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Six Flags adds more parks to its umbrella

Youngster Joey

Strata Poster
Welp. This happened

http://investors.sixflags.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2018/05-22-2018-210951050‬

"The parks joining the Six Flags family are:

  • Wet n’ Wild Splashtown, Houston’s largest waterpark, with more than 48 lush acres and a wide selection of thrilling waterslides and attractions, along with two children’s areas;
  • Wet n’ Wild Phoenix, the largest waterpark in Arizona (located in the Adobe Dam Recreation Area), featuring 35 acres of high-speed slides and two pools, and also offering a Wet n’ Wild Jr. section with kid-friendly versions of some of the park’s most thrilling attractions;
  • Darien Lake near Buffalo, NY, a beautiful resort property located on approximately 1,000 acres that includes a theme park, waterpark, campground, hotel, and a 21,000-seat amphitheater;
  • Frontier City, an iconic part of the Oklahoma City landscape, is steeped in tradition. The park features a western theme and offers an extensive lineup of exciting rides, attractions, and shows geared to every member of the family; and
  • White Water Bay, near Frontier City, a tropical oasis with more than 25 acres of waterslides, interactive water play areas, and pools."
Not sure how I feel about Darien Lake being back under the six flags brand but it honestly can't be worse then it was under CNL... I hope...
 

Youngster Joey

Strata Poster
WTF why did they want to take another dip into the cool waters of Darien Lake?
This is what I'm trying to figure out It is in a pretty dead zone in terms of parks. Also smack dab between CP and CW so maybe they want some of that market share?

My only hope is this maybe revives the Lake Monster RMC of predator project.
 

Zek_Teh_Kek

Hyper Poster
I think the Arizona Wet n Wild park was probably the best choice for them to make, as I know that area can tend to be very hot, and it's the largest in the state!
Still a bit confused on Darien Lake though.
 

GuyWithAStick

Captain Basic
I'm just glad Six Flags is ready to start expanding their market. Hopefully this means some more love for these parks in the future!
 

Intricks

Strata Poster
Woo! I can use my SF Membership now in my own state (it does work for the waterpark....right?)! Plus, this could possibly help make an actual amusement park of decent size and caliber a reality for this state!

But yeah, they better toss up loads of shade in that place cause the sun here is brutal.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

tomahawk

Strata Poster
SiX fLaGs AsTrOwOrLd CoNfIrMeD

My question is, how long til the parks get their second Larson looper.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
So they go bankrupt expanding their reach too far, sell off parks that were bloat, and re-lease?

Yeahok.

In other news, Cedar Fair finally found a buyer for the old Geauga Lake property!
 

jodon1981

Roller Poster
I'm interested to see what it means for their over all corporate strategy. Six Flags has been able to get away with smaller annual ride additions because most of their parks already had a collection of large roller coasters. Darien Lake has a couple large coasters as does Frontier City, but those two parks are not as built up as most of the other Six Flags properties.
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
Frontier City is an interesting one. It seems like a nice little family park, but definitely could use a lot more.
 
In news that will likely shock several people, Darien Lake is now a Six Flags Park again. The article, from Screamscape:
Screenshot-2018-5-23 Industry News.png
Will we see the stand up coaster from Astroworld FINALLY be built?
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I mean... I hope this isn't a broken record of what they did in the 2000's.

It was sad to see the company almost go under due to overspending on record-breaking B&Ms and hyper coasters, but seeing them almost go under due to overspending on Larson Loops and S&S 4Ds would be completely devastating. Or hilarious, I'm not really sure.
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Looking more broadly across the amusement park industry, we have seen an upward trend in attendance year-over-year, with increased in-park spending too. The time is ripe to expand, if every you were wanting to.

However...

Six Flags has literally been here before, and found underwhelming market opportunities with Darien Lake and Frontier City from their previous ownership in the 2000s. While we are not (currently) looming at the brink of a Great Recession, which was a contributing factor to Six Flags' bankruptcy, these properties still carry the same challenge of underdevelopment and questionable market penetrations. I would imagine two pathways for Six Flags:
  • Manage properties as-is, with minimal investment
  • Build-up properties to increase attendance and park value
Six Flags went the second route last time, and got pretty burned along the way. Since this is a 5 year lease with simple terms, I would imagine Six Flags to look the "management" strategy, at least at first, to get a good foothold before truly developing parks out.

The ultimate winner in this is Premier Parks LLC, the current owner. Premier Parks existed as another company which purchased Six Flags back in the late 90s, and fed to much of Six Flags' troubles in the 2000s; Premier Parks LLC is a leaner, more focused company that formed in 2011 which seems keen on developing smaller parks. They acquired Magic Springs and a number of water parks last year; by selling off larger parks, this will give Premier more capital to focus on a shorter list of park assets.
 

davidm

Strata Poster
so "Premier Parks" got big, bought "Six Flags", changed their name to "Six Flags", CEO of (old) Six Flags left, formed another company "Premier Attractions Management", changed its name to "Premier Parks" (lol, trolling much?) and now (new) "Six Flags" have bought out the leases on properties they ran when they were (old) "Premier Parks" from (new) "Premier Parks" who are (old) Six Flags people.

Confused? You will be. :)
 

Pear

Strata Poster
Now that they got more parks to give yearly additions to I can't wait for the additions to become even cheaper!
 

Snoo

The Legend
Now that they got more parks to give yearly additions to I can't wait for the additions to become even cheaper!

Ooo no. Don't you worry. They won't add anything to 3/4 of the chain for the next decade. It will be great.
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Does this mean that Darien Lake's Ride of Steel will get it's Superman branding back?

Anyway, I'm sure this signals a great future for Six Flags! Hopefully Six Flags brings the IP licenses back to these parks and adds some quality rides! Maybe a WWGLC clone or a Justice League dark ride would suit one of these parks?
 

Youngster Joey

Strata Poster
In news that will likely shock several people, Darien Lake is now a Six Flags Park again. The article, from Screamscape:

Will we see the stand up coaster from Astroworld FINALLY be built?

The ride can't be put back up because of the way they took it down. they also have removed the ride from the field it's been sitting in for years recently.

Looking more broadly across the amusement park industry, we have seen an upward trend in attendance year-over-year, with increased in-park spending too. The time is ripe to expand, if every you were wanting to.

However...

Six Flags has literally been here before, and found underwhelming market opportunities with Darien Lake and Frontier City from their previous ownership in the 2000s. While we are not (currently) looming at the brink of a Great Recession, which was a contributing factor to Six Flags' bankruptcy, these properties still carry the same challenge of underdevelopment and questionable market penetrations. I would imagine two pathways for Six Flags:
  • Manage properties as-is, with minimal investment
  • Build-up properties to increase attendance and park value
Six Flags went the second route last time, and got pretty burned along the way. Since this is a 5 year lease with simple terms, I would imagine Six Flags to look the "management" strategy, at least at first, to get a good foothold before truly developing parks out.

The ultimate winner in this is Premier Parks LLC, the current owner. Premier Parks existed as another company which purchased Six Flags back in the late 90s, and fed to much of Six Flags' troubles in the 2000s; Premier Parks LLC is a leaner, more focused company that formed in 2011 which seems keen on developing smaller parks. They acquired Magic Springs and a number of water parks last year; by selling off larger parks, this will give Premier more capital to focus on a shorter list of park assets.

Actually I'm fairly certain Premier was the company who previously had the lease and wasn't the owner. EPR properties bought the park from CNL lifestyle properties back in 2016 (with the sale officially going through last year). At least for Darien Lake.
 
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