH a CF pass is now
worth something to those in northern OH/southern MI/NW IN and western PA....
> Get better ride ops (more trains, faster ops etc) at the parks where it is
> a problem (for example, WhyTF does Six Flags only ever run 1 train on X.
> They know how immensly popular it is, if they ran 2 trains things would be
> better.) Remember that people waiting in line for a ride are people who
> could otherwise be looking in gift shops at overpriced merchandise or
> eating over priced food or drinking overpriced soft drinks.
>
Heck yes. Or, just for starters, EXPECT more from the Ops you've got. Maybe
institute a bonus for the ops on a ride if they hit a daily PPH target. Get
after the maint staffs to keep rides at full capacity. Pull a Wal-mart and
hire some seniors or "challenged" people to do the trash pick-up and
"helpful staff" stuff for minimum wage
.
> Dont spend any more money on new captial works, new coasters or rides WONT
> help SF out of the sinkhole they are in and (at least not the stuff SF is
> likely to install) WONT get people to come back.
Quite the opposite, without continuing capital investment SF will be chapter
11 or worse real soon. This may already be a forgone conclusion with that
monument to stupidity going up in NJ. Its hard to see it getting better for
SF when SFGAd is the only park with an improvement for next year.
CoasterFanatic
> If you were CEO (or whatever of Six Flags), what would you do to turn
> the company around?
I would get out of the small community parks, or form a different
division to meet their needs. The six flags approach doesn't work so
well, and dropping in an SLC/Boomerang isn't going to pack em in. Let
them build from the lessons set forth by Kennywood, Waldameer, Knoebels,
etc.
Focus your energy on the big ones, and refine them to be built entirely
around the consumer experience.
Incorporate new unique rides while keeping in mind the type of things
that will give families a reason to go.
Diversify your food offerings and drop food prices 25% across the board.
Maintain the rides you have (paint, maintenance, cleanliness). Make
capacity a number one priority.
Recruit from local universities and offer incentives based on costumer
service.
And most importantly ... give people a reason to come back. I went to
SFMM for the first time last spring, and It will take some massively
original, stunning, and unavoidable to get me to go back.
--
Ted
http://www.coasterfanatics.com
your online source for all things rollercoaster
Relaunching in July 2004
DeadAndRestless
>in maintainence and/or have a very sporadic opening schedule, e.g. Deja-Vu)
>Also close the less popular rides.
Not a good idea. The last thing Six Flags needs is to just rid themselves of
their rides. Besides, what are they going to do with all the rides? Sell them
for cash?
>Sell off more parks (how about SFA or whatever the one that everyone keeps
>complaining about is)
Sell off Great Adventure? Its only their second best attended park in the
largest metro area in the US. Gee, I wonder why they might want to keep that
one.
>Get better ride ops (more trains, faster ops etc) at the parks where it is
>a problem (for example, WhyTF does Six Flags only ever run 1 train on X.
>They know how immensly popular it is, if they ran 2 trains things would be
>better.) Remember that people waiting in line for a ride are people who
>could otherwise be looking in gift shops at overpriced merchandise or
>eating over priced food or drinking overpriced soft drinks.
>
It sounds like a fantastic idea, but how does one just "get more/better ride
ops"? I think there are things that they do as company policies that aren't the
best ideas, but that doesn't solve a lot of those problems right away.
>Dont spend any more money on new captial works, new coasters or rides WONT
>help SF out of the sinkhole they are in and (at least not the stuff SF is
>likely to install) WONT get people to come back.
>Spend money on staff training.
>Spend money on making the parks nice places to be (I dont know which, if
>any, six flags parks have this problem)
>
Understand that also, if you don't build rides, you run the risk of having
people lose interest in what you're marketing (eg, rides) and that attendance
will drop off.
-
Alan
David H.--REMOVE STOPSPAM to reply
wrote:
>Jonathan Wilson <jon...@tpgi.com.au> wrote in
>news:413c819f$1...@dnews.tpgi.com.au:
>
>> If you were CEO (or whatever of Six Flags), what would you do to turn
>> the company around?
>Recruit from local universities and offer incentives based on costumer
>service.
They'd have to massively increase the pay to get college kids to work
there!
Let's face it, the vast majority of college kids who work at parks are
coaster/park fans doing it more for the love than the money.
David Hamburger, davi...@STOPSPAMbellatlantic.net, Boston, MA
PLEASE remove "STOPSPAM" from my address when replying via e-mail.
"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by
the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree
in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support
him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not
to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he
fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is
unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or
anyone else."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
Sam Marks
>well, and dropping in an SLC/Boomerang isn't going to pack em in.
When Adventure World (SFA) installed The Mind Eraser, attendance went up 25%
there is a place for them, but not in destination parks, or flagship parks.
Member of
The Coaster Zombies Club
P.O. Box 12
Arlington,VA 22210-0012
www.coasterzombies.org
Pete McCutchen
<thiswil...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>Obviously the trend for the last few years have not done the company any good. Perhaps they should look at something totally out of
>the box here. Here are a few crazy ideas. Some may sound awful and some really would be good, its all in the eye of the park
>patron.
>
>1. Eliminate the season pass program and reduce gate admission to 15-20 dollar range. Advertise the heck out of the reduced gate
>prices. Keep the same price structure in the park for food and merchandise. Offer discounts for historically slower time periods.
>This should increase the take on the front end. Lower gate prices would also entice more spending within the park on other items.
I hate to say it, but I think that this is exactly the wrong idea.
Bizarre as it sounds, I think that Six Flags should consider
eliminating season passes and raising prices.
Here's my logic. As I see it, Six Flags has one basic problem: the
quality of the park experience is below what it should be. This has
(at least) two causes. One is that the park has too many low-capacity
slow-moving rides for the number of people in the park. Too much time
in line = bad day at the park. The other -- and I'll try to say this
delicately -- is a question of physical security due to other patrons.
Young, line-cutting toughs drive out families. This weekend, I was at
Hersheypark, and in the line to the front car of Lightning Racer my
wife and I chatted with a woman from New Jersey who said she lived
less than an hour from Great Adventure. Despite that, she and her
family simply did not patronize that park, because they didn't feel
safe there.
Raising prices would reduce crowding and bring in a better clientele.
>
>2. Offer a package deal at the gate that would give the park patron a meal of their choice at selected sites in the park. Roll
>this into the price of admission.
>
>3. Try a minimal parking and gate fees and introduce a pay per ride system. Offer a season ride pass, instead of a season gate
>pass. Passes would not be good at all properties. Ouch!!!!
Again, I think that pay-per-ride is going in exactly the wrong
direction. The whole theory behind Six Flags when it opened was that
it offered fixed price entertainment.
>
>All of those really suck for the avid enthusiast and would come at a huge cost to most of us. But lets face it, SF needs to figure
>out something to get the $$$ flowing.
>
>4. Introduce more quality food choices and dining opportunities.
I couldn't agree with that more. Six Flags has had bad food for
years. I'm not asking for fancy or nutritious food, but I'd like to
have high quality (i.e., tasty) junk food. Compare the food at Six
Flags with Kennywood or Hersheypark or Knobbell's Grove.
>
>5. Expand park operation hours for Friday and Saturday nights to midnight.
>
>6. Offer more *quality* concerts and special events on a charge per event basis.
>
>7. Introduce resort lodging onsite.
>
>Or....
>
>8. Close the doors of a few parks for a year. Re-open the following year with a huge party!!!!
>
>Those ideas are terrible. They have a long road ahead of them. I wish them luck!
Here's my list, which is a bit different than yours:
1. Raise prices and eliminate season passes.
2. Increase physical security at the parks. Post clear, strict
rules, and enforce them in a draconian manner. Every major line area
should be monitored by security.
3. Increase food quality.
4. Improve ride operations. Make sure every major ride is open, if
the ride is physically operating. Do not operate at
less-than-capacity (i.e., one car when the line is forty minutes
long).
5. All new major rides must be major people-movers. No more shuttle
coasters or rides with fancy and temperamental launchers. You want
rides that will work from day one, and which will continue working
with little trouble.
6. Have a long talk with Intamin about its restraint design.
Condition future purchases on improvements in that area.
--
Pete McCutchen
Brad Bishop
* The park consistently looked/smelled dirty. In the Gotham area it's hard
to tell what needs to be cleaned up and what needs to be themed (I always
hated the crap look of the Gotham area).
* The ride ops got increasingly worse over the years (slower and less
attentive). I'm not looking for someone to individually seat me but it'd be
nice if they got off the phones long (yacking it up with their friends) long
enough to pay attention to their job (this was mostly girl ops who did
this).
* Because of the lack of attention the loading/unloading of rides was a lot
slower especially if they were only running one train.
* They got a lack of diversity in their ride selection. What they basically
have is roller coasters and little else. I like roller coasters as much as
the next guy but I also like things to be mixed up a big. It's like going to
a restaurant where all they serve is steak. You think, "Wow - steak," but
then sometimes thing, "You know, salad, baked potato, or maybe even chicken
or fish would be nice once in a while."
I think these things in addition to them going nuts on spending (buying new
rides and parks) and increasing their debt-load is what is slowly killing
them. The debt ties their hands on solving some more of the basic
park-quality problems.
What people are basically looking for is a good value for their money and
not the cheapest thing out there. If they're paying a lot of money and (like
the points I mentioned above) don't really feel like they're getting their
money's worth out of it then they tend not to go.
I had the opposite experience at Lake Winnie this year (first time going
there). It was a well kept park with a variety of rides and a pleasant
experience. I'm not anti-Six Flags or anti-corporate parks, but I did have a
better time at Lake Winnie and thought that the value was way better than
SFoG.
Brad
Derek Gee
news:vvmqj091j1trd0h7r...@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 6 Sep 2004 20:06:08 -0500, "Season Passholder"
> <thiswil...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >Obviously the trend for the last few years have not done the company any
good. Perhaps they should look at something totally out of
> >the box here. Here are a few crazy ideas. Some may sound awful and some
really would be good, its all in the eye of the park
> >patron.
> >
> >1. Eliminate the season pass program and reduce gate admission to 15-20
dollar range. Advertise the heck out of the reduced gate
> >prices. Keep the same price structure in the park for food and
merchandise. Offer discounts for historically slower time periods.
> >This should increase the take on the front end. Lower gate prices would
also entice more spending within the park on other items.
>
> I hate to say it, but I think that this is exactly the wrong idea.
> Bizarre as it sounds, I think that Six Flags should consider
> eliminating season passes and raising prices.
>
> Here's my logic. As I see it, Six Flags has one basic problem: the
> quality of the park experience is below what it should be.
You missed an obvious problem - it's overpriced!
>This has
> (at least) two causes. One is that the park has too many low-capacity
> slow-moving rides for the number of people in the park. Too much time
> in line = bad day at the park. The other -- and I'll try to say this
> delicately -- is a question of physical security due to other patrons.
> Young, line-cutting toughs drive out families. This weekend, I was at
> Hersheypark, and in the line to the front car of Lightning Racer my
> wife and I chatted with a woman from New Jersey who said she lived
> less than an hour from Great Adventure. Despite that, she and her
> family simply did not patronize that park, because they didn't feel
> safe there.
Perceived safety is a huge issue. It's one the big reasons many parks have
closed. Bob-lo and Edgewater were two now closed in my area that safety was
a huge issue for. How many folks want to go on the Bob-lo boats when
they're having riots on it?? Euclid Beach in Cleveland had some of the same
issues. One of the Humphrey's once told me he was convinced the park was
going to be burned down one night by rowdy youths, when a freak storm blew
up off the lake and chased them away.
> Raising prices would reduce crowding and bring in a better clientele.
Yup, along with very visable security. Make kids under 18 have a parent
with them to be admitted. That would stop a lot of crap right there.
Derek
Jon
"DeadAndRestless" <deadand...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040907000906...@mb-m10.aol.com...
>
> Sell off Great Adventure? Its only their second best attended park in the
> largest metro area in the US. Gee, I wonder why they might want to keep
> that
> one.
>
The last time I checked, SFGAdv was the number one park and had several
years
beating Cedar Point.
Six Flags needs to figure out what parks can perform. Oh, I think the
problem is that
Six Flags had no business sense. They have no competent managers and they
were
running an idea that they could reduce spending and keep attendance at their
flagship
parks. Bad idea. It's time to see how to bring the level of service back
up to what it
had been. I long for the day of pre-Premier service.
I do welcome the ride investments that Premier has brought, but they have
basically
lowered the bar for the Six Flags experience.
The obvious answer is start at the top with an experienced major chain
operator CEO.
Then replace the park managers with responsible accountable presidents.
Accountability starts at the top. Six Flags did have a quality standard and
could really
excite the workforce. What happened to that??????
Try to reduce the number of foreign hires. I'm so sick of not being able to
communicate
with the work force.
The variety of parks that Six Flags has is still fantastic. I too thought
the sale of SFWOA
was a crime. That was a fantastic super park.
Mismanagement!!!!!! It's just too obvious. Of course along with a lot of
overspending, but
isn't that part of the definition.
It's time for a change. The current mangement just can't do it. Everything
is there, it's just not being managed well or at all.
I'd love to see the numbers at all the parks and see how they are
performing. What a
business case study for the past 5 years? We've got Snyder and Gates
raising a
fuss, maybe we can see a change at top.
Jon
Jon
crowds?
Maybe, but they'd need to do some major changes. The local neighborhood may
prevent them from growing to big due to local outcry. Although they do have
plenty of
land for expansion. When you have a park in the middle of 7-9M people it
should be
able to be a flagship park. SFA could be a very good fit for Cedar Fair.
It would be
interesting to see how they would deal with the workforce.
The neighborhood around the park is not in a bad neighborhood. Just drive
past the
park and look at the big homes. I haven't had a lot of problems with SFA
this year.
Suprising!! The water park needs a major overhaul, but the ride collection
is still
pretty good. It could use a good family coaster/mine ride.
Don't sell the SFA potential short. It may be limited by current management
and Six
Flags investment. The attendance definitely seems to be down this year.
The Six
Flags newness is wearing off.
Jon
"Sam Marks" <steel...@aol.come2Mypark> wrote in message
news:20040907065951...@mb-m22.aol.com...
Wolf
> have
> closed. Bob-lo and Edgewater were two now closed in my area that safety
> was
> a huge issue for. How many folks want to go on the Bob-lo boats when
> they're having riots on it?? Euclid Beach in Cleveland had some of the
> same
> issues. One of the Humphrey's once told me he was convinced the park was
> going to be burned down one night by rowdy youths, when a freak storm blew
> up off the lake and chased them away.
Silver Beach closed after a series of riots by kids from Chicago.
>> Raising prices would reduce crowding and bring in a better clientele.
>
> Yup, along with very visable security. Make kids under 18 have a parent
> with them to be admitted. That would stop a lot of crap right there.
That eliminates the schoolbuses entirely. That's a good revenue source, you
know. =)
--
|\-/|
<0 0>
=(o)=
-Wolf
Jonathan Wilson
ops using mobile phones whilst on the job. If an op uses a phone whilst on
the job, they will be fired, simple as that.
Jonathan Wilson
> buy a park that isnt making money? Selling off SFWoA was a HUGE mistake.
CoasterFanatic
>> Selling off SFWoA was a HUGE mistake.
While not the coolest thing to do. I think that the sale of SFWOA was the
one of the best business decisions that Six Flags has made in a while.
After the purchase of the Sea World side, maintenance went straight into
the crapper, and the park cannot keep up with the expenses. Just look at it
now, it is still in fairly bad shape. With the cutbacks that they are
making, they would have never been able to build both sides into a
respectable park. I even have my doubts that Cedar Fair will do much
better, without relocating rides. Time will tell.
Sam Marks
>I'll disagree, Sam. SFA could be a destination park. Could they handle the
>crowds?
>Maybe, but they'd need to do some major changes. The local neighborhood may
>prevent them from growing to big due to local outcry. Although they do have
>plenty of
>land for expansion.
What I meant was there's no place for a SLC in a park like SFOT or SFMM, true
with the amount of land that SFA has they could easily be a flagship park they
might call it SFSL "Six Flags Snyder Land" or something like that. Dan Snyder
has ALOT of clout here in this area, he's even got the community to build an
extension of the subway (we're talking hundreds of millions) to his FedEx Field
area. a 3 mile extension past that would bring it to SFAs door
hmmmmmmmm..............
To make SFA a flagship park would take tens of millions of dollars in
infrastructure alone! widening the walkways, renovating food places for bigger
crowds, and etc.
Running properly with a stellar crew, SFA currently has the potential to move
major crowds thru its rides. They fall well short of that goal, and as I found
Monday, many ride crews are too busy socializing and goofing off to actually
move the lines. (this is the #1 issue they should address) If this park got the
lines moving, the line jumpers (which aren't that bad most of the time) would
have no motivation, and the waiting public would leave happy all the time (well
there are those terminally unhappy people)
Currently, the senior housing facility being built across central avenue is
expanding to take up just as much street front property as SFA does. I believe
that SFA could much more easily approach the county with expansion plans today,
as they did a while back. And they could get a good bunch of seniors to work
for them from this large housing project, all they need to do is provide
transportation to the park by a shuttle bus, or van.
As far as neighborhood complaints go, just like Dorney, there is ONE vocal
complainant and nobody else. Hopefully they can please this guy with some less
noisy projects toward the front of the park.
SAM
Robert
> Here's why I stopped going (SFoG being my home park):
>
> have is roller coasters and little else. I like roller coasters as much as
> the next guy but I also like things to be mixed up a big. It's like going to
> a restaurant where all they serve is steak. You think, "Wow - steak," but
> then sometimes thing, "You know, salad, baked potato, or maybe even chicken
> or fish would be nice once in a while."
>
While your other points match many of my park pet peeves, this one puzzles me.
I see SFoG as having a good diversity of rides.
Out and Back wood
Wood Twister
Family Mine Train
Kiddie Coaster
Stand-Up
Inverted
Flyer
Big Sitdown Double Looper
Compact Twisting Multi-looper
Giant Shuttle Looper
1 kid coaster, 2 family rides, and the rest are from medium to high intensity.
Not bad, as I see it.
Robert
Keith Hopkins
news:febae9da.04090...@posting.google.com...
But that's what he's unhappy about. That list is all coasters. He's
disappointed in the "all coasters and not much else" feel of the park.
--
Keith Hopkins
suss...@visi.comblock (clear the block to reply)
"When you see "Red #6" you wonder what happened to the people
who tested Reds 1 through 5, and whether there's a walled-off
compound in the Nevada desert populated entirely by crimson-skinned
telekinetic giants who must be constantly sedated lest they snap their
chains and destroy the world." - James Lileks
Jonathan Wilson
high-throughput flats and spread them about their parks, especially the
parks with little or no flats now.
Mrdaffy2000
bring more shows to astroworld
That What Six Flags need to do Help Astroworld. and OH Bring back Holiday In
the park. and Change Fright Fest back to Fright Night. and bring back Wacky
Shack or River of NO Return. And Marvel Mcfey.
Thanks,
Kenny R.
Think Daffy
OH HI everyone in RRC & Astroworld
sorry that Todd is mad @ me.................
sir twistalot
> Maintain the rides you have (paint, maintenance, cleanliness). Make
> capacity a number one priority.
That's a major point......I'm *always* overhearing (if I lean over and
listen hard enough) guests at SFA saying that the park is "...so run
down..." and ".....maybe worth one visit to check out the top one or
two rides, but that's it....." I hear people say "Why is there rust
all over the rides......why is the paint so faded......why is this
ride down so much?" I hear these things *quite* often, and I hate
hearing it......it's something that *can* be fixed. The other main
problem for the park (and I don't know how this can be fixed) is the
way a lot of the patronage acts.....I hear people remarking about that
a lot too, but in much lower tones. Maybe they need better security
roaming the park? More security? Security hanging around the rides, IN
the queue houses and stations? As some in this post have already
mentioned, another large problem is the don't-care attitude of most of
the staff......I've definitely noticed that myself; it's hard to
miss.........fixing that would *really* kick the park up a few
notches. They already have good rides, and they have decent wood, and
take care of it; they just need to work on the steel (that's not
something one hears often!).
sir t (Eric C.)
Thomas
> Obviously the trend for the last few years have not done the company any good. Perhaps they should look at something totally out of
> the box here. Here are a few crazy ideas. Some may sound awful and some really would be good, its all in the eye of the park
> patron.
>
> 1. Eliminate the season pass program and reduce gate admission to 15-20 dollar range. Advertise the heck out of the reduced gate
> prices. Keep the same price structure in the park for food and merchandise. Offer discounts for historically slower time periods.
> This should increase the take on the front end. Lower gate prices would also entice more spending within the park on other items.
Believe it or not, gate revenue is a very small percentage of park
revenue. If a park thought it could increase its bottom line
significantly without them, do you think they would allow them to be
used at multiple parks?
> 2. Offer a package deal at the gate that would give the park patron a meal of their choice at selected sites in the park. Roll
> this into the price of admission.
That isn't an incentive for someone to go to a theme park.
>
> 3. Try a minimal parking and gate fees and introduce a pay per ride system. Offer a season ride pass, instead of a season gate
> pass. Passes would not be good at all properties. Ouch!!!!
While initially a good source for revenue, this would hurt a park more
than help. It's a bit late for parks to go back to a ticket per ride
system, because who would want to pay per ride? I sure wouldn't.
>
> All of those really suck for the avid enthusiast and would come at a huge cost to most of us. But lets face it, SF needs to figure
> out something to get the $$$ flowing.
>
> 4. Introduce more quality food choices and dining opportunities.
While not a bad idea, I doubt people go for the food. But it's
definitely something they should reconsider.
>
> 5. Expand park operation hours for Friday and Saturday nights to midnight.
Many municipalities prevent this. Zoning laws and noise ordinances
may effect the operation of a theme park.
> 6. Offer more *quality* concerts and special events on a charge per event basis.
I doubt the revenue would be enough to make a difference.
>
> 7. Introduce resort lodging onsite.
Zoning laws may prohibit this. This would have to be analyzed on a
park-by-park basis. While one park hotel may not be a bad idea, you
have to remember Six Flags is not a resort destination. The vast
majority of its guests drive the same day. That was the original
mission of the park. Although each park has rides unique to that
park, they weren't designed to be the next Disneyworld.
>
> Or....
>
> 8. Close the doors of a few parks for a year. Re-open the following year with a huge party!!!!
That could be death for the park. You have heard of property taxes,
right?
Bartender Sam
"Thomas" <tbar...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:19564179.04091...@posting.google.com...
> >
> > 4. Introduce more quality food choices and dining opportunities.
>
> While not a bad idea, I doubt people go for the food. But it's
> definitely something they should reconsider.
I think this area is key, people don't go for food but good food sure as
hell enhances the theme park experience. We all go for the rides but I
would rather dine at Epcot than chow down on a soy burger at Kings Dominion.
If I'm going to spend $10 on a burger, why can't it be a good burger?
---
Yet another satisfied customer of Bartender Sam!
DJ Gallup
> If you were CEO (or whatever of Six Flags), what would you do to turn the
> company around?
> Would you close parks/rides?
>
> Everyone keeps mentioning how six flags is in the crapper finantially, how
> can they turn it around and return to profitability?
Ok, here are the few things I would change --
1. Slightly lower gate prices, get rid of season passes that are good
at all parks and charge more for current season passes. With a theme
park, one of your main goals should be drawing the entire family (not
just the teens) -- lowering prices will make the park look like more
of a "deal" and raising season pass rates will drive away some bad
clientele.
2. Spend more on operations. Train people better and pay employees
more -- I believe SF tends to pay minimum wage or a little more. It
doesn't matter how much training you have, you are not going to get
attentive employees when it's 97 degrees and they're making $5.15 an
hour. Also, spend more money on maintainence and make sure that
safety and guest satisfaction are the most important features of your
park.
3. Integrate family attractions. For some odd reason, parks that
have added kiddielands in the past decade have made them a completely
separate area. Mix the rides up and put a kiddie ride near a coaster
that's near a couple of mid-intesity flat rides. When rides are mixed
like this, families will have more opportunities to do things
together.
4. Sell off the underperformers. Seems like a simple idea.
5. Don't spend money as you were ... when Premier took on Six Flags
(and then continued to add on the Walibis et al), they were spending
money like mad. Of course, in the mid to late 1990s, times were great
and the economy was up ... I believe they neglected to think of what
would happen if there was a recession. Instead of adding rides every
year, spend a little money on improving satisfaction -- make the food
better, add more garbage cans, hire more cleaning people, open up
attractions that have been ignored, improve landscaping and theme.
6. Create family options. Make family admission plans and lower food
prices a bit. For instance, I will buy a decent hamburger for $3 or
maybe even $3.50. I will not buy one for $4.50 or $5. If they
lowered their price a bit, they'd probably sell double the amount.
Since much of SF current clientele are teens, lower the prices so that
teens will be more likely to eat at the park (hungry teen = unhappy
teen = bad situations at parks).
7. Make sure there are things for the non-riders to do. My parents
will barely go to a SF park anymore due to the lack of quality
entertainment, but they'll happily go to Hersheypark or BGW or
Universal.
DJ
Bartender Sam
"DJ Gallup" <dj...@geneseo.edu> wrote in message
news:efcf2364.04091...@posting.google.com...
> 7. Make sure there are things for the non-riders to do. My parents
> will barely go to a SF park anymore due to the lack of quality
> entertainment, but they'll happily go to Hersheypark or BGW or
> Universal.
This is key... my grandparents would take me to Busch Gardens Tampa and
Disney happy to see the scenery. Six Flag does not really have theme parks
(at least the ones I have been too), they have amusement parks. I don't
think they want to compete with Disney, Busch, Hershey, etc... I think what
they want is to just attract locals with nothing better to do.