SFGAdv article with a couple surprises.

This article discusses alot of the same things Shapiro has stated about changes coming to the SF parks. It also features former SFGAm general manager Ron Sevart at his new job in New Jersey.

A couple of things that I hadn't heard before are:

1. Shapiro stating that whenever someone at a Six Flags park has to wait more than 30 minutes for a ride that malfunctioned,they will receive a free admission to come back another day to the park.

2. The proposed 500 room hotel that was to break ground at SFGAdv has been indefinitely postponed.

Click here.

^I was going to buy a season pass this year, but now I don’t need to. I just need to buy one ticket and wait in line for Kingda Ka. That ride breaks down like every hour, so I will get in free for the rest of the summer. *** Edited 3/5/2006 11:39:07 AM UTC by Mtbiker99***

Ahh, But all they have to do is announce the ride is closed and clear the queue before the 30 minute mark.

^That might be considered false advertising in some states. It also will make an awful lot of people angry which is not what Six Flags is wanting to do right now. I doubt that will happen.

Well, so far it has not been advertised. Sure, Shapiro mentioned something very general.
Does he actually mean all those in line, or those stuck on the ride. It certainly is common to clear a queue and or close a ride for a down time. No laws broken there.

Frankly, it most likely will never be advertised. This is something that only those who have been inconvenienced will experience. at the moment it happens, thats when compensation will be given on the spot. Only those involved know about it, and only later will we hear about it when they tell how cool Six Flags was to give them a ticket for thier inconvenience. *** Edited 3/5/2006 1:04:15 PM UTC by calcajun*** *** Edited 3/5/2006 1:09:34 PM UTC by calcajun***

And those in line will be paying a $15.00 parking fee everytime Kingda Ka breaks down, and they have to return to ride it. Snyder has boxed you in any way you look at it.

Have fun with that one...

I'm not surprised about the hotel, and if he could have stopped constuction of El Toro I believe he would have.

I am surprised how much he's softened on his "No more Goliath's" spiel, especially when it comes to the larger properties. Also notice that the quotes regarding the selling off of any properties is not by Shapiro himself. ;)

Although the guy is basically repeating himself after every park visit, he obviously gotten some advice on "dealing with the press 101". You've got to be careful what you say, and you can't make big, bold statements unless you want to be held to it.

Good, hopefully this article quells the (ludicrous) rumors about Magic Mountain up for sale. I have a question though. Wasn't Black the GM of Great Adventure who moved to Great America recently? Who is this Sevart character?

Dweaver makes a very good point. When you return you're going to have to shell out $15. So they're still making money no matter what.

A good idea, but you are boxed in.

Just because you're given a free pass doesn't mean you have to use it. The thing I would be most concerned with is how do you keep the people who procure the free tickets from either giving them to friends or even scalping them for profit. I live 3 hours from SFGAdv and have visited once in 3 years, so i certainly know what I would want to do if I had just left the park with a free ticket. *** Edited 3/5/2006 6:00:09 PM UTC by matt.***

Bear in mind that it isn't all that bad if people give away their free tickets. These tickets will liekly go to folks who wouldn't have come nayway, so now it just gets more people in the gates to buy food, soveniers and parking. I think that this 30 minute deal makesa lot of sense in this context. Last year, opening weekend of Kindga Ka, people waited five hours in line and then the ride broke down and the queue was cleared. A lot of people became very angry, think of how much better these people would feel if they got a free ticekt for a return trip.

Six Flags America is going to go broke if this is a chain wide policy. I think I'll just stand in line for Batwing all day. I'll surely get three of four free tickets that way. :)

Dropping the HOTEL at GAdv?

Sorry, this is WAY dumber than anything he's done so far...look at where the growth in CF's profits has been lately...;)

Pro-fit...that's the stuff you have in the till AFTER paying expenses...:)

The hotel is what PAYS for the new rides, shows, and attractions... )(well, costumes, characters, and apparently maintenance workers)...LOL! Actually, I guess if there's ANY doubt a ride won't run reliably, it'll just stay closed all day... ;)

The no re-entry thing, don't be too surprised if it doesn't come back next year...or maybe even show up at a select park or two this year, since the new management does seem to adjust on the fly....something I find praiseworthy to some degree, since it shows you're willing to learn...but a little more *discretion* ;) seems to have been learned....a good thing, business-wise, WAY less backlash!

Building 20M rides annually to bring in teenagers that AREN'T spending loads of cash on THIER kids, that was disastrous...but fun.

Well, rollergator, I'd rather see any money that would've gone into an expensive hotel go into general park improvements at all the parks. From what I've read so far, they're spending big money on improvements at SFA and SFKK, and this is only the stuff that's been written in the articles. I'm sure there's a lot of money being put into other things that we don't know about yet. I would guess that a 500-room hotel would cost somewhere between $100-million and $200-million dollars easily. I would play you "Batwingfansfa's Favorite Broken Record Song", but you already know the deal:)

Intamin Fan, I really hope that they will spend money at SFA to fix the little things, like fresh paint all around, not necessarily on rides, but fences, walls, etc, like they did at HH last season. A new coating on the concrete in HH will also be a welcomed improvment. and if they make repairs to obvious broken items like gates and fences. I don't care if the have $400 trash cans or $4 ones, so long as they are not overflowing with trash. But I'm thinking that before SF spends a lot of money on SFA, they will wait season or two and see if the crowds come and respond to their new vision for the parks. I just don't see them spending tons for improvements and then decide in few years that the land is worth more than the park.

---

Antuan said:
Good, hopefully this article quells the (ludicrous) rumors about Magic Mountain up for sale. I have a question though. Wasn't Black the GM of Great Adventure who moved to Great America recently? Who is this Sevart character?

---

Tim Black did move to SFGAm for the 2004 season. However, he accepted a position with the Great Wolf Lodge company later that year. For the 2005 season, Ron Sevart moved from SFNE as general manager to take the place of Tim Black as SFGAm general manager.

It seems from what I have read, that the previous SFGADv general manager was just fired by Shapiro, so they moved Ron Sevart to assume that role.

Oh ok...musical GM's...hehe!

I thought last year's GM did a pretty good job in cleaning up Great Adventure though. The park looked a lot cleaner and more landscaped in 2005 than previous years. Oh well.

Hotels may be more expensive than Nitro, but a hotel out in the wasteland surrounding SFGADv, IMO, would bring in infinitely more money...

SF doesn't do ride rotation anymore, just GM rotation... ;)

it's really too bad the old regime didn't hang on long enough to get the hotel built, who knows now if it will ever happen

---

Rescue131 said:
A new coating on the concrete in HH will also be a welcomed improvment.

---

Your going to get your wish, I believe one of the articles about SFA mentioned replacing all of the concrete/asphalt in HH for the 2006 season.