Six Flags to drop Wiggles World and Tony Hawk licensing on attractions?

I think it's time to say goodbye to the Wiggles and Tony Hawk at the Six Flags parks.

Looks like the corporate giant decided to drop licensing to use the brands in their parks. The Tony Hawk Big Spins will drop Tony Hawk from the moniker and will go by Big Spin and all the Wiggles children attractions will be/have been renamed as well.

Though not officially acknowledged, the following is enough evidence to suggest it's happening.

http://www.sixflags.com/fiestaTexas/info/rides_holidayinthepark.aspx

Over Texas and St. Louis have yet to update their information.

Wouldn't be surprised if Thomas Town also got axed and re-assimilated into existing children's areas (Looney Tunes).

A little birdy also told me that Evil Kenevil is on the chopping block as well.

I'd be pretty sad if this were true - they seemed like a really good building block for the former management's master plan.

I guess the current management doesn't see a significant ROI on the IPs.

I believe that this is a very bad move. Parents watch Wiggles and Tomas the Tank on TV with their kids, and then a certain excitement is created when they visit these attractions.

And what teenage boy doesn't look up to Tony Hawk? The guy even has his own line of clothing for sale at Kohl's.

I could see dropping Evil Kenevil as not being such a bad move, because that brand is not as relevant, in my opinion.

Branding at theme parks is great for familiarity. "Hey kids! Who want's to go to Six Flags and see THE WIGGLES!" (YAY!)

Maybe they have a cheaper IP to rent lined up, just like Cedar Fair had when they changed Nickelodeon to Peanuts.

I actually can see the logic in using a license for a few years and then dropping it for two reasons:

1. After the initial interest in the ride or themed area has died off, the value of having the brand decreases. The ability to market it also decreases because odds are, the park has something new to focus their marketing efforts on.

2. Just because they drop the name doesn't mean the guests will no longer make the association to the brand that it once represented. Odds are, they will still call it "The Tony Hawk Ride". It seemed like the majority of guests who came to Geauga Lake in 2004 were still calling the coasters Batman and Superman. Most were unaware of the name change, and hell, it still looked like the same coaster they went on the year before.

LostKause said:

And what teenage boy doesn't look up to Tony Hawk? The guy even has his own line of clothing for sale at Kohl's.

OMFG!! Really?! They should keep the license based on that fact.

In all seriousness, I agree with you. These IPs are pretty valuable, but lets be honest, they're probably an easy target. If the kids have been to the parks before, they're not going to enjoy a ride less because it hasn't got a certain face on it.

Well, brands DO lose their popularity at some point.

But I am under the impression that Wiggles, Thomas the Tank, and Tony Hawk are still rather popular properties, though maybe not as popular as they once were. A child of teen seeing their hero's name next to an attraction is worth a lot, in my opinion.

SFOT's Holiday In the Park line up is revealed on the SF website with the following changes;

Tony Hawk’s Big Spin is now simply called “Big Spin”
Big Red Cars is now listed as “Cartoon Cars”
Big Red Planes is now “Junior Barnstormer”
Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy is now ‘Flying Fruit Cups”
Romp Bomp A Stomp is now “Kiddie Coaster”
And the SS Feathersword is now listed as “Pirate’s Playship”

From Screamscape

Guessing they only had their lunch break to think up these names. Kiddie Coaster? Please...

Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy is now ‘Flying Fruit Cups”
Romp Bomp A Stomp is now “Kiddie Coaster”

Thank heavens. I would have to renounce my manhood if I ever had to say the previous names.

Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy:)

My kids have outgrown the Wiggles but that song still makes me smile.

I think the difference here is that SFI went IP crazy under Shapiro, which isn't a bad thing, but now that the company has settled down, they can get by with 2 major licenses (The Looney Tunes & DC Comics) and get rid of a lot of the other stuff and save cash.

^^^^ It's SFFT, not SFoT. I was wondering how I had missed Wiggles World this whole time.

So if Evil Kenevil may be on the chopping block, is there any chance Terminator may be in trouble?

Seems like a waste of money for some of the rides that were originally part of a Looney Tunes area, to be changed to a Wiggles theme only to be changed back to something generic or to Looney Tunes again. At least now when you exit Skull Mountain at Great Adventure you won't have to leave a spooky cave theme and walk right into the bright colors and music of Wiggles World (if they change that area of the park back to Looney Tunes Seaport).

I'm just afraid this (along with things like dropping Mr. Six again) is the first bit of corner cutting that will slide them back into the pre-Shapiro days.

And certain branches on the proverbial grapevine seem to support that fear...

LostKause said:

And what teenage boy doesn't look up to Tony Hawk? The guy even has his own line of clothing for sale at Kohl's.

What? I didn't even know who Tony Hawk was before these rides came out. If these names were bringing in more money than Six flags was paying for licensing, they would stay.

Omg it's Antuan!

I've known who Tony Hawk is for well over a decade now. I met him at Universal in 2001, when I worked there, and I considered him to be the most significant celebrity that I met at that time, and that's saying a lot, considering who I had met up to then.

There has been an ongoing popular video game series with his name on them for a very long time now, the first one has a debut in 1999, and was an instant success. He was a household name way before that. His clothing line didn't come out until 2007. At 42-years-old, he is still known as one of the best pro skaters around.

He was a guest star on The Simpsons in 2003, for the 300th episode. Wikki claims that he said, "Being on The Simpsons, let alone a milestone episode, really made me think to myself that I've actually, completely made it".

I stand by this. He is one of the most influential people in the world today. Ask any guy between the ages of 10 and 30 who Tony Hawk is.

Well-known? Yep.

One of the most influential people in the world? Not so much.

LostKause said:

Wikki claims that he said, "Being on The Simpsons, let alone a milestone episode, really made me think to myself that I've actually, completely made it".

That reminds me of Kurt Cobain. He once said he knew he (and Nirvana) had made it when Weird Al Yankovic asked permission to parody Smells Like Teen Spirit, which he turned into Smells Like Nirvana.