Magic Mountain: Six Flags Disappearing Act?
Shaprio and company said that it might also yank the flags out of New York's Six Flags Darien Lake, Six Flags Waterworld Concord in California, Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver, Wild Waves and Enchanted Village near Seattle, and Six Flags Splashtown in Houston.
The Magic Mountain announcement has me scratching my head. Located north of Los Angeles in Valencia, the park is one of the chain's flagship properties. The only Six Flags park open year-round, it had an estimated attendance of over 2.8 million last year. A couple of weeks ago, it debuted its 17th coaster, the well-received Tatsu. It would seem to be well poised for a family-friendly makeover. Abandoning the Southern California market altogether just seems nuts to me.
In fact, if Six Flags jettisoned all of the properties mentioned in its most recent announcement, the much leaner company would effectively forfeit the entire western part of the U.S., with the exception of Marine World near San Francisco. That would severely curtail its national reach; at the very least, I think it would no longer be able to claim that it is the world's largest regional theme park company.
As part of the announcement, Shapiro reported that revenues and attendance were down over a comparable period last year. He noted that per-capita spending was up sharply, however. Since the parks raised nearly all of their prices, that's not surprising. The new management team had said that it wanted to pursue more corporate sponsorships and earlier this year made much of its deal with the Papa John's pizza chain. I was at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey recently and was stunned to see a slice of Papa John's cheese pizza--a normal-sized slice, mind you--going for $6.49. A whole cheese pizza was selling for $24.99. That's insane. It might be a short-term way to boost per-capita spending, but in my estimation, it's no way to develop long-term goodwill and encourage return visits.
Clearly, Six Flags needs to make some changes in order to survive. Much of what Shapiro has been proposing rings true. The cost of pizza (as well as exorbitant admission and parking fees) aside, there was a noticeable difference at Great Adventure this season. The staff was more attentive and was trying harder; the bathrooms and the entire park seemed cleaner; the landscaping was lusher. These are all steps in the right direction. But putting so many parks, especially Magic Mountain, on the table reeks of desperation. Next season, when Shapiro and his team will have the opportunity to control capital spending and truly make their own imprint, will be telling. But they'll need to stop dumping parks, or there won't be any left to imprint.
Find Six Flags Parks
El Toro Coaster Review
X 4th Dimension Coaster Review
Comments
You know to close Six Flags in Valencia California would be a dump idea. I grew up in So. Cal. and every summer we go about 2 – 3 times. And that’s without the season pass. We use coupons that I get at work. I grew up there and now I take my kids also every summer. That’s part of our vacation. And yeah, their pricing on food is way out there. Sorry to say, but we do leave the park for lunch and dinner. The only thing we buy are sodas, churros, popcorn you know things to snack on while we are waiting in those long lines but worth the wait. I heard about the closure’s on the radio the other day and told my kid’s about, they weren’t very happy. Disneyland is not on our vacation list (EVER) my kid’s think the ride’s are boring, no exitement like the roller coasters at Six Flags. I sure hope they reconsider the closesure of this park.
Maria and 4 kids
LIES!!!! CONSPIRICIES AND LIES I TELL YOU!!!!!
They jsut can’t shut down Six Flags Magic Mountian, it’s the only place in So Cal that has any real coasters!
I am a high school teacher. I have taken the club I sponsor every year to Disneyland and have a great time. Last year the kids talked me into trying Magic Mountain.
While at Magic Mountain I was walking across the park with about eight students when we were approached by a roaming group of young males. They began to make inappropriate comments to the girls our group. My girls and boys were very uncomfortable and I said to my students, “Come on kids, lets go.” At which point the young men turned on me and one of them growled, “You want your ass kicked?”
I looked around and there was NO HELP IN SIGHT. I have never felt more vulnerable. I was the only adult around. No adults and no security. They were a roaming “gang”. We got away from them quickly, and I noticed in my new awareness that there were a LOT of roaming groups of young men intent on more than just rides. I will never go there again. I still have nervous feelings about that moment. At Disneyland, one feels safe and secure.
I can’t understand how they can closed Six Flags in Cal. everybody goes their from norths WA and even people from Hawaii goes their bec. i’m one of them…i love Six Flags their nothing compairing to others…i wish i can go on everyone just to have fun and hopefully bring my own kids someday.
Six Flags Darien Lake is my families favorite vacation spot. with the theme park and camping what more could you want, We hope they don’t close it.
We have lived here over 10 years and one of the main reasons we moved to Valencia was to be close to Magic Mountain. I’ve been taking my son since he was 10 mths old and never have had a problem. He’s 10 now and we have taken groups of friends and family to the park and have NEVER felt unsafe.
Six Flags quotes in their shareholder report the following,”from parents who are discovering Six Flags for the first time or re-discovering all we now have to offer to grandparents and grandchildren who are creating special memories that last a lifetime;to teens who visit with their friends to take our breathtaking thrill rides; and neighborhood and social groups whose connection to one another is enhanced by a communal outing at Six Flags,…”They believe that this company contains the elemements of this “greatness” and “mission” then taking out a flagship park is quite the opposite of what the company is claiming to do. Corporate Raider is what I smell. And we can all smell it in Valencia. As a parent, community member and stock holder I, along with many other partents am in dismay but are poised with our community to voice out on this.
Thanks for the comments Arthur. When I heard this on the news last Friday I was just about in tears when the shock wore off. When I told our 10 yr old son, he literally cried. I am getting involved with our city chamber of commerce and as a resident am willing to do whatever I can alongside many parents and businesses against the proposal of selling OUR park. Shapiro is nothing less than a corporate raider. If you were at the Tatsu media day you were probably wretching after his “family park” speech let alone the “family friendly” Girls Gone Wild party he threw later that night when celebs trashed our park in front of him.
The biggest irony here is all the things he needs are already in place. SFMM has to pay more attention to training employees, beef up a security presence and FIX the existing rides that are down, open the existing restaurants. I could live without a coaster the next 10 years if they just did that to the park. Thus being the difference in Cedar Point who has the same demographics and thrill rides that SFMM has. A better ownership that cares about employees and patrons.
Off the soapbox for now. Keep up the good fight for us out here in Valencia.
I went Magic Mountain on US holiday. I think too many young people. Too loud and rude. No family place. Rides funner but lines too long.
My family and I went to Six Flags, MO on a Family outing with our company 3M. We got fantastic rates for admission and a meal in the “pavilion” PRICE: $25 a piece admission& Meal, $5 for meal only), parking voucher $5. For a Family with 3 girls, 2, 5, & 9, we had to make sure to keep a tight budget and thank goodness for a couple of bottles of water in the diaper bag!
We arrived at 2PM and I was shocked and amazed at all of the people getting hand stamps to eat in the parking lot. Then I discovered the reason: $3.25 for a 20oz. bottle vending machine soda. $7 for a fountain drink! The food vendors had very little people buying anything but were fully staffed. I think that the food service marketing service wing has taken the profit curve calculation way off the map. They are losing most of their money by cutting out entire families. Additionally, the food vendors were fully staffed meaning that they were not only missing food revenue, they were losing money on staff expenses.
The picture souvenirs were also exorbitant. $20 for a keychain? no thanks. I don’t understand how they can justify these rates. The people doing these matrix calculations of profit vs. volume have clearly lost the demographic model. As your article pointed out the park feel, safety and cleanliness was unrivalled.
While I could go on with our entire experience, pros and cons, I won’t bore you. In summary, while there were some bargains to b e found it was hard. We did eventually find water fountains. Other than the prices in the park, I can honestly say we had one of the best times of our entire family’s “vacation” life. The experience was wonderful and the park a gem. Having been to many a theme park in Florida, I’d say that ride for ride, Six Flags was quite a treat.
I have never been to SFMM but I sure would love to. This is probably the most retarded sale ever! SFMM is one of the most popular SF parks and they want to sell it? It dosen’t make sense.
We made the mistake of going to Magic Mountain in the summer. It was 110 degrees and there were no water fountains to be found, just bottles of water at about ten dollers per bottle. What a rip off! Also there was nothing to do but stand in looooong lines in the sun. There was no other kind of entertainment to wander around to enjoy in order to break up the monotony of lines. The roller costers were good once you finally got on them. Maybe a company like Disney could buy it. They know how to set up a theme/GUEST park. And unlike the woman who posted above, I have no stock interests to promote
I have no stock interest to promote, I want to keep my park. Plain and simple and so does all other parents whom I’ve spoken with and with whom my child attends classes and camps with in Valencia.
$3.00 bottles of water are what they last went for, I don’t know where you found a $10 bottle but I hope it was a good one! Yes, there needs to be more shaded areas to wait in some of the lines but let’s face it, it’s HOT out here and the lines do get long for certain rides for sure. That’s the risk you take in summer. Planning early morning rides is the best, eat during the hot period and ride later when the sun is not high over head. We’ve done it lots of times and invest in a refillable drink bottle so refills will be .99 instead of “$10″ wherever you paid for that.
Arthur misses the point entirely. Until the park does something about the groups of gangs that wander the park people just will not feel safe or want to go. Gangs are something that are pulling down our whole society, and I will be darned if I will pay to have to see and fear them.
I stopped back to add something I read that backs up my concerns. This is other article points out what I think need to change if Magic Mountain is to be successful:
“Last week, Mark Shapiro [chief executive officer of Six Flags Inc.] received a letter from a very dissatisfied customer.
From a father of three young children, the letter described the family’s miserable experience during a recent visit to a Six Flags theme park. Among the offences: Groups of teenagers angrily shouted racial slurs at each other while park employees did nothing. A teenage couple engaged in sexual activity on a Ferris wheel while park employees watched and laughed. The family waited nearly two hours for one ride. To top it off, rides began closing 30 minutes before the park itself closed. And all of that was in one day.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060630.REDGE30/TPStory/Business
i think six flags is the bestpark around..at other places you dont feel the same..i feel like im at home at six flags..this isnt a good idea me as a rollercoaster lover will not like to se magic mountain leave its the best in so cali..
i dont know what to belive. But it will be sad if they close magic mountain because thats the only place i have fun at with friends and family. and becides all other parks have no good rollercoasters compared to magic mountain
Roving gangs of teenagers? What a joke. People are simply too fearful and completely lack backbone. So Rick. Yeah, you. Let’s say for instance a group of teens approach you and your kids (or whatever they are to you) and begin making you feel uncomfortable by making use of their freedom of speech.
Here’s a novel idea. Use your freedom of speech, and fulfill your duty as the children’s guardian, and tell those teens to get the away from you and your group. I’m 22 years old, and I’m telling you, they will back down. They’ll say some other things to you first, but they **WILL NOT** do anything to you or your ducklings. They went to the trouble to get into the park. They’re not trying to get thrown out.
Stop depending on park security to take care of such rudimentary things. In other words, grow a spine, friend.
Pls dont close down six flags! its the best place on planet earth!! we just simply love that place.. and everything and everyone is forgotten once your on those rides.. i think its one of the best theme parks ever made for teenagers and adults, as far the rides are concern that is. (leaving aside the security and safety)
Close down Magic Mountain.
Get rid of those gangs of hoods like “Alan.” He needs a job, not an excuse to hang out and bother people. What a loser. And what a poor excuse for a park.
Fist off I agree with Marcy. Alan, criticizing others is not beneficial. There is a difference between Freedom of speech and verbally attacking others. Get some education. I was saddened to hear the news of the closing of MM. I feel “corp america”, and this can include more than just businesses, has ruined Cali and probably more but I feel passionate about CA because I grew up here. The corp world has used every excuse to raise prices. The media with the help of stars have made CA such a dream place to visit and live that it has raised the demand and the prices. I went to Disney and at 63 dollars for age 10 and up, it is ridiculous. Six flags has always been a reasonable place to go. The food price is always and issue for any theme park or carnival. My concern is when I have children will I be able to afford to take them to the places I went and continue to visit. when will the cost of living stop increasing especially since the jobs and salaries are not. I just think there are bigger issues than just a park closing.
Six Flags Magic Mountain is NOT closing. As of mid-December, 2006, Six Flags management says that if the chain sells the park (and it’s still not clear whether it will sell the park), it will be as an existing theme park, not as a piece of real estate. Six Flags says that it will make an announcement shortly about the fate of Magic Mountain and the other parks it has discussed as being in play.