brenthodge

Thank you. People really aren’t grasping basic business and how bad the bleeding is right now.

I have a feeling a lot of this WAS planned. Had the park actually meant it when they said “the resources from Winterfest were being put into the summerbration” there should’ve been at least a close to lateral show for show comparison. It wasn’t even close. They had all the hardware needed for the parade and cut it to “rolling out set pieces”. Had all the recipes and legwork done for special food from us, and did none of it. They had the completed set design and even some of the key set pieces until last year for club KI stored behind racer. The fact that only recently have they finished breaking them down leads me to believe they were being kept until needed at KD. When they weren’t they finished destroying them. We saw a drop off in quality from KI to Carrowinds 50, but this time it fell off the cliff.

I’d venture that “golden age” actually culminated in 22 with the anniversary celebration. We thought it was the beginning of a “new era” at KI with more entertainment, a focus on park history, better food, and a quality experience. Sadly instead of it being a new chapter, it seems like now it was the end of the book.

Hey now.. Action theatre gets a few weeks of use as a (now) upcharge haunted maze at HAUNT!

I think it could work if done right, so you know that means given the way things are now, it would look like crap! LOL

Thats why I never understood the major investment in the BandStand over Showplace in the initial build out. Its just not a nice place to watch a show... any season excpept maybe fall, then there still no seating. I've suggested several times to take the two front quarters in front of the tower and pave them. Add seating and some really nice planters, maybe even a few trees toward the back to make a raised seating area for when there are shows there.

Ive always felt with WF3.0 Tinkers was a second tier show. It was bad in Feshaus (too loud for a show with a plot) and "too important" in KITheatre. It would be ideal for Showplace if there were skateboard ramps all over the stage. That venue needs a revamp with a better roof, heaters and possible more "tiered" seating instead of the steep rake. Even a smaller version of the Peanuts thing would work there since it leads right in to Planet Buggs... I mean SNOOPY.

Do you mean use the stage? Like “fill the stage” I think you could by supplementing the ground units with some draping. Really they could bring over the big center tree as well and possibly add a few minor set pieces for each of the “acts”. Even reusing the large step unit from PTE if it still exists would anchor the space. Totally agree with the “outdoor smaller” idea, but any show outdoor -even small- should really provide seating/heat.

My vote is Follies. That show was WASTED on the bandstand. Feel like they almost need to bring CoolYule back for a different vibe since follies, amSwingin’ and Mitletobes all have that same 40-50s vibe.

She’s teasing, but not saying much. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNTmE5ms_iQ/?igsh=MW4zNTF3Z2JoM3RnMA==

Starting there, but if it was a “survival strategy” I think it COULD work with a lot of very public, very big changes. Tons of honestly - like saying outright “ both of our companies have a lot of of obligations (to our vendors and financial partners) but our main obligation is to YOU, our loyal guests. We invite you to join us on a transformative journey as we redefine the regional theme park industry. We’ll be honest, there will be some changes that, for the short term we all might not love, but together we can build a company that gives you places to create a lifetime of memories from coast to coast.

“C6 entertainment properties” was my vote.

I’ve been banging that drum from day 1. They kept the 6 name for brand recognition, oblivious to the fact that it was NOT a good impression.

Well, that ship sailed a few years ago…

It was more like that year one (you know, the Covid year that somehow sucked less than this one LOL. There were tasting passes, every food location had a “trick” savory and “treat” sweet (or less spicy or odd) option. There were multiple shows including a pirate themed “game show”.

I couldn't believe how sleazy those emails were - Literally one a day. Telling me to hurry... get HAUNT and Winterfest and the last few weeks of the almost over season before our dumpster fire sale passes go on sale next week for MORE benefits and LESS price.

They sent me daily emails pushing MORE EXPENSIVE HALF USED 25 season passes a week before 26 went on sale! It’s like they forget we’ve all got this cool thing call “internet” now and we can find out what’s happening-all over the world almost as it happens we’re not stupid guys!

YES! Ive tried to figure out which parks exactly would be "Flagship" parks, but there needs to be maybe 6 that have that status. The as you said create a unified brand for those lower tier parks. This wouldn't just be based on size. These would form almost the "bread and butter filler" that have light theming, more unifor food offerings, bulk bought things like cups, bags without park-specific branding.

It would be nice to keep just so CedarFair parks are Peanuts and SIX parks to give more of a reason to visit different parks.

Yeah. That’s odd. I’ve given them the “supply chain issues” pass all season, but I guess it’s an intentional choice. Odd considering our current societal feelings on bathrooms etc.

I think the problem is they arent really providing a compelling reason to WANT to go to 40 different parks, just the ability TO go. So many parks have cut hours, eliminated events, scaled back events, moved to corporate identity strategies etc that theres not really a reason to travel to another park. Outside of the enthusiast community or the coaster stat lovers, few people probably really see the benefit of traveling to these parks. I feel like NOW is the time more than every to highlight the differences more than the sameness. It's the time to bring in local beers, locally sourced ingredients, regional food favorites. It's time to use the original logos (with "a six flags park" as a small tag line. Its time to even rename the ones that are just "Six Flags over wherever" to something more compelling. Its time to market them with a great story about how these competitors are now one great family of parks. Its time to do data mining to target wood coaster lovers with the message "You love Mystic Timbers, You should check out American Thunder at SixFlags St Louis- only 8 hours from Cincinnati. Here's a 20% coupon for any Mystic Timbers AND American Thunder logo items, so you can rep your love of the wood to everyone you meet" It's goofy, but its fun. Really lean into how DIFFERENT all of these parks are and HOW LUCKY you are to be able to enjoy all of the history, the memories and the great times with one family of amazing parks. Cut most cap expenses for the next few years and instead of adding half decent rides late in the season, market the great things you have. If they arent great parks, MAKE them great. Give me a reason outside of "hey we are driving kinda close to Carrowinds and they are open for 2 more hours" to make the trip - REWARD me and reward my efforts. Build a loyalty program around how many parks you have visited. They have an unbelievable product and opporunity to leverage it, they just refuse to learn from, and keep making the same bottom-line focussed mistakes.

Huh?

I love seeing them do this the fun, engaging way that gets people talking… you know, the way KI used to do things?? Shed anyone?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM8UE0sSl-g/?igsh=MTM0eDF3aHlnenN3OQ==

Oh Dolly, you TEASE!