Nov. 11, 2024

Six Flags' Project Accelerate: Transformative Strategy or Missed Opportunity?

In this week's Green Tagged, Philip and Scott dive into Six Flags' Q3 earnings report and their new three-year plan, "Project Accelerate."

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In this week's Green Tagged, Philip and Scott dive into Six Flags' Q3 earnings report and their new three-year plan, "Project Accelerate." With attendance dipping slightly but per capita spending climbing, Six Flags has pivoted to a revenue-over-quantity strategy—a trend echoing the broader theme park industry. Project Accelerate aims to boost attendance to 55 million guests and reach a 35% Modified EBITDA margin by 2027. However, as Philip and Scott discuss, the plan lacks specific, measurable goals and a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Is this strategy bold enough to inspire transformation, or does it fall short? Join the conversation and let us know if you think Six Flags is on the right path!

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Scott.

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This week, Six Flags released their Q three earnings. We're

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going to talk about that on this week's episode of

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Green Tag Theme Park in thirty. I'm Philip and I'm

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joined as always by Scott Swinson. Scott Swinson, great development

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for this week's review of the big news and discussing

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why it's important to you the listener or watcher.

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I suppose so, well, hopefully you're watching and listening, because

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if you're just watching, this is really dull because you

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just see two heads popping back and forth for quite

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some time. So there's that.

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So yeah, six Flags Q three.

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So this is the first earnings report that we've really

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had where we've had a whole quarter of looking at

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how these two are doing after these two these one

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now after the merger.

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So this is the merged report together.

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And the news is I'm not sure if it's good

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news or bad news. There's a lot of details and nuances,

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and I wanted to I pulled everything together, the call transcripts,

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the actual reporting files, you know, everything in like I

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really we wanted to look at some of the big pieces,

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the big chunks, and I think the first chunk is

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just the overview. Then the chunk is what they're calling

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Project Accelerate, which we'll talk about after the overview and

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then maybe some of our takeaways on it. But the

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big picture essentially is revenue is down and the per

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cap is increased, and October did really well. That's the

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like the overview, So the attendance was down only point

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set so it's from twenty one point seven to twenty

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one million, so we're looking at we're looking at last year,

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the two companies combined brought in twenty one point seven

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million during the same quarter. This year combined during the

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same quarter, it's twenty one so it only went down,

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you know, that point seven of a million, and then

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the per cap I guess you could say it was

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up kind of, but like last year the per cap

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at six Flags was fifty six thirty seven and at

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Cedar Fair was six one sixty five. But this year

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combined it is sixty one twenty seven, so it's like,

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I guess the average is like pulled up, but it's

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still less than Cedar but more than but significantly more

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than it was when it was six Flags, So that's

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a weird number. But the total number is for revenue

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was one point three to five billion for the quarter,

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with a net income of one hundred and eleven million,

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So at least there's net income and adjusted EBITA of

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five hundred and fifty eight million. So the I think again,

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the takeaway here is there's a slight dep in attendance,

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but the increase in per cap spending and it looks

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like this is kind of in line with the other

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discussions we've had about the revenue over quantity kind of approach.

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And of course we talked about this too with the

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increased ticket prices for Halloween and that kind of thing.

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I'm not trying to like shift it up, which seems

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to be the more successful model if you look at Disney, right, So, Scott,

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what do you think about just this over the brass,

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like the thirty thousand foot over you or just the

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numbers and the EBITA and margins.

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Well, considering, I mean, I think the most important thing

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that we have to keep in the back of our

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mind throughout this entire conversation is this is the first

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real quarter of them being combined. I mean, this is

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this is the first time that they've really reported as

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a combined dentity. So there is no we can we

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can we can make up baselines. We can look at

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the two halves of the of the current company, or

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not even halves, the two factions of the current company

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and guestimate as to what has happened there and what

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hasn't happened there and what it used to be in

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the past. You know, like even like you said, just

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looking at the per cap, you've got a fifty six,

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fifty six point three seven and a sixty one point

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sixty five of the two different companies, and after they've

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come together, their per cap is sixty one point twenty seven.

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So does that mean to me that is a positive note?

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But again we're comparing apples to ardvarks here. I mean,

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there is no there is no baseline. What we are doing,

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in my opinion here is setting the baseline. You know,

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we're setting what the new what is it six Flags

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Entertainment or SFE something.

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Yeah, that six flags, six Flags, What the new flags?

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What the new six Flags, what the new combined six

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Flags slash seater is all about? And you know, if

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I were coming into it from the Cedar fair side,

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I'd be going, oh damn, we're down. And if I

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were going to come into it from the six flag side,

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I would be like, oh hey, yay, great, we're up.

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Yes.

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So again, none of these, none of these shifts or

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switches seem to be that radical, either good or bad.

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It's just kind of this is sort of what we expected.

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We've kind of averaged out here a little, you know,

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based on per cap. I think we've averaged out a

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little above where we were before. And as far as attendance,

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I think we've averaged down a little bit from where

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we were before. But again, if you've got one going

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up and one going down, you're still okay.

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You know, we.

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Almost every theme park I have ever been affiliated with,

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either directly or as a consultant, they constantly the pendulum

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constantly swings back and forth. Are we looking to have

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super high attendance or super high per cap? And the

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the You know, of course everyone wants to say we

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want both, but that doesn't give you necessarily marching orders

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to how to run your company. So you have to

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make that decision as to where your focus is, what

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is your primary and secondary focus. So here it looks

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as though, I think you're right, It looks as though

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they are either focusing on or happy with a higher

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per cap. But a slightly lower attendance number, and what

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that usually leads to, and this is, you know, there's

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there's always exceptions that prove the rule. What that usually

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leads to is a better guest experience because you have

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fewer guests in the park, but they're spending more money

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because they're having a better time.

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Well, I guess that leads into our the next section.

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They're calling this strategy, So I guess I think to

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what you said about this being the first like baseline,

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I think they're also that seems to be also their

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standpoint where they're kind of like, look, we have a

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new plan. It's called Project Accelerate, and this is where

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we're going to go from here. So it does seem

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like they're kind of setting the future path forward. And

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they even put a name on it, which is always

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exciting when we have names to you know, long long

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term projects.

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So stockholders love that.

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Yeah, everyone loves it. Yeah, it's like, so project Accelerating,

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that's their.

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New media get really excited about things that have names.

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Yeah, So it sounds like Project Accelery is their three

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year plan, and essentially it is a few things. It is,

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first of all, to increase the attendance to fifty five

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million annually, which if you again, we don't have the

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baseline to Scott's point, but just for perspective, the legacy

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Cedar Fair and Six Flags companies drew forty eight point

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nine million in twenty twenty three, so that would be

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essentially an increase of six million essentially to get them

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to that fifty five million mark.

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So they want so that's the first part.

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They want fifty five million guests annually and they want

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a thirty five percent modified EBIT of marchin by twenty

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twenty seven. And Zimmerman discussed on the call and in

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various interviews this plan. He said, to harmonize our operations

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and unlock the full potential of the new six Flags.

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The goal is to deliver one hundred and twenty million

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in cost savings by the end of twenty twenty five

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while reinvesting in guest experiences. And he said, while we

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intend to invest back into our parks when answer the

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guest experience and drive attendance growth, we are focused on

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funding those efforts with additional cost savings across the portfolio.

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That brought up the question, of course of theme park closures,

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which so just also to clarify, a lot of the

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mainstream media and other news outlets are saying that he

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referenced part closures. Just to clarify, he didn't actually say that.

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What he said was they're doing a portfolio optimization. Now

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that is generally code for closing, right when you're optimizing

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a portfolio, that.

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Does you I mean, how do you optimize your portfolio

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without eliminating something from the existing portfolio?

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Correct? Correct? I'm just how to do that.

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I'm just I'm just saying he didn't actually say they

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were going to close anything, but like he did, he

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did say optimization, which is probably and it is also

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I think smart considering the situation where again, if you

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would you know, we've just talked about, you have some

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that are you know, basically some of the six slags

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parks I don't think performing as well, and it's taking

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the entire average down. So if you can get rid

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of those or transform some of that, use that money

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for investment, I mean, that would seem very smart. So

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what he specifically said about the closures, they said, from

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a strategic standpoint, we're looking at the potential of each site,

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he said. Zimmin highlighted the focus on stratifying the portfolio,

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suggesting the company aims to identify parks with high value

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growth potential, while acknowledging that some smaller parks could be

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valuable due to their consistent performance despite size and market limitations.

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But he just basically talked about portfolio optimization and the

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potential of each site and kind of assessing that.

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So that's where they are. This strategy does.

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Seem to be in line with what we've seen in

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other research like the IAPA Global Outlook report, which said

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that many regional parks are pursuing cost officiencies while targeting

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specific guests experiences as primate growth drivers. They also also

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in that report mentions how attractions face ongoing operational cost

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increases and must balance cost control with the demand for

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high quality guest experiences, which I think that's part that

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he didn't mention really too much in this plan, right,

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was like, yes, you're you're optimizing your portfolio doing all

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these things, but you're not necessarily accounting for like inflation

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or any of those things.

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Or I don't know, but I think that's going.

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To be their tough line, like how do they achieve

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the cost savings without negatively impacting the service quality, and

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also whether it can streamline without undermining the guest experiences

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we've talked about before.

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I mean, yeah, I'm going to go even one step further.

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If let's go back to the optimization of the portfolio.

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How how do you increase attendance when you have fewer

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outlets to correct to generate attendance?

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That's like huge one.

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So that's a biggie, you know, it's it's and we again,

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I've seen this happen in theme parks over and over again,

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and that is they'll say, well, we're going to stop

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doing like even within a single park, We're going to

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stop doing this event. But our goal is to increase

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our annual income by X amount. Okay, well you're getting

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rid of an event that generates X amount of revenue,

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and now not only do you have to make up

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for that, but you also have to elevate above that.

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So it's it's a it's a huge balancing game. That's

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why I say, no matter what they're saying here, basically

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they're saying here's ground zero, here's and then they have

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to give a target otherwise stockholders get really stockholders and

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the media get really sort of disinterested, and you don't

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want your stockholders to be disinterested, you know. It's it's

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it's interesting because I extraneous to this, to this particular

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report came across my my social media because again being

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from Chicago, WGN came up and one of the six

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Flags properties is six Flags Great America in Gurney, Illinois.

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And did they say that they're going to be closing

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Six Flags parks? No? Did they allude to it, just

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like we've talked about here. Yes, are they trying to

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get the locals to rally behind the local park. Yes,

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Six Flags Great America has been part of the has

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been part of the Chicago land area since nineteen seventy

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six is when it first opened. And the only reason

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I know that is because I was living there at

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the time and I was there in the first year.

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So it's been around for a while. It wasn't always

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a Six Flags park. It has been passed from one

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to the next to the next. But the other question

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that was raised in that article with WGN and some

235
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discussions surrounding it, was if they were to start to

236
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refine their portfolio, what happens to these parks? You know,

237
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if you look back to the history like Geaga Lake,

238
00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.200
for example, which was a six Flags property that was

239
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actually sold off to become housing. Yep.

240
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So yeah, it's like, is there anybody that would even

241
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want to buy it to keep it as a park

242
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or would you just turn into some or is the

243
00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:21.120
land more useful?

244
00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:21.519
Yeah?

245
00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:23.799
Exactly. And I think that's another thing that we have

246
00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:25.879
to we have to kind of look at here, because

247
00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:29.320
I can tell you right now, knowing the the traditionalist

248
00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:32.919
sense in the Midwest, especially in the Chicagoland area, if

249
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Great America were to go away, people would be pissed. Yeah,

250
00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:42.440
And you know, I can't say that I still fall

251
00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.399
into that category. It would be sad for me because

252
00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.000
that was really the first theme park that I got

253
00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:47.960
to know. First theme park. I had a season pass two,

254
00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:51.519
let's put it that way. But at the same time,

255
00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.399
you know, is it what is the alternative? What it's

256
00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:58.120
not like it's not like, Okay, we'll sell this building

257
00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:01.200
that we're using for or storage and we'll sell it

258
00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:03.399
and they'll turn it into an office building. No, you

259
00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:09.080
can't really translate theme parks into something adjacent. It either

260
00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:12.559
requires it to be a theme park or it requires

261
00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:17.120
it to be leveled and you're basically buying the land yep.

262
00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:20.440
Yeah, yeah, like you could yeah exactly, because you can't.

263
00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:23.919
The infrastructure does not you know, go from one to

264
00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:24.159
the other.

265
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.120
Yeah. Correct. And the reason I bring that up is

266
00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.120
if they were to, you know, and I think part

267
00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:33.679
of the reason they're being so so non specific when

268
00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:35.879
it comes to are we going to a valid are

269
00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:38.080
we going to eliminate parks? Are we going to close parks?

270
00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:41.159
Is because if they close parks and they sell them off,

271
00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:43.600
they're gonna get pennies on the dollar if they're going

272
00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:44.240
to sell them.

273
00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.440
For the land, correct, because it's only it's not they're

274
00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.399
not utilizing the asset essentially, they're just they're really trying

275
00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.279
to convert it. Unless now there was some one points

276
00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.200
brought brought about how the ones in California the land

277
00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:56.080
is actually worth more than.

278
00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:59.200
The park, and that is valid, and that is completely valid,

279
00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:02.279
you know. I but again I'm going to also guess

280
00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:04.919
that the parks in California are some of the higher

281
00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:07.559
performing parks than some of the park ones.

282
00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:08.399
I think those are.

283
00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:10.480
The first target would be the Bay because like, does

284
00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:12.279
the Bay really need to and like you can get

285
00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:14.399
rid of one and you know, investigate.

286
00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:16.039
Are they well that was my other question. Are there

287
00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:19.159
are there markets where they're actually competing with themselves? Yeah, yeah,

288
00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:21.720
yeah yeah, And in that case, yes, I think you can.

289
00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:24.039
And the nice thing there is if that's the case,

290
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.360
then you can take some of the assets and transfer

291
00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:31.840
them into the other park, the remaining park, and that

292
00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:36.039
makes it a little bit more I won't necessarily say profitable,

293
00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.559
but it makes more sense than just scrapping everything and

294
00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:41.279
just buying the land.

295
00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:43.639
Well, and they did already make a deal, you know,

296
00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:45.720
to I think they get rid of the land for

297
00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:47.960
one of the for the one of the California ones,

298
00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:50.120
So it's not like so then you're like, you're leasing it,

299
00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:53.320
and that's that becomes an issue because then you know

300
00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:54.799
so well.

301
00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:59.559
And they also are now tearing down the the one

302
00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:05.559
outside Orlands, which has been closed since Hurricane Katrina. So yeah,

303
00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:07.000
that's a good one to sell. That's a good one

304
00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.600
to get rid of because it's been dead. It's just

305
00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:10.039
dead weight.

306
00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:13.759
Well, there's there's a fun little there's a few little

307
00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:17.919
fun graphics that they presented in the in the presentation,

308
00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:22.440
which is also cute. But I don't know It's weird

309
00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:25.759
because I sometimes I'm like, well, these these graphics feel

310
00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:29.639
like they well, I don't know, maybe the graphics feel

311
00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:31.159
like they are saying something different than what he was

312
00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.639
actually saying, but maybe I just misunderstood. But the first

313
00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:38.960
graphic is it's called Project Accelery key objectives and it

314
00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:41.159
lists them from one to five. So maybe they're not

315
00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.480
like they're listed in order, but me, they're not meant

316
00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:44.279
to be in order, but.

317
00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:47.480
Essentially it's should order of priority.

318
00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:48.639
Yeah, I don't know.

319
00:16:48.679 --> 00:16:51.879
It says like one through five and it's like enhanced

320
00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:55.720
guess experience is one. Number two is margin expansion. Number

321
00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:59.799
three is disciplined capital allocation, and number four is it

322
00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:04.279
system integration. Number five is portfolio optimization. I feel I'm

323
00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:05.759
not sure if that's in the right order because it

324
00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:08.519
would I mean, if he's already talking about portfolio optimization,

325
00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.799
wouldn't that be like And then to me, the crux

326
00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:15.519
of it is like enhanced guests experience, but like, what

327
00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:18.319
does that actually mean? It says invest in the guest experience,

328
00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.279
deliver a stronger price value proposition, drive demand, Okay, but

329
00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:23.240
like how are you going to do that without demand?

330
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:25.359
And if you don't have any money or sorry, how

331
00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:27.839
are you going to do that without capital? And they

332
00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.759
don't have capital, as he just said, and as they

333
00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:33.359
just said, what they're trying to do is create whatever

334
00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:37.680
synergies or blah blah. So basically cost cutting to raise

335
00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.200
the capital to increase the guests experience. So does that

336
00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:44.240
mean that in the short term it's actually going to

337
00:17:44.279 --> 00:17:48.400
be a worse experience as they cut costs and then

338
00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:52.960
they you know, use that to invest in the guess experience,

339
00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:55.119
and then that's going to lead to market expansion, which

340
00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:59.200
then is discipline capital allocation, you know, you know, the

341
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:00.440
portfolio tization.

342
00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:00.960
I don't know.

343
00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:03.720
In looking at this and having you know, having written

344
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:08.079
some training courses in theme park in general, I look

345
00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:10.359
at this and I go, well, this is a this

346
00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:12.000
is these are five points of duh.

347
00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:16.359
Yes, that's the other thing too, right, is not every business.

348
00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.240
This is yeah, this is just this is theme park

349
00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:21.519
one oh one is what thisess? This is exactly what

350
00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:25.400
you're constantly trying to balance and you know, putting putting

351
00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.319
it in acute little graphic that's lovely, but that's again

352
00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:32.599
I think they're spending an awful lot of time saying

353
00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:38.200
very very little and other than what I'm hearing is,

354
00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.000
here's our baseline, here's what we look like together. They

355
00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:46.720
have to put out some goals, and if they're smart,

356
00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:48.279
they didn't put out goals that they are not one

357
00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.640
hundred percent certain they can achieve. Yeah, and they didn't

358
00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:55.039
put out goals that they don't already have a plan for.

359
00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:58.799
But you know these kinds of things. Yes, we're going

360
00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.920
to make the product better. We're going to make it

361
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.039
so that we get more more out of our dollars

362
00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:04.759
that we spend. We're going to make sure that our

363
00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:09.519
capital allocation is distributed properly. We're going to find a

364
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.720
way to integrate our IT systems, which should have already happened.

365
00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.240
Quite honestly, I mean, integrating IT systems is probably the

366
00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:19.480
lowest hanging fruit on this from my understanding, and I

367
00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:22.599
am not an IT expert, I recognize that. But to

368
00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:26.319
get you know, computer computer system A to talk to

369
00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:30.839
computer system B usually is less challenging and less difficult.

370
00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:34.960
Maybe I'm wrong, but that's a that's a great way.

371
00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.160
I will say that. Whenever I have seen mergers or

372
00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:41.240
a theme park has been purchased by another parent, company

373
00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:46.599
or whatever. Almost the first thing that happens is it

374
00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:48.359
is radically cut at the part.

375
00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:53.599
Yeah they did there was so yeah, just some points

376
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:58.160
of clarity on that they did specifically address it in here.

377
00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:00.160
I mean, obviously it's in the chart that they did

378
00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.839
have like a discussion section about that where he said

379
00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.000
specifically technology would play a critical role in delivering a

380
00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.400
seamless and engaging guest experience. And you know, we don't

381
00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:13.160
know that that could mean greater interaction on mobile ticketing,

382
00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:16.720
virtual cues, possibly guess pace and AI. You know, they didn't,

383
00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:21.279
they weren't that specific about it. But I will say

384
00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:25.440
to Scott's point, that mirrors the other trends obviously, like

385
00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:28.200
you know, the all the Disney stuff, the apps and ordering,

386
00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:32.000
and you know they did try those. For example, they

387
00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:35.880
tried those automatic gaits, you know where they you put

388
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:37.440
in your license plate ahead of time and then you

389
00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:40.440
can just drive up so eliminate parking attendance. But member

390
00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:42.759
wasn't working when I did it, so like you know,

391
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.000
and they have mobile ordering, but mobile ordering isn't working

392
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.519
because they don't have enough people to run. I mean,

393
00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:51.000
if there's only one person running your food and beverage

394
00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:54.839
cart because they can't staff multiple then it doesn't actually

395
00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:57.680
matter if you do mobile ordering because like there are

396
00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:00.720
too many orders and then the person can't you know,

397
00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:01.960
they can't.

398
00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:03.920
They can't you know, they do one thing at the

399
00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:04.359
same time.

400
00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.920
Yeah, right, yeah, so so some of these kind of

401
00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:09.240
fall flat, you know, with with just the technology.

402
00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:12.839
Well, and I think first and first and foremost, you know,

403
00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:15.799
Like I said, the reason that that IT systems integration

404
00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:19.680
and enhanced guest experience are two separate points is because

405
00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:25.519
IT system integration in the first steps based on again

406
00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:27.440
based on my experience and what I've seen in the past,

407
00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:32.119
the guests never see it if it's done correctly. Integration

408
00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:38.200
does not mean coming up with new IT ways of

409
00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:41.759
doing business. What it basically means is instead of having

410
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:44.839
the cedar fare system and the six flag system, that

411
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.079
we have the new system, which is one or the

412
00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:51.160
other or a combination of the two, but you just

413
00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:55.119
have one system that you have to maintain, manage, understand

414
00:21:55.559 --> 00:22:00.240
so that it simplifies across the board. It also can

415
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.960
actually and I hate to say this, but can actually

416
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:09.160
reduce the number of jobs because they take it under

417
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:14.240
one it you know, one it system and one IT department.

418
00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:17.240
Well, so I think there are actually two things here,

419
00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.960
and I think they are alluded to in different parts

420
00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:23.640
of all of this mess that they put out. The

421
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:27.240
one is, to your point, the elimination of redundancies, which

422
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.799
is called out pretty explicitly, but that's what you're talking about,

423
00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:31.880
whereas like we had two, now we can have one,

424
00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.000
and that's the less redundancy. But the other thing is

425
00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:35.720
the other part, the other half weich talked about, which

426
00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:42.079
is if we roll out this automated parking system to

427
00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:45.720
every park, that means we can reduce x amounts of

428
00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.000
parking attendants by you know, by x amount of parking

429
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.160
attendents are not needed. So there's two halves. Eliminate redundancy

430
00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.640
and also like use that. And I do think this

431
00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:56.799
is a case where I do think that due to

432
00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:00.559
the demographic that they target with all these parks generally

433
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:04.799
skews younger. I do think that the app stuff is

434
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.799
a good way to go because it's essentially you know,

435
00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:11.400
you're like Scott and I agree. I think that the

436
00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:13.640
Disney thing has gotten out of hand, and especially because

437
00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:17.039
you're targeting such a large generational swath with that, and

438
00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:19.519
you know, you're again like when my parents go or

439
00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:23.359
grandparents or whatever, it's like, you know, you're, you're like,

440
00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:25.839
there's so much to learn just about how to use

441
00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:26.200
the app.

442
00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.240
I think this is different with six legs.

443
00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:31.559
I think that it generally generally again generally don't at me,

444
00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:33.960
but it does Q younger, and I do think that

445
00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:37.079
it's a lower bar to you know, to step over

446
00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:39.440
for the for young, for people who are who are

447
00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:42.559
born with cell phones in their hands, and then it's more,

448
00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:44.640
you know, a seamless thing for them to figure out

449
00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:46.039
how to work these systems.

450
00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:50.839
Assuming assuming that the new systems actually work and correct

451
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:54.319
you've had firsthand experience correct parking does not.

452
00:23:55.160 --> 00:23:58.799
Yeah, so actually that's interesting because they do mention some

453
00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:01.400
of these things. But again to Scott's point, everything in

454
00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.240
this thing could have come from a training manual that

455
00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.720
you give like AYAPA gives out to people that had

456
00:24:06.759 --> 00:24:09.720
to like run parks. But like they do mention some

457
00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:12.039
of the stuff. They say, like staff are parks to

458
00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:16.319
operate fully yet efficiently without sacrificing exit customer service, which

459
00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:21.519
is like a pile of nothing, like does that mean like, yeah,

460
00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:22.559
that doesn't mean anything.

461
00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:24.400
It's just it's just the same. You know what you're

462
00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:25.359
going to say.

463
00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:28.200
In looking at all these these are all very political answers,

464
00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:30.880
you know. It's it's basically the good things are good,

465
00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:32.000
bad things are bad.

466
00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:33.240
Yeah, duh.

467
00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:37.440
Although it is interesting. It's interesting to me though, where

468
00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:39.920
they said season pass programs are the financial engine of

469
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.480
our business. That's one thing, because we weren't sure they

470
00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:45.200
were going to really really like you know, I mean,

471
00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:48.440
Disney has made it clear that they care less about

472
00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.160
season passes, right, but it seems like six Flags now

473
00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:53.519
is like they're putting it in their deck. They're clearly

474
00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:56.119
like they care about repeat people. But well they've got

475
00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:57.160
them in the whole unit.

476
00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.160
In every drive time circle in the US, so of

477
00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:04.039
course season passes that none of their parks really are

478
00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:08.079
destination parks, correct, with the possible exception of like Notts

479
00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:12.440
during Halloween, But for the most part, they're not destination parks.

480
00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.160
They are local parks. And you know, season pass holders

481
00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:18.359
are guaranteed.

482
00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:21.240
Money in the bank, yep, yep. And the unique high

483
00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:24.319
quality food and beverage is essential and increasingly valuable part

484
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:27.559
of the Guess experience, which is like six Lags is

485
00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:30.599
infamous for having terrible food. So I'm you're like, Okay,

486
00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:32.799
is that a how are you going to fix that?

487
00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:34.000
And how are you going to stat by anyway?

488
00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:36.759
I don't know. Well, but again, if they can say that,

489
00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:39.920
if they can say that, then it means I mean,

490
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.319
that's an area that they can have significant growth in

491
00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:48.200
significant growth in because, as you say, they are notorious

492
00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:50.680
for not having good culinary.

493
00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:52.400
Yeah, and I think that maybe it's what they mean

494
00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:55.359
increasingly valuable part of the guess experience. To your point,

495
00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:58.000
that's maybe that's exactly you know, they don't want to

496
00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:00.200
they don't want to put a goal on it. To

497
00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:03.480
your point, they recognize its potent. I mean, essentially, look

498
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:06.039
at the great food that Notts has. If they could

499
00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:08.440
you know, roll that same type of system out, you know,

500
00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:11.599
then you suddenly you have a whole culinary apparatus.

501
00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:12.680
You know.

502
00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:13.599
But it kind of goes.

503
00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:15.000
Back to what we said when they first found out

504
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:17.079
about the merger, is if they could take some of

505
00:26:17.079 --> 00:26:22.039
the quality that that that that Cedar Fair has and

506
00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:27.519
some of the efficiency that Flags has and put them together,

507
00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:30.119
you know, it could conceivably make them all better. But

508
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:32.599
I think they're also looking at it going We've got

509
00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:34.160
to be able to put some stuff out there that

510
00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:35.759
we know we can improve upon.

511
00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:37.680
Yeah, exactly, if they've.

512
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:40.519
Got something, if they put something in their their checklist,

513
00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:42.440
if here's how we're going to improve and it's already

514
00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:48.039
performing beautifully, you can't improve. You can't improve things that

515
00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:49.440
are already at the top of their game.

516
00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:50.599
Yeah.

517
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:53.200
You know what, that's a really good summation of the

518
00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:59.480
entire this entire episode and story. Basically nothing that they

519
00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:02.680
have said is audacious, right. You know.

520
00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.960
I think sometimes you get the strategy.

521
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:07.160
And it's called like the what is it like, the

522
00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:09.480
the big hairy audacious goal or whatever. You know, they're

523
00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:12.839
the b hag be hag right, big audacious goal. Right,

524
00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:15.960
so that that business term for having an enormous thing

525
00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.119
to set a vision. You know, this does not feel

526
00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:22.000
like a vision at all. This feels like all like

527
00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:24.480
you said, like duh, this feels like isn't this what

528
00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:27.559
you should be doing? Like isn't this literally the handbook

529
00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:29.200
of first year manager?

530
00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:31.480
Exactly? Well, and you can take any of these things

531
00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:34.279
and just say, you know, no one's going to say

532
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:39.440
we are we are going to try to decrease guest

533
00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:43.559
satisfaction no, no one's going to say that. So these

534
00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:46.000
are all things that just make total sense. The other

535
00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:48.480
thing that I think is unique about these lovely little

536
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:53.519
graphics is none of the graphics now other than the specific,

537
00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:57.079
the specific, I want to go back. I want to

538
00:27:57.160 --> 00:28:02.279
quote this correctly. Talking about Project Excels. They the only

539
00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:06.319
things that are measurable are the fifty five million guests

540
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:10.680
annually and the thirty five percent modified ebidah yeap by

541
00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:17.319
twenty twenty seven. These are measurable. Everything else is these

542
00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:20.359
are what we're going to try to do. But from

543
00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:22.839
what I've seen, and maybe they have it internally that's

544
00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:25.279
very possible, but from what I've seen, none of them

545
00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:28.640
are measurable. And the nice thing about that at this

546
00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:33.200
point is if they prove to be successful, then they

547
00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:36.240
can come back with numbers later and say here's here's

548
00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:38.359
been our improvement. We improve this, this, this and this

549
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:41.400
and those things that they don't have actual data to support,

550
00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.599
they'll leave and let die because people won't remember it.

551
00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:46.640
You know, no one is going to save this cute

552
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:49.440
little graphic and pin it up on their fridge. I

553
00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:51.880
mean I will, well you will, but you're you know,

554
00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:53.960
you're a nerd, so.

555
00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:56.640
They'll be like, oh yeah. And of course the last

556
00:28:56.680 --> 00:29:01.839
thing is they did call out Halloween specifically, which, of course,

557
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:06.000
so six Flags saw very strong attendance in October largely

558
00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:09.599
do the Halloween events, and they mentioned that during the call, saying,

559
00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:12.680
our Halloween and other special events continue to produce some

560
00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:16.200
of our biggest days of the year, demonstrating the differentiated

561
00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:19.720
and compelling family entertainment that our parks offer. Of course,

562
00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.000
that's the same thing that was echoed in the TA report,

563
00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:24.920
that Halloween has become an essential extension. And we've talked

564
00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:32.319
about that before on Green Tagged and it's I do

565
00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:36.599
wonder again. Like you said, he just mentioned it, but

566
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:40.440
they didn't mention, like, they didn't say anything specifically. He

567
00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:42.359
didn't put a goal out there like we're gonna make

568
00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:45.880
Halloween longer or better or invest in it or increase

569
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:46.839
the spend for Halloween.

570
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:48.599
Like he didn't put any goals on Halloween.

571
00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:50.960
He just was like, Halloween's important, and so I think

572
00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:53.359
from that we can take they're still going to do Halloween.

573
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:57.440
But we don't know like was fright Fest extreme successful

574
00:29:57.559 --> 00:30:00.359
or not? You know, we don't actually really no, we

575
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.359
just again we only have the numbers. We just know

576
00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:05.920
that attendance did well, but like, was it worth the

577
00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:08.200
investment for the licensing fees?

578
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:08.960
Was it?

579
00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:09.519
You know?

580
00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:11.880
What about all the negative press that was generated by

581
00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:15.519
them opening late at every location and what about the

582
00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:19.599
gunshots and the violence? I mean like, uh yeah.

583
00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:22.880
Basically they're saying that, or what I'm interpreting they're saying,

584
00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:29.240
is that Halloween is Halloween is not. It is an

585
00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:32.200
essential part of their business plan, so they need to

586
00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:34.000
keep an eye on it. That's all they're saying. And

587
00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:36.480
that's something that those of us in the industry who've

588
00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:38.920
done Halloween events for any length of time have been

589
00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:41.240
saying for about, oh, I don't know, twenty years. So

590
00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:46.680
I've done seminars, I've done sessions specifically on that topic.

591
00:30:46.839 --> 00:30:48.920
If you're not doing Halloween, you are leaving money on

592
00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:52.559
the table. And that was fifteen twenty years ago. So

593
00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:57.240
it's just it's just really, really, really really obvious stuff.

594
00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:00.240
And that's why I say is this is a baseline.

595
00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.119
This is the first time they've actually reported and I

596
00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:05.559
don't think they're saying anything wrong at all. I don't

597
00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:07.680
think they're doing anything wrong at all, So please don't

598
00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:10.240
interpret it that way. But I also don't think they're

599
00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:14.039
putting terribly high goals for themselves out there. So obviously,

600
00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:16.319
because I care about the industry as a whole, I

601
00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:19.720
hope that they're using this baseline as a great way

602
00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:22.480
to motivate not only their internal folks, but to motivate

603
00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:26.880
their upper management as well as their stockholders, to stay interested,

604
00:31:27.079 --> 00:31:29.799
to stay engaged, to stay involved so that they can

605
00:31:29.880 --> 00:31:34.000
continue to improve. But I don't see this particular report

606
00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:37.599
as giving any real clear marching orders or giving us

607
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.480
any real clear information that we should either be really

608
00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:43.920
excited about or really upset about. It's here's the baseline.

609
00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:46.279
Let's see where we go from here. Well, I know

610
00:31:46.279 --> 00:31:48.160
where we're going to go from here. We're actually going

611
00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:53.799
to go straight into recording our green Tagged Unhinged episode

612
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:58.400
to talk about something completely different. So if you would

613
00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:00.680
like to hear what that's all about, go to Patreon

614
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:03.440
search green tagged. Is it green tagged on hinge Philip.

615
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.359
No just green? Go to Patreon slash green tagged slash green.

616
00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:09.400
Go to Patreon and search green tagged, and.

617
00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:11.960
You'll find us and you'll hear what we say after

618
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:14.319
the show when we go, Oh my god, can you

619
00:32:14.359 --> 00:32:17.279
believe we didn't say, well, I'll wait until you come

620
00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:19.720
and join us. So on, behalf of Philip and myself.

621
00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:21.839
This is Green Tag Theme Park in thirty and we

622
00:32:21.880 --> 00:32:23.079
will see you next week