Tussauds Group on sale for £500 million

Debt has nothing to do with it. The concern of most people is that they'd hate to see the character of these parks disturbed the way they have so many US parks.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

What characters? Superman and Batman are just fine with me. If you are talking about trash, that's because Six Flags often are short on staffs for them to clean up. At least Six Flags are more colorful than Cedar Fair Parks. Nothing against Cedar Fair, I just like more colorful parks.

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RCT2 recreation of SFNE coming this summer!

Colorful? Have you seen Knott's Berry Farm. If you have ever seen Xcelerator, Boomerang, Perilous Plunge or Montezooma's Revenge (all freshly painted this year or last), you would get what a colorful park is all about.

I guess Six Flags it was colorful ten years ago policy just doesn't do it for me.

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Xcelerator- Put the Pedal to the Metal!

True, Knott's is an outcast of uncolorful parks. Cedar Point's color are boring, but for TTD. That's only good color at Cedar Point.

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RCT2 recreation of SFNE coming this summer!

Not characters, I'm talking about character. Look it up.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

The SF chain is not all that bad, but it does have it's downpoints. Parks are packed with rides with no true guest service and satisfaction (getting off of Goliath and seeing trashed scenary). While this is also the fault of the guests, SF seems to understaff at times, or hire employees that sort of wander off.
It also doesn't have any order or theming in some areas which may have had theming once, such as a Busch park.

But they seem to be unafraid of packing on a debt at times, so that's good, but if they were to buy out Tussauds, theming may be sparse and only located within a ride instead of a zone.

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McLaren F1, 0-100 in 6.8 seconds. Take that Superman!

Well, at least Cedar Fair would make sure almost everyone had a Camp Snoopy, S&S Tower, and trim brakes!

I wish a company like Kennywood, Busch Gardens, or HFEC (Silver Dollar City) would be able to buy them as well.

-Danny*** This post was edited by Koaster King 2/24/2003 8:24:17 PM ***

Hey! You forgot to mention the sea of trash cans and at least one seriously defaced wooden coaster.

If you're gonna bash CF, at least bash 'em right. Amateur.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

"seriously defaced wooden coaster"

Not true for Nots. Sorry buddy.

-Danny

The character of the parks is my main concern, as Jeff mentioned. The Tussauds parks have a lot of character and atmosphere it seems, even thought I've never actually been to one. Just from looking at maps and photographs, plus watching videos and such, you can get a good idea about the type of park it is. Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, even Chessington and Heide Park look amazing. Six Flags will take these gems and just turn them into coal in a matter of seasons. There won't be any character left, all we'll have is another sterile Six Flags park with no theming, no atmosphere and crappy guest service. Regardless of how WBMW or the other European SF parks are right now, I can just forsee them taking over and trashing everything.

Justin

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Never look a gift horse in the mouth, because horses have very bad breath

I'd welcome a Six Flags park in the UK, but I'd prefer them to buy a crap park and add four coasters rather than takeover Alton, Thorpe Park, and Chessington.

I don't think Six Flags would trash the parks, most of SFH and SFB are very well maintained and clean. Besides Alton Towers gets very trashy in the summer when its invaded by school kids, and they only add new coasters every four years.

Customer service would concern me more since Tussaud's are *very* good, while I've not seen *any* decent service at Six Flags.

As long as the profit from these parks doesn't end up in SFMM, and they don't rename Nemesis to Batman: The Ride, I'm not too bothered. It'll make my Six Flags season pass even more value.

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Coaster Grotto - Save your Top 20 Coasters and Track Record Online!

I have been loggin onto this site for a while now and i have still to understand the complete hatred of Six flags. The majority of you guys just seem to hate all that they do. Their coasters are crap you say, the themeing sucks, why another clone, they are too much in debt, their guest relations are rude, thats all i ever hear. While i am sure some of this is true in some part, they are also the biggest and best (yes i did say best) theme park company in the world. They have the joint first best park in the world, they have built monster coasters all across the states and beyond and yes they do actually theme their areas. They have saved a number of parks from extinction and turned them into viable profit making parks.

I find it difficult to believe that the you so called enthusiasts put the company down all the time. Trading has been hard in the entertainment industry as a whole at the moment, yet they are still building new rides to satisfy your needs. And lets not forget that Six flags is an American company and it is very unlike you Yanks to put down one of your own companies, very un-patriotic of you.

lets get to them buying Tussauds (as i am sure they will). I am english and think that it will be the best thing to happen to british theme parks in a long while. Tussauds have done a great job, their yearly figures prove that, and Thorpe park will soon be an excellent park, but and there is a big but, they normally only build a big coaster every 5 yes 5 years. That is a long time in between big rides, yes they have been great, but in between that time all we get are second hand spin and spew rides. Six flags will increase the spending at these parks due to their huge size and economies of scale that they can bring with them.

People who say that nemesis will be called Batman are just plain wrong. The superheroes theme is a very American one, it would not really go down well in the uk at all. We are not huge Batman or Superman fans!!

I say bring on six flags, bring them on. All you six flags haters out there need to chill out a bit and appreciate what they have done do the industry. Do you think cedar fair (another great american company, but with faults of it's own) would have built all their great rides (can't wait to ride Dragster in sep) if they were not being pushed all the way by their competition. I don't think so.

That is my two cents worth, hope i have not trodden on too many egos!!

I am looking forward to my big coaster trip in september when i will be travelling back to the uk ( i live in Sydney) to ride Nemesis Inferno and the rest, then off to Orlando to go to Busch Gardens, IOA and Disney, then to Cedar point for the first time, then to SFMM and if X is not open this time i will scream!! (i have to do cedar point on fri and sat then fly sat night to LA and then MM on sun, What a weekend!)

Thanks for reading this guys, by the way, what is the best Water park in Orlando is it Blizzard beach or Typhoon lagoon?? Thanks

I'm right behind you, gyjdub. I LOVE Six Flags, I don't mind Superheroes themes. You are right that they won't have superheroes themes.

If Six Flags buy those parks I can see them getting bigger every year. Plus more money for Six Flags. If Six Flags buys them then it's doesn't mean that they will rename them all into Six Flags.

Those parks still can have same managers, but manage by Six Flags in overall. With same manager at Alton Towers under Six Flags ownership, we could see a lot more themed coasters for the future.

All of you who hates Six Flags, only because of trashes and clones. Why? Because you want different coasters? Well be happy with what they got. Most of the time them put clones at different places, ex. Scream and Medusa being very far apart. Boomerangs are only problem. But I think they stopped buying Boomerangs and getting more Impluses.

So overall you guys should be happy that there is a company like Six Flags. I'm looking forward for Six Flags Great Escape, if they ever change the name.

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RCT2 recreation of SFNE coming this summer!

I'm glad to hear some more people defending Six Flags!

One thing that everyone should keep in mind is that Six Flags parks in Europe are very different than they are here in the U.S. Having seen Rob Alvey's videos of the European parks, it is obvious that they put a lot more emphasis on themeing and a lot more care into the parks there than they do here. Why...because American teenagers (Six Flags main source of income) don't give a rat's rear about themeing. In Europe the parks seem to be much more family oriented, with landscaping and gardens being as big a draw to most parks as the rides.

Also, while Six Flags may not put a lot of effort into themeing, the parks they own that are already themed well generally are not getting "unthemed". Granted, some of the new rides added may s-t-r-e-t-c-h that theme a bit (well, maybe a lot), but at least they try.

I hope Six Flags does buy Tussauds. And for all the people who complain about Six Flags, I have two words...DON'T GO. It will just mean shorter lines for the rest of us!

gyjdnb: You've got it all wrong. I think I can safely say that most of us only have one problem with about half of their parks: Their customer service sucks. Nobody wants Six Flags to fail, nobody wants to hate on their parks, because the truth is they have some great rides. However, when the other chains, and especially the independent parks, give you a better experience overall for the same drive, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where we're going to take our money.

Patriotism has nothing to do with anything. Have you heard about Enron from that side of the pond? Being an American company has zero to do with anything.

Also, I think you lack the appreciation of what the Six Flags brand means to those of us in markets with a before and after perspective. Sure, I love the new rides at my local park (SFWoA), but the place has been reduced to a plastic lunchbox. I think I could overlook that if they could run the place right, but they don't, so I end up going to CP, PKI and Kennywood instead.

As for you, XFan, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you haven't been to very many parks, especially the smaller ones like Holiday World and Kennywood. When the bar is set that high, you start to look at things in a different way.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Let me say for the record that I don't hate Six Flags. All of their parks have great coasters, and three of the four Six Flags parks I've been to (SFoG, SFGAdv, and SFoT) are very nice parks. That said, the problem I have with the company is that when you compare their customer service standards and management policies to other park chains such as Paramount or Cedar Fair, Six Flags' is usually less than satisfactory.

However, in this case, poor customer service and park management would be only a fraction of my concerns. If Six Flags took over a park like Alton Towers, I would fear that the charm and originality of the park's current themeing would eventually be saturated with the corporate characters and merchandise, and half-hearted themeing, that we've all come to expect from your average U.S. Six Flags park. Granted, the non-enthusiast who's only been to one (or none) Six Flags park probably wouldn't care so much or even notice a drastic difference, but I for one prefer a non-corporate atmosphere that so many smaller, independent parks have.

Let me put this into perspective, if I can. Adventure World in Largo, MD (formerly Wild World) was about 40 minutes from my house, but I'd only visited it twice--once when it was Wild World in the mid-eighties, and once when it was Adventure World in '95. I was thrilled to hear that Six Flags was going to purchase the park in '98, and even though Six Flags America is the flithiest, worst-run park of the Six Flags' that I've seen, I still think it's the best thing that's happened to the park since it began in '85. It's larger, and has much more to offer than during its Adventure World days.

However, hypothetically speaking, if Six Flags were to purchase a park such as Kennywood, God forbid, I would be devastated. Six Flags Pittsburgh would be the equivalent, in my eyes, as a Six Flags Alton, or Soltau, Chertsey, Chessington, et cetera. The point is, all these parks have established themselves as beautiful parks with great rides, but most of all places with a certain charm and originality that should never be altered.

And again, for the record (as well as to emphasize that Six Flags is not the only corporation that I disparage), I wasn't very happy when Paramount purchased Kings Dominion. I've never been a fan of the whole 'movie' theme, and since the transformation the park has lost much of the charm it once had. Although I will admit that customer service has not really changed for the worse.

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-Vater
'These pretzels are making me thirsty.'
Take a ride...

But Vater, you yourself highlight *my* very arguement in FAVOR of SFI.

Jeff stated a comment:

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"The concern of most people is that they'd hate to see the character of these parks disturbed the way they have so many US parks".

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But in this very vein, in what way has SF *degraded* any park? With the possible exception of Elitch's Gardens, can anyone actually say that SFI has made a park *worse* than before it was under the SF Umbrella. I would venture to say just the opposite, that many parks (notably SFA) have flourished with the SF name. As a matter of "preference", I can understand those who want some parks to be basically floral arrangements with scattered rides. I can appreciate the value of having that bit of variety. But what I'm hearing (reading) is that some people actually believe that a park under the SF banner will somehow become less than what is was. I do not think there is evidence or history to support that claim.

Even though I am a huge SF Brat, I would be the *last* to suggest that all of their parks are top notch. They have major issues to work out 'across the board'. But in many instances where people are complaining about how *bad* they are, people fail to recognize where the parks were BEFORE SFI assimilation.

Now, I do not doubt that SFI will put their "trademarks" on any park they own. Yes, you'd probably see a Superman or Bug Bunny somewhere. But in any Disney park you will see Mickey. In any Paramount Park you will see movies. In any Cedar Fair park, you'll see Woodstock. In any Busch park, you will see Budweiser (save *maybe* Sesame Place). If one prefers not to see such icons, I can understand but respectfully disagree with that arguement. But to suggest that somehow the parks will be "wrecked" under SFI rule is absurd.

lata, jeremy

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"Life *is* pain, Princess. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something."

See, it depends on what you consider "degraded." There are so many subjective ways to describe it.

My angle is that I find a lot of value in having a "traditional" look and feel to an amusement park. That doesn't involve having rides named after Superman and Batman, with Looney Toons characters running about. That's exactly what Geauga Lake was turned into, and while I enjoy the rides, I can't say that the park is better for it.

Can you honestly say with a straight face that a Kennywood or Holiday World would be "better" as a Six Flags park? That's a hard case to make.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Exactly, Jeff. And that was my point--Six Flags may have made a better park out of a mediocre Adventure World, but we're talking Alton and the like here--parks that don't need improvement, least of all from Six Flags Inc.

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-Vater
'These pretzels are making me thirsty.'
Take a ride...

Jeff, I know you have alot of enemies on this site but as fellow Ohioan I genrally 100% agree with you on your views of the Amusement Park Industry.

First, I doubt all of you want SF to drop a massive wad of cash on theme parks not even close to you. That chunk of change if properly spent could bring vast improvements to those SF that need it here.Cough....WoA..Cough

Second, as a Sanduskian, I think it time CF went International. These parks are proably the closet to a CF park in Europe, and they even contain themeing that is 100% better than CF has ever done.

Third, look at the SF stock price and the fact that they had problems lending money just to build 3 coasters. If I was bank I would not lend them my money, especially in an economy like this, just look at the annual reports for the last 10 or so years.