I understand your anger, seeing a park you love in decline. It is also sad when rides you love are removed. I remember the Great American Scream Machine fondly as, to this day, one of my favorite rides. I thought it was too soon for that ride to go when it did. I would say the same thing even if it stuck around for 40 years, it would always be too soon for me.
I had a good time at GA last year except for Toro and Ka beating me up the first visit. Did have to wait for haunted houses to open but crowds were moderate and everything I'd normally ride was open. I never got how closing rides at the end retroactively ruined the year. You could even still smoke. If it wasn't for Flash this year would be sad.
attractionsmagazine.com
I wonder if this is simply the company standardizing their org structure to the way CF was structured. Prior to the merger, CF notably did not refer to their park-level leaders as “presidents” but instead called them “general managers,” and they reported to a regional director in a way that sounds similar to what is described here. It also seems that CF’s general managers were increasingly focused on operations, with most strategic decisions made by corporate, over the past several years.
I feel the same way about Hersheypark. They have great rides for sure but the park absolutely cannot handle the crowds those new rides bring, so every visit ends up being exhausting from the crowds, hot from the lack of shade in half of the park, and expensive from all the front of line passes we have to buy just to remotely enjoy our day, not to mention the piss poor operations across the board.
Oh god, I knew something was fishy about those Facebook groups for KD and BGW. Loads of condescension and insults, complaining about name changes of “precious” rides, there was even a petition to prevent the Rebel Yell name change from happening. Most of them didn’t even understand what was truly happening at the parks, let alone how the business really works. No need for me to hang around them anymore when this place is both a critical and much more constructive in discussion about the amusement industry.
Yeah, we’re going to take out a record breaking 20 coasters this year! Brace yourselves!
I listened to the first hour and a half before I had to leave. They brought up the possibility of divesting more parks in the future. It sounds like they are monitoring some of the smaller or midtier parks with limited growth potential. Increasing labor costs at some of the lower margin parks could be a factor in closing a park because it is harder to absorb that cost.
As a SFGAm local and a GAdv fan this makes me so so happy!
Interesting bits: page 41 shows pairs of nearby parks, implying this is considered advantageous, due to all-park and "regional"(?) passport sales. Included in the pairings is KD and SFA.
