Nov. 16, 2025

Six Flags Bets on Travis Kelce as Disney Faces a Cable Crisis

Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon

Six Flags will attempt to leverage Travis Kelce’s 9% investment into a full branding partnership, leaning into ‘the new world.’ Meanwhile, Disney’s stock dipped 7% after its latest earnings show cable is collapsing faster than expected. Streaming and the parks remain its lifeboat, with both those sectors performing well, underscoring that the company’s future lies in IP that monetizes across screens and physical spaces. Finally, Herschend struck a deal to acquire Silverwood Theme Park. Philip and Scott unpack what these moves say about where the industry is heading—fewer ads, smaller screens, bigger personalities, and more mission-driven ownership. Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.920 --> 00:00:04.040
From our studios this week in Orlando and Tampa. This

2
00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:06.440
is green Tag Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip and

3
00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:09.320
I'm joined as always by my co host Scott Swinson

4
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:11.919
of Scott Swinson Creativelopment. On green Tag, we look at

5
00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.919
the week's top news and explain why it matters to

6
00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:18.480
theme park professionals. And this week we're going to do

7
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:20.440
a little bit of an update on the six Flag

8
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:22.359
saga because at this point of course we have to.

9
00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:24.480
We're going to go into Disney Earnings and we're going

10
00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:28.679
to talk about the latest sale and acquisition in the

11
00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:29.440
theme park world.

12
00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:31.600
So but before we do.

13
00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:33.560
That, we're going to turn to all of you because

14
00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.079
our last episode got tons and tons of comments and

15
00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.320
we really appreciate that. I'm hoping that as you comment,

16
00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:41.479
you go ahead and subscribe so that you can continue

17
00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:43.640
to comment. Because Philip and I were just talking before

18
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.719
we started recording that this is the reason we started

19
00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.719
green Tech was to start conversations within the realm of

20
00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:54.479
the industry professional and it's happening and we're so excited

21
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.560
about it because, you know, people whether they agree with

22
00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:58.799
what we said or didn't agree with what we said,

23
00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.359
or they have their own perspective, or they're they're they're

24
00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:05.519
in agreement, but they're saying taking this into consideration. All

25
00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.480
of these kinds of comments are so incredibly valuable, and

26
00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:12.680
the fact that they're starting conversations within the comment streams themselves,

27
00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:15.560
that's what's most exciting to me, because it's not coming

28
00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.799
back necessarily to something that we have to respond to.

29
00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:22.680
It's letting professionals talk with professionals. It's basically creating a network,

30
00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:26.280
an online networking environment that is prompted by what we

31
00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:28.840
do in our weekly shows. So we wanted to kind of,

32
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:32.000
first of all, thank you for for those kinds of comments,

33
00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:35.120
and thank you for becoming subscribers and encouraging you if

34
00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:37.400
you have not become a subscriber, to become a subscriber.

35
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.959
But we also wanted to focus on some trends quote

36
00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:43.959
unquote within our our within the comments from last week,

37
00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.840
and Philip of course tracks these like a professional, like

38
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.000
the professional that he is. So what are what are

39
00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:51.519
people saying?

40
00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:51.920
Philip?

41
00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:53.799
Yeah, so I do read every comment.

42
00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.400
I may not reply to any of them yet, after IAPA,

43
00:01:57.480 --> 00:01:59.799
I will, I will get there. But uh, I think

44
00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.640
there was a lot of discussion about all the different

45
00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:05.719
topics last year, about six Flags, about United Parks, about

46
00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:09.199
the Bush Gardens Parks, and on the six Flags front.

47
00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:11.479
It seems like most everybody in the comments are not

48
00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.639
happy with the current operations. However, a lot of people

49
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:19.000
did point out that people who knew how mergers works,

50
00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:20.520
all that's coming a mile away, and that was from

51
00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.599
Projects tom one Night ninety nine, which I think is

52
00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:25.680
a good point, right. I think when Scott and I

53
00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:28.360
were talking last week, we didn't really put this in

54
00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:33.680
the context of mergers. Like, you know, mergers don't always succeed,

55
00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:37.960
or even if they do, it's not without some friction,

56
00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:40.360
you know, as all these things happen. So I feel

57
00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.280
like maybe we portrayed it as if it was like,

58
00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.319
you know, not not you know, mergers are I guess

59
00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:50.000
mergers are relatively common, but they don't always work out,

60
00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:53.919
and they always is that that friction of figuring out

61
00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:56.080
the new direction of the company and the assets and

62
00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:00.800
all this, and yeah, they do always sell off items

63
00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:03.719
because of the cash the cash impact of merging, right,

64
00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:06.080
so they always have to sell assets. And a lot

65
00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.280
of people pointed out how they wouldn't be surprised if

66
00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.520
Six Flags did sell some of the Crown Jewels just

67
00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:15.800
for cash and all this and that, and of course

68
00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:19.120
we can't comment on that because that's like that's a prediction.

69
00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:24.360
But you know, some basically this is all part of mergers.

70
00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:27.039
Like sometimes the mergers they merge together and they sell

71
00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:30.520
off some higher assets in order to reinvest, and sometimes

72
00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:33.280
they sell off the lower assets, and it's all. But yeah,

73
00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:36.840
I would say that comment, and then we also, I.

74
00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:38.520
Think it's important to recognize too that you know, we

75
00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:41.840
say that mergers don't work. Generally speaking, mergers don't work.

76
00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:44.439
I don't necessarily agree with that. I think when mergers happen,

77
00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:48.240
we have to stop comparing the new company to either

78
00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:51.800
of the old companies, because when a merger happens, the

79
00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:54.719
both of the old companies in effect die. They're done,

80
00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:57.759
they're gone their history. So anybody who is trying to

81
00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:02.439
compare what six Flags was pre merger and what six

82
00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:06.520
Flags is becoming post merger, it's not fair. That's the

83
00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.400
six Flags the way it used to be is done.

84
00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:12.400
It's gone. That's why it merged. So it has formed

85
00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:19.480
an entity that is completely different, completely unique to either

86
00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:24.000
the Cedar Fair Company or the Six Flags company. So

87
00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:26.560
now what they're doing is that all of a sudden,

88
00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:29.800
the powers that be and the boards et cetera, et cetera,

89
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.120
et cetera, are looking at well, now we've got all

90
00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:35.240
these different assets. It doesn't make sense for us. Of course,

91
00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:36.800
you're going to sell stuff off. It doesn't make sense

92
00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:39.199
for us to own competing parks in the same market.

93
00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:42.199
That doesn't make sense at all. And as Philip mentioned,

94
00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:45.879
when you have this kind of merger, all of a sudden,

95
00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:47.920
you've got tons and tons of things. It's sort of

96
00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:53.920
like it's sort of like when you begin to cohabitate

97
00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.839
with your spouse and all of a sudden, we don't

98
00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.680
need two gravy boats. Let's sell one of them. You know,

99
00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:03.439
it's one of those. We all do it, and it

100
00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:06.920
makes total sense. So I think it's unfair to necessarily

101
00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.639
say all mergers fail or most mergers fail. I think

102
00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.319
it's probably more accurate to say most mergers become a

103
00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:15.439
company that's unlike either of the two that created that merger.

104
00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:17.000
Does that make sense? Yeah?

105
00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:18.480
I think that's also a point.

106
00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:21.959
We didn't do too much last time, which is really

107
00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.720
thinking about it's not you know, they had to keep

108
00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:29.160
the six Flags name just because of the brand value

109
00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:31.160
that is attached to it. But it almost would have

110
00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:34.079
been more helpful if we think of it as like

111
00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:37.759
an entirely different company, because I think Scott's point is

112
00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:41.120
that it is an entirely new company and what they're

113
00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:46.399
trying to do is rethink their whole value proposition. So

114
00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:49.839
it's not about like six Flags becoming more like the

115
00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:53.759
old Bush Gardens or become sorry, it's not about six

116
00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:56.560
Flags becoming more like the Cedar Parks or vice versa.

117
00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:00.480
It's about how is this new entity going to survive

118
00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:04.279
in a competitive market and are they gonna stay in

119
00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:07.680
markets where they have large a lot of competitors or

120
00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:09.800
are they gonna go for areas or they not? Or

121
00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:11.560
are they going to take a more regional approach, or

122
00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:13.480
are they gonna do Halloween or are they not? Or

123
00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:16.000
seasonal or blah, but like seasons of what are they

124
00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.920
gonna do? Who are they? It's a whole new company.

125
00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:20.160
I think it's a better way of thinking.

126
00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:21.879
About exactly, and they still have to figure out and

127
00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.519
let's I mean, let's be completely honest, and they have it.

128
00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:28.040
They haven't because they've been using old terms from old

129
00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.879
of their you know, their old six flags terms, and

130
00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.439
and I think that's that's I think to this comment.

131
00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.959
It's about the expectation mismatch that is the problem here.

132
00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.480
Correct, correct, But I think I think there's a logic

133
00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.600
to using the old six flags terms simply because they

134
00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:46.720
don't want to diss the few six flags uh patrons

135
00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:49.079
that they have. They also have to keep. They also

136
00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:52.040
have to keep stockholders happy. They also have to keep

137
00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:54.639
stockholders engaged, so they can't all of a sudden It's

138
00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.839
it's like turning an aircraft carrier. It's not like turning

139
00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.480
a speedbook, you know, And you got to you gotta

140
00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:02.079
look at it from that perspective. And let's be completely

141
00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:06.439
transparent and completely honest. If the two companies were on

142
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:12.680
these skyrocketing trajectories to financial to overwhelming financial success, they

143
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:13.839
wouldn't have merged.

144
00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:14.680
Ye.

145
00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:19.000
The merger took place because the the independent companies thought

146
00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:23.720
that there would be an advantage for those involved, and

147
00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.399
perhaps those involved at the very highest levels. That's usually

148
00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:30.600
where those mergers, that's usually who those mergers benefit the most.

149
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.600
And you know, I have no idea what their what

150
00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:39.480
their long range game is is it to to to

151
00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:42.000
sell off everything that's worth everything and then just shut

152
00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:44.279
down the rest of the company. It doesn't appear that way.

153
00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:46.879
That hasn't been That's not what they're that's not what

154
00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:51.639
their actions have shown thus far. Is it to sell off,

155
00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:53.839
you know, the lower performing parks or the parks that

156
00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.920
are in competition with other parks that they now own. Yeah,

157
00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:02.199
may be part of it, But I think I think

158
00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:05.519
we have to recognize just the simplest summation of this

159
00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:09.240
is we have to recognize that six Flags now is

160
00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:13.600
neither Six Flags before merger or Cedar Fair. It is

161
00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:15.800
a completely new company. It has some of the same

162
00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.600
parts that both of them had, but it also and

163
00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:22.600
some of the same problems, and it has some new

164
00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.720
advantages and some new problems. So you got to take

165
00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:29.680
into consideration that when these things merge, they become a

166
00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:34.279
separate entity that is not the sum of two parts.

167
00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.879
You know, it may be there's a lot that's going

168
00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.559
to be similar as far as the parks go. Now,

169
00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:45.960
do the guests attending the park parks understand this? Probably not,

170
00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:47.919
but those of us in the industry should.

171
00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:51.919
Yeah, that's true, that's true. One the other comment we

172
00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:53.840
just want to call out. Was there some talk about

173
00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:57.360
United Parks and about people's experiences there and also about

174
00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.000
Bush Gardens, and the one that I thought was insight.

175
00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:03.519
We was mentioning how bush Gardens Tampa is really leaned

176
00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:08.080
into school kid group sales and that this is the

177
00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:11.320
budget crowds that Universal and Disney don't want. And a

178
00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:14.240
great insight here, which is can you build a brand

179
00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.440
on leftovers? And I thought that was a that's the

180
00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:19.799
interesting take on that, which we didn't think about it at all,

181
00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:21.759
but just you know that again, we talked about this

182
00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:24.679
for Halloween, but we didn't necessarily talk about it written

183
00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:27.399
large about how there are these you know, again back

184
00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:30.720
to what six Flags had originally said, and of course

185
00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:32.480
there's not six Flags in this market, so in this

186
00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:33.240
market you kind of.

187
00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:34.879
You do have more room for that.

188
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:38.440
But remember way back when the parks have talked about

189
00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:40.519
how they're trying to get out of that budget crowd,

190
00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:42.320
because the budget crowd was the one that was causing

191
00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:45.639
problems at Halloween. And this is what this comment reminded

192
00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:49.000
me of, is like, oh, well, you're like, I don't

193
00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.240
know how true that is because I haven't been to

194
00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:53.360
that park in a long time, But it is interesting

195
00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:55.759
for them to point out that that is a market

196
00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:58.879
and whether or not, I mean, and it's I think

197
00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:02.000
it's fair to argue that Disney you can't because it's

198
00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:04.279
too expensive. And I think it's also fair that Universal

199
00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:06.279
probably doesn't hit that because it is edging up there

200
00:10:06.279 --> 00:10:08.960
also in price. So I would I could see how

201
00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.240
Bush Gardens Tampa would would be the group sale park.

202
00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:16.159
Well, six Flags was the sales park. I mean, six

203
00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:19.080
Flags was the budget alternative for many many years.

204
00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:21.720
Saying yeah, so in that area and there's.

205
00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:26.960
Not well and to be I'm probably telling you it's

206
00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.600
old news. Now. Six Flags has been trying to buy

207
00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:32.879
a park or build a park in this area for many, many,

208
00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:37.720
many years. And if United Parks did decide to start

209
00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:43.799
selling off stuff, there was there was interest in the

210
00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.519
past from six Flags for Bush Gardens Tampa. There have

211
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:51.320
been interest from six Flags in in SeaWorld Orlando, but

212
00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:53.360
neither of them have ever nine of them have ever

213
00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:59.039
developed into anything. But I think you know, to that point,

214
00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.240
is it possible to build a brand off of leftover?

215
00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.639
Is probably not, because that's not the sexiest brand. But

216
00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.919
is there a business model that focuses on here's something

217
00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:11.799
for the people who can't afford Disney and the people

218
00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:16.399
who can afford Universal. Yeah, there's a business model there. Now.

219
00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:18.960
Is that the business model that Bush Gardens or United

220
00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.120
Parks wants to follow. That I can't answer because I'm

221
00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:26.120
not part of the company anymore. But there is a

222
00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:36.559
market there for delivering lower cost, moderate quality experiences. And

223
00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:38.200
of course we all know it. You know, we're not

224
00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:40.399
telling tales out of school when we all say that.

225
00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:44.679
If you look at the board of United Parks, there

226
00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:48.360
are some internal challenges and struggles there as well. So

227
00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.679
you know, that's not new news to anybody, whether you're

228
00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.120
in the in the know or not, and so they

229
00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:56.600
need to make certain that they get that figured out.

230
00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:01.879
I of course am hoping and praying that the parks

231
00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:05.360
continue to do well, simply because there's so much a

232
00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:09.960
part of my early career. But I totally understand your

233
00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:13.919
comment and there too, as far as my opinion goes,

234
00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:17.399
there is Yes, there is definitely a business model that

235
00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:20.480
that can build itself off of leftovers. And if six

236
00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:22.720
Flags is trying not to be that now or the

237
00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:25.200
new the new six Flags, the new company is trying

238
00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:27.440
not to be that now, then maybe United Parks can

239
00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.440
can fill that void. Unfortunately, the hard the hard goods

240
00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:35.960
of all of these parks kind of precludes that from

241
00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:42.200
happening because there's a lot of high end operational costs

242
00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.440
for especially for the Sea World parks. But Bush Gardens

243
00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:49.120
well because of its its animal component. Yeah, so.

244
00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.840
Well yeah, yeah, see, well, Okay, we did actually have

245
00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:56.720
some six Flags Saga news this week. We gotta we

246
00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:58.759
gotta gotta get move in on here. So oh yes,

247
00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.039
enough enough, but anyway, thank you guys for your comments.

248
00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.159
Keep in coming. Yes, thank you for your comments.

249
00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:06.840
So this week's in this week's edition of What's going

250
00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:10.759
on with six Flags, Travis Kelcey six Flags they're developing

251
00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.080
a branding relationship following the Kelsey investing. So last week

252
00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.639
we talked about how Travis kelce and has partnered with

253
00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:21.559
a investment group, so he basically just became the face

254
00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.120
of this like investment group and they bought a nine

255
00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.320
percent share, and then he was talking about how they

256
00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.799
were gonna, you know, interested in helping six Flags and

257
00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.840
because he grew up with them and blah blah blah.

258
00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:32.440
And we talked a.

259
00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:36.360
Little bit about how you know, nine percent isn't really much,

260
00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:37.799
and this is kind of a little bit like an

261
00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:41.720
activist play, but it seems like six Flags is trying

262
00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:45.120
to capitalize it because they were asked about this on

263
00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:49.519
their earnings call and it kind of they So basically,

264
00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:52.159
this is what six Flags ast. Six Flags is engaged

265
00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:55.039
with Kelsey's team to work together on a broader branding relationship,

266
00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:57.639
capitalizing on Kelsey's long history with our parks and his

267
00:13:57.720 --> 00:13:59.879
desire to help renew and enhance the fund and excite

268
00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:02.120
me and he has enjoyed with us for future generations.

269
00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.600
These discussions come at an ideal time as we continue

270
00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.919
to invest across our business to modernize our brands, reinforce

271
00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:12.480
their long standing cultural relevance, and build stronger connections with guests.

272
00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.960
And then they went on to kind of say some

273
00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:21.879
interesting stuff about Travis Kelcey. Influencers of that ILK have

274
00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:25.080
tremendous followings, and I think part of where all of

275
00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:27.320
society is going is figuring out what does the new

276
00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:34.720
world look like? Anyway, and then they go back to, oh,

277
00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:38.799
we have we've had dialogues and concepts of a plan basically,

278
00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:44.720
and then what is it okay We're going to work

279
00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:46.399
very closely with him and his team to make sure

280
00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.080
that we optimize the opportunity. As you said, the interest

281
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.600
is not only the stock pressuring up, but it speaks

282
00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:55.120
to how we live in a different world.

283
00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.360
Now, I've got trust in our team and in his team.

284
00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:58.200
We know how to work this.

285
00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.360
So I was a lot of yammering by them, but

286
00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:04.559
basically I feel like they were six Flags was like, well,

287
00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:06.159
he's kind of an influencer and we do want to

288
00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.799
work with him, But it almost seemed like they were

289
00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.480
a little bit like, maybe we can use his celebrity

290
00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:15.200
to help invigorate the parks by doing some sort of

291
00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:17.279
like branding deal that we don't have to pay for

292
00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.639
now because he has a vested interest right where like

293
00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:23.840
you know, instead of having to pay him probably more

294
00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:26.919
than nine percent of what the company is worth, then

295
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.200
he is just gonna like help them out or they'll

296
00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:31.840
work with him, or I don't know.

297
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:32.759
It was really weird.

298
00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.519
And then they went on social media and they posted

299
00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.120
like a picture of a roller coaster with like Travis

300
00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.440
Kelcey like paste it onto it, like clearly photoshop like him,

301
00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.039
like in a six Flags coaster.

302
00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:51.759
Yeah, I you know, I I think that you're absolutely right.

303
00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.799
I think that his name affiliated with six Flags is

304
00:15:55.799 --> 00:15:57.200
worth far more than the nine percent.

305
00:15:57.679 --> 00:15:58.679
Yeah, a hundred percent.

306
00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:04.240
I think that to I think I don't know whether

307
00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:10.039
these these new uh, these new plans will progress in

308
00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.360
a swift manner or not, but I'm sure they'll be

309
00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:22.879
tailored to their new business model just saying we'll just saying, well,

310
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.360
but we're talking. I mean, so let's let's not. You

311
00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:28.240
can't ignore it. You can't ignore it. Taylor Swift concerts

312
00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:32.200
actually have a plate tectonic effect on the cities that

313
00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:34.799
they go up in. So if you have control, if

314
00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:40.840
one one branded human being has the control of that

315
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.080
many fans, yeah, you want to be affiliated or associated

316
00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:47.879
with them in any way you possibly can. And they

317
00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:53.960
can't afford to buy her, to to lease her, and

318
00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:56.159
and I don't don't misunderstanding. I'm not saying that Kelsey

319
00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:58.799
has is like a shlub on the side there. He's

320
00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:02.240
got some pretty pretty hefty following as well. But the

321
00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:06.240
two of them together, could you just imagine, if you know,

322
00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:11.759
all of a sudden, they did a they did a

323
00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.240
song and dance show in all of the parks that

324
00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:17.759
had exclusive tailor Swift video.

325
00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:18.640
Yeah.

326
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.720
Could you just imagine what that would do for their attendance?

327
00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.519
Yeah, yeah, yeah, See, I think there is a lot

328
00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:25.359
of potential there. So I think they are right about it.

329
00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.480
Let's just make sure, let's I just thought it was

330
00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:32.960
interesting how that's his line about like, you know, influences

331
00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:33.640
in the ILK and.

332
00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.720
The New World Order or whatever nonsense.

333
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.960
I was like, okay, that's I think it's okay just

334
00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:41.480
say like we want to work with him, but then

335
00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:45.119
also just be honest about it, like yes, like, yeah,

336
00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:49.200
they have a large audience, and we think that we

337
00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.599
could potentially tap into that audience in some mutually beneficial

338
00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.440
way that will help our attendants.

339
00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:56.680
That's it. Why you got to be so weird about

340
00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:57.119
it when you.

341
00:17:57.079 --> 00:17:59.279
Get well, because again, they don't want to say we're

342
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:01.160
going to write on his we'ren run on the coatails

343
00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:04.880
of his success, and they can't. They don't want to

344
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.960
lead with that because that's going to have some negative backlash.

345
00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.240
Well that's a very negative backlash. But you know, I

346
00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:13.640
just thought it was funny as you even as you

347
00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:16.839
were reading it, I kept thinking, wow, how how twenty

348
00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:21.240
ten of you you know, yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah,

349
00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:25.759
fair fairness. Though parks are finally finally starting to catch

350
00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:29.440
on to the power of influencers, finally, there are some

351
00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:33.359
parks that still their marketing plans are all about how

352
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.839
much ad time are we purchasing, how many billboards, how

353
00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:41.000
many commercials. They they don't get it. It's they don't

354
00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:42.759
understand their market in many cases.

355
00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:46.039
So yeah, it's badly especially if you are if they

356
00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.079
are like you, like we just talked about, if that's

357
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:48.680
a need to move on.

358
00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:51.359
I just last it's like, especially if they.

359
00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:55.240
Are like targeting like that budget or any any one

360
00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:58.000
younger in that age range. You're like, this is literally

361
00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:00.480
the market that you're that you know, you're targeting with

362
00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:07.160
your parks, and like, yeah, so anyway, yeah.

363
00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.799
I think that that's a unique thing.

364
00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.440
For us to Yeah, yeah, I just think I thought

365
00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:13.880
that's something that's unique for us in the amusement space

366
00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:16.759
because a lot of the markets that we target are younger,

367
00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:19.200
and I think that is always a challenge for us

368
00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:23.319
in amusement industry. Written large is like you know that

369
00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:27.920
those again very trendy you know, K pop demon hunters,

370
00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.039
which we won't get to talk about today. But that's

371
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:34.640
a good example of making sure you're on the transport. Okay, okay, sorry, okay.

372
00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.480
The next story is about the Disney earnings. There's not

373
00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:40.240
too too much to talk about here, but basically, they

374
00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:44.559
reported their fiscal fourth quarter earnings on Thursday. It did

375
00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:48.799
top end list expectations for earnings, but it missed on revenue,

376
00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:52.319
and that's mainly because of the cord cutting. Basically, the

377
00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:56.640
TV networks had a lackluster theatrical film and lackluster theatrical films,

378
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.839
So overall, I think it was pretty good. It's just

379
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.160
those two are starting to weigh down the company more

380
00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.920
and the stock closed down more than seven percent after

381
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.240
the earnings, which was not good. Operating income for its

382
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:15.839
TV networks dropped twenty one percent. On the flip side

383
00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:21.279
the thirty nine percent, the streaming had a rise of

384
00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:26.000
thirty nine percent. So again, they've been talking about this forever,

385
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:28.640
but it just it it seems like it's starting to accelerate.

386
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:34.160
If anything, and I think this is a point that

387
00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:34.880
I had wanted to make.

388
00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:39.720
It is just thinking about how really we're chasing a

389
00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:42.240
smaller screen now. So if if your business that all

390
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.839
relies on making stuff for larger screens, it's probably not good.

391
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.440
It's smaller screens is where it seems like the audience

392
00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:51.039
and the money is at. And I think this has

393
00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:55.839
caught both Comcast and Disney off guard because previously, before Epic,

394
00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:58.599
we were talking about how it was catching Comcasts off

395
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:01.920
guards how quickly that the cord cutting was eroding, Like

396
00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:03.599
it's like it's like they thought it was going to

397
00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:06.680
be here, but it's it's starting to go like this right,

398
00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:10.519
and it's starting to just go accelerate. And I think

399
00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:12.880
that also caught in this quarter, caught Disney off guard

400
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.400
where they didn't have a fancy new theme park to open,

401
00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.079
and so it caught that a little bit off guard

402
00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:22.160
having an accelerated amount of cord cutting. And both of them,

403
00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:24.880
you know, have made bets in streaming, and Disney Plus

404
00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:28.079
has been paying off, but it's always the question of

405
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:29.480
like is it going to pay off fast enough? And

406
00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:30.839
if it's not going to pay off fast enough, then

407
00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.519
what are you going to do to replace that that revenue?

408
00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.359
But on the on the good side, it is that

409
00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.480
Disney Plus reported nearly two hundred million subscribers, which is great.

410
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:44.880
And remember the the ESPN app that they have been

411
00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.880
working on. They talked a lot about that and think

412
00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:51.200
that let's see. Executives touted the recent launch of ESPN's

413
00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.880
direct to consumer app, which brings all the content from

414
00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:56.440
linear TV networks to streaming for the first time. They

415
00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.400
said this didn't cause more cable bundle losses and instead

416
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:02.720
it led to more overall users and engagement. Bob Eiger

417
00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.359
called the ESPN app a positive step for the future

418
00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:08.440
of ESPN, notoriously known for one of the few channels

419
00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:10.680
holding the kill A bundle together. So ESPN's results are

420
00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.799
reportedly separate from the entertainment TV network.

421
00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:14.000
So that's all.

422
00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:20.680
Again back to their they're trying to rapidly shift, so

423
00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:24.759
I think now they've decided the TV bundles are running

424
00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:26.960
too quickly, so they're pushing the ESPN app, which is

425
00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:29.880
I mean, just like with comcasts, it's a matter of

426
00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:32.200
like can you switch your business model fasten up, befoward

427
00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:35.039
to rhoads. The last thing I wanted to share was

428
00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:39.680
there was a really insightful post. Of course, I always

429
00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:42.680
read like the earnings and listen to the earnings. With that,

430
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.880
I always like to read what all the other analysts

431
00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:48.920
are saying, especially ones that are not in our industry

432
00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:54.160
to see what other people think of our industry, and it's.

433
00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:57.079
It was interesting. I found one Chris Columbo that had a.

434
00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:59.839
Great little, tiny little chart here, which is hilarious, he said.

435
00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:04.119
He said, basically, the new model is that ip that

436
00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.440
lives across screens and spaces and monetizes at every step,

437
00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:10.519
and it starts in the low mid budget movie now

438
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.400
like a smaller budget movie, then goes into makes a

439
00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:16.440
huge streaming wave, then goes into retail, then goes into

440
00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:19.640
character momentum showing up in parks. And we've been talked

441
00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:22.880
about this forever because that's the classic, you know, Disney Flywheel.

442
00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.759
But I think what is changing here is thinking about

443
00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:29.160
the input still needs to be a good story, but

444
00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.119
not necessarily a big budget and that's because you're you're

445
00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.720
making it for a smaller screen. You're not making it

446
00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:38.599
necessarily for movies anymore, or for broadcasting. You're making it

447
00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:40.640
for like people watching on their smartphones, because a lot

448
00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:44.799
of people just watch on their smartphones. And I think

449
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:47.359
that was an insight that I was like, oh, interesting,

450
00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:49.400
and we won't get to talk about Netflix House, but

451
00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:50.960
it plays exactly a Netflix house.

452
00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:53.480
Yeah, it's well, it's interesting because I just had I

453
00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:57.200
just had a meeting with a local film and video

454
00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:01.640
production company that I've worked with before, and they're they're

455
00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:03.880
branching out. They do a lot of you know, they

456
00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:05.480
do a lot of corporate stuff and the but they're

457
00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:09.000
branching out into They've just sold their first their first

458
00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:12.799
major motion picture, and they're and they're they're very excited

459
00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:16.559
about future projects. And and this is this is the

460
00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:20.720
same company that that I've worked with before, either I've

461
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:24.119
hired them to produce stuff for for live experiences or

462
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:26.079
they've used me as an actor from time to time.

463
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.359
But I told them, I said in our meeting, I said,

464
00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:29.640
look here, you got to think about it this way.

465
00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:32.559
Stop thinking about your company to make movies. Think about

466
00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:36.640
your company to build IP, because it's not it's not

467
00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:39.640
about the movies. It's not about the movies. It's you know,

468
00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:44.920
people don't go to movies, and even even people who

469
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:48.359
have never seen K Pop Demon Hunter recognize it when

470
00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:52.640
they see it in the stores in the they recognize

471
00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:54.359
it if they even if they haven't watched it, they

472
00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:57.359
know it. So it's all about building the IP and

473
00:24:57.400 --> 00:24:59.119
it used to be. You know, back in the day,

474
00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.119
it was let's create this really impactful film and then

475
00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:05.400
we'll add, well, we'll outsource these characters, bring them into

476
00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:06.119
the real world.

477
00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:06.720
You know.

478
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.839
That's how both Disney and Universal Studios started, was so

479
00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.279
that you could live the movies. You could actually participate

480
00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:16.039
in the characters that you saw on the two dimensional screen.

481
00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.200
But the world is moving too fast for that, so

482
00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:19.920
you've got to now make it so that they all

483
00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:23.200
give birth at the same time, so you're building ips,

484
00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:24.400
not making movies.

485
00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:29.720
Yep, yep, Okay, all right, we have to get to

486
00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:32.160
this last story really quick.

487
00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.039
Hershan, Yes, Hershan.

488
00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:42.839
I just realized I did not talk at all about

489
00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:44.599
the parks, but I don't think we necessarily need to.

490
00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.440
The only thing that Disney mentioned about their parks in

491
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:51.680
the Earnings is that Disney Experiences, so the theme park

492
00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.160
sector of Disney, which is so funny. Because it's so funny,

493
00:25:55.720 --> 00:25:59.480
I sometimes I forget about the theme park section, even

494
00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:03.000
though that's our business of the Disney Earnings. And also,

495
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.279
I still think that Netflix should buy Disney, because let

496
00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:09.839
us not forget how much larger Netflix is when compared

497
00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:11.519
to Disney and they could buy it with just their

498
00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:13.960
free cash flow, so anyway, they probably just should buy

499
00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:18.079
Disney and be done with it. So anyway, so the

500
00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:20.319
theme parks did really well. They saw an increase of

501
00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:23.279
thirteen percent compared to Q four of last year. Domestically

502
00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:26.960
they grew nine percent, and basically they're saying it's because

503
00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:30.440
of Epic univers On the earnings call, they said, we've

504
00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:32.799
talked about Epic Universe in the past, in particular as

505
00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:34.440
something that we knew was going to be a factor

506
00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:36.240
in domestic parks, and in fact, it was very much

507
00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:38.559
in line with our expectations. If anything, it seems to

508
00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:40.839
be impacting the rest of the competition down in Florida

509
00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:44.079
more that's impacting us from a consumer perspective. We certainly

510
00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:49.400
feel good about it. So they went on to say,

511
00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:51.160
we are pleased with these results and encouraged by the

512
00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:56.839
continued resiliency of our domestic parks. So and let's see,

513
00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:01.960
it said most of the uptick comes from spending inside

514
00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:03.480
of the theme parks as well as they also have the

515
00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:07.039
Disney Treasure launch. But basically, uh, it's that that wave

516
00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:07.720
we talked about.

517
00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.039
Yeah, and we've you know, that's just reinforcing what we

518
00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:14.440
said when Epic was, you know, just about ready to open.

519
00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:17.480
It's my guess is that all the parks in Florida

520
00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:20.079
are seeing an uptick of some sort. They may not

521
00:27:20.119 --> 00:27:23.039
be seeing the one they anticipated, but Disney it makes

522
00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:26.240
the most sense because of course they are the most

523
00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:29.240
the most relevant. My guess is people are going and

524
00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:32.519
staying at Disney and visiting Epic on a on a

525
00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:35.599
on a day, Epic becomes a day trip.

526
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:39.200
But I don't know, well, United Parks and Resorts reported

527
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:41.759
a six percent, six percent decrease in revenue in three

528
00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:45.559
percent dukies in attendance, So I think it's more like

529
00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:49.079
that's that's exactly what Disney actually was, more like, this

530
00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:51.279
is what happened Disney. They were like, what do you

531
00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:53.240
think about United or what do you think about Epic

532
00:27:53.319 --> 00:27:58.480
Universe Disney, and Disney was like, we think it's great

533
00:27:58.519 --> 00:28:00.640
because we're doing great and it's helped us, but it's

534
00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:03.720
not helping everybody. And then they're like smugly smiling, and

535
00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.880
then they're like pointing to the other parks.

536
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.680
That's what's happenings. And that's kind of unnerving for United

537
00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:13.079
Parks because that means they're from a guest standpoint, they're

538
00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:17.599
no longer placed in the same category as Universal and Disney,

539
00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:20.279
which is what especially the Orlando parks have been trying

540
00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:22.920
to do for years. So yeah, that's that's a little

541
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:24.440
unnerving for them.

542
00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:28.000
Okay, sorry, Silverwood, Oh my god, Okay, we had to

543
00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:32.279
get Okay, we got it. So Hershend is acquiring Silverwood.

544
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:34.920
Many thought that we should have started with that news,

545
00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:37.480
but here we are. So the thing park owner and

546
00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:40.920
operator Hersein signed an exclusive term sheet to acquire Silverword

547
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.079
Theme Park in Idaho from the Norton family, who have

548
00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:44.880
operated the park since it's founding.

549
00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:46.359
In nineteen eighty eight.

550
00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:49.519
This is more than a business transaction, it's a continuation

551
00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:52.640
of a legacy, says the Hershon CEO.

552
00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:55.279
Andrew Wexler. We are honored that the Norton family has

553
00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:57.400
trusted us to carry their vision forward and excited to

554
00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:01.519
welcome Silverwood hosts and guests to Hershend. I could not

555
00:29:01.880 --> 00:29:04.440
think of a better I mean, this, this is gonna

556
00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:04.799
go well.

557
00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:09.440
After we've just said mergers, mergers and acquisitions never go well,

558
00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:10.519
except this one.

559
00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:13.759
Well, this isn't a merger. This is a pure acquisition.

560
00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:15.279
This is and I think in.

561
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:18.160
This case, you know, we know that Hershin does well,

562
00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:20.799
I mean everybody. That's the other thing everyone in our

563
00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:24.279
comments agrees with is that Hershind is like the best quality.

564
00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:26.119
You know, It's like up there in terms of the

565
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:27.799
best quality of all these parks that a lot of

566
00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:29.960
people were saying they were Hershind would have bought the

567
00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:34.200
Cedar parks, you know, but they're small, it's a small

568
00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:36.960
it's small chain. But I think they will handle this

569
00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:39.119
well as they have handled the previous acquisitions.

570
00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:42.079
Well. Yeah, And I think it's also good that it's

571
00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:45.279
hershened because again, family park, and I think part of

572
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:48.400
the reason that they could get that agreement was because

573
00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:51.160
the Family Park talked to Hershint, which is very family oriented,

574
00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:54.839
very family based to begin with. And I'm guessing that

575
00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:57.839
the Norton family felt that they could they could sell

576
00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:00.319
this park to an organization that will can tinue to

577
00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:01.720
run it the way they want it run, with the

578
00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:07.960
same level of experience, guest experience. And so it's yeah,

579
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:09.119
I think this is a great I think this is

580
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:10.440
a great move. I think it's good for Hershen. I

581
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.920
think it's going to be great for Silverwood quite honestly,

582
00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:17.119
so we will we will see fingers crossed. All right, Well,

583
00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:19.200
that's all the time we have. Philip and I are

584
00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:22.480
going to immediately finish this show and dive into our

585
00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:25.960
our Patreon show. We're going to dive into Unhinged, and

586
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:29.279
my guess is, well, probably because we're both just crazy,

587
00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:31.519
pulling our hair out trying to figure out what we

588
00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:33.640
can do for Iappa. My guess is we're going to

589
00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:36.000
chat a little bit about a pre i appa what

590
00:30:36.039 --> 00:30:38.200
the hell do we need to get done in that.

591
00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:42.279
So if you'd like to subscribe and hear our craziness

592
00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.319
before we dive in, and if you are attending IAPPA Expo,

593
00:30:45.559 --> 00:30:47.759
please stop buy on Tuesday at noon, stop by the

594
00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:49.839
hunting Grounds and chat with Philip and I because we

595
00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:52.720
will both be there presenting Marketing the Monsters, which is

596
00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:57.440
a whole session, whole talk about how to differentiate your

597
00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:00.480
marketing plans from your day product to your haunt and

598
00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:03.119
why those are very different and how important they can be.

599
00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:04.759
So we're very excited to talk about that. It's one

600
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:06.440
of the few times, actually it's the first time Philip

601
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:09.400
and I have ever actually spoken together at IAPPA and

602
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.759
we're really looking forward to that, so please stop by

603
00:31:11.799 --> 00:31:13.920
and say hello, but we are out of time, so

604
00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:15.920
on behalf of Philip and myself. This is Green Tag

605
00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:18.200
Theme Park in thirty and we will see you next

606
00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:18.440
week