Annie's Cafe is apparently closed until Howl-O-Scream. Not sure if the chocolate wolves sculpture of DarKastle is still in there.
These cuts stink. I'd rather have EITA not open again.
They're getting rid of all the quite places to sit and relax inside. Now if guests want to be cool, their options are to watch a show or ride EitA, how *MOD EDIT* sinister is that?
I'm assuming these budget cuts are corporate-ordered, and not some sinister plot to gain better show attendance. Didn't BGT go through the same thing a while back? Considering I've never set foot in Annie's or Festhaus Kaffe or ordered from the Smokehouse Show Grill, it seems like they're cutting whatever will be missed the least (a highly relative term). It stinks, especially since there won't be that distinct smell of barbecue in Trapper's Village anymore, but I'm sure the park was reluctant to close these places too.
Also note, the snack stand just outside the park by the welcome center has been closed down. The register and refrigerator was removed from the stand. I assume it is a part of the cuts.
Wonder what other boneheaded moves this non-caring ownership will make next. We used both Annies and the Kaffe on almost every trip to the park, which is about 40 trips a year. It is time for passholders to start making a strong statement about the cuts.
Might have gotten away with one today. We got our lunch at Grogans; took it over to the pub so as not to eat in the heat; and what did we see, the door to Annies open. We went in there; sat down; started eating; then someone came in and shut the door before seeing us in there. They said the door was open by mistake, but we could stay in there finish our meal, but be sure and take the trash back into the pub to dispose of. I already miss Annies. Oh well.
We were at the park this weekend and asked a cast member about Annie's closure, she said it was a direct result of London Rocks going way over budget. Not sure how true this is but wouldn't be surprising.
This would not surprise me. I expect that when selling LR the production team used an unrealistic increase in attendance SWAG. I do not know if attendance is up or down this year, and if it is down is it down less than it would have been without LR. I expect the marketing bunnies are working those numbers and in the end will massage out the data. Regardless, I expect that they will not be able to correlate any change in attendance to LR and as such will not be able to properly amortize the cost of the show. This is really not surprising: most theater is a losing proposition.
The real question is, if I am correct, what other proposed projects pegged their cost schedules against LR numbers. I expect at least some did. If for no other reason that is the kind of affirmation Entertainment would need to justify their numbers. I bet in outside agreements projects agreed to peg against LR numbers in return for Entertainments support.
This is all supposition and should only be taken as such. But I have seen larger extrapolations with less data.
The real question is, if I am correct, what other proposed projects pegged their cost schedules against LR numbers. I expect at least some did. If for no other reason that is the kind of affirmation Entertainment would need to justify their numbers. I bet in outside agreements projects agreed to peg against LR numbers in return for Entertainments support.
This is all supposition and should only be taken as such. But I have seen larger extrapolations with less data.
Why should a show, if it is a hit or not, effect other parts of the park? I can see how London Rocks could very easily go over budget, but then again I have seen the show 20 or more times and the majority of them have had a full house or not far from it. Man, if this park could get some ownership that cared more about the park and not the stockholders... I miss the Kaffe house bad!
Bama said:
Because, it cost a fortune, and the park, believe it or not doesn't have an infinite amount of money. So because one department doesn't have the money it needs, and it thinks it can do whatever it wants, it'll take money out of other department's budgets, so in result they have to make cuts in their department, instead of the entertainment department living up to its mistakes and handling the situation itself, it takes it out on the rest of the park.
Just because there's a lot of people at the show, doesn't make it good, nor does it mean the people who see it like it, especially with the overwhelming amount of advertising the park gives the show, it should be filled at every show time.
Theme Parks are like any business that run projects. Each proposal will have a project manager (PM), and it is the job of that PM to sell projects to the folks with the money: Be it a board or just one person. In any case these PMs work, sometimes with numbers in the multi-millions. In the case of a very large coaster upwards of $15-25 million. It takes political positioning and favors to get that through. Just like everything in business it will come down to the numbers. So yes, often strange bedfellows make back office agreements. This is particularly true when one or more persons holds more or less sway with a governing body.
KKR did not leverage buy RJR Nabisco in the dark. They had to build a plan, find investors, and sell it to the RJR board. In their case they had to sell against what was arguably a better deal for the investors. Which brings me to my final point. The #1 rule in finance: "The purpose of corporate finance is to increase shareholder wealth"
Do not mistake, that is the goal well executed or not, that is the driving force.
KKR did not leverage buy RJR Nabisco in the dark. They had to build a plan, find investors, and sell it to the RJR board. In their case they had to sell against what was arguably a better deal for the investors. Which brings me to my final point. The #1 rule in finance: "The purpose of corporate finance is to increase shareholder wealth"
Do not mistake, that is the goal well executed or not, that is the driving force.
Best I can remember when Bush owned the parks they ran more smoothly. To me it was because it was family run and not controled by a company that started selling stock in it a year or so ago. When Busch ran the parks, I cant remember anything they shut down mid-way through the year. I am getting old now, but that was not that many years ago.
The parks weren't required to make money under BEC.
Oddly enough they did... And they did so quite well... But that's beside the point.
Oddly enough they did... And they did so quite well... But that's beside the point.
When Dark Kastle screwed up opening weekend, my son got paid & fed to go in a night or two until they fixed the bugs in the ride. Mr. Busch was pissed it kept breaking down that first weekend and wanted it fixed....
Then again, having Scott G in charge of entertainment is saving me money, I go to the park a lot less, 4 weeks and counting......
Then again, having Scott G in charge of entertainment is saving me money, I go to the park a lot less, 4 weeks and counting......