Nov. 17, 2024

Disney's Big Wins & Six Flags’ $1 Billion Bet: A Tale of Two Strategies

Philip and Scott dissect Disney's Q3 earnings, celebrating Disney+'s profitability, billion-dollar blockbusters, and robust park performance. CEO Bob Iger calls it “a new era of growth,” but challenges still loom.

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Philip and Scott dissect Disney's Q3 earnings, celebrating Disney+'s profitability, billion-dollar blockbusters, and robust park performance. CEO Bob Iger calls it “a new era of growth,” but looming challenges like declining TV assets and leadership succession raise questions. Meanwhile, Six Flags announces a $1 billion investment over two years, featuring record-breaking coasters, dining upgrades, and seasonal events. Will Six Flags’ efforts match Disney’s IP-driven strategy, or is it a short-term refresh? Plus, how does Disney’s storytelling mastery make its ecosystem thrive?

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This week, Disney has released it to Q three earnings,

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and since we just talked about six Flags earnings last episode,

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it's a good chance to compare the two. And since

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we talked, it looks like six Flags has announced an

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additional additional investment. So I wonder if if other people

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were thinking the same thing we were thinking, and that

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it wasn't exciting enough, you know, So we'll get to that.

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Looking at the Disney Q three earnings, it is spoiler alert.

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It's really good, and I think it's mainly good, like

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there's a lot in here, but I think the main

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takeaway to me is everything seems to finally be going

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in the direction that they had been trying to get

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it to go in for many years, which is essentially

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that their storytelling is back kind of at the forefront,

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you know, of where it had been slipping for a while.

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But storytelling is coming back up, and the streaming has

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finally turned around where instead of seeing huge losses from

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it recorder, they're now seeing profit from it and that's

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counterbalancing the money they're losing from their TV assets, right So,

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and you know, Parks has always been doing well, so

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if you kind of point streaming and parks and then

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some good stories. That's essentially where they're at. There are

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still some concerning moments, but overall, I think it's a

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really good a really good analysis, you know, a really

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good earnings call here, and I'm going to read an

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excerpt of the Deadline article on it which summarizes it.

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While there are some reasons for concern, like the ongoing

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meltdown of linear TV assets, the rise of sports rights costs,

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the challenge of picking a suitable successor to CEO Bob Bieger,

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the positives are manifold. The streaming operation, after years of

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heavy losses, is profitable, with a target of one billion

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in profit for physical twenty twenty five. Two billion dollar

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grossing movies Deadpool and Wolverine Inside Out Too have punctuated

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the film studio rebound, with the fundament with the foundational

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animation effort back on track, and moaned too looming as

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a likely holiday juggernaut. The Parkson experience. This division has

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also shown steady progress. So again, all these elements combining

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some key takeaways, I went through the earnings call and

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kind of broke them out into a few key takeaways.

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We got, like finances obviously the finances are doing well,

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but they're projecting high single digit adjusted EPs growth for

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the fiscal twenty twenty five. And the part I thought

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was interesting about the parks specifically, they said Q one

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will be negatively impacted by hurricanes and pre launched costs

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for the Disney Treasure, but bookings for the back half

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of the year are positive, like, well, at least they're

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talking about at least it's like in their projection where

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they're like, you know what, we already know Q one

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is gonna, you know, have issues, and then we have

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costs in Treasure, but bookings are positive. And I was like, well,

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it made me wonder our booking's positive potentially because of

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Epic as well, you know we Yeah.

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So it's interesting because I think that with all the

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Florida parks, you know, everybody says, oh, it's gonna be

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terrible because Epic's gonna suck everybody else out of all

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the other parks, and blah blah blah blah blah. No,

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what it does is anytime there's a new park opening,

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it it sucks people here from other places in the world.

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And and that's always good for all the parks. One

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of you know, going back in ancient history when Animal

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Kingdom opened. You know, when Animal Kingdom opened, Bush Gardens

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Tampa was terrified because it was kind of like, oh

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my gosh, here's another theme park that's animal themed and

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roller coasters and you know, thrills, thrills and thrills and

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chills and animal and nature. And it was one of

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the best years in the history of Bush Gardens up

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until that point, because again, it brought people who were

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interested in that kind of thing to the area, and

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when they're here, especially if they're traveling from other countries,

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they're like, well, you know, what do you mean there's

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something else that I'm going to enjoy the it's you know,

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an hour and a half, two hours away, heck yeah.

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So yeah. I think I think it is a little

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bit of the halo effect of Epic. I think it is.

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I think it's also that, you know, Disney, Disney has

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been kind of under the radar for a while, and

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I think that that people are like, you know what,

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we haven't done that in a while. Let's let's check

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that out. I really do believe that it's it's the

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pendulum swinging back.

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Yeah, by design, clearly, I mean, you know, yeah, you know,

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they definitely We've talked about this before, but you know,

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people in the industry all we all know that they

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all work together, and a lot of them because they

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go back and forth, and so you know that it's

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kind of by design.

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It's like, all right, well Epic.

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Is launching and they're doing their media blitz, so you know,

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it gives us a little bit of cloud cover and

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to fix streaming really and that's what they have done.

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And so speaking of streaming, some of the numbers here.

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They ended the quarter with one hundred and seventy four

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million subscribers, with thirty per seven percent of US subscribers

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opting for the ad supported tier, and that is that's

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huge because you know that was in the beginning, that

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was a big question, right, how much how how would

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the ad support we had if we remember we had

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never seen that, right. All we had was like traditional

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take TV, which was going out the window, and you

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know the then we had the unbundling and we had

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all these different services. But you know, the Netflix model

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forever was like d model, right, and yes, Netflix is

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doing the ad supported but we didn't know if that

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would translate. So clearly it has translated, which is good

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because it makes it more accessible, you know, to people

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that you know, don't want to pay the price tag

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of having to do Netflix and you know, Disney Plus

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at the same time. So uh, Iiger said, the ad

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AD supported tier is growing, driving engagement. And then the

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ESPN thing is interesting too because you know, as as

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the Deadline article mentioned, the rights for those contracts are

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getting more expensive, but they are trying to get around that.

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So the company will launch ESPN's direct to consumer flagship

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product in fall twenty twenty five. I could describe it

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as ESPN like it's never appeared before, incorporating features like

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sports betting, sports betting, and AI personalization, which again, I mean,

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who knows what that will look like. But you know,

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if the if the prices of this is rising, you know,

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and now that sports betting is legal in all these

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different cases, and and it's very I mean, that's I mean,

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that's that's a I mean.

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That could be a very big counterbalance to the right.

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Now, that could be incredibly lucrative, that could be incredibly lucrative.

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Going back to streaming, going back to streaming for just

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a moment, and the and the AD supported streaming. I

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think it's important to recognize, you know, this is something

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that has been going on. This this multi tier experience

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has been going on forever. I mean it was made

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most popular again trade paperbacks. It's all the same content,

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it's just presented in a different way to make it

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access will be on the velvet rope. So this this

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multi tiered level of this multi tiered approach to make

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it more accessible, to make it more so that you

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can actually see. It's not all or nothing, I guess,

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is my point. And I think that's I think that's

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something that is clearly tried and true, and I think

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it's something that's going to continue. I think it's something

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that we're going to see continue. I'm surprised that, you know,

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everybody was concerned about it, but I think what happens is,

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as you mentioned, you know, the first model that comes out,

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that's the one that everyone thinks, oh, well, this is

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the only one we can use, and truth be told.

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If you think outside again, think slightly outside the box.

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And I know I sound like the old guy, but

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look back to see what's happened and what's been done

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before in other industries. Because none of the problems that

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we're having are new. You know, there's always been Oh gosh,

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so and so is taking more of the market share.

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Pick an industry, you can pick any industry in the

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world or in history, and it's like, well, what are

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we what can we do to either to either shake

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up that model, break the model, or is there a

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product that we can use to replace it? And I

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think that we've seen a little bit of both of that.

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You know, streaming has replaced the cable bundling for the

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most part, and because again it had to break it

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apart so that they can now maybe perhaps start to

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put it back together or make it affordable so that

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people can put together their own their own packages so

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that they don't have to get stuck in what the

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h the cable companies, Like the cable companies wanted us

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to do. It's like here, here's this, this, this, and

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this and and you have to have it all or

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you can then add this and it costs more. Now

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it's just kind of make your own, make your own

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menu here. And and I think that by making your

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own menu and making it so that it's affordable to

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a broader spectrum. What is it? The yeah, the uh,

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the smart the smart pig gets fat, the greedy pig

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gets eaten. You know, I think that's I think that's

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what's happened here, is that it's finally they've finally started

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to realize, you know what, we can we can do this.

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We don't have to do this so that they have

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to pay for everything. We can do this so that

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we can have ad content as well as a subscription fee,

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as long as the subscription fee doesn't outweigh. I mean,

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let's face it, if you watch anything online, if you

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watch anything online, which is how we've you know, the

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vast majority of people who have been trained to consume content.

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Now you get ads, you know, you get you get interruptions.

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If you're you know, playing a game that you haven't

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bought out the ads, you will have time between the

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between rounds quote unquote where you have to sit through

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in it and people are just used to it, they

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recognize it, and they accept it. So yeah, I'm I'm

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glad to see I will be completely honest, I'm really

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glad to see that Disney is turning around, because I

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was concerned that it wasn't going to Disney is a

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part of a part of my mother's portfolio, my mother's

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ports stock portfolio, and it's been, as we've said, pretty

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much tanking. I mean, it's just been suck and wind.

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And I was the only reason I suggested putting it

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in there is because at the time there were some

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things that you know, as Philip mentioned earlier, Disney was on.

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They knew what they wanted to do, and they had

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a plan to get there. But it has just taken

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so much time for it to turn around. And what's

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really interesting is someone completely outside the industry. My mom's

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financial advisor said don't sell yet, there's a big uptick coming.

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She knew it, and I don't know how, but she

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knew that there was a big turnaround. And it appears

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as though we are I'm not going to get overly confident,

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but it appears as though we're seeing the beginnings of.

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That right now.

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Well, I think a lot of that turn around, I mean, honestly,

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I think I think my just personal take on this

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is that a lot of the turnaround has to go

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back to the storytelling. And I know that Iger always

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gives lip service to that, and I think we you know,

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he right when he came back, he did talk about

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switching moving around organization of departments so that they would

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have a better ability to tell better stories. And I

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think we you know, who's to say, really, I don't know.

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I mean, I don't know how you know, it's whatever

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on that, but I do think that there's no getting

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around it, right this. I'm not sure that this is

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all coincidence, right that, Like that the Deadpool and Wolverine,

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I mean that was an excellent, excellent movie, and inside

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Out two was excellent, you know, and.

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I don't know.

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It's one of those things where, yes, Disney has all

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these separate businesses, but at the end of the day,

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I feel like it still comes down to their storytelling,

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and you know, they need to be able to magnify

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and you the upcoming content like Mowana two, I mean,

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who knows, right, But everyone's excited for it, right, so

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it's like.

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Well, and let's talk about but let's talk about park

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content too. I mean, you know, the the announcement of

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Villain's Land is huge. I mean, that's been something that

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Disney fans have been wanting forever. And it's very interesting

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to talk to people who have worked in the parks

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for years because they will actually say you know, the

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parks have kind of been carrying the company for a while,

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and that was not the intent. That was not how

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they were designed, that was not the original business model.

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But because the parks were able to adapt for some

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reason easier than either the film side, the TV side,

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the streaming side, they were quite often asked to reduce

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their budget in order to make up for the loss

241
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in other areas. But I think it's interesting now that

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you know, as things are starting to turn around, it

243
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also happens to come at the time when this new

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Land announcement has been made and or continues continues forward.

245
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I mean we all kind of heard rumblings, but continues forward,

246
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and I think it just shows a whole new interest.

247
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And then combine that with Epic and combined, I mean,

248
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there there's a lot of there's a lot of things

249
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that have all come together to form kind of a

250
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perfect storm for Disney.

251
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And I'm exciting, right And and I think also underscore

252
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what you're saying about the parks adapting. I mean it's

253
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also not just adapting in their budget adjustment, but also

254
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adapting in like we've talked about this, but their long

255
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term plan. I mean, now going to the parks really

256
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does look like just advertising for you know, the the

257
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IP you know, I mean look at Epcot, right, I mean,

258
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I mean these things have been transitioning over and so

259
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really it's I think it's again it's good and bad.

260
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Like the parks have adapted become much more showcasing the ips.

261
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If the ips are good, that means the multiplier, the

262
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multiplier effect is stronger. But if there's something where no

263
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was like, eh, you know, I mean look at the

264
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years of just flops that they had, right, I.

265
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Mean again, look at the villains Land.

266
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I mean again, the villains that going to the villains

267
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Land are the villains that we grew up with.

268
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They're not the new.

269
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Erect correct, that's absolutely correct. Yeah, And again I think

270
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that all ties back. It's all part of a very

271
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complex but much larger package than we like to think of,

272
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because that goes right back to the storytelling. Is there

273
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good storytelling happening? And if so, there are going to

274
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be good ips that people want to see, that people

275
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want to experience, whether it's streaming or on film or

276
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whether it is live in the parks. So I think

277
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that and you know, I know I sound like a

278
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broken record because I'm all about storytelling. I always have

279
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been throughout my entire career. But I think this is

280
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just proving that good storytelling, right.

281
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Well, potentially, I mean, I think we will talk about

282
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that because I feel like six Flags is not at

283
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all They're going in the opposite direction. But so to finish

284
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off with the Disney analysis from their or means, like

285
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I mentioned, it's not all sunshine roses, right, the international

286
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parks saw softness, particularly in Paris through to the Olympics

287
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and in Shanghai. They said that they kind of predicted that,

288
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so you know, maybe they'd admit it didn't. But and then,

289
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of course, as we mentioned at the top of the show,

290
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there's also the challenges now of iigre picking a successor,

291
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which we're now we're doing this dance. It feels like

292
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almost like the election cycle, but it's a Disney where

293
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you know, you're like, okay, well now we're back to like,

294
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all right, how is this going to go? And it's like,

295
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you know, has he been properly training somebody? Like how

296
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is that going to go? And then keep in mind

297
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Disney still on a time clock, because you know, the

298
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bulk of their revenue traditionally came from their TV assets

299
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and those are like melting down, and so the real

300
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.879
the real question is like that's like a melting snow cone, right,

301
00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:40.120
So you're like, ah, like can we how what can

302
00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:41.919
we do before this melts in our hands? I mean

303
00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:46.320
that's like, you know, and then will sports will the

304
00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:50.000
sports rights? How fast will they rise? Like how fast

305
00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.159
will the TV assets going down in value? How fast

306
00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.840
will the sports rights raise? Because other places can do

307
00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:59.759
betting too, uh. And then Eiger's succession, I mean, these

308
00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:02.200
are there are other elements here.

309
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Succession I think are succession if he can set things upright,

310
00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:10.200
I think are succession is more really the sort of

311
00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:16.639
optics of the situation, because if if successor really doesn't

312
00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.960
even do much for a couple of years, it's really

313
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.320
unlikely that it's going to affect the quality of the product.

314
00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:26.919
But the optics of it. Confidence, I mean, that's a

315
00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:32.360
huge issue when it comes to stock pricing. The smallest,

316
00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:36.639
the smallest lack of confidence can create these huge drops

317
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.759
in stock value. So he just has to we just

318
00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:41.600
have to make sure that he finds somebody that is

319
00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:44.200
not just a buddy or a crony, and that he

320
00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:50.159
finds somebody that is qualified and popular amongst the stockholders.

321
00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.120
And I know you're right. It does sound like the

322
00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:56.200
political cycle, but it is. It is essential, and I hope,

323
00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:00.639
I hope that investors and big investors, significantly large investors

324
00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:05.000
than I recognize the importance of these optics to keep

325
00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:06.079
their investments.

326
00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:06.440
Yeah.

327
00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:06.839
Profit.

328
00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:12.680
Well, so speaking of investments and profit, six Flags has

329
00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:17.680
announced there has announced a big investment plan. So this

330
00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:21.359
came after the Urnans call, and again I'm wondering if

331
00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:24.400
it came after I mean, you know, is it because

332
00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:25.039
the Urines called.

333
00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:27.000
They listened to us, They listened to the fact that

334
00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:28.279
we said, hey, what does this mean?

335
00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.200
Well, I'm sure other people also said it.

336
00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:32.759
They follow up that they do they do.

337
00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:36.440
So I'll read some excerpts and this is from actually

338
00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:41.680
their their own press release. So they said that blah

339
00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.319
blah blah, blah blah blah they announced.

340
00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:45.960
The They said, yeah, blah blah blah.

341
00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.559
Half like ah, let's see.

342
00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:50.960
So like every other press release.

343
00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.599
Really, they said they're going to announce more than one

344
00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.839
billion over the next two years to enhance the guest

345
00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.119
experience at its forty two parks. The investments which will

346
00:17:58.359 --> 00:18:00.880
total between five hundred million, five hundred and twenty five

347
00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:03.400
million about twenty twenty five and twenty twenty six will

348
00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:07.640
include new rides, attractions, themed areas, dining upgrades, and technology enhancements.

349
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.680
Let's see specifically, Okay, those plans include seven new roller coasters,

350
00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:19.599
along with an expanded roster of popular seasonal events, of

351
00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:23.039
which they didn't explain at all. They only announced some

352
00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:27.200
of the coasters. In addition, the all new All Park

353
00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.839
Passport add on will allow season pass holders and members

354
00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.519
to visit all forty two of the company's amusement and

355
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:38.160
water parks beginning January sixth. So what they announced in

356
00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:40.519
terms of new rides, they didn't give any names or

357
00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:42.079
specifics or any of that. They kind of just gave

358
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:47.240
us a bullet point list here. Caroins Canada, Wonderland, King's Island,

359
00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:51.519
not Soak City. Six Flags Magic Mountain will debut a

360
00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.279
first fitz kind coaster in North America. Six Flags Graade

361
00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:58.759
America fiftieth anniversary, debuting new kids area, commemorative events and

362
00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:02.799
park enhancements. A six Flags Great Adventure ln veil and

363
00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:07.279
record breaking launch coaster. Over Texas has a dive coaster

364
00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:13.039
Mexico family friendly thrill Boomerang coaster. Okay, the capital investments

365
00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:14.200
go far beyond rides.

366
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:15.640
More than eighty million.

367
00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:17.480
Of the overall two year spend will go towards food

368
00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:20.079
and beverage upgrade, which is good news. We talked about that,

369
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.279
including new restaurant concepts that improved many offerings.

370
00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:25.680
Thank god. More information on these.

371
00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:28.119
And other investments that be shared by both six Flags

372
00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:31.119
and the individual parks as details and timetables are formalized.

373
00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.839
So I think we probably know now some of the

374
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:39.240
parks that are not going to get cut.

375
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:42.960
Well, that's and that's exactly what I was thinking. I

376
00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.480
was wondering if this was, if this was in response

377
00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:49.799
to or even a planned response to floating out there

378
00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:54.480
that some parks may be maybe going away. And you know,

379
00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.440
you know when they when they talk about six Flags

380
00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:58.000
Great America, that was the one that I mentioned on

381
00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:01.200
the last show where you know, WG in Chicago had

382
00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.680
come out and said, you do realize that Great America

383
00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.839
is a six Flags park because quite honestly, people in

384
00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.759
Chicago do not think of it as six Flags Great

385
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:10.680
America because if you grew up with that park, it's

386
00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:12.720
been owned by everybody who ever had a theme park

387
00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:17.440
other than Disney and Universal, so it's they just think

388
00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.039
of it as Great America. And I love the fact

389
00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.480
that not only did they mention that it was adding,

390
00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:27.160
you know, a new kids area, but that they played

391
00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:31.160
up the anniversary and played up the fiftieth anniversary because

392
00:20:31.400 --> 00:20:35.880
I was there opening week, so but anyway, it was

393
00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:39.480
it's I'm glad to see that that Great America is

394
00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:42.759
less likely to be on the chopping block, or they're

395
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:44.720
investing in it so that they can sell it, who knows.

396
00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:47.079
But but I think you're right, Philip. I think this

397
00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:52.200
was definitely in response to everyone's nail biter of oh

398
00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.039
my gosh, is our six Flags park going away? Oh?

399
00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:55.640
I hope not.

400
00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.039
Well you still don't know. You only know the ones

401
00:20:58.079 --> 00:20:59.240
that they mentioned, right.

402
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.640
Right, right, But I think that was too. I think

403
00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:04.480
that was to placate. And if you look at this list,

404
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.440
these are these are the ones that I think are

405
00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:10.119
kind of the family favorites.

406
00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:14.640
Anyway, well not on this list, and I do think

407
00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:17.960
that not Soak City, right, so fine, but you know,

408
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:20.559
not you know the main part, but at least Soak

409
00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:23.039
Cities on here, so I think that's yeah.

410
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:25.319
But not if they put Soak City on there. I

411
00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:27.119
don't think they're going to sell Soak City or sell

412
00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:29.440
knots Off and not Sok City.

413
00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:33.960
So there isn't much to this, right. It's a very

414
00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:36.119
short pressure. It's less than one page, so again the

415
00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.200
details are not there. So that makes me think it's

416
00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:40.240
more like what you're saying, where there's almost like a

417
00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:44.720
planned response to counterbalance. You know, some of the the

418
00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:48.720
people like us with part podcasts, who are you know,

419
00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.279
complain about what they're saying, so that probably could be it. Uh,

420
00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:55.799
it's interesting though, if we're if we can compare these

421
00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:58.880
two together, it's interesting what you said earlier, because you're

422
00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:01.759
looking the storytelling leads to the profits. But here we

423
00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:06.519
have them carving out very distinct markets. You know, Six

424
00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:10.279
Flags with their forty two parks. However long they're going

425
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:13.279
to keep the full forty two who knows, but you

426
00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:16.640
see them really honing in on the thrill market.

427
00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:17.319
I mean quite.

428
00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:20.279
I mean there's there's nothing in here about storytelling, about

429
00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:24.000
IP integration, about Papa. No. It's literally like we're gonna

430
00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:27.680
make roller coasters and maybe get you better food.

431
00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:29.279
What that means?

432
00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:31.559
Who knows? Is it going to be actually warm pizza.

433
00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:33.480
I don't know, you know, or is it going to

434
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:34.480
be actual food?

435
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:34.880
Who knows.

436
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:38.319
But that's that's one of their new restaurant concepts. It's

437
00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:39.759
it's gonna be called actually warm.

438
00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:41.039
I would take it, you know.

439
00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:45.599
And yeah, and you know, And meanwhile, you see Disney

440
00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:50.480
really doubling down on the whole idea of this integrated approach,

441
00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:53.440
you know, that's expanding parks and cruise lines, streaming, really

442
00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:58.079
just integrating the putting everything on the concept of telling

443
00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:01.160
the story and then expanding that story throughout all of

444
00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:04.200
their assets and telling good stories. So really, to me,

445
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:07.039
it's like story versus thrills, I think is how we'd.

446
00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:09.440
Well And what they're doing is what I see. The

447
00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.039
way I see it is they're just digging into what

448
00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:13.480
their core has always been. You know, Disney has always

449
00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:17.599
been known as the storytellers. That was that was going

450
00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:20.000
back to you know, going back to Walt himself. That

451
00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:23.279
was the purpose was to tell stories. Six Flags was

452
00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:26.079
always an amusement park. They became a theme park because

453
00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.799
that became the trendy thing to call themselves. Even when

454
00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:33.039
they have overlaid in the past, when they have overlaid

455
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:38.000
ip onto a thrill ride. It's basically in the queue

456
00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:40.640
and the color scheme of the track, and that's pretty

457
00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:42.799
much it, you know, for the for the most part,

458
00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:45.200
there are exceptions that prove that rule, but but that's

459
00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:48.200
pretty much it. They're to me, they're doubling down in

460
00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:52.200
what their core values have been. And I don't think

461
00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:55.160
that's a bad choice. I think that makes sense. If

462
00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:58.559
you've got people who want to go to a Flags

463
00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:03.839
park to to scream, eat and you know, have a

464
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:10.799
wacky thrill time. Great, great, But I don't know how

465
00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:13.519
sustainable that is because the and I go back to

466
00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:16.000
and I kind of double down on my good storytelling

467
00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:19.480
equals good profit because if you've got a good story,

468
00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:22.440
you can continue to build them. If if you're just

469
00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:28.160
basing yourself on thrills, those thrills, you know, they die quick.

470
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:30.440
You know, we used to say the same thing. We

471
00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:32.319
used to say the same thing about about roller coasters

472
00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:35.839
in general. They like to say that a roller coaster,

473
00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:37.440
they used to like to say, and it's not true

474
00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.519
anymore that you could feel the attendance bump from the

475
00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.079
installation of a new roller coaster. For five years. They

476
00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:48.319
discover that that's not true. It's actually only two to

477
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:51.039
three years, and then they have to come up with

478
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.119
something even bigger, new, or faster, funnier.

479
00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:56.240
Right. I feel like it's a ways or like a

480
00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.039
reverse race to I don't know what.

481
00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:00.920
It's just like well, just like a roller coaster. Once

482
00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:02.640
you get to the top, once you start that that

483
00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:06.599
trajectory down, you have no control and it's and it's

484
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.039
gonna continue to slow down until you get into the station.

485
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.400
So I think that's what happens if you're solely focused.

486
00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:14.960
And don't misunderstand me. I love coasters. I am a

487
00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:18.279
coaster nerd. I love it. But at the same time,

488
00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:20.519
they if you're looking at it from a business standpoint,

489
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:23.799
they only draw attendance for a certain amount of time,

490
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:26.839
which is why, you know, I'm glad to see that

491
00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:30.359
they at least gave some maybe lip service, but some

492
00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:35.680
some mentioned to seasonal you know, themed theme seasonal areas yea,

493
00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:41.839
or the theme seasonal events. Because that's honestly, and it's

494
00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.799
not just because I work in this industry that gives

495
00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:48.839
an ongoing pop. If they could say we're going to

496
00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:54.359
take you know, one one roller coaster, the installation of

497
00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:57.839
one roller coaster equals somewhere between depending on the on

498
00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:03.599
the budget a capital invest for a seasonal event between

499
00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:08.839
ten and fifteen, sometimes twenty five years, So you could

500
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:13.720
either do twenty five years of a Halloween event or

501
00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:16.920
one roller coaster, which is not going to continue to trend. Now,

502
00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:20.279
the argument is on paper, it becomes an asset, and

503
00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.680
it becomes something they don't have to reinvest in every year,

504
00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:25.640
but they have to reinvest. They have to invest so

505
00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:28.480
much upfront that they have to amortize it over so

506
00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:33.640
many years and it no longer. The amortization then starts

507
00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:35.799
to outweigh what it's actually bringing in as far as

508
00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:40.000
attendance goes. So and there are arguments that will go

509
00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:41.920
back and forth on this. There are numbers that show

510
00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:45.599
both are true. But my experience has shown if you

511
00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:48.240
want to keep people's interest, and by interest, I mean

512
00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:51.920
keeping that turnstile clicking you need to keep up, you're

513
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.279
better off investing in events and seasonal seasonal stuff that

514
00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:58.839
keep them coming back, which, by the way, also builds

515
00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:02.039
your seasonal mass base because it makes the season pass,

516
00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:05.640
gives the season pass greater value. And then do your

517
00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:08.480
big coasters you know, spread those out just a bit more.

518
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:10.400
But there are some parks that feel as though they

519
00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:12.680
have to do a big thrill ride every single year,

520
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:16.880
and the sustainability of that does not seem to make

521
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.640
sense based on the information that I have seen over

522
00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.240
the past twenty five thirty years.

523
00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:24.240
Yeah, I tend to agree with all that, and I

524
00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:27.759
think it's it's very interesting, and I think it's possible

525
00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:30.640
that they're doing a balancing act of types right where

526
00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:33.799
it's like this almost lines up with exactly what you're

527
00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:36.319
saying in a weird way where they're like, here's our

528
00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:41.480
two year plan, and you know, we're planning on you know, essentially,

529
00:27:41.559 --> 00:27:43.480
it looks like what they're plan on doing is trying

530
00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:47.880
to revitalize some of their assets while also cost cutting

531
00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.240
in some areas, right, And so it's like a thin

532
00:27:50.359 --> 00:27:53.160
balancing line where they're like, if we put in you know,

533
00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:55.920
I think you could see exactly what you're saying maybe

534
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:59.480
where they're like, if we put in you know, coasters

535
00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:02.720
in these areas these seven areas, that'll give us an

536
00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:05.920
attendance boost in these areas, and that boost will lead

537
00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:07.880
to X revenue for two years. And this is a

538
00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:10.759
two year plan you know that allows these parks to

539
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:14.279
you know equalize or whatever, and we'll offset that by

540
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:17.200
saving synergies over here or whatever, and blah blah blah.

541
00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:20.279
I mean, I think you could kind of track their

542
00:28:20.359 --> 00:28:24.720
their thinking in this, but to me, again, it's still underscores.

543
00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:32.240
It's like this again is still doesn't seem like too

544
00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:35.599
ambitious right overall. I mean, it's not like a full

545
00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:38.039
portfolio ambition type of thing. It's like we're trying to

546
00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:42.480
tread water and we're hoping that the new these new coasters,

547
00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:44.799
you know, that it'll lead to it, like you said,

548
00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:47.759
two year invest a tenants bump, which will help us

549
00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:51.319
treadwater in certain markets or whatever and equalize. Like it's

550
00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:53.359
it's not really a compelling vision in the way that

551
00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:58.559
like Disney has outlined their you know, story driven plan

552
00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:00.680
for the next ten years there, you know, and we

553
00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:02.799
have all this you know, synergy and whatever.

554
00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:08.279
So well, but I also think in fairness, you know,

555
00:29:08.359 --> 00:29:11.000
we say that it's not a particular particularly ambitious plan,

556
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:15.279
but they're already still reeling from the last ambitious move

557
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:17.680
that they made, which was you know, the merger, so

558
00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:20.720
they're they've got to they've got to figure out. They've

559
00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:23.160
got to figure out how they work as the new company.

560
00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:25.200
If they work as the new company, what they need

561
00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:27.880
to trim off. But at the same time, they need

562
00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:30.400
to make certain that people know, Hey, this new company

563
00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:35.160
has vibrancy and has exciting new new elements coming into play.

564
00:29:35.400 --> 00:29:37.359
And I think the one thing that they're leaning into

565
00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:42.839
is get a season pass to all six Flags properties.

566
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:46.119
That which is interesting because it's like, how many people

567
00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:46.759
really will go.

568
00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:49.440
I guess they're banking on a lot.

569
00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:51.079
I have.

570
00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:51.519
I have.

571
00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:53.799
I mean, Philip, you and I both are friends that

572
00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:58.559
literally just travel the country. Yeah, yeah, but I'm but

573
00:29:58.160 --> 00:29:59.960
I'm but I'm not just talking about people who work

574
00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:01.640
the industry. I'm talking about people who are fans of

575
00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:04.799
the industry who will travel the country. I mean one

576
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:07.319
of my friends, one of my friends from college, he's

577
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:09.480
a high school teacher, and over the summer he goes

578
00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:12.680
out and does coaster coaster, coast or coaster and if

579
00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:14.640
he can get one pass that gets him into all

580
00:30:14.680 --> 00:30:17.839
the Flags parks. Guess which parks he's going to are

581
00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:21.240
the Flags parks. So, but where we're going to is

582
00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:24.119
somewhere else because our time's up. But I will say

583
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:26.759
as as Philip mentioned at the beginning of the show,

584
00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:30.599
we are about to kick into Iappa week. So if

585
00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:35.240
you are listeners of Ayappa, I'm sorry not Aapa, No

586
00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:39.400
of Green Tagged Unhinged, I'm unhinged already. If you're a

587
00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:41.279
listener of Green tag Unhinged, what we're going to talk

588
00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:43.960
about this week on our bonus episode is all of

589
00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:45.680
our plans, what we're going to do, and what we're

590
00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:47.720
excited about. So if you'd like to get a little

591
00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:51.599
preview from Phillips in my perspective, go to Patreon search

592
00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:55.319
green Tagged Unhinged, find us, become a listener, and you

593
00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:57.279
get to hear us, you know, not only kind of

594
00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:00.000
throw the gloves off, but also say a dirty word

595
00:31:00.119 --> 00:31:02.720
every now and then. But for those of you who

596
00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:04.759
are done listening to us for the week, thank you

597
00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:06.880
so much. Once again, we appreciate you as well, and

598
00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:09.240
hopefully we will see you next week here on Green

599
00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:10.880
Tagged theme Park in thirty