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Post by Bud Parsley on Jun 27, 2006 18:09:46 GMT -8
I'm sure you've all heard the news now: Six Flags has announced they are looking to sell off 6 parks including Magic Mountain. MM has been blamed for rowdy teens that are keeping families away, per Shapiro.
I find this really sad, but IMO, it is true. SFMM used to be a great park and now it is nothing more than a mass of mega coasters with a very rough crowd. A decade of focusing on nothing more than coasters has resulted in a serious problem.
Some are saying this is all a big PR stunt to get people back into the park, but others feel it is inevitable. I would hate to see it go, but I could understand it. Sad but true...
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Post by 65skylark on Jun 28, 2006 7:42:57 GMT -8
^ It's just like you said, Shaporio's biggest issue with the park is that it doesn't fit the new direction he is trying to take the company. I had a chance to talk to him personally at the Tatsu media event and he was very set on turning Six Flags into a family park chain.
If they were to sell off the proposed parks and put more capital into there parks that are already much more family oriented, then I see that as a good step. I would rather see 15 high quality parks than 30 below average parks.
Even though I do not see the crowds at SFMM being as rowdy as others, I do see a huge problem in the parks layout. The way it is set up, I don't know if you ever get that park to be a "family friendly" park. But, on the flip side, for a company that is still very much struggling financially (Six Flags shares plummeted 25% after Shapiro's conference call to share holders) The Mountain is third in revenue after SFGAdv and SFGAm, so I'm not sure you want to let that cash flow go.
Hopefully if sold it will be picked up by a company that wants to keep running it as a theme park and not turn it into a bunch of houses. Some of the coasters could be moved but many could not. One being there brand new 20 mil flyer Tatsu, which honestly, is a big reason why I don't see it happening. It may be on valuable land but that park is still a money maker and I don't know that Six Flags has many of those they can afford to loose.
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Post by skinnyguy on Jul 13, 2006 17:42:07 GMT -8
I can only say the same here as well....I think we saw this coming unfortunately, but I have a hard time belieing they'd give up the park this easily. Especially after adding Tatsu. That just doesn't seem like a smart move, but hey what do I know. Well, if they do get rid of it, maybe Silverwood will buy one of the big steel coasters from them and actually have a decent new ride soon.  Though knowing Silverwood, they'd probably buy Flashback. |
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Post by Bud Parsley on Jul 13, 2006 20:33:17 GMT -8
Well the latest word is that the local market has suddenly taken a huge interest in "saving" MM, and attendance is up. Screamscape had a nice update about it with some links.
I wonder if this was a PR move...sort of like Shapiro saying "here's my last ditch effort to see if MM can still attract families".
I suppose this may be either a last ditch effort or a brilliant marketing move...or both.
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Post by 65skylark on Jul 14, 2006 15:46:37 GMT -8
^ I'm goinig to go with marketing move.
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Post by skinnyguy on Jul 16, 2006 20:32:02 GMT -8
Yeah, sounds like a PR move to me. I must admit, if that is the case, it was working on me. I thought to myself "if they're really closing it, I'd like to go down one last time before they do".
It really is a shame what happened to that place. It used to be so much different. And come to think of it, I don't remember when it really turned sour. It was sort of gradual, wasn't it? It didn't seem like one day it was nice, and the next it was awful. And the other thing I don't understand is how that park can be so rough, whereas Cedar Point is so much better, like Bud Parsley was saying. Cedar Point has just as many world class coasters, but yet it is not riddled with gangs, etc. Just odd in my opinion. It sounds to me like it could have been prevented, but they just didn't try hard enough. I don't know...any thoughts?
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styvx
Thunder Canyon
Posts: 100
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Post by styvx on Jul 16, 2006 20:43:05 GMT -8
my thoughts are that magic mountain sucks.
-styvx
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Post by coasterlover on Jul 16, 2006 20:48:29 GMT -8
Skinnyguy you are hilarious. Flashback would be exactly the kind of ride Silverwood would bring in and think they were doing something awesome. I can hear the sheltered Northwest theme-park-geek crowd already: "have you seen this awesome new coaster!?!?"
Friggin' hillarious.
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Though knowing Silverwood, they'd probably buy Flashback.