Six Flags needs good weather for good financial results

Those of you who were pronouncing the company as destined for bankruptcy should read this, especially the part about cash flow (which, as I've been saying, is overwhelmingly positive).

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

And I have noticed larger than usual crowds at the Six Flags Parks I've been to.

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Somthing Wicked This Way Comes...

I wonder how much they paid those analysts. The next thing they will discover is that ski resorts need cold weather and snow for good financial results.

This is good news for the company however I didn't like the part about most of their cash flow going towards debt reductions,if that happens then it looks like 2003 will be much like 2002 with very little in the way of expenditures going towards new attractions for most of the parks in the chain.

And? Did you think that expansion and spending would continue at the previous ridiculous rate forever? Sooner or later, they had to sit back and retire some of their debt and reap the benefits of previous investment.

Six Flags can't operate a business on the same finanacial plan that so many americans try to do- max out the credit cards, and when they're all full, go get some more credit cards to max out.

No, they actually plan on paying it back, which is good business. Their cash flow is more than enough for them to put most of it into debt reduction and still have a good chunk left over for investing in infrastructure and new rides.

But this should hopefully put to rest those who said that Six Flags was going belly up because of their debt. Sorry anti-SF'ers, but they're still going to be around.

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Sometimes it's up. Sometimes it's down.
But with God, life is one thrill ride that you'll never regret being on.

The article said:
Six Flags rarely raise gate ticket prices, which
make up a small portion of sales, analysts said.

This is news to me. IS most of the sales from parking, season pass, food, games, up charge attractions?
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AC?, RB?, MF?, DD?, PR? Who can keep track of it all?

AA, I would believe so. That's why so many of the park chains so heavily promote the discount coupons.
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B&M vs. Intamin? CCI vs. GCI? Who cares! They're all fun!

Ticket sales made up 55% of revenues for 2001 while inside park activities accounted for the remaining 45%.

"We also intend to continue the addition of the rides and attractions and overall improvement of our parks to maintain and enhance their appeal, although the level of our expenditure in this respect is expected to be lower in the next several years than had previously been the case."

Above from annual report.

2.2 Billion in long-term debt!! Their balance sheet looks worse than their parks. I do agree with the notion of retiring some of that debt before they start wasting more money on rides like X that break down all the time.

" I do agree with the notion of retiring some of that debt before they start wasting more money on rides like X that break down all the time".

That is a really silly comment. Wasting money? How was building X, a ride that has and will bring more attention to SFMM than any other ride they've ever built, wasting money. Not to mention, S:UF, Goliath, B:DK and nearly every other ride they've opened this year running just fine.

...And as if other chains haven't had the same misfortunes. Perilous Plunge, Hypersonic anyone? *** This post was edited by OutKast on 6/12/2002. ***

And how was X a waste of money? I seem to remember reports estimating the price at $15 million. That's a bargain.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

X is a waste of money because it is just sitting there closed, even off the website. People made plans to travel there (I'm not one of them) just to ride that thing and now they can't. All X is doing right now is decreasing credibility for Six Flags.

It's pretty much par for the course regarding Six Flags anyways. I went to SFNE and had one of the worst days at any amusement park ever...rude people, garbage everywhere. I even saw a fight with much vulgarity between several people without security doing a thing. Do you think that would happen at Disney or Universal?

Easy solution, don't go. Then we won't even hear from you in these sort of threads because you'll have no interest right? Uh-huh...

While I do think SF is responsible for most of X problems, to write off a coaster as being a waste of money becuase they've closed the ride to fix it really to me strains your credibility more than Six Flags. People have such short memories. How many other rides have gone down at one point or another, only to re-open and run fine? Or does your crystal ball work better than mine?

You've obviously pre-determined X's fate...

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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?

OK, I have to ask again. How is SF responsible for the problems with X? I know there is speculation that they rushed Arrow to get it in 2001, but shouldn't some of the blame lay at the feet of Arrow? I'm sure, at some point, someone from Arrow told someone from SF, "We can do it!" or SF would not have agreed to purchase. So, why throw SF under the bus because Arrow's design hasn't come through?

I keep hearing all kinds of things about SF doing modifications that weren't good ideas. Is there any truth to that? Beats me, but I doubt very much Arrow has the time and money to be doing it themselves right now.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

Good point. Some of the blame does lie with Arrow. They were a bit too gung-ho to return with a big successful coaster.

The thing is, the coaster is where it is, ultimately I don't care who is at fault, I'm an enthusiast not a lawyer. Just get the coaster up and running as soon as possible. :)

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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?

I was there the first day it(X) opened to the "public" or other words the season pass holders last year.The park itself was completely empty but the queue needless to say was very very slow due to the fact that every single time the train came into the station and went out the "in house engineers" had to tweak the actual seats in order for them proceed out of the station. With that being said, I could see what Jeff said being true simply because I saw some of that happening last year and 3 weeks ago when I waited in line for 6 hours!...My co-worker knows an engineer which works @SFMM and he even said the ride was falling apart piece by piece everyday which tipped me off to go ride before they closed the ride down for a while...I'm just curious if this will be another sad case of use, abuse, and toss(drachen fire).
BTW...got some X pics if anybody is interested...nothing special but theyre not the pix everybody has lol.

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Remember The Future?

Darien Lake has to be raking in money. Alough it was a concert day, i was there June first and it was the most crowded i've seen it since Superman opened. There was actually a line for the predator and there was a two hour wait for the sling shot up charge attraction.

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"you give me the most gorgeous sleep that i've ever had and when it's really bad i guess it's not that bad" Underneath it all- no doubt

You want to see crowded? I was at SFA back on the 8th and the place was absolutely packed,just read my trip report,I know it's in there somewhere.