The way it should be.

[Chitown]

I say this because I feel the current CEO of Six Flags is adding capital investments based on park profits which is something Cedar Fair has done for quite some time. Great America and Great Adventure seem to be the cash cow parks for the company so it makes sense to add thrill attractions every couple of years.

X-Flight and now Goliath at SFGAm makes sense in my opinion along with removing Iron Wolf and Ragin Cajun for other parks to enjoy.

SFA seems to be the junkyard now since Astroworld was demolished, but I am sure the guests at that park don't mind and don't care.

The cash cow parks in the SF family should get the great capital investments. ROI is what it's about people.

[Muck Finnesota]

It certainly does seem to be the most recent route they're taking regarding expansion. From a business standpoint, many have probably wondered why it's taken so long to conclude that. I think it probably has to do with exhausting their options/possibilities with some of the most recent properties they've scooped up. Look at SFStL- it's been a Six Flags property for a long time. Starting from Freeze in 1998, the noteworthy expansions have been Boss, Evel Knievel, and a used Boomerang. Six Flags America was branded in 1999. Two Face, Joker's Jinx, Batwing, and Superman Ride of Steel were added in short order. Towards the end of that splurge, it was probably concluded that the realistic apex/expectations of attendance for the park has either been reached or was overestimated in the first place. Since then, there have been removals, and noteworthy expansion has consisted of a 20 year old B&M coaster, and a used spinning wild mouse, both from Chicago. You can see similar stories at many of the younger properties. Darien Lake is an exception to this I can think of right off the top of my head; it may be that the capabilities of this one were already a bit more defined than the other new properties. In any case, this was one of the properties that were unloaded.

That was from the business standpoint. From a personal (purely selfish) standpoint, I would love for there to be another way of looking at things by the decision-makers, but there won't be.

[UWW-10]

Agreed! This is how the system works anywhere in the business world. You always give the places with the biggest return the huge capital.

But I'm also glad the company finally realized (from the Shapiro era on) that all the parks need capital investment each year whether it'd be in the form of a ride/attraction, show, rehabs, ect. However, that still doesn't mean that (for example) $100 million is going to be split in equal shares. Everyone gets a slice of the pie, but those that perform better just get a larger slice

[Superman]

Glad to see some fellow capitalists on this forum! I think Great America is heading in a fantastic direction as far as finances and expansion go, but I hope that they can find a way to expand the park's border. If they can't, they'll basically have to take something out anytime they want to add a new attraction.

[Millennium310]

^ I agree and I can't help cringing whenever I look over at those forests across the road while on GD. There's TONS of room there.

[anewman35]

Glad to see some fellow capitalists on this forum! I think Great America is heading in a fantastic direction as far as finances and expansion go, but I hope that they can find a way to expand the park's border. If they can't, they'll basically have to take something out anytime they want to add a new attraction.

I dunno, as much as it seems great from a fan perspective for the park to get bigger and bigger, I doubt it ever will, because it would cost Six Flags a ton of money and I don't really think they'd get much return on it. At a certain point, they're going to get all the people they're going to get, and I don't think a bigger park would suddenly draw a lot more people (especially since that would probably lead to higher ticket prices).

[FParker185]

The park's attendance basically plateaued in 1980, doesn't matter what SFGAm does, they've never going to get significantly more than 3 mil visitors a year, I don't see the park ever expanding beyond their current boundaries.

[Chitown]

I believe the thought process is to try and maintain that attendance figure by adding new attractions. If you stay the same year in and year out, eventually the numbers will start to fall.

[CoastsToCoasters]

This is goin to be in the most basic form of sayin this but, hey look at Cedar Point. That park resides in a small dinky town on the lake(I used to live there, I aint hatin calm down). They made a name for themselves with the additions they put in, enabling them to turn the park into the resort destination it is today. It's all about building up an audience & keeping them there. when your park is talked about, your park is recommended. Its a chain reaction. The only problem I see with these major flagship parks is once they entered the big leagues, thats all their guests expect. Before Gatekeeper, fanboys & guests there have been dying since Maverick. Its more difficult for parks like CP or SFMM to be well rounded after that.

Am I making any sense? ugh lol

I do want SFGAm to thrive & when they built KeyLime Cove, I was excited wed focus more on being a "weekend getaway" like resort, a park youd visit for back to back days ya know? Id love for that to happen. Seein major new coasters, rides & shows in our park would be a dream come true but again, just because it is the way it is now doesnt mean it cant become that. It all depends on what the park adds & what tourism/reaction they get from those additions. Right now, I feel like were in the 90s all over again, starting to reclaim a name for ourselves. This time around its just easier in my opinion cause we have so much social media to advertise on, not just newscasts! & with all the attention Goliath has already received, it seems were on the right track after XFlight. It was like XF was the first step, now were on step 2. Who knows, this may all be the beginning of great things for us!

Sometimes I feel I talk like I'm 16, sorry. haha

[anewman35]

I could be mistaken, but I don't think Key Lime Cove was built by Six Flags or has any real connection to them besides a marketing agreement.

Anyway, it's nice to dream of the park becoming a big resort destination, but I really don't see any signs of that happening. They'll put in new attractions every year to continue to maintain they people they get, and some years that might be big things like X-Flight or Goliath, but the Six Flags business model seems to generally be to just get as many people from the local area to attend and I don't see that really changing. You can't really push one individual park too hard nationally without making the other parks in the chain look inferior (and while we all know that some of the parks ARE inferior, the general public just sees them all as Six Flags Parks).

[JimPanky]

Dave W. Anderson, the founder of Famous Daves, opened Key Lime Cove which is owned by S&L Hospitality. So Six Flags did not build it but it is the "Official Resort of Six Flags Great America" which means when you stay there you get a shuttle to the park and entry included.

[Viper 88]

You know I just passed by this weekend on the way back from wisconsin i think it would have made moe sense for key lime cove to have bought out the 4 hotels across the street, make improvements and build the waterpark at one of the existing sites. Would this have been possible or is there not enough room?

[NightRider785]

With the new coasters, they (from what I can tell) have sacrificed on theming. They still incorporate some, but not nearly as much as SFMM for example. So compare the original theming from B:TR to X-Flight. Or X-Flight to another winged coaster. Any thoughts on whether focusing less on theming has much of an affect on profit and/or attendance?

[CoastsToCoasters]

I know SFGAm didnt build it as they are two separate place but Im sayin after the agreement, I was hoping it would kick off more than it has. then again I cant really say that, as Ive never been.

Buying out the hotels to build a HH there would be awesome but then thered be separate admission & that land may still be a giant parking lot haha but it would have been nice to use that land to expand the park. All this stuff makes my head spin...the what ifs, the should haves, the why nots etc

[Millennium310]

With the new coasters, they (from what I can tell) have sacrificed on theming. They still incorporate some, but not nearly as much as SFMM for example. So compare the original theming from B:TR to X-Flight. Or X-Flight to another winged coaster. Any thoughts on whether focusing less on theming has much of an affect on profit and/or attendance?

I'm no business or finance expert, but I would imagine that theming has little or no effect on profit and attendance. We're probably the only ones that care about that and we make up a very small percentage of the park's attendees. In fact, by using the name Goliath for example, GAm saves a lot of money because they don't have to pay for a new trademark and design new merchandise.

[Galvan]

I love how people like to think that a company that has well over 3 Billion dollars in market cap, is going to scrimp and save on little things such as naming rights for a new ride or whether or not X-Flight's misters arent working when they ride the ride a particular day.

[SFGAMNUT9302]

I'm very happy to see the direction that Six Flags has taken since emerging from bankruptcy. It makes perfect sense to install major capital at the parks which yield a high rate of return on the investments. Great America may have not seen many major additions from 2006-2010, but boy oh boy are we getting the deluxe treatment now.

[Coastermonkey61]

Yeah, they're just gonna swoop four hotels that make a ton of money just like that. This isn't Rollercoaster Tycoon.

[Viper 88]

They could have done it gradually like Mt. Olympus in the Dells did! Nothing was written in stone that it all had to be done at one time.

[tribar]

Yeah, they're just gonna swoop four hotels that make a ton of money just like that. This isn't Rollercoaster Tycoon.

That's true. Some people like quiet hotels where there isn't screaming kids running down the halls 24 hours a day even at night

[tribar]

Yeah, they're just gonna swoop four hotels that make a ton of money just like that. This isn't Rollercoaster Tycoon.

That's true. Some people like quiet hotels where there isn't screaming kids running down the halls 24 hours a day even at night

[SFGAMNUT9302]

Six Flags Great America is one of the most well rounded parks out there, plenty of great coasters, lots of good family rides, and a nice flat ride collection located in the perfect area right between 2 major cities. I still hope they level the Southwest Ampitheater and put a Yosemiti Sam Southwest themed dark ride over there, a nice dark ride would really add to our line up in my opinion. Only time will tell, but so far with Riptide Bay, X-Flight, Ignight and now Goliath, while other parks are getting water slides, aqua twists etc. It's a pretty clear indicator that our park is a cash cow for Six Flags and very profitable.