Six Flags Stock Price

While I largely agree with your point, I’m not sure that “they didn’t understand what they were getting into” is much of an argument in support of Cedar Fait holding some significant high ground in the merger.

GoBucks89:

think it makes sense to expect there to be fewer regional parks going forward

I think this is correct, and candidly, I’m kinda ok with it? I guess that makes me a bad enthusiast, or just old, but what the regional parks have evolved into is not that appealing to me, in the way that it’s the rare shopping mall that interests me. There are some! But the concept went in a direction where going to the park can feel like a chore I have to do in order to ride coasters and eat funnel cakes.

And you can say that yes, I’m old or whatever, but it’s a segment of the industry that hasn’t been able to grow attendance or command higher prices or reliably generate earnings for at least a couple decades.

I’ll miss some particular rides. I’ll miss Cedar Point if it closes (I don’t think it will), but in many ways the Cedar Point I’ll miss is already gone. (That’s my nostalgia to deal with; you don’t have to agree.) I’d like to ride Diamondback and Mystic Timbers, which I keep whiffing on during trips back home. I’d like to ride Mind Bender cuz who doesn’t love a good Schwarzkopf? But on the whole I’d rather be at Waldameer or Knoebels or the Santa Cruz boardwalk.

If any parks would shutter, I doubt it would be the Ohio duo. Those two seem to have a considerable amount of value as a going concern. Magic Mountain seems to be the one that gets brought up a lot, and while I wish no park would have to close its doors, it seems like that park is the shining beacon of never getting things right.

Is it possible that chains like Herschend or even the new Enchanted Parks could take on more debt to fund the acquisition of a Cedar Point or Kings Island, given that they seem to have the revenue to justify remaining a going concern?

I don’t see a world where KBF, CW, KI or CP close, they make too much money. But could I vision SF entertaining selling the rest? Yes, but I doubt it will be all this year. SFMM seems the most in peril given the X2 stuff and its valuable land underneath it.

hambone:

But on the whole I’d rather be at Waldameer or Knoebels or the Santa Cruz boardwalk.

Nothing wrong with that. Why they make different flavors of ice cream as they say. And other people would rather be at Disney or Universal. Or in a national park. On a cruise. Traveling Europe or Asia. Or stay home a stream TV shows or movies. A lot more options now than there were 30-40 years ago. And the demographics aren't in the favor of regional parks.

sirloindude:
Is it possible that chains like Herschend or even the new Enchanted Parks could take on more debt to fund the acquisition of a Cedar Point or Kings Island, given that they seem to have the revenue to justify remaining a going concern?

Cedar Fair did that with Paramount Parks. Not sure other parks will want to do that now (particularly with interest rates "high" (by recent standards) and not likely to come down significantly soon).

Touchdown:

I don’t see a world where KBF, CW, KI or CP close, they make too much money. But could I vision SF entertaining selling the rest? Yes, but I doubt it will be all this year. SFMM seems the most in peril given the X2 stuff and its valuable land underneath it.

I may be nuts, but I don't see a world where any of the parks don't or at least couldn't make enough money to be self-sustaining.

That's a perfectly sane view to have

This seems like the perfect time for a group of C-Buzzers to buy a park. I’m sure we could get one of the lesser parks for a good price.

Who’s in?

Only if we get to rename it Charmland.

The name is usually the hard part, but it seems that is the perfect name.

Our slogan can be “Charmland - it’s on the way to where ever you’re going”

We will need a hotel next to it

And the garbage cans must have flat tops.

Post from the year 2030:

"The only reason those C-Buzzers bought Dorney Park was so they could run it into the ground"

Shades:

We will need a hotel next to it

If it needed a hotel, it would already have one.

I'm in if I can get a written guarantee that I'll be hired as a remote employee for the park at a position of my choosing for a salary no less than what I had before being laid off last November. Totally down.

A year ago, I think Universal Destinations & Experiences could have been a possible purchaser of at least part of Six Flags. I don’t think they would have ever been interested in buying the entire company, but with Universal’s focus at the time on smaller-scale concepts and expanding the brand in different ways—like Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas and Universal Kids Resort in Texas—it could have been an interesting fit.

Buying a handful of Six Flags properties could have given Universal a relatively quick way to expand into additional markets without building everything from scratch. In some ways, it could have almost been a return to the old Paramount Parks model: regional parks supplemented with a steady influx of recognizable movie and television properties. Universal obviously has a huge library of its own IP, plus access to other properties through licensing, so there would have been plenty of opportunities to gradually introduce Universal-branded attractions without trying to turn every park into a full-scale Universal Studios.

There would also have been value simply in the physical assets. Even if they purchased some parks with the intention of closing, consolidating, or redeveloping them, Six Flags has a significant inventory of rides and other equipment that could potentially be relocated around the portfolio. With Comcast’s deep pockets, Universal also would have had the resources to make a deal of that size and then invest in whichever properties they decided were worth keeping.

At this point, though, I think that possibility is pretty much gone. Between the changes happening around Comcast/NBCUniversal, the less-than-stellar early reception around some of Universal’s smaller concepts, and the questions surrounding Comcast’s long-term interest in the theme park business, I just don’t see Universal jumping into a major Six Flags acquisition now.

Coming in 2027 to Universal Studios Ohio: the brand new Raptor pre-show where we have to save Sandusky from invading birds of prey.

I mean, that could work. Does Universal own the rights to the Hitchcock films?

Vater:

I'm in if I can get a written guarantee that I'll be hired as a remote employee for the park at a position of my choosing for a salary no less than what I had before being laid off last November. Totally down.

We're changing the Antique Cars to manuals, right?

Absolutely. Mated to a Ferrari V12. Might need to also shore up that center rail a bit.

Also no central island on bumper cars, and no one way traffic!

If Gonch accepts a role in charge of safety, all seatbelts will go away.