Six Flags Exclusive Adventure

But they didn't, which is surely saying something. Why would a park close themselves off to all paying guests to allow for a few guests to pay a ton of money and then not saying about it? Something about that doesn't seem right.

Standard SF "shoot ourselves in the foot" approach if you ask me.

Or as RGB so eloquently put it, "stepping on their d***s. :)

Well, to be fair, does anyone else remember how well Millennium Mania worked out?

Is the right answer, "What the hell was Millennium Mania?" - because I don't even know what that was.

That seems to be the right answer to me, just as, "What the hell is Six Flags Exclusive Adventure?" will be the answer in a few years... if it isn't the answer already.

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*** Edited 9/14/2007 6:37:15 PM UTC by Brian Noble***

Wow!

I guess we have no choice but to assume is was a complete failure, correct?

(probably because it was so ridiculously underpriced ;) )

Am I reading that right? Was it $19 for ERT on five rides, and nothing else in the park?

Yeah, Rob.

$19 for 6 hours with MF, Magnum, Mantis, Raptor and Power Tower.

The common trait I see between the two is scheduling. In both cases (Millennium Mania and Exclusive Adventure) the park seemed to be trying to find a way to use the days that parks are traditionally closed (or slow enough to consider not being open) due to lack of crowds.

Perhaps people don't visit the parks at those times for a reason and nothing you do will pull the crowds?

Well, it was $19 in year 2000 dollars, which is something like $23 or $24 year 2007 dollars.

Interestingly enough, the Friday nights during Halloweekends are $26. It is open six hours. More of the park is open, but not all of it:

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Rides available (weather permitting) on Fridays: Maverick, Chaos®, Witches’ Wheel , Troika, Blue Streak, Midway Carousel, Raptor®, Cedar Downs, Kiddy Kingdom (6 rides only), Cadillac Cars, Matterhorn, Scrambler, Skyhawk, Wave Swinger. WildCat, Iron Dragon, Top Thrill Dragster, Wicked Twister, Magnum, Power Tower and Millennium Force®. All other rides, Camp Spooky and the Town Hall Museum will be closed on Friday Fright Nights.

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And, while admission is not limited, it doesn't really need to be. From all reports I've read, Friday nights are quiet. We're going next weekend to see for ourselves.

So it appears using these "exclusive" days as filler events doesn't work. But the parks don't seem (so far) to want to use a regular day for an exclusive event-- maybe to avoid turning "regular" people away, pissing the GP off, or maybe they're not convinced themselves that they can make as much revenue on an exclusive event as a normal weekend day.

I think many people realize they can hit the parks on days like Gonch showed in his pics and have the same kind of experience SF is promising, but for a fraction of the price. So they pay for cotton candy and soda.

And that's saying something- the parks don't want to take away a regular day and replace it with a high-priced "exclusive" day. Whether its because they're worried about pissing people off or not making enough money kinda supports what I've been suggesting all this time.

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I think many people realize they can hit the parks on days like Gonch showed in his pics and have the same kind of experience SF is promising...

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I don't know about 'many' but quite possibly 'some' have.

I think if people figured it out, then those days wouldn't exist because so many people would be there looking for that exclusive kind of day.

There might be a paradox here that I overlooked along the way and that is the one we're spelling out - that for days when this would be of interest to people (peak days) the costs for exclusivity might be too high, and on days that exclusivity can be bought for a cheaper price that people aren't generally coming out for a reason.

Then again, isn't that just the supply and demand model at it's most basic form? If you want exclusivity on a Saturday in July it's going to be a $400 day. If you want it on a weekday in September it's $100.

Or maybe it's that the GP isn't nearly as obsessed as we think they are about the number of rides they get in a day? Maybe a day at the park is good enough, because the lure of lots and lots of rides doesn't seem to fly well beyond enthusiast-specific events.

Then again...again ( :) ) - that would mean that interest in Q-bot would be pretty low and that's not the case. People do want to ride...or at least not wait.

I confused myself. :)

Lots of variables. It's just a matter of time before someone hits on the right combination.

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Lord Gonchar said:

Then again, isn't that just the supply and demand model at it's most basic form? If you want exclusivity on a Saturday in July it's going to be a $400 day. If you want it on a weekday in September it's $100.

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But this plan pretty much bucks that trend by putting a higher price on a day when demand is low to begin with. Chances are the park wouldn't have been all that busy to begin with.

Maybe parks should set prices based on numerous operating conditions. A mid-week September afternoon would be pretty cheap, and cheaper still if it's raining, while a sunny Saturday in July would be wildly expensive. Maybe that would even out the crowds... or maybe people won't want to make the effort to enjoy the cheap days because they're inconvenient and say to hell with the park?

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Maybe parks should set prices based on numerous operating conditions. A mid-week September afternoon would be pretty cheap, and cheaper still if it's raining, while a sunny Saturday in July would be wildly expensive.

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That's a neat idea...and one that JRS has suggested in the past.

The only catch with the 'stock market' pricing appraoch is the confusion to the public. If you think people get pissed at changes in policy, imagine the reaction when no one knows the price of a day at the park until they get there! :)

Well, it was kinda a tongue-in-cheek comment ;) Then again, if we're going to start pricing the amusement park experience according to some of the rules of supply and demand, we might as well take it all the way! And besides, amusement park guests love the "unknown"- after all, they've been putting up with Kennywood's "mystery" closing times since 1898!

I worked Mantis during Millennium Mania. One train wait was the longest the line ever got. The event was full of coaster enthusiasts and their was a lot of extra time to chat with them. It was quite fun.

Today (Friday, September 14) Great Adventure was closed for a private event. (It says so on thier website).

Today is a day off from school (Jewish holiday) for most public schools in New York City, New Jersey and Long Island.

I would have gone to the park today with my family.

Does anyone know how much it costs to close up a park of that size and to only run it as a private event.

Would they have taken a hit if instead the park was open to all today?

I don't think there are too many companies or organizations today that could afford that kind of cash.

Richie, I wondered that myself. Maybe parks combine a few groups and have them come the same day, rather than have one group with 10,000 people or so. HP could accommodate something like that with the catering areas they have spread throughout the park.

I know Boscov's dept stores used to have a company picnic at Dorney, maybe they still do. They've only gotten bigger since then, more stores, more employees, so they might be able to pull it off. But now, they no longer close the stores like they used to, so not ALL of the employees attend.

Banks might be another group that could pull it off. Plus I don't think many companies foot the entire bill anymore. I think some give the employees free tickets, and let them order tickets for their families at a major discount. Others just offer discounted tickets for everyone, no freebies.

They could have donated the park to a charity for a fund raiser as well, similar to what Kennywood did with the Great Caper.

*** Edited 9/15/2007 3:14:09 PM UTC by eightdotthree***