Six Flags Files for Bankruptcy as Visitors to Parks Dwindle

[Old Coot]

Source: Bloomberg

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Six Flags Inc., the owner of 20 theme parks, sought bankruptcy protection 3 1/2 years after Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder become chairman and hired new managers in an attempt to return it to profitability.

The New York-based company, which said in a statement that it had debt of $2.4 billion, filed a Chapter 11 petition today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Snyder began a shakeup of Six Flags in late 2005 after winning three seats on the board. The 48-year-old company hasn’t posted an annual profit since 1998 and posted losses of $558.8 million in the two years after Snyder became chairman.

Six Flags shares have fallen 86 percent in the past 12 months as investors have grown skeptical about the company’s ability to refinance preferred income equity redeemable shares, or PIERS, before their August redemption date.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aokoZK_5BC.o

[opihimoimoi]

1. Oh Well....NEXT!.......use the land for the homeless....

[MADem]

2. Well, they charge too much and it sucks for the price.

That's their big problem. Even a dancing goofy guy couldn't help them.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. agreed. it got to be way too much $$$ for the average attendee and family n/t

[Moral Compass]

12. More Flags, More Fun????

The basic problem is that going there is no fun. This is basic supply and demand when it works the way you learn in macroeconomics.

If the price is too high relative to the perceived value of the goods and services demand drops.

Paying roughly $40 per adult entrance and then having excessive wait times for the rides, crappy overpriced food and drink, and no escape from the heat--well, gee, what fun! Paying for a day that I wanted to be over as I entered the gates--well what a deal?

The basic business model has never made sense to me. Since I've been there multiple times when my children were younger I have direct experience.

These guys have no hope and should go from Chapter 11 into outright liquidation pretty quickly.

I won't weep for them.

[MadMaddie]

15. Moral Compass you nailed it!

Welcome to DU!!:hi:

[catrose]

16. $40 for an adult?

I took my son there (at his plea) at least once a year for 10 years when he was young. I was going to suggest a nostalgia visit when he comes back home this summer. I think we'll look at old photo albums instead.

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. Good summary of the theme park experience

[MADem]

33. Bingo! nt

[w4rma]

40. Nah, they don't charge too much. Americans just aren't making enough to pay what they charge. (nt)

[MADem]

41. I think forty bucks is too much. Ten would be more like it, IMO. nt

[w4rma]

42. Ten is what you pay for happy meals, not what you pay for multiple rides on potentially dangerous

roller coasters. The economics just don't work out for 10 dollars.

[MADem]

43. Maybe they should tier their pricing--for ten bucks, you get ONE ride on the coaster nt

[w4rma]

44. Lots of parks do that kind of pricing. But, people like the day passes where they aren't

constantly watching their pocketbooks after every ride.

[tridim]

3. Can I buy one of their used roller coasters on ebay?

[jody]

4. Another instance of the failed mega-corporation model that blossomed in the 20th century and

is rapidly becoming extinct.

Capitalism needs competition to succeed but the mega-corporation model destroys competition.

It's going to be interesting to see what type business model survives into the 22nd century now that Russia and China have proved their socialist business models could not effectively and efficiently allocate scarce resources to satisfy consumer demand.

[pattmarty]

21. Regulated capitalism seems to work pretty well in the countries that have it.

[ejpoeta]

6. yeah, they bought darien lake near me several years ago. jacked up prices

and then wondered why people around here weren't going. They ended up selling our theme park and now it seems to be doing better. Prices are still up there, but probably partially due to the economy, people are sticking around here. And $180 for a family of four for the season doesn't sound too bad compared to taking a trip elsewhere. Too much for me this year, but then... I haven't ridden the rides for a long time. Too bad they don't have something cheaper for those of us who just walk around with our kids while they ride all the rides. Oh well. I am just so glad we got rid of the six flags name!!

[customerserviceguy]

7. If I recall correctly, many of their parks are in Northerly locations

and its tough to make a profit on something that you cannot run for twelve months a year.

[WriteDown]

13. A decent point...

I remember Great Adventure in New Jersey. They had a safari you could drive through. There would be monkeys banging on the roof of your car and giraffes that would stick there head right into the cabin through the driver's side window. Wonder if they still do that.

Here in Dallas, they have another location and it is a lot of fun, but hard to go when it reaches the 90's. There is a lot to do in the park though besides just the rides.

[truthisfreedom]

24. With climate change, we'll be able to resurrect and re-open those parks in about 20 years!

[Angleae]

26. They don't even run their other parks 365 days a year.

Magic Mountain in CA is only open on weekends and holidays.

[Blue_Tires]

27. the parks here in virginia (non-six flags) aren't run year-round

and iirc, i thought six flags over Georgia was their crown jewel? (also not open year-round)

[customerserviceguy]

32. I guess I was referring to the Virginia park

as a northerly location, just because you do get snow in Virginia, whereas you don't in Florida.

[CreekDog]

8. $40 admission fee to wait in line for 2 hours and pay $10 for a burger is not enticing

i think there's a problem with that business model.

my feeling is that these parks need to give you those tickets like you used to get at Disneyland to actually give you chance to get on a ride in a reasonable amount of time.

[Codeine]

9. Six Flags Magic Mountain is great

but nobody goes there anymore because the place has a reputation for being crawling with gang members.

[armodem08]

10. Strangely, no statistics on the number of visitors...

I read elsewhere that the reason for bankruptcy was a large amount of debt, not reduced revenue.

Either way, their prices are way too high!

[KamaAina]

29. That's right. In particular, it's the "empty creditor" syndrome.

I read elsewhere that the reason for bankruptcy was a large amount of debt, not reduced revenue.

These days, with all that "structured debt" (i.e., derivatives) out there, it is quite possible to wind up in a situation where the company whose paper you hold is worth more to you dead than alive. This makes you an "empty creditor" -- one who is not exactly likely to work real hard for a restructuring deal to stave off a liquidation that would make you $$$$$.

And Six Flags was cited as perhaps the prime example of this. That may even be why they jacked up the prices -- just to service all that debt. Kind of like when Macy's closed a store in downtown New Haven that was basically breaking even. It wasn't actually losing money, you see, but it just wasn't generating enough cash to service the parent company's debt. So, down it went, taking an entire mall and pretty much the city's entire downtown with it, not to recover for another fifteen years. :eyes:

[Norrin Radd]

11. What will become of Buford Buzzard?!?

[Endangered Specie]

14. As a kid, I much prefered the state fair.

[AsahinaKimi]

17. So how does...

Disneyland with its high ticket prices, food prices etc maintain a staff in these economic times? Seriously, who can afford to go anymore?? Then again, maybe it really is a magic kingdom.. (meh!)

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. More than rides at Disneyland and Universal studios. Six flaggs is all about the vomit inducing

rides. At Disneyland you can float in the pirates of the caribean ride, ride the railroad, go into sit down shows.

[AsahinaKimi]

20. Yeah okay but...

Again, who can afford it??

3 Days of Summer Fun for $33 a Day!
The Summer Fun Pass lets Southern California residents get into both Disneyland® Park and Disney's California Adventure® Park for three days for $99. And for just $35 more, they can upgrade the Summer Fun Pass to an Annual Pass!

Take a look at these prices:
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/reserve/ticketListing?name=TicketListingPage

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. Yeah, it's expensive. Went there a few years ago. Parking, food, drinks, souveniers... it adds up

[rainbow4321]

22. 6 Flags over TX prices: adult $49.99, child under 48" $31.00

http://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/tickets/index.aspx

General Admission $49.99 Child Under 48" $31.00 2 & Under FREE
ADVANCE PARKING
One-day Parking $15.00

Buying the tickets online = all admissions $31.00


--------------
Having raised my kids in the DFW area I can tell you that 6 Flags has never been high on the list for my kids or their friends. I can think of once in the past 14 yrs that either of them have gone. Looking at the above prices, is it any wonder that families aren't going...by the time you have 2 adults/parents and, say 2 kids, we're looking at close to $200 for a one day visit...and THAT doesn't include food/drink, etc...


There was a HUGE stink recently because 6 Flags, in trying to attract more adults, asked for (and got approval for) an alcohol sales license.
Lots of parents were outraged when they held public hearings. Just what they wanted, to send their kids where there would now be a potential for drunk/tipsy people in a water setting with crowds of kids.

[Blue_Tires]

28. a daily pass for Busch Gardens Williamsburg (my local park)

is $69 for one adult, plus at least $10 for parking...a season pass costs the same, so that was what I bought...

i think the trick is to get people coming back all season, instead of that "one july saturday per year" family...and i know crowds are a killer, but anyone trying to go on a fri-sat-sun is a masochist -- your best bet is simply taking a day off during the week to go, imo

[kath]

38. 50 bucks plus tax??!1! And FIFTEEN bucks to park?! (is tax added on to that, too?- I know in OK our

8.375% sales tax is added on to park admission, but not sure if the parking price includes tax or not)

[MilesColtrane]

25. I feel sorry for the workers who face an uncertain future, but...

...Danny Snyder failing is a shiny silver lining.

[PfcHammer]

30. Never any shade at these places. Have to stand around baking. Hotter than a mofo.

[davsand]

31. My kid doesn't WANT to go there.

I have to confess to a sense of relief about that, but it really does indicate a serious problem with the whole concept. Somebody up-thread referred to Six Flags as being all about "vomit inducing" rides, and that really does sum it all up, I think.

My kid is not into the huge roller coasters and she really has zero interest in a lot of thrill type rides. She enjoys the stuff like the log flume rides but she refuses to deal with anything that looks like it might make her feel sick. It isn't that she's a timid kid (far from it) but she just has never had any interest in being scared sh*tless for the sake of entertainment.

The band was taking a fun trip to Six Flags this year and she refused to go. She said there was nothing there she had any interest in seeing.


Laura

[HughBeaumont]

34. It was mentioned about the food . . .

. . . this is one of the huge reasons people don't like to go to these things . .. you know, besides baking in 90-100 degree heat for 1.5 hours to ride a 3-minute rollercoaster (at least Cedar Point puts most of it's lines either under shade or with those AC water fans blowing so you don't suffer AS much).

Every park seems to cut massive corners on their food and overcharges like a sumbitch on all of it. Example: I went to the Six Flags in the DC area and saw they had what was advertised as "Papa Johns". Well, good, since I like that somewhat, I'll take that. Turns out I paid 10.50 for a 7" cheese pizza that looked and tasted worse than damned Jeno's that you buy at a store. Don't insult me by saying "pizza's pizza" and I'm not going to notice the difference. The Subway at Cedar Point also charges you 8 dollars for a six-inch, when a regular foot-long at any other store isn't even that damned much.

Plus the rides at Six Flags were extremely low budget, dirty and cheap-looking for the price.

[Occulus]

37. I read or heard somewhere that those usurious prices are caused by

the rent the parks charge the vendors to set up shop. It inflates nearly every item by a few dollars, but since there isn't any way to avoid it if you're hungry or thirsty, you have to pay the extra cash.

The parks know very well they're playing to a captive audience, and the milk it for all it's worth. I went to Cedar Point a few years back and bought a 16 ounce beer... for something like $7.50. That's outrageous, but if ya want a beer.....

I do have to say though, the rides at Cedar Point are worth the wait, but I won't ever buy food or drink there if/when I go back.

[pinniped]

35. In that case, they should release their orcas back into the wild.

Hell, they should release them regardless.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

36. Astroworld is long gone.

It was bought by Six Flags and it was closed and torn down a while back.

Now it's an empty field.

I went to Sea World in San Antonio right after it opened in 1988 and the only place to cool off was in an aquarium house. There were no chairs. You had to sit on the floor and cool off. All the buildings were far apart. I had to leave after an hour or so because I was getting heat exhaustion. If I had not gotten out of there quickly, I would have been throwing up my toenails and needing to go to the emergency room.

[kentauros]

39. I recall that they had intended to turn that empty field into condos

with easy access to the beginning of the light-rail line on Fannin. Never happened. It's still an empty field, even though the pedestrial access overpass from the Astrodome parking lot is still in place over 610.

Here's Maps.Google aerial imagery of it: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=29.675479,-95.407645&spn=0.008725,0.016694&t=h&z=17

I haven't been to a theme park in probably 25 years or more, so it wasn't a great loss to me. I didn't like that they tore down the Cyclone instead of moving it elsewhere, but Houston is known for tearing down anything that gets in the way of development.