Dec. 29, 2025

Universal Considers New Middle East Theme Park

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Universal Destinations & Experiences has begun early planning for a theme park in Saudi Arabia, according to an exclusive Wall Street Journal report. The project would be structured as a licensing deal with government-backed funding—the same model Disney announced for its Abu Dhabi park.

This marks Universal's second attempt in the region. In 2008, the company broke ground on Universal Studios Dubailand, but the project stalled after constructing little more than an entrance arch when financing collapsed during the global financial crisis.


For Universal—fresh off the opening of Epic Universe, with Universal Kids Resort (Texas) and a UK park in development—a Middle East licensing deal would establish a presence without capital risk. The licensing model solves multiple problems simultaneously. It generates immediate revenue, provides access to the region's growing tourism market, and avoids the extended profitability timelines that characterize parks Universal builds itself. The structure mirrors successful UAE projects at Yas Island, where SeaWorld, Ferrari World, and Warner Bros. World all operate under licensing or joint venture agreements with government-backed developers.

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WEBVTT

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Okay, from our studios in Los Angeles and Tampa. This

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

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

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Swinson of Scott Swinson greatd Development. On Green Tag, we

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look at the week's top news and explain why it

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matters to theme park professionals. This week, we're going to

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be talking about the news that just dropped about the

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potentially the new Universal park in the Middle East, and

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then we're going to get two listener questions as this

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is the last episode of the year and just in time,

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I finally have my Christmas decorations up.

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So, yeah, you put your Christmas decorations up? What the

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day before Christmas?

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Well, I mean that's when you're supposed to do it, right.

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What are you living in the Edwardian era?

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What is this? You turned the tree together? It's an activity?

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So did you trim the tree with everybody who you

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celebrated with?

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Of course? And I have my weird theme park ornaments. Yeah. Well,

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we wanted to thank everyone who commented in last week's

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episode as well, especially the common that add context to

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what I left out, because usually it's me leaving stuff out.

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So I think that's really important to get those details

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in there whenever we miss anything, and I love reading

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through them and seeing more details and information that I

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didn't know about some items. So I think it's excellent

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and we hope that you all will continue to do

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that and correct me when I get information wrong or

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leave stuff out not necessarily wrong.

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Well, And I think it's important to recognize too that

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because Philip and I were just having this discussion before

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we started the show today, that we are doing this

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show so that it prompts conversation, and if we continue

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to build this online community where you guys can chat

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with each other and share your knowledge, your expertise, your experience,

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where we just have kind of tipped the first domino,

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and you guys can continue to fall and make it

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a greater, more impactful experience. That makes us feel really

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good because that's kind of the purpose, that's kind of

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the point of the show. You know, we're not here

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to give you in thirty minutes, every single minute detail

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about every single thing that's happening in the industry. That

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that's a really, first of all, a really dull show.

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And secondly, we couldn't maintain that, and by way, I

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mean Philip because he does all the research. So it's

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it's one of those situations where we really I just

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want to echo what Philip was saying. We really appreciate

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the fact that you're building a community. You're building an

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online community that we just kind of helped steer and

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point in the right direction. So yeah, I love hearing

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all the He's even got me starting to read him

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and I never read stuff online. I'm able, but I

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believe it. But it's really it's really fun because you

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guys are taking and sharing your expertise, your knowledge, your

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experience on the topics that we've sort of put the

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framework out there for. So we'll continue to try to

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give you these canvases and you just continue to paint

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like crazy because it makes us all better. It makes

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it a much richer experience for all of us, and

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it builds that online community where we can actually help

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one another.

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Yep. Well, I think the perfect way to kind of

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end this year, aside from listener questions, of course, because

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that's a great way to get some feedback, but it's

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also news about a new theme park are potentially news,

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and this was a pretty massive story that actually the

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Wall Street Journal broke exclusively, and it seems like they

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have some sources that they were able to corroborate this with.

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So I'll read here from the article which is which

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is from the Wall Street Journal. It says the Water

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Journal reported that Universal Destinations and Experiences had become early

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planning for a theme park in Saudi Arabia with potential

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funding from a government backed entity through a licensing deal.

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Six Flags Kidia will open, of course on December thirty first,

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and the Dragon ball Z Park and water park under

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construction in the city. Of course, this comes after Disney

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has announced a similar deal to build a new theme

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park in Abu Dhabi. And of course Universal just opened

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the Epic Universe this year and twenty twenty six they're

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going to be opening Universal Kids Resort, and they have

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announced the first theme park in the UK, the Universal's

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first theme park in the UK. So here I'm quoting

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directly from the article. Here it said that Disney said

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It's Abu Dhabi theme park would be a creative to

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earnings from the day it opens, unlike parts it's built

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itself that typically take a well turn of profit. Universal

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previously tried to make a move into the Middle East

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in two thousand and eight when it broke round with

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a partner on Universal Studios Dubailan, but little more than

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a grand entrance art just built before financing fell apart

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to the global financial crisis, the project was eventually canceled.

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So the author isn't drawing the direct line in there

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between the two. But I think what they're trying to

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say is that if it's a licensing deal, which is

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what they're saying it is, then it would operate in

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the same way that the Disney plan is, which we

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talked about that extensively when that news was announced, And

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it seems like when we talk about then, is that

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it's win win because if they're just licensing it, they

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don't have to put their own money into it, and

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they still get the presence in the area. And as

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we have talked about a lot on the show and

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has been backed by a lot of the research from

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the Global Index support that the TEA puts out that

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the Middle East is really the place where a lot

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of the new construction is happening and a lot of

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the funding is in the industry is going on right now.

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It's like you know we said previously too, if you

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want a job, that's a place to go because there's

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so much that's going on there. So to me, I'm

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not my little well always have conpiracy theories about this,

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but I kind of think that this is one where

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I'm not sure if it wasn't leaked on purpose, because

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to me, I think the thing that I was thinking

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as soon as Disney announced, we have all these dominoes

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creating this competitive atmosphere there, and to me, the biggest

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thing that was missing was Universal and it was almost

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becoming a liability in my mind, like what is Universal

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doing about the Middle East? Because they have they don't

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have a big, a big presence there that's like this

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like a park, you know, and they just opened Epic

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and like all this stuff. So I almost would say

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this could have been planned as a way to drum

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up because the whole story is literally just that there's

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talks about this thing happening, and if it happened, it

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would be a licensing thing. So there's not really anything,

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but I think it's just enough to keep it out

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there where it's like Universal isn't rolling over in this market,

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Like Universal is trying to make this market work, and

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if they did it in the same way as dining

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with the licensing, it would be the shareholders would be

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very happy because it's not going to take any money.

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It's just going to be a licenseing. So they'll just

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make money again from day one, they'll have money and

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they'll have access to that audience. So are there any downsides?

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I don't know. I mean, got a lot to go back.

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This is the kind of thing. This is the kind

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of thing that it's a perfect example of when the

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government says, especially a government that is so centralized and

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has such very deep pockets, when they decide, here's what

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we're going to do by twenty thirty, you know, because

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that's the project. Twenty thirty is the Saudi the Saudi

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deadline basically, or for creating their huge they're they're huge

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guest engagement, they're huge for a into attractions, they're huge

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for a into becoming the destination point in that part

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of the world. And so when they have the opportunity

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to have discussions with Universal, of course they're going to

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have them and they're gonna they're going to do it

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the same way. All of the UAE, all of Yas Island,

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and Abu Dhabi was done. You know, everybody thinks it's

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the Sea World park is SeaWorld. We've talked about it

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many many times. It's not its own by morale, it's

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licensed through SeaWorld. It is sort of sort of a

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joint venture, I would say. But the same is true

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with Ferrari World. The same is true with Warner Brothers World,

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and the same will be true with Disney in Saudi.

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The same is true with Six Flags, The same is

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true with Aquarabia, the same is true with Dragon Ball

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Z and I'm guessing the same. I mean, obviously the

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same will be true here with with Universal. So it

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is a it is a very different way of doing things,

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although Disney's been doing it for years. Quite honestly, you know,

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there are Disney parks around the world that are not

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truly Disney parks. They're run to Disney standards, but in

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essence they are a franchise or a lease deal. I'm oversimplifying,

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I realize, But so, yeah, this does not This does

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not surprise me in the least. What surprises me is

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honestly that it's taken this long for this information to

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come out, you know, after because Philip and I had

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the opportunity to walk the Six Flags Park when it

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was under construction in Kadea last year, last year, earlier

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this year at some point in time, and this year

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March right or February. February sounds good to me, but

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unfortunately we weren't able to take any photos or take

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any any video because obviously it was still a working

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construction site. And you know the fact that it is

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scheduled to open this week, the week that this will air,

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that's that's huge. And the main reason I say that's

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huge is having looked at it earlier this year, both

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Philip and I thought this is going to open when?

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And and now it's ready to go. And you know,

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if you want to see what it's all about, go

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ahead and check out the There's there's video everywhere of

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the new coaster. There's video everywhere. I mean, it's like

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five world record holder coasters. There's and and what's interesting

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is you know it's all happening at night because they

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won't open until at least four pm is what they

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told us. So it's a different way of looking at

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theme park. And I think that's the that's the true

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takeaway as theme parks expand into the Middle East, It's

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not going to be the same way we think of

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theme parks here because the culture is different. And you know,

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I'm not saying it's better or worse, it's just different.

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And so there's.

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Going to be the parks are going to have much

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more of a focus on how do they look when

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they're lit at night because that's when the most that's

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when the most g are going to see how the

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parks operate is in darkness. So lighting will become significantly

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more important as far as a business business move I

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think this makes just total sense. I think that Disney.

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I think Disney being in Abu Dhabi is another reason

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that Universal was sparked to either leak or announce the

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possibility of a park in Saudi because they didn't want

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to show that they hadn't stepped up to the party.

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As Philip was saying, you know, this is a they

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need to make sure that they're part of the game,

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and this announcement shows that, you know, they're not completely

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oblivious to the fact that this is where the attractions

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industry is exploding at the moment.

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YEP. So it's interesting when you talk about the how

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it's going to be different there. I didn't really think

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about that, but it's totally it's very true. I mean,

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you think about Tokyo Disneyland, right being one of the

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most famous I think examples of a licensing deal, but

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where they built it to a higher standard even I

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think than than I think that that's gonna because you know,

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it's going to be just a different theme park experience

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to be there in the Middle East, not just because

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of the culture, but like they will make it different

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because when we've said this, I mean the the Six

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Slaves Kidia is the best Six Slags park, and the

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same is true with the Sea World. I think it's

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like there, it's just that weird thing, you know where

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the US, you know, we start the theme parks that

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we don't we didn't know we didn't start theme parks,

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but you know, we our theme parks were built a

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while ago, is a way to put it, and so

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some of the infrastructure is you know, like it depends

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right on. Like Disney is pretty good at upkeep and

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reimagining things, but that's not true with everybody. So you know,

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we but our our theme parks been around for longer, right,

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and then you have these places which are building everything

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right now, and so it's kind of like building their

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first theme parks now when the theme park like industry

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has already evolved to a specific point. So their baseline

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is going to be a lot different than our baseline here.

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And I think that that's that's something I think people

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don't really think about because you know, I mean that

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it's just it's just gonna be a whole different experience

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because you know, imagine if well it's yeah, I guess

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it's it. It's just like when Orlando and everything is

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built roughly around the same time. Hm, you know, I

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imagine that. And remember Magic came to only opened with

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a few I mean it was it wasn't what it was.

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I mean that's where well.

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Disney World opened only with Magic Kingdom and two hotels. Yep,

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when they opened, there were two hotels and the Magic

249
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Kingdom and that was it.

250
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So and I think by those standards, they're doing better.

251
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Well imagine, yeah, imagine, you know, our base the baseline

252
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was that was what seventy mid seventies when what Disney

253
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World opened, So just that was the baseline. Then they've

254
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they've learned from you know, all those years of experience

255
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and have been watching carefully and studying carefully and investing appropriately,

256
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putting money where they need to, and they don't. They're

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not putting themselves in a position where the parks, uh

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I excuse me, where the parks have to turn a

259
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profit instantly. Even though the article says that the Disney

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park will be set up to do that, which I

261
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think they're.

262
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Right for Disney, it will because Disney, Yeah, a licensing deal.

263
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Yeah, they're you know, they're well, Disney's making money off

264
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of it now that licensing deal has already started. They're

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making money. Disney is making money off of it now

266
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and the park's not even open yet. So but I

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think that the intent to build to play a longer

268
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game is something that is also unique. So they've got

269
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they've got two things working in their favorite. Number one,

270
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they have a baseline that is significantly higher based on

271
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the successes and failures that have happened in other places

272
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around the world, so they kind of know what they

273
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can and cannot do. I think Dubai was another great

274
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testing ground. I think that we learned from motion Gate.

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You know, you can't operate an outdoor park during the

276
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day yep. So what have they done in Abu Dhabi

277
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all of the parks are indoors or will only operate

278
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at night yep, or their water parks yep. Well, I

279
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don't think there's to me. I mean, I was trying

280
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to think about if there are any downsides. The only

281
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downside I could think about is that when Disney the announcement,

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they got a lot of blowback for the cultural you

283
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know elements which are in the in the article. That's

284
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whyll the Wall Street Journal article mentions that, and I

285
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just think, I know that this blowback is going to

286
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happen again. But to me, being in the industry and

287
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watching where this goes to me, I've decided, I mean

288
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it is I can even say for our business, for Gantum,

289
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for my business, it's you have to be in this market.

290
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You don't have a choice. And so I think it's

291
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a little bit different for the that are professionals in

292
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the industry, like you have to be in the market.

293
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I mean, I guess you know, you don't have to

294
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work if you're a contractor, you don't have to take

295
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jobs there. But if you're a manufacturer supplier like we are,

296
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you have to. You have to be in. You just

297
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you have to be there. And that's why Ayappa's going there,

298
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and that's why you see so much movement there because

299
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you just you have to you have to. I mean

300
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a lot of the attractions. People kind of flow where

301
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the building is. You know, they move there. So Asia

302
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had its had its moment right when Tokyo and then

303
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We're being built, and then you had Osaka Universal Beijing.

304
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I mean, you people, you kind of we move around,

305
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you know where where the work is, and this is

306
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where the work is, and so that's so you kind

307
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of you have to be there.

308
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So and and you know, I'm sure that there's somebody

309
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who is listening to this or watching us on on

310
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YouTube has already put in a comment. Yes, but it's

311
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a horrible place. They treat people horribly. I know, I

312
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know that comment's already there. And so I want you

313
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to think about it this way if you feel that

314
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that is still true. And you know, I'm only basing

315
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it on my experience in the two times I've been

316
00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:08.159
to Saudi. Two times. Two times i've been to Saudi,

317
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the culture, I did not find the culture nearly as

318
00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:15.840
oppressive or as terrifying as people want to make it

319
00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:17.759
out to be. I may be looking at it through

320
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.080
rose colored glasses, and I may have been put in

321
00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:22.840
a position where I wasn't going to see any of

322
00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:29.960
that supposed trauma or negativity. But I also want you

323
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to think that if they are trying to be a

324
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worldwide destination, then opening attractions like this could conceivably change

325
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the views of their country and change the ways the country,

326
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changes the culture of the country, because they need to

327
00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.320
make certain that everyone is feeling welcome. Now I can

328
00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:52.679
say without hesitation, because I was in you a longer

329
00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:58.480
in the UAE, they stand by it. They hold amorati

330
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to a very high standard. They hold people who are

331
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of Islamic faith to a very high standard. Those rules

332
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have not changed. However, they do have a much more

333
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live and let live response to those people who are

334
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:16.559
not emmorati and who are not of the Islamic faith,

335
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which is why every hotel has a bar, which is

336
00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.599
against the against the law everywhere else. But they recognize

337
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not the whole world doesn't operate the same way we do,

338
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and if we want to encourage them to come and

339
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visit us, we need to make space. We need to

340
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make room for those people who have different views from ourselves.

341
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So it is possible that this announcement, this Universal announcement,

342
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and the Disney announcement, and every other announcement that has

343
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been made, you know, the Warner Brothers expansion that nobody

344
00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.240
remembers of Harry Potter World, which is under construction right now.

345
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I know, which is this is funny, It's gonna be gigantic.

346
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That was not mentioned in any of these articles. And

347
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I was like, yeah, they've kind of forgotten about it.

348
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They'll forget about it until it opens. But all of

349
00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:07.680
these things may actually, instead of forcing people to visit

350
00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:12.200
a quote unquote impressive country, it may actually cause the

351
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country to make space for people who view things differently.

352
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And it may actually adjust the culture as well, because again,

353
00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:23.519
these are business people. They're smart business people, and they

354
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:29.960
want to make certain that these things work. So if

355
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.240
you don't want to go to the Middle East, don't

356
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go to the Middle East. I'm fine with that. If

357
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you don't want to go wherever you don't want to go,

358
00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:38.319
you do you. All I'm saying is, make sure you've

359
00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.880
done your research, make sure that you're not just believing

360
00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.920
the first thing you read. Talk to people who've lived there.

361
00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:47.240
I know several people to kind of tag onto what

362
00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:50.640
Philip was saying about. We go where the work is,

363
00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:53.640
we go where the construction is. I know many people

364
00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.079
from the US who still maintain their US citizenship who

365
00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:01.440
are living in either Dubai or bahbudah Be or ri

366
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Odd and they have they have chosen to live there

367
00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:09.680
permanently because they as one guy says, I can't live

368
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this well back in the United States. I am paid

369
00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:16.079
well for what I do. There's always work. He's a freelancer,

370
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:18.160
there's always work for me. He lives in a high

371
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:22.319
rise that looks out with the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

372
00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:28.880
So you know, you just have to kind of look

373
00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:32.279
look at the people who've actually done it. Ask them,

374
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because if you're in this industry, I can promise you

375
00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:38.920
you will know people who have done work in the

376
00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.480
Middle East. So ask them if you have any questions,

377
00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.920
because I just think that this this is going to

378
00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:47.480
be a hub at least for the next I would

379
00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:54.200
say ten to fifteen years. Yeah I agree with that. Yeah, Okay, okay,

380
00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:55.680
we got we gota. We got to move on to

381
00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:00.279
listener questions. Okay, rely got we all like ten minutes left, Okay, okay,

382
00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.680
So these are listener questions we've collected from the episodes.

383
00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:07.759
There's only four of them. Well but well, you know,

384
00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.640
but that doesn't get very long for us. Okay. So

385
00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:12.599
the first one is actually from our patron from Dennis,

386
00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:14.960
who says, what do you think the impact will be

387
00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.960
to the European parks of the new Universal park in Europe?

388
00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.440
We talked about this on the episode when when the

389
00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.960
when we talked about the Universal UK coming out, Scott,

390
00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:27.559
what do you think?

391
00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:32.720
I think? I think that considering that we all have

392
00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:38.279
a new Universal Park, a Pueeta Foo Park, the exists,

393
00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:41.960
the current you know, Alton Towers did all of those,

394
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:44.440
I think it's only going to be good for the industry.

395
00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:46.559
I think it's going to make it more of a

396
00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:50.799
destination for people who are theme park goers. I think that,

397
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:53.640
you know, I think I told this story during the

398
00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:56.160
the episode where we announced this when I was working

399
00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.000
at Bush Gardens. I was working Atish Gardens when Animal

400
00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:00.799
Kingdom opened, and that's an hour and fifth teen minutes away.

401
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:03.960
We were terrified that a park with animals and roller

402
00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:07.720
coasters was opening within a drive distance of US, and

403
00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:11.240
it was one of the best years to date. Things

404
00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:13.640
have changed since then, but todate it was one of

405
00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.759
the best attendance years Bush Gardens had because people were

406
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.119
coming from around the world who had an interest in

407
00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:22.880
animals and roller coasters, and while they were here they decided, Oh, well,

408
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:25.160
we'll come for Animal Kingdom, but hey, there's this Bush

409
00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.519
Gardens thing. This sounds cool too, let's go check that out.

410
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:31.599
So it actually ended up drawing more tourism to the area,

411
00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:34.799
to the Central Florida area and was beneficial for us.

412
00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:40.200
So I I think at least in the short term,

413
00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.920
it's going to be really really strong. Now is it

414
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:49.160
going to Is it going to cannibalize the existing parks?

415
00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:55.799
Not initially, I don't think, and it.

416
00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:56.519
Will, We'll have to that.

417
00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.680
I'm going to hold my I'm going to hold my

418
00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:02.799
final land for a while because I really don't know

419
00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:07.000
enough about how these are going to impact things like

420
00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:12.400
basic travel and infrastructure for the cities, how difficult it's

421
00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:16.440
going to be to get to these places. But if

422
00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:20.000
it's based on previous experience, I think it's going to

423
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:23.079
be great for tourism in the area. And I don't

424
00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:25.759
think it's going to shut out the existing parks. In fact,

425
00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:27.200
I think it's going to help them at least in

426
00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:29.799
the short term. Yep, I agree with all that.

427
00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:31.599
I think we saw the same thing with Epic is

428
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.039
what I would add to where you saw. You know,

429
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:37.000
Disney saw a pretty big boost. Even Sea World Orlando

430
00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:39.319
saw a boost in numbers. So I think that in

431
00:22:39.319 --> 00:22:41.440
the short term it's going to lead to because again

432
00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.880
people instead of going somewhere else, people are going to

433
00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:47.119
stay there to go, and they'll come from around the

434
00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:50.240
area in a shorter trip to come to that, and

435
00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:51.839
while they're in the area, they can do other things.

436
00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:55.039
The question is going to be how quickly are they

437
00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:58.960
going to adjust to offer. They're not gonna be able

438
00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:01.680
to compete on the same metrics, so again it's how

439
00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:04.599
are you find that point of differentiation. So it's going

440
00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:06.680
to be up to how how quickly they will find

441
00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.440
that point of differentiation when the dust settles and make

442
00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:11.960
a value proposition by being like, if you come to

443
00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.000
this park, you can also come to ours because we

444
00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:14.799
offer something different.

445
00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.079
So right, yeah, find don't try to compete head to head,

446
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.240
don't try to be universal, don't try to be Puis

447
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.519
de fou Be, and I keep using Alton towersco It's

448
00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:27.319
just the first one that comes to mind. But be

449
00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:30.839
who you are, play into that, play into that history,

450
00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:33.960
because let's face it, you know coaster nerds. There are

451
00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:38.160
certain coaster nerds that want to see those those parks

452
00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:40.680
that have been around that they've only dreamt of. And

453
00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:43.359
they may have an excuse now because Universal is going

454
00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:45.920
to be there, but they're still going to visit those parks.

455
00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:51.440
Yeah. So this next question comes from Alexander Simms sixteen thirteen.

456
00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:54.599
They say, hypothetically, let's say you worked for a company

457
00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:57.480
who did architectural work for the Big two, but you

458
00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:03.079
do everything except the massive CAPEX projects. Obviously very hypothetical.

459
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.640
If you wanted to get into the mid tier parks

460
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:09.799
like Hershe and Cedar, six Flags or international parks so

461
00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:12.200
you could have more say in the creative how would

462
00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:15.839
you go about approaching them, especially without your large portfolio

463
00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:16.319
of work.

464
00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.279
Well, if you are, let me let me go back

465
00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:24.519
to the hypothetical situation here. If you are doing architectural

466
00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:27.039
work for the Big two, you have a portfolio of work.

467
00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:30.359
Let's start there. You have a portfolio of work. It

468
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:32.240
may not be, it may be more of.

469
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:34.160
But there's work there. Yeah.

470
00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:38.279
Yeah, if you're working in an architectural firm, you have

471
00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:42.720
a portfolio. I will say that everybody wants to do

472
00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:46.400
creative because everyone thinks that creative is the cool job.

473
00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:49.279
So much competition, Yeah, there's so much.

474
00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:51.720
Competition, and that's you know, I deal with it. I

475
00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:56.079
battle this every single day of my career, which is

476
00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:59.720
why I have no problem working in the smaller and

477
00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.079
more mid range arenas because that way I get to

478
00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:07.200
do what I love. So I guess my point is,

479
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.880
you know, if you're looking to get into the the

480
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.920
hershand seater doesn't exist anymore. If you're looking in to

481
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:18.279
get into Hershend six Flags, that kind of thing, contact

482
00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:22.480
them and say, next time you do an RFP, include me.

483
00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:24.839
See if you can get your name on their their

484
00:25:24.920 --> 00:25:29.359
request for proposal or request for quote so that you

485
00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:31.880
can put in a bid. Because you know, you may

486
00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:35.039
think you may think, well, I haven't built a major attraction.

487
00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:38.200
All I've built is you know, three restaurants and a

488
00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:43.000
bathroom and a gift shop. Okay, then then use that

489
00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:44.880
to your advantage. Use that to show what you can

490
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.160
do and get your foot in the.

491
00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:51.400
Door, would you suggest that they like quit their day job,

492
00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.480
or because I'm sure that there's some sort of like well,

493
00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:56.000
I don't know if they have that in their contract

494
00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:56.920
or not, but I means.

495
00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:59.559
This is all hypothetical anyway, So yeah, that's right, it's

496
00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:00.039
all yp me.

497
00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:03.480
But hypothetically speaking, if a person had had a had

498
00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:06.960
a job, a day job, you know, would you would

499
00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:08.640
you try and do something with the day job first,

500
00:26:08.680 --> 00:26:10.960
like would you go to your management and make like

501
00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:14.599
a ask for some sort of a career plan, you know?

502
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:18.079
Or would you quit and then go try and find

503
00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:20.440
work like in the Middle East, or try and find

504
00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:22.440
work for a different company or whatever. Or would you

505
00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:26.559
while you're still employed at that said job hypothetically, would

506
00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:30.240
you would you try and submit as a freelancer.

507
00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:33.599
Well, hypothetically, if you're working at a job where you're

508
00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:36.200
working at them, there's probably a non compete clause, so

509
00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:40.119
chances are hypothetically good that you wouldn't be able to

510
00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:42.519
do this without hypothetically quitting, so.

511
00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:44.519
You can.

512
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:47.359
And I would also venture to say that if indeed

513
00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:51.319
this were the case where you've been working on some

514
00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:54.559
some of the architecture, because I mean you know it

515
00:26:54.599 --> 00:26:58.079
says massive Capex projects. If you're working in architecture, you're

516
00:26:58.119 --> 00:26:59.279
working in the world of Capex.

517
00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:01.920
Yeah, already just not massive.

518
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:04.759
Captain's not massive Capex and you're not working on the

519
00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:07.839
sexy projects. And what I'm hearing is I'm building. I'm

520
00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:10.359
building gift shops. I want to be building attractions. That's

521
00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:13.480
what I'm hearing. So if that is the case, use

522
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:16.839
your expertise, take what you do, take what you do

523
00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:21.279
really well, and lead with that. Say you know, I am,

524
00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:26.319
here's examples of me being on time, on budget. Here's

525
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:29.319
the challenges that we overcame. So I run, you know,

526
00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:33.519
I run parallel, parallel paths just in case something does

527
00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:36.160
happen or when something does happen, so that I can

528
00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:38.240
keep us on time and on budget. You know, lead

529
00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:40.759
with your strengths, Lead with your strengths, and get that

530
00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:43.640
foot in the door. You know, there's never going to

531
00:27:43.640 --> 00:27:46.119
be a magic bullet. There's never going to be a

532
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:47.759
magic bullet where you know, I can say if you

533
00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:49.440
read this book, or if you do this, or if

534
00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:51.720
you contact this person, then you will get the next

535
00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:54.480
bid you put in. That does not happen, that simply

536
00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:58.640
does not happen. But I will say surround yourself with

537
00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:01.240
like minded people. Be in the room with the people

538
00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:04.039
where it happens. That's why things like you know, Iappa

539
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:07.640
Expo are so flip and important, and not just Diappa,

540
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:11.799
but you know, TEA other organizations that are within the industry.

541
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:16.319
Aza to make sure that you are making the connection

542
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:18.000
so that they know who you are. They're not going

543
00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:21.599
to seek you out, especially if you're working for somebody else.

544
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:24.680
The chances of a headhunter coming to you and saying

545
00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:28.079
you are the master at building restaurants and we want

546
00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:30.000
you to build this roller coaster, they're not going.

547
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:30.319
To do it.

548
00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:32.440
So you've got to take the You've got to take

549
00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:35.680
the responsibility and you know, take the skill set that

550
00:28:35.720 --> 00:28:39.440
you have and lead with it. Don't panic to him.

551
00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:47.599
Okay. Next question from bill O five Q seventeen. With

552
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.400
most big parks being mature and landlocked, and with new

553
00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:53.319
coasters being very expensive, do you foresee a greater trend

554
00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:57.599
of older coasters being renewed rather than the usual move

555
00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.960
of ripping out an older coaster for a new one.

556
00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:03.279
This could even include non coaster attractions like see King's

557
00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:05.079
Island redoing their boot blasters attraction.

558
00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:11.039
I'm gonna have I have a very unpopular answer to

559
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:16.119
this question. I don't think the future of theme park

560
00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:17.920
I don't think the long term future of theme parks

561
00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:23.039
is coasters. I think it is unique attractions. I think

562
00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:26.720
we have pushed coasters to the point where unless it

563
00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:30.039
is surrounded by multimedia, unless it is part of a

564
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:36.559
much bigger experience, I think the days of just coasters.

565
00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:39.359
I mean, we just we just reported on it, you know,

566
00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:43.799
we just reported on the park that chose not to

567
00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:46.920
do the coaster and chose instead to do Bugs Bunny

568
00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:53.079
and Friends family experience. So I think it's I think

569
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:56.000
it's important to recognize that you're right, they are land blocked.

570
00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:59.160
You're right. And it's expensive to tear down a coaster,

571
00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:04.319
by the way, but quite often it's cheaper to tear

572
00:30:04.359 --> 00:30:06.799
it down and start from scratch than it is to

573
00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:10.960
redo a coaster. The example, the only example that I know,

574
00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:15.839
and I can't share numbers, but I know that with

575
00:30:16.599 --> 00:30:20.160
h when they put iron Guasi in at at Bush

576
00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:23.400
Gardens in Tampa. You know, originally the plan was to

577
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:27.599
reutilize as much of the track as possible, and they

578
00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:29.960
claim that a lot of it was reused, but the

579
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:33.880
percentage of reused material from the original coaster is so

580
00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:41.119
minimal it's it's almost embarrassing. So I'm not sure that

581
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:43.960
coasters are going to be the thing that people are

582
00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:45.359
going to. I think the pendulum is going to swing

583
00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:48.039
away from them. That is my That is my prediction.

584
00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:50.720
I could be one hundred percent wrong, but based on

585
00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:57.720
what I'm seeing, unless the coaster is a record breaker

586
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.920
or tied to a specific IP in a way that

587
00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.680
no other coaster experiences that IP.

588
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:06.000
And that doesn't mean just.

589
00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:09.400
Call it you know, sorry, I'm gonna pick on my

590
00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:12.960
friends on Warner Brothers. Don't just call it Joker's Revenge

591
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.480
and make it a purple coaster. No, it has to

592
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:21.920
be intimately tied to the IP, or it utilizes some

593
00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:25.680
sort of or it utilizes some sort of technology that

594
00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:28.359
is not being utilized on any other coaster. I mean,

595
00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:33.240
you know, let's be honest. Guardians of the Galaxy is

596
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:37.119
a coaster, but that experience so surpasses any coaster that

597
00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:40.319
you'll see in any midrange park because the focus is

598
00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:42.160
not on the coaster, it's on the whole experience.

599
00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:46.160
The only thing I'm gonna add to that is just

600
00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:49.359
that the research that we talked about a few episodes

601
00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:52.240
ago about travel trends, which I know a lot of people,

602
00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:54.079
you know, we're like, oh, this research is something about

603
00:31:54.200 --> 00:31:56.160
but I'm like, look, it was still a good sample

604
00:31:56.200 --> 00:31:58.319
size one thousand people in that age range that are

605
00:31:58.359 --> 00:32:01.119
in the US and go to an entergy, So it's

606
00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:03.559
still a poll that pay attention to. And this is

607
00:32:03.559 --> 00:32:05.920
exactly what they said. Also, is that it's like the

608
00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:09.720
days of kind of waiting having your checklist, you know,

609
00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:11.480
and spending so much time in line and kind of

610
00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:15.279
waiting for the marquee things is kind of over because

611
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:18.640
at least right now for them, And so I think

612
00:32:18.680 --> 00:32:20.960
it probably is a pendulum thing though, you know, as

613
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:23.599
everything is, I'm sure you know, it'll swing back to

614
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:26.079
people wanting to do the marquee things, But for now,

615
00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:29.039
it seems like people are it's more about vibes right now,

616
00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:32.200
and they're not really for the vibe of waiting so

617
00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:35.200
long for just single like it's like the buck this

618
00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:37.960
is like not worth it, right. It's like that thing

619
00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:40.599
of like if you're waiting two or three hours for

620
00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:42.839
a thing that's a minute long. It's kind of the

621
00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:44.599
calculus is not there well.

622
00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:48.440
And speaking of vibes, we hope that we have left

623
00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:51.480
you with enough of good vibes for twenty twenty five,

624
00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:54.400
and that these good vibes continue for twenty twenty six

625
00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:57.400
on behalf of Yeah, what.

626
00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.720
So we did not finish all of our questions theme

627
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:03.640
Park JJ. There's still one that we have, but we

628
00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:08.519
have talked about what you've asked before. Sorry, yeah, maybe

629
00:33:08.519 --> 00:33:10.640
we can. Let's okay, I know it's.

630
00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:12.359
Well, we've already gone over time.

631
00:33:12.359 --> 00:33:14.599
Go ahead, Okay, let's just finish this one. Okay, so

632
00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:15.559
we've already.

633
00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:16.839
Messed up my goodbye, so go ahead.

634
00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:20.119
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Okay, Theme Park JJ,

635
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:23.240
He says, you two always talk about creature comforts driving

636
00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:25.640
guest rates of return. I've noticed that the other side

637
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:28.400
of the coin are the pain points that drive them away.

638
00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:31.039
I'm referring to little stuff like the four dollars mandatory

639
00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:36.759
Guassi loggers, you know, guasi reservations at Disney, unannounced buyouts

640
00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:41.720
like Red Coconut. How do parks convince operations to remove

641
00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:44.079
those small hurdles for the greater good? Have you seen

642
00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:47.880
any easy fixes? That could massively improve guest scores. We

643
00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:51.440
so we do talk about those quite a lot. Scott

644
00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:54.559
has a whole rant about the reservations that Disney that

645
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.240
hasn't gone.

646
00:33:55.640 --> 00:33:57.680
I won't go. I won't go till they're gone.

647
00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:01.680
I don't know. This is a great question for Scott.

648
00:34:01.720 --> 00:34:04.160
Who's who's been in those roles before, who's kind of

649
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:09.880
straddled the two worlds of having to talk to I

650
00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:12.519
think it's not usually operations though, this is usually something

651
00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:16.360
that comes from a higher a different management position.

652
00:34:16.519 --> 00:34:19.000
All of these, all of these examples are actually revenue driven.

653
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:21.880
So so what you have to do is you have

654
00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:27.199
to look at is there is there a way to

655
00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:30.880
shift where this revenue comes from. And I'll give you

656
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:36.320
I will give you a perfect example. Parking. This is

657
00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:39.440
a big issue. This just came up with another major

658
00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:42.679
major player in the industry. Parking price is going up.

659
00:34:43.559 --> 00:34:47.480
I'm a firm believer that you should take one fourth

660
00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:50.719
of whatever it is that you want in parking and

661
00:34:50.840 --> 00:34:53.760
add it to a ticket price and create free parking

662
00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:57.760
for your guests. Yes, it's hidden, but you're still generating

663
00:34:57.800 --> 00:34:58.360
that revenue.

664
00:34:58.679 --> 00:34:59.559
And will people.

665
00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:02.880
Say, oh, oh my god, Well, the prices of theme

666
00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:04.800
park tickets are already so high I can't afford it.

667
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.599
Blah blah blah. What if I'm not parking blah blah

668
00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:07.800
blah blah.

669
00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:10.039
Okay, but it's.

670
00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:12.559
Either you have to spend forty dollars. I'm using simple

671
00:35:12.599 --> 00:35:14.639
math here. You either have to spend forty dollars to

672
00:35:14.679 --> 00:35:17.920
park your car, or you add ten dollars to every

673
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:20.920
ticket for the four people in your car and give

674
00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:25.360
free parking. You know, these revenue generators are going to

675
00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:28.920
be there. They need to be there. The four dollars mandatory,

676
00:35:29.239 --> 00:35:32.440
guasi locker mandatory. It's not mandatory if you have some,

677
00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:34.920
if you have a purse holder, but not everybody does.

678
00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:40.079
So what I would suggest again is incorporate that revenue

679
00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:43.440
somewhere else so it's not the pinch point that drives

680
00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:45.840
you away. This is what I talk about when I

681
00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:48.599
talk about the concerns that I have of departments operating

682
00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:52.480
individually from one another and not operating together as a park.

683
00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:55.639
This is a situation. It sounds to me, and again

684
00:35:55.679 --> 00:35:57.000
I'm not there, but it sounds to me like this

685
00:35:57.039 --> 00:35:59.320
is a situation where the merchandise team, who is the

686
00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:02.199
one who handles the revenue says we need to up

687
00:36:02.199 --> 00:36:05.039
our revenue because we're not selling enough T shirts, so

688
00:36:05.400 --> 00:36:07.639
we're going to make it a mandatory four dollars locker

689
00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:10.199
that you have to do in guasi, which I think

690
00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:14.519
is the wrong approach. Personally, I would I would take

691
00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:17.320
that money and hide it elsewhere so that it doesn't

692
00:36:17.320 --> 00:36:23.239
become that point of pain, and it doesn't. You know, yes,

693
00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:24.880
they're still making the money, they're still taking it out

694
00:36:24.920 --> 00:36:27.760
of our pockets. I understand all of that, but it's

695
00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:30.199
still a business, so that the revenue still has to

696
00:36:30.199 --> 00:36:33.280
be generated when you talk about buyouts. This has been

697
00:36:33.320 --> 00:36:36.320
a point of contention with me and pretty much every

698
00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:38.599
one of my clients ever, because every one of my

699
00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:41.480
clients will have a beautiful facility that could be utilized

700
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:45.800
every single night for a Christmas event or a Halloween event,

701
00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:48.320
or a summer event or whatever, but they hold off

702
00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:50.440
and they say, no, you can't use that just in case,

703
00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:53.719
it's my favorite phrase, just in case we might sell

704
00:36:53.760 --> 00:36:57.639
it for a party. And so the only way around

705
00:36:57.679 --> 00:37:00.519
that that I've found internally is to actually run the

706
00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:04.119
numbers and say, okay, over the last five years, during

707
00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:08.159
this month, how much revenue has this space generated, and

708
00:37:08.199 --> 00:37:10.760
you take that and you do an average for that month,

709
00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:12.800
and then you go back and say, okay, is it

710
00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:17.360
worth that to use this to create a Santa Claus

711
00:37:17.400 --> 00:37:19.639
experience for example, that is going to generate x amount

712
00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:24.599
of dollars in photo sales and additional associated merchandise sales

713
00:37:24.840 --> 00:37:28.960
and front of line access sales. So all of these

714
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:30.760
pain points that you mentioned, and I'm so glad you

715
00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:33.280
mentioned it. I'm so glad Philip that you actually made it.

716
00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:35.480
So we answered this because you knew I was going

717
00:37:35.480 --> 00:37:41.039
to rant about it. These these Unfortunately, these dollars have

718
00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:43.960
to be there somewhere, but I think there are smarter

719
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:45.960
ways to put them in so that they don't appear

720
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:49.440
as pain points and it doesn't feel as though people

721
00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:52.400
are being nickeled and dimed. But it is finding a balance.

722
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:54.880
You have to figure out what is that balance between

723
00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:57.480
feeling nickel and dimed and creating those little tin you know,

724
00:37:57.480 --> 00:38:02.480
death by a thousand pinpricks or is it the sticker

725
00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:04.960
shock you get when the ticket price goes up by

726
00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:11.760
ten dollars. So I think that intelligent parks will find

727
00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:18.039
ways to slip this money into different spaces, but the

728
00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:20.400
best way to do it is to stop operating as

729
00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:24.280
a bunch of departments occupying the same space and start

730
00:38:24.360 --> 00:38:27.239
operating as a theme park that is looking at the

731
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:28.519
guest experience first.

732
00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:32.199
Okay, that's it.

733
00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:35.000
Bye, Okay, Happy New Year. Everybody, have a great year,

734
00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:38.239
and we will see you in twenty twenty six.