The Interpreter

So FOF has only one more season? And you know this how, exactly? I don't see any major changes coming to the park in a year when the chain is for sale...

Last I checked, SOB closed before the season was over, and word has it it probably won't open with the park. It IS still there. I would like to see it fixed some day...

If you didn't have the special show and all, after year one, I doubt there would be enough guests in line to have 1200 riders an hour on that Very Slow and Somewhat Painful Top Spin In A Box...

All I know is that by the latter part of last season, MaXair at CP was running far more pleasurably than Delirium (when the latter ran at all). Notchy, not as many negative g's as originally, and somewhat jerky. That was Delirium. It used to be my favorite ride in the park. By the last of its run, I'd rather have ridden the train.

And when it did open, it didn't even stay open for 24 hours. Open that night, opened for about ten trainloads of riders the next morning...and then closed for weeks...

Carowinds was at a Disney level before Paramount took over?

I think I first saw Huss's Land of the Giants at an IAAPA show about five years ago. And, as for me, I find the smaller versions of Delirium, like the one in Iowa, quite delightful. And the Frisbees where the seats face inward can be quite fun, as well...like the Frisbee at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee (which used to run at Six Flags Great Adventure, sigh...)

Shiekra opened last year....

I agree. But look around...most of the theme park industry (as Shaggy pointed out earlier today) is also cutting way back on introducing big rides. What big rides is Paramount putting in this year? Last year? Busch had a dark ride in Virginia, and nothing substantial in Tampa. Cedar Fair is very careful about what they put in where. Ask the people who go to Valley Fair when it got its last major coaster installation. And what was it? An impulse coaster. The late 90's and 2000-2001 were a grand era for new coasters. We may not see anything similar for quite some time. For a chain like Six Flags, the problem was that putting in a Goliath at Georgia, a Kingda Ka or an El Toro at Great Adventure, or a Tatsu at Magic Mountain left very little money for the other parks. Revenue hasn't been the big problem. Raising money to pay off the creditors has. Still, you are very right...the road ahead for Six Flags is a very difficult one at best.

First of all, Mr. Burke is the one who sold Astroworld, not Snyder and Shapiro, and the manager from Astroworld was given a plum position in Six Flags management by Snyder and Shapiro, largely, they said, as he had managed so well for so long with so little. You seemed to think Snyder is making decisions to get rid of "good parks." The only parks being gotten rid of, so far, under Snyder are the ones in Oklahoma City, and even that will be after this season. Several of the general manager positions at the parks have changed...with the incumbents having left Six Flags to "pursue other opportunities." (Great Adventure, Kentucky Kingdom and Elitch Gardens, just off the top of my head, so far)...The changes have been public record, not inside information. What is happening at Six Flags won't be readily apparent until after the major parks reopen for business. I, like you, have concerns. We can start with $15 parking. But Snyder and Shapiro have a lot riding on this. They will be gone in short order if they don't turn Flags around. I wouldn't be betting against them just yet.

I don't hate Pittsburgh! How could I possibly? I don't even think Kenny would.

He is NOT overhauling management? Are you serious? Tell that to the many FORMER general managers of Six Flags Theme Parks. Tell that to Mr. Burke, who was the financial officer. Tell that to the host of marketing people throughout the country who have been let go, replaced by Snyder and Shapiro's henchpeople. Not overhauling management? That's a good one. Not even remotely true, but a good one. Selling good parks? The ONLY parks that Snyder/Shapiro have announced they are selling are the ones in Oklahoma City. Frontier City and the waterpark. NO ONE I know of says these are good parks. I've been to Frontier City a couple of times. To say I was not impressed is to be very, very kind. What good parks have they sold? Changing the culture? Obviously you have no first hand knowledge of what is going on RIGHT NOW in employee training in Six Flags. Let me assure you there is a WHOLESALE change of culture going on...

The same Spongebob movie runs at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, with two differences: first, the movie is crystal clear and in focus, second, there are additional (and hysterical) water effects!

It's a coaster. Not a rough one. (See, I CAN say something good about that thing!)

Interesting that you know that, as my sources say there will be an AUCTION. And the deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. Yes, Six Flags had no acceptable bids. But, there is a huge difference between trying to sell a stockholder owned, very heavily debt laden park chain composed of same great and quite a few marginal (at best) properties (that also had a new management waiting in the wings) as opposed to a profitable park chain that has done well in the marketplace that has four US parks, one Canadian park and manages an attraction in Las Vegas and a small California park and is only a subsidiary of a very profitable media firm.

The folks at Pepsi Cola will not be amused if you call their product Coke. And if you do in a public forum, and they can find you, they will even send you a strongly worded cease and desist order! I know it sounds silly, but it's true!

And ANY deal can fall through up until the time ownership is actually transferred and the funds change hands. Happens all too often. I can also about assure you that NO ONE other than a handful of people, at MOST, knows who the buyer is. Certainly not someone who reappears on this board and doesn't even know what happened to Jeff Seibert (and asked in another thread)

Dolly does NOT own Dollywood. She is an operating partner with the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation. Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation is an operating partner with Dolly in the Dollywood Company, which owns the Dollywood theme park and the Dollywood's Splash Country water park, both in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation owns and operates Celebration City and Silver Dollar City in Missouri, and as a partner with the state of Georgia, operates Stone Mountain.

What would it be like? Based on what I have seen, I believe it would mean: * More and much, much better shows. * Much better food and shopping. * An emphasis on crafts, trades and demonstrations. * A commitment to wildlife and conservation. * A commitment to family principles and to morality, but not in an overly preachy way. * More intricate theming, meticulously maintained. * Higher season pass prices, lower parking prices for daily admissions. * A bit more of a unified, long-term philosophy of what the parks are about and development that is keyed to making that happen. Would the managers of Dollywood/Silver Dollar City/Celebration City be able to muster enough cash to buy Paramount Parks? Probably. Would they be interested? Somehow, I suspect the answer is no...

I actually think the investment group led by former Paramount execs is the most likely possibility...

Yep. And if the buyer is an investment group, chances are the long term view is not what they will be taking. Unless Winter Fest is generating a profit, or can be depended on doing so before the investment group intends to sell, there is no reason to believe they would continue it. Revenue doesn't matter. Profit DOES. Investment groups exist for the purpose of maximizing business enterprise value...they are not in the business because they love it, but only to improve its value to a buyer...

And Dollywood is not just one park. Branson's Silver Dollar City and Celebration City are owned and managed by the same group as is Dollywood...

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I am not at all sure Winter Fest will continue under a new ownership.... I'd just about be willing to bet it will be discontinued unless it was wildly successful last year from a financial standpoint, which nothing indicates that it was.

Temple of the Tiger at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and Kotonga at Seaworld in Orlando were the best shows I saw last year in a theme park...by far... And School of Rock and Toy Factory were drastic improvements over the usual Paramount Parks shows, but couldn't hold a candle to Celebration...

No, it was Paramount Parks that started the comparisons with Universal and Disney, particularly through their Kings Island marketing person at the time, who loved saying that TR;TR was the first step in creating THE Disney or Universal type park in the Midwest. I am quite sure he did so, as he did everything he did, with the blessings of senior management and that Paramount Parks DID intend to become just that. But, things have happened since. The parks have been rumored to be for sale, actually put on the market, taken off the market, and now are back on the market again with a sale "expected" in the second half of 2006. There is nothing unfair about judging PKI against the impressions its own marketing people created. And yes, there are two months left. The better question is was the budget slashed, as seems to be usual any more at PKI. This is even a better question still given the pending sale of the parks, including PKI. PKI is not Coney Island of Ohio (sigh, don't get me started). When Kings Island's own people say that their goal is to become a themed entertainment showplace, they shouldn't be surprised if people believe them and expect that.