Track at SFMM
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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!
I don't think that SFMM is the flagship park... or at least not the only one. I think that SFMM and SFGAdv share that billing, and some will probably argue that SFGAm does, too (I don't.)
Looking at SFAW's potential in terms of attendance is only one aspect of many that are considered when an expansion is planned/not planned. From what I understand, SFAW has very little room to expand without major construction, whereas SFMM supposedly has lots of room. Perhaps the two parks have similiar potential when it comes to attendance... that doesn't mean too much when one park has a lot of expansion room and the other doesn't. The money will obviously go to the park where expansion is easier and cheaper.
Something else to consider is that the park is a monster which has been created throughout the years. Look at the number of coasters that SFMM has added since the late eighties, as well as the caliber of many of them. People expect SFMM to add great rides ona regular basis... if they stopped all of a sudden, people would go elsewhere. I hate to say it, but SFAW patrons are used to getting very little, so when they get very little, it lessens the amount of disappointment.
Six Flags has a monopoly in astroworld's case because the general public's only choice is to go there or to another sixflags park. That's why they don't take care of astroworld. Six Flags magic mountain has fierce competition from about five other huge amusement parks that are more family friendly and better taken care of(service, cleanliness). That is why SFMM gets something new almost every year and sfaw gets nothing for half decades. It isn't that hard to understand. I'm sick of people whining about astroworld needing another coaster. The bottom line is you won't get it any time soon, because sf doesn't run a family mom n pop company who cares about customer satisfaction.(ie Holiday World) Look at it this way, Sf is our adrenaline dealer and we're the addicts paying outrageous prices for a fix. Their main goal is to make money. Astro World hasn't been getting mass complaints or huge attendance droppage so sf really doesn't care.
-Nate
While I don't doubt that Six Flags said that, I tend to disagree... SFOT almost never receives the first of anything (heck, they were the last of the "old-school" SF parks to get a Batman clone- after the supposedly "lesser" SFOG and SFStL parks). Titan came after Goliath. They never got a Arrow mega-looper like the other Big 3. And they had to make do with a Mr. Freeze clone when SFMM got Superman and SFGAdv got Chiller.
I don't doubt that SFOT is one of SF's prized parks. I just don't consider it to be on the same level as the other flagships. Apparantly, Six Flags sees it the same way.
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
No matter how SF dealt with SFoT in the past (and I agree that their actions toward the park wouldn't seem to be "flagship-oriented"), if what they stated in their conference call is true, SFoT should be receiving major improvements over the next few years and should seem like more of a "flagship" park.
What's a flagship park and why does it matter? The flagships are the biggest, receive the most money and new attractions, and similarly make the most money for the chain. SF stated that SFGAdv, SFGAm, SFMM, and SFoT together bring in 1/3 of the income of the entire chain - that's a lot of money coming in from just a few parks. The new plan for these parks is to receive a major attraction every other year. After this year (all four getting one), at least two of the four parks will get a major attraction each year. So I'm sure they're just going to alternate (for example, next year SFMM and SFGAdv get something, the year after SFGAm and SFoT do, then back to SFMM and SFGAdv the next year and so on).
-Nate
I understand what a flagship park is, I've just never understood why people would want to argue about what park is one and what park isn't. "PKI is the Paramount flagship!" "No! PKI and PKD BOTH are!" That sort of thing.
As for that long term plan you are talking about dealing with major attractions for the four parks, it sounds interesting, I'd like to see where you read that.
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
*** This post was edited by ravenguy98 on 10/25/2002. ***
*** This post was edited by ravenguy98 on 10/25/2002. ***
The long term plan I described came from the Six Flags conference call and other SF releases.
-Nate
I'm not trying to make a big deal out of the whole flagship deal, I'm just saying that Six Flags seems to treat some parks bad, some parks good, and some parks great... the ones that are treated great are the ones that I would call the flagship parks. Its not a matter of pride (my home park vs. your home park), I could care less if my "home" park is one of the better Six Flags parks, I'm just stating how I see it based upon the company's actions.
Personally, I think of Knoebels as my home park (even though it is twice as far from me as SFGAdv) and they spend in a decade what SF spends in NJ in one year.
coasterdude318 said:
The long term plan I described came from the Six Flags conference call and other SF releases.
-Nate
Could you give a link to just where that press release is? I'd be really interested to read it.
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
"I'm not trying to make a big deal out of the whole flagship deal, I'm just saying that Six Flags seems to treat some parks bad, some parks good, and some parks great...."
Believe it or not, that is a VERY common practice, although I wouldn't look at it in terms of "bad, good, and great." You gotta consider ROI [Return On Investment, for those who want to play along].
For example, when I worked in retail many years ago in the LA area [Macy's] there were some stores, like the Beverly Hills store, that would get absolutely everything from all the top designers. It was an "A" store. Then you had the store I worked at [Northridge] that was a "B" store...we'd get most of the good stuff, but not everything. And the "C" stores...well, let's not even talk about it.
Why would Macy's put the best merchandise in the Bev Hills store and not in others? Because the BH store generated the highest revenue of any of the LA-area stores, and it was discovered that when the "B" and "C" stores received the higher-priced items they didn't sell.
Don't think for a moment that this is only something SF does. Cedar Fair, Paramount, Busch, Universal...they all have tiers for their parks.
Yes, it might suck if your home park is SFEG, SFKK, or SFAW but isn't that better than not having ANY park at all? What would Houstonites do if SFAW didn't exist? They's have to drive to Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans or - god forbid - El Paso to ride a coaster.
Six Flags is gonna put the "good stuff" and the parks they consider to be the "A" parks, where they also have a good chance on getting a return on their investment. The "B" and "C" parks will get new attractions less often because it takes longer to get an ROI.
People can continue to complain all they want that SF Corp "ignores" certain parks but all it will do is make you seem like a big whiner. It's not gonna change SF's way of doing business one iota.
Moosh
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Coaster & Amusement Park Christmas Cards and Merchandise...coming soon! Details in new sig any day now!
*** This post was edited by Mamoosh on 10/25/2002. ***
SFGAdv $ 45.99; SFMM $ 44.99; SFAW & SFOT $ 39.99; SFFT $ 36.99; SFKK $ 34.99; SFEG $ 32.99
Moosh
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Coaster & Amusement Park Christmas Cards and Merchandise...coming soon! Details in new sig any day now!
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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?
OutKast - what's curious is that if you want to consider the two highest prices the "A" parks, the middle prices the "B" parks, and the lowest prices the "C" parks then Six Flags considers Astroglide - I mean AstroWORLD, to be a "B" park.
Moosh
PS - It's "you go girl!" not "Go get 'em, Moosh!" LOL ;-)
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Coaster & Amusement Park Christmas Cards and Merchandise...coming soon! Details in new sig any day now!
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"Escuse me, can you tell me where the heck the Mystery Lodge is"?
No worries, OutKast. Stick by me, I'll teach ya what I know ;-)
Moosh [kidding, of course].
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Coaster & Amusement Park Christmas Cards and Merchandise...coming soon! Details in new sig any day now!
If you look at Paramount parks in 03 you'll see that each one of their parks is getting something,from PKD to PGA ,all of the parks in that chain will be getting new rides.
SF on the other hand will probably be giving rides to the big four as well as maybe 2 to 4 more of it's north american parks & maybe a few rides will be added to their european division as well.
Between these two park chains Paramount has the right idea by providing new rides & attractions chainwide they will surely see an increase in attendance & profits at all of their parks while SF will continue to see a decline in profits because of their strategy of giving only a handful of parks new rides while totally ignoring the others.
Most would say & have asked time & again that SF should sell their neglected parks,unfourtunately according to their financial staements they are not permitted to sell off any assets that the company owns so until they get it in their heads to figure out that it takes improvements to all of their parks & not just improvements for only a handful of them their profits will continue to decline & as a result we'll be seeing fewer & fewer new rides built chainwide.
*** This post was edited by BATWING FAN SFA on 10/25/2002. ***
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