Thunderbolt

I've voted "no" to choice #1 and "not sure" for choice #2. Unfortunately, the receivership has not demonstrated a commitment to improve the parks. Instead, they have decided to cost cutting and improving the bottom line. While returning Six Flags to profitability is imperative, the company has been ran "on the cheap" for the past 5 years. Further efforts to dilute what is already considered a "watered down brand" will only hinder long term sustainability. If customers don't consider your product worthy of a premium price, they won't pay it. "Giving away the gate" has failed Six Flags under every ownership including Premier Parks, RedZone, and I will venture to say this receivership. Premier Parks expanded too quickly, and lost it all due to the post "9/11" economic downturn. When you consider their overall vision for Six Flags however, I do think they would have proven to be the best stewards of the company (customer wise). PKS's plans for Great Adventure and Worlds of Adventure were quite grand (Which is why Dick Kinzel bought the latter park. He wanted Six Flags out of Ohio badly.), and given the chance to see them though; could have paid high dividends to shareholders at this point.

GACoaster, I could not have stated this better myself. Hopefully Al Weber meets the same fate as Mark Shapiro. I just hope the current receivership sells the company soon, to an organization dedicated to running a theme park.

Again, that initiative is predicated on a dedicated and intelligent management team. Outside of the Kentucky Kingdom deal, the current receivership has failed to do anything to grow besides cut costs. Corporate raiders care only about the short term, and that means "slash and burn". Far easier to close and save, than grow and nurture.

Removing animal shows can have a negative impact too. It worked REALLY well at Geagua Lake. Cedar Fair admitted they greatly underestimated the animal appeal, and it played a factor in the Aurora Ohio park's closure. Attendance dropped like a stone, and was largely attributed to the animal exhibits being eliminated. Heck, why not close the Safari too? At best, it's got to be a loss leader. I think Six Flags will be back in the bankruptcy courts again if they keep cutting EVERYTHING in sight without respect to atmosphere. By the way, modern "flats" can be procured for a fraction of the cost. A Zierer "Wave Swinger" can be purchased under $2M, and has a proven record of success. "Flat" rides are indeed hard to market on their own today. If Six Flags took a page out of Busch Entertainment Corp.'s ("BEC") playbook, they would be smart enough to incorporate a few "flats" into a rethemed park section (like Premier Parks did with "The Golden Kingdom" or BEC with "Jungala" and Ireland). You can successfully market a brand new experience. Of course, this takes a dedicated and intelligent management team. Al Weber is obviously not that man, and his appointees demonstrate this.

I'll take the "Temple of the Tiger" show over speculation of a new "flat" ride. Six Flags has demonstrated time and again that these are the first attractions to be closed or removed to save staffing/maintenance costs. At this point, Great Adventure has even less shows than "flats". It would be far worse to lose another GOOD show.

If the park were contemplating the scenario you suggest; I do believe they would have communicated exactly that. Angel Aristone is a PR professional. I seriously doubt she would issue a statement that all but completely ends the show. Considering staff (read trainers) seem concerned for their jobs; that says a lot. You can't simply shift trainers around big cats like rotating a ride operator at "The Big Wheel". Hopefully negative backlash will demonstrate to Six Flags what their Excel spreadsheets can't.

Amazing. Six Flags Management just continues to get worse. If I were Angel, I'd be updating my resume and LinkedIn profile. It seems Six Flags is now in the business of jettisoning working and popular attractions and staff. I'd be worried if I were her. At least we know Season Pass pricing will remain cheap as Great Adventure continues to appeal less and less to non-coaster enthusiasts. At least Premier Parks acted like they wanted to run a successful theme park company.

Six Flags holds IP licenses limited to the Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics properties. "Boardwalk Empire" looks to be an intriguing show, but hardly family friendly.

Temporary or not, it's still stupid. The cost savings amount to a pittance, and would be easily made up if the park made further efforts to attract a broader crowd. Six Flags will continue to be known for its big coasters, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. If management would realize that greater balance would attract the fringe crowd that wouldn't currently step foot into a Six Flags park; it would result in greater revenue and atmosphere. Good theming isn't expensive. Busch Entertainment Corp. presents a great show without capital expenditures on the level of Disney or Universal. They get it and are rewarded with attendance almost equal or greater than Six Flags with FAR fewer properties. The fact Busch Gardens Tampa draws the numbers it does considering its distance from Orlando is a testament quality sells. The stupidity of current management is evident with the removal of Jay Thomas at Magic Mountain. Weber installing "his guys", especially considering some were involved with the failed Hard Rock Park/Freestyle Music Park is incredibly sad.

That is piss-poor decision making by management. It's especially stupid if it's an initiative of local management. In a park virtually devoid of decent shows, losing any more is perplexing. Six Flags will continue to sell (more like give away) Season Passes at ridiculously low prices until they produce a product worthy of a premium. RedZone talked a good game and failed to deliver. "New Management" seems to want to be "PKS-lite" (rides with even less consideration to theming than Burke), which will not help the company long term.

Six Flags was contemplating Great Adventure's outright closure when "Shockwave" was assigned to Gurnee instead. Had the park lost its food license, it would have been game over in Jackson considering all the recent (at the time) issues the park faced. Thank God for Ray Williams! Back on topic, last minute tacked on theming really grinds my gears. While I have no doubt "The Green Lantern" (née "Chang") will be welcomed, it's ridiculous to see Six Flags (or local park management depending on who initiated the idea) take zero consideration regarding theming. Hopefully the park won't simply emulate "The Dark Knight"/"Bizzaro" efforts (or lack thereof) and pretend it's "Disney" quality. The 2011 Season Pass deal with included Season Parking for $79.99 is quite enticing at least.

It's far less expensive to reopen the Bumper Cars where they are.

One of my all time personal favorites as well! It's a shame the ride was seemingly scrapped. Boardwalk and Baseball had a "Calypso" too which I was fortunate enough to ride as a young child. Its theming package resembled the Schwarzkopf spec card Harry posted.

true

That's one way to expand your water park! Flood the place!

Stranger things have happened. Look at all the unsold Atari "E.T." Cartridges and "Apple III" Computers disposed of in the desert. Six Flags's DNA is littered with the genes of rash decisions.

CoasterFusion.com reports Six Flags is simply disposing of "The Great American Scream Machine" in the Ocean County Dump. If that's true, what a waste. I can't imagine any alleged tax credit being greater than scrap value. If the remains aren't being recycled at all, then Six Flags should truly be ashamed. Al Weber is the breath of fresh air Six Flags needs. Sadly, that air is the exhaust of an Elizabeth NJ Oil Refinery. http://coasterfusion.com/page.php?477

Only 2 years later on the "Space Shuttle" site removal!

Indefinitely I would say. As long as "The Great American Scream Machine" remained the rock solid, high throughput, low maintenance attraction its been there's little reason to remove it. At the very least, you would think the ride would be repurposed at a smaller park versus impulsively trashing it. GACoaster suggested the Arrow Megalooper was due for some extensive refurbishment. I would suspect the ride remained structurally sound, so there's little reason not to maintain it. Cedar Fair would have probably sent it to Dorney Park had they owned Great Adventure. Considering "Chang's" capacity, I still think Six Flags over Texas would have been a better choice. Great Adventure would have benefitted more by adding "flats" or an increased ride staffing budget.

I actually wish both "Riptide" and "Freefall" remained. Both attractions were classics. Mark Shapiro ripped them down as fast as possible to save on operating costs. Granted, "Riptide" and "Freefall" had maintenance issues. Despite that, I believe the added experience both attractions offered warranted their expenditures. Then again, an amusement park operator who can't realize the value of the ubiquitous Zierer Wave Swinger remains suspect to me (Disney and Universal are granted exemption). Arrow really did make some bulletproof products ["Log Flume" and "Riptide"], didn't they? They probably should have bought B&M if/when they had the money. And now back to this thread's regularly scheduled programming.

Dozen new Schwarzkopf "flat" rides. Add a "Jungala" style exhibit to "The Golden Kingdom", or a new ride elsewhere in the park?

BuddyChrist, that's my best guess as well. Of course, I do believe Al Weber is also making these moves to strip the "interim" from his title. (Completely unrelated aside: Why the heck can't I get Duran Duran's "New Moon on Monday" out of my head?)

More interesting is John Odum's continued employment with Six Flags. After Gary Story's departure, Mr. Odum was promoted to the de-facto "second in command" sitting directly underneath Kieran Burke in the hierarchy. John Odum has been a Six Flags "Lifer", and must maintain a passion for this company to have remained so long. Questions I anticipate are: 1. How is the search for a permanent CEO proceeding, and who has been interviewed? 2. Do the current owners consider the company a long term portfolio holding, or do they see themselves selling or seeking strategic alliances? 3. How does Al Weber see Six Flags's future? How will he position the company? Does he see Six Flags simply as an amusement park operator or theme park experience? While that may seem like semantics; it's a real difference.

I agree it's not worth the upgrade costs to keep it at Great Adventure. Most of my previous posts laud the Arrow Megalooper's departure. For a park like Six Flags America or La Ronde however, the costs would be trivial for what amounts to a "new to them" marquee attraction. Moving "Goliath" from La Ronde to Six Flags St. Louis or Fiesta Texas for "The Great American Scream Machine" seems like a savvy business decision too. Six Flags Fiesta Texas or St. Louis gets their missing "Hypercoaster", and a smaller park like La Ronde gets a replacement more suited to its status. At this point, it's moot with the "The Great American Scream Machine" moving to that well themed amusement park in the sky. Will the Safari loops be joining its brethren; or will it remain the sole remnants of a once mighty ride?

When did the park raise daily ticket gate pricing to $54.99? Was it early June when the half-price tickets went to $27.50?