Universal theme parks could go to new owner, or go solo

Well, according to Screamscape (which is taken with a grain of salt anyways ;)) Dreamworks and Spielberg have wanted into the amusement park business for awhile now. I mean, with Katzenberg still sore over the Disney fiasco, it's highly possible he wants to get their company into the business to be a thorn in Eisner's buttocks. I believe that Katzenberg, Spielberg and Geffen actually have the talent and the imagination to make Universal Studios into a greater park chain than it currently is. IoA is amazing to say the least, but I feel that in the right hands, it could REALLY give Disneyworld a run for it's money. And healthy competition can only mean good things for us park visitors! :) Perhaps they'd even spruce up USH too, it sorely needs it!

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I am currently a ride/show intern at Islands of Adventure. After the internship I will easily take a position at Dueling Dragons as I am already one of the fastest and most efficient loaders on the platform when I pick up a position to help out.

Whatever happens to Universal as a company will be great. I know that Universal Orlando...especially IoA is doing much better than it was last year. As far as I'm concerned...Universal Orlando is already starting to close in on the tourism share that Disney World has been taking up. Our "We Will Win" campaign is coming along strong by day and our lighthouse shines off the windows of Disney's Contemporary Resort by night.

With all the new plans and all the current assets Universal could easily take over for itself.

If another company were to buy out the parks there are two possible turnouts. One...a theme park company could take over the parks and expand greatly on them. Or two...a non-theme park company could take over and things would stay just about the way they are already.

If Six Flags were to buy the parks...I fear what will happen to our safety reputation...all I can promise is that I won't let it drop at Dragons.

I assure you that the purchaser(s) of the properties will definitely not be from the theme park or amusement park industry.

It will be a large property development company, or more likely, an internationally recognised hotel/resort company.

Don't for one second think that this is at all bad news in any way. What do you think happens when a park is purchased by another party? They certainly don't sack the entire management staff, and put their own systems in place to run the park. Nothing will change that affects anything you care about. Rides will be built at the same rate they are now, you won't see the theming disappear, or the quality of rides.

The park will be given a certain yearly budget, and the park's management is responsible for distributing this money into the various departments. This amount will barely differ from the amount previous owners have been given.

I don't see any threat from Six Flags at all regarding the parks. They are not interested in these sorts of investments, this would be long term. It requires money being pumped in continually. Their strategy rather, is to aquire parks cheap, pump in a lot of money, get the park in line with their other properties, creating an instant rebranding of the park, that relies on the entire chain for the image this park has. This isn't at all a bad strategy, on the contrary. This is how companies like McDonalds, despite the food being pretty rotten, have gotten international recognition and are as popular as they are today.

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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?