Six Flags' Roller Coaster Economy: Bankruptcy Possible
About.com's Theme Parks site is supposed to be about helping you make plans to visit parks, sharing info about the latest, greatest coasters, water slides, and other attractions, and, in general, reveling in our common passion and focusing on the joy that parks give us. The dire economy in the real world, however, keeps intruding into the fantasy world of parks. I'd imagine that you dread reading the financial-woe-related updates found on my site lately as much as I dread writing them. But, here we go again. This time, Six Flags is in the financial-woe spotlight.
When Mark Shapiro, Dan Snyder, and the current Six Flags management team took over the park chain in 2006, they inherited a mess--a $2 billion mess of debt left by the previous honchos. In the three seasons they've been at the helm, Shapiro and company have, for the most part, done an admirable job cleaning up the parks, improving customer relations, and reversing course. In fact, in its most recent quarterly report, which it released yesterday, Six Flags announced that its total revenue, attendance, and per-capita spending were all up in 2008--which is especially notable, given that 2008 wasn't exactly a banner year for gas prices and the economy in general.
But that's not all it announced. The park chain's massive debt, a looming August 15 deadline to pay shareholders, and the inability to get credit from a crippled banking system may force it to file for bankruptcy protection. The company hopes to restructure to avoid seeking Chapter 11 protection. With or without bankruptcy, it's likely that Six Flags would try to sell off some of its properties to reduce its debt.
What are your thoughts about Six Flags? Do you want to share your recent experiences at Six Flags parks? Do you have some ideas about ways Six Flags could make further improvements? Do you have any strategies to get all of us out of this economic mess? Click on "Comments" below.
Photo: Everything's not coming up roses at Six Flags parks. ©Arthur Levine, 2006. Licensed to About.com.
Comments
Six Flags. The name alone brings back some memories. Living in Savannah, GA, I get to go to Six Flags in Atlanta quite a bit. Six Flags is far from my favorite park, but it’s far from my least favorite. The Thing about Six Flags is that they are all about the coasters. The fastest, Tallest, Most Inversions,etc. I like Roller Coasters, but some of those are just too extreme for me. I can ride any roller coaster in Walt Disney World, including Mt. Everest (which isn’t it like the tallest or something? I’m most likely wrong on that….)If Six Flags added all the theming and details that Walt Disney World had, they would definitley be higher on my rating scale. Does anybody agree with me?
As a kid I always enjoyed six flags and ever since than I havnt stopped going there because the park keeps getting and betteri have bought season passes every year for the past 2 years.
six flags has to be more like wallmart! and try to get 1000 customers in the gate for $20 bucks. instead of 100 for $50. and they need to make sure that they look at every customers needs. i am a thin guy but my dad that loves six flags has now had to stop going because he can not fit on some of the rides. he is only like 230lbs wich i think is a common size for a man now!
We go to Disney for vacation each year, but being only 30 mins from Great America, always get yearly passes. The past couple of years though, i really had to think if it was worth it. The park is poorly run, ill designed and apparently left in trust to seasonal teenagers. parking is an expensive time consuming joke. The Dark Knight ride is horrible. Superman a dissapointment (bring back Shock Wave without the head banging). DeJa Vue never worked and V2 is OK, but 2 new rides that are slow loading? With all those crowds? Put in a CP ride with some theming for Pete sake. Then they want to charge a fortune for a quick pass (or whatever they call it) and the line for that is an hour. Food and service is horrible. No control over teenage line cutters.
Not even good enough for a theme park fix anymore, even this close to home.
i think six flags should sell its property where they are poor in sale or profit to over come the debts, since six flags has reduced the price of the ticket i think there should be limite to rid the coasters in order to save the electricity expense,, but six flags definately should stay in business