Mark Shapiro named CEO of Six Flags, board stops sale

I think you guys/gals are over reacting. I think they will do what great adventure is doing to the whole chain.

Great adventure has been adding things for the whole family starting with the godlen kingdom and now bugs bunny national park.

Just think how much better Magic Mountain would be if they followed what great adventure has been doing.

It honestly sounds like they are talking about magic mountain when they say this.

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I wasn't a enthusiast when Time Warner owned SF. Did an amusement park veteran run the company?

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Robert Pittman was CEO of Six Flags during the Time Warner days. His background was in radio and television. He was one of the founders of MTV.

Larry Cochran was CEO prior to Pittman. He was a graphics designer that worked his way up through the company. He had many years of experience in the amusement industry by the time he became CEO.

"We're gonna unleash a whole new creative energy from this company.......were going to creatively open all rides in all parks and offer good customer service and finally understand that families don't just invest money but also their time."

That should have been the qoute.............this is a 5 year process at least. Marketing cannot replace a good product........bottom line.

i'm worried about the repetition of "attract young families with children" and "not cater to teenagers." what does that really mean? you have a company built on thrill rides with family attractions thown in almost as an afterthought. to really accomplish this is takes more than marketing, it takes substantive change to the offering. let's face it, the family sections in most of the parks are pretty weak since all the money goes to big coasters. that sound like years of new capital geared towards kids and NO new coasters. plus, if they want to push teens away, then we're talking higher prices and possibly the shut down of some rides that attract teens. the new management is not going to want to wait to make a difference, and they can't build new capital very quickly, which makes me think that the fastest way to change the crowd mix is to take away what draws the current crowd.

From the Forbes article that coasterguts mentioned...

"As for a revamped strategy, Shapiro said a priority of the new management team would be to target young children and families and not just thrill-seeking teenagers"

Look at the word "just", indicating that the intentions are not to ignore "thrill-seeking teenagers".

I really do not see SF shooting themselves in the foot by never building another thrill ride. Kid's attractions are not generally as expensive as big thrill rides, so maybe they are just talking about expanding the offerings to kids and their parents before going back to thrills; shift the balance a little more.

There is a non-SF park in our discussions lately that has been having some troubles because of not offering new and exciting attractions for kids. (Nope, not going to say their name, because this topic is not about them.)

I think that what I have heard so far, with the exception of the idea to bury Mr. Six, are just what the parks need to get back on top.

Mini Disneylands...Remember the slogan, "Bigger Than Disneyland, Closer To Home"? That was great advertising, imho.

Edit-added a few more paragraphs (and stuff)
*** This post was edited by dexter 12/14/2005 1:19:52 PM ***

DWeaver said: "Actuallly, Shapiro made a visit to SFMM this past weekend.
I wonder what type of bs Dell Holland fed him, and if he bought it."

I doubt I would buy cash at a discount from *Dull* Holland...LOL!
*** This post was edited by rollergator 12/14/2005 1:08:02 PM ***

i don't think they're talking about adding kiddie rides, they are taking about changing the offering to more of an entertaiment-based experience. think universal and paramount and espn zone. i think they believe they have more rides than they need. i see a partnership with a big family entertainment entity that can give them a supply of new characters each year. maybe the new dreamworks animation studio they're spinning off. that way they can feed each other and the quick serve restaurants can promote the whole thing a la disney, pixar and mcdonalds.

I guess for sure now it's safe to say that a new major coaster for any of the Six Flags parks for the next couple of years is out of the question.

What has Snyder & Co. said ever to make so many enthusiasts say that? C'mon people! It is an Amusement Park. The worst thing that could happen? They focus *More* on Family, Dark, Water, and Thrill/Flat rides, with a coaster here and there. Besides, Aren't coaster contracts usually finalized a couple years before the coaster is announced?

So, you have someone who has been the head of an entertainment company at the head of an...oh...what is it? Oh, yeah, an entertainment company. Perhaps they will focus on in park advertising and franchises in the park. I'm sure they know the current state of SFI, and I doubt anyone is stupid enough to allow what has been going on to keep going on.

Heck, even Burke & Co. seemed to be 'trying', or at least saying they were trying in the last 2 years.

They still haven't mentioned anything about the customer service issue. I could give a crap what they 'add' to the parks at this point. What are you going to do to bring the customer service up to par.

but, tekno, "what has been going on" is the addition of major new capital every couple years or so, which is why i like the chain. i put up with bad service for the coasters. if i wanted good service and bad coasters i'd go to a disney property.

To me, the key in the parks becoming a "destination" is making sure the parks have branded hotels next to them. A couple of the parks are moving in that direction, but they really should make sure that the major parks all have on-site hotels so people have places to stay. If done well, the hotels are attractions in their own right - CP's Castawy Bay, the Orlando parks for example. That's a mjor mistake the prior management made in not exploting their properties to the fullest.

Successful hotels in turn bring in more money, creating better parks. They are going to have to move quickly to prevent some of the parks from being landlocked though, as is happening to SFMM.

Also, to help out the customer service side, it starts with how management treats employees. They should take a look at improving conditions for them first. A happy employee will provide better service than a bitter one.

...And get with the times. A happy employee is not making 7.50 a hour, in 95 degree heat, barely able to pay their bills.

But I certainly agree with you DBJ, it starts at the top. One word I did like that Snyder used was 'energize'. I'm glad he's excited, because that will filter down to the parks and then the guests.

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To me, the key in the parks becoming a "destination" is making sure the parks have branded hotels next to them.

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Yeah, but look at how spectacularly they've failed at the hospitality side of the theme park thing. Imagine them running a hotel where the entire business is hospitality.

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A happy employee is not making 7.50 a hour, in 95 degree heat, barely able to pay their bills.

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I don't buy that. If the pay isn't enough, then why did you take the job in the first place? And on top of that, is it really SF's fault and/or problem that you did?

No, it's not.

As an employee you agreed to stand in the heat and be friendly for $7.50 and hour.

The game is what it is. You either accept those terms and play or you go join in another game.

Well it didn't take long to get rid of Burke's of bio and put up Shapiro's:

http://investors.sixflags.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61629&p=irol-govManage

Also, here is the bio's of the new board:

http://investors.sixflags.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61629&p=irol-govBoard

"As an employee you agreed to stand in the heat and be friendly for $7.50 and hour".

Of course that's a the case, and also the problem. Your only going to get 16 year olds to work under those conditions for that pay, and NOT the mature kind. Your not going to get anyone with actual customer service experience who cares what kind of day you have.

You've been to SFMM, and you know *exactly* what I'm talking about. Compare that to a CP or BGW employee. Those parks aren't cracking any whips. They're providing a worthwhlie work environment, and that costs money like anything else.

I'm not just talking about flat rate pay either. But also incentives, training programs and performance follow ups

*** This post was edited by DWeaver 12/14/2005 7:16:06 PM ***

But consider that BGW is getting a lot of its employees from William & Mary College, and not just the local teenagers with nothing to do for the summer.

I actually think the new board members are showing which direction the company may be moving.

Jack Kemp-former HUD secretary...........If they want to sell some urban parks of for the land, this is the guy you would want. Jack Kemp has an in with big timers in Washington and HUD is always looking for places to have residential development. I don't think folks understand how important this member is and how much insight this gives to the direction of the more urban parks the company owns.

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But also incentives, training programs and performance follow ups

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I agree totally.

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i put up with bad service for the coasters.

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Well, if you like smelling Poo while eating lobster, then far be it for me to tell you what you should like. I just think that stinks...

I-Fan the last time I checked P.G. County had two major universities. U of MD College Park and Bowie State.