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Sept. 13, 2026

Six Flags Buys ArieForce One & Offers Loans To guests

Six Flags Buys ArieForce One & Offers Loans To guests
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Trends Six Flags

Key Takeaways

  • Six Flags introduced a new financing program called FlexPay by Upgrade, allowing guests to take out external loans with credit checks and APRs ranging from 0% to 36% for online orders of $49 or more.
  • While the financing program helps cash-constrained Six Flags get paid upfront without internal risk, it disproportionately targets guests with lower credit ratings who may end up facing higher interest rates.
  • Six Flags announced the acquisition of ArieForce One, the popular Rocky Mountain Construction steel coaster formerly located at the closed Fun Spot Atlanta park.
  • ArieForce One is slated to reopen at an undisclosed Six Flags park during the 2028 to 2029 operating seasons.
  • Acquiring a used coaster like ArieForce One allows Six Flags to leverage existing fan nostalgia and reduce design and fabrication costs compared to building a completely new attraction from scratch.

Six Flags now lets guests finance a season pass, or any online order of $49 or more, through Flex Pay by Upgrade. It is presented as a way to spread a pass into monthly payments, and it is a loan from an outside lender, with a credit check, an 18-and-over requirement, a possible down payment, and an APR from 0% to 36% depending on the borrower. For a company this cash-constrained, the move makes sense: Six Flags gets paid up front, the lender carries the risk, and no internal department has to exist. The program helps most the people who need it least, since guests who cannot buy a pass outright are the ones who draw the highest rates.

A day later, Six Flags said it acquired ArieForce One, the Rocky Mountain Construction coaster that closed August 2 when Fun Spot shut its Atlanta park, and will reopen it at an undisclosed park in the 2028 to 2029 seasons. No price, no timeline, but the name stays. A used coaster costs a fraction of a new one even after teardown and transport.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi named its three Harry Potter lands: Diagon Alley, Hogwarts Castle, and the Forbidden Forest, the first Potter lands outside a Universal park and the first built by the company that owns the IP. Whatever the online reaction to the region, this is a good sign for anyone in the industry. New immersive builds with real show control mean work; Warner Bros. has run physical experiences since the London studio tour, and Miral knows how to run a theme park.

Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ArieForce One?

ArieForce One is a steel roller coaster built by Rocky Mountain Construction that originally opened at Fun Spot Atlanta in 2023 before the park closed in 2026.

When and where will ArieForce One reopen?

Six Flags acquired ArieForce One and plans to reopen the coaster at an undisclosed park during the 2028 to 2029 operating seasons.

How does Six Flags' FlexPay by Upgrade program work?

FlexPay by Upgrade is an external loan program for online purchases of $49 or more that requires a credit check, an age minimum of 18, and carries an APR between 0% and 36% depending on the borrower.

Why is Six Flags acquiring a used coaster instead of building a new one?

Purchasing a used coaster like ArieForce One is significantly more cost-effective than building a brand new attraction from scratch, while also bringing in built-in fan nostalgia and strong public relations value.

WEBVTT

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Oh, my.

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Well, hello there, everybody, from our studios this week in

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Houston and Los Angeles. This is Green Tagged Theme Park

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in 30. I'm Philip from Gantam Lighting and Controls, and

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I'm joined, as always, by my delightful co-host, the Scott

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Swenson of Scott Swenson Creative Development, who is currently on

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a project right now. So we're doing this a little

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bit early and a little bit remotely. But on Green Tagged,

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of course.

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Actually, a lot remotely, Philip. We're doing it a lot remotely.

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That's true.

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Because I'm nowhere near home, so I'm... I'm at Space

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Center Houston doing, trying to get a show up. So anywho,

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I'm in my hotel room. Sorry, go ahead. I interrupted.

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I apologize.

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That's okay.

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I think everyone knows at this point, you know, this

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is what the show is. We look at the top

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news every week and we try and pick the stories

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that matter most. And we are back at Six Flags. Yes,

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we're back at Six Flags. And last week we, they

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teased us, you know, last week they, Six Flags loves

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to tease. It's their new thing of dropping out little

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hints that they're going to give announcements. And so we

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got two to three of the announcements that they brought

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out this week, and we'll go through them. And the

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first one is what they had teased last week, where

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they said they were going to announce a revolutionary way

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to kind of make parks more accessible to people. And

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it turns out that way is that you can get

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a loan. Did you know that, Scott, that you could

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just get a loan if you can't afford to go

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to a theme park?

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Okay, I'm sorry. Okay, I'll read it. I'll read it.

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I'll read the actual news. Okay, sorry. I'm getting too cheeky.

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So basically the news is that Six Flags will now

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let guests buy a season pass or any eligible online

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order of $ 50 or more and pay for it over

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time through a program that it's calling FlexPay by Upgrade.

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And they're presenting this, of course, as a way to

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make the passes easier to afford, and they're spreading the

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cost into monthly payments that a household can plan around. However,

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this is kind of different than it operates at other

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theme parks because FlexPay is a loan from an outside lender.

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It's not a payment plan that is operated by Six Flags.

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That would be a payment plan that is similar to

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how some of the other parks do it. This is

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different because it's an actual loan. The money comes from

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Upgrade's lending partners, a San Francisco financial technology company, and

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its approval is based on an actual credit check that

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you have to go through. So applicants must be at

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least 18. A down payment may be required. And here's

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the fine print, is that the annual percentage rate runs

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anywhere from zero to 36%.

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Depending on the borrower.

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So you can pay off the balance early with no penalty,

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of course. And the option is available in every U.S.

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state that has a Six Flags Park, but not in

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some of the U.S.

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Territories. So Right.

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So I guess if you don't have a credit card

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or you don't want to put it on your credit card,

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you could try and get a....

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What is this, Scott?

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So I believe they said this was going to be...

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These announcements were going to be head-turning. I think that

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was the term that they used when they were teasing.

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I think they meant head-shaking. Because I'm just looking at

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it going... So.

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Yeah, when you have a company that is in such

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debt and so cash poor, if you can convince somebody

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to take on the loan of a flex pay, internally

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it makes a ton of sense. And for guests who

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are fiscally responsible and can pay it off in a

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timely manner and have a really good credit rating, it's

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probably not necessarily a bad thing either. But where this is,

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where the, I mean, just looking at it from a

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financial standpoint, where this is going to make money is

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the people who can't afford to pay off their bills

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on a regular basis, which, and maybe I'm making a

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gross generalization, are probably the people who can't afford to

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buy a season pass outright, are going to end up

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getting First of all, they're going to have a higher

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interest rate because my guess is if they're not paying

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their bills on a regular basis. And again, I'm making

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gross assumptions here. But if they're not paying their bills

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on a regular basis, my guess is their credit rating

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is not particularly high, which would mean that they would

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have a higher percentage of an interest rate. And it

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would also mean that they would pay it off over

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a longer period of time or even default on the loan.

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That's the thing that I don't see here. Because this

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is a loan, if they default on the loan and

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they don't pay it off, then what happens? So this is,

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if everybody is above ground, if we lived in a

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perfect world, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this. Six Flags

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gets their money right up front. They don't have to

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wait for the flex pay to come in. They get

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it from the lender. The lender gets a loan. The

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lender makes money off the loan. Great, great, great. Not

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a problem. But where the money is going to be

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made is when things don't go exactly as planned where

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the money is going to be made is those people

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who need, who don't have a great credit rating. And

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unfortunately the people who don't have a great credit rating

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don't have a great credit rating either because they are

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very young and haven't established one or because they haven't

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been able to pay things off in a timely manner

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or within the confines of the loan. So, um, this

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is one of those situations where it's like, if you

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feel that it's a benefit to you and you're going

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to pay it off correctly, there's nothing wrong with it.

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I can't sit here and go, this is a scam.

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It's not a scam. It's just let the buyer beware,

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you know, read all those details, make sure that those

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interest rates figure out what their interest rates are. If

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you can get a, if you can get a car

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loan with a low interest rate, this is probably going

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to benefit you. I, if I'm going to sum it up,

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this is going to help people who don't really need

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the help.

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Right.

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Right.

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Well, I think kind of double-clicking on what you're saying

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about how it's good for Six Flags, basically, essentially, like

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you're saying, it does allow them to, I guess, provide

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a pay later option without actually needing to have the

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cash to do that.

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Because if they're partnering.

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With And so then the lender is kind of subsidizing

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the ticket sales. So it kind of allows Six Flags

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to say that they offer something similar to Buy Now,

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Pay Later, or they offer something in the vein, but

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they still get their money. And then it's kind of

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up to the loan company and the guest to figure

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out their payment terms. So it does allow them to

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kind of match that system for the other parks without

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them having to use any of their money or their credit.

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Well, any of their credit or even building a department

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to track it down, to run it, to operate it.

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I mean, in essence, what they've done is they have

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used an outside vendor to handle their flex pay. Right.

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And I can't promise you that other theme parks aren't

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doing that as well. I don't know. But if they have,

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they've done it as a white paper thing and nobody

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knows that it's an outside vendor. Here they've come forward

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and said, yep, it's a loan. The next question I

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have is if you– I mean this could be one

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of the most fun ways in the world to build

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your credit. If you don't have– and can it be

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done that– I mean can it be used in that way?

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I don't know. I don't know. But these are just

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the questions. Like I said, I don't think there's anything

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wrong with this necessarily. But it is clearly most beneficial

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to Six Flags. And, you know– if people are willing

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to do it, then it must be a great business move.

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It just, um, right.

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I think that was a takeaway for me also is

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that this is, I mean, personally, I don't like it.

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Like personally, like I, I, it's, it like raises my

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like ick sensors, you know, as just a regular person,

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but you have to acknowledge that it is, it is

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a good move for Six Flags.

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That's strategically, strategically thinking.

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It allows them to even just say we offer, uh,

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something that's FlexPay adjacent and it doesn't impact them at all.

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And like you're saying, they're basically outsourcing all of it.

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And so they don't, they can offer all the benefits

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and take none of the costs. So that's a great strategic,

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whenever you can do that as a company from a

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strategic standpoint, it's good. I do agree with you that

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it does seem to unfairly target the people that can

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afford it the least.

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And that's how it all works. And I guess my

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first question.

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That's how FlexPay works, period. Because I don't know. I

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don't honestly know what the flex pay penalties are with

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the other parks. I mean, if you do flex pay

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with one of the other parks, what happens if you

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stop paying? What happens if you can't pay? What happens

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if you do a token amount that's not the full amount?

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Is there, you know, what are those agreements? And I

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don't know the answer to that. So because, you know,

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we can sit here and say 36%. Holy crap, that's

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outlandish interest rate. But I don't know what the penalties

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are on the other ones. So I don't, I'm, I'm

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comparing apples to nothing at this point. So I don't,

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I don't know. Yeah.

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And the other ones are handled differently, you know, cause

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I have a one, the annual pass, the magic key,

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which is a contract actually, you know, and it's only,

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that's why it's only available to California people that live

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in California, the, not the past, but I mean the

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payment plan is only available to people in California because,

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you know, it's a contract that you actually sign to,

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it's like actual contract, you know, you're signing this contract

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that you're going to do these payment terms over the

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course of a year. And, you know, you're signing it with,

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with Disney. And so there is, you know, precedent for it.

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The credit check is the thing that's interesting because that's

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not anything you have to do for the other other

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areas you just you know it's agreement it's payment terms

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that you're agreeing to so that's that's interesting and yeah

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it is just one of those things where i'm wondering

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like why wouldn't you just pay with a credit card

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but maybe it's because they're targeting people that don't have

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credit cards or they have credit cards that have really

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really low because they're 18 and they just got it

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and they can't so maybe it's a who know you

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know what actually this conversation has maybe moved me a

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little bit more into maybe it is more revolutionary than

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we think, because if, if it, who knows, you know,

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maybe it opens up a whole market of people that

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don't have credit cards yet because they couldn't get one,

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but they're going to, but it's enough for them to

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pay this like 25 a month or whatever, you know,

217
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and then it helps them with their credit and it

218
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allows them into the park and it'll be a whole unlock.

219
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And maybe, I don't know.

220
00:11:15.190 --> 00:11:15.309
Yeah.

221
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It's, it's one of those things that I don't think the,

222
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I don't think the program itself is either particularly positive

223
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or negative. It just depends on how it is, how

224
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people who are taking advantage of it choose to use it.

225
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Right, right.

226
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Well, okay.

227
00:11:32.929 --> 00:11:36.490
Well, the next news that they dropped, of course, was

228
00:11:37.009 --> 00:11:39.879
the big, I think the one, they did these on purpose, right?

229
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So this one, the FlexPay came out on Monday and

230
00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:45.580
then on Tuesday, they brought that they had acquired Air

231
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Force One And I think that's probably by design because

232
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they want a little bit of the thing that is

233
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more exciting for the regular fans of this.

234
00:11:55.889 --> 00:11:57.080
Sexier. It's just sexier.

235
00:11:57.129 --> 00:11:58.039
It's sexier, right.

236
00:11:58.100 --> 00:12:00.460
So, of course, Six Flags said on September 8th that

237
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it has acquired Air Force One, the steel roller coaster

238
00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:04.980
built by Rocky Mountain Construction, and will reopen it at

239
00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:08.799
one of its parks during the 2028-2029 operating seasons. It

240
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did not tell us what park. It didn't tell us

241
00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:13.679
how much it paid. It did not give a construction

242
00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:17.009
timeline or anything else. other than it plans to keep

243
00:12:17.029 --> 00:12:20.620
the name, and that's it. And so Air Force One,

244
00:12:20.649 --> 00:12:22.919
of course, it opened back in 2023 at Fun Spot

245
00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:27.840
America Atlanta Park, and it closed in 2026 when Fun

246
00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:30.220
Spot shut that park down after 36 years, saying it

247
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could not sustain the operation despite its investment. And so,

248
00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:38.200
you know, it has quite a following. I mean, it's

249
00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:41.179
pretty well-known. I've never ridden it, but even I've heard

250
00:12:41.210 --> 00:12:43.809
of it, right? This Air Force One, it has a huge.

251
00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:45.720
following.

252
00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:48.610
And I think when that park closed, that was the

253
00:12:48.649 --> 00:12:50.490
thing that people were wondering about.

254
00:12:50.789 --> 00:12:52.769
It's like, what's going to happen to this ride?

255
00:12:53.149 --> 00:12:55.149
You know, so it kind of many, in some ways

256
00:12:55.169 --> 00:12:58.309
kind of overshadowed, I think the, even that, that front

257
00:12:58.330 --> 00:13:02.350
spot location was, this was like the thing. So, you know,

258
00:13:02.509 --> 00:13:05.029
back then the family owned operator front spot had built

259
00:13:05.389 --> 00:13:08.480
air force one and it named after, and it called

260
00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:10.799
it one of its most ambitious investments in history. And

261
00:13:10.820 --> 00:13:15.009
the coaster was reported to cost around 13 million and, uh, Later,

262
00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:16.690
it was reported it was closer to $ 18 million.

263
00:13:17.049 --> 00:13:17.350
So I.

264
00:13:19.149 --> 00:13:21.720
Think it's another question of how much did they pay

265
00:13:21.750 --> 00:13:22.919
and how much is it going to cost to get

266
00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:25.639
it there? This is already a company that is obviously

267
00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:27.279
struggling with debt and with investment.

268
00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:31.879
But getting a used coaster is probably cheaper than making

269
00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:34.220
a new one. I mean, I don't know. There's moving costs,

270
00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:35.379
which is not to be.

271
00:13:36.830 --> 00:13:40.169
That's not insignificant, of course, is the relocation costs. But

272
00:13:40.669 --> 00:13:42.669
it's potentially cheaper than they're building a new one. And

273
00:13:42.690 --> 00:13:45.200
they're getting one that has a fan base. you know,

274
00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:48.230
and they're getting a bunch of PR and news about it.

275
00:13:48.259 --> 00:13:50.019
So that might kind of help balance that out.

276
00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:54.600
And right. They did mention that also.

277
00:13:54.700 --> 00:13:57.899
So the six flags said that this is a ride

278
00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.259
that consistently generated excitement and claim and passion and fan support.

279
00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:03.399
We are thrilled to preserve its legacy, invest in its

280
00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:05.799
future and bring this extraordinary attraction to a new generation

281
00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:08.039
of guests. So they're already kind of hinting that that's

282
00:14:08.620 --> 00:14:10.100
a main reason. So what do you think, Scott?

283
00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:12.950
Yeah, I think, well, number one, I think you're absolutely right.

284
00:14:12.990 --> 00:14:16.460
I think that the, uh, the cost of getting a

285
00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:22.340
used coaster is significantly reduced than one of, of building, uh,

286
00:14:22.419 --> 00:14:25.039
from scratch. A lot of it is things that you

287
00:14:25.059 --> 00:14:29.019
don't think about like design costs. Um, there's some, there's

288
00:14:29.059 --> 00:14:31.080
some fabrication costs. Yes. The moving of it and the

289
00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.919
installation of it. Let me, let me start back a

290
00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:38.710
little bit further. The, uh, strike the teardown of it,

291
00:14:39.090 --> 00:14:42.350
the moving and the installation of it are there. There

292
00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:46.909
are definitely costs there. Um, But it is less expensive

293
00:14:47.110 --> 00:14:49.389
than getting a new coaster. And this is something that

294
00:14:49.450 --> 00:14:52.429
is not new to Six Flags at all. Six Flags

295
00:14:52.490 --> 00:14:56.929
has a long history of taking coasters and moving them

296
00:14:56.990 --> 00:14:58.970
from one of their parks to another one of their parks.

297
00:14:59.970 --> 00:15:03.789
In fact, back in the day, there were coasters that

298
00:15:04.029 --> 00:15:06.220
they would say, this is built as a touring coaster.

299
00:15:06.289 --> 00:15:07.929
It's going to be two years in this park and

300
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.039
two years in that park and two years in this park.

301
00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:15.100
And it was actually built so that it could be disassembled, transported, reassembled,

302
00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:19.039
sort of like a really high-end touring state fair coaster,

303
00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:24.279
but with a few more semi-permanent attachment points. The other

304
00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:27.230
thing that intrigues me about this that I really actually

305
00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:31.730
quite like is Six Flags is leaning into nostalgia. The

306
00:15:32.129 --> 00:15:36.690
whole idea of Flags, and I don't even know whether

307
00:15:36.710 --> 00:15:39.070
they've considered it, but I'm guessing they have, but the

308
00:15:39.110 --> 00:15:43.250
whole idea of Flags looking to get more of a

309
00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:47.720
family audience And then bringing in coasters that people who

310
00:15:47.750 --> 00:15:52.700
are becoming young parents know of or are interested in

311
00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:57.279
or always wanted to experience. You know, I think that that,

312
00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:01.789
the legacy that it brings with it is going to

313
00:16:01.929 --> 00:16:05.690
offset a lot of the, I mean, that's what they're

314
00:16:05.710 --> 00:16:10.429
paying for, I think. Yes, it's cheaper or more cost

315
00:16:10.470 --> 00:16:13.649
effective than starting from scratch on a brand new coaster.

316
00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:18.120
But the investment in the legacy I think is as

317
00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:25.309
much as important as the, the discount of a used coaster. So, yeah. And,

318
00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:28.129
and again, flags, at least the flags parks that, that,

319
00:16:28.590 --> 00:16:30.929
that I have frequented in my, in my youth, you know,

320
00:16:31.029 --> 00:16:34.750
six flags, great America, for example, they've always, they've always

321
00:16:34.809 --> 00:16:38.370
leaned heavily into nostalgia. And when they got rid of,

322
00:16:38.889 --> 00:16:43.120
you know, when they got rid of the initial coasters

323
00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:47.389
in that park, it was, it was a terrible, I mean, the,

324
00:16:47.509 --> 00:16:51.190
the American Eagle is, you know, this giant wooden coaster.

325
00:16:51.230 --> 00:16:53.009
It's still a great coaster. I wrote it not too

326
00:16:53.029 --> 00:16:55.549
long ago. It's still a great coaster and people can

327
00:16:55.570 --> 00:16:57.049
never get rid of it, even though that's not even

328
00:16:57.100 --> 00:17:01.820
the only original, excuse me, the only original coaster in

329
00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:04.839
the park. Willard's Whizzer are now just called the Whizzer is, um,

330
00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.920
the only original coaster in that park to my knowledge.

331
00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:13.240
And it has this fan base. It's a, it's a

332
00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:19.130
mediocre toboggan coaster. I mean, it's fun, but it's nothing stellar.

333
00:17:19.630 --> 00:17:23.569
But there are so many generations now that that was

334
00:17:23.750 --> 00:17:28.190
their first real roller coaster, that the nostalgia is there

335
00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:30.230
to bring their kids back so that they can ride

336
00:17:30.289 --> 00:17:33.970
the Whizzer again and again and again. So the idea

337
00:17:33.990 --> 00:17:37.470
of leaning into nostalgia is also not new to Six Flags,

338
00:17:37.869 --> 00:17:40.730
just like moving coasters from one park to another. This

339
00:17:40.769 --> 00:17:42.630
is the first time I've heard of them. taking a

340
00:17:42.650 --> 00:17:48.009
coaster from, oh, that's not true. That's not true. They

341
00:17:48.049 --> 00:17:51.410
took a coaster from, in Six Flags Great America, they

342
00:17:51.430 --> 00:17:54.109
took a coaster from another park that was going to

343
00:17:54.130 --> 00:17:56.150
be demolished and brought it. It was a wooden coaster,

344
00:17:57.059 --> 00:18:01.859
not terribly large, not terribly exciting, but had a history

345
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.039
to it, and they brought it to Six Flags, and

346
00:18:04.099 --> 00:18:08.900
it gets a lot of attention. So, yeah, I think

347
00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.720
this is kind of a cool move. quite honestly, I

348
00:18:11.769 --> 00:18:14.650
don't think it's quite as head turning as they wanted

349
00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:17.869
us to believe it was going to be. Um, you know, it's,

350
00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:21.089
it's sort of like, here's, here's our, here's our shocking

351
00:18:21.150 --> 00:18:25.569
new announcement where we're getting a used coaster. Um, but

352
00:18:25.690 --> 00:18:27.710
that's of course not the way you position it. It's,

353
00:18:27.859 --> 00:18:31.359
we are continuing the legacy of this beloved coaster that is,

354
00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:33.380
so it's all in how you spin it and put

355
00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:35.299
it in there. And if, if it's got the following,

356
00:18:36.259 --> 00:18:39.859
you know, great, more power to them. Right.

357
00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.799
I don't think I have anything to add. I agree

358
00:18:43.819 --> 00:18:44.200
with all that.

359
00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:46.960
I think that I hadn't thought so much about the

360
00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:49.519
nostalgia thing because again, I have never written it, but

361
00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:53.089
I totally agree with that. I can see that angle.

362
00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:56.750
And clearly if they're doing a whole press release, I mean,

363
00:18:56.769 --> 00:18:59.049
the only statement they've mentioned is about that.

364
00:18:59.490 --> 00:19:00.930
It's about the fans.

365
00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:04.150
And I do remember when the park closed, like I said,

366
00:19:04.170 --> 00:19:05.890
that was the biggest thing that people seem to be

367
00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:07.650
talking about is what's going to happen to this ride.

368
00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:12.069
So I think it has a lot of, I think, again,

369
00:19:12.109 --> 00:19:15.690
it's another smart move strategically where it does allow them

370
00:19:15.750 --> 00:19:18.410
to get a coaster and to capitalize on fan experience.

371
00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:20.920
And it's probably, even though it's still going to cost

372
00:19:20.940 --> 00:19:23.420
a lot to move it, it's not as much. So

373
00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:26.839
I think they still get something for cheap and it

374
00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.579
doesn't feel like a bargain bin thing. It feels like

375
00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:35.000
they are rescuing something that fans really want to experience.

376
00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:39.349
So I think that's, again, it's smart. It's a smart

377
00:19:39.369 --> 00:19:42.359
strategic move. So I think these are These were smart moves.

378
00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:44.839
I don't know how I feel about the first one still.

379
00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:47.059
You know, I think a little bit better than I

380
00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:49.970
did before, Uh, but, but this one's definitely a smart

381
00:19:49.990 --> 00:19:53.839
move for, for sure. And then the question is, are

382
00:19:53.859 --> 00:19:54.730
they going to be able to maintain it?

383
00:19:55.059 --> 00:19:55.359
I don't know.

384
00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:57.059
That's later down the road, but.

385
00:19:57.940 --> 00:20:01.660
Well, that is, yeah, that is another, that is another issue.

386
00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:04.740
Of course we always talk about even with, with, uh,

387
00:20:07.630 --> 00:20:14.000
Even with new ideas, it's what's the execution going to be. Right.

388
00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:21.200
And one smaller announcement is just that basically Six Flags

389
00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:22.980
Magic Mountain kind of kicked the can down the road

390
00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.700
a little bit about their coaster reveal. They had teased

391
00:20:25.779 --> 00:20:27.579
that they were going to have an official announcement coming

392
00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:31.950
out this week, but they pushed it.

393
00:20:32.420 --> 00:20:33.779
In theory down to next week.

394
00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:35.869
So we don't, I guess we'll see next week. We

395
00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:37.650
will see if we're talking about six flags again, but

396
00:20:37.670 --> 00:20:39.809
there's another announcement coming out for magic mountain.

397
00:20:40.329 --> 00:20:41.069
We'll see how that goes.

398
00:20:43.829 --> 00:20:44.150
Okay.

399
00:20:44.470 --> 00:20:45.470
I think we have a little bit of time.

400
00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:45.869
Go ahead.

401
00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:48.710
Talk about something other than six flags.

402
00:20:49.049 --> 00:20:49.910
Well, no, I was just going to say, you got

403
00:20:49.930 --> 00:20:51.519
to give credit where credit is due though, because here

404
00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.299
we are talking about six flags yet again. So they're,

405
00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:58.039
they're keeping themselves at least, at least on our show,

406
00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:04.390
they're keeping themselves on the, on the, on the front burner. Right.

407
00:21:04.509 --> 00:21:08.130
Moving the magic mountain, moving their announcement is probably best

408
00:21:08.230 --> 00:21:11.190
because they don't want to eclipse the announcement we just

409
00:21:11.230 --> 00:21:13.630
talked about, right. With the air force one. So if

410
00:21:13.670 --> 00:21:16.059
they do have another coaster thing, they just want to

411
00:21:16.299 --> 00:21:17.720
that way that, you know, if you have something drop

412
00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:21.579
every week, they keep six like in the news, that's better. Again,

413
00:21:24.339 --> 00:21:26.839
the team is, is good at strategy. How I feel

414
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.980
about all of it is, is, you know, it doesn't matter,

415
00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:33.849
but that's how the strategy is, is, pretty solid here. So, uh,

416
00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:36.759
I do want to talk about this next story from

417
00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:39.160
Abu Dhabi, just because, you know, you, you have a

418
00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:40.859
work experience there and then we have experience with this

419
00:21:40.900 --> 00:21:43.920
team as well. So the Warner brothers world in Abu

420
00:21:43.940 --> 00:21:46.720
Dhabi has announced the names of the three Harry Potter

421
00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:49.559
lands that they're working on. And they're going to be

422
00:21:49.619 --> 00:21:54.000
Diagon Alley, Hogwarts castle, and the forbidden forest. It also

423
00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:57.150
mentioned that it's going to be the They're going to

424
00:21:57.190 --> 00:22:01.509
have rides there in these three lands that are exclusive.

425
00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:03.599
They have never been built in this way before in

426
00:22:03.630 --> 00:22:05.380
these areas. And of course, this is going to be

427
00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:11.000
the only Forbidden Forest area that exists really. And of course,

428
00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.460
the only themed lands that exist out of Universal Park.

429
00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:18.109
So I was waiting up for the announcement and was

430
00:22:18.410 --> 00:22:19.789
watching the screen as it counted down.

431
00:22:20.390 --> 00:22:22.049
And I'm pretty excited about this.

432
00:22:22.450 --> 00:22:24.289
We're involved.

433
00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:28.680
Tangentially in these projects, of course. And so I've known

434
00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:30.140
about them for a while, but not been able to

435
00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:32.380
talk about them kind of, you know, publicly like this.

436
00:22:33.019 --> 00:22:34.160
And I think it's going to be a great addition

437
00:22:34.180 --> 00:22:34.660
to the area.

438
00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:38.960
Although I will say, you know, I did post about

439
00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:41.299
this and, you know, of course you get the classic

440
00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:46.299
and people are still, I don't know, weirdly not happy

441
00:22:46.380 --> 00:22:49.369
with that region still. And so you kind of, there's

442
00:22:49.390 --> 00:22:53.210
some weird pullback. There's just pullback in, I think, from

443
00:22:53.710 --> 00:22:56.829
some of the, some of the, I guess, the US fans.

444
00:22:56.950 --> 00:22:58.829
But I do think for our industry as a whole,

445
00:22:58.849 --> 00:23:00.470
if you step back and think about this as a

446
00:23:01.029 --> 00:23:02.190
professional in the industry.

447
00:23:02.210 --> 00:23:04.329
This is a good sign.

448
00:23:04.390 --> 00:23:05.950
If you're a professional in this industry, it is a

449
00:23:05.990 --> 00:23:09.869
good sign that people are building new things in places

450
00:23:09.950 --> 00:23:12.160
because it means there's work for all of us. And

451
00:23:12.259 --> 00:23:15.579
also it is good to see that they are trying

452
00:23:15.619 --> 00:23:19.019
to make something that is a ride that is more

453
00:23:19.180 --> 00:23:22.599
immersive and more show control and is just That's just

454
00:23:22.940 --> 00:23:23.420
a good sign.

455
00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:24.519
That's my take on it.

456
00:23:25.049 --> 00:23:27.750
I understand a lot of people are unhappy with the

457
00:23:27.789 --> 00:23:29.630
region for a lot of different reasons, but I just

458
00:23:29.650 --> 00:23:31.069
wanted to give it as a professional.

459
00:23:31.150 --> 00:23:33.650
I feel like it's a good sign. Scott, help me

460
00:23:33.690 --> 00:23:33.950
out here.

461
00:23:34.650 --> 00:23:38.690
Well, no, and I think that, you know, having done

462
00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:40.500
quite a, not quite a bit, but having done some

463
00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:44.640
work both there and Saudi, and you cannot compare the two.

464
00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:46.839
They are very different. They are both Middle Eastern countries,

465
00:23:46.900 --> 00:23:52.079
but they run very, very differently. People have made decisions without,

466
00:23:53.089 --> 00:24:00.109
actual experience or practical knowledge. And obviously right now, the

467
00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:04.819
biggest threat in the area is created by the war.

468
00:24:05.950 --> 00:24:09.099
And so that has nothing to do with the UAE

469
00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:15.460
or Saudi as far as instigation goes. That's been the

470
00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:19.569
biggest challenge right now is things happening that were that

471
00:24:19.589 --> 00:24:22.430
are being generated outside of the country of the United

472
00:24:22.470 --> 00:24:27.630
Arab Emirates. And thank goodness, all I can say is

473
00:24:27.670 --> 00:24:29.410
because I have so many friends who are still there,

474
00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:31.299
and I have quite a few friends working on this

475
00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:34.779
project as well, all I can say is thank goodness

476
00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:36.980
for their air defense system because it has kept the

477
00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:42.960
UAE very, very safe, especially Abu Dhabi and the tourist

478
00:24:43.049 --> 00:24:47.940
island regions. I have known about this I have known

479
00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:50.180
not all the details, but I have known that this

480
00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:56.319
was coming since SeaWorld opened. So that would have been 2023.

481
00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:00.690
Plus they did do at IAPA, they did do an

482
00:25:00.750 --> 00:25:04.930
announcement saying that Harry Potter was coming to Warner Brothers

483
00:25:04.970 --> 00:25:08.910
World several years ago. But this is obviously the official

484
00:25:08.930 --> 00:25:12.640
announcement with the details and such. And if you've never

485
00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:16.309
been to Warner Brothers World, I personally love the park. Um,

486
00:25:16.329 --> 00:25:19.009
some people love it. Some people hate it. I, I,

487
00:25:20.490 --> 00:25:23.359
I lived across this just literally through the hotel from

488
00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.680
it for five months and had a pass the entire

489
00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:31.480
time and had a marvelous time there. Um, it's, you know,

490
00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:34.700
is it, is it the biggest, most shocking roller coasters

491
00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.710
in the world? No. Um, it does have some of

492
00:25:36.730 --> 00:25:39.869
the coolest dark rides I've ever seen, but just the

493
00:25:39.910 --> 00:25:44.430
way they handle the properties has always been really top notch,

494
00:25:44.849 --> 00:25:49.869
really detailed. and just really fun. But I will tell you,

495
00:25:50.289 --> 00:25:53.269
the first time I heard about this, I was sitting

496
00:25:55.190 --> 00:25:57.460
at the bar on top of the Warner Brothers Hotel

497
00:25:57.500 --> 00:26:00.640
looking out over Warner Brothers World, and with us was

498
00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:04.640
the head of entertainment at the time for all of

499
00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:08.059
Merall Parks. This is before Jamie Johnson took that position,

500
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:14.430
and was sitting there, and we knew that there was

501
00:26:14.470 --> 00:26:19.619
another land coming. And because again, because of the people

502
00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:23.140
that we were with and because of the confines we

503
00:26:23.269 --> 00:26:26.250
were talking about, it was going to be Harry Potter.

504
00:26:26.329 --> 00:26:29.029
And I said, I looked at him and I said,

505
00:26:29.069 --> 00:26:31.710
you probably can't tell me, but how large is this

506
00:26:31.750 --> 00:26:34.430
going to be? And he said, I want you to

507
00:26:34.509 --> 00:26:38.470
look at that building because we're, you know, top floor

508
00:26:38.490 --> 00:26:41.390
looking down at the, at Warner Brothers world. And I said, okay.

509
00:26:41.829 --> 00:26:44.329
He says, now look at the amount of land there

510
00:26:44.450 --> 00:26:49.700
is around that building? And I said, yeah. So it

511
00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:56.700
basically takes up roughly, what, one fifth of the actual property?

512
00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:02.819
And he said, uh-huh. So I'm not saying that this

513
00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:04.119
is going to fill up the rest of their property,

514
00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:07.319
but they have plans to continue to expand. They have

515
00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:13.369
plans to take these Well, I mean, no matter how

516
00:27:13.410 --> 00:27:15.089
you feel about the brand, you have to at least

517
00:27:15.150 --> 00:27:18.049
admit that Harry Potter is an iconic brand that is

518
00:27:18.069 --> 00:27:24.329
going to print money for them. So I can't wait.

519
00:27:24.349 --> 00:27:27.250
I am so excited to see this. It's not even

520
00:27:27.309 --> 00:27:32.170
funny because I know how they've handled IPs like Superman

521
00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:41.119
and Batman and the Warner Brothers characters, the Flintstones. I've

522
00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:44.940
seen how they've embraced these and made them so cool

523
00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:48.420
and so much fun. And so I can hardly wait

524
00:27:48.460 --> 00:27:51.329
to see. And the other thing you have to, everybody's saying, well,

525
00:27:51.369 --> 00:27:53.289
I don't see how they can do it. It's not

526
00:27:53.309 --> 00:27:59.450
a universal park. You know who owns Harry Potter? It's

527
00:27:59.490 --> 00:28:03.920
Warner Brothers. So of course they're going to do it differently.

528
00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:05.319
Of course they're going to do it in a way

529
00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:09.819
that nobody else can do it because it's their property.

530
00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:14.150
They're not they're not leasing it from anybody else. So

531
00:28:15.130 --> 00:28:17.509
they already have a bit of a leg up. And

532
00:28:18.470 --> 00:28:22.069
I know it's interesting because knowing Warner Brothers World, I

533
00:28:22.150 --> 00:28:24.039
know where the entrance is going to be and I

534
00:28:24.099 --> 00:28:26.619
know kind of how it's going to fit into the

535
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:31.640
overall experience in the park. And if it's what I

536
00:28:31.740 --> 00:28:34.859
think it's going to be, it's going to make that

537
00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:41.849
park significantly more viable as a multi-day experience. Um, it's

538
00:28:41.869 --> 00:28:45.529
going to make that park significantly more viable from a, uh,

539
00:28:46.029 --> 00:28:48.930
cause there was talk at some point in time and

540
00:28:48.950 --> 00:28:51.150
I don't know how serious it ever was of making

541
00:28:51.170 --> 00:28:55.769
this a separate park. Uh, but the decision obviously has

542
00:28:55.789 --> 00:28:57.990
been made to put it as, uh, as part of

543
00:28:58.009 --> 00:29:02.069
Warner brothers. And I think it's good.

544
00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:03.890
And I'm, can I tell you how happy I am?

545
00:29:03.890 --> 00:29:04.970
They're doing the forbidden forest.

546
00:29:05.690 --> 00:29:05.839
Yep.

547
00:29:06.059 --> 00:29:07.720
You know, they could have, they could have done privet drive.

548
00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:09.480
They could have done so many other places. But doing

549
00:29:09.509 --> 00:29:11.549
the Forbidden Forest is just cool to me. I think

550
00:29:12.210 --> 00:29:14.210
it's going to be amazing. So you can pretty much

551
00:29:14.690 --> 00:29:22.630
live the entire school year as Harry and his friends

552
00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:26.279
would have lived it. So I think it's going to

553
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.400
be pretty amazing. I'm excited.

554
00:29:31.220 --> 00:29:36.960
I am excited also. I wanted to ask you about it,

555
00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.549
of course, because of how much you know about that park.

556
00:29:39.630 --> 00:29:42.869
And I've been there as well, uh, twice, I want

557
00:29:42.890 --> 00:29:44.450
to say. And so I've seen it and I, what

558
00:29:44.470 --> 00:29:46.819
I like about it is that they are evolving. I think,

559
00:29:46.859 --> 00:29:50.640
you know, the, the U S theme parks are very

560
00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:53.960
evolved or whatever, you know, we have, we have a

561
00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:55.420
lot of experience. We have a lot, you know, so,

562
00:29:55.819 --> 00:29:57.799
So our live entertainment, our stuff has had a lot

563
00:29:57.839 --> 00:29:59.000
of years to mature.

564
00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:00.809
It's mature. It's more mature.

565
00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:04.710
But I think they're making leaps every year by looking

566
00:30:04.750 --> 00:30:06.869
at seasonal events and looking at entertainment they can add,

567
00:30:07.269 --> 00:30:09.970
figuring out new ways to entertain people. So I'm excited

568
00:30:09.990 --> 00:30:12.869
about that too also, is that it is to see

569
00:30:12.970 --> 00:30:16.519
where this grows in that context. And also to your

570
00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:20.460
point about Warner Brothers owning this, they have an experiences

571
00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:23.740
division at Warner Brothers and they run the tour. And

572
00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:26.349
the tour in London is a theme park. And they're

573
00:30:26.369 --> 00:30:29.529
building one in Shanghai, right? And so they do have

574
00:30:30.329 --> 00:30:33.549
experience doing stuff that is in the physical world. And

575
00:30:33.569 --> 00:30:35.630
maybe it's not a theme park theme park in the

576
00:30:35.670 --> 00:30:38.690
way that, you know, like the Universal is. But if

577
00:30:38.710 --> 00:30:40.970
you've never done the studio tour London, you know, that's a,

578
00:30:42.769 --> 00:30:44.730
it's a massive experience, right? So I think that it's

579
00:30:44.750 --> 00:30:47.569
not like, it's not quite, you know, I agree with you.

580
00:30:47.630 --> 00:30:50.630
Like they have more experience than maybe people realize about

581
00:30:50.690 --> 00:30:53.849
doing physical experiences and they have some many things planned.

582
00:30:54.049 --> 00:30:55.230
So it'll be exciting.

583
00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:57.450
And you know who does know how to do theme

584
00:30:57.470 --> 00:30:58.970
park theme park? Miral.

585
00:30:58.990 --> 00:30:59.950
That's true.

586
00:30:59.970 --> 00:31:03.430
Who they're partnering with, who actually own Warner Brothers World.

587
00:31:03.490 --> 00:31:06.589
So it's going to be a very exciting experience, and

588
00:31:06.630 --> 00:31:10.339
I hope I get a chance when it opens to

589
00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:12.480
go out and see it and praise the work of

590
00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:14.940
a lot of friends that I made when I was

591
00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:18.579
at SeaWorld. So speaking of friends, thank you all for

592
00:31:18.619 --> 00:31:20.450
being our friends. Thank you for listening. Thank you for

593
00:31:20.490 --> 00:31:24.019
coming back week after week. We are done for this

594
00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:26.690
week and we will see you again here on Green

595
00:31:26.730 --> 00:31:28.670
Tag Theme Park in 30 next week.

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