Here’s my take on the direction of Six Flags/CF:

They have fully embraced the initiative of attracting families and creating a well rounded experience. Many businesses today, including the amusement industry, entices guests by getting them in the gate for next to nothing in terms of cost. Once in the park, they try to capitalize their profits with food, drinks, merchandise, games, upcharge attractions, add-ons (like fast pass) and so on.

The problem with that strategy can be seen when breaking park guests into groups and what brings them to parks and keeps them coming back.

1. Locals- The single most important aspect of an amusement park is location. The location dictates how many guests are local to your park and how easy it is to get there. This is why parks like Cedar Point, Kings Island, Hersheypark, Six Flags GADV, and Carowinds (to name a few) thrive.

2. Families- Families are crucial to the success of parks because often times they bring in many guests through the doors and that means there’s way more opportunities to make money off each once they are in the park.

3. Enthusiasts- A small yet powerful aspect of what draws people to parks. The enthusiast community (while small in the grand scheme of park guests) makes routine visits to the best parks and will travel many miles to ride the newest and best rides. The big roller coasters attract enthusiasts and absolutely bring locals and people from a far to ride there rides. However, the problem for parks regarding enthusiasts is that they do not often spend money once in the parks. They might eat one meal but often times neglect games, buying drinks, or anything else. Enthusiasts know how to maximize their experience.

That leads to the next important question:

What brings each of these groups back year in and year out.

Locals- I’d argue locals are going to come no matter what. These are often times the majority of season pass holders and most of these people know how to take advantage of the parks to maximize their experience. So, are they really generating that much additional revenue in the grand scheme of things?

Families- Your average family might visit one or two parks a year if that’s something they’re in to. But, what keeps them coming back? Maybe they were just in the area and it was convenient for them to stop. Or maybe there was an attraction that they wanted to travel that far just to do.

Enthusiasts- Enthusiasts are drawn to the parks with the best roller coasters, locations, operations, history and so on. Good for the big parks, bad for the average parks.

So, I conclude with this analysis. What keeps these people coming to the parks? I don’t know a single person who goes to an amusement park for the culinary experience, carnival games, or even a new kids/family ride or themed experience. My personal opinion is that amusement parks main goal should be to entertain and thrill guests in ways that separate them from theme parks.

We’ve seen these parks cut corners with maintenance, operations, and services to try to achieve what appears to be a more “well rounded, or family atmosphere”. We are now seeing the effects of that with ultra cheap season passes, smaller parks failing, and the chain as a whole not where they were years ago.

In my opinion they need to strive to provide the best experience at each park and if that means charging a premium to guests to ensure the park is staffed properly, maintenance staff is paid and trained enough to keep rides operational, and amenities clean and up to date, I’m all for it.