This site is quite funny to me....
The one thing I find quite funny is the treatment of certain park chains, by members of this site (not all mind you there are some who see things as they are, Wahoo Skiper, Dave, Jeff, Rob, to name a few).
What I find amusing was the way ever since I have been reading this site how the people here have mostly bashed Six Flags for their corperate practices, be it moving rides from one park to another, making clones, using the same name/theme/logo for rides, building rides in parking lots. Whenever Six Flags did these things the people on this site did nothing but attack them them over and over again. (not saying Six Flags is perfect far from it)
But now CF has taken on a major debt load and extended their reach into the the national market by buying Paramount Parks and SFWOA, and are now having to make some tough calls that a national entertainment group has to make, the same type of calls SF had to make over the last 10 years, and what are people doing now? Well I think most of them have been majoring in buisness, since they all know of basics of a running a national operation, since so many people are able to talk about CF is a buisness out there to make money and these are the reasons for their calls, but when SF made similar calls about their operation they got nailed to the wall.
CF is not Disney, Busch, or Universal they are not the same type of product, but CF and SF are the same type of product, do not hold some invisible standard that SF is supposed to hold and not expect CF to not live up to the same expectation. If you are going to rip SF for moving a ride, not renaming/rethemeing it, and droping it in a parking lot, and closing parks for personal gain, you need to rip CF for doing it too, because they are and they have, and will continue to do so. CF does not live under some greater standerd then SF, maybe it is time people stop putting them on a higher moral level, and stop treating them like they care about the you, me, ACE, the long stoic history of an old coaster, or anyone else, because they do not. They care about the bottom line, and the general public, because they bring in the money and not they guy who gets on a website and cries because Knotts or Magic Mountain rasied they parking fee by a buck, for the 07 season.
That is my rant, flame away.
and yes I have read the GL posts and that is what inspired my post, because SF has done all of the things CF has done to GL, but they are getting a free run by many of the people that would have been calling for Mark Shapiro's head for the same things. No one is clamoring for Dick Kenzel to step down, but when SF management made many of the same moves there was an outcry.
Just noting the double standard.... and my name is not spelled the same as a once thought briliant writer/director whose films since The 6th sense have not lived up to expectations, even though he thinks he is good enough to put his name in front of every project like he is Clive Barker or Wes Craven.
Since when is CF in the situation SFI was/is in. I for one think Mark Shapiro is on the right track for his company.
I'm not really sure what your problem is with CF. I'm still a little shocked by everyone thinking they are in bad shape. Wait to see how their Halloween events have done. CP is sure having a wonderful fall season.
As for GL, I think "How to run a business for dummies" is a great book for some of you to look into.
Six Flags got crucified for the things they did, but now that Cedar Fair is doing the same things, it's suddenly wrong to harbor any resentment. But it's not a recent thing. Cedar Fair has always been worshipped around here. Proof? Note how some people appear only when they feel it necessary to defend Cedar Fair then immediately disappear. Watch how this will be disputed in a very short amount of time. That also speaks volumes.
Rob Ascough said:
^^ And you're exactly right (Sixth Sense is your best movie BTW- it was all downhill after that.)Six Flags got crucified for the things they did, but now that Cedar Fair is doing the same things, it's suddenly wrong to harbor any resentment. But it's not a recent thing. Cedar Fair has always been worshipped around here. Proof? Note how some people appear only when they feel it necessary to defend Cedar Fair then immediately disappear. Watch how this will be disputed in a very short amount of time. That also speaks volumes.
I would have to agree with you on that, I don't favor either, and when they make wrong decisions I'll speak my mind towards both of them. It's not wrong to build clones, especially when the corp is in debt as much as they are, if they built a custom every time, they would for sure be in debt deeper than that of what they are now. As for Cedar Fair, they have they're fair share of problems too, the whole Geauga Lake thing, which Six Flags also did to Astroworld, and Cedar Fair builds clones or close to clones as well. Most of they're hypers are nearly identical. They are also taking rides and sending them to other parks, and marketing them as new, they did it with X-Flight, and Steel Venom, and now they're doing it and not even changing the names of the rides. They both have they're fair share of problems and positives. That's my two cents.
Peace, Love, & Holiday World.
It's always these vagueries and half-claims like this that really serve no argument. Direct quotes of specific statements are always going to have more value in discussion than just making large generalizations about...whoever.
I mean what's the goal? What SF basher/CF lover is really going to change their mind because of threads like this?
*** Edited 10/26/2007 1:51:37 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***
Besides, as coaster nerds we're biased towards CP anyway. They put in great coasters every couple years and have more capacity than anywhere. A coaster nerd's utopia. It's natural that when people who have CP as their homepark travel to a Six Flags and find it not as good as CP that they bash the company.
I don't think there is a wide enough demographic of people who actually post in order to get a really balanced response. Everybody has an opinion.
Shalmyan said:
CF does not live under some greater standerd then SF, maybe it is time people stop putting them on a higher moral level, and stop treating them like they care about the you, me, ACE, the long stoic history of an old coaster, or anyone else, because they do not. They care about the bottom line, and the general public, because they bring in the money and not they guy who gets on a website and cries because Knotts or Magic Mountain rasied they parking fee by a buck, for the 07 season.
Maybe they don't, but Holiday World does. =) If anyone can do no wrong lately...my vote would be them. Although, I did hear that Holiday World was doubling the price of parking next season. ;)
*** Edited 10/26/2007 1:40:52 PM UTC by Pagoda Gift Shop***
Pagoda Gift Shop said:
It's natural that when people who have CP as their homepark travel to a Six Flags and find it not as good as CP that they bash the company.
It's a two way street. Often the people who are closest to a park are it's biggest critics. The "CP Fanboy" sterotype was born out of reality in some ways but for every CP fanboy there's plenty of CP locals who are hyper-critical of the place as well.
matt. said:
It's always these vagueries and half-claims like this that really serve no argument. Direct quotes of specific statements are always going to have more value in discussion than just making large generalizations about...whoever.I mean what's the goal? What SF basher/CF lover is really going to change their mind because of threads like this?
There are too many instances to list. Besides, no one is really calling anyone else out, it's just an observation of the conversation that takes place on this site. I don't think the original post was designed to offend anyone so I'm not sure why you're taking offense to it.
Seriously, we have 30-page threads hating on Cedar Fair. I fail to see the double standard. That and we're starting to like Six Flags.
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Closed topic.
