Six Flags underestimated loyalty to Cedar Point
Posted
According to Six Flags CEO Kieran Burke, the acquisition of Sea World Ohio to form Six Flags Worlds of Adventure has been disappointing. Attendance there for the first two weeks of August was down 12% from the same period last year. Burke says that Cedar Point was more of a factor than they expected. An editor for Amusement Business agrees, saying their "Six Flags is better than Cedar Point" campaign backfired as a slap in the face to guests loyal to Cedar Point.
Read more from the Plain Dealer.
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Six Flags, the only chain of parks that can manage to have stacking with a one train operation.
"It appears that our decision to combine the parks . . . is actually hurting our attendance in the short term. There continues to be a lingering confusion and lack of awareness in both the local and outer markets as to the product offering and the combined park's new name."
What in the hell is he talking about? I have lived in Northeast Ohio my entire life, and I am completely aware that Sea World is now part of Geauga Lake. I am sure 99.9% of other Ohioans are also.
It all comes down to management, and I think a class of kindergartners could run that park better. I was there the other day, and two ride-ops were laughing at everybody after they announced the ride was closed. Not all their employees are careless or discourteous, but they outnumber the enthusiastic, proud, and helpful ones.
The CP employees aren't perfect, but they are great for the most part, and that makes for a much better experience.
Get rid of the rectal-cranial inversion Burke, and walk around WOA for a day, and then take a walk around the Point.
Did they replace the cluster of porta-potties this year with actual facilities? Does anyone realize how ripe portapotties get in the scorching heat? I think they were several weeks due of emptyping too.
By the way, I enjoyed the refreshing water fountain. Wait, they were nowhere to be found on the wild-ride portion of the park!
I mean, I am as much of an enthuasist as anyone else, but I think that they should spend some money on these kind of issues before another ride. Using portapotties is just inexcusable in my opinion, not to mention disgusting!
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Anyone who has been to a great Six Flags park knows that cleanliness, quick operations, and good customer service do exist.
A GREAT Six Flags park? Hmm...well, I have been to Six Flags New England (the WORST), SFWoA (see above), SFOG last week ( not bad...but still dirty and expensive..$10 to park my car???) , SFMM (half the coasters weren't running and the park was understaffed), SFGA (went back in 1989 and thoroughly enjoyed it), and SFOT (not bad...relatively clean, decent rides). So although I have not been to ALL of the Six Flags parks, from my experience, they are not doing so well.
Just my opinion.
Get your act together or else get out of Ohio. Your problems could very easily be solved if you would just give them a little attention. I haven't been back since 2000. When I had some time off work and wanted to visit a park, I remembered how much you didn't care about how my day was going the last few times I was there. You sure did care about taking my money though.
#1 rule in any business is to keep you customers happy and they will return. That's common sense. *** This post was edited by dexter on 8/19/2002. ***
This is a shame, because this park has "SO MUCH" potential. My first visit to SFWoA was back in May and I enjoyed myself. However, if the previous years were horrid, than I can understand the reason to not visit again.
And yes, not all SF parks are alike. Plain and simple. I enjoy SFGAm as a clean, great coasters, decent employees, establishment. Tell the big wigs in Aurora, Oh. to take a trip to Gurnee, Ill. to see how a park should be operated.
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Ric Flair was hitting on the female host, he told her - "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it has the longest line." WOOOOO!
Most young people today(not all but many I have dealt with and I am not an old man) do not give a crap about there job. They will quit at a drop of a hat. I work in retail and we have a hard time 1. finding anyone willing to work the hours we need(nights and weekends) and 2. finding anyone who is worth a damn and will actually last.
This is not just a SF problem this is a problem everywhere. Cedar Fair, Busch, Paramount, Disney, Universal and even many small parks bring in people who want to work.
I am not defending SF. I am just saying until they start bringing in people who want to work and not rely on local teens the customer service is going to suck no matter what they do.
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Barry Short- the SoCal, Ohio coaster enthusiast from Virginia.
*** This post was edited by Barry Short on 8/18/2002. ***
*** This post was edited by Barry Short on 8/18/2002. ***
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Steel - #1 Kumba, #2 Millie, #3 Mantis ||| Wood - #1 Thunderbolt, #2 Villain, #3 Gwazi
"The key to a happy life is moderation" -- Jon Stewart
I had never had huge problems with SFWOA in the past seasons. Yes, their capacity blew and many workers were very unprofessional (answering your cell while working), but overall I enjoyed the park. This year, however, made me want to never return. I won't get into all the details (what do you mean I can't take my wallet with me on X-Flight?), but the treatment I got from guest relations made a huge impact on the attitude I left that park with. The staff in that department was very unhelpful, fairly unknowledgeable, and very young.
I'm not saying that the age of the staff has anything to do with what kind of service they are capable of providing. I'm just saying, when there is no supervisor or member of management present to oversee the way guests are being treated, there is a much greater probability of young worker's not doing their job properly.
I think SF, specifically SFWOA, needs to realize that the image of guest service, as well as the quality, make a gigantic impact on the mood of the people in the park. If they feel that everything that could have been done was not done to correct situations, they are very unlikely to want to come back anytime soon. *** This post was edited by Blaster_1578 on 8/18/2002. ***
I was just in Sandusky, and happen to come across that commercial when I arrived at my room in the Sandcastle Suites. ;)
That is just bad PR. If anything they should advertise as a park within close distance to Cedar Point, and another place to visit when in Sandusky.
"Sure they are a greedy company..."
Heh. That's the one thing I don't fault them for!
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 15
I'm not saying I hate Six Flags in general. In fact, most of the people in the thread are not saying that at all. The point I was making, as were most here, is that SF has really made some major mistakes in the way it handles things at SFWOA. I personally love a lot of the SF parks (especially SFOT and SFMM). Furthermore, I think the majority of people don't "hate" Six Flags. It is more a critical view of the way they treat their guests.
*** This post was edited by Blaster_1578 on 8/19/2002. ***
I really can't believe how ungrateful some of you are! I know Six Flags aren't perfect (especially SFWOA), but neither are Cedar Fair or Paramount.
If you don't like Six Flags so much, then don't go.
This is my third year as an enthusiast, and if I hadn't have visited any Six Flags parks, I could take off 200 coasters off my track record, and all for under $150 worth of season's passes for three years.
At the end of the day, it's coasters that I want, and it's coasters that Six Flags provide. Yes it would be nice if they were all run at capacity by friendly staff, but it's never gonna happen.
I've encountered rude staff at most parks, including Cedar Point, and while it may only be one or two isolated events, it still happens, and it still spoils my day if I let it.
Staff annihilate many of my park visits, whether it's through power tripping, stapling, or poor operations.
I can mention only a few parks were staff haven't annoyed me: any Disney park, Hersheypark, Knoebels, Oakwood, and Holiday World.
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Coaster Grotto - Save your Top 20 Coasters and Track Record Online!
Codergirl, my point is that your opinion on an individual park does not lead to a chain wide prejudice. I like SFA. I do not see how SeaCoaster is in the dumps. Low capacity yes, but an interesting ride. Wild One is 85 years old, looks pretty good, runs great, and is definitely not an afterthought (What led you to that idea?). And although they have breakdowns, I have been able to ride Batwing and Mind Eraser each of my 9 visits this year. Yes, most of the restaurants stink. Try the Saloon in Coyote Creek, it is pretty decent food and reasonable prices.
However, even if you do not like SFA, I am glad you did not say Six Flags sucks, like many others have.
Dude: The girl made no generalizations about the chain, just the specific park. And she's entitled to that opinion.
Grant: What does being "grateful" have to do with anything? Are you suggesting people should just put up with a sub-standard experience after spending their money? Give me a break, you've picked on far lesser things in your park reviews.
As for people just not going, well, that's exactly what they're doing. That's why the numbers are down 12% over last year. I didn't buy a pass this year. I've been to Kennywood more in the last two years (and there are no season passes there).
Without radical change from the top, there will be no change at SFWoA.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM
I have a unique take of this since I worked at both parks at one time or another. Management is the key to the success of Cedar Point and the problems at SFWoA plain and simple.
With the assets that the Geauga Lake, Sea World property now has it is almost a sin that it is operated in the manner it is. Give them credit, they have a great arsenal of rides that they didn't have 10 years ago. Combining the parks was really the only solution when the star attraction of Sea World was taken away. How well do you think Cedar Point would do if you took away the rollercoasters?
Maybe the Six Flags folks are starting to realize you cannot slap a brand name on a park and expect great things to happen over night. I would take exception to people who say that SFWoA is full of bad managers. The problem is bigger than that and there are some good people knocking their heads into a brick wall.
Until Six Flags starts importing workers either college students or foreign the customer service will continue to suck no matter what management does.
Amen Barry. The problem, as I see it, is that the workers are locals who are working at SFWoA because there were no jobs anywhere else to be had. They probably don't want to be there, but they have to work somewhere to make money. SFWoA will never have a dedicated staff of college kids or foreigners until they put up housing for them... INEXPENSIVE housing. Then, and only then, will they be able to recruit the way CP does.
I've always felt that there was a lot of potential in SFWoA, and I do see an improvement this year. Some of the restrooms were updated on the ride side (though the lack of water fountains on that side is really upsetting), and I like the complete circle they now have, thanks to the relocating of the water bridge.
I still have complaints, of course. There aren't enough indoor, AIR CONDITIONED, SITDOWN restaurants. There are not enough AIR CONDITIONED, INDOOR show venues. And for the price of parking (though I do get the season pass discount), the parking lot on the ride side should be in better shape (and the one on the wild side should have more room between the spaces...just try parking a full size pickup in a spot surrounded on both sides and behind). Of course my biggest gripe is that unlike CP, that rarely has a ride out of operation, SFWoA has about 1/4 of their rides closed on any given day (but that seems to be an across the board Six Flags trait).
As for this line from Pete:
When I went, I saw the same lazy ride ops, that move so slow that you can watch the grass grow,
You're right, but let's face it CP has spoiled us. Even PKI has nowhere near the "flow through" of CP, and if you think SFWoA is slow, go south. Paramount's Carowinds has some of the worst "flow through" I've ever seen. Stacking coaster trains is nothing for them. At least SFWoA only stacks the Villian about one out of five times (at least when I've been there).
Take the park for what it's worth. There are some good coasters, and with the crowd down this year, they're relatively easy to get on (even if they don't know how to run multiple trains). Yes the advertising was stupid, the first rule of advertising is not to draw attention to the competition, CP is getting a free plug everytime the commercial is run (trust me on this one, writing and producing commercials is what I do for a living). No it's not CP, probably never will be, but isn't it good to have yet another place that's willing to up the coaster count in our state? It's your right as an American to lambast what, and who, you want, but if you look hard enough there's always something good to be found, even at SFWoA.
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Goccvp1
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