Oct. 26, 2025

Travis Kelce Buys into Six Flags & TEA Global Experience Index

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Kansas City Chiefs star—and Taylor Swift’s fiancé—Travis Kelce now owns a 9% stake in Six Flags alongside hedge fund Jana Partners, instantly making the struggling park chain a national headline. Former Cedar Fair CEO Matt Ouimet, however, wasn’t impressed—publicly calling out the board for “cycling through CEOs, destroying value, and failing to show ownership” while urging the next chief executive to rebuild with leaders who actually understand entertainment. Philip and Scott unpack what Kelce’s investment really means: Is it a lifeline, a PR distraction, or a sign activist investors are circling?

The hosts also dive into the TEA Global Experience Index, which shows global theme-park attendance up 2.4% in 2024—but growth driven almost entirely by China and the Middle East, while U.S. parks stay flat and pivot to revenue optimization. With Disney, Universal Beijing, and Shanghai Disneyland leading the charge, what can domestic operators learn from markets that are still expanding? Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.

WEBVTT

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Okay from our studios in Los Angeles in Tampa. Yes,

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I'm back home in Los Angeles. This is Green Tag

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Theme Parking thirty. I'm Philip and I'm joined as always

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by my co host Scott Swinston of Scott Swinston creat Development.

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On green Tag, we look at the top news each

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week and explain why it matters to industry professionals. And

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this week we're gonna recap a little bit of the

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latest from the sixth Flag Saga, and then we're going

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to talk about the report, the massive report that's out

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from the Tea looking at the Global Experience Index for

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twenty twenty four and what big trends they have brought

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up in that report. Yeah, but a first, the six

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Flag Saga continues.

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It's such a soap opera. It is such a soap opera.

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It's now gotten to the point now where it's like

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we're almost jumping the shark because we've got oh and

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now we introduce an unexpected celebrity into the mix.

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One hundred percent. This really should be a reality TV show, like.

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Oh my god, oh my god.

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Yeah, it would be great.

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So over this past week, some just quick updates on

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this the Kansas City Chief celebrity tight and Taylor swcionce

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Travis Kelcey, he partnered with a hedge fund investment firm

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on Tuesday to own nine percent of the six Flags

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shares and he gave a statement about this Travis did.

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He said, I'm a lifelong Sixlogs. I'm a life long

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six Flags fan and grew up going to these parks

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with my family and friends. The chance to help make

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six Flags special for the next generation is one I

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couldn't pass up. And of course, in response to that

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because basically the fund said that they're going to be

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reaching out to the board to give suggestions on how

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they shouldn't manage their their parks, and the board in

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response said basically that they will look forward to hearing

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blah blah blah, you know, listening to them. And so

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there was that that happened. But then around the same

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time that happened, and the former CEO of the Cedar

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Fair Parks, so before the merger that Matt from which

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was the CEO of the Cedar Fair Properties, he also

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gave a statement about basically just about the management of

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six Flags and it's not.

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Great.

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So basically what he's I was just going to read

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what he said because I think it's fascinating and how

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it all fits together. So he said, for years before

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the merger, it wasn't clear to me that the six

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Flags board members felt ownership in the results that were produced.

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Cycling through CEOs, producing overly optimistic projections and overseeing rapid

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value destruction while maintaining their seats were obvious clues. Post merger,

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it appears the historical pattern continues.

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Now.

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The same players, plus some who served previously for fun,

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are charged with hiring a new CEO the recently elected chairperson.

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As legacy six board member activists hold two seats, and

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there are two other new editions. Even under the best circumstances,

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it is unlikely that this board would function productively. The

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company is troubled and has big decisions to make. I'm

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hoping that one of those decisions is acknowledging reality and

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then giving the new CEO an opportunity to retire some

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board members and replace them with people who have proven

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track records with analogous businesses and demonstrated leadership qualities that

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will make them strong enough thought partners. He or she

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deserves this as a foundation for moving forward. So this

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is all just very interesting because last week we did

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on the show, we talked about the board members that

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we're leaving, and then of course the CEO is also

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announced that he's leaving. And in last week's episode, we

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got quite a lot of comments from everyone, which we

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love to see, and it's comments just about everything and

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thoughts on Salim leaving and thoughts on everything. And it

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seems to me, if I'm going to sum up all

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of the comments, it seems like a lot of people

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feel that what's been missing from the board exactly what

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this guy is saying, which is that there's a lack

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of somebody who understands entertainment basically and understands what the

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business actually is. And it seems like, you know, of

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course Selne was there to oversee the transition, but maybe

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he's not needed now that that transition is. You know,

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he's a merger specialist, right, so maybe that's why he's

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not needed anymore. But basically, it seems like everyone in

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the comments thinks that there's so much still opportunity with

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Six Flags, but they need someone who understands entertainment and

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understands the business. And it seems like that's exactly what

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both of these people are saying. The previous CEO of

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the of the Cedar Fair Parks, that's basically what he's saying.

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And then even Travis Kelce you know who is like

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who basically became an activist investor. That's kind of what's happening,

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is that he purchased nine percent to become an activist

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investor because he wants to return it to what it

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was when he was a child, which was a Cedar

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Park is where he went to when he was a child,

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and so what he's referencing is what it used to

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be like at you know, back as a seed property.

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And so it seems like all of the both of

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these folks as well as a lot of people in

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the comments, are all pointing back to if all of

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six Flaves could become what the seed of for parks

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were previously with an entertainment focus, that would be what

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everyone seems to want. So I'm just putting all this together, Scott,

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what do you think?

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No, I think that's I think that's uh. I think

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it's a very good summation. I Uh, I think that

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I think that chat GPT did a really nice job.

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We'll just call it chet chet PG. I don't know

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pH will make it. pH there we go.

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Yes, Philip who I just read everything and I was like, ah,

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this seems to make sense.

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It makes sense to me.

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Yeah.

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No, I think that's right, and I think it goes back.

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You know, we've been talking about this, this merger for

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way too many, way too many episodes, and you know

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we all said this, we I think you and I

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said the same thing. If you could take the magnitude

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of six Flags and the quality of Cedar Fair and

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and put them together, you'd have a very successful company.

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And I think that's what a lot of people during

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the merger were hoping for. I think that, you know,

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to to go back to what the former Sedar Fair,

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the former Theedar Fair CEO said, it's it is time

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to let some of the people who made six Flags

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what it was and maybe standing in the way of

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making it what it potentially can be. Yeah, it could

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be time for them to to move on. I think

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that you know, this huge, this huge influx of money,

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the Travis Kelcey thing. I think, yes, the money is good.

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I think it also is even more important that it

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shows that someone a lot of people respect someone. A

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lot of people are a fan of uh is connected

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to someone. Even more people are a fan of is

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showing that, you know, they they think that six Flags

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has the ability to rise again and come back to

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what it once was. I think the optics of that

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are probably as important, if not more important, than the

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actual finance and the fact that he's, you know, as

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a percentage ownership. That means it's not just a hey,

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I want six Flags to be good. No, it's hey,

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I want six Flags to be good, and now I

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have a rather significant vote in what you do to

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make it that way. So I think that the optics

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of that are very strong. I I can understand the

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the and I think we said it too very early on.

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There was going to be some arm wrestling between the

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two between the two factions, and having done small projects

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for both companies before they merged, I knew that they

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ran very differently. I knew that there were some people

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who were looking at the other and this happened on

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both sides. We're looking at the other going, well, that's

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not the way we do it, or that's not that's

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not a profit that doesn't make any sense from a

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profitability standpoint, or that's not a good quality choice or

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blah blah blah blah blah. So apparently the the ideologies

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have not found a way to align quite as quickly

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as I think everybody wanted them to. I think that,

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you know, starting with starting with a fresh CEO, starting

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with some fresh board members, so that it stops being well,

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that's not the way we did it in Cedar Fair,

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that's not the way we did it in six Flags.

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Who cares? Those companies don't exist anymore, you know, they are,

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they are now under one umbrella. And I you know,

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we we said very early on that this is going

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to have some significant growing pains, and it has gone

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on longer than I anticipated. To be honest, I was

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I was hoping, you know, because again I grew up

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in a six Flags park. You know, although when I

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was growing up in the park, it wasn't Flags yet,

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it was Marriott than Paramount than Bally, but then became

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a six Flags parks. So I want six Flags to

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be successful. I want this large, you know, this massive

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conglomerateive parks to be successful. But you know, as we've

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hinted at in previous shows, is now the best time

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to have a bunch of gigantic theme parks. Is that

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what is driving the attendance right now? And I don't

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know the answer to that. I have my opinion, but

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I don't know the answer to that. And especially a

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conglomertion of theme parks that has not been able to

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find the synergies that they were hoping for in this merger,

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has not been able to find a clear sense of

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direction or purpose. And again sounded like a broken record,

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but that north star ain't there.

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You know, we don't have a.

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Clear, sticky idea of what the what the company stands for,

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what they're aiming for, what they should be about. And

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it you know, based on the board members that are leaving,

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the CEO that's leaving, the comments from the CEO of

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the other half of the company that is not with

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all the comments that have come out, it's clear that

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they don't know where they're going. And I think the

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idea of getting somebody who has some experience in the

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themed entertainment world, I think that makes a ton of sense.

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I think this is a situation where it's what it's

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the curse of knowledge. I think there's a bunch of

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people there who know how businesses work, but don't know

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how theme parks work. So they assume that everybody else

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is just just eager and able to jump on the

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bandwagon of how to make businesses work. But this is

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a unique business. This is a business that has has

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a lot more to do with creating memories than creating widgets.

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So you know, if you're coming from a widget based company,

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or you're coming from even a service based company that

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is a say, for example, a food purveyor, it's still

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not the same. You know, your your optics for a

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theme park are essential. You have to make certain that

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people feel good about your brand, feel good about your product,

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and most importantly, feel good when they're there, because that's

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what's going to make them want to come back. And

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you can do all the psychological studies and all the

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marketing studies you want, but bottom line, you need to

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clearly and succinctly be able to tell potential guests here's

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what we stand for, here's why you should come, and

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here's how you're going to feel.

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Yep.

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So, so if you're looking for board members, you know,

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call me. I'll be happy to help in any way

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that I can. God, if they call, wouldn't that be

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just hysterically.

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You were insane.

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No, no, but again, I.

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Don't think I would want into that mess because it

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does seem like a little bit too.

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Much like power bargle.

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That isn't I'd go in as a consultant.

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Yeah, I'd go in as a consultant.

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At a heartbeat, that would be I'd be more than

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happy to share the thirty plus years of doing various

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theme parks. I would love that. I probably wouldn't be

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listened to. I would find it very frustrating because again

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I know how these these kinds of mega corporations work.

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But it would be it'd be so much fun to

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be that that fly on the wall, sitting in the

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corner while they're while the big boys are, you know,

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sitting at the kids table while the grown ups are arguing.

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That would be really fun.

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So well, I looking at last week's video, something else

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I wanted to just bring up is just u there

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is a lot of great comments in there, and you know,

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we always like it when people comment, because, of course

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Scott always says, you know, that's one of the reasons

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that we started the show is to find a place

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for discussion about these topics.

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And I think it's all great.

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It's great to hear all the perspectives from everybody that

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commented last week. There's too many comments to call out,

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you know, but there was a few one by Colin McNeil,

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which I think kind of sums it up. He says, honestly,

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I think things are going according to plan, or at

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least it seems that way. I've always thought the main

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reason Saline Bassol was brought in as six Flag CEO

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is because he has a background in managing large corporate

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mergers and restructuring efforts. So go figure when summerger was done.

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He would move on. You know.

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I think that we agree that makes sense. Richard Zman

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has been an okay CEO for Cedar Fair, but he

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hasn't done the best job when it comes to placemaking,

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theming or adding more family oriented rides.

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I think that's also a good point.

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Looking at other parks with stronger themed areas and more

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focus on overall guest experience, it's clear that those investments

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help improve both.

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Reputation and long term brand value.

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I think Scott just said that that now seems to

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be the focus. Family attractions bring in more revenue and

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themed areas or rides or storytelling elements tend to last

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much longer and leave a big impact not just on

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guests but on the culture itself. It's clear that direction

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is the future of the industry, and I think six

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Flags knows that and wants to find leadership capable of

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bringing that vision to life across such a massive company.

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And I think that that last part, whether or not

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they know or not, and whether or not they will

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find a leadership capable of doing that, I think is

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what the former CEO is trying to get at in

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his comments. Basically, I think he's advocating and potentially Travis

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Kelsey is also all these people are also are advocating for,

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like finding that CEO, but also giving him the leeway

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by making sure there are board members that support that

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vision that are then supporting him. So it's like not

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just keeping on a bunch of old board members who

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oversaw value destruction to put it as the as a

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he said, but to find someone who will connect all

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these chains. So that's a very insightful comment I thought

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less week from Colin McNeil. But of course there's a

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lot of comments on there, so everyone should go check

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us out.

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And please drop here.

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And I'd say Colin is also in Detroit studying civil

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engineering at Wayne, so good luck with that and wants

288
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to potentially get into the industry.

289
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So Scott and I will be at Ayappa Welcome it

290
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comes to you.

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Yeah, it's come, say hello. I'm teaching every day, disgusting

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every day. Philip and I are teaching a session at

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the Haunting Grounds, so just check the check the schedule.

294
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And I don't think Phillip's listed yet on the schedule,

295
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but if you see my name on the Haunting Grounds,

296
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Philip will be there yep.

297
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And one other two. That's pretty insightful g Robbel eight

298
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nine five four. He comments pretty regularly and I think

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he always has good insights to share on there. He

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said the plan they revealed was essentially the Cedar Fair season,

301
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a fun plan the institute in the last decade, which

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we've talked about that agnasium. But that's that's pretty on point, right.

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And then to what Scott said, are you just going

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to actually do it, like execute the thing? But instead

305
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of just making the plan, he goes on to say

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they are just attempting to bring it to six Flag

307
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Legacy Parks. Well, to the parks that are worth keeping.

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They have named six six Flags legacy parks they intend

309
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to invest in heavily, and they think it can be

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brought up to six Flags to the Cedar Fair big

311
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park level. They have not at all hidden their intention

312
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to divest from parks from day one of the merger.

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They have twenty seven park currently in fifteen parks of

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prese nine percent of the financial assaults in eighty percent

315
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of the attendant so any park not in the top

316
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fifteen is potentially expendable.

317
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So yeah, we've also.

318
00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:39.759
Talked about all of that about how but then again

319
00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:42.399
it's just a question of if not all the leadership

320
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is aligned on bringing the Sedar Fair ideology to the

321
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other six Flags parks, then it's not going to work.

322
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And I think that's the part that I think all

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these folks are talking about, where they're like, clearly there

324
00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:02.080
is misalignment in the board as whether or not to

325
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actually take that Cedar Fair ideology and expand it to

326
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six Flags versus the other way around, which is what

327
00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:10.599
Scott was mentioning before about the factions.

328
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And I think and I think now, I think now

329
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is the point where we all have to stop we

330
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all have to stop reinforcing the is it the six

331
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Flags model or the Cedar Fair model, because neither of

332
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those companies exist. I said it earlier. Neither of those

333
00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:25.240
companies exist anymore. It is now one company and we

334
00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:29.559
need to find a re There needs to be a

335
00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:33.559
reevaluation of the plan, a reevaluation of the north Star,

336
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a reevaluation of the execution, and that can only be

337
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done with people who have industry experience within the theme

338
00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:43.119
dittraction industry. You know, it's it's great to have, and

339
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I will say, you know, if it's the right CEO,

340
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they don't necessarily they don't necessarily have to have theme

341
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detraction experience. It would be nice, it makes sense, it

342
00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.559
makes it easier, but at the very least they have

343
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to surround themselves with people who do because again, managing

344
00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.759
at that high level, they're not going to be involved

345
00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.880
in what is this, what's the story we're telling? At

346
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:10.039
King's Dominion, they couldn't care less. I mean they could

347
00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.079
care because they're looking, of course at the at the

348
00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.359
well being of the company overall. But if they've got

349
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:18.039
great storytellers or great people who can can enact that

350
00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:23.160
and they respect that skill set, then that's a potential

351
00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.200
really good CEO at this point. You know, I always say,

352
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don't surround yourself with people who think like you. Surround

353
00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:30.599
yourself with people who think differently from you, but you

354
00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:35.000
respect so that you can continue to grow and make

355
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the best of the uh, make the best of the

356
00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:42.960
environment as it is. But I think if if six

357
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Flags were to make that leap of faith to stop

358
00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:51.559
going well cuedor Fair wanted to do it this way,

359
00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:53.200
Six Flags wanted to do it this way, blah blah

360
00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:54.519
blah blah blah, going back and forth.

361
00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:54.839
Back and forth.

362
00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:58.759
Screw it, don't care, it doesn't matter. Start from scratch,

363
00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:02.880
rebuild based on what you know, and say this is

364
00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:06.599
now that we've come together, here are our assets here,

365
00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.200
you know, do a swat analysis. Here's here's what's working,

366
00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:13.519
here's what's not. And our new goal is this and

367
00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:15.960
I and I love the idea. I mean, I hate

368
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to see parks go away, but I love the idea

369
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of looking at, you know, what are our top performers,

370
00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:24.920
what parks as we saw with some of the parks

371
00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:29.880
that have already been on the chopping block, so to speak,

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what parks are competing with other parks that are now

373
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part of the same system. I think that you know,

374
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cutting back to be lead and mean, this is nothing

375
00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:43.640
new for six Flags, you know, so there shouldn't be

376
00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:47.359
any fight from the old guard from six Flags, because

377
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:50.680
I'm just kind of going back and going back in time.

378
00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:53.200
There was a time where six Flags just wanted to expand,

379
00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:55.079
and they expanded and expanded it. They bought everything they

380
00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:57.960
possibly could. They bought every family theme park they could afford.

381
00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:03.240
Some of them were not partarticularly good, and they were

382
00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:05.880
even embarrassed to put their names on it. I will

383
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:10.079
use this a very specific example. We went to Ohio

384
00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:15.079
many many years ago and went to Jeaga Lake just

385
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:17.240
after six Flags had purchased it. But it was not

386
00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:20.759
six Flags Jeaga Lake. It was Jeaga Lake, a six

387
00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:24.920
Flags property in really tiny print underneath. And what they

388
00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:28.079
did was they spread themselves so thinly that they couldn't

389
00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:32.240
make any of any of their parks stellar enough to

390
00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:36.400
stand out above the competition, so they had to pull

391
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:41.880
back again. I think they need to take the insights

392
00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:46.240
from both sides, throw them into a barrel, shake them

393
00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:49.799
all up, and say, Okay, here's what the plan is

394
00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:53.400
for this company because it's not Cedar Fair and it's

395
00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:58.759
not the old six Flags. It's something new. And I

396
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:00.880
think that goes back to what we've said from the

397
00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:02.680
get go. If we could take the best of both

398
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.440
worlds and find a way to have them enhance one another,

399
00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:10.079
and you know, you may need a new CEO. Who's

400
00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:11.079
going to open the door for that?

401
00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:14.000
Yep? Yeah, with board support, Yeah.

402
00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:17.839
With board support, yes, absolutely, absolutely.

403
00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:20.480
Okay, Well that one. Now we're all caught up on

404
00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:24.640
the Six Flags saga. So until next time, Until next time.

405
00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:28.079
Yeah, there's there'll be another chapter. Well, I think we

406
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.160
should get some like six Flags that that sort of

407
00:21:30.359 --> 00:21:32.799
bad soap opera music that plays.

408
00:21:32.519 --> 00:21:34.640
In the background, that sort of we need a sting

409
00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:37.160
for it. Yeah yeah, yeah.

410
00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:40.960
Next time on the Six Flags saga.

411
00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:45.240
Well, let's our next story. Here is about the TEA

412
00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:50.440
Global Experience Index, which just dropped. Now, the TEA does

413
00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:54.480
this every year, and this is I think probably the

414
00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:58.240
stand the gold standard I think for looking at attendance

415
00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:02.559
levels at everything, not just theme parks. It also covers museums,

416
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.680
and it covers water parks and the whole sphere of

417
00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:11.839
location based entertainment. And they do compile it every year.

418
00:22:12.359 --> 00:22:16.440
It gives us the numbers that we need to understand

419
00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:22.240
what it's trending for attendance and expansions all worldwide. So

420
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:26.440
it's a big report. It's forty three pages. I did

421
00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:28.599
go through the entire report, and we're not going to

422
00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:30.640
get to all of it before we finish this show,

423
00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.359
so we're going to continue it the discussion in our Patreon.

424
00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:35.319
We'll just get as far as we can.

425
00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:39.400
But on a macro level, the combined attendance of the

426
00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:42.480
top twenty five theme parks globally grew two point four

427
00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:45.559
percent in twenty twenty four. Remember that these reports are

428
00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:48.200
compiled yearly, and so right now we're looking at twenty

429
00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:52.559
twenty four numbers, so they're lagging indicators. But last year

430
00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.640
the combined attents of the top twenty five parks grew

431
00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:59.519
two point four percent, which is good. However, the new

432
00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.400
it's all in the nuance here. In general, the leading

433
00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:04.880
parks in the mature markets of the US, Japan, and

434
00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:07.960
Western Europe saw flat or even potentially a little bit

435
00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:13.119
negative in some parks changes, while the leading international parks

436
00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.359
in China saw notable growth and registered record years, including

437
00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:20.720
Shanghai Disneyland, which grew five percent, and Universal SuDS Beijing,

438
00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:22.680
which grew eight point six percent.

439
00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.279
Wow, that's huge. So that's huge. Yeah.

440
00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:28.480
So on a macro sense, basically, what they're saying is

441
00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.640
the more modern developed areas have kind of like got

442
00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:35.240
that post pandemic. Everything's kind of like settled, and they're

443
00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:37.920
just going flat right now, which isn't great for some

444
00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:40.920
of us, especially if all of your business comes from

445
00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:42.640
those markets or whatnot.

446
00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:43.640
It's kind of flat.

447
00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:47.000
But it does dovetail with what we've talked about, which

448
00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:51.119
is that there's really nothing opening in these regions next year.

449
00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:53.680
You know, it's kind of like a little bit of

450
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:56.759
a weird year, but you know it's because things are flat, right,

451
00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:00.839
and just the massive growth that's happening in China as

452
00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.160
well as the Middle East, you know that there's a

453
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:07.440
So they mentioned the Disney investing sixty billion, the Magic

454
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.599
Kingdom expansion, Disney Abu Dhabi six Flags, Kadia mentioned all

455
00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:13.400
these big projects that are happening. But if you look

456
00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:15.960
at the macro trends, a lot of the investment is

457
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:19.200
tilted in the Middle East and then in China, And

458
00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:23.400
so if you look at here North America parks remain

459
00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:27.400
relatively flat, showing the minor decline of zero point three percent.

460
00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.559
The report says that this reflects normalization of post pandemic

461
00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:37.279
recovery patterns. So it also says it is a trend

462
00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:41.039
of operators focusing on revenue optimization rather than poor than

463
00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:44.319
pure volume. We have also talked about this, this whole

464
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:47.160
the constant back and forth right that I've talked about

465
00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:49.480
the constant pendulum of are you measuring park attendants or

466
00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:52.240
are you measuring per caps? And the report also acknowledges

467
00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:54.559
that that it's like some operators are switching over to

468
00:24:54.599 --> 00:24:57.440
measuring per caps versus attendants because of tendants is flat and.

469
00:24:57.319 --> 00:24:59.519
This pendulum goes back and forth. Whi's whatever looks to

470
00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:03.000
the stockhol That's right, That's really the bottom line. It's

471
00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.799
the bottom line, is it?

472
00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:05.039
You know?

473
00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:07.920
You can I can remember back in the day at

474
00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.119
one of the parks that I have worked with for

475
00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:16.160
at the marketing the marketing year end review was well,

476
00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:19.960
we placed this many ads, and we we did this

477
00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:26.160
many in studios, and we had this many invited invited

478
00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.640
groups to come from all of these different tourist places.

479
00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:32.599
And therefore we had a successful year, and I'm like,

480
00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:35.880
but how many clicks of the turnstile did that make?

481
00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:38.519
Or how much how many dollars did I mean, you

482
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:41.319
can take you can take data and statistics and make

483
00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:44.319
it pretty much say anything you want. But I think

484
00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:46.920
that in this particular case, we have to recognize that

485
00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:50.160
you've got to read between the lines. You've got to

486
00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:53.000
dig a little bit deeper. You've got to find out. Okay,

487
00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:55.319
so they're down in attendance, but they're up in per cap,

488
00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:57.920
or they're up in per cap but they're down in attendance.

489
00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.359
I I was used to jokingly say, I don't get

490
00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:03.799
paid in attendance.

491
00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:06.119
Yeah, so yep.

492
00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:11.960
Well, it should surprise no one that Disney has maintained

493
00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:18.119
their market leading position. And you know, the report says

494
00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:22.160
that basically Epcot. Domestically, Epcot saw the largest attendance increase,

495
00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:24.640
which is one point three percent, as a result of

496
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:27.160
the multi year transformation of the Communic core Hall, which

497
00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:33.119
we've talked to Agnasim about that. However, over at Universal

498
00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:37.440
in twenty twenty four, it saw that the North American

499
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.440
parks lost all attendance, with both parks in Orlando dropping

500
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:43.039
more than two and a half percent and Hollywood dropping

501
00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:47.079
nearly ten percent in twenty twenty four attendance wise, they

502
00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:50.400
also experienced four percent decline in revenue from twenty twenty

503
00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:55.759
three due to lower park attendants and foreign currency fluctuations.

504
00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:01.160
So what this chart reminded me, getting out of all

505
00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:03.200
the nitty gritty and all that, what this reminded me

506
00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:06.279
of was just how crazy Disney is compared to everybody. Like,

507
00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:09.680
if you look at the tw twenty twenty four numbers,

508
00:27:09.799 --> 00:27:12.720
Disney is at one hundred and forty five million, right,

509
00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:16.160
and the next person is at eighty seven, and it's

510
00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:19.680
Fanta Wild, which we never talk about, but like it's

511
00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:20.640
like eighty seven.

512
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:21.759
It's like, it's like.

513
00:27:21.799 --> 00:27:25.640
Literally, it's like one hundred and forty five million attendance

514
00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:28.839
for Disney, and then eighty seven million for Franto Wild,

515
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:33.279
and then sixty two million for Merlin, and then we

516
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:36.839
finally get to Universal, which is at fifty eight million,

517
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:38.920
and then you get to six Flags, which is at

518
00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:42.240
fifty million. So in other words, six Flags even combined,

519
00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:46.640
is only one third of Disney's attendants, and it's also

520
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:52.079
only the fifth and also not even that much too

521
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:55.720
separate from Universal in twenty twenty four, which is before

522
00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:59.359
Epic Universe. But just so it's just it's just interesting,

523
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:02.880
right how how it's like, oh, actually number two and

524
00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:04.880
number three or stuff that we never talk about, which

525
00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:07.559
is Fantawild in Merlin, who are just doing their things

526
00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.960
in in China, and then Europe, and then you get

527
00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:13.839
to Universal and then six Flags, which we spend so

528
00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:16.400
much time talking about, but it's only you know, one

529
00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:17.480
third of Disney.

530
00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:22.759
Well, and I think I think Americans get very very

531
00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:26.400
America centric when they're when they're talking about theme parks

532
00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:30.240
because and I'm guilty of it too, you know, in

533
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:35.240
this past year, having visited both both Shamlong Spaceship and

534
00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:41.480
port Aventurro World, Ye, you these are things that I

535
00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.279
had never and this I'm embarrassed to say it, but

536
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.440
I had heard of, but didn't really know what they

537
00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:53.559
were or what level they were successful unsuccessful, how grand

538
00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:58.359
they were, how polished they were, how much the guest

539
00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:02.920
experience supersedes so many of the American parks it's not

540
00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:08.319
even funny. Yeah, so yeah, we we And and again

541
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:11.960
I think Disney recognizes that because again there's not a

542
00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:15.599
region really that Disney hasn't expanded into now that they've

543
00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:19.759
announced a w Dabis right, you know, so they they

544
00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:23.480
have they have fingers in all the pies and it

545
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:26.960
just goes. You know, we were talking about six Flags

546
00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:29.480
trying to find their north star. Well, Disney's north star

547
00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:33.039
has always been tell a great story, tell a great story,

548
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.319
and keep expanding on that story. Open, you know, open

549
00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:38.759
new chapters, open new doors for that story, find new

550
00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:42.160
ways to tell that story. You know, even with with

551
00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:48.000
ips that are incredibly powerful and popular, to take the

552
00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:51.319
parts and pieces and put them together in a new way.

553
00:29:52.039 --> 00:29:57.200
You know, the the the Nemo show at Animal Kingdom,

554
00:29:57.359 --> 00:29:59.799
or the which I during the Edge of tour that

555
00:29:59.799 --> 00:30:01.960
I did last year at Iappa or two years ago

556
00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:06.920
at Iappa, the whole way they basically deconstructed that story,

557
00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:08.799
took all the parts and pieces and put them together

558
00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:12.400
into a new story that felt like it was something

559
00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:15.480
we already had experienced and already knew, but was fresh

560
00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.640
and different. You know, That storytelling power is amazing. The

561
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.880
Villain show, you know, taking the villains and redoing them

562
00:30:22.119 --> 00:30:26.720
in a new light and a new way is I

563
00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:30.839
think why Disney continues to be on top is because

564
00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:33.640
they just keep telling good stories. They keep expanding into

565
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.000
markets where people want to hear those good stories. So

566
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:39.079
hopefully you enjoy listening to our good stories. But unfortunately

567
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.519
this story has come to an end, so we all

568
00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:42.680
lived happily ever after.

569
00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:45.160
For those of you.

570
00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:48.720
For those of you who are watching on YouTube, once again,

571
00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:51.559
please subscribe. Thank you so much. Continue to comment. We

572
00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:54.359
loved all the comments. As Philip mentioned earlier, the whole

573
00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:56.319
reason we started doing this is not to provide all

574
00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:58.759
the answers, but to get people in the industry talking

575
00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:01.720
about what the key trends are, what the key topics are,

576
00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:04.200
so that you are not going into it blind, so

577
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:06.880
that you are going into every day of your work

578
00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:09.680
trying to make it better and trying to figure out

579
00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.079
what can we do to You know, we try to

580
00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:14.960
provide takeaways, but it's not every takeaway is going to

581
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:17.640
be applicable to every single person listening. But if you

582
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.519
understand the trends and how things are changing, then we've

583
00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:23.559
done our job because that way you continue to comment

584
00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:26.640
and continue to ask questions. So thank you all very

585
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:29.359
much for being a part of this process, and please

586
00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:32.160
continue because we really do appreciate it, and we will

587
00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:35.759
continue to do our best to at least mention some

588
00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:38.319
of the comments and bring them to light as part

589
00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:40.039
of the show, because we want to share that with

590
00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:43.160
everybody who watches or listens. So until next time, this

591
00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:46.480
is Scott Swinson and on behalf of myself and Philip Bernandez.

592
00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:48.240
This is Green Tech Theme Park and thirty and we

593
00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:49.920
will see you next week.