GAcoaster Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 Just an FYI- I was just getting a status update from the park and a few rides today (and yesterday) were down for a couple of hours due to heat. Not that they broke don, just that the seats got too hot from the sun and were burning people's butts. Normally it's just a couple of the kiddie rides that have that problem (Canyon Blaster and Ranger Pilots) but today it was also Jolly Roger that was affected. As you can imagine, Hurricane Harbor has been drawing HUGE crowds the past few days. Way to go HH!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted July 10, 2010 Report Share Posted July 10, 2010 JUST AN FYI-- Fireworks are canceled for tonight (July 10th) due to weather. Glad I checked before heading out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnerleroy Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 Am I the only one who noticed that Great adventure's opening day was July 4, 1974, or 7/4/74? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Since Weber is moving SF HQ to Dallas, does that mean GADV is no longer the so called flagship park? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Not at all...in fact the changes in plans and priorities for 2011 definitely show he thinks GA is the MOST important park in the chain. It shows he's also a lot more about smart decisions than looking slick. The space they leased in NYC cost a fortune (the costs of several new attractions each year). Texas is cheap in comparison, and the central location makes more sense for the company as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted July 16, 2010 Report Share Posted July 16, 2010 Not at all...in fact the changes in plans and priorities for 2011 definitely show he thinks GA is the MOST important park in the chain. It shows he's also a lot more about smart decisions than looking slick. The space they leased in NYC cost a fortune (the costs of several new attractions each year). Texas is cheap in comparison, and the central location makes more sense for the company as a whole. Agreed regarding closing the New York Offices. It makes little sense to continue leasing space in NYC offices with ridiculously high rent costs. Six Flags already leases space in Dallas, TX with staffing that could assume lots of redundant positions. Where additional staffing is needed, new employees can be hired at lower salaries from the local labor force. Even in the Premier Parks years (the apex of Six Flags's spending), the corporate offices were largely in Oklahoma with a small smattering of people in Parsippany, NJ. Why Six Flags doesn't move the headquarters onto an existing Six Flags property escapes me. They already own the real estate, and can write off the leasing fees in a similar fashion (theme parks are operated by a subsidiary allowing this). Al Weber is all about dropping the "interim" from his title. Despite moves he's made that have me cringing; this decision is easily correct. I'm awaiting his first conference call before I anoint him Mark Shapiro II. "Flagship" status has more to do with revenue and profit streams. The Dallas move doesn't change this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddyChrist Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 There is a lot of infrastructure in Texas already, so uniting the company in one location is the best thing that can happen as it doesn't spread out resources at the corporate level. I'd love to see what Premier started in '05 with the Golden Kingdom finished by the new team. In order to do that, a lot of debt still has to be taken away. If Weber pays down the debt to a more manageable level, perhaps more elaborate additions and revamps could be possible. As for the cutbacks in hours, it saves a LOT of money. With the increased snow in the winter, many schools were staying in session a week later than usual. But, the staffing budget still accounted for those groups being out of school and coming to the park. When the budget is for 18,000 people and only 11,000 come, the extra staffing isn't needed on those days. By taking the staff off of the payroll that day, the park saves a lot of money. And it's not only in staffing to, but we also save in foods (spoilage), electric, and materials. By saving money in these areas, it means there is more money for paying off the debt and for new capital additions. Under Shapiro, he would take out or close rides as ways to save money. Staffing is one of the most expensive things for a park and if you can ease its impacts on finances by making calculated cutbacks in certain areas, you can do a lot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Six Flags's debt should be quite manageable at this point. The receivership to my knowledge has secured enough credit, and the current IPO should have raised further capital. Cost cutting at this point is about Al Weber trying to drop the "interim" from his title, as well as impressing investors. The problem presented here is further diluting what is already considered a watered down product. Six Flags has to discount the hell of its parks, because few people in their right mind are willing to pay full price for their product. The fact Six Flags hasn't so much as hinted about possible CEO candidates concerns me. Is the company doing its due diligence in acquiring top tiered talent with fresh ideas to move the company forward? Is the corporate culture so fractured, that no executive wants to sully their reputation taking on what has been a mostly troubled asset for decades? An executive from SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment seems like a natural fit. Both companies operate themed parks with an emphasis on animals. You don't even hear about one of their junior executives willing to prove himself by taking on the helm of Six Flags. Even former Cedar Fair COO Jack Falfas seems like someone you have on a short list of must interviews. Sadly, I wanted to like Al Weber. Currently he's nothing greater than "more of the same". Looks like we'll see another ownership change soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 It was crazy at the park tonight, around 9:20 pm a small huricane rolled through the park for about 10 min, i havent seen rain like that in years, i was at eltoro and could see the lights to the parking lot slowly fade to black as the wall of watter rolled in, the rides literly closed down about 2 min prior to the wall of water,once the storm passed got 6 rides on el toro and all the park was empty, traffic was light on way back here to Sayreville, it was fairly crowded at the park but the lines for all the coasters were short, i walked on Nitro and batman the ride, walked on scream machine, ka had a 10 -15 min wait, el toro was about 5 min, rolling thunder had no wait, i think superman was the longest with about half hour since it takes forever to load and unload to dispatch trains, good night for the park, hoping SNL goes off tomorrow and getting a few more rides on GASM too, then Sunday ill ride GASM alot to send it off, wish i could stay till park closing but gotta pick up people from airprt around 10:30. so ill be sending off gasm around 8:45 myself, i did notice that they have the park crane stationed right under the #2and #3 loops, i wonder if the park is planning on saving some cash and disassembeing most of GASM on there own to save money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 Agreed regarding closing the New York Offices. It makes little sense to continue leasing space in NYC offices with ridiculously high rent costs. Six Flags already leases space in Dallas, TX with staffing that could assume lots of redundant positions. Where additional staffing is needed, new employees can be hired at lower salaries from the local labor force. Even in the Premier Parks years (the apex of Six Flags's spending), the corporate offices were largely in Oklahoma with a small smattering of people in Parsippany, NJ. Why Six Flags doesn't move the headquarters onto an existing Six Flags property escapes me. They already own the real estate, and can write off the leasing fees in a similar fashion (theme parks are operated by a subsidiary allowing this). Al Weber is all about dropping the "interim" from his title. Despite moves he's made that have me cringing; this decision is easily correct. I'm awaiting his first conference call before I anoint him Mark Shapiro II. "Flagship" status has more to do with revenue and profit streams. The Dallas move doesn't change this. I always thought it was a waste of mony having SF HQ in New York where rent is so high. Even Philly would have been a better choice for a company low on cash. BuddyChrist, I was told many times years ago on another GADV forum that the park always calls in all of their employees everyday the park is open. That they do not tell employees to stay home so they don't have to pay them that day. Supposedly it was park employees that told me this but being the internet they could have been lying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddyChrist Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 (edited) ^Maybe a few years ago that was true, but not this year, we've been doing it often so that we're not overstaffed for slower days. Looks like we'll see another ownership change soon. See, that's what I'm thinking too. A lot of this seems to be dressing up the company for a sale. With the company out of Chapter 11, there's a lot of fluidity with many of the old restrictions now gone. If the current owners can build the company into a profitable enterprise, then they may find some willing buyers. My only fear is that talk of a sale may fracture the new board and lead to another shareholder vote, killing any confidence in the brand in the business world. Edited July 17, 2010 by BuddyChrist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Tracy Morgan from 30 Rock was in the park on Tuesday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 This is from the Facebook page today Six Flags Great Adventure Rumor has it that Nitro will hit its 1,000,000 rider of the season sometime tomorrow afternoon, early evening. P.S. The millionth rider will get a nice little gift package:-)about an hour ago I wanna be # 1,000,000! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 (edited) Tracy Morgan from 30 Rock was in the park on Tuesday There's a lot of women in that park. Did he get everybody in there pregnant? (Before you take offense, please understand the "I'm a get everybody in here pregnant" line is a long standing Tracy Morgan Joke.) Edited July 23, 2010 by Thunderbolt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 He mentioned going to "Great Adventures" on Howard Stern this morning! Of course that was right after he said he was going to get Robin pregnant... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 ^lol, thats right Tom, thats how i knew, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 hey, i just saw a set of batman holograms on ebay, from 93, with the BTR logo on the cover, they a good deal for 15$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbolt Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 He mentioned going to "Great Adventures" on Howard Stern this morning! Of course that was right after he said he was going to get Robin pregnant... Every time I hear someone say "Great Adventures", I can't help but laugh. Any word on Angel's due date? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 NITRO hit its 1,000,000 rider today right about 2:30 this afternoon, wish it was me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 1,000,000 of this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted July 30, 2010 Report Share Posted July 30, 2010 KK is testing right now, there were 2 trains in the station earlier tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Ka was down tonight when i got to the park around 7 and it never opened, anyone know what happened, i know to reported iy open around 12 today on facebook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Ka was down tonight when i got to the park around 7 and it never opened, anyone know what happened, i know to reported iy open around 12 today on facebook It was open for a couple of hours but then had to close for seem additional work (fine tuning). It should be up and running again today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Ka was down tonight when i got to the park around 7 and it never opened, anyone know what happened, i know to reported iy open around 12 today on facebook It was open for a couple of hours but then had to close for some additional work (fine tuning). It should be up and running again today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 sweet, ill be there tonight for the fireworks with my son!. he loves watching the people come of that ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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