Shapiro's SFKK visit

Rob, your points taken, But SFKK got to the point that it didn't care about security, service or if you came back. Not everyone but when you walk up to the pizza window and someone the person stares at you in a What do you want? with attitude. Well, You get the picture.

Chuck, who's found many nice employees there also, It's the problem ones that make me want not to revisit.

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RatherGoodBear said:
We won't nickel and dime the few thousand people who climb the wall, we'll just nail the 850,000 people who use the parking lot.

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And it's brilliant!

Hell, I say jack up the gate another $10 and make all attractions in the park free with admission. (go-karts, skycoasters, rock walls, etc) Then turn around and sell the sh*t out of the fact that once you're in the park everything is included.

These guys are shrewd. Shrewd is good. :)

And I completely agree with you. SFNE was a dreadful experience because the park didn't seem to care if we were there or not. And that is something that has to be addressed. In fact, it should have been addressed years ago. A guest has to feel welcome on all levels otherwise he's not going to return, it's as simple as that.

Amazing it took so long for someone to realize that AND do something about it!

A few thoughts, for an average park goer the $3.00 charge does make a psychological difference. Think of the 40 year old father or mother who has not interest in coasters and has spent $40.00 a person to get into the park so his son or daughter can ride. When the kid says "I want to go on the rock wall" having to either say not or shelling out an extra $3.00 makes the person with the wallet feel ripped off. Shapiro is probably taking on from Disney. The Disney philopshy is that (if I'm not mistaking) if one has a good time they won't mind insane admission prices. Shapiro probably feels the same way. If the families leave the park and everyone is happy, they will come back. If they spent a lot of money and had no fun they wont't.

By the way, with the go carts, I can not think gas is the big expense. Think about it, even at $2.50 a gallon a full size car can probably go 20 miles. A little go cart can't really use anywhere near $1.00 of gas during a 5 minute run. *** Edited 2/1/2006 9:29:46 PM UTC by DmctNY8***

So far the parks I know Shapiro has vistied are SFOT, SFFT, SFMM, SFSL, SFKK, SFOG, SFGAm. (along with each of the waterparks located by these parks, plus a few other parks, since he is almost done with his tour).

He has stated the same overall message at each of these parks to make the parks more about the family.

But after taking the tour of each of the parks he has stated changes that he wants made at each specific park. Each park is being looked at more individually now, then what they were under Premier, in an effort to make every park better than it is/was.

*** Edited 2/1/2006 9:40:21 PM UTC by SFZIP***

I wonder if Chang will stay the "purple and green" color or will they take it back to yellow! They also need to paint some of the building there too!

As a father of 3 I can tell you that you worry about you family on a ride at SFKK when it's dirty, rusty or you see a ride op inspecting his glasses while the Himalaya is in motion instead of watching the ride.

I hope the changes are for the better. I do remember when Louisville radio/TV stations use to play KK commercials all the time, and now they play PKI and HW commercials....sad!

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Lord Gonchar said:

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RatherGoodBear said:
We won't nickel and dime the few thousand people who climb the wall, we'll just nail the 850,000 people who use the parking lot.

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And it's brilliant!

Hell, I say jack up the gate another $10 and make all attractions in the park free with admission. (go-karts, skycoasters, rock walls, etc) Then turn around and sell the sh*t out of the fact that once you're in the park everything is included.

These guys are shrewd. Shrewd is good.

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Y'know, that's not a bad idea. I say go a step further. You wouldn't have to do it every operating day, but I'd experiment with an "all-inclusive park visit."

Maybe Mondays in July, or some time when the park is traditionally slow. $20 extra to get in, but food, drinks, all rides, everything is included.

Just figure out the average per cap spending and jack the price that much. People will still see it as a good deal.

Now you're thinking! :)

$99 to get in. All rides, upcharges, food/drink and even parking included. Plus, a voucher at the gate that lets you choose an item priced less than $10 from any shop in the park or even two free games or something. (which would clear out old stock or low sellers or get people playing the games)

A family of 4 could get in rides as usual, eat & drink all day, do something like the skycoaster and/or the climbing wall and walk away with 4 t-shirts for under $400.

I like the idea of an amusement park package deal. :)

Why is he touring the parks in the winter when they are closed? Woulden't it make more sense to visit the parks when they are open?

Lord gonchar....

Disney already offers that type of package, allthough it costs a bit more than $99. *** Edited 2/2/2006 2:06:44 AM UTC by crazy horse***

Shaggy mentioned that the "majority" of people in Louisville feel the same negative way about SFKK as he does. While that could be the case, I would like to see the poll or study that shows that. ;) If attendance is 850,000, there must be some people who still like it.

I am from Louisville and I do acknowledge that the park has not been run as well as it should over the last few years. At the same time, I am a season pass holder and always enjoy my visits there. I am hopeful that the new management will do what they say and improve the service to the park. Sure, that article talked about things like making a formerly $3 attraction free and adding more shows, but I am sure there is more to it than that. They must know that service overall needs to improve, and I for one would like to give them a chance to do it. We should give them a year or two to turn things around before giving up on them. While far from perfect, Kentucky Kingdom is my local park and I am not going to give up on it. This is the first time I have heard of management wanting to improve things. I will cheer them on and hope it comes to pass.

Have I had instances of terrible service at SFKK? Of course. Once the guy sitting next to me on Hellavator started smoking a cigar before the ride began. When I asked him to put it out, he refused. When I told the ride operator, named Ashley, she got angry with *me* for daring to complain and simply could not understand why i did not want to be near someone smoking on the ride. Never mind it is illegal and dangerous on a drop tower! (I did report her.) But I have also had bad experiences at Kings Island and other parks. I have also seen great workers at SFKK as well, including a very enthusiatic ride crew at T2. It just depends.

I think this could be a great little park with the right changes and I want to give the new people running Six Flags a chance to make those changes. So at least wait and see what they do before criticizing them based on past experiences... *** Edited 2/2/2006 2:20:32 AM UTC by Mikewhy***

For getting into the company not even a month now, Shapiro seems like he has the right idea. Only time will tell on how well it is executed.

Yeah, I know I misread the article. My bad! ;)

You cant include everything in admission lol.

I say all pay rides should be free. Food should be extra.

Example. eruption at GADV. That ride never has anybody on it? why ? ITs expensive. I bet people would go on it and ride it if it was a free ride.

Stupid stuff liek that. The nyder and shapiro are doing what we have known al la long has to be done.

The problem with most of six flags parks is not the rides . Its everything else lol .

I wonder when he is coming to SFA?

LOL wonder what he thinks about it...BLAH, Ugly...all of the above?

I think that if they paint Chang, it would be pretty awsome if they painted the supports the color of the Mantis at Cedar Point, the spine orange(the color of tatsu's supports), and the rails and ties bright yellow. That would stand out and kinda bring a little "theme" back to the name.

This is encouraging news. I wonder if Shapiro had the same impression that I did...

I wrote:

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Kentucky Kingdom seems to be in better mechanical shape than it has been in for years, but at the same time it is really looking shabby. It desperately needs an army of pressure-washers to come through and blast dirt out of every corner of the park, followed by a battalion of painters to put a fresh coat of paint on anything that doesn't move and a lot of things that do. I kind of like the jungle effect of some of the landscaping, but there are areas where it goes too far and just needs to be trimmed back. The rides that are running are running pretty well, but right now the park just looks like nobody cares about it. And I hate to see that. That's how millions of dollars of capital expenditures get blown away just because without regular maintenance, just through neglect, the equipment falls apart. Mechanically, they seem to be trying to avoid that fate (well, except possibly on the duelling coaster), but through a layer of dirt and grime and peeling paint, and long-fading color, it just looks like Six Flags simply doesn't care about Louisville. And I can't help but think that Louisville deserves better than that.

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Oh, and they really should replace that awful Himalaya. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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majortom1981 said:
You cant include everything in admission lol.

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Sure you can.

Many parks include parking costs in the admission. They then turn around and call it free parking.

A few parks include drinks in the admission. They then turn around and call it free drinks.

Heck, one park even includes free sunblock. :)

According to Crazy Horse (a few posts up) Disney already does this sort of 'all inclusive' thing.

You can include whatever you want. You'd probably be surprised at how many people would bite at such an offer.

Why replace Himalaya? People LOVE Himalaya! I think they just need to fix it up a bit.

Replace the Himalaya. Either that, or...
o install wheel covers
o install toe fences
o install canvas between cars
o redesign the lap bar latch to get it out of the seat
o remove the individual seat belts (WTF is that all about?!)
o increase the speed to 15 RPM
o paint the whole ride

I think it would be simpler to just replace it with the Mack or even Majestic/Barbieri version that is a much better design "out of the box".

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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mudinthevayne said:
I think that if they paint Chang, it would be pretty awsome if they painted the supports the color of the Mantis at Cedar Point, the spine orange(the color of tatsu's supports), and the rails and ties bright yellow. That would stand out and kinda bring a little "theme" back to the name.

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Don't worry, they WONT be painting Chang to match its little sister ;).