Sept. 30, 2024

Delays, Curfews, and Global Expansion: Halloween Challenges and IAAPA’s Middle East Move

IAAPA announced the IAAPA Expo Middle East in Abu Dhabi in 2026; Plus delays and curfews domestically.

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IAAPA announced the IAAPA Expo Middle East in Abu Dhabi in 2026; this is perhaps one of the most significant signals that the industry is exploding in the Middle East. Back at home, Six Flags Fright Fest Extreme can't seem to get its haunted houses open nationwide, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg faces curfews that impact guest experiences. Finally, SeaWorld lost an 11.4 million dollar licensing judgment against Sesame Workshop.

SOURCES

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Okay from our studios, this time in Detroit and Tampa.

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This is Green Tag Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip

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and I'm joined as always on my co host Scott Swinson.

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Scott Swinson created Development and this week, you know, we're

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going to talk about some of the changes with AYAPA

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and then some delays in some theme park openings and

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some rowdy teens.

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Rowdy teens, rowdy teams never happened at the Halloween season.

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Do that? It's certainly not, certainly not okay.

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So our first story here is AYAPA has announced an

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inaugural AYAPA Expo in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi

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AYAPA for those I mean, I'm sure everyone listening to

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those AYAPPA but but you know, AYAPPA is the big

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association in theme parking history, and they've announced they're going

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to go to launch AYAPA Expo Middle East. It's going

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to take place from March thirtieth through April second, twenty

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twenty six. So we got a few years to you're

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going to have to plan for that. And the release

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here it just kind of details how due to the

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expansion of the area and they're going to bring the

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trade show there and education you know, kind of as

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IYAPA does. It was interesting to me that the people

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who were quoted in the press release so Jack Jakab

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of course the president of the n CEO of AYAPA,

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but also they had the CEO of Morale Group. What's

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interesting and very telling. Hm, Well, I we see in

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the press release, but I thought this was really big news,

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but not surprising news because and also I don't want

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to say not even not surprising, but interesting because we

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all we've been talking about how the Middle East, of

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course is growing, and it was supposed to be China

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and then pandemic, and so now we kind of have

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the Middle East coming up as a potentially overtaking the

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US market an investment, and so that makes total sense.

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But what's interesting is there are already attractions shows in

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that area. And I think that was the hesitation IYAPA

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originally had, was that there was already shows that have

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a few years behind them, you know, already doing bringing

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the industry together in this area. So it's interesting. And

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also IATA expos are no small thing, you know, so

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like one does not simply launch a whole new expo

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with AYAPA.

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So I think this was a pretty big decision.

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So it's just interesting to me that it was such

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a big decision, but also in a market that already

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has expos that happened that are pretty large. But I've

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never worked in that area and Scott has Scott tell me, what.

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Do you think?

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Well, it makes total sense. First of all, let's go

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back to the comment about the Morale chair. Yeah, so

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that makes total sense because marale in Abu Dabi, for example,

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Maral pretty much owns all of the themed attractions. They

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own or they either own or our partial owner of

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Sea World, Warner Brothers World, Yeahs water World, Ferrari World,

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and the as yet unnamed another park that's going to

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be added within the next next few years.

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Ye.

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So, and uh, if I'm not mistaken, the chair is

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also a member of the royal family, so that helps

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that they they would definitely be involved. It would be

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it would be foolish for them not to be involved

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because they they pretty much can get stuff done. And

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that's how these these parks are being built so quickly

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is because first of all, in this part of the world,

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they have very deep pockets. Secondly, in both the countries

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that I've worked in the Middle East, they have a

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strong desire to expand their their tourism. So they've got money,

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they've got passion, and they're bringing in people from around

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the world to do it. So that seems like a

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one two three punch. I will say one of the

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reasons I think that Ayappa maybe have maybe dragged its

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feet a little bit before going in with this, because,

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as you say, there's some other some of the people

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who got to the got to the plate first. Ayappa

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in the Middle East is not particularly recognized, and it's

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not that they have anything negative to say, they just

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don't know who they are. So, you know, because the

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industry is so new, you know, having having done some

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stuff for Jia in Saudi Arabia, the training is such

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that we are introducing people not just to what can

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I do with these skills, We're introducing them to a

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whole new realm of business. They have no idea at

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all what a theme park is. The vast majority of people.

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They're learning, obviously, but they you know, entertainment, entertainment for them,

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they just a few years ago just started to allow

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movie theaters. So they're just they're in the infancy. But

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the government and the sections of the government that have

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been tasked with bringing in this kind of of entertainment

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and making it tourism worthy. Is they're having to work

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very very quickly to elevate knowledge and understanding of what

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a theme park is and how it operates. And uh,

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it's it's interesting because what I'm discovering, certainly more in

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Saudi than the UAE, is the the unique sort of

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hybrid that they're creating. They're not creating theme parks that

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as like as we would understand them. They're theme parks

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with giant picnic groves and uh, you know, bowling alleys.

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You know.

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They they're they're kind of taking all their entertainment and

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putting it together based on what the market will bear

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and what the what the the audience would like. The

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UAE is significantly more traditional in their in their theme

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park mindedness. So I think with this, with this expo

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coming into the Middle East and since it's twenty six,

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I'm going to do everything I can to go because

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I would love to let me see if I can

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teach there, because I would love to see, first of all,

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to go back and see what Zeerworld looks like now

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that it would have been open for well what three

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years by then two and a half years, and secondly

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to just kind of touch base and see how the

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area has expanded. Obviously, during an expo, it's going to

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be busier because it's going to bring in a lot

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of a lot of people of interest to this. But

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I think this makes total sense. I think it is.

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I think it is more or as much to build

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reputation for Ayappa as it is to find a way

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to get or to have an outlet for vendors. But

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I think that will come as well. I know that

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once once the government in certainly in the UAE, once

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the government decides they want something, they will do everything

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they can to bring it in from wherever they need to.

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So I'm sure they're being welcomed with open arms. Hence

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the reason the chairman of morale was mentioned in the

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in the press release. So I'm excited. I hope to

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be there and I hope to be teaching because I

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think it would be really fun.

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I was wondering what this expo is going to bring

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that the other expos have not brought, and I think

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it's not about that. I think it's more about what

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you said that it is more about Ayapa expanding instreach

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in that area than it is about really offering something

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that the market doesn't currently have, especially I think because

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my understanding, again I haven't worked there, but so my

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understanding of that ecosystem is that a lot of it

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relies on xpass or you know, people that are not local.

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So to me, I'm like, well, you're going to have

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Ayapa Middle East. This is going to be a smaller

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version of Ayapa with the same people. I mean, who's

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going to really go but the same people will go

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to everything else. Well, But keep in mind too, the

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reason and it's currently expaths is because nobody in these

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Middle Eastern countries have any idea or any experience in

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the theme detraction industry. They're trying to get. Their long

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term goal is to make this uh, to make the

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attractions industry another another way of employment, you know, another

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way of getting jobs to the locals.

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This is this is part of a culture shift for

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them so that less and less of them are relying

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on the royal family money and the oil industry and

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the money from the oil industry, and more and more

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are actually getting jobs. They're trying to get a whole generation.

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They're trying to train a whole generation to get into

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to get jobs and get jobs that they enjoy. And

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that's part of the reason that the theme detraction industry

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in the UAE has, you know, on Yas Island, has

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has grown so much, and even you know, even going

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back to the Dubaiparks, you know, it's it's been a

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it's been a there's been multiple purposes for a lot

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of different things. And I think that putting this expo

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there is going to make the Emorati and the other

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Middle Eastern, other Middle Eastern cultures open their eyes and go, oh, okay,

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this sounds like fun.

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Let's do this.

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And I know that some of the classes that some

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of my classes that they taught in Saudi, the response was,

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I it was like mind blowing. They had no idea

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it even existed. They had no idea they could learn

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to do this. They had no idea they could get

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paid to do this. So I think that is going

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to be the real benefit to the area. And I

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think for Ayappa, it's just going to help expand their

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international recognition.

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Okay, well again it's not until twenty twenty six, but

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like you said, it'll be interesting because so many more

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attractions are debuting and being in that area, so it'll

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be It certainly will be a full expo with just

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the amount of new experiences that Ayapa has to draw from.

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So we will be watching me. I'm also gonna try

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and go, so we'll see. Okay, So next up. Delays

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have hampered Fast Extreme at six Flags Great Adventure. This

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year's celebration of Scary Things was supposed to open on

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September thirteenth, but on September twelfth, park officials announced it

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would open as a preview instead, and again on September eighteenth,

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they said that that next weekend was also going to

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be a second weekend of previews. In a statement, they said,

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due to unforeseen circumstances, some of our mazes are opening

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later than expected, but during our Fright Fast Extreme preview weekends,

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guests have the opportunity to enjoy all of our fall events,

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all included with their daily park admission. The park representative

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did not say which mazes have not opened or respond

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to a question of whether needed inspections are the cause

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of delays, as some people have theorized.

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The park.

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Season pass holders, meanwhile, have not been too happy and

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expressed frustration with the delays in parting an extra charge

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that Six Flags was charging for the Fright Extreme attractions.

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So I discussed this before, but just to clarify too,

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that six Flags had, like you know, they have different

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season past tiers, and it's like only the more expensive

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tier got access to freight Fest weekends and that was

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one of the big selling points of that passes that

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has access to the weekends, and then of course they

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were selling separate passes for it. So essentially we are

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two weeks into this event and they are still calling

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it a preview because they're not open and they have

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yet to give opening dates for the rest of the mazes.

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So we've talked about this before, just in terms of

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I think we've actually talked about all these elements. We

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talked about fried Fest Extreme and how they were trying

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to expand into markets that don't generally do too much

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and how that was going to go. And we also

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talked about the concept of too rapid expansion in a

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market where the supply chain is still recovering from COVID.

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Even now, I mean we've talked about this, how you know,

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every I don't know everybody thinks with the grown I

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think the growing popularity of Halloween is a little bit

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outstripping the ability of the suppliers to supply it with

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stuff for themed like this. I mean home Depot is

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one thing, right, I guess even though home Depots had problems,

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you know stocking.

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Yeah, Home Depot has had problems as well. It's it's

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the Yeah, it's the supply chain. And I've dealt with this.

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I've dealt with this in all of the all of

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the Haunted attractions and all of the Christmas attractions that

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I've been working on this year. There are there are

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things like, for example, Creatures of the Night at Zoo

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Tampa just opened, which is a family friendly zoo event

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at the Zoo and Tampa, hence the name is Zoo Tampa.

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They they opened night before last and that was supposed

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to be their their grand opening, but we had an

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excuse here in Tampa. We had a hurricane go through.

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So you know, we we the hurricane came through on

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the night that was supposed to be our final dress rehearsal.

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So what we did is and by we I mean

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00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:10.759
the Zoo because I'm an outside contractor. But what the

236
00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:14.120
Zoo did is they positioned that first night, which would

237
00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.720
have been their grand opening, as their as their preview

238
00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:25.240
night and preview slash dress rehearsal night, and so we

239
00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:27.720
had we had an excuse. But it's happening everywhere. And

240
00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:29.879
I can also say that even things like there are

241
00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:35.879
certain lighting elements that have not shown up yet. We

242
00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:38.559
have some some lighting elements from a pretty major distributor

243
00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.279
that were ordered in May that are not here yet.

244
00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:47.759
So you know, there is that. There is that product

245
00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:53.120
chain challenge that we're having. There's some transportation issues as

246
00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:56.600
far as getting things to and from different locations.

247
00:13:57.240 --> 00:13:57.360
Uh.

248
00:13:57.919 --> 00:13:59.720
You know, we've talked about staffing until we're blue in

249
00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.039
the face, but there's been a lot of there's been

250
00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.440
a lot of different challenges and a lot of different reasons.

251
00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.440
I mean, we've even had one situation where something we

252
00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.240
thought was going to open late because and this is

253
00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:14.559
this is not Zoo Tampa, this is another client, but

254
00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:17.279
where we actually thought that something was going to open

255
00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:21.679
late because the executive team changed their mind as to

256
00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:23.600
where they wanted something. So we were in the process

257
00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:24.840
of moving it and we were hoping that we could

258
00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:29.799
get it moved in time. But you know, there's there's

259
00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:33.879
a bunch of reasons to delay. And I think, and

260
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.480
I'm gonna I'm just gonna speculate here, but I think

261
00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:40.200
that part of the reason that the higher ups are

262
00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:43.679
less concerned about Halloween events opening later, opening in a

263
00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.159
staggered manner, is because they're starting so darn early. They figure, well,

264
00:14:47.159 --> 00:14:50.000
we still got plenty of time to cash in on

265
00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:54.639
the Halloween dollars. And I think the reason it's happening

266
00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.279
is because they still haven't quite adjusted their mindset. You know,

267
00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.840
they're still thinking Halloween is October, but it's not if

268
00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:04.879
you're opening the last weekend of August or if you're

269
00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:07.279
you know, trying to open the first weekend of September.

270
00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:13.120
So they're they're their internal planning has not quite made

271
00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:17.039
it yet. They're still trying to figure that out. So

272
00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:19.039
I think there's a bunch of different reasons that we're

273
00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.240
seeing these delays. And I think, you know, as you say, Philip,

274
00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.039
I think it's I think it's supply chain issues that

275
00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.240
haven't quite recovered yet. I think it is uh internal

276
00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:31.480
planning that hasn't quite made it to the earlier dates.

277
00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:33.360
And I think it's just simply the fact that we're

278
00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:36.240
opening earlier and and you know some of the some

279
00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:38.200
of the parks may not have completely recovered from a

280
00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.480
summer rush. So they just have to they just have

281
00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:43.200
to remember. We just have to remember that you have

282
00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:45.720
to once you back one thing up, it's a if,

283
00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:47.240
it's a domino effect and it has to go all

284
00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:49.240
the way back to your planning at the beginning of

285
00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:51.799
the year, because you can say, well, how can something

286
00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:53.759
at the beginning of the year, how is that it.

287
00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:57.679
Let's say, for example, Christmas strike. Well, if you back

288
00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:02.600
up your Halloween install by two to three weeks, then

289
00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:06.960
everything else just gets knocked backwards and you can't strike

290
00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:11.360
Christmas before Christmas. So you have to condense in there somewhere,

291
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:12.600
and you have to figure out how you're.

292
00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:12.879
Going to do that.

293
00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:24.519
I wonder if, like, do you think there's any damage here,

294
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.480
because I hear what you're saying, and I definitely agree,

295
00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:29.039
you know, like you said, I think we're gonna agreement

296
00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:33.159
on all those elements. I'm wondering though, we I think

297
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.000
way back when we first broke the story about six

298
00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:39.120
Fright Fast Extreme, we talked about how you know they

299
00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:43.480
were partnering with these ips, and I wonder, is there

300
00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:47.600
any risk of damage to either the six Legs brand

301
00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:50.600
or the IP because of this, or like, is anyone

302
00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:51.960
going to be upset? Or is it one of those

303
00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.600
things where you know, like you say, everyone's like eh,

304
00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.519
because I mean, this is not the only location to

305
00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.360
have opened IPS late and to have got in some

306
00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:02.879
heat for it. But you know the other part of

307
00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.160
my brain is like does it even matter? I mean

308
00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:07.799
these I mean, like you know, who cares?

309
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.119
But that kind of goes back to because they opened

310
00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:12.079
so early, they've got plenty of time to make up

311
00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:14.720
the quote unquote loss.

312
00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:16.960
Well, but I mean, isn't it And.

313
00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.720
There's also the possibility that and I'm not going to

314
00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:21.759
I'm not going to play the conspiracy theory card here,

315
00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.240
but there's also the possibility that people who wanted to

316
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:26.799
come early are then now forced to come back a

317
00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:32.839
second time to see the the the delayed elements that

318
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.279
they missed the first time they were there. So so

319
00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:40.519
there's that Will it hinder you know, is it? Is

320
00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:43.039
it a black mark against Six Flags?

321
00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:45.519
I don't know.

322
00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.359
It sure would be for me if I were, because

323
00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.200
you know, Beck, when I was, when I was the

324
00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.480
avid Haunt goer, I would always go as early as

325
00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.319
I possibly could. And if you tell me it's going

326
00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:58.759
to be open at such and such a time and

327
00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:01.160
then it's not. I think where it might end up

328
00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:03.440
hurting them is less in their reputation and more in

329
00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:06.119
their ticket sales. I think what's going to happen is,

330
00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:07.799
you know, people are going to go, well, I'm not

331
00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:09.480
going to get tickets for the first weekend. They won't

332
00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.640
have everything. I'm not going to get until I'm not

333
00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:13.799
going to have tickets until the end of September or

334
00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:16.000
the middle of October or the beginning of October. So

335
00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.960
it's going to hurt their early ticket sales. That has

336
00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:21.559
already happened with some of the clients that I'm working for.

337
00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.519
Their early reservations and their early ticket sales are a

338
00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:32.000
little soft. But and I'm not really sure why. I

339
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:35.960
think perhaps it is, you know that because they keep expanding,

340
00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:40.920
going earlier and earlier, and the the you know, you're

341
00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:44.920
going to hit a point where earlier doesn't mean more,

342
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:46.880
Earlier just means more spread out.

343
00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.680
Yeah, well, especially if it's not if they have a

344
00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:53.880
reputation for being a hot mess, which they do, then

345
00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.920
growing earlier like you kind of like you cut yourself

346
00:18:56.920 --> 00:18:59.759
off at the knees, right, because if you don't have

347
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:03.680
a reputation for being ready, then you can't actually get

348
00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:06.759
more revenue. You're capped because the customers aren't going to

349
00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.240
believe you that you're open in time, which I think

350
00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:12.039
is the biggest risk. But do you do you think

351
00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.880
there just wasn't a clause in the IP agreement that

352
00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:16.759
they were going to open on a particular date or

353
00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.880
with a particular quality standard, or like, well you think.

354
00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:21.720
There's there's another story that we're going to talk about

355
00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:27.839
here about IPS that I mean, quite honestly, the IP

356
00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:30.599
doesn't care. They get paid whether you open or not. Yeah,

357
00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.480
it's true, there's no clause. There's a clause that they

358
00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:35.119
get paid whether you are open or not. And we'll

359
00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.240
talk about that more in one of our next stories.

360
00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:40.440
Yeah. Well, I just know because I know that happened

361
00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.440
universal one year where they had to open.

362
00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:44.440
It was in the contract they had to open the

363
00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:46.079
IP for Halloween.

364
00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:47.960
But yeah, I think they've probably learned from that and

365
00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:49.839
decided let's just say we get paid.

366
00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:55.319
Yeah, yeah, Okay, Well, our next story is about police

367
00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:57.920
imposing a curfew, kind of curfew in response to the

368
00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:01.160
Bush Guards Williamberg. So this was not this week actually

369
00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.599
this week week. It's like every week something's happening, but

370
00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:08.960
this week there was a big mass chaos that is

371
00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.200
literally the quote from the police is actually math chaos

372
00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:14.440
that happened in the King's Dominion. So that's what happened

373
00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:16.960
this weekend. This story that we're talking about is from

374
00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:21.160
the previous weekend. But essentially we're going to go pretty

375
00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:25.880
quick through this. But Hallas scream in Williamsburg introduced a

376
00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:29.799
chaperone policy. Now what's interesting about this, which is why

377
00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.480
we're talking about this, because chaperon policies aren't big news.

378
00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.720
What was the bigger news, in my opinion, is that

379
00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:40.960
on September nineteenth, the James City County Police Department, which

380
00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:46.240
is the police arment that is around Bushcruns Williamsburg, they

381
00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:50.559
imposed a curfew on their own saying that anyone ages

382
00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:53.319
seventeen under must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or

383
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:57.720
custodian between midnight and five am. Okay, so it applies

384
00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:02.480
anywhere in James County, not just Bushgurin's Williamsburg. And even

385
00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:05.839
though house screams so they're house screams. Hours vary depending

386
00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.160
on the date, but its latest closing time is eleven PM.

387
00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.920
But it's county wide, which means that that could impact

388
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.720
a lot of those things. And basically it was a

389
00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.759
direct response to the chaos happening at Bushguarns, Williensburg. So

390
00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:21.799
to me, that's just that's what makes it interesting here.

391
00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:24.839
So we have chaos happy at busch Grens Willimsburg, and

392
00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:27.680
then the police are like, if you're not gonna do

393
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:29.319
anything about this, I mean, they didn't say this. I'm

394
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:32.039
just narrating for you guys what happened in my head,

395
00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:35.839
but there was no statement about this. But essentially it

396
00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:37.480
seems like the police are saying, if you're not going

397
00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:38.680
to take care of it, we are, and we're going

398
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:41.200
to put a curfew in this area. That's going to

399
00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:44.759
impact guests leaving your event. So you can't just you know,

400
00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:47.880
let your kids go and then you know, because you're

401
00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:50.200
gonna need you know, the curfews in effect, so you've

402
00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:51.839
got to make sure they have a gardening with them.

403
00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:57.079
So it's like the police department was reacting to what

404
00:21:57.160 --> 00:22:00.839
was happening to take the control out of the park's hands,

405
00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:04.440
and then the park responded by putting their own chaperon

406
00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.359
policy in place. That's what makes this interesting to me

407
00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.119
is that, at least to my recent knowledge, recently, I

408
00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:14.319
haven't seen it where a county has been like, no,

409
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:15.960
you're not doing a good enough job.

410
00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.400
We're gonna like.

411
00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:20.079
Like kind of supersede what the park is doing by

412
00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:22.720
doing our own version, and then that forces the park

413
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:28.400
to do something after the fact. So, but I don't know, Scott,

414
00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:29.480
what do you think about this?

415
00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:32.519
I'm gonna I'm gonna guess, And again I have no

416
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:35.799
insider information. I did work in the Williamsburg Park for

417
00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:38.640
two years. I was there for two seasons. This was

418
00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:40.759
many years ago, but I did work there for two seasons.

419
00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:45.720
And the way this reads to me is this is

420
00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:51.880
the this is the police force coming to bush Gardens,

421
00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:54.319
or bush Gardens coming to the police force, and it

422
00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:58.559
looks to me like they're working together on this one.

423
00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:00.680
I don't think it may have it may have appeared

424
00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:02.839
this way because of announcements and when things were announced,

425
00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:06.640
but I would guess that, you know, if there was

426
00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:11.160
some incident, which there was. If there's an incident, then

427
00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.559
Williamsburg is going to go to the police force and say, hey,

428
00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:15.640
why can't you can you guys help us, And the

429
00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:17.599
police force is going to say, we can, but you

430
00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:19.160
got to have you got to put up some sort

431
00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:24.519
of help as well, so you know, no, no theme

432
00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:28.880
park works independently from the local law enforcement, especially during Halloween.

433
00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:33.400
Bush Gardens Tampa, for example, used to hire off duty

434
00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:36.519
police officers to actually be in uniform present in the

435
00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:41.240
park throughout the run to help with security issues. So

436
00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:42.920
I'm sure this was a give and take. I'm sure

437
00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:47.880
it's something that was very probably very quickly negotiated, but

438
00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.960
it's I don't think it's I don't necessarily think it's

439
00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:56.519
police or park one pushing the other or one leading

440
00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:00.839
the other. I'm guessing this is two parts of a

441
00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:01.519
single plan.

442
00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.400
Okay, I get it, So they're they're working together. That way,

443
00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:07.960
it kind of makes it less like a blame on

444
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.480
just the park, So the parents aren't getting as angry

445
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:12.680
at the park because you know, now they're like, oh,

446
00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:15.880
it's the county as well, So it go the calculus

447
00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:19.279
goes from well we can't drop off our kids at

448
00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:21.440
the park blah blah blah, to like, oh, well, it's

449
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:24.160
a whole county curfew because of Halloween, and so now

450
00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:25.680
you know it's not just the park's fault.

451
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.400
Everyone's everyone's on the same page, and everyone's trying to

452
00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:31.599
facilitate the same end result. And I think, yeah, if

453
00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:33.759
I were to guess, that would be my guess. It's

454
00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:36.880
that they're working with Lease so that neither of them

455
00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:39.839
have to take the full blame and they can. It

456
00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:41.920
looks like a united.

457
00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:44.799
Front, which is important. Then how come nobody else is

458
00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:45.160
doing this?

459
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:49.440
So? Because so just to clarify to before we tackle

460
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.079
that Bush Guards, only Burg did have an incident, I

461
00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:55.519
forget because to be honest, there's been an incident every

462
00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:59.759
week for Halloween events. I think it was a stabbing

463
00:24:59.880 --> 00:25:02.000
or with something happened in Williamsburg, and so this is

464
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:04.440
a this is a reaction to an event that happened. Sure,

465
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.640
but even just this past weekend there was that like

466
00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:08.599
pure chaos right at King's Dominion.

467
00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:12.319
So well, in Kings has always been King's Dominion has

468
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.599
had King's Dominion was the first park I ever went

469
00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:18.920
to that had metal detectors. Now it's back probably twenty years.

470
00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:21.880
So but how come other we don't because I mean,

471
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.000
we've we've mentioned at least on the show. And I've

472
00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.079
reported in my newsletter about every weekend all across the country,

473
00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:30.880
especially at six Flags and basically at the Cedar Fair.

474
00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:34.799
And all. I don't want to say like lower tier.

475
00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:36.920
I don't know what I'm saying, the non Disney parks,

476
00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:39.559
all these places, they've all had issues.

477
00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:41.440
Right, how come they're not work?

478
00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:43.559
How come everyone isn't working with the police to do

479
00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:45.559
like I don't want to say, like a nationwide curfew,

480
00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:48.240
but other counties doing the same idea where you're sharing

481
00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:50.160
that's this, Well.

482
00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:54.200
Let's start by saying Williamsburg is a small town. Williamsburg

483
00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:55.480
is a tiny town.

484
00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:56.880
And is easier for them to move faster.

485
00:25:57.200 --> 00:25:59.720
It's easy, Yes, exactly, they can. They can be much more.

486
00:26:02.200 --> 00:26:07.599
It requires significantly less hoop jumping to get something like

487
00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:13.359
this in place Williamsburg. You know, Bush Gardens Williamsburg is

488
00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:18.079
the five hundred pound gorilla in Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg is

489
00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:23.359
a huge tourist destination. However, Bush Gardens Williamsburg is the

490
00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:28.039
one two punch that brings people to the Williamsburg area.

491
00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:33.720
So they're going to work with the police, force, the government,

492
00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:38.160
the local government to make certain that guests feel safe

493
00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:42.079
whether they are at the park, coming to Williamsburg, whatever,

494
00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:46.759
They're gonna want guests to feel safe. So anything they

495
00:26:46.759 --> 00:26:49.839
can do, whether it is a chaperone policy or a

496
00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.400
curfew or both, I mean this way, basically, what they're

497
00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:56.319
saying is, yeah, you can go to the park, but

498
00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:57.519
if you go to the park, you're not going to

499
00:26:57.559 --> 00:26:59.400
get home before midnight, which is when you have to

500
00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.000
have you're under eighteen, you have to have a person

501
00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:03.920
with you. So the park is going to say, well,

502
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:05.400
we'll make that easier for you. You just have to

503
00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.400
have a person with you all the time and they'll

504
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:07.960
take you home.

505
00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:08.759
Yep.

506
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.680
Yeah, because because the real you know, the real shenanigans

507
00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:16.599
used to happen just before they went into the park

508
00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:21.079
and just after the event closed, because then they go

509
00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:23.559
out and they're all hyped up and they're you know,

510
00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:25.440
going to go out and and raise a hell of

511
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:25.759
their own.

512
00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:26.759
Yeah, a lot of a lot of.

513
00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:28.839
The incidents of your port on have happened at the

514
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:30.440
end of the event, when people were in the parking

515
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:31.079
lot lot.

516
00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:35.839
Yeah, it's it's it's unfortunately has been common practice for

517
00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:40.200
many years. So so I actually, to be completely honest,

518
00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:42.839
I support this and having lived in Williamsburg, I can

519
00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:47.599
see the residence of Williamsburg going who thank goodness because

520
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:51.480
it's it is a or it was. I haven't, like

521
00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:53.480
I said, I haven't lived there in many years. But it

522
00:27:53.680 --> 00:28:03.640
was a fairly affluent and quiet town with us with

523
00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:07.079
two strong tourist attractions, but both of which are our

524
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.920
higher end and a little bit more posh. So I

525
00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:13.160
think this was. I think this will make everybody in

526
00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:14.440
Williamsburg a little bit happier.

527
00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:18.839
Okay, one last story to finish off quick here, which

528
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:21.839
is what we Scott referenced earlier. Sesame Street has won

529
00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:24.759
a legal battle against SeaWorld. The owners of Sesame Street

530
00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:26.920
have won a multimillion dollar judgment against the owners of

531
00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:29.759
the SeaWorld theme parks. A federal judge has ordered SeaWorld,

532
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:32.440
now operating under United Parks Center Resorts, to pay Sesame

533
00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:37.559
Workshop eleven point four million US dollars. They upheld an

534
00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:41.119
arbitration ruling that Sesame placed SeaWorld and Bush Gardens Parks

535
00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:45.079
owned owed millions in unpaid licensing fees from earlier this decade.

536
00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:48.079
The Sesame sued SeaWorld Parks last year for the money

537
00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:51.240
which the theme park chain said it did not owe

538
00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:53.839
due to it being closed during the period where they

539
00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:56.039
were trying to get the money for an arbitration panel

540
00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:59.039
rejected that argument, and now the judge has orders had

541
00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.200
ordered SeaWorld pay. That court order was first reported by

542
00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:04.720
the Florida Politics, but we're reading excerpts from the Theme

543
00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:08.599
Park Insider story of it. So yeah, essentially, they were like,

544
00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:10.640
we don't owe it because we were close during that time,

545
00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:12.000
and the judge says no.

546
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:16.440
Well, and again I'm not sure. I'm not sure what

547
00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.079
was in the contract. My guess is since.

548
00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:21.480
The judge clearly it said that you got to pay regardless.

549
00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:23.640
Yeah, you have to pay annually, and it's not based

550
00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:26.839
on number of guests that experienced the IP or number

551
00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:31.920
of hours that the the IP elements are open. You're

552
00:29:31.960 --> 00:29:33.799
paying for the IP, and you're paying for the IP

553
00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:37.480
from start date to end date and then you renegotiate.

554
00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:43.920
So it sounds as though if there has been situations

555
00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:46.640
in the past, like you mentioned with Universal, with IPS

556
00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:48.319
saying it has to be opened by such and such

557
00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:51.880
a date. And I can see that for like a

558
00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:57.079
permanent installation, but for a Halloween seasonal installation, I don't know.

559
00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.720
I don't know that particular case was a Halloween.

560
00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:03.920
Still, yeah, it's but again, I think they've I think

561
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:07.599
they've kind of learned their lessons. And it's like, I'm sorry,

562
00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:09.359
you know, I feel bad that it's an act of God.

563
00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:12.160
I feel bad that it's a situation where, you know,

564
00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:15.279
we are closed because of a worldwide pandemic, or we're

565
00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:17.279
closed because of a hurricane. You know, they're not going

566
00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:19.039
to look at they don't want to look at day

567
00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:21.920
by day ticking off. Park was open, so we get paid.

568
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:24.160
Park was not open, so we don't get paid. Does

569
00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:26.559
that and that becomes a very slippery slope because that

570
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:28.240
means does that mean they get paid less if they

571
00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:30.960
reduce their hours, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So

572
00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:35.000
it's it's clear that at least in this particular case,

573
00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:39.759
Sesame Street said, you pay us whether you're open or not. Well,

574
00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:44.279
speaking of speaking of get being a slippery slope with

575
00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:45.880
time and all that sort of thing, our time has

576
00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:50.519
slipped away for this particular episode. So hopefully we will

577
00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:54.599
see all of you back here next week, and we

578
00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:58.680
may see some of you in our green tagged pro

579
00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:02.599
or green tagged unhinged, whichever it's called this week, I

580
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:06.680
will still call it unhinged. You like that, okay, good,

581
00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:10.160
We'll stick with unhinged, which is our Patreon account where

582
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:12.440
you can get bonus episodes of Philip and I throwing

583
00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:15.480
off the gloves, talking a little bit dirty and diving

584
00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:17.599
in deeper into what we want to Talking a little

585
00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:19.839
bit dirty sounded really wrong, but diving a little bit

586
00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:22.640
deeper into some of the issues and being a bit

587
00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:25.400
more straightforward about it. So hopefully we'll see some of

588
00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:27.400
you there, but if not, we'll see the rest of

589
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:29.880
you next week here on Green Tagged theme Park in

590
00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:30.240
thirty