WEBVTT
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Here we go from our studios this week in Los
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Angeles and Tampa. This is Green Tagged Theme Park and thirty.
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I'm Philip from Gantum Lighting and Controls that I'm joined
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as always by my co host Scott Swinson of Scott
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Swinson Created Development. On Green tag we look at the
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top news each week and we explain why it matters
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to business professionals. This week, of course, we're gonna get
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really in the weeds on these six Flags earnings, looking
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at the Q four earnings from last year and everything
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six Flags.
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We never talked about six Flags on the show.
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I know it's very unusual for us to talk about
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six Flags on the show. We're gonna do it this week. So,
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and you know, there's a lot here. I'm not sure
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we're gonna get to all of it.
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I don't know.
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I have a lot of notes about this. I went
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through everything, but to me, I think, to me, the
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biggest story is really the biggest lens is really just
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that looking at the new CEO. He's only been here
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for two months, right, and he's really pretty candid earnings call,
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and looking at what everything he's says and his suggestions,
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I can't help but think that they're in this position
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because they have had a history of making centralized bad decisions,
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and that it's like it comes from the top down
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where they cut stuff or they just don't listen to
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the operators or to anybody really, So you're kind of like,
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this is That's what sort of my takeaway. I think
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the biggest example that we'll talk about is the seasonal
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events that they said were big mistake to cut, even
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though Scott and I said it was obvious that they
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shouldn't have cut them, because anyone who knows anything about
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Christmas knows that it's your biggest money maker. So anyway,
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I'm just to put the context everybody. I think that's
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what's going on. It's really weird to me, where a
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lot of the stuff he's saying is like these are
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so obviously bad decisions, right, and he's presenting it to
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us like a story, which is like, here are all
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these examples of things we're going to do to it
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increase operations, and aren't these just great ideas? You're like, yeah,
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those are really good ideas, but wait a minute, how
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did you get in a position where you were ignoring
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these ideas in the first place?
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I don't know.
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Maybe that's just the skeptic in me. I don't know.
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Scott Well, I think you also have to recognize that
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when you step into a position like this, you know,
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everybody talks about that honeymoon period, it's not right. It's
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you have to you have to become trusted by the
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organization and so you're not going to come in and go, God,
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you guys have made the most dumb ass decisions on
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the planet. That's not a way to ingratiate yourself to
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your co workers. So it makes sense to me, especially
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to be honest, having worked with John Riley, it makes
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sense to me that his his position is and here's
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what we're going to do. He it is not. It
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does not surprise me that he has let things go
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to the point where he can come in and be
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the savior or his ideas or these ideas, whether they're
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his or not, can come in and be the savior ideas.
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That's interesting, that's because that's I think that's basically where
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we are.
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Because I mean, you have to ingratiate yourself to your team.
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That's the first thing you have to do when you
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come in at that level, and that's a total dick.
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That's onore hudred percent what he is. He's literally doing
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that right now, that's hundred percent what he's doing. You know,
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he before the earnings call, he's been traveling to fourteen
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parks and he's been talking to all the frontline people
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and he's been like soliciting all of the ideas from
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the from directly from frontline operators. He says he has
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over three hundred ideas that could be actionable, and he
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spent a lot of the call talking about specific examples,
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which is all good, but again I think it's writ large,
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is a little bit of a distraction. But anyway, what
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he said here, his two big quotes are the underlying
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demand is there, and the biggest value creation opportunity is
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through better execution.
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Does that sound familiar to Scott?
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Sounds completely familiar. Sounds completely familiar, and it's what we've been.
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Saying literally for five six years.
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But again, you know, I learned quite a bit while
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working with John, So I'm glad to hear him say
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that because it reinforces what I learned from his actions
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when he was at Bush Yep yep.
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So I'm going to go through the numbers here to
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give everybody. I don't know, maybe I'm not gonna go
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through all the numbers. I mean, I'm sure everybody knows.
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Everybody listening to this watch this already know. But you know,
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basically all the numbers are down. There's not a good
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number really anywhere. Actually, Like revenue is down, tennis is down.
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PERKHAP spending is up a little bit, up eight percent,
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but that's kind of qualified, right because price has also
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got raised in some area, So that's a little bit
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of an interesting thing. Adjusted EBITDA is down. Operating days
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are down. They blame weather again, although weather only caused
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fifteen closed days. The rest of the elimination was due
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to cutting winter holiday events. I don't know. Let's to me,
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the most important numbers are these, Okay, per cap spending
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sixty one to ninety modified EBITA margin twenty seven point one,
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down from thirty three point two. Okay, I think those
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two numbers maybe also the operating days those are the
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really ones that per cap is really low. That's that's
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a low, that's very low per cap. And then you
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got on the twenty seven percent margin. He was literally
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called out by it from the r PINE. Her name
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is arpine and she's from the UBS analyst, and she
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said basically, do you feel like you have a good
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handle on capturing that margin? Like, what are you gonna
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do about this margin problem? He said, twenty seven percent
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gives us a mandate. The work is underway. We believe
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there is considerable opportunity over time. Okay, so the end,
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just to clarify it, so there was increase in per cap.
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They say that it is driven by a higher guestpening
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on food and beverage, merchandise and extra charge products during
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the quarter, which of course is something they're investing in later,
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investing more in food and all that. They've been talking
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about all this stuff for while, so it seems like
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those things are working, which could be what he's referring to.
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The only other thing here to mention about. How do
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they break out per cap? Is it per cap including admission?
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Because I see a separate line item for admission per cap? Yep,
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it's total per cap, that's right. Yeah, so that's total
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per cap. But then they break out admissions per cap,
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so admissions per cap is that's thirty three point forty one,
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that's right, and then in park twenty eight point forty
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nine yep, which is still that's I just yeah, admissions
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per cap being thirty three dollars is it's crazy.
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But again I can't I'm looking at this in a
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vacuum right now because I don't know what the other
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per caps are, the other admissions per caps are.
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That's a really good point. I'm sure some of our
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listeners can find that data, and if you do, please
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put it in the comments. From what I could find,
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it's really not disclosed in this way. So like so
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clearly like that, although you know, of course the line
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from from Disney and from Universal has been that you know,
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perk CAAP spinning is up, and admissions are up and
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all this stuff is up. So but I'm just going
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based off of you know, if you're multiplying this stuff
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attendance like forty seven point four million times sixty one ninety,
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you're getting pretty close to the net revenue. And the
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rest of that revenue is made up in sponsorships and
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in advertise and in those kind of licensing deals and
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that kind of stuff. So that's kind of how they're
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getting to their their net revenue. But so one other
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thing to note here is the goodwill impairment. Okay, so
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I'm just going so basically, when the merger closed in
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twenty twenty four, the combined company recorded all the intangible
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value like the brand, the customer relationships, future potential, all
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that kind of stuff as a goodwill on the balance sheet,
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and basically that is required to be annually tested against
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actual performance. So in twenty twenty four, the impairment was
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forty two million, and then that now in twenty twenty five,
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it grew to one point five to one billion, which
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is which is basically like the accounting system formally saying
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that the merger has failed to create a lot of
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the value that they had proposed it was going to create.
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So there's that little marker in there is that we
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have we have kind of a real number indicator of
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how much it is not going according to plan so far.
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So I guess there's that. So when it comes to
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the his philosophy, like we mentioned better execution, all that
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kind of stuff I mentioned to be going and towarding
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the parks and doing all those proposals and all that
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kind of stuff. So I thought the examples were very interesting,
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and again very like I think all the examples he
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were saying were so good that that's why it's almost suspicious.
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I don't maybe that's just me, but you know, he's like,
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we're going to increase the uptime at Magic Mountain and
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other parks. We have placed executive chefs in the parks,
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I guess park wide to elevate food quality and improve
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guest satisfaction, also leading to, as he mentioned earlier, increase
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spending it per cap. He talked about specific examples like
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his visit to Caroins and to see to check on
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how they were sourcing better quality food and how they
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were being more efficient with their time. He says he
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visited King's Island to learn ideas on maintenance, on how
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to keep the rides operating and trying to roll out
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all that kind of better stuff. And then he give
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even better examples. He says, at Magic Mountain they were
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renting air compressors for thirty two thousand a year, but
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they could buy one for thirty five thousand, and then
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they could you know, more ties it over time. Same
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at Knots they could spend fourteen thousand to buy a
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forkliff and they cost nineteen thousand year rented, so they
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could save four thousand right now there on just one forklift.
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And then he mentioned automation and supposedly all these ideas
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came from people working directly in operations that he solicited
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through their new feedback system in order. You know that
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he described a new feedback system of having people submit
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stuff and then it would go to sort of a
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little vetting process and then it could come up to
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their team and they can look at them rolling them
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out to me, you know, he mentioned that it's not systemic,
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Like he said that the issues are not systemic, the
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issues are market by market, park by park. I sort
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of disagree because if you writ large to me, there's
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a pattern emerging, which is that there's not a clear
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operating principle that is shared by the parks. And again,
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bad decisions, bad centralized communication, which has led to I
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would say, more systemic problems, but I don't know. Scot's
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making a face utilit Well.
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That's because both that's because both companies prior to the
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merger had different had had completely different SOPs, and they
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had they both they both had they both had communications
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issues within the parks. They're also they also both have
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parks spread out over really more markets than any other
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American theme park operator. So yeah, I think this makes
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total sense that it's it's not a systemic issue, that
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it's a park by park issue, because there is a
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systemic issue, and that is poor communication, which obviously, doing
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his tour from park to park to park to park
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is a you can either call it a gimmick or
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it's a way to show no, we're we're now one family.
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So I need to go out and see all the relatives.
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So I I think it makes if he had said
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it's a systemic problem, I would have questioned that significantly
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more than him saying it's market by marketer or park
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by park, because they have more parks than anybody else.
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That's true, six Flags has more parks in more markets
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than any other theme park operator in the US. I
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probably second, and again I'm guessing here, but I would
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guess that Hershand is probably second or something like that,
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especially now that Palace is there. But Son, I don't
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know that. Just to kind of go back, I did
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do a little bit of comparison here as far as
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per caps go, and it is it is broken down.
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They say what they call they do three basic categories.
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They say premium, destination parks, which your top tier parks
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like Dollywood Hershey reported higher guest spending in twenty twenty five,
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with some exceeding an eighty dollars per cap. Yep. Okay,
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major parks like Disney and US top tier destination parks
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were reported to be above one hundred and twenty per
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cap for twenty twenty five. Yep, but that doesn't mean.
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That doesn't mean much to me at all, because just
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to get into Disney is one hundred and thirty. So
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how it can only be one hundred and twenty I
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don't quite understand.
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But yeah, because exactly then you have parking. I mean,
241
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I can tell you, yeah, you're right, that's just for
242
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one day, that's not even park hopper, and then you
243
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have parking, So yeah, no, it's it's crazy.
244
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But so that that seems low considering what their prices are.
245
00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.000
And then for regional parks like six Flags Cedar Fair,
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it says per cap spending and like you just reported,
247
00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:44.320
so it says well, regional park like six Flags spending
248
00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:46.519
increased by eight percent due to higher prices in twenty
249
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twenty five. Overall leisure spending faces pressure, with projected growth
250
00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:52.440
of only one to two percent through the year.
251
00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:56.559
That's right, that's right. It's also so that that's good
252
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context for how their per cap is is lagging a
253
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little bit in some markets. That I think that's also
254
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the other asterisk on it is, as you brought up,
255
00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.320
you know, some of them are competing with Disney, and
256
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some of them are not, you know, and so some
257
00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:15.159
of them are depending on the market too. So in
258
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that way, I think six flags is very broad to
259
00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:19.840
apply the sixty dollars rule to the entire chain, because
260
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it kind of gets a little wonky in some markets.
261
00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.879
But there's also, of course that the demand overall demand
262
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looking at that and then another note also that was
263
00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.240
that was stripped out later in the call is basically
264
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looking at you if you accounted for the weather and
265
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also for the seasonal closure due to the events that
266
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they canceled. If you kind of like stripped all that
267
00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:48.600
out and kind of tried to make a comparison, their
268
00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.399
tenants would still be down roughly two percent daily, you know.
269
00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.600
So so a tendance like writ large like if you
270
00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:58.320
toss all those things out, which again, how much you
271
00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:02.039
can really toss them out? Which numbers is because as
272
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.600
as you and I know, like so much of a
273
00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.720
person's decision to visit is influenced by the seasonal events,
274
00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:09.559
and so you kind of got to like, how much
275
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.519
could you really toss that out entirely? But they tried
276
00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:16.559
to and give a two percent decline daily number basically,
277
00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:18.720
so their tenance is still down, you know, if you
278
00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:23.879
get But anyway that I mentioned the seasonal events were
279
00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.200
the big biggest example of my whole hypothesis here that
280
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it's a it's about better execution and on the seasonal events.
281
00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:36.639
They got grilled on them, but they also copped up
282
00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:41.720
to it. I mean, it's as much as an admission
283
00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.200
of not doing it as I think you ever get
284
00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.960
on earning calls. But he said, in hindsight, the decision,
285
00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:50.559
meaning the decision to cut all the seasonal events, did
286
00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.919
not optimize profits at every park the way we needed
287
00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:56.080
it to. Those events can be meaningful demand drivers, and
288
00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:00.039
removing them created a self inflicted headwind in terms of
289
00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.159
both attendance and operating leverage. We will rethink the winter
290
00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:08.120
holiday strategy with a tighter returns driven approach, market by market.
291
00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:11.399
Rather than applying a broad brush, we will approach seasonal
292
00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:15.720
programming with market specific rigor clear ROI thresholds and tested
293
00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:18.039
scale methodology.
294
00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:17.919
And.
295
00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.720
A lot of that is a word salad, and I'm
296
00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.960
not quite sure if it's true. I mean in that
297
00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:27.840
like it wasn't. I didn't really see it as a
298
00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.840
broad brush because some places brought back Christmas and some
299
00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:32.679
did not, and so it wasn't really like you cut
300
00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:36.879
it park chain wide. But anyway, just as a reminder,
301
00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:39.960
they cut Winter Festic California's Great America, they cut Winterfestic
302
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.919
King's Dominion, they cust Holiday in the Park at a
303
00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.320
Great Adventure and sucls over Georgia, and then they also
304
00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.759
reduced their spending at some of the other parts as well.
305
00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:54.600
So they anticipate that the seasonal event coverage led to
306
00:16:54.639 --> 00:17:03.000
a loss of approximately four hundred and twenty five thousand visitors. So,
307
00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:07.920
in other news, Scott was right when we had a
308
00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:12.319
whole episode on them cutting it. And I don't remember
309
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.759
exactly what you said, Scott. If this were a higher
310
00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.000
budget show, I would play the little thing where we
311
00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.319
would hear you talk about it. But I'm pretty sure
312
00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.160
that you said something to the effect of it's not
313
00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:24.359
a good sign if they can't make Christmas work. Because
314
00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:26.000
Christmas is like the best selling event.
315
00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:30.400
Christmas makes money. Christmas makes money, Christmas makes money, Halloween
316
00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:32.880
makes money. And it is a It is a bad
317
00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.920
sign when you are when you are cutting your money
318
00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:42.319
makers because they cost too much. Yeah, and it's And
319
00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.680
the funny thing is this is nothing new. This has
320
00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.160
been going on in theme parks for thirty years, at.
321
00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.920
Least for me. That's the funny part. That's exactly right.
322
00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:52.319
That's to me, that's the funny part because that's what
323
00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:54.960
I hear because this is my obviously, this is what
324
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:58.160
you've been in for your career, and this is what
325
00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:04.680
I report on, and you hear this constantly from every everywhere.
326
00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:07.279
It makes no It makes no sense when you have
327
00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.160
a when you have a guaranteed traditional return visitation with
328
00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:19.160
a Christmas event, and you're looking only at the spreadsheets
329
00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.200
and you see we spend how much on that and
330
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.759
we only make this much back, We only have we
331
00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:27.480
only have a you know, a a twenty percent profit margin.
332
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:30.160
Oh my god, we got to cut that. Okay, if
333
00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:32.559
that's your core product and you only have a twenty percent, yes,
334
00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.240
but if you're doing it seasonally, that doesn't make any sense.
335
00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:39.599
That's right, that does not make any sense at all
336
00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:44.240
that you're literally unless you have a plan to replace that.
337
00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:45.880
You know, this is this is the thing that boggles
338
00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:48.240
my mind. They'll say, well, let's cut Christmas and it'll
339
00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.759
save us x amount of dollars. Great, where are we
340
00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:52.640
going to get Where are we going to make up
341
00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.720
the lost visitation and the lost spend that we're not
342
00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:00.359
going to get by not doing Christmas the rest of
343
00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:01.640
the year. Where are we going to make that up?
344
00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:04.920
What is the plan to do that? You cannot cut
345
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:09.799
a seasonal event and think that, well, it's just going
346
00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:11.880
to save us that money because we won't spend those
347
00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:16.240
guests won't come, That's right. Those guests who are dedicated
348
00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:21.000
to that seasonal event won't come. So, you know, it
349
00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:25.000
makes far more sense to me to get lean and
350
00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:29.400
mean with the with the seasonal events and think of
351
00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:33.680
them more as a package deal that your park puts on.
352
00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:37.000
You know, again, anybody who's known me has heard me
353
00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:41.519
quote Mark Rose with Zerral Parks and Entertainment, and I
354
00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:43.440
say Serral Parks entertainment because that's what it was called
355
00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.319
when he was there. For him to make the statement,
356
00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.319
you know, we need to think of our seasonal attractions
357
00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:53.039
as the same way we think of any other element
358
00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:55.599
of the park. It's just this only happens to be
359
00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:57.880
open eighteen or twenty five days a year, you know.
360
00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:03.359
So it's one of the situations where you can't it's
361
00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:05.279
sort of like saying it's sort of like saying, gosh,
362
00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:07.119
we have to save money, let's close a roller coaster.
363
00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:12.160
Yeah, that's right. It's like saying, why don't we close it,
364
00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:13.799
because then we can save money on the staff. We
365
00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:14.920
don't have to have the staff.
366
00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:17.759
Operate it, you know, we don't have to do training, train,
367
00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.200
and we can save and you get hit, and you
368
00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:23.759
get hit with the amortization that nobody thinks about, where
369
00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:25.839
all of a sudden it's like, oh, this is closed.
370
00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:27.279
That means we have to hit take everything in our
371
00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:29.559
books this year right now when it hits.
372
00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:35.079
So again, that's so funny because I can imagine that,
373
00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:37.960
especially in light of the insurance conversation we had last week.
374
00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:40.240
Can you imagine someone in the boardroom being like, you
375
00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:42.319
know what, if we just closed the roller coasters, we
376
00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:46.680
could get a cheaper insurance and we could skip on
377
00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.480
training because we wouldn't have to train all these people
378
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:50.960
for the new insurance requirements, and we wouldn't have to
379
00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:54.200
staff it. We'd save so much money. All the roller
380
00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.599
coasters do is is cost us money. I can see
381
00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:58.160
someone making that argument.
382
00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:01.160
And you know where it really happened. Parks that have
383
00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:05.400
live animals. Live animals you have to care for whether
384
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:08.119
the park's open or not. So on the books it
385
00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:12.400
looks catastrophic. It's like, oh, dear God, what are we doing?
386
00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:17.000
But you know, I think I think we've seen what's happened.
387
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.440
When when you you can, you can trim a tree
388
00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:23.119
to the point where it dies. So stop pruning before
389
00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.039
the tree looks ugly is what it really boils down to,
390
00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:31.200
and find a more efficient way to fertilize. Because the cutting,
391
00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:35.200
you cannot save your way into profit. Yeah, you can't.
392
00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:38.440
You can't cut your way into profit because the more
393
00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:41.400
you cut, the less people have to experience and the
394
00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.240
less likely they are to either show up to your
395
00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.039
park or return to your park. So you have to
396
00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:47.880
you have to take that into balance. You know, I've
397
00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:50.359
used the term double bottom line for years, and that
398
00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.119
is you have to look at I'm not saying be
399
00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:54.279
irresponsible when it comes to money. What I'm saying is
400
00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.160
look at the bang for your buck. Look at if
401
00:21:57.160 --> 00:22:00.319
we invest in a Christmas event, we are guaranteed this
402
00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:02.559
number of people because we know people have made it
403
00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:04.920
a tradition in our park. And if we cut that,
404
00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:08.440
then that visitation is going to go away. Oh no,
405
00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:10.799
they'll just come to the park anyway. No they won't.
406
00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:13.920
But they won't clearly, clearly they won't. And I feel
407
00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.759
here's the funny part, Scott. Clearly they won't. Look literally
408
00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:19.440
right here, four hundred and twenty five thousand less visitors.
409
00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:23.400
Clearly they won't. How much you want to bet this
410
00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:26.400
year some other park somewhere is going to do the same,
411
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.880
is going to have the same conversation. Well, it's every
412
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:30.400
year the.
413
00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:32.519
Last thirty years. I don't know why it should change now.
414
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:38.440
And I think you're right about it's You're right that
415
00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:40.119
the thing to emphasize on what you said is that
416
00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:44.119
if you have a core product, that that's the big thing.
417
00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:46.599
You have a core product, you add this as a
418
00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.839
reason for people need a reason to return. I mean,
419
00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:51.160
I know, but but that's the that's the key thing.
420
00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.960
So it might be different if you don't have a
421
00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:54.960
core product. I mean that that could it could be
422
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.960
different in that space, you know, or adding if the
423
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.319
event is a core product, that that's a little different.
424
00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:02.599
You know, then you can look at different. But when
425
00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.039
you're when you're attraction that has a core product, you
426
00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:06.720
need to give people a reason to return.
427
00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:09.960
Well and you know you really I would say, if
428
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.960
you're going to make that argue, if for the the
429
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:15.119
boardroom that is, or the the c suite that's going
430
00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:17.359
to make the argument of let's get rid of our
431
00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:21.400
seasonal events and save all that money quote unquote save
432
00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:25.519
all that money, I would say flip the whole thing
433
00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:27.680
on its ear and say, what if we only did
434
00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:30.759
seasonal events. What if we didn't have a core product
435
00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:34.880
and we only have seasonal events, and then you have well,
436
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:35.920
Netflix House.
437
00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:40.799
That's right so or Boulevard right of World, Willvard City,
438
00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:41.799
all those places that are.
439
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:50.039
Yes, Bouvard absolutely. Yeah. So you know, people people forget
440
00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:54.480
the side value of seasonal events. They forget that it
441
00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:58.119
first of all, makes your season passes significantly more valuable
442
00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:02.000
to your guests. They forget that it gives people a reason,
443
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.000
it lights a fuse for them. We have to go
444
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:08.079
now if we want to see this, you know, and
445
00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:09.359
I think you're seeing that. I think you're seeing that
446
00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:12.079
in California with Disney and Universal when they do when
447
00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:14.680
they do their like the fan Fest nights for example, Yep,
448
00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:17.359
you got to go at that point in time. You
449
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:19.480
may not have planned to go back to the parks
450
00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:22.559
for two years, but then all of a sudden you
451
00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:26.160
find out, Oh they're doing they're doing squid games, or
452
00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:28.759
they're doing whatever they're doing. They're doing a one piece
453
00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:30.119
installation that's going to be amazing.
454
00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:32.599
Yeah, they're betting to do one piece show. Yeah. Or
455
00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:34.960
or the Monster's Universal Monsters Scooby Doo Adventure.
456
00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:35.319
Yeah.
457
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:36.839
If you're fans of any of those things, you're like,
458
00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:38.440
I got to buy a ticket. And it's not just
459
00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:39.079
I like to.
460
00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:41.359
See I would love to see the Scooby Doo Classic
461
00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:43.799
Monsters mashup. I think that would be hysterically fun.
462
00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:44.359
Yep.
463
00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:47.200
That hits two very important brands for me. Yeah.
464
00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:51.519
Yeah, see I again, Well we talked about it a lot,
465
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:53.559
but the parks always keep coming back to this whole
466
00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.039
cycle about cutting in whatnot, and clearly it doesn't work.
467
00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:58.200
And here's the Aarnians. But the other thing, too, is
468
00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:01.480
the seasonal events. What also helps with them is the
469
00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:03.519
good food and beverage and good merch which we talk
470
00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:07.279
about agnauseum on here, which at least they are mentioning
471
00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:10.319
that because they're mentioning the renovations and they're mentioning having
472
00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:13.599
a chef at each park or trying trying to get
473
00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:16.480
a chef at each park, right, which also is good
474
00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:21.200
because you need someone to be able to he is
475
00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:24.039
right about that. Location by location it does change, right
476
00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:26.440
The not Spoisonberry Festival is an example, You're not going
477
00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:28.599
to do that at a different place. So having the
478
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:31.160
localized chef that know the ingredients and know the sourcing
479
00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:34.960
and know the kitchen makeup and the capacities of the
480
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:36.839
staff to be able to preserve food waste and all
481
00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.160
that is critical. So at least that's in there, and
482
00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.039
you're hoping then it's going to be extended. Like I'm
483
00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.720
hoping the other shoe is going to drop and he's
484
00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:45.359
going to say, oh, that means we also should make
485
00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:48.799
robust seasonal menus for our seasonal events.
486
00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:52.480
Well, and where I'm hoping it goes is if he
487
00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:56.480
recognizes the value of seasonal events, then he starts looking
488
00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:00.839
at seasonal events that perhaps are culinary based, so that
489
00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:06.480
in Chicago you do in Chicago you do a beer
490
00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:10.079
and bratz fest, you know, or a or a pizza
491
00:26:10.119 --> 00:26:14.880
fest or whatever, and then at NODS you do the
492
00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:16.799
Boys and Very Fast because that's so tied into the
493
00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:18.880
DNA of that of that brand.
494
00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:22.680
Well, I think it could be the four Knots for
495
00:26:22.759 --> 00:26:24.759
Boys and Barry. They are doing a tasting card type
496
00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:27.000
of program, so it is a full thing this year,
497
00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:30.000
and I'm hoping that they that they look at that
498
00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:31.559
and then can roll it out of other places. You know,
499
00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:33.759
while he's doing his listening tour and he's kind of
500
00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:36.519
they're kind of taking a new opportunity to look at feedback.
501
00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:39.480
Hopefully you can see the success of those things and
502
00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:40.839
roll it out to other places.
503
00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:42.920
And I just want to point out one other really
504
00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:48.720
strong benefit to this approach, and that is a unification
505
00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:52.400
of the teams, because you know, one of the biggest
506
00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:55.319
challenges I think he's coming into is he has two
507
00:26:55.359 --> 00:27:00.319
companies that were competitors that are now fused together and
508
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:02.119
on the front line they had no say in it.
509
00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.640
So now all of a sudden they have to operate
510
00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.119
in the way of the new six Flags or the
511
00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:10.640
current six Flags, whether they were six Flags legacy or51200:27:12.359 --> 00:27:17.000
not I'm sorry or cedar fair. But by doing this,51300:27:17.519 --> 00:27:20.599
it creates a sense of ownership and by going out51400:27:20.680 --> 00:27:24.400
and saying, you know, tell me opening up an actual51500:27:24.400 --> 00:27:27.279
program that's bringing in three hundred new suggestions that are51600:27:27.319 --> 00:27:34.160
being investigated company wide. This is huge. So even if51700:27:34.599 --> 00:27:37.920
five of these things come to fruition, going through the51800:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.960
actions of going out and saying what do I need51900:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.160
to know? What do I, as new CEO need to52000:27:45.200 --> 00:27:48.200
know about your part of this park? And by getting52100:27:48.240 --> 00:27:51.000
that kind of feedback, it creates a sense of ownership52200:27:51.039 --> 00:27:56.799
and a sense of loyalty for the employees, especially when52300:27:56.799 --> 00:27:59.680
they see that it's being evaluated, looked into, and if52400:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.920
it gets rolled out in their park and maybe two others,52500:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.880
Oh my gosh, all of a sudden, that was my idea. Yeah,52600:28:07.160 --> 00:28:12.119
you know it's it is so smart to bring people together.52700:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.200
And I'm assuming that you know the employees have the52800:28:14.240 --> 00:28:18.359
same the same document that I signed when I worked52900:28:18.359 --> 00:28:20.640
for Bush and that was anything I create while I53000:28:20.680 --> 00:28:24.319
work here is owned by Bush Gardens, and I signed53100:28:24.359 --> 00:28:28.839
that I knew it going in, but just being able53200:28:28.880 --> 00:28:34.880
to to be heard I think is something that will53300:28:34.920 --> 00:28:39.559
benefit the overall ecosystem of these parks and of the53400:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.839
corporation in a way that I don't know whether anybody's53500:28:42.920 --> 00:28:45.519
really looking at. Certainly not an earnings call because you53600:28:45.559 --> 00:28:48.200
can't you can't put a dollar sign on loyalty. But53700:28:49.519 --> 00:28:53.480
I think it is a great sort of as one53800:28:53.480 --> 00:28:55.640
of my coworkers used to say, it's a great Kumbaya moment.53900:28:55.720 --> 00:28:58.000
It's a great moment of let's all come together as54000:28:58.039 --> 00:28:58.640
a new company.54100:28:58.920 --> 00:29:03.039
Yep, before we finish, we're almost out of time. A54200:29:03.079 --> 00:29:06.039
few things I want to mention everyone who commented before54300:29:06.240 --> 00:29:10.759
about how confusing the new pass perks and all that54400:29:11.200 --> 00:29:16.160
system is. He mentioned that in the earnings call, he54500:29:16.240 --> 00:29:19.519
did talk about how it was a little confusing on those.54600:29:19.559 --> 00:29:23.119
He said, in some cases there were confusion about benefits54700:29:23.160 --> 00:29:25.160
on passes. In some cases they were paying more for54800:29:25.240 --> 00:29:27.319
a pass that they felt they had paid in the past.54900:29:28.240 --> 00:29:32.599
That was funny. On enchanted parks, he was asked directly55000:29:32.839 --> 00:29:34.880
about the Enchanted Parks holdings, which we talked about in55100:29:34.920 --> 00:29:38.279
a previous episode, in which he said, quote, we don't55200:29:38.279 --> 00:29:41.319
have anything to share today on that front end quote,55300:29:42.200 --> 00:29:45.160
which is not a denial. It's actually just a no55400:29:45.279 --> 00:29:48.440
comment type of thing. So, I mean, he didn't deny it,55500:29:48.480 --> 00:29:51.319
so would just say it that way. And then still55600:29:51.359 --> 00:29:55.920
as a reminder to everybody, he did mention the portfolio reorganization.55700:29:56.039 --> 00:29:58.079
We didn't spend too much time talking about it because55800:29:58.079 --> 00:29:59.799
that wasn't the focus of the show and we've talked55900:29:59.799 --> 00:30:02.799
about it before. But I don't see any way in56000:30:02.799 --> 00:30:06.440
which they're not going to still sell parks he mentioned.56100:30:07.839 --> 00:30:11.680
He didn't mention anything negative. He instead took, like Scott said,56200:30:11.680 --> 00:30:14.319
the positive approach. He's like, he is like, you know,56300:30:14.400 --> 00:30:19.240
Mexico has great opportunities and this, and so basically you56400:30:19.240 --> 00:30:21.759
could just go through and say who he didn't talk about,56500:30:22.000 --> 00:30:25.720
and those are probably the candidates. And there were some people,56600:30:26.680 --> 00:30:29.519
some of the analysts did try and corner him by56700:30:29.640 --> 00:30:31.880
basically saying that there are six there are a few56800:30:31.920 --> 00:30:33.920
parks that generating less than five percent of even that56900:30:34.000 --> 00:30:37.599
combined and there and what's he going to do? And57000:30:37.640 --> 00:30:41.240
he kind of didn't give an answer. He just was like, oh,57100:30:41.519 --> 00:30:45.160
word salad. So but I feel like it's pretty clear57200:30:45.200 --> 00:30:47.200
where it's like if he didn't talk about them, and57300:30:47.240 --> 00:30:49.079
then if they're in those parks are not making up57400:30:49.240 --> 00:30:51.799
any money and doing anything. They're probably on the chopping block.57500:30:51.839 --> 00:30:54.200
And the thing is they need to be because they57600:30:54.200 --> 00:30:55.079
have too much debt.57700:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.400
Right well, and they're either on the chopping block or57800:30:58.440 --> 00:31:02.160
they know they have to either put up or shut up.57900:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.440
In other words, they've got to do a rapid turnaround58000:31:05.440 --> 00:31:07.119
to not be on the chopping block. You know what58100:31:07.119 --> 00:31:09.319
I'm saying. I mean, I think part of it is58200:31:09.680 --> 00:31:13.480
I would doubt at the moment that all the parks58300:31:13.480 --> 00:31:15.240
he didn't mention are going to be cut are going58400:31:15.279 --> 00:31:17.839
to be sold. I would doubt that. I do think though,58500:31:17.839 --> 00:31:19.839
that all the parks, as you know, as you said,58600:31:20.200 --> 00:31:22.559
the parks he didn't mention, or the parks that are underperforming,58700:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.519
need to be looked at. They need to be evaluated.58800:31:26.519 --> 00:31:27.799
But that's true of any good business.58900:31:28.160 --> 00:31:28.720
Yeah.59000:31:28.960 --> 00:31:34.200
If if you run a restaurant and your your spinach59100:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.319
espresso doesn't make any money, you got to cut it59200:31:36.359 --> 00:31:40.839
from the menu. Yeah. So, and if you have spinach espresso,59300:31:42.200 --> 00:31:44.839
what are you thinking? Anyway, We've gone over on time.59400:31:45.640 --> 00:31:49.000
This is yet. This is six Flags Theme Park in59500:31:49.039 --> 00:31:51.480
thirty I'm sorry, Green Tag Theme Park in thirty and59600:31:51.599 --> 00:31:53.880
on behalf of Philipernandez with Ganton Lighting and Control on59700:31:53.960 --> 00:31:57.680
myself Scott Swinson with Scott Swinson Creative Development. We hope59800:31:57.680 --> 00:32:00.000
to see you all next week. Thank you so much,59900:32:00.200 --> 00:32:00.799
have a great week.
