Six Flags Over Bankruptcy Court
Those home ticket-printing fees just weren't enough to help Six Flags pay down their $2.4 billion debt load. The economy and bad weather have taken their toll, and the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the weekend.
[CEO Mark] Shapiro's strategy was to remake Six Flags into a more wholesome, family-oriented experience, emphasizing safety, cleanliness and customer service while forging partnerships with major sponsors such as Sara Lee and Chase Card Services.
The company doubled its income from corporate sponsorship and from season ticket sales, and it added themed attractions based on the Looney Tunes characters, the Justice League of America, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, the Wiggles and Thomas the Tank Engine.
But its summer 2007 attendance was slammed by bad weather in Georgia and Texas, and by an accident on a ride at its park in Kentucky. The same year, it sold seven of its theme parks to a Jacksonville, Fla., company for $312 million in an effort to improve its balance sheet.
No amusement park bailouts? Oh, well. Let's hope that rides and cartoon characters help our nation put the "whee!" back in "weakened economy."
Six Flags Declares Bankruptcy, Will Keep Parks Open [Washington Post] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
(Photo: popkid)
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@OtterOtter: But that's how the accountants confused the board. Their "slide" was in backwards, and everyone thought the company was as reliable and operational as Kingda Ka.
I have heard from people that the Atlanta one has a huge problem when it comes to thug teens terrorizing other patrons.
@chattanooga: So these "thugs" buy tickets just so they can harass people? Can't they just go to the mall for free and do the same thing?
@Josh_G:
A guy got jumped and beat up by 25 people there a few years ago. There is no way in hell I would ever go there.
@GMFish:
Some of the people who were charged in the beating actually worked there. So they are being paid for hanging out there. I wish I could have a job where I could hang out and not be friendly to customers. LOL
The one in New Jersey is the pits-people smoking crack all over the damn place! That bypass the whole one hour line thingy didn't help, either.
@bloggerX: Hey. A little respect. Everyone knows it's the Benny's who are smoking the crack.
As for it being the "pits", it wasn't/hasn't been since the last time I was there.
I was going to go to the one in MA this summer since they just rebuilt the Superman coaster there. But if they're in bankruptcy that screams cost cutting, which if you make minimum wage as a repair tech means corner cutting to trim costs.
Maybe if they're there next year....
They gave the buffalo park back to the guy they bought it from. Horrible attendance, horrible rides...
Now the park is falling apart. My boyfriend and I couldn't justify $50/ea for season passes. They can't even keep their "signature" ride running, maintenance says they can't afford to fix the down cars.
@bloggerX: Seriously. The quality of Great Adventure has improved dramatically over the years. As long as the temp isn't 90+, I actually enjoy going there.
Shapiro's strategy was to remake Six Flags into a more wholesome, family-oriented experience, emphasizing safety, cleanliness and customer service while forging partnerships with major sponsors such as Sara Lee and Chase Card Services.
Didn't work. Ergo, it's time to switch gears and go all-in on a titillating, adults-only experience.
Submitting my resume today.
"Mark] Shapiro's strategy was to remake Six Flags into a more wholesome, family-oriented experience, emphasizing safety, cleanliness and customer service"
Perhaps the company wouldn't have been driven to bankruptcy had the CEO concentrated on these basic principles in the first place.
@chattanooga: If only Circuit City were still in business.... Well, as a retail chain anyways. Maybe they'd hire you as a CS rep to beat people verbally?
A horrible customer experience [i]might[/i] just be to blame. Six Flags, take note of Cedar Fair.
@blindtheskies: Actually, I was there last year and it looked worse than I've seen it in a long time. Most of the staging was in desperate need of a paint job, there was trash everywhere and all the trash cans were overflowing. Plus, kingda ka was broke all day, yet again. I'll stick with Dorney Park from now on.
News: Six Flags declares bankruptcy.
Stunning news: It didn't happen six years ago.
Six Flags has got to be the single most gawd-awful operation in the "amusement" industry. I went to the Kentucky Kingdom park a few years back (wife+kids="we're going")... never again. Long waits for everything, pathetic rides, sky-high vendors... Feh, if I wanna recreate that experience, I'll walk down a dark alley flashing a wad o' cash...
The last time I went to a Six Flags was years ago in Valencia.
Never. Again. It was so insanely crowded that I think I got to get on three rides the entire day, one of them being a kid's ride. Not worth the money.
@chattanooga: I heard that if your in the parking lot, and you flash someone with their headlight off, they kill you!
Six Flags has some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced in any place that I've paid $100+ to visit. Disney is expensive, but you get exactly what you expect and it's almost always an excellent, perfect visit. Six Flags, on the other hand, you expect mediocrity and you get worse.
@PencilSharp: Bout the same experience at the Six Flags in Gurnee IL. 1-2 hour wait minimum for any ride. Oh, you can by their "Fasttrack" ticket to jump ahead in line. Think they were about $20 a pop. That's after already paying $80 to get into the park for a day.
This was actually part of the demise of Astroworld in Houston. Summer passes were so cheap that a lot of lower income families would purchase season passes for the kids instead of paying to have someone watch the kid(s) in a summer camp, or babysitter, or summer program.
A park full of unsupervised kids running around is not a way to create a family friendly atmosphere.
Maybe it was just me, but I liked Six Flags America (D.C./Baltimore region). I liked the rides, the funnel cake didn't kill you, and it was a pretty pleasant experience. Then again, we were (back then) a bunch of teenagers and we would have been placated by riding the roller coaster six times in a row. We weren't so concerned for patron safety, just roller coaster safety.
I haven't been there in about six years though, so I know it might have gone downhill from then. Anyone been there recently?
@menty666: I always thought the one in Massachusetts was a little arrogant in its ads .... the park NEVER told you where it was located in the state. Out in the middle of nowhere, I think.
@menty666: I liked going there when it was Riverside; I never found that the Six Flags takeover did it many favors.
(But then again, I can't ride the really big coasters. Vertigo & phobia of heights -- I had a panic attack the first time I watched the Superman coaster in person.)
@misshistory: We went to Great Adventure a couple of weeks ago and thought they had dramatically improved the place. They do pat you down, put you through a metal detector, and give you a long list of things you can't wear or bring into the park. But otherwise it was perfectly nice, and the new El Toro coaster rocks.
Kingda Ka was closed, though, so I think it's just that one coaster that's really iffy.
Six Flags has been teetering on the brink of Bankruptcy for several years now. I'd still love to kick them in the proverbial ding-ding for closing down my beloved Astroworld. They said the land was worth more than the park, but 4 years later it's nothing but a grassy field. I could write all day about Six Flags and it's issues. I took the family to SF Fiesta Texas, it's the closest park to us. Well, 3 hours into the day, a massive thunderboomer opened and they shut the park down. I understand the no refund policy but they were only offering people half price tickets to return. Uh no thanks.. And to top that off we got stuck on a ride for 20 minutes. Not once did management see if everything was OK, or anything.. They were like, oops our bad but feel free to purchase a souvenir on the way out.. It will be a LONG TIME before visit another SF park..
@BennyMigrationWitness_GitEmSteveDave: I went during Halloween. Between people getting pit-pocketed standing in 100 people plus lines, little kids running around, their mothers, talking on their cellphones shouting Tyrone! James! while still holding their conversations, I had fun!
@darkjedi26: I grew up going to the Gurnee location and when I went to Disney for the first time last month I was shocked and super pleased that I never waited more than 45 minutes for a ride (most just 10 - 20 minutes). And FREE fast passes!! I just assumed that long wait times for rides were the norm. I remember when the Giant Drop opened I waited 2 hours and 45 minutes for a 17 second ride.
@chattanooga: Yeah, from what I understand, some people will buy season tickets and drop their kids off in the morning before work, cause its a million times cheaper than day-care.
That six flags is a craphole for sure, I never set foot there anymore.
The only time I've ever been was to Six Flags over Texas when I was a kid. We were on vacation visiting my grandparents and on the way back, we went to the park.
It was insanely hot that day and there was this one ride called Spelunker's Cave where you got in these little boats and went through this "underground" world that had some little animated "elves" in some of the tableaus. At the very end was a tableau depicting Santa's Workshop at the North Pole, complete with icy blasts of air as you traveled past the little elves.
The line was CRAZY long, longer than at any other ride. We went through that thing at least five times just to get in the air conditioning. I'm sure all the other people were there for the same reason.
We were just at Six Flags in Arlington, TX on Saturday. Other than the fact that it was 105 degrees, we had a great time. The park isn't laid out as well as a Disney park but the rides were all fun and our kids had a great time. At Disney, there is a logic to how you move through the park from one area to another but at SF, you have a lot of dead ends and doubling back. And not enough air-conditioned areas to cool off and rest. But A/C costs money...
Overall, we had a nice visit. No unpleasantness, and very family-friendly.
The thugs at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ will kick the Six Flags Atlanta thugs tails any time...(see below)
@bloggerX: If they got "certain" people involved the place would be straightened up in no time. Maybe rename it Six Flags Great Soprano's Adventure. Of course there'd be alot more concrete foundation construction going on all of the time...
@calquist: I never thought Six Flags Great America (Gurnee location) was that bad, but I was mostly going in high school with tons of friends when standing in line for an hour gossiping was still fun (and only different from what you'd do otherwise in that there was a ride at the end). And we had our whole plan of attack mapped out to hit the certain coasters when lines were short ... racing across the park at opening to Batman or Shockwave or whatever coaster was newest ...
These days roller coasters give me such a headache from the rattling around that the awesomeness of going really fast and turning upsidedown isn't awesome enough to offset the horrific headache. I think I am old. But at least I no longer feel any desire to GO to amusement parks because I know the coasters aren't fun for me.
@aja175: You mean Darien Lakes? Haven't been on any rides since I was a kid, but I went to their concert venue last year and hoo boy, suck central.
@Josh_G: No, they buy season passes which are ridiculously cheap and allow them a whole summer of "fun" for one low low price.
It's been years but the last time I was at the one NJ there was definitely a sizable contingent of "unsavory" looking youths. I can't say I saw anyone really harassing or terrorizing other patrons directly (beyond those people being exposed to their obnoxious teenage behavior), but I could easily imagine it having gone in that direction.
I'm a huge roller coaster fan from the Northeast, and honestly, if you go to a Six Flags park mid-week (speaking from experience with Six Flags New England and Great Adventure in NJ), typically you will have a good experience, smaller lines, and an overall better time at the park. People who expect to go to Great Adventure on a weekend in mid-summer and ride everything are sadly mistaken. It's the closest major amusement park to NYC, and unfortunately is ALWAYS packed in the summer. That being said, the park has certainly bumped up it's efficiency and speed in getting riders on and off a coaster in the past few years.
Six Flags will never hold a candle to Cedar Fair parks, however. I've always felt as though the people working at Cedar Point are WAY more enthusiastic when you come back into the station, and really care about your ride experience (Although Six Flags does have a few ride operators that come close). I've also seen a huge difference in the people working at the former Paramount parks (Kings Island especially). I went there once before Cedar Fair bought them out, and then afterwards, and there was a huge difference in attitude and efficiency throughout the park.
Six Flags outside Saint Louis is nice? A bit crowded, but not unacceptabley crowded.
@Etoiles:
Me too on the panic attacks! I went on a coaster just once -- when I was four or five years old, with my dad at a traveling carnival in the Midwest. I still have nightmares about it. I'm a drag at amusement parks, although I enjoyed playing Skee-ball at the old-school parks before everything went bigtime and corporate.
Yes, it's hours from almost everything, unless you live in the Springfield area. But that doesn't stop thousands of Rhode Islanders from making the trek, my teen son and his friends included.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):
Just you wait until Baby is older. You'll be back at one of those places for sure. :-)
@Radi0logy: What time does Six Flags open? Don't most offices open at 9:00? Do the kids just hang out in the parking lot for a few hours before the gates open?
That photo bugs the OCD in me. I know they're traveling from upper right to lower left, so while the joke is technically correct in relation to their share prices, the photo really needs to be reversed to show a standard market trend from upper left to lower right.
Comedy is hard, dammit!