Thunderbolt

Looney Toons was licensed to Six Flags for 99 years. DC was licensed before the superhero craze exploded. I'd imagine the licenses are very cheap, considering they're barely mentioned in the SEC Filings.

1 hour ago, GAcoaster said:

I can't see an issue with approvals-- theme parks are not a necessity, and there is still plenty of competition. 

 

It's interesting to see their current strategy will keep Peanuts and the DC/Looney Toons stuff. 

Disney isn't losing sleep over Fun Spot. It's not competition despite existing. Who else competes at scale? Palace and Parques Reunidos aren't in the same league with Six Flags or Cedar Fair as is. Let alone combined.

 

DC stays. You can leverage that IP. Looney Toons vs. Peanuts likely rests on licensing fees.

 

48 minutes ago, GAcoaster said:

People keep poo-pooing this and I remember when Cedar Fair bought Paramount Parks and it was the same kind of complaints. They came out just fine with a few growing pains. I think this will be the same, and I think we'll see Cedar Fair taking the lead on rolling out similar cleanliness, and maintenance standards company wide.

Paramount and Cedar Fair didn't overlap outside Ohio. The merger killed Geaugua Lake. A Six Flags/Cedar Fair consolidation basically gives the combined company a monopoly on major regional theme parks. It's the equivalent of Disney acquiring Universal and Sea World Orlando.

 

Either parks get sold/shuttered, or "New Six Flags" raises prices significantly to cover debt. Granted, DoJ rarely considers public benefit as a condition any longer.

 

I expect to see bankruptcy, or sale of significant real-estate assets to pare down debts, if this merger happens. "Lease back" will kill the company.

 

If I'm a city with a Six Flags or Cedar Fair Park, I'd start suing to block this merger immediately. Tax revenue and seasonal job loss will effect them.

 

If I'm a customer, expect ticket price increases and an end to "cheap" season passes. Truthfully, Six Flags should have ended the latter decades ago.

I can't see Cedar Fair and Six Flags getting regulatory approval, if the DoJ decides to enforce "Sherman". The combined company has too much overlap. Either they dispose of multiple parks, or they shut them down. I really hope this doesn't happen.

New ride reports and speculation are always fun!

On 4/7/2021 at 12:29 PM, 29yrswithaGApass said:

Welcome back Thunderbolt!

 

I prefer the new Main Street colors as they are more in the color palette of a colonial theme.  I didn't like the previous color scheme of Pepto pink and bright red.  It made them look more like stands found on a boardwalk.  I agree Superhero Snacks couldn't look more tacky with all the ads.

Thanks! I liked the yellow pastels used in the past. I agree the pinks and reds were out of place.

 

Is anyone left in the sign shop, from its glory days?

"Main Street" looks so drab. Fresh paint is always welcome, but couldn't they choose a better color scheme? Grey just looks awful on any day.

 

Superhero Snacks looks awful. Like a NYC construction site plastered with bills. Sad because its a nice structure.

 

Six Flags continues deferring maintenance on "The Big Wheel". There's no excuse to see it in that state. Ceder Point has an identical model (only 2 of this kind were made), and its meticulously kept. In fact, Cedar Fair moved it closer to the lake, and upgraded to a stunning LED Light Package. I love Schwarzkopf Flat Rides. This one doesn't seem long for this world. Intamin AG services these rides.

 

(edit: removed "salt breeze splash". The Great Lakes are freshwater. I should have remembered that!)

Hershey Park gets it. Well maintained and beautifully cared for. Candymonium looks like a winner!

Screamscape has recent flyover footage from SFDK. Harley Quinn's Crazy Train still stands. Maybe its SBNO this year? I have no idea why Six Flags bothered with this addition. Superman right next door is a better ride, with a similar experience.

 

(Been a long time since I've logged in here. Don't know why, because I kept following GAH without pause).

this might be good for the park. maybe things will start being fixed and the coasters that are rusting away will get some fresh paint. also, maybe the park will add much needed shows.

No matter who manages Great Adventure, the issues remain the same. Call it the "Big Wheel" lights syndrome. No matter how many times management promises to replace or upgrade the lights on the "Big Wheel", so many sections remain in a literal dark state or disrepair.

 

I'm not qualified to rate the Fitzgerald Era, as I haven't been to Great Adventure since 2008. His reviews are mixed from what I gather here. Only Harry can speculate with any degree of credibility, how much latitude corporate gave him in terms of future planning and day to day staffing. Out of all the Six Flags Managers I've read about, the best by far was Jay Thomas. What a terrible waste of good talent Six Flags made when they removed him from Magic Mountain.

It uses a QuickTime plugin. Maybe try it on a mobile device.

 

Believe me, you aren't missing much!

 

I remember that "Rolling Thunder" signage animation as a kid. It was one of the things I missed when they let it fall into disrepair.

I found this horribly primitive mock up I did about ten years ago of Rolling Thunder's original sign. Anyone remember how cool this sign was at night?

 

Click below:

 

That video fails to load for me. Suggestions?

Great discussion in this thread.

 

I think whether you trace the park's demise to the desire for CP to remain the jewel in the crown or to the Paramount Parks acquisition, it still comes down to Kinzel's ego.

 

It was his way or the highway, and he thought he (and his team) could do a better job at running all of these parks than the competition. That's why CF pompously refused to maintain the animals in Aurora, which were a huge draw and what made the park unique. It's where their slogan for Geagua Lake, "The fun is back," came from, even though history has proven that to be wrongheaded.

 

I will say that there were a lot of good things about Kinzel's era from a guest perspective -- amazing additions at CP, and even more amazing operational efficiency. But it was time for him to move on. Today, labor at CF parks is treated better (not that some of his legacy doesn't live on...) and capex is more thoughtful and modern across the chain.

 

I agree with the sentiment that SFWoA, for its short life, was something immensely special. They even got the operations to far surpass usual Six Flags standards once they combined the parks. For a well-rounded experience, it easily surpassed CP, GAdv, or any other regional park while it existed, and whatever you trace it back to, the fate of the park is pretty devastating.

Without any doubt, Cedar Fair could not have mismanaged this property any worse than it tried. From closing down the "Sea World" side of the park, to building Wildwater Kingdom on the wrong side of the lake (never mind "Hurricane Harbor" was already pretty new); Cedar Fair's mistakes seem almost orchestrated. Had Premier not been forced to sell SFWoA (or lose control of Six Flags in general), I wonder where the Aurora park would be today? Perhaps it would have overtaken Kings Island in terms of economic value.

 

If I recall at the time, Busch decided to sell the park when their desires to build a mega coaster on their side of the lake were thwarted. Having failed to acquire Geauga Lake, or construct rides on "their side", Busch decided to bail. Someone needs to write a book about this. It would be a fascinating read for any amusement park enthusiast. Geauga Lake really needs their own Harry Applegate.

Is "El Diablo" generally a walk-on?

 

I do miss my visits to Great Adventure. Can't believe my last trip was in 2008.

Well, actually, SeaWorld wanted to buy Geauga Lake Park from Premier Parks first, but Premiere didn't want to sell. Then Premier offered to buy out SeaWorld and they accepted the offer.

 

This whole sad situation all comes down to Kinzel when he ran CF and bad decision making. They bought the property and all the attractions from Six Flags for a song but I suspect he really just wanted it for the parts. There is no reason that area could not have supported GL and CP, and in fact they probably could have made the two properties even more successful together, but Kinzel was only interested in keeping CP the gem of the company. After the acquisition he kind of short changed Canada's Wonderland and King's Island as well because they either beat or nearly beat CP in attendance and he didn't want to see that (despite the fact that he was running the WHOLE company and not just CP). CP was his baby and he couldn't stand seeing the other parks beat CP out in any way shape or form.

 

Kingda Ka looks like a big middle finger for a reason...

As cool as that urban legend may sound, I would imagine Kingda Ka was planned before the sale of Six Flags Ohio to Cedar Fair. Unless you mean it was a 'middle finger' to Cedar Point. Then I could agree. Burke seemed like that type to flout his accomplishments. In reality, he should have.

 

Despite lousy ride ops, Premier was my favorite SF Era.

I don't think there was a sinister plot aimed at Geauga Lake by Kinzel per say. It boils down to the acquisition of the Paramount Parks by Cedar Fair.

 

When Cedar Fair took on the debt from acquiring the Paramount Parks, decisions regarding Ohio had to be made. Cedar Fair could continue pumping money into the Aurora Park, or invest at the much more promising (and newly acquired) Kings Island. I'm not sure what the profitability and attendance ledgers were between the two Ohio Parks, but I would imagine Kings Island required the least amount of new CapEx and drew better crowds. Operating 3 parks in Ohio wasn't something Cedar Fair wanted to justify. Why spread customers and capex across three properties, when you could move them to the other two? Geauga Lake's fate was sealed the second Paramount Parks / Kings Island deal was finalized.

 

The only "conspiracy" I can see here, is Kinzel's refusal to sell Geauga Lake. IIRC, the parent company of Kennywood was interested in purchasing the entire 400+ acre property. At least, those were the rumors at the time. Kinzel probably decided blocking a competitor from the Ohio Market, (and re-purposing those expensive rides Six Flags installed) better suited Cedar Fair's bottom line. Kinzel could then sell the property to some developer for an even higher price, making the park acquisition a financial windfall for his company. That obviously failed.

 

It's really sad the post 9/11 recession forced the sale of Six Flags Ohio. It's probably even sadder that Busch failed at acquiring Geauga Lake from Premier Parks. Both properties might still be operating today.

Anyone know the status of Stinger? I just realized that the park's history page has omitted any reference to the ride.

"Demon Drop" isn't listed either. More than likely, it's an oversight. Perhaps park management wishes they could forget them.

The best thing sky screamer has going for it is at night with the lighting package. I wish SFGadv started over hauling the parks lights on everything, from rides to food stands, to the ques, to all lights around the park. I was at the park the other night, and lighting is terrible around the whole park except for the sky screamer. Ka has ZERO lights in the que where the switch backs are, that's so damn dangerous. I even heard a few women make comments on it how unsafe it was.

 

I agree with you on this. So many areas of Great Adventure are simply dark. Not just by the lakefront either. The bathrooms across from the Skyway sleds in particular are bad at night. Thank God nobody has been seriously hurt in the park recently.

 

Great Adventure needs so many things, but nobody ever seems ready to say, "Here's an idea, instead of blowing our wad on a $20 million dollar coaster, let's finally spend the money and overhaul the guest experience". Premier Parks came the closest, but went bankrupt before seeing their plan through.

 

You don't need a billion dollars to build a beautiful theme park. Busch Gardens, Port Aventura, and Parque Warner Madrid (A Six Flags Creation no less!), all did it considerably cheaper. You need leadership with a vision, and the ability to execute a plan. A good CEO knows how to bring the shareholders around.

 

Steve Jobs didn't take crap from shareholders when Apple was in the toilet. He envisioned the company to his tastes, and the rest was history.

Dan, I remember when "The Flying Wave", "The Big Wheel", "Round Up", Enterprise II, "Buccaneer", "Calypso", Merry Go Round, "Monster Spin" and "Gingerbread Fancy" all lit up Dream Street. When I was last at Great Adventure in 2008, it was either blackout conditions or awful street / xenon lighting. Long Island's Adventureland is a more pleasing sight at night than Great Adventure.

 

Looking at Harry's pics makes me wish I had seen Great Adventure in its early days.

I wish Great Adventure still had such vibrant colors and contrast! I never got to see the park this way, as my visits started in the 1980's. It's such a shame Great Adventure also lacks the glowing incandescent lights of years past. Dream Street does not remotely gleam the way it used to. The park was a completely different experience at night.

I think they kept it because it took money to take down.

FTFY.

Ah, ok. Just didn't realize that. I never really dined in the park much. My family usually made the trek to Wawa or McDonald's. My parents didn't want to pay the premium to eat inside the park. With 5 of us, that could be very expensive. We managed to eat for less than $5 per person that way, often less than $15 for all 5 of us.

Honestly, I think the finished product was superior to the concept art here. To this day, I love "Batman The Ride". Never fails to deliver, at least for me.

Did the Dining Pass always expire in September? I see now that Six Flags up-charges if you want it until the end of the season. At this stage, it's a terrible investment at $80. It expires in 2 weeks.

 

The park season pass remains tremendous value if you buy 2. $61.99x2 gets you everything. "Giving Away The Gate" is always nice for us as customers.

http://themeparkmaniacs.com/schedule/2014/august/081914.html

 

I dodnt know how to post a picture, but my friend took this picture today at the park and its on his website. A gun isn't family friendly, but a grenade is. Its very sad to see how SF treats military.

 

I hate when restaurants refuse to admit me when I lack a jacket. Others there aren't wearing one. Sure, I was offered an option to get one, but why should I? Private enterprises should accommodate my wishes. How dare they!

 

Seriously, I am starting to believe this is as much about your personal ideology, as it is this person being denied admission. Six Flags should apply their standards evenly, without question. Even if they did 100%, I would wager you still found fault with this particular instance. Six Flags Fiesta Texas has also denied admission to patrons based on t-shirts. It has been documented in the news. Where is your outrage for that? While I would have provided a free t-shirt to Mr. Alejandro had I been park manager, was it so awful for him to simply change it? Sounds like someone making a mountain out of a mole hill to me.