http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008...xs-details.aspx

Despite SF's ongoing "issues" (to put it mildly), I still really believe that Mark Shapiro has the right idea. Considering the shipping sink he inherited (or, I guess "forcibly boarded" may be more accurate), it's amazing that the business has continued to do as well as it has. If you would have told me that at the time of Dan Snyder's proxy fight that SF still wouldn't be in bankruptcy protection nearly three years later, I never would have believed it...

I agree JZ, I think Six Flags is heading in the right direction and slowly making progress. They are certainly far better off than under the old dynasty. I think Shapiro has the right idea while Cedar Fair is stuck with the "we'll stick with what works" mentality.

The conference call today was very interesting, to put it mildly. I found the discussion of Cedar Point, and its reliance on the relatively distant Detroit market, particularly interesting....The most amazing thing about SIX's conference calls, compared to FUN's, is the tone. One company has calls that are relatively jovial, fun filled and festive. The other seems like an accountants' meeting, and is just about as fun...

Terpy, with apologies in advance to jzarley!

^ for what?

My point wasn't that everything was bright & rosy (or even mediocre) at SF...my point was that the convential wisdom at the time had them going into bankruptcy by 2006, yet Shapiro & company have not only staved that off (so far), they've also taken over management of a successful media company and convinced a group of Dubai investors to build them a new park along the way. (Although, to be honest, at this point I'm not sure any of us couldn't also convince some Dubai investors to build us a park )

Things are certainly still very dire at SF...I just think a lesser CEO would have crashed & burned a long time ago. I'm sure it's continual discussion & negotiation with their lenders to keep them out of bankruptcy. Let's face it, whenever your debt is considerably higher than your market cap it's not good news... (Unless of course you're CF...then you claim that it's a good thing that your new double-sized company is worth less on the market than your old smaller legacy company, and only talk about EBITDA. That also seems to be a successful strategy )

For what? For the comparison to a boring accountants' meeting!

It's a smart strategy...if the analysts are bored enough they won't ask too many questions