Current chairman Dan Snyder (known to sports fans as the owner of the Washington, DC NFL franchise), who lead the takeover of Six Flags from the former Premier Parks management team in 2005, will no longer hold a seat on the company's board of directors, according to a bankruptcy court filing.
Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro will remain on the board and in his current job, suggesting that the bondholders who've gained control of the company aren't planning day-to-day operational changes at the company or its parks.
Shapiro says that emerging from bankruptcy will free up money for the parks to spend on improvements going forward. But higher attendance, and increased guest spending, would help even more to make that happen.
What do you think about the future of Six Flags, both as a company and as a theme park chain?
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Good news!
I love those threads.
/loves Six Flags Over Georgia
//thinks Six Flags St Louis is better than James thinks.
Back to packing... beginning my WDW Adventure on the morrow!
With the chain emerging from bankruptcy and their big corporate 50th anniversary coming in the 2011 season, I cannot help but believe bigger and better things are on the horizon.
(the votes are not all in yet, either. kinda silly to comment before very many have been able to read, vote and comment on their own first.) I have a feeling that their attendance numbers will be up this year, too.
Of course, I think they should have parking included in the season pass like darn near every other chain even if it means jacking up the price of the season pass by $20 a pop (for the adult passes. Leave the kids alone). But maybe that's part of their problem - they've had the lowest seasonal passes for so long people may go berzerk if the price moves too much even if there's additional value involved.
The sheer amount of people in Six Flags market areas gives the parks huge potential. Now that their debt is cut in half, perhaps they can spend a little to make some meaningful improvements and expansions that don't involve roller coaster track. The key to their success is in diversification of their attractions and in widening their appeal to non-thrillseekers. In other words, if they are going to spend 20 million on a park next year, don't spend it on a roller coaster..spend it on something else. That's my challenge to them. Most of the Six Flags already have great coasters. Spend the bulk of your park improvement budget for the next 3 years on developing real restaurants, shows, scenery, improvement of existing rides, new family/kids attractions, and other non coaster rides that have visual appeal and don't involve spinning or going upside down. I realize that some coaster projects are probably already set to go, but coasters aren't what is needed.
As for getting rid of Snyder, sounds like a good move for the company. Seems like he ran the chain into the ground, in a similar overambitious, incompetent fashion that he "runs" the Washington Redskins.
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