Just for fun

Ive been thinking about this for awhile now and was wondering what everyone thought. Lets say you won/inherited/earned an extreme amount or money, like over 100 million. Do you think any major park corporation would be willing to sell an individual park. I usually use SFGADV since its so close to me. How much, in your opinion, would a major park cost and would they sell?

P.S. I always envision buying SFGADV and expanding like crazy. Part of my plans involve opening the worlds largest paintball fields.
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Shop @ www.countypaintball.com "Paintball should be fun, not expensive"

i'm guessing SFGADV costs above to $250m... this topic has been said before and all... but things do change, anyway i think even the smallest parks you think would be cheap arn't.

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Colossus [1]
Nemesis: Inferno [6]

In addition to all the capital, in the park, GAdv. is a money maknig machine for SF. It'd take a lot to make them part with one of their sure fire parks in the black.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

So I guess Andy your saying they wont sell. I beg to differ. I think you flash enough cash and they will. I agree though that its going to have to be alot.

UK nemisis. I know that Cedar Fair bought Dorney Park for 42.5 million. That was a few years ago, but with Dorney's additions I dont think the park would go for much more than 100 million.
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Shop @ www.countypaintball.com "Paintball should be fun, not expensive"

Of course they'll sell. I mean if you offered $20bill of course, they're going to sell. I mean for GAdv. the capital alone for the rides has got to be upwards of $100m, let alone land, reputation, etc. etc. etc.

What I am trying to point out though, is that even with all the tangible costs of the park, you're still going to have to much higher because it's the backbone of the Six Flags chain. It's like trying to buy the star player from a sports team. Without GAdv., Six Flags will have a much harder time turning a profit every year.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

I wouldnt go with the analogy of the star player from a certain team. Every year there is atleast one block buster deal in any of the 4 major American sports. Personally I think it would be harder to acquire SFMM, rather than GrAdv.

Granted SF would have a much harder time turning profit, but they just made say 200 million or what ever the selling price was. Take that money and put it one of your other parks and you have a guaranteed money maker.
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Shop @ www.countypaintball.com "Paintball should be fun, not expensive"
*** This post was edited by Sugart 5/25/2003 5:46:20 PM ***

That's not true at all. Look at all the capital that went into SFWoA, and look at how it's figures are still beautifully red.
There's a lot more than just money that needs to go into a park that will make it profitable. Reputation, first and foremost.
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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff
*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 5/25/2003 11:01:31 PM ***

$200 million? You've got to be dreaming. Great Adventure is a huge park, not to mention the safari and Hurricane Harbor.
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If you have a problem with clones, the solution is real simple—Stop traveling.

In answer to some of the debate here, I think you'd be better off going to a park designing firm and customizing your own park with your upwards of 100 mil because what you will pay for SFGAdv will not be a fair price for reasons people have stated.

As for if I've thought about it before and what I would do, yes I have thought of it before. But I don't often think about buying another park. I think about buying used coasters etc., like I think if I had a limited budget and for some reason SFAW decided to sell Batman The Escape, I think that would be an outstanding addition to a starting theme park with a new paint job and maybe retrofitted with newer B&M restraints. However, if I think of possibly buying an existing park, I usually think a very small park with some room for expansion so I could kind of make decisions and not spend the net of the money on just purchasing the park, but also on expanding. That is just what I would do though.

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Warning: I do not think like the average person. My remarks have plenty of thought behind them. Take it for what it's worth, if you disagree, please, feel free to express it, but don't put me down because of it.

Alexander C. Curavo said:
Before buying Geaga Lake in Ohio, I heard rumors about Six Flags offering Cedar Fair $500 million for Cedar Point....Also, has anyone read about the SFWoA semi-failure. Six Flags should have never purchased the park. Geaga Lake and Sea World had combined attendance at least 10% greater than what SFWoA gets on even the best days now. Geaga Lake was a small, family operated park, and should have remained that way,
Sorry for getting a little off track there, but anyway, you can see my point

What an astounding analysis of top-secret insider information! Until, of course, you realize that the company that owned 'Geaga' Lake bought Six Flags--not the other way around. Oops.

For your own sake, you really need to spend less time broadcasting and more tuning in and paying attention.

-CO

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

How much you will pay depends on the baggage you're buying. Visionland went for a little more than $5 million. If you set your sights on the troubled (and independent) you have a shot at walking away with a fixer-upper of a park.

But with Six Flags you're talking about a public company. If the park were to sell one of its marquee parks it would send a signal that the company was dismantling -- or worse.

Unless Six Flags had to cherry pick assets to sell to stay solvent I don't think it would entertain any realistic offer for its main parks. I can see it cashing out of the smaller parks (or even WOA so it doesn't have to play third fiddle in the Ohio coaster arms race) to help pay off its debt but nothing more.

Alexander C. Curavo, if Vekoma is so cheap and crappy, why do they have so many coasters worldwide? How is Vekoma and Giovanola makers of "cheap immitations" when Vekoma's flyers came out first. Giovanola's Goliath is a pretty original design, and a fantastic ride.

If you want to satrt another Six Flags vs. Cedar fair fight, please do so elsewhere.

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SCREAM with me... in 2003!

Legally, a publicly held company has to operate in the best interest of its share holders. Therefore, if you offer them enough money, they would be legally compelled to sell. Of cousrse how much money is "enough" is dependant on many factors. These would include the replacement value of the park (what it would cost to duplicate the park), the profitability of the park, any debts or other liabilities assumed with the sale, and the park's position in the overall business plan of the company.

Soggy said:
Alexander C. Curavo, if Vekoma is so cheap and crappy, why do they have so many coasters worldwide? How is Vekoma and Giovanola makers of "cheap immitations" when Vekoma's flyers came out first. Giovanola's Goliath is a pretty original design, and a fantastic ride.
If you want to satrt another Six Flags vs. Cedar fair fight, please do so elsewhere.
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SCREAM with me... in 2003!

Although the B&M Flyers came out later, they came up with the idea with John Wardley before Vekoma started designing Stealth. It took B&M over 5 years to perfect the flying design, and to keep guests at Alton Towers from waiting too long for a new coaster, they built Oblivion.

I don't think the Giovanola hypers are cheap immitations though. They are great rides and are even a different kind of hyper than the Intamins.

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