Notes from Chad...

24th of September 2000

Above: Pictures from Looney Toons Nights at Six Flags Magic Montaoin.  Right: One of the largest wooden roller coasters, Colossus!

Six Flags:

I find myself in an interesting position at Six Flags California.  Part of me know exactly what the company needs to do to generate market share and to dramatically increase revenue.  In fact, it's the same formula that has made Universal and Disney and most other tourist attractions successful.  Yet, I find myself somewhat apprehensive in telling a group of professionals how to do their jobs.

For example, I am a firm believer that Six Flags Magic Mountain should start focusing its attention on completing with DIsneyland directly instead of focusing its efforts on competing with the likes of Ohio's Cedar Point.  Cedar Point is a wonderful amusement park.  While it has great rides and world record holding attractions, it fails to generate nearly as much money as Disney World.  There is a significant message there.  Perhaps trying to have the "biggest and fastest" rides appeals to a much narrower market segment than the all inclusive family vacation that DIsney World provides.  Should SFMM be successful towards the future, it needs to create a sense of uniqueness among ALL theme parks in the country.  While new rides help, they can only increase unique visitorship over a year's period.  Instead, SFMM needs to focus more on improving its "end of day" entertainment that is both amazing and ever-changing.  Instead of a parade that lasts all of one season, this park should seriously invest multiple "end of day" events that generate interest throughout the peak summer season.  By doing this, the park can drastically increase revenue by increasing return visitorship by almost threefold while spending less money than the typical new ride.

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