SFKK to become just a waterpark?

After the 1998 season (under SF management) T2 was painted black and was to become Batman and Chang was painted green and was to be The Riddler, but then the name changes and theming never happened. Of course they did go ahead and change Hellivator to S:TOP, but that's not an issue anymore.

Wasn't the stadium originally built to be a Batman stunt show?

I really do not believe this park will close. I think this park does well for the chain, and if nothing else they stay pretty consistent. I've made 9-10 trips to the park over the past two seasons ,(keep in mind I live in Dayton, OH), and I've never ran into a day where that park was packed to capacity, nor a day when it was empty. They are consistent with being moderately busy. They do good for themselves down there, even after such a horrible accident as what took place last season.

SF may eventually drop the park, but it'll reopen under new ownership. Even as much as it boggles the mind at times, that park seems to be a draw.

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Spinout said:

I went to the website, and general admission is $39.99. I have no idea what you are talking about for $26.99.

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Read it in this article. It states 24.99, even cheaper.

Well again, after the Geauga Lake blindside, anything is possible.

My advice: just enjoy things while you have them. Tomorrow has no gaurantees.

Is anyone able to cite any real sources that indicate that SFKK is indeed a "cash cow"?

I don't doubt that the park could be more profitable than some of the megaparks that struggle with attendance (*ahem*SFMM), but it's still a severly underattended park for its size.

-Nate

They've been planning this all along! It's a conspiracy!

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Chitown said:...Pricing is reduced to 26.99 for one day admission.

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I cannot find anywhere on their site where they are selling one-day admissions for $26.99. If you buy on-line the adults are $34.99, and under 48" is $24.99, but that the best I can find.

If you can tell me where to get 'em for that price I'd be interested to see if you can use other deals with that price. Oscar Meyer's Lunchable meals have coupons for free childrens admission & $10.00 off for adults when purchsed together.

FYI, those coupons are good through October 14th, are not good toward season passes, and are not good at New Jersey Safari or on 3-park combo tickets. Which isn't Great Adventure the only 3-park combo they have anyway?

It's only $26.99 (or $24.99?) if you bring a specially marked coke can, or purchase tickets online. Otherwise, the prices are remotely the same...

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coasterdude318 said:
Is anyone able to cite any real sources that indicate that SFKK is indeed a "cash cow"?

I don't doubt that the park could be more profitable than some of the megaparks that struggle with attendance (*ahem*SFMM), but it's still a severly underattended park for its size.

-Nate

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I question that as well. I think I read an article that the money makers are the NY/NJ, Chicago and San Francisco Parks.

There's a difference between "making money" and "profitable." One needs to take into account operating expenses and other overhead. Sure the big parks in Chicago, NJ, etc take in more money...but my sources have always told me SFKK is one of the most profitable parks in the chain, more-so than the larger parks.

I still have trouble believing that. Given that the park is among the lowest-attended parks in the chain while its operating expenses should fall somewhere in the middle (judging only by size and number of attractions), there's no reason the park should be significantly more profitable than others unless per caps are unusually high in Kentucky. That's especially true when you figure the revenue they lose in parking fees.

This isn't aimed at you Moosh, but it just seems like everytime a Six Flags park gets criticized, there are people there to counter with, "But it's the chain's cash cow!!" I'm just waiting to see some evidence of that.

-Nate

Woah! Wait a minute! Twisted Twins will be removed? I really didn't see that coming. I thought they would have refurbished it before removing it.

I personally think the park does good. I know it gets a lot of guest from middle Tennessee and all around Kentucky. That's one of our main parks to go to here in TN other than SFOG and Dollywood.

SFKK has the potential to be a really good park but SF has to get on it... and soon! I wouldn't be surprised if SF sells KK though. If they do hopefully the new owners can turn things around and make the park way better.

Also, I totally agree with Floorless Fan on the "abuse" of Thunder Run for the last few years. That's a really good roller coaster, but they don't treat it that way. That coaster is in need of some major work!... not to mention the long wait it always has because of one train operation.

^The Twins haven't been removed. But rested assured, they will be...(soon).

^And that area turns into waterpark attractions. Save for Mile High Falls which my guess will be a part of that expansion since it is a water ride.

So allow me to be greedy for a minute...if Chitown is right, who has dibs on Chang? LOL

Looks like BatwingSFA'll finally get the new coaster he's been whinning about for years, lol ;)

SFKK might have one of the lower attendances, but look how much money they put into that place! They don't spend $15 million on coasters there. They've spent very little money there actually. Chang, Twisted Twins, and all the "major" stuff was really there before the park was owned by SF.

The fact that they don't own the land the park sits on also makes it interesting because they can't "sell" the park for real estate. I think they might even have a 50 year lease or something.

I think if you go back and find some old financial reports from SF then you'll see that they even mention SFKK as a strong performing park.

How often new rides are added to a park tells me very little about how the park performs financially. On one hand, if a park is consistently a strong performer, there's little need to dump major additions into a place that's already drawing crowds. On the other hand, it's stupid to build and build in a place that always underperforms no matter what is added. It seems to me that SFKK most likely falls into the second category (evidenced by the fact that they've added a bunch of cheap new/used rides in an effort to raise attendance without overspending), but I don't have solid numbers to back that up.

That said, I don't believe I've ever read a report from Six Flags corporate (especially from a few years ago) that listed specific parks as strong performers. In all honestly, I'm not sure it's even possible for a park the size of SFKK to be considered a "strong performer" when it can't even draw more than a million guests each year. And if it's doing so well, why close off entire areas of the park and begin removing rides?

-Nate

Chi is thinking ahead. :)

Looking at trends, evaluating possible scenarios, and gazing THRU the crystal ball. Best topic I've seen in awhile - makes me a little sad I wasn't around for the first few hours (or even days, LOL) of this particular conversation...

The expansion of the waterpark would be a good idea, but it has to be done a certain way. I don't think it would be good to just remove TT and just start building numerous slides and water attractions around MHF. There needs to be some themeing and SHADE!!! SFKK is basically a park built in the middle of a parking lot lol. It is sooo hot there and expanding the waterpark would be a great way to cool off.

As for the possible removal of TT, there needs to be some other kind of roller coaster to take its place ASAP! That's two roller coasters that will be gone and although it's not one of the best roller coasters, the locals including some here in Nashville really like that roller coaster.