What if Warner Bros. Still Owned Six Flags?

[Scoobert McDoobert]

Okay, so after that big merger between Cedar Fair and Six Flags, that got me thinking; What if Warner Bros. still owned the company? This may be a stupid thought, but I think that it would be interesting, alright.
Oh, and I do believe that some coasters, such as Medusa at Great Adventure, Georgia Scorcher at Six Flags Over Georgia, Batman The Ride at Six Flags Over Texas, Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America, and maybe even Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain were all preplanned before Premier Parks bought the company.
Please post your ideas on this thread, and updates will come in the future.

 

[Scoobert McDoobert]

Part 1: The Company's General Direction​

Here is the first part of how I would view the company if still owned by Warner. I believe that the company could change quite a lot of it's philosophy if it was still owned by Warner. For one, there would be more theming across the board. This is because that seemed like the general direction the company was going towards. I could also see less of a focus on coasters over time, as the coaster wars were basically over post-2005, though that doesn't mean that Warner would stop building coasters, but I will get into that much later. To simplify the general direction the company would take, I'm just going to separate this among eras just to tell you people what I mean by this.

Era 1 (1998-2007)​

• Larger focus on coasters
• IP would be in smaller doses, mostly used in small themed lands, stage shows, and various standalone attractions
• IP that would be popular to use include Looney Tunes, DC Comics, various shows made by Warner Bros. Animation (Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, ect.), Cartoon Network, Hanna-Barbera (surprisingly not just Scooby-Doo), Tom & Jerry, and Warner's catalogue of various movies, such as Lethal Weapon and Police Academy

Era 2 (2008-2015)​

• Medium focus on coasters
• Most major additions would be themed to some sort of IP
• By this time, most of Warner's extended catalogue would not be used, and the shows by Warner Bros. Animation hadn't even aired on tv in years; the attractions/areas themed to the other mentioned properties would be updated during this time.

Era 3 (2016-Present)​

• Minimal focus on coasters, as dark rides take center stage
• Almost, if not all additions would be based on IP
• All IP's stated in Era 2 would still be used, though Cartoon Network would be used a lot less

Alright, this post is getting long enough, but next time, I want to introduce a cancelled concept that shows an interesting direction for one park in particular if Warner still owned the company.

 

[Coaster Hipster]

Ah, a fellow alternative history enthusiast

I'd be curious to see how this affects the WB brand as a whole.

• Would direct ownership of Six Flags enable better, more impactful cross-promotions of movies & rides?
• Would the venue portfolio remain relatively stable ? expand strategically with ventues in Abu Dhabi & Madrid as in our timeline? or go overboard like Six Flags post-WB ownership in our timeline?
• Would Six Flags name still exist? Why not convert - at least the biggest parks - into Warner Bros Movie Parks or Theme Park Warner?

 

[Scoobert McDoobert]

Ah, a fellow alternative history enthusiast

I'd be curious to see how this affects the WB brand as a whole.

• Would direct ownership of Six Flags enable better, more impactful cross-promotions of movies & rides?
• Would the venue portfolio remain relatively stable ? expand strategically with ventues in Abu Dhabi & Madrid as in our timeline? or go overboard like Six Flags post-WB ownership in our timeline?
• Would Six Flags name still exist? Why not convert - at least the biggest parks - into Warner Bros Movie Parks or Theme Park Warner?

You actually brought up some pretty nice questions, and I would just like to answer them, at least according to how I would see this going:

1. Why yes it would, as various attractions (especially ones based off of DC Comics) could be based off of their movie versions. This can especially be seen on Six Flags Over Texas' version of Batman The Ride, as the ride's station doesn't have that gritty feel that came from the Tim Burton films, but instead one that feels mor akin to a 90's comic book. The rides really wouldn't be themed to specific movies (with a few exceptions). This even goes for other movies, but I would like to get into that later.
2. The portfolio would be relatively stable, as Six Flags would mostly build new parks, such as a cancelled Six Flags near Rhode Island that was planned in 1996 for a possible 1998 or 1999 opening. The parks in Madrid and Abu Dhabi would still happen, with Madrid having the most changes due to the park's final product being one influenced by Premier Parks, as seen in attractions such as the park's Vekoma Madhouse. I couldn't see them buying anymore parks, mostly building more, which would be a rare instance. The only parks I could see them buying are the Village Roadshow parks because they used to have a stake in them, and possibly even Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee, but that would be highly unlikely, due to the starting year of this thing being 1998, a year after the park closed. In general, Six Flags would be more stable.
3. This is probably the most interesting question, and the short answer is no, but there's multiple reasons for this. For one, Six Flags is a nationally known name in the US, so keeping it would make sense. The second reason is that there actually would be a couple of Warner Bros. branded parks in the US. Yes, they actually tried to build one in Orlando, Florida, but it was swiftly cancelled in real life, most likely due to budgetary reasons. I will talk about this park much later on in this thread (I guess you could call it a series if you wanted too), but yes, Warner Parks would technically be in the US, but not in place of the Six Flags parks. Oh, and I also believe that Warner Bros. parks would also be second-gates to Six Flags parks, and there are already a couple I can think of, even the park I will talk about in the next update. This is kind of where I have to end, as I don't want to spoil it.

I hope this answered all of your questions, and thanks for the reply!

 

[Scoobert McDoobert]

Mini-Update 1: Fiesta Texas 10-Year Masterplan​

Why hello again! This will be the first mini-update. If you don't know what these are going to be, they are basically smaller things that either give proof to what will happen in this series, or are just too small to be something that changes the company in any major way.
This first mini-update will be about a 10-year masterplan that was meant for Six Flags Fiesta Texas. This information came from Theme Park Review (the other coaster forum) on it's "Shane's Amusement Attic" thread. Now, I will not upload any of the contents of the page, as I don't want to be sued by either Shane or Theme Park Review, so I will instead link the original thread it came from so you can look for yourself;
The link
As you could see, this paints a picture of a VERY different Fiesta Texas, though one that seems to have better theming, even better than it is now. This was designed in 1998, and was supposed to end in 2008 or 2009, which aligns with the various eras I have described. After looking at the masterplan, I guess I will just talk about what was in it, as there is, of course, no text on the plan, and some attractions are hard to make out. So, here are my assumptions;

Los Festivales​

This area seems to have the park's carousel in it. While it came from Spassburg, and is not a new addition, it's welcomed. Oh, and there is some new building next to the park's entrance where the wave pool eventually went. I don't know what this could have been.

The Ol' Watering Hole​

This waterpark would have indeed been expanded, but it would have been more towards Crackaxle Canyon. A lot of this actually happened, just in a different spot, of course.

Crackaxle Canyon​

This area has no visible changes, but that's fine, to be honest.

Spassburg​

This area, on the other hand, has possibly the most change out of all of the park's areas. Some major changes include what looks to be a Morgan Hyper, some new kiddie rides (probably made by Zamperla), an Intamin drop tower (which is also in the carousel's former location), some gazebo looking structure, a couple more random flat rides, and strangest of all, what looks to be a relocation of AstroWorld's Texas Tornado.

Rockville​

This area also barely changed, just like Crackaxle Canyon.

Fiesta Bay Boardwalk​

This area has some changes. The most notable change is what looks to be a giant racing wooden coaster. It sadly looks to have been made by RCCA, looking at the layout's notable giant helix elements and the Intamin trains (the same that were used on "Wild Wild West" at Warner Bros. Movie World Germany) The building used for Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters would have been the station. The mini golf is also gone.
Well, that wasn't very short, but it is indeed interesting. Looking at these plans, it seems like Fiesta Texas would become one of Warner's favorites. This will be important for later on.

 

[Scoobert McDoobert]

Part 2: Coaster Manufacturers​

Now it's time for the part you have all been waiting for; the coasters! This is a roller coaster forum, after all, and this part will just go over the major coaster manufacturers that Warner would use over the years. The list's will have the manufacturers and coaster types used. Oh, and this only for coasters, so no dark, water, or flat rides. I will also use the same "era" system I used for Part 1. Alright, let's begin!

Era 1 (1998-2007)​

• Arrow Dynamics (Mine Trains, 4th Dimension Coaster)
• Bolliger & Mabillard (Inverted Coaster, Standup Coaster, Hyper Coaster, Floorless Coaster, Flying Coaster)
• E&F Miler (Family Coaster)
• Giovanola (Mega Coaster)
• Intamin (Accelerator Coaster, Reverse Freefall Coaster, Prefabricated Wooden Coaster)
• Morgan (Hyper Coaster)
• RCCA (Wooden Coaster)
• S&S (4th Dimension Coaster)
• Vekoma (Junior Coaster, Suspended Looping Coaster)
• Zierer (Tivoli Coaster)

Era 2 (2008-2015)​

• Intamin (Prefabricated Wooden Coaster)
• Premier Rides (LIM Launch Coaster)
• Zamperla (Family Gravity Coaster)

Era 3 (2016-Present)​

• Intamin (Suspended Family Coaster)
• Zamperla (Super Twister Coaster)

This may be a shorter post, but it's very interesting to see the number of coasters drop dramatically.

 

[Dan Nguyen]

As with most alt history related stuff, its really hard to tell what WB would do with the Flags parks if they still owned them outright. So much time has passed and the amusement industry has changed a lot, dealt with a financial crisis, and a global pandemic. WB was all about bringing well-themed movie-based attractions and it showed in many of the additions they made throughout the 90s. Could we see them scale back those highly detailed attractions for cheaper additions to save on costs? Who knows?

Its fun to speculate though so lemme throw my 2 cents.

• Yes I could see highly themed additions get scaled back over the years. There's still a focus on theming but the heavily detailed rides of the 90s will probably be scaled back a bit.
• No I don't see many new parks opening up around the country. Most major metro areas already have existing parks. SF was all about eating up existing parks since the 70s. A movie studio isn't gonna change that. That being said, I don't see them overexpanding like they did in the late 90s. We would still see them focus only on the parks they already have in their arsenal. That includes Parque Warner, Movie Park Germany and Movie World in Australia.
• I still see the coaster wars happening. They started the trend and I definitely see them continuing. Maybe not on the scale that SF had done IRL but I could definitely see some bigger coasters added to their parks.
• Could Astroworld still be around? AW always seemed like a red headed stepchild to the chain. I don't think WB as a whole would have a reason to sell off the property unless the Astrodome was still giving them trouble with the whole parking situation.
• Would Geauga Lake still be around? IDK if Warner sold off the chain before or after SF bought Premier Parks. If before, I could definitely see GL sticking around as long as they stuck to the formula that kept them successful for 100 years. SW would be allowed to grow a bit but the township not allowing large rides would put a damper on any significant expansion. Ideally, both parks keep working together and gradually make the area a mini destination
• The parks are definitely healthier with a slower approach to expansion. If SF doesn't spend millions, maybe even a billion trying to eat up parks and then proceed to give each park 5-6 coasters in a 5 year period, we probably wouldn't see SF going bankrupt multiple times and trying to make that back with years of cheap additions.
• Would they still give RMC a chance? I could definitely see that, especially as their wooden coasters age.
• I could still see some form of Batman Stunt Show still ongoing. SF kept it for a while but as long as WB keeps throwing money at the parks, I could see it continuing and maybe even remaining a SF staple across the board.

So much has changed about the industry so its difficult to tell what would happen, Maybe WB ends up removing tons of classic attractions for movie tie-ins like Paramount did. Maybe Warner does eat up tons of properties across the country and flag them. Maybe SF is a burden on the studio and they end up selling the properties to CF while Paramount decides to stay in the theme park game.

I guess its still fun to speculate.

 

[Coaster Hipster]

Part 2: Coaster Manufacturers​

Now it's time for the part you have all been waiting for; the coasters! This is a roller coaster forum, after all, and this part will just go over the major coaster manufacturers that Warner would use over the years. The list's will have the manufacturers and coaster types used. Oh, and this only for coasters, so no dark, water, or flat rides. I will also use the same "era" system I used for Part 1. Alright, let's begin!

Era 1 (1998-2007)​

• Arrow Dynamics (Mine Trains, 4th Dimension Coaster)
• Bolliger & Mabillard (Inverted Coaster, Standup Coaster, Hyper Coaster, Floorless Coaster, Flying Coaster)
• E&F Miler (Family Coaster)
• Giovanola (Mega Coaster)
• Intamin (Accelerator Coaster, Reverse Freefall Coaster, Prefabricated Wooden Coaster)
• Morgan (Hyper Coaster)
• RCCA (Wooden Coaster)
• S&S (4th Dimension Coaster)
• Vekoma (Junior Coaster, Suspended Looping Coaster)
• Zierer (Tivoli Coaster)

Era 2 (2008-2015)​

• Intamin (Prefabricated Wooden Coaster)
• Premier Rides (LIM Launch Coaster)
• Zamperla (Family Gravity Coaster)

Era 3 (2016-Present)​

• Intamin (Suspended Family Coaster)
• Zamperla (Super Twister Coaster)

This may be a shorter post, but it's very interesting to see the number of coasters drop dramatically.

RMC has left the chat

 

[Scoobert McDoobert]

As with most alt history related stuff, its really hard to tell what WB would do with the Flags parks if they still owned them outright. So much time has passed and the amusement industry has changed a lot, dealt with a financial crisis, and a global pandemic. WB was all about bringing well-themed movie-based attractions and it showed in many of the additions they made throughout the 90s. Could we see them scale back those highly detailed attractions for cheaper additions to save on costs? Who knows?

Its fun to speculate though so lemme throw my 2 cents.

• Yes I could see highly themed additions get scaled back over the years. There's still a focus on theming but the heavily detailed rides of the 90s will probably be scaled back a bit.
• No I don't see many new parks opening up around the country. Most major metro areas already have existing parks. SF was all about eating up existing parks since the 70s. A movie studio isn't gonna change that. That being said, I don't see them overexpanding like they did in the late 90s. We would still see them focus only on the parks they already have in their arsenal. That includes Parque Warner, Movie Park Germany and Movie World in Australia.
• I still see the coaster wars happening. They started the trend and I definitely see them continuing. Maybe not on the scale that SF had done IRL but I could definitely see some bigger coasters added to their parks.
• Could Astroworld still be around? AW always seemed like a red headed stepchild to the chain. I don't think WB as a whole would have a reason to sell off the property unless the Astrodome was still giving them trouble with the whole parking situation.
• Would Geauga Lake still be around? IDK if Warner sold off the chain before or after SF bought Premier Parks. If before, I could definitely see GL sticking around as long as they stuck to the formula that kept them successful for 100 years. SW would be allowed to grow a bit but the township not allowing large rides would put a damper on any significant expansion. Ideally, both parks keep working together and gradually make the area a mini destination
• The parks are definitely healthier with a slower approach to expansion. If SF doesn't spend millions, maybe even a billion trying to eat up parks and then proceed to give each park 5-6 coasters in a 5 year period, we probably wouldn't see SF going bankrupt multiple times and trying to make that back with years of cheap additions.
• Would they still give RMC a chance? I could definitely see that, especially as their wooden coasters age.
• I could still see some form of Batman Stunt Show still ongoing. SF kept it for a while but as long as WB keeps throwing money at the parks, I could see it continuing and maybe even remaining a SF staple across the board.

So much has changed about the industry so its difficult to tell what would happen, Maybe WB ends up removing tons of classic attractions for movie tie-ins like Paramount did. Maybe Warner does eat up tons of properties across the country and flag them. Maybe SF is a burden on the studio and they end up selling the properties to CF while Paramount decides to stay in the theme park game.

I guess its still fun to speculate.

You actually bring up a lot of good points, and I would like to address them as much as I can.

1. I will admit, this kind of happens in my version, because during era 2, they would mostly just build smaller flat rides, dark rides, and maybe smaller themed sections. I will also admit that the company would love to just build a 4D theater and call it a day during this time (or replace the film if the park already had a 4D theater). They would bounce back from this, however.
2. While new parks would still be built, I also do believe that around 2005, they would pretty much be done with building new US parks and stick strictly to international locations. I still do believe that they would own a lot of parks, but it would never go over the 20 park mark (the rhyme was unintentional), and would in fact be lower than that. I will also admit that they would give more love to the Warner Bros. branded parks, as they would appreciate how those parks are actually themed to their movies.
3. The coaster wars still happened, and a lot of innovative coasters that helped Six Flags still would have been built. I don't want to disclose the rides that I am referencing, but just look at my last post. I will also talk about this when I get to the park specific posts.
4. Why yes, AstroWorld would still exist, but Warner would still not give the park any love. This will be shown in a later post.
5. Geauga Lake would also still exist, and Premier would still own it. I do believe that the park would still get into the same problems as they did when they transformed it into Six Flags Ohio, but it would still exist at least, and would probably even be Premier's flagship park. Oh, and if want to know what happens to SeaWorld Ohio, well I think that Premier might have still bought it. The parks name might simply just be "Worlds of Adventure", because I think it's a pretty cool name.
6. A lot of cloned coasters (except for a few) would have never been built at a Six Flags, but instead at Premier's other properties. This includes those Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerangs and Intamin Impulse coasters. Even Stunt Fall at Parque Warner Madrid would not exist, as that coaster was added into the plans at the last minute.
7. Warner would never have worked with RMC because they would be uncomfortable with new manufacturers at the time and they would also not like coasters, as they would have rather built a dark ride over coaster at the time. Premier Parks would love RMC, however, with them being the company to skyrocket RMC hybrids into popularity.
8. The Batman Stunt Show will actually be discussed in the part 3, along with other entertainment offerings at the Six Flags parks. The answer is interesting, however.

This is just how I would see it, however, but I still do like your take. I could also see it happening.

 

[Scoobert McDoobert]

Part 3: Entertainment​

Alright, so this post was kind of the result of a reply by Dan Nguyen, so I would kind of like to thank Dan for the basis of this post. This post will be about the parts of a theme park that are probably not usually talked about here; the entertainment selection. Now, this refers to any entertainment in a theme park that isn't a ride. This post will of course be in the same "era" format. Well, let's begin.

Era 1 (1998-2007)​

During this era, most of the shows would surprisingly remain the same. This isn't entirely true, however, which can especially be seen in the stunt show at the parks. I believe that around 1998-1999, most of the Batman stunt shows would be rethemed to Batman & Robin, in which this version was actually present at Six Flags Magic Mountain for a couple of years. Another replacement is the Warner Brothers Western Stunt Show, which would actually fit nicely at Six Flags Over Texas. I also believe that a new stunt show themed to the Justice League would be created around 2003. I really just got this off of some concept art on Pinterest, and it was most likely an idea from Premier, but I think it's cool. It also seems like something Warner would do.

Era 2 (2008-2015)​

During this period, I believe that Warner would stray away from entertainment, basically creating no new shows. They would also start to remove some theaters to provide space for more rides. The stunt show would stay, however, and the surviving theaters would just continuously play the same shows for years.

Era 3 (2016-Present)​

This era would actually introduce new entertainment, but it mostly would be nighttime spectaculars with projections and street shows. There would even be standard shows still made, but they would mostly be those Looney Tunes shows for children, which would either be housed in those Looney Tunes theaters (if they weren't removed yet) or housed in theaters relatively close to the park entrance.
I'm sorry if this was a smaller post, and if this is a topic you don't care about, but I was inspired to do this. I am also shocked that this is my smallest post.

 

[Dan Nguyen]

1. So I get most of my speculation from Paramount. Paramount invested pretty heavily into their parks in the 90s and early 00s but scaled back most of their additions. I can definitely see WB making a similar approach.
2. For new parks, I can't really see them adding anything to the US or Europe but I could see them adding possible properties in expanding markets like the Middle East or Southeast Asia/China. Parks are difficult and expensive to build and most US markets have large parks already.
3. Astroworld had everything against it. The park wasn't really a good performer, it struggled with a parking situation with the stadium across the street, and increasing land values. Now with Flags not eating up half the failing parks in the country, I could definitely see Astroworld stick around longer, but I feel its days would be numbered much like CGA's situation right now.
4. I'll throw the coaster wars and clone coasters in the same discussion. The coaster wars definitely happen and they definitely invest a lot of money into coasters. I also see WB investing in package deals and that does include cloned coasters. WB was the company that gave SF the Freeze clones and the Batman clones. Clones make for great cheaper additions so I don't see why they wouldn't save money and buy coasters and rides in bulk. They weren't afraid to in the 90s.
5. Not flagging Geauga Lake means its probably still around and doing fairly well for itself. As long as Geauga Lake doesn't try to cannibalize SW, I could see that sticking around under Busch/Sea World management for more years to come. The main reason SW Ohio was sold in the first place was because SF was expanding rapidly and SW couldn't respond to that so they lost a lot of business. If that never happens, SW Ohio will stick around. I could even see them expanding their schedule into fall/winter.
6. WB definitely invested in new companies and were willing to take chances with new companies like B&M and Premier. As long as RMC provides them with a great solution to their aging wood coaster problem, WB would put money into fixing them. RMC provides that solution. Now whether or not they're the first to invest, we won't know, but they would see the success RMC gives to other parks and would definitely want a few of them for sure.
7. A lot of parks are scaling back on their stage shows. Would WB do the same? I could see them going the Paramount route and having one large stage production and a bunch of smaller shows throughout. I do see them following industry trends with fireworks on weekends and drone shows. It would be really nice to see WB keep investing in shows because they are a movie studio, but that kind of talent usually costs more money in the long run. Even Disney is scaling back on live entertainment nowadays.

Keep these coming. I'm looking forward to seeing your takes on these.

 

[Scoobert McDoobert]

1. So I get most of my speculation from Paramount. Paramount invested pretty heavily into their parks in the 90s and early 00s but scaled back most of their additions. I can definitely see WB making a similar approach.
2. For new parks, I can't really see them adding anything to the US or Europe but I could see them adding possible properties in expanding markets like the Middle East or Southeast Asia/China. Parks are difficult and expensive to build and most US markets have large parks already.
3. Astroworld had everything against it. The park wasn't really a good performer, it struggled with a parking situation with the stadium across the street, and increasing land values. Now with Flags not eating up half the failing parks in the country, I could definitely see Astroworld stick around longer, but I feel its days would be numbered much like CGA's situation right now.
4. I'll throw the coaster wars and clone coasters in the same discussion. The coaster wars definitely happen and they definitely invest a lot of money into coasters. I also see WB investing in package deals and that does include cloned coasters. WB was the company that gave SF the Freeze clones and the Batman clones. Clones make for great cheaper additions so I don't see why they wouldn't save money and buy coasters and rides in bulk. They weren't afraid to in the 90s.
5. Not flagging Geauga Lake means its probably still around and doing fairly well for itself. As long as Geauga Lake doesn't try to cannibalize SW, I could see that sticking around under Busch/Sea World management for more years to come. The main reason SW Ohio was sold in the first place was because SF was expanding rapidly and SW couldn't respond to that so they lost a lot of business. If that never happens, SW Ohio will stick around. I could even see them expanding their schedule into fall/winter.
6. WB definitely invested in new companies and were willing to take chances with new companies like B&M and Premier. As long as RMC provides them with a great solution to their aging wood coaster problem, WB would put money into fixing them. RMC provides that solution. Now whether or not they're the first to invest, we won't know, but they would see the success RMC gives to other parks and would definitely want a few of them for sure.
7. A lot of parks are scaling back on their stage shows. Would WB do the same? I could see them going the Paramount route and having one large stage production and a bunch of smaller shows throughout. I do see them following industry trends with fireworks on weekends and drone shows. It would be really nice to see WB keep investing in shows because they are a movie studio, but that kind of talent usually costs more money in the long run. Even Disney is scaling back on live entertainment nowadays.

Keep these coming. I'm looking forward to seeing your takes on these.

It's funny that you mention Paramount, because I was thinking that after this is finished, I could basically do this but for Paramount. It would be a lot different in concept, however, because I believe that they couldn't survive without a larger budget. The reason why I state this is because there were a TON of cancelled concepts, in which some actually seemed pretty cool. Oh, and the company still does clone coasters, they just don't do it as frequently.