Six Flags CEO says parks turned into 'cheap day care for teenagers'

[KIfan73]

A very interesting article:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/six-flags-ceo-parks-turned-cheap-day-care-teenagers

followed up by:

https://www.businessinsider.com/six-flags-ceo-draws-ire-with-classist-remarks-guest-demographics-2022-8

[terry wass]

not a shock. The choice is to raise ticket prices or institute a chaperone policy. If the goal is to not be a daycare service which of course as we have seen leads to a need for more security.

[jsus]

1 hour ago, terry wass said:

not a shock.

The shocking part is to say the quiet parts aloud, to say that, worded as such, publicly.

[disco2000]

^Yes it is rare to hear a CEO say the quiet parts out loud, and when they can him within the next six months, that is why CEOs don't say the quiet part out loud!

[jsus]

Let's just say there are more... professional... ways he could have worded that, even if he's far from the only one thinking it.

[SonofBaconator]

11 hours ago, jsus said:

Let's just say there are more... professional... ways he could have worded that, even if he's far from the only one thinking it.

Not something you want to hear a CEO say, in my opinion. He’s not inaccurate as people have always dropped their children off at parks but using the words “cheap” and “daycare “ come off as condescending and and unprofessional.

[jsus]

15 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

Not something you want to hear a CEO say, in my opinion. He’s not inaccurate as people have always dropped their children off at parks but using the words “cheap” and “daycare “ come off as condescending and and unprofessional.

Also the Walmart comparison...

[KIfan73]

Three people injured in shooting outside Six Flags theme park in Illinois

[silver2005]

Let's be honest, the solutions to qualm the fights and such were going to make someone mad.  I'm guessing it's becoming such a problem that SIX had to make a drastic measure.

[terry wass]

chaperone policy enter stage right. The only parks with issues are those near urban areas with public transportation systems. Never have seen much as far unaccompanied minors causing problems at CP, however have seen it at KI. If these parks want to make $$ and become a family destination for vacations they may have to make some hard choices.

[jsus]

30 minutes ago, KIfan73 said:

Three people injured in shooting outside Six Flags theme park in Illinois

See: 

 

[FUN&ONLY!]

How would a chaperone policy have prevented the incident at Six Flags Great America? Authorities believe the suspects entered the parking lot with a motive to shoot someone or multiple people. The shooters never entered the park, so in-park security technically did not fail. Should parks make guests walk through metal detectors and check cars before entering the parking lot? That is impractical. This incident would have been hard to prevent from a park security or policy standpoint. Also, you have to be an adult to legally buy or own a firearm, so a chaperone policy probably would not have done much at all to prevent this incident unless the shooters were minors and illegally possessed the gun(s).

[homestar92]

2 hours ago, terry wass said:

chaperone policy enter stage right. The only parks with issues are those near urban areas with public transportation systems. Never have seen much as far unaccompanied minors causing problems at CP, however have seen it at KI. If these parks want to make $$ and become a family destination for vacations they may have to make some hard choices.

Six Flags Great America is an hour's drive away from both downtown Chicago and downtown Milwaukee and doesn't really connect to either of their transit systems (Chicago maybe has a bus that runs to Gurnee, but it's about as useful and frequent as the one running from Cinci to Kings Island). Gurnee is pretty close to Kenosha, which has been the site of some recent political unrest. But that was an extenuating circumstance and I don't even think the park was open when that was going on.

The problem isn't so much a class thing as some have suggested in comments on articles like this as it is an uninvolved parents thing. Kids from wealthy families and kids from poorer families are both going to turn into little jerks if they have the kinds of parents who will just drop them off at the theme park frequently to be rid of them for a day. Now, there is some correlation to involvedness of parents and class just because obviously married single-income families are better equipped to spend time raising their kids, but the married single-income family is an incredibly rare thing even in the upper levels of middle class.

Additionally, the chaperone policy equally prices people out. You either pay more for your kids' passes which costs more money, or you have to buy passes for mom and/or dad, which costs more money AND requires them to spend their time accompanying their kids to the park. So you either increase the cost or you increase both cost AND hassle. Raising prices is the better solution for everyone. Especially that sweet, sweet "one visit a year but we bring two kids and buy one of everything" demographic that theme parks LOVE.

[Rustbucket]

My Six Flags gold season pass for 2022 was $39.99 plus tax.  Dollywood gold pass and CF Platinum pass were over $200.00.  How is this sustainable for Six Flags?  Also, Six Flags have parks near many large urban area that are experiencing surges in crimes.  They will need to make some changes to improve.  

I am visiting SFGAm today; the day after the incident in the parking lot last night.  No one was at the parking station.  No one was checking parking passes.  I see some Gurnee police presence though.  There are some great parks within SF Park chain.  As a coaster enthusiast, having well run Six Flags will be a welcome development.  I am willing pay more if I can get better experiences. 

[KIBeast]

How they thought the best pricing strategy was to basically give passes away and expecting nothing to happen is beyond me. Heck, Disney has been steadily increasing admission prices annually with no drop in attendance. No, SF parks are not Disney, but they could charge considerably more and see no declining attendance. However, if they intend on doing so (which they should), they also need to make some across the board changes in level of operations and guest satisfaction.

[Dan]

2 hours ago, KIBeast said:

How they thought the best pricing strategy was to basically give passes away and expecting nothing to happen is beyond me. Heck, Disney has been steadily increasing admission prices annually with no drop in attendance. No, SF parks are not Disney, but they could charge considerably more and see no declining attendance. However, if they intend on doing so (which they should), they also need to make some across the board changes in level of operations and guest satisfaction.

Crime has skyrocketed everywhere not just at Six Flags parks, lol. Disney is not immune.