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Industry News:
2008 Park Attendance Report - (4/18/09) For the second year in a row, the Busch parks have a little bone to pick with the new annual attendance report issued by TEA and ERA. They claim that the attendance estimates for the Busch parks are well below what their true numbers are, “wrong across the board” according to Busch spokeperson, Fred Jacobs. He corrects the report saying that the Busch parks combined brought in more than 25.4 million guests in 2008, 10% more than the 23 million reported in the new 2008 attendance report. He even went on record to point out that SeaWorld (Orlando I assume) brought in 6.2 million in 2007, far more than the 5.8 million estimate from last year’s report.
In their defense, ERA did mention that they had come to Busch asking for their help to compile their figures, but Busch, like most other park operations, refuses to give up this sensitive information, so they only have their best estimates to go by.
(4/16/09) The official 2008 Theme Park Attendance Report can be seen (and downloaded) by clicking here. In the meantime you can still download your own copy of the 2007 report.
 Coaster Videos - (11/4/09) The all new Roller Coasters In The Raw Volume 4 DVD will ship from Theme Park Review on November 9th. It includes footage of over 30 different coasters, including Fireball, Millennium Force, Prowler, After Burn, Rampage, Expedition Ge-Force, Leap The Dips, Silver Bullet, Ozark Wildcat and many more.
Coaster Trips - (10/12/09) Theme Park Review has announced their list of 2010 Coaster Trips. The Four tours will be trips to the UK, Europe, Middle America and something called the IntimidaTour that will hit the two new Intimidator coasters as well as other nearby parks like BGW, Dollywood and Freestyle Music Park.
General News - (11/4/09) For coaster fans looking for a new enthusiast club, you may want to look into The CoasterFusion Club, who is planning a variety of events and meetings over the next year. Click here for details.
(10/19/09) Screamscape received word over the weekend that well known ACE member, Gary Baker, had passed away late last week. He served often as a regional rep for ACE, as well as acting as the National events director for about 6 years. Video footage of Gary enjoying a coaster at Kennywood has been posted to YouTube to honor him.
(10/15/09) A great video showing off the video from the Euro Attractions Show (EAS 2009) can be found at Parksmania.
Internet Fun - (11/2/09) Some great haunt photos from several different Mid-West attractions can be found in an update over at ThemeParkReview this week. Some cool stuff too, including a look at a haunt where the scaractors can actually touch you. The November edition of Andy Shine’s Coaster Quiz is also now live.
(10/30/09) Just in time to make the best of Halloween, MapQuest has added an option to show off all your local area haunted houses in your area. Just pull up a map of your area and then look on the right hand side of the map for a bunch of icons you can click on. Mixed in there with things like restaurants and Hampton Inns is a Ghost icon, which will pull up all of your local haunts. How well this works may vary quite a bit with your location, as I’m not sure where they got their database of haunts. I tried to use it today to see what they had posted in the Charlotte, NC region, only to come up entirely empty handed. Not a single haunt listed… not Scarowinds, none of the popular local haunts that have ruled the region for years… nothing. How sad… but give it a try to see what you come up with. Happy Haunting!
(10/16/09) Check out this video posted to YouTube from the BBC showing off a typical morning’s prep work to get the ride’s up and running at a UK theme park.
(10/9/09) Ok Readers, we’ve been sent a request from some of our fans in the UK to tell you about a promotion Disney is running in Europe to help promote the release of the movie UP. The DIBB... Disney Information Bulletin Board site has decided to rally their members to help win a content to send a sick little girl to Disneyland Paris for the first time. All you’ve got to do to help is click here and click on the “Blow Some Balloons For Kelly” and follow any other directions to help out by adding virtual balloons to their house. The house with the most balloons by Nov. 20th, wins the trip and as I understand it, you can add new balloons each day.
(10/1/09) The October edition of Andy Shine’s Coaster Quiz is now live.
(9/21/09) We’ve seen rides from time to time get posted for sale on Ebay, but I think this may be the biggest ride ever put on Ebay yet. They are selling the former Pinfari Zyklon from Blue Diamond Park (Delaware) for a quarter million.
(9/11/09) Like it, Hate It or just see it for the pure marketing opportunity that it is, Amusement Today announced this year’s 2009 Golden Ticket Award Winners. Not too many surprises on the list as the big winners for things like Best Amusement Park (Cedar Point), Best Children’s Park (Legoland California), Best Marine Life Park (SeaWorld Orlando) Best Steel Coaster (Bizarro, formerly Superman:ROS), Best Dark Ride (Spiderman), etc seem to never change over the years.
(9/8/09) I’m not sure how it happened, but I sure we can all just agree to “Blame Canada” as La Ronde’s Le Monstre was voted in as the ‘Holy Rail’ of roller coasters at the end of the big Six Flags Tournament of Thrills held on Facebook. Wow… it killed El Toro, Nitro and even X2 in the end. Recount anyone?
Amusement Technical - (10/9/09) Amusement Technical is looking to take advantage of the low exchange rate between the British Pound and the Euro by kicking off a “Buy British” sales campaign in Europe as well as the UK.
B&M - (10/20/09) Just an update on all that missing B&M track… one source tells me that it’s most likely all heading to China at this point as there are still a few new major theme parks set to open in the next couple of years.
(10/19/09) Just to recap what has been seen at the B&M fabrication plant  over the past year that was never identified. In Jan 2009 Yellow track was spotted that has yet to be found anywhere. In April 2009 bright red track started to appear which was likely for Intimidator at Carowinds, along with some leftover pieces of that unknown Yellow track. In May 2009 the plant was full of more Red track and a bunch of Yellow track again. By September 2009 all the Yellow track was gone... but we still don’t know what it was for. Previously shipping containers were also seen on site, so it more than likely may have went to an international destination. I don’t think it’s for Universal Studios Dubailand just yet, but we’ve heard rumors about a Mummy parts being shipping already for that project so you never know.
(10/12/09) We’ve got four new pictures from the B&M fabrication plant in Ohio this week, send in by one of our readers. Items of note include a truckload of grey supports ready to be hauled off, which I’m assuming are heading towards Carowinds. There was also a truckload of Red coaster track again for an unknown project. Plus lots of unpainted track sitting around.
(9/3/09) Our source has sent in three more pictures from the B&M fabrication plant showing off more track and unpainted supports.
(9/2/09) An unknown source sent in a new but very interesting picture today, showing off a couple of new grey or unpainted pieces of track sitting outside the plant in Ohio that makes all the B&M Track. You never can tell just who or what it is for…
Busch Entertainment - (10/13/09) The Orlando Sentinel gives a little more insight into the Blackstone purchase of Busch Entertainment as well as thoughts from others in the industry. Meanwhile some current and former Busch execs comment on the changing of the guard over at BlooLoop which is worth a read.
(10/8/09) At long last Blackstone and InBev have confirmed that they have come to an agreement to sell off the Busch Entertainment division (BEC) of 10 theme parks to Blackstone for a price between $2.3 and $2.7 BILLION! (The $400 million variable is a window that will allow InBev the option to participate in the newly spun-off venture of a minority partner is they choose to do so.) Not too many details were released at this point in time, other than that the plan is to BEC to pretty much run itself the way it has been doing, keeping all existing management teams in place. BEC will also be their own group and not merged (yet anyway) into Merlin or any other entertainment asset at Blackstone.
According to Blackstone's Joseph Baratta (Senior Managing Director), "We have long admired the Busch Entertainment Corporation parks. They are the premier
collection of entertainment parks in the United States and offer a unique family experience. We are pleased to have the opportunity to acquire this business. We
have deep sector experience and look forward to working with the excellent BEC management team to continue to invest in and grow the company.”
Michael Chae (Senior Managing Director) said, "We look forward to working with BEC management in continuing a legacy of delivering world-class family entertainment to our customers.”
In an employee memo to staff, BEC head, Jim Atchison remarked, “I realize that a separation from A-B may bring uncertainty for some of you. I encourage you to look at this not as the end of an era, but rather as the beginning of an exciting new one: BEC’s emergence as an independent company. I’m certain you will come to view the acquisition of BEC by Blackstone, as I do, as a wholly positive outcome and the start of an exciting future for us all.”
The deal is expected to be finalized around the end of the year or early in 2010, but moral amongst the employees is said to be high, ending a long term of uncertainty caused by the InBev takeover of A-B last year. According to one contact, they remarked an erie similarity of the employee attitude in the parks and the revised ending of Return of the Jedi. Lots of celebrating... and dreams of a new future.
(10/6/09) The local media has gotten wind that the long awaited announcement between Busch Entertainment and Blackstone could happen any day now. It is expected that the deal would likely be somewhere between $2.5 to $3 billion dollars. However Screamscape sources have feed us one other interesting bit of information, claiming that one of the haggling points in the deal is over InBev retaining some small percentage of ownership once BEC is spun off. Blackstone would like it to be closed to 5% while InBev was rumored to be asking for as high as a 30% stake. I’d expect they will land somewhere in the middle if they can come to an agreement.
Cedar Fair - (11/6/09) In an interesting move ACE voted to honor the closed Geauga Lake Big Dipper by giving it Landmark status. I’m not sure what the point is, unless they hope that by elevating it’s status, it may attract a buyer with the intention of saving it.
(11/4/09) Cedar Fair has released the details of the Q3 Report this week, along with a transcript of the conference call. Attendance through Q3 this year was down 6% to 18.8 million guests compared to last year. Per Cap spending was only down 1% however. Interesting item of note, Shoot the Rapids at Cedar Point was meant to be a 2009 attraction but when the economy went soft they got Intamin to agree to hold off on it until 2010. They also announced that three parks will receive a nighttime light show attraction similar to the Starlight addition at Cedar Point this year. We’ve already heard rumors about it at Kings Island, so anyone care to make a guess about the other two parks getting it?
(10/2/09) Cedar Fair has announced that they will hold a conference call on Nov. 3rd at 10am (EST) to discuss their Q3 Results.
(8/8/09) I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, but Cedar Fair has convinced their lenders to allow $900 million in term loans to mature in 2014 instead of 2012 in exchange for a higher interest rate. Though the terms also allow for them to ask for additional extensions in the future as well. I suppose this will allow them to focus on paying off the rest of their debt load ($1.67 billion) between now and then.
(3/10/09) Cedar Fair dropped a huge bomb today mixed in with their announcement that they would be changing (cutting) their cash distributions to shareholders in order to help reduce their debt by $200 million over the next 3 years. While that shook up Wall Street, what is shaking up the enthusiast community is the fact that they also mentioned that they were looking into options to possibly sell off as many as three parks as well as “excess land” they own next to Canada’s Wonderland as well as the old Geauga Lake site in Ohio. The three parks that may be on the auction block may come as a surprise to some, but they mentioned California’s Great America, Worlds of Fun and ValleyFair.
CoasterDynamix - (9/11/09) CoasterDynamix has announced that their newest production model, The Phoenix, is now in stock and ready to ship for $149.95.
Disney - (10/30/09) Disney is getting close to launching their own “Mobile Magic” app next month which will send out valuable information to park guests about wait times, fastpass times, show times, along with some GPS mapping as well. Unfortunately it seems that this program may only fully work for Verizon customers, as other carriers may be limited to text only access.
(10/8/09) Disney has launched a brand new Haunted Holidays website that is promoting all things spooky this Fall. It features new exclusive videos, games, and online activities already and will be updated often between now and the new year. Currently the site already has updated pages with content for the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Snow White, The Muppets, A Christmas Carol, Nightmare Before Christmas, a Tale of Two Cities, Princess and the Frog and more!
(9/30/09) With Disney’s promotion to get in free on your birthday coming to a close soon, they have announced a new way to get free park tickets in 2010 with the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program. You can read the details here, but in short you only have to volunteer to do some community service at one of the charities Disney will list to earn a free ticket. Details about exactly what is required however wont be released until the promotion begins in 2010.
(9/22/09) A new kink has arrived in the Disney / Marvel Comics deal, though Disney say it doesn’t concern them at all right now. It seems the family of comic’s legend Jack Kirby have filed a notice that they will attempt a to regain a portion of control of certain charters he helped create while at Marvel Comics. Copyright law does allow for this kind of hearing to take place 56 years after the first publication, which would bring Fantastic Four up in 2017, Hulk in 2018 and X-Men in 2019.
(9/7/09) I’m not sure what the reason was, but it seems some members of Disney’s management went to tour Europa Park not long ago. From the rough translation I was given it seems that not were the Disney peeps impressed with the park, but also took a special interest in Mack’s water ride systems used on Poseidon and Atlantica Super Splash. Hmmm… interesting.
(9/1/09) The big news yesterday came as a shock to everyone in the industry that I’ve talked to. If you haven’t heard yet, Disney pulled out Mickey’s checkbook and wrote a deal worth $4 BILLION DOLLARS to buy Marvel Comics, the entertainment powerhouse owner of Spiderman, X-Men, Iron-Man, Thor, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Incredible Hulk and about 5,000 more characters big and small. Yes… Disney bought them all.
 The implications are simply mind boggling on all fronts. What does it mean for the current and future Marvel plans to push ahead with countless films based on their characters? What does it mean for the comic book side of things? How about the huge lines of toys, video games and clothing based on these characters? Does this mean we’ll see Spiderman web slinging down Main Street USA at some point in the future or new theme park attractions based on the Marvel characters?
Even more importantly to the here and now… what will the impact be upon Universal’s existing deal with Marvel comics to use the characters at Marvel Super Hero Island at the Islands of Adveture park in Orlando? Unfortunately no one knows for certain, but I’ll break it down into what has been said so far and where things will likely stand.
From what I’ve been led to understand for years now… Universal deal to use the Marvel characters only applies to using them in IOA within the confines of Marvel Super Hero Island. I also believe that Marvel had the ability to give a final yes or no nod to any attraction that was developed for the island. The currently attractions there were approved… but with Disney calling the shots in the future, that pretty much writes off any chance of getting NEW attractions added to the island. For anyone wondering, there was a deal to use select walk-around characters at the Hollywood park as well for several years, but that deal expired and was not renewed a couple of years ago, so don’t expect to see them return to the Hollywood park. Japan also has a deal in place for their Spiderman ride, but I don’t think it extends to anything beyond that.
Universal did release a brief statement yesterday where the said that they believed that Universal’s current deal with Marvel was still valid and was expected to continue for some time. The actual terms of that deal are unknown however… as some believe it may have been signed as an “in perpetuity” deal, while most others I’ve talked to believe that it was signed on only as a “long term” licensing contract, possibly in the 25-30 year range. It may have also had a geographic limitation, which might prevent Disney from using the characters in Orlando for the time being as well, but no one is quite sure. Bottom line however… no one knows. But even if it was a forever deal, that would only apply as long as the current batch of attractions were still functional. With Disney not likely to approve any more attractions, eventually the land will become a bit stale and even the Amazing Spider-Man’s sheen could wear thin.
Disney’s own statements indicated that they planed on going along with all of Marvel’s currently agreements for the characters as a good partner, but you can count on the fact that as these deals reach the end of their terms, Disney will not renew them. This comes as no surprise however, as Marvel had no intention of renewing them anyway on their own before the Disney deal, due to Marvel’s success of late in putting out blockbuster super hero films one after the other.
So do I think we’re going to see Space Mountain become inhabited by the Silver Surfer? Will the X-Men seek out a new “Mansion” to call their own? Could we catch a glimpse of Wolvering and Sabertooth going claw-to-claw in the middle of the Matterhorn? Don’t count on it… at least not right away. While I do think that for certain we will see Marvel characters and merchandise start to appear in some of the theme parks sooner than later, I wouldn’t expect any major attractions to come out of it just yet. If anything, insiders tell us that we may see most of the activity happen on the entertainment and merchandise side of the company for the few few years, as Disney will have to come to grips and learn just how to properly handle the Marvel Universe.
That said… and being a former comic book fan myself, I do hope Disney knows enough to take a “hands off” approach to Marvel for the time being, just as they did with Pixar. Let them do what they do best and handle the Marvel Universe, and become the stable financial support that they need to grow even larger and more successful. And please don’t screw with the comic characters or try to tone the more gritty characters down. On the plus side of things, I’ve heard the Pixar crew is quite excited by the deal and may be jumping at the opportunity to bring some of the Marvel characters to life in new ways. Plus this move does give Disney direct access to the one market demographic that they had been really lacking in… tween to teenage boys who were too old to be lured in by Pirates themed merchandise, and turned off by all the Fairy and Princess stuff.
Gerstlauer - (8/11/09) Gerstlauer has announced the creation of a new small layout version of their Spinning Coaster, perfect for any small to medium sized park. The new layout is priced much less than their full size models, with an approximate cost of less than 2 million Euros. The layout is 45 feet tall with 1,034 feet of track, four cars and fits on a 90 x 150 ft footprint.
Great Coasters International - (8/11/09) I was contacted yesterday by a representative from a partner company of Great Coasters Int. (GCI) who wanted to clear up our story from over the weekend about installing GCI Millennium Flyers on non GCI coasters. I was told that currently GCI, “will absolutely install their Millennium Flyer trains on ANY WOOD COASTER assuming GCI has properly prepared the wood coaster for their trains.” In other words, GCI needs to get in there, make sure the structure can handle it, and more than likely retrack the coaster to handle the M-Flyers, but now anyone can buy their own M-Flyer trains. Quick… someone get Six Flags Magic Mountain on the phone, Colossus could use about 4 of them.
Great Wolf Lodge - (10/19/09) Great Wolf Lodge will hold a conference call to discuss their Q3 earnings report on November 3rd.
(8/6/09) Great Wolf Lodge reported higher revenue for Q2 this year, but also reported a decline in occupancy rates for the quarter as well.
The Gravity Group - (6/18/09) Earlier this year the Gravity Group took their  prototype Timberliner train out to Holiday World to give it a test run on The Raven. They were nice enough to send me this great picture for use on Screamscape, which I unfortunately misplaced until today, but it gives you a great look at the basic shape of the new train design. You can see even more pictures of it in action over at the official GravityCast, including an video of it making a test run.
IAAPA Convention Schedule - IAAPA will be held in Las Vegas for the first time ever in 2009 from November 16-20th, with plans in the works to possibly lock down into an alternating schedule between Orlando and Las Vegas. IAAPA is currently scheduled to take place in Orlando in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2019. The 2009 international IAAPA show schedule also includes the Asian Attractions Expo (AAE) from June 10-12th in Seoul, South Korea and the Euro Attractions Show (EAS) from September 30th to October 2nd in Amsterdam.
Leisure Labs - (9/2/09) Leisure Labs and I.E. Park/SOLI Bumper Cars are launching their own Cash for Clunkers program, offering attractions a new affordable way to refresh and improve existing bumper car attractions into something more interesting. “There are so many interesting car choices now from Race Cars to Animals to anything your imagination can dream. Floor layouts can be so much more interesting, and we even have interactive Bumper Car attractions now” says Munari. This new program comes on the heels of I.E. Park’s introduction of its new Speedway and Driving School concepts. Bumper Car attractions are relatively inexpensive, and freshening an existing location is even less expensive. We hope this program of lowering costs through a trade-in program will help incentivize operators to update their attractions.”
Mack Rides - (11/4/09) I’m not sure what this track is for, check out this picture that was apparently was taken at the Mack Ride’s manufacturing area, and shows off a few pieces of yellow coaster track that look very similar to the style they used on Blue Fire. Anyone know what this might be for? Do we have another launched Mack coaster on our hands somewhere?
MagiQuest - (10/14/09) The newest MagiQuest location opened this week at the Mall of America. The 12,000 square-foot MagiQuest adventure complex, which was voted best new interactive gaming technology by the Themed Entertainment Association, will be located on the third level of Mall of America outside Sears. If you haven’t read our review of MagiQuest in Myrtle Beach, SC, then you should do so.
Merlin Entertainment - (12/16/08) Merlin Entertainment has confirmed that the deal was signed to build Legoland Malaysia in Iskandar. The $210 million project is expected to open in 2013, follwing Legoland Dubailand that is on track to open in 2011.
PARC Management - (8/24/09) Along with all the stories we had heard so far this summer about the decline of Parc Management, and the deteriorating conditions at many of their parks, another interesting rumor came up from a highly trusted source. I was told that Parc’s own Chairman, Michael Jenkins, had quietly resigned from the company sometime this summer. While I did not want to just post that as a wild rumor, I have tried to contact Parc Management’s headquarters twice over the last few weeks to get a comment or possible confirmation on this story, but all requests for clarification have gone unanswered, so I can only assume at this point that the story is indeed true.
(8/5/09) Over the last month a slow trickle of small news bits began coming in about Parc Management from several different sources, ranging from the dippin dots guy all the way up to high level management types. Like a puzzle, each individual piece didn’t give away the big picture, but with enough pieces in place, things have now become more focused. The picture being painted right now for the Parc Management parks is not a good one at all.
The first real signs that something big had gone wrong was Magic Springs. If you’ve followed any of our updates this summer for that park, you know that it opened for the season with almost every single thrill ride shut down... and still has a majority of them shut down to this day. At first the blame was placed on an odd management snafu from the takeover by Parc that had left the park waiting until the spring to begin their off-season maintenance work. However, this seems to only be part of the story, as it seems a lack of funds to pay for it all may have been the real problem in the shadows.
It now seems that this alarming lack of funds from the corporate office is also now causing problems at several others Parc Management properties. Elitch Gardens seemed to be fine on the surface, but there are several attractions at the park that have been shut down for quite some time such as the observation tower, the Rainbow and half of the cars on Tower of Doom. It’s also been noted that on any given day this summer it seems as if at least one of the parks coasters is down for the day. On a related note, a number of similar issues have been noted with the Frontier City and Wild Waves parks as well. For whatever reason though... all is quiet from Darien Lake. Take that for what you will.
While the problems with ride downtime issues is bothersome for the guests, it is only a small aspect of the overall problem. From the business sector, we’ve heard several reports claiming that Parc Management was not paying all of their vendors. Money is being issued on a priority basis it seems, as the chain is only paying off the vendors that are 100% necessary to continue their operations or those who provide positive cash flow such as food and merchandise vendors. This leaves the ride manufacturers getting the shaft, as some sources report they’ve been waiting close to a year to be paid for work or parts provided to Parc Management properties. Some of these ride companies have struck back too it seems, as we’ve heard a rumor that some are now withholding vital rides parts needed, or refusing to return parts and items sent in for repair until they are paid up front.
Other scary items have also been reported as being cut back or cut-out entirely: security alarms systems, pest control, some cleaning and chemical supplies and so on. The lack of certain chemical supplies is certainly troubling after the news broke last week about a nasty E Coli breakout at Frontier City. Are we on the verge of watching Parc Management implode or is something else going on with the real money holders behind Parc Management, CNL Properties? More information as soon as we uncover it.
Six Flags - (11/4/09) Six Flags has issued a statement about their Q3 earnings report this week, reporting total revenues of $457 million, down 7% from the Q3 2008, caused by slightly lower attendance figures and mostly from cutbacks in guest spending. Attendance only fell 1% from 12.2 million to just 12 million in Q3 2009. While single day and season pass sales were still strong, the biggest drop in attendance came from the Group Gate as many companies and organizations cut out events this year.
For the year to date, revenue is down 10% from the previous year, going from $903.2 million to $811 million. Overall attendance for the first 9 months of 2009 is also down 5%, bringing in 21.2 million compared to 22.2 million during the previous year’s first 9 months.
(10/13/09) The bankruptcy court has approved the settlement agreement ($3 million payment to the city of New Orleans some possible insurance money) in exchange for the termination of the lease agreement for the Six Flags over New Orleans property.
(10/6/09) According to Bloomberg, the preferred shareholders of Six Flags have pitched their own plan to reorganize the company, claiming that they can repay the debts as well as give something back to the shareholders... unlike the other two plans out there right now.
(9/21/09) Crazy as it sounds, Six Flags has signed another development deal with to develop a Six Flags branded park in Nigeria, Africa. Yes… Nigeria…where all those crazy scam e-mails come from that promise overflowing bank accounts that need saving. This deal is legit however, as Six Flags is getting paid to develop the project which will go into the Calabar Cross River State as part of the State's “Destination Tourism” development plan on a 250 acre site.
(9/17/09) The Six Flags noteholders have presented their own plan to reorganize the company, including a stock offering valued at $450 million. The noteholders would split the company up between themselves and pay off the lenders under the plan, and have asked the bankruptcy court to allow the creditors to vote between their plan and the one filed by Six Flags themselves. You can read up on all the details at Bloomberg.
(8/23/09) As part of the proposed restructuring of Six Flags, creditors owed millions stand to take over a majority stake in the company when it comes out of bankruptcy, controlling as much as 92% of the common stock.
(8/20/09) A few former Six Flags execs have offered to possibly come out of retirement for a year or two to help Six Flags get back on it’s feet, according to this article. Comments are made from both Larry Cochran (former Chairman) and Jim Prager (VP) who were both part of the company before the Premier Park’s buyout. They mention several money saving steps that would boost the value of the company, starting with simple things like moving the HQ out of overpriced New York to somewhere more reasonable, as well as cutting all the bonuses being given out. Other names on the possible list to return include Dan Howells, Joe Schillaci and Del Holland.
(8/5/09) Six Flags released their Q2 results this week and posted a net loss of $98.6 million. In addition to hurting from the recession, the outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico also caused problems by shutting down Six Flags Mexico entirely for almost two weeks. Attendance this quater is also down 8% from the same quarter last year.
(6/17/09) According to this article, some information that was previously deemed confidential, was leaked out from the Six Flags filing. It indicates not only predicted EBITDA information for the 2010-2013 seasons ($240, $265, $285 and $310 million) but it also mentioned planned capital spending budgets of $105 million for the 2010 season and $110 million for 2011.
(6/15/09) As expected this summer, Six Flags did file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy late last week, however it is still business as usual for the parks. According to Mark Shapiro, while all of the parks are profitable on their own right now, the company as a whole inherited a $2.4 billion debt load that simply, “cannot be refinanced in these financial markets.” Six Flags is currently seeking court approval for a pre-negotiated reorganization plan to restructure the debt load to just $600 million. Six Flags has gone as far as to post a public message about the Chapter 11 filing on their website as well as posting the open letter from Mark Shapiro to all of the employees as well.
Universal Studios - (10/22/09) According to the LA Times, Universal has extended their deal with Steven Speilberg by another 7 years, before he can ask for a lump sum payout on his consulting deal. Text was also added to the terms that Speilberg’s deal will transfer through to any new owners if G.E. decides to sell NBC / Universal to anyone else before then.
(10/15/09) Again the news reports are hot about a possible sale of Universal to Comcast… (the very thought makes me want to throw up!) Current reports claim it may be only a 51% of the company sale to Comcast with GE keeping 49% percent, but if you ask me 1% is simply too much for Comcast. You can pretty much throw all quality control out the window if they get their grubby mitts on it, they’ll let all the good rides go into ruin, and I don’t even want to think about what will happen to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Comcast would find a way to out-source all ride operations to India if they could.
If the theme park of the coin wasn’t bad enough news, remember that Comcast are the ones trying to pretty much destroy the internet these days, trying to limit their customers bandwidth use, and as a cable TV providers, they’ll probably turn HULU.com into a pay site… charging customers for the programming, then hitting them up for the bandwidth fees on the backside for downloading it all… it’s a lose / lose situation for everyone. (I can see their new Universal Express system now… “Your Ride Reservation window for Ripsaw Falls is between 9am and 6pm. Have a nice ride!”)
(10/5/09) Many newspapers have been reporting that Comcast has been possibly getting ready to launch a purchase bit for NBC Universal. Of course this has got to be one of the worst things that could ever happen to the company, as Comcast is known as one of the worst cable TV companies according to customer satisfaction polls. Certainly this doesn’t bode will for the theme parks if this holds true.
(9/21/09) Vivendi, a dark chapter in Univesal’s history of previous owners, is making some headlines once again with the news that they may exercise their option to sell off their final 20% ownership of NBC Universal. They have a narrow window each year (Nov 15 to Dec 7) to notify G.E. (NBC Universal’s parent company) of their intentions and G.E. is making preparations for just such an event.
Velocity Magnetics - (10/20/09) EntertainmentManagementGroup.com is acting as the sales company for Velocity Magnetics, who has unveiled a new product called Magna-Brakes. Magna-Brakes are said to be a new concept built to replaces traditional bladder and can brakes with a new alternative.
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