Scream Break and the Popup Trend

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.839
And Tampa. This is green tagged
theme Park in thirty where Scott and I

2
00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:09.080
break down the top theme park news
each week and discuss why it matters to

3
00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:14.279
you and you know what, why
it matters to us? Yes, really,

4
00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:17.120
or we really just argue or have
questions or I don't know, or

5
00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:23.039
sometimes we just use it as a
time to puzzle out some things, which

6
00:00:23.079 --> 00:00:27.239
is what I'm going to start off
with because Scream Break, I really want

7
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.719
to get Scott's prospective on this because
I have questions and I hope Scott has

8
00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:36.320
answers. I'll try so. Scream
Break is back at six Flags Magic Mountain,

9
00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:42.159
happening Fridays and Saturdays now through April
thirteenth, and the event includes two

10
00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:47.640
hundred houses, three scare zones,
and rides in the dark, so it's

11
00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.320
eight nights total and this is the
second year of the event happening in at

12
00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:56.880
six Flags Magic Mountain. Basically,
it is forty dollars per person per night,

13
00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.640
plus parking unless you are an annual
pass holder. If you're an annual

14
00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.159
pass holder, what you do is
you show up, you go to the

15
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:07.319
guest Services window where you can get
the wristband for entry supposedly there's a cap

16
00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:11.439
on those, so I don't know, we don't know what the cap is

17
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.799
or really if there is a cap
or not. But the event officially runs

18
00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:19.640
from nine pm to midnight. However, one of the areas, one of

19
00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:25.840
the scare Zones slash DJ area,
opens at seven thirty and it's like a

20
00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:30.000
holding pen. So what happens is
people beginning at seven thirty can go into

21
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.200
that Demon's Row area and it's basically
a holding pen where they wait until nine

22
00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.400
pm and the rest of the stuff
open, so it helps them with their

23
00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.480
phase closing in the park is everyone. They shove all the event people into

24
00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.959
that area and hold them there while
they're emptying the rest of the park.

25
00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:45.640
And that area has one of the
two hunted houses Condemned House Party, the

26
00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:51.000
same one as last year. So
essentially you can get there at seven thirty,

27
00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:53.879
go in, and you can get
one of the haunted houses done and

28
00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:59.519
then hang out and then by nine
get access to the rest of the other

29
00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.879
scare zones and the other maze,
which this year is SAW, so Condemned

30
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:09.840
House Party and SAW are the two
mazes I thought. Overall, I think

31
00:02:09.879 --> 00:02:15.960
the event was less just lessen last
year. I mean they cut one of

32
00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:20.319
the I guess they merged. They
used to have a DJ in the full

33
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.240
throttle area, but they moved that
over to being in that little holding pan

34
00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:30.319
area. So basically they advertise it
as as three scare zones and two DJs,

35
00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:34.400
but really the DJs are part of
the scare zones, so you know,

36
00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:38.479
it's not really they're kind of combined
together, and it just overall it

37
00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:42.479
feels less than it was last year. And you also cannot buy a multi

38
00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:46.039
night ticket, so it seems like
they're trying to push push more single ticket

39
00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:52.120
prices. They have four rides that
are open as well, so it's only

40
00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:54.000
basically half the park that's open.
You know, it's a closed down part

41
00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:59.039
of the park that's open for this, and then some specialty food which is

42
00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:02.319
not good, and overall less food
items. So I'm just trying to figure

43
00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:10.159
out what's going on with this cot
because i I'm just That's why i want

44
00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:14.960
your answers, because I'm just a
little confused about, like I understand,

45
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:19.520
you know, I think I understand
them dropping the multi night ticket as a

46
00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:23.719
way to encourage more day tickets at
the forty dollars price point plus the parking.

47
00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:30.280
But it's free for pass holders,
so like for a limited number of

48
00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:34.360
pass holders, supposedly supposedly right,
we don't know. I mean, I

49
00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:38.479
haven't heard any reports of them turning
pass holders, like because they because they

50
00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.879
don't, because they don't advertise how
many. They can always expand or contract

51
00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:45.319
based on how many tickets they sell, so they can always they always have

52
00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:47.520
a way to in essence, seat
fill. So what are they trying to

53
00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:51.360
accomplish this? I'm just what are
they trying to accomplish with this event?

54
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.520
It seems like overall they've they've pulled
the event back and to a smaller footprint.

55
00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:58.919
It's only three hours long unless you're
there early and setting in a pet

56
00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:01.919
and like a pen. But they've
reduced the food and beverage upsell options.

57
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:05.599
They up cells always have long lines, so they're not able to handle all

58
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.479
of it. Like, like,
what are they trying to accomplish with this?

59
00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:14.280
Especially when like part of me,
part of me feels like I guess,

60
00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:18.759
I guess. My My feeling is
if you pay for it without a

61
00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:23.720
pass, so you're paying I did
the math with our group. We would

62
00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:28.759
have spent seventy five dollars per person
for the ticket plus the parking plus one

63
00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.680
meal if we had split everything equally, and that's carpooling, So it is

64
00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:36.279
not worth that. It's not worth
that price point per person. However,

65
00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:42.439
because my friends were annual pass holders
with the meal plan, which the meal

66
00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:46.279
plan still works during screen break,
it didn't cost anything. So like,

67
00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:53.319
I don't understand. Like part of
me is like, I, so,

68
00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.399
are you just trying to add something
for your annual pass holders, which is

69
00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:00.439
great, I mean, more things
anual passolders is great, but if it's

70
00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:05.439
not the ticket doesn't So explain this
to me, Scott, Well, it's

71
00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:08.680
like I said, it's been a
while since I've been in the operation side

72
00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:12.680
of a theme park, but all
of this really makes an awful lot of

73
00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.360
sense to me. Number One,
it is because it's a three hour event.

74
00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.240
I mean, it's not assuming that
you don't get there early and you

75
00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:24.120
don't go to the park during the
day. It's a three hour event.

76
00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:29.800
So it sounds to me what they're
trying to do is first and foremost,

77
00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:33.199
they are trying to make the season
pass more valuable so that they can continue

78
00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.920
to sell season passes. I mean, that's what seasonal events in general do

79
00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:44.000
is gives people more things that make
their season pass worth money. And season

80
00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.040
passes are great because you get all
the money up front and you don't have

81
00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.079
to wait for them to come,
you know, multiple times, et cetera,

82
00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:53.079
et cetera, et cetera. So
that would be my first thought.

83
00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:59.360
My second thought is, because they're
they're selling the tickets at forty bucks,

84
00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.199
what is the day? What is
the regular day rate for the park?

85
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.000
You know, I will look it
up, keep going, but because what

86
00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:11.360
will happen is when you start breaking
it down by hour, you realize you're

87
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.120
actually paying even more usually for a
short nighttime event than you would be for

88
00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:19.839
the entire park during the day.
That's not always the case, but it's

89
00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:23.839
it's a way to say, you
know, to tap into those people who

90
00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:27.319
are jones in for some sort of
Halloween event. And let's face it,

91
00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.000
we all know there are people out
there. You went and you know jones

92
00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:33.199
and for a Halloween event in the
middle of the spring or in the beginning

93
00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:39.920
of the spring. So there's there's
that, and that those people who are

94
00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:44.720
not season pass holders are willing to
buy those tickets at forty bucks pop and

95
00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:48.920
pay the the UH and pay the
the parking as well. I'm not sure

96
00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.600
they are. I guess, I
guess I. I guess we'll we'll see

97
00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:56.040
or I guess uh. But they
were not well they obviously you're making money

98
00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:58.120
off of it, or they wouldn't
they would stop. They wouldn't have they

99
00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:02.920
would have stopped doing Here's the question. Is that obvious because it's a different

100
00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.600
model from last year to this year, you know, different pricing. They

101
00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:09.079
change the pricing around a little bit, you know, getting rid of that

102
00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:13.639
pass and they also reduce that passer
and they also like reduce the amount of

103
00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:16.560
offerings and move things around to a
smaller footprint. So it looks to me

104
00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:21.399
like it was not profitable last year, and so they are trying to shift

105
00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:27.000
it and edge it into profitability.
I guess, I don't know. I

106
00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:29.480
guess to me, it seems like
they're trying to have the best of both

107
00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.160
worlds, right. They're trying to
like have something that is good for annual

108
00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:36.319
pass holders, but also make money
at the thing that is good for annual

109
00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.920
pass holders, but not make money
off the annual pass holders, to make

110
00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.160
money off of them. But the
reason. But the reason it makes money

111
00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:47.319
off the the goal for these kinds
of things usually is not to quote unquote

112
00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:50.439
make money off the annual pass holders. It's to continue to sell more annual

113
00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:57.199
passes. So there's a difference.
Making money off the annual pass holders is

114
00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:01.480
when you are when they offer things
like excl of things that only annual passolders

115
00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:07.680
can purchase, or offering a deeper
discount and a specific restaurant just to get

116
00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.959
them to buy some food, because
annual passolders rarely do that generally speaking.

117
00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:15.279
Well, they can use their dining
plan during the event, so they don't

118
00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:18.560
mean to. Yeah, so there's
so it's not that. But my guess

119
00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:22.639
is they recognized, they had a
proof of concept, they recognized this is

120
00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:26.839
something that's valuable, and now they're
starting to value engineer it so that it

121
00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:31.519
becomes even more profitable. You know, as we've all said, most events

122
00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.840
usually break even the first year.
They very rarely are you know, stupidly

123
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.120
profitable the first year, even if
they even if they sell out, which

124
00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:43.399
is you know, because you've got
so much capital investment. But again,

125
00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:46.559
from what you've told me, this
is not really capital investment. This is

126
00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.720
just reuse of assemals. Well,
that's exactly I was gonna say, well,

127
00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.279
they don't. It's capital investment light. Like really, they just they

128
00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.919
left up the saw maze from Halloween
and the condemned house party. They did

129
00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:00.279
reskin it, you know, as
in they went in and decorate it to

130
00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:03.000
be a house party. But it
seems like the biggest expenses is the makeup

131
00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.600
and the labor. I mean,
it's the labor. Yeah, So,

132
00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:09.200
and that's why they're trying to condense
things. That's why they now have DJs

133
00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:15.480
integrated as part of the scare zones. It's not really changing what they're offering,

134
00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.279
it's just putting in a different place
which can help reduce labor minimally but

135
00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:24.480
still help reduce labor. The price
point you asked about that, I looked

136
00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.360
it up for the day, for
the day product. Yes, okay,

137
00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:33.000
so right now, because it is
spring season, the price so today is

138
00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:37.039
Sunday. Porcoring this on Sunday,
it's seventy nine dollars, so about eighty

139
00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.919
dollars, so twice the price.
Twice the price. And the park is

140
00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.480
open from ten am to eight pm, so twice the price. So if

141
00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:48.399
you break that down by hour.
It's much is significantly Yeah, it's significally

142
00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:52.679
more expensive to come at night,
but it's also for a targeted audience.

143
00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:56.919
So it's a way to think of
it this way. You know, we've

144
00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:03.559
we've talked about parks that do Halloween
events or separate ticketed events as creating a

145
00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:07.039
thirteenth month or whatever. That's not
quite what this is. But it's a

146
00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:16.080
way of utilizing existing assets to get
either extra pass sales or a significantly higher

147
00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:20.960
per hour rate for the guests that
show up. It's also something for marketing

148
00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:26.840
to talk about. Yeah, well
it's I makes sense. Actually, I

149
00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.519
agree with all of that, except
that we were done with the event by

150
00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:35.919
nine thirty. And I'm not sure. I guess I don't see the that's

151
00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.639
with rides, like we were done
by nine thirty. I don't see.

152
00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.759
So you had done all the rides
in both the houses and seen all of

153
00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:48.759
the scare zones within two hours,
yes, because I'm assuming you got there

154
00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.399
at seven thirty. Yes, Okay, So the people who get there at

155
00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:56.399
nine are done by eleven, Yeah, and they close at twelve. So

156
00:10:56.919 --> 00:11:01.360
that makes total sense to me,
because that way they're they're doing a sort

157
00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:07.240
of a staggered a staggered close,
not closing, but a staggered you know,

158
00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:11.600
wind down. It helps control crowds
that way. It didn't. It

159
00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:16.159
didn't feel like that's because you're able
to do everything. But you're also comparing

160
00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:20.320
it to a full Halloween event.
This is not a full Halloween event.

161
00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:22.080
This is a this is a halfway
to Halloween event. I guess I would

162
00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:26.399
compare it to like Disney Channel Night, you know, or something that's another

163
00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:30.919
after hours And how much is that? Yeah, you're right, Yeah,

164
00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.679
that I think that's I mean,
you're you're you're looking at it strictly from

165
00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:37.919
a guest experience standpoint, not from
a profitability standpoint. And this is it

166
00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:43.639
because they, you know, the
the the Disney Channel, the Disney Channel

167
00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.919
event has to invest more money in
it because it's something that they don't have

168
00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:54.399
that's already set up. Well,
I guess I would say everything is parallel.

169
00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:58.600
I I would dispute that. I
guess it's parallel. But if it's

170
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.600
parallel, then there's still making money
and they're both doing it for exactly the

171
00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:07.600
same reason, just on a different
scale. I think if the guest experience

172
00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:11.879
is not good it's not going to
be profitable. And then so I think

173
00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:13.279
that would be my first point.
I think, and I you know,

174
00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:15.960
I don't know. I mean,
I I don't know. I guess.

175
00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:20.399
I'm just you're right in that my
comparison is probably invalid because you're trying to

176
00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:24.159
compare, you know, a premium
product to a not premium product. So

177
00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:26.879
there's not there's not really it's like
it's not comparing the same type. Also,

178
00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:31.960
I also don't think you're the demographic
for the screen the screen break event.

179
00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:35.440
I'm not sure you're not a college
is you're not a college student.

180
00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:37.399
On springboard. That was not the
majority of people there. There was a

181
00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:43.159
lot of strollers. Well, then
then they have it and they have a

182
00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:46.679
challenge, they have a challenge with
marketing. Then yeah, we we didn't

183
00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:52.879
see anybody really dancing or kind of
yeah, it wasn't It felt like it

184
00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:58.360
was parents and then like teenagers as
in like pre college. So actually we

185
00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:03.159
thought it was a little weird that
they were pushing like every character, like

186
00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:05.519
every character there was just talking about
how drunk they were in all the partying,

187
00:13:05.559 --> 00:13:09.039
and we're like, well, the
person you're talking to is eight years

188
00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:11.159
old, so You probably shouldn't be
talking about how great it is to get

189
00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:13.960
drunk and throw up on people when
the person you're talking to is eight.

190
00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:16.919
But that's the parent's choice to bring
the MP with eight year old throw up

191
00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:20.840
on people all the time. Yeah, so's they related. Maybe that's what

192
00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:22.919
it was. Yeah, they didn't
necessarily relate to the drinking part. They

193
00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:26.639
related to the throwing up part.
So my last question Scott for you is

194
00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:35.080
do you think that, like what
do you with the merger thinking about the

195
00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.200
merger between six Flags and Cedar stuff, do you think that this is like

196
00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:46.039
something they're going to be trying to
roll out more when considering the merger,

197
00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.720
rowt out more this type of stuff
and lean into these types of events.

198
00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:52.440
I mean, like to your point, Like I think, to your point,

199
00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:56.879
if this were in a market that
didn't have so much competition, it

200
00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:00.600
probably would be more profitable, right, Like like I'm saying here comparing it

201
00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:03.200
to zy and Universal, but like
there are so many six Flags and Zedar

202
00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:07.600
fare properties that are in areas where
there's not where like this would be the

203
00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:09.840
only thing to do, Like this
could be the thing to do for spring

204
00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:13.840
break and it doesn't even have to
be spooky. They could do just a

205
00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:16.799
non spooky, you know what I
mean. Yeah, I think, well,

206
00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:18.120
there's a couple, there's a couple
of things here. It may be

207
00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:22.360
it may be something that they're going
to look to spread to more of the

208
00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:26.000
Flags parks. But I will also
say that even before the merger, not

209
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:31.879
operated kind of on its own.
It was its own entity within Cedar Fair.

210
00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:33.440
Because of the competition in the area, you know, because of the

211
00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:37.159
excuse me, because of the competition, because of the age and size of

212
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.320
the park, because of the location. There's a there was a bunch of

213
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:43.320
reasons that it kind of operated as
its own, its own, separate island

214
00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:50.240
within the within the ocean of Cedar
Fair. But again from what you've explained,

215
00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:52.919
and again I can't really give a
whole lot of input because I haven't

216
00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:01.039
experienced the event. But if you've
got if you've got all the existing assets,

217
00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:03.240
that all you have to do is
turn the lights on and throw some

218
00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.879
people in there. And you can
charge for why not, and you can

219
00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:09.159
charge forty dollars a ticket? Why
not do it? You know you and

220
00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.840
you you you make the comparison that
if it is not, if it is

221
00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:18.360
not high guest quality, that it's
not profitable. I've been to many things

222
00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:22.159
that are very profitable that I do
not consider high guest quality. But they

223
00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:24.559
continue, but they continue to work
and they continue to be profitable because they

224
00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:28.200
find their market. It sounds like
there's a there's a great deal of brand

225
00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.960
confusion as to what this is and
and who should be there. So that

226
00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:35.320
would be the first thing that I
would look at if I were them,

227
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:35.960
that would be the first thing I
would look at us. Why are there

228
00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.320
all these strollers here? Because it's
you know, nine to nine to twelve,

229
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:43.080
number one and number two. If
we were if we were in if

230
00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.559
we were in Saudi for example,
that's when everybody comes out. You know,

231
00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:52.159
that's that's lunchtime. You know,
nine pm is lunchtime. So that

232
00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.120
would make total sense there. And
I saw that, you know, I

233
00:15:54.159 --> 00:16:00.679
saw strollers at at two in the
morning at at Boulevard City in Riod,

234
00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.159
So that makes total sense there.
And maybe California is that way as well.

235
00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:08.960
I don't know, but to me, it seems like their biggest challenges

236
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:15.039
they're they're not sure who they're marketing
to, and but again they're still doing

237
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.320
it. It doesn't cost them that
much so that the profit margin must still

238
00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:21.799
work for them. We'll see in
year three. We'll see if they come

239
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:23.559
back in you when you were when
you were saying that, the only thing

240
00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:27.799
I thought of was the Willy Wonka
thing. Oh god, you know which.

241
00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:30.799
By the way, this is not
a story. I just wanted to

242
00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:34.960
mention it because a lot of layers
they're making. Someone is making a movie

243
00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:41.679
about the whole Willy Wonka fiasco,
and I am here for it. So

244
00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:49.080
so ip ipeas have now shifted from
films to games, to uh to content

245
00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:53.679
creators, now to memes. We
will now have a meme based theme park.

246
00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:56.200
It'll be a meme park, so
to speak. Hey, you know

247
00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:02.320
what, let's let's go. I'm
ready. Somebody does hire me. I'll

248
00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:04.640
help write it. That's good.
I don't know. Okay, all right,

249
00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.200
all right, sorry. I that
was a whole thing because I spent

250
00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:10.920
my night doing it last night,
and so I was, you know,

251
00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:12.119
it was on my brain. So
that's why I wanted to talk about it

252
00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:15.240
and get Scott's opinion it. So, okay, we have news. We

253
00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:19.359
have other things to talk about.
So roller coasters, a rooftop bar and

254
00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:25.519
more is coming to Kansas City in
twenty twenty six because Mattel and Epic Resort

255
00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:30.079
Destinations have revealed plans to build a
new Matel Adventure Park in Bonnard Springs,

256
00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.440
Kansas, with a groundbreaking ceremony set
for late twenty twenty four, with the

257
00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:37.160
park opening in twenty twenty six.
It'll feature attractions and rides themed around Metel

258
00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:41.799
characters, games and toys such as
Uno, Thomas and Friends, Barbie and

259
00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:45.079
hot Wheels. And this is the
second park, this is the second pest.

260
00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:48.279
So here's the thing. I'm sorry, yes, no, I'm sorry

261
00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:55.160
like I I'm sorry, no,
go away, get away, like don't

262
00:17:55.880 --> 00:18:00.920
I. I'm not happy about this
announcement. I'm not. I'm not saying

263
00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.359
they're liar. I'm not saying this
is a Willy Wonka thing. But you

264
00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:07.799
know what, I want to see
the park open first. We have no

265
00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.319
idea how this execution is working.
We don't know. We don't to our

266
00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:15.799
point, we talked about every time
execution, execution, excuse nation. We

267
00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.440
have no idea how this is going
to work out because we haven't seen anything.

268
00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:23.079
Because they're already behind and they've been
behind for years and everything like prove

269
00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.079
to me that you can do the
first one right, and then I will

270
00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:27.960
be like excited about the second one. But don't announce the second one before

271
00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:32.240
the first thing is that this is
This is a pr mistake in my opinion.

272
00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:34.599
They need to wait until it's actually
open and then be like, look,

273
00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.720
how great this is. Everyone loves
it. We're going to make another

274
00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:41.119
one. Give us money. You're
you're absolutely right. It could be it

275
00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:47.000
could be the it could be a
uh, well, let's we don't we

276
00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:48.920
don't have the first one open yet, but let's see if we can draw

277
00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.240
some attention by announcing that we're going
to do a second one. On the

278
00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:55.200
flip side, on the converse,
it could also be economy of scale.

279
00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:57.640
They've realized, okay, we're building
the first one, we're running behind.

280
00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:02.200
We can instead of building one of
these rides, let's build two of them

281
00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:04.079
and it will save us money and
we can do them at the same time,

282
00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:07.720
which will save us money. I
think that is possible. I don't

283
00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:14.880
know what kind of control Mattel has
over their brands. The I did not

284
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:21.960
experience the Barbie World in in Riad
when it was there. Based on the

285
00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:26.799
queues up front, not many people
experienced Barbie World and my cues, I

286
00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:30.160
mean the lack thereof. So I
don't know, I don't know what the

287
00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:36.880
quality control level is. I will
say that if this is executed properly,

288
00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:40.680
I think this. You know,
we talk about all the ips. I

289
00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:45.119
think this level of IP is so
multi generational. It is, this is

290
00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:51.400
almost as multi generational as Disney is. It is amazing because I played with

291
00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.720
Hot Wheels when I was a kid. You know, I've played Uno.

292
00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:59.000
I know who Thomas is, even
though that's well after me, but all

293
00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:02.599
of these are recognizable. All of
these hold a warm spot in my heart.

294
00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.240
And well, you say, that's
not like you said that about the

295
00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:08.559
first park that may or may not
open this year, like next month,

296
00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.599
apparently correct. I think it's I
think it's a brilliant I think it is

297
00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:18.279
a brilliant brand if it can be
executed properly. And we've seen previews from

298
00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:21.839
multiple years now at Iyapa, and
like the stuff we've seen at Ayappa,

299
00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:23.559
I think looks good. I mean, I think you've you saw the stuff

300
00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:27.160
at Ayapa. You know, we
saw the castle and we saw the Hot

301
00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.519
Wheels ride vehicles. I mean,
like the vendors involved I think are doing

302
00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:33.119
good jobs, but it you know, but I'm just saying it's not open,

303
00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:36.400
and it's very possible. I mean, let's be honest, it's very

304
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.079
possible because I've seen this happen in
other projects which shall remain nameless, but

305
00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.640
that the IP holder is the reason
that things are running late, because the

306
00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.440
IP holder keeps saying, no,
this isn't to the level that we needed

307
00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.440
to know. We got to fix
this. No, we got to fix

308
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:51.680
that. Now, I'm not saying
that is the case here, but I

309
00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:55.799
have seen that same thing happen,
and I you know, especially after the

310
00:20:56.839 --> 00:21:00.480
smashing success of the Barbie movie,
which brings every thing back into you know,

311
00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:07.920
hotness and raises everybody's paycheck, they
may they may want to control it.

312
00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.599
I mean, you know, one
of the one of the most challenging

313
00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:12.599
areas, based on the people that
I talked to who worked on it,

314
00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:17.279
one of the most challenging themed areas
to open is anything that has to do

315
00:21:17.319 --> 00:21:22.400
with Harry Potter, because you know, they control that brand to the well,

316
00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:23.920
they used to control that brand to
the nth degree. They've loosened a

317
00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:27.359
little bit, but you know,
and and if they you know, if

318
00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.519
if JK walked through and didn't like
it, it didn't open, you know.

319
00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:36.359
So yeah, I could see the
the attention that the new Barbie movie

320
00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:42.720
brought to the brand potentially slowing things
down because they want to not yeah,

321
00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:45.559
just like we just I could see
that as a as a and perhaps even

322
00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:49.519
incorporate things that weren't necessarily part of
the original of the back und redesign something,

323
00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:53.000
because can redesign things to the Barbie
movie, not the Barbie doll.

324
00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:59.160
Yeah. Well yeah, anyways,
see again, we'll see execution, execution,

325
00:21:59.240 --> 00:22:03.079
execution. But I it's it's interesting
though because it's again it's another small

326
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:10.599
park that is being duplicated in another
non an area that is not necessarily known

327
00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:15.000
for massive tourism. So because the
land is cheaper and uh and it's not

328
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.400
a Gimungo, you know, it's
not an Epic Universe sized park. Correct,

329
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:26.200
So we'll see, Yes, yes, it's not. Though it's not

330
00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:29.359
a completely underdeveloped area. There is
a world's of fun in that area.

331
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:34.279
So it's like an area that's a
I guess a developing market because yes,

332
00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:37.119
but it's not going into Anaheimer correct
correct. Yeah, yeah, so it's

333
00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:44.200
that's that sweet spot right where there's
enough to justify a market, but it's

334
00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:51.400
not oversaturated. So okay, Well, anyway, there's a new drone show

335
00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.640
coming to Disney Springs from May twenty
fourth, which is not today for some

336
00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:59.680
reason that it was May, but
it's not. It's not May, folks,

337
00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:03.440
folks, that is March. From
May twenty fourth through September, two

338
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:07.559
months. In two months, God, what is time, scot from It's

339
00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:10.079
Halloween. It's it Halloween season yet, I don't know. We'll just filmed.

340
00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:14.599
They got to help, Okay.
From May twenty fourth through September second,

341
00:23:14.839 --> 00:23:19.000
drones will take flight above Lake Buena
Vista in Disney Springs for Disney Dreams

342
00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.680
that sore a new drone show at
the Walt Disney World Resort. The limited

343
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:26.839
time experience will showcase Disney stories that
celebrate the joy of flight, featuring state

344
00:23:26.839 --> 00:23:32.960
of the art choreographed drones accompanied by
music and memorable Disney quotes. Period.

345
00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:40.519
That's basically it. So I I
again, I think I've mentioned previously about

346
00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:45.599
how I think drones are definitely a
lot of opportunity in them, and we

347
00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:49.640
have seen their capabilities at the Ayapa
Show. Even Transworld head a drone show

348
00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:55.200
inside the convention Center in the corner. I just think there's a lot of

349
00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.000
potential in this, and I think
this is a purpose as usual. This

350
00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:00.759
is a great execute I'm not great
excution, but it's a great idea by

351
00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:03.359
Disney. We'll see about the execution, but it's great idea to say,

352
00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:08.000
here's an area that to Scott's point
he just raised, it's not a theme

353
00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:12.279
park, right, this is a
shopping district area. So we can bring

354
00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:18.000
in themed park elements to it without
having you know, like this Springs doesn't

355
00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.799
have the infrastructure inherently. They don't
have the projections, they don't have the

356
00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:23.480
firewards, they don't have all that
stuff built in, So they can just

357
00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:27.640
add the drones to it to bring
in some of that storytelling, but in

358
00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:33.440
an existing space. So I think
it's a concept wise, it is a

359
00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:37.599
very good use of this, and
I like that they're starting to make this

360
00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:41.480
a regular thing. Right. It
gives us something to announce to Scott's point,

361
00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:44.839
previously, it gives them something to
keep in marketing, to keep announcing

362
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:48.160
they had a holiday when there previously, so now if they have if they

363
00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:51.480
every quarter they have a new drone
show, at Disney Springs. That gives

364
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:55.319
something for people to want to go
to. Well, and even the castle

365
00:24:55.359 --> 00:25:00.000
shows in Magic Kingdom are incorporating drone
shows now is or drones as well?

366
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.720
Well. I think that drones,
and I've said this before, I think

367
00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:06.759
drones are really cool. I think
they are really massive. I think they

368
00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:10.519
will burn hot and burn fast.
I will say that one of the things

369
00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:14.119
that I think is so appealing to
drones, especially on paper, is they

370
00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:18.799
say you're making an investment as opposed
to a capital investment, as opposed to

371
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:22.880
an expenditure or an expense investment.
Like fireworks. You know, fireworks,

372
00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:25.359
you can only you buy them,
you shoot them off, and you don't

373
00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:29.039
own them anymore because they're done,
they're smoking, and you know fallout.

374
00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:33.720
With drones, the idea is that
you can continue to use them. You

375
00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:37.559
can continue to reprogram them. You
can use the exact same drones to do

376
00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:41.359
your Christmas show, to do your
Spring show, to do your Halloween show,

377
00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.119
to do your Christmas show. Well
I guess I just did Christmas show

378
00:25:44.119 --> 00:25:45.839
twice. But anyway, you can
use drones to do multiple shows throughout the

379
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:49.240
year. You just reprogram them and
you use your same assets. I think

380
00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:55.319
what we're going to see happen is
because of the nature of drones they move,

381
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.519
we're gonna have to see some technology
boosts. And I have seen some

382
00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:03.839
new droune shows, especially in the
UAE on on on video, that are

383
00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:11.599
not just the ever popular graceful,
slow moving, slow evolving drone show.

384
00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:15.799
They for me, they are wonderful
for grandeur, but they lack those moments

385
00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:21.519
of heart heart racing excitement. And
so I think that I think that drones

386
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:23.839
look really good on paper. I
think there's gonna be some wonderful shows out

387
00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:27.359
there, but I think they're gonna
burn hot and burn fast, and we're

388
00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:30.759
gonna have to figure out how to
incorporate drones with other things in order to

389
00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:37.680
keep them in order to keep them
ongoingly relevant. That's just my opinion on

390
00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:44.519
drones in general. I I don't
disagree with any of that, and I

391
00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:48.920
agree about it needing to be a
little bit more exciting. I'm not sure

392
00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:51.920
that it wouldn't be a good fit
for other audiences. It might be like

393
00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:56.119
an American sentiment, you know,
sensibility thing where we need things to be

394
00:26:56.119 --> 00:26:59.599
more exciting, and other cultures aren't
like that. But I all would all.

395
00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.039
The only I would add to that
is that, you know, technology,

396
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:07.680
I think, to me, the
drone issue is a software issue.

397
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:12.160
It's not a hardware issue, because
drones are I mean, even my drone

398
00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:18.319
can go much faster than I can
pilot it and has definitely crashed into a

399
00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:22.960
few of my neighbors objects. So
it's I mean, I think it's more

400
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:29.119
of a first folks well broken that
was Philips drone. I think it's more

401
00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:33.400
like it's more a software issue.
It's just like so many things that were

402
00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.519
so many hurdles that we have right
now are software hurdles, and the software

403
00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:41.480
hurdles are going to be proved considerably
with the advancement of AI, because that's

404
00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:45.440
going to be able to help us
to be program software faster. That would

405
00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:48.920
be my only thing is I think
the software is increasing exponentially and that's going

406
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:51.680
to help with the with the drone
compatibility. I mean, you mentioned,

407
00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:56.240
you mentioned the drone show at IAPA
Expo last year, and you know,

408
00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:00.599
even a record blow, even a
record breaking drone show because at the time

409
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.279
it was the most drones flown in
any single show. Blah blah blah blah

410
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:07.960
blah, which by the way,
has been broken already. But the thing

411
00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:12.200
about it was, you get about, you know, two or three minutes

412
00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:17.880
in and it becomes this beautiful wallpaper
on the sky, you know, and

413
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.519
people found I found people having conversations. I found people, you know,

414
00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:25.119
shifting off to talk about other things. And every now and then when it

415
00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:27.279
would change formations or changed to something
new, they would turn and look at

416
00:28:27.319 --> 00:28:30.599
it. So you know, it
is a it is a beautiful addition.

417
00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:34.240
It is a beautiful it's beautiful technology. What I challenge people to do is

418
00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:38.039
continue to find ways to incorporate it
with other technologies to continue to make it

419
00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:42.799
a strong, viable storytelling tool.
It lacked theatricality, yes, very much

420
00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:47.279
so, Yeah, very much so. But speaking of theatricality, yes,

421
00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:51.039
I say. Our last story is
there's a fanom of the opera of the

422
00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:56.880
R coaster coming to europe A park. Apparently that's the story. Great,

423
00:28:56.079 --> 00:29:00.000
Okay, well, I won't say
so when I dove a little bit deeper.

424
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.319
This the thing that I think is
cool about this. First of all,

425
00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:04.680
I will say right up front,
I'm not a fan of VR coasters.

426
00:29:04.680 --> 00:29:07.960
I don't like them. I don't
think they do they don't do much

427
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:10.799
for me. I'm not a big
fan of VR period, but that's my

428
00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:14.319
own personal bias. That said,
the thing that I think is very clever

429
00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:17.839
about this is when you read this
story, and I know that Philip will

430
00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:21.000
include the links. When you read
this story, I want you to read

431
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:23.920
all the way to the bottom where
you see that this coaster actually occupies the

432
00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:29.799
same space as another coaster, which
is the Cancn Coaster, which is inspired

433
00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:33.880
by Mulin Rouge. So basically,
what they're doing is they're turning a single

434
00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:37.400
coaster into two completely different attractions.
Now, the two attractions do board in

435
00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:41.759
different locations, so I'm sure there's
some ride logistics that are rather impressive things

436
00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:45.279
that I certainly don't understand. But
in essence, what they're doing is they're

437
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:51.200
giving you two different experiences on the
same basic coaster track by giving you two

438
00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:55.279
VR experiences. So once again,
and you've heard us say this over and

439
00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:59.559
over and over again, utilize your
assets, reutilize your assets, find new

440
00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:03.799
ways to reutilize your assets. To
me, if this continued, if this

441
00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:07.079
works the way they claim it's going
to, this is a perfect example of

442
00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:14.440
how to use a very reutilize a
very expensive asset in two completely different ways,

443
00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:17.799
almost simultaneously. I think it's super
smart. Now. I have seen

444
00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:22.079
smaller parks who will do a VR
overlay on an existing coaster instead of building

445
00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:26.000
a new coaster, and that has
lasted about one season, and then they

446
00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:29.880
go back to the original coaster,
which they thought was cooler than the VR

447
00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:33.559
experience. It also depends on the
quality of the video in the VR.

448
00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:40.039
Some of the stuff I've seen looks
really really, really really computer generated and

449
00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:44.240
not in a good way. So
again quality is the issue. But I

450
00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:48.160
think the concept is really smart.
Speaking of a smart concept, just like

451
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:52.279
Green Tagged being here every week,
we also call ourselves a theme park in

452
00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:56.799
thirty and our concept is to stop
after thirty minutes. Guess what time to

453
00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:00.759
stop? So everybody, thank you
so much for listening to us ramble on.

454
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:03.519
Hopefully we've given you a little bit
more insight, at least, things

455
00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:08.599
to talk about with your theme park
friends and ways to incorporate new and expanding

456
00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:12.319
technologies in your own parks. On
behalf of Philip Bernandez. I'm Scott Swinson

457
00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:15.880
and this is Green tag Theme Park
in thirty. We will see you next week,