Six Flags considers selling more parks.
CoastaPlaya said:
Some better rides would equal better attendance.But 'better' for who?
I personally don't like...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. See, here's where we start going wrong. Better in YOUR opinion (or mine) doesn't mean better for everybody. Which means it isn't necessarily better for attendance. For example...
...Irong Dragon...Did you know 'Irong' Dragon had more riders than Top Thrill Dragster? Or Raptor? Mantis? Wicked Twister? See for yourself. And oh yeah--those 'iffy Sky Buckets' outdrew every coaster but Magnum.
I know that Raptor has had a bad crew through other people. Wicked Twister is only one train. Top Thrill Dragster has a small ride course, and it does break down some. Those Sky Buckets are mostly a transportation for many people. They don't want to walk. Mom, can I go to the amusement just so I can go on the Sky Buckets? No, it's I want to go on the Sky Buckets because I need a rest, and that will get me from point A to point B. That's why the train is also so "popular".
Look at Iron Dragon's capacity. That's why it's so popular. It's a 2 minute ride. Longer rides will get more people because you can circulate more trains. That doesn't mean that more people like that ride other than another ride though.
You can have a walk-on the entire day on a particular ride. Let's say you have 84 people for Iron Dragon the entire day! They can just keep on going that ride because the ride is so long, and they are running maximum capacity. So, it's really a walk-on ride. This is an example of what might be happening.
It's getting more attendance than Raptor which has 800 people in line with an 1 1/2 line with a proposed capacity of 96 even though I have heard that Raptor's employees are really slow. Batman's employees were really slow this season compared to V2's this year at SFGAm. The point is that attendance figures can easily lie.
Sometimes a ride is not used as pure enjoyment, and rather just a transportation just like the train. Magnum has a lot of people per each train. Gemini has two sides with 6 trains. That ride isn't packed when I'm at that park.
Having a high capacity, and people really liking a ride is something else. I don't think that all those rides are people's favorites when they come to Cedar Point. I think they have a high capacity, and that's the reason why they are have a high attendance. High capacity usually means high attendance.
Audioslaved said:
I think if they are going to sell any parks, they wouldnt of be putting money into them.SFMM got Thomas Town and X2 redone, why would they want to sell it. If they were going to sell why not just sell it how it is.
One:they're trying a last ditch effort at attracting guests(hard to do when you add yet another lousy waterslide) & Two:By adding these last minute cap ex items to the parks they're trying to make them more appealing to potential buyers in the industry.
Cedar Point will kill you--and I don't care if you're in the best of shape--you're going to get tired of walking all over the place after a while and we spent a day and three-quarters there.
We figured out it took twenty-minutes at an average walking pace to get from Maverick to the front gate (or vice versa). It's nice to chillout from time to time and rest your feet.
We took the train ride this summer roundtrip. Besides being transportation again, you pass by or through several rides, and there's a great western scene with effects that you go through by Cedar Creek Mine Ride/Millennium Force.
I got my best picture of the first drop/twist under the first drop with both trains in the shot of Maverick from the train, as well as some other great shots.
I also think your debate about Iron Dragon is off as well. A lot of families go to CP. MF, TTD, WT, Maverick, etc. probably don't fit the bill for a lot of those families with young kids, or their parents for that matter. Don't be so short-sighted.
NEVER!!! :)
My favorite MJ tune: "Billie Jean" which I have been listening to alot now. RIP MJ.
1) SFFT has to set their pricing based on the local market. The local economy is strong but is also a lower income community.
2) Gaylord Entertainment has put their purchase of the surrounding resort on hold. I really see that Gaylord is the only player to buy Fiesta. As it is the best run park in the system and a money maker for them, it would be a hard sell. If you lose your "crown jewel" it is an uphill battle and I think they are still conquering the first hill, debt.
Then again, we can only guess because who knows what Shapiro will do next. Which way is the wind blowing today?
That's because single-day, single-park tickets are punitively priced. The LAST thing they want you to do spend a 'day' at the park. They want you to buy a multi-day ticket for far, far less per park, per day.
Yeesh. You couldn't have possibly ever shopped for these things. Really.
-CO
(A man with an actual family of four)
NOTE: Severe fecal impaction may render the above words highly debatable.
Universal is next to free. A week there would cost my family-o-four about $360 for tickets. That's about $13 per person per day.
$13.
You could argue that there really isn't enough to do in those two parks for a whole week, but you can add Sea World and their new waterpark, Aquatica (which looks awesome, btw) to your seven-day funfest for another $340.
Three theme parks and a waterpark for seven days. Come and go as you please---easily enough to keep you busy for a week. Total cost, $25 per person per day.
Disney isn't too much more, depending on how you visit. Seven day tickets for my family would be $855, or about $30.50 per day.
That ticket only lets you go to one park per day. We get the hopping option, but we usually go for 8 days. Our per-day cost: $33 per person.
Remember: the figure of merit for most families is "How much does a day's worth of fun cost?" On that metric, I'd argue that either a Universal+Seaworld week, or a Disney week, are actually fairly priced---not super-great, but certainly competitive.
In comparison, in a week in the Smokies, we spent:
* ~$450 for season passes to dollywood and splash country
* Another $100 total one morning for a horseback ride for my wife and daughter, while my son and I played mini-golf.
* About $150 for Dixie Stampede one evening.
* Another $75 on a day at Ripley's Aquarium.
Total "entertainment" costs: $775, over six days. Or, ~$32 per person per day.
So, tell me again how Disney and Universal are "too expensive"?
Edited: forgot that the Dollywood trip was really six days, not seven.
*** Edited 2/7/2008 2:47:03 PM UTC by Brian Noble***
Total ticket costs: ~$250 for SFFT season passes, ~$200 for 2-day SWSA tickets, and ~220 for 2-day Schlitterbahn tickets. Total cost: about $28 per person per day.
Two days at Holiday World? $30 per person per day.
A day at Kennywood? $32 per person. No multi-day discounts.
So, tell me again how Disney and Universal are "too expensive"?
Getting there. ;)
p.s. Somewhere between Morey's upcharging for younger guests' SPs and LW's "no one under 18 without an adult" - there's a happy medium. SF never did seem to figure out that their marketing toward teens WAS keeping the families away...and so, some more parks will go to "bargain-hunting investors".
If you spend, say, 3 hours in a seperate gate waterpark, the value to you of the POP day ticket to the "dry" park is 3 hour less. If you arrive at 10am and plan to stay until a certain time (closing or 6pm b/c you have to drive home or whatever time) you can only consume X amount of amusement (or "theme" :) ).
While there is some value to being able to choose water rides in addition to "dry" rides, you cannot consume extra--the park closes at 10pm, so, wet or dry, you can only comsume/value 12 hours whether there is one park or two.
This Isn't A Hospital--It's An Insane Asylum!
for less than the price of two days at ANY of those parks, mom can drop her brat off at guest drop-off EVERY DAY for the entire summer
I'd claim that this doesn't make all those other parks too expensive. It makes SF SPs too cheap.
The outlier is, by definition, the exception.
I think where I may have a different take is that I would *never* let you use your season pass for unlimited visits. I'll continue to trumpet for the solutions I mentioned above, and even the MSAP idea, where a SP got you half-price visits all year long. Bottom line, it WOULD cost you, something - parking, admission, whatever, EVERY single time you try to enter my park. Otherwise, I'm just the best bargain in all of babysitting. ;)
Even at Morey's prices, do I really want unattended teenagers running loose in my park? Meh, probably not.
edit: LOL, my html bites... :)
*** Edited 2/7/2008 9:36:47 PM UTC by rollergator***
So there is my response coasterplayahater.
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