I’d assume the Midwest Region would be Six Flags Great America, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Michigan’s Adventure, Six Flags St. Louis & Valleyfair.
Impacts of the Six Flags Merger on Kings Dominion
- Thread starter TPoseOnTantrum
- Start date
Six Flags lays off Knott’s and Magic Mountain presidents
The president positions are being eliminated at all 27 amusement parks in the chain, according to Six Flags officials.
www.ocregister.com
The only thing that will stop this type of slaughter is the mighty dollar and I for one don’t support businesses that treat their teams like this. I sincerely believe that we as consumers have the ability to stop rewarding bad behaviors. Shoot, I don’t do self checkout because it took away jobs and refuse to shop stores that force that as an option. Yes this is a completely different level, but still disrespectful of those who worked hard to achieve their goals of successful operations. I think this will strike far and wide. I’m not upset for ride losses but instead the loss of talent. Parks take on the personality of a good leader and now we have 27 parks that will have lost their personalities. This will undoubtedly be the death of the industry as we have grown up knowing.
The last time I was in a legacy six flags park, I won a free ticket and left wanting a refund. I left that park and immediately went to get a shower due to the park being so NASTY. Then there was the experience which was the worst I have ever had in the industry. I will go a bit further to state I had worked in that exact park one year as part of a work exchange program and was shocking to see the state of the park and horrible management of it.
The last time I was in a legacy six flags park, I won a free ticket and left wanting a refund. I left that park and immediately went to get a shower due to the park being so NASTY. Then there was the experience which was the worst I have ever had in the industry. I will go a bit further to state I had worked in that exact park one year as part of a work exchange program and was shocking to see the state of the park and horrible management of it.
Sorry if this is a stupid question but isn’t she the park’s vice president, wouldn’t the person being let go just be whoever is over her?
Cedar Fair always referred to the park’s top leader as “Vice President & General Manager” instead of “Park President.” The roles always effectively meant the same thing. “Vice President” in this case referred to their position as a corporate vice president (i.e. the VP of a division), not that they were second-in-command to someone else at the park.
To @RollyCoaster ‘s point above, I think there is a potential silver lining in the new structure in this: the regional GM is entirely in charge of strategy (and a few other core business functions like pricing and staffing), while day-to-day operations (ride uptime, guest experience, etc.) will be the responsibility of a new local-level park leader. In theory, it could be possible that having a manager who is entirely focused on strategy — the “what’s next?” for their parks — while someone else is entirely focused on making each park operate as well as it can, might not be the worst thing in the world.
I still hate the idea of each of the parks not having the full focus of any leader with real decision-making power, but who knows, maybe having one person whose focus is on strategy and one whose focus is entirely on the day-to-day can yield positive results. I’m just trying to give SF the benefit of the doubt for a second, and imagine a world where this decision wasn’t driven completely to boost their cost-saving numbers, and had some semblance of a well-intentioned strategic benefit too.
Still makes me sad. I believe KD, for example, needs to be a “theme” park, and it needs a leader who believes that too. I have no reason to suspect KD’s new regional GM won’t have a similar belief, but knowing that KD is the only park in its region that I’d consider anything close to a true “theme” park, I worry that that vision could be lost.
I listened to the investor webinar from a few days ago and they succeeded in misting me 
They commonly referred to the top 15 parks as the focus for growth, and KD is definitely one of the last crayons in that box (but at least its in the box)
They commonly referred to the top 15 parks as the focus for growth, and KD is definitely one of the last crayons in that box (but at least its in the box)
I'm so sorry that you feel like that, frankly I feel the same way. There was a time that both KD and BGW both were equally great in their own way, possibly around the late 70's-early 80's when they both were arguably at their peak. If there is some optimism to take from this bit of bad news is that KD certainly has been through far, FAR worse than it is now (Paramount era anyone?), that hopefully a new VP will treat KD with just as much respect, passion and love as the previous leadership.I’ve heard this from a large handful of sources too, so I feel comfortable corroborating this. This is no doubt part of the wave of exits of talented leaders that former CF CEO Matt Ouimet was lamenting on Linkedin yesterday.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Bridgette was an incredibly strong, caring leader who clearly cared about the park and its people. Every encounter I had with her made me feel reassured that the park was in good hands.
I’ll wait for someone else to spill the details about the circumstances behind her departure (I don’t know how many details I can share), but I’ll say this: for the first time ever, I feel like KD’s best days may be behind it. Her departure is sad enough, but what’s to come is even more unsettling. I’ve tried to be optimistic about this merger, so I hope people don’t take this statement as being overdramatic.
Genuinely depressing things are happening from what I’m hearing. At least BGW seems to be on the upswing again…?
It is scary to see a park you love now have the possibility of falling downwards after such an upward swing, but I am at least really thankful that BGW is more or less getting its magic back in more ways than one.
All park president's that were let go were done so with an effective date of June 1st. Saturday will be her last day at the park unless there is something happening beyond that.
Seeing reporting from a trusted source (linked below) that multiple full-time hourly workers at KD have been laid off as of today.
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
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Park’s gonna miss those loyal employees once Kalahari opens and sucks up the workforce
Because of course! This place is fucked!
I understand that the folks behind KD’s recent theming enhancements were among the ones let go Absolutely tough blow for the park.
Absolutely tough blow for the park.
Super, super devastating. I am very worried about the future of the park (and the chain as a whole).I understand that the folks behind KD’s recent theming enhancements were among the ones let go
Not sure how this position is different. Kings Dominion has new manager after Six Flags layoffs - Virginia Business
I’m excited to hear that Jennifer Schofield has been appointed as the park’s new leader. I briefly worked with her at KD before she moved to CP to become their VP of retail. She has a lot of energy and was well respected by the folks who worked with her.
@bradd1319 my understanding is that the new “park manager” role is focused solely on day-to-day execution (ride and F&B operations, ride uptime, maintenance, etc.) while the new regional manager is in charge of all strategic business decisions and future planning. In other words, the former park president/GM role has been split into two roles. The article mentions that the park manager also serves as a department head, with Schofield also coming in as KD’s VP of in-park revenue (which I believe is a new position for the park).
I know Jennifer won’t have the same strategic decision-making authority that Bridgette had, but I’m at least reassured that they selected someone with strong leadership skills and a deep connection to the park.
@bradd1319 my understanding is that the new “park manager” role is focused solely on day-to-day execution (ride and F&B operations, ride uptime, maintenance, etc.) while the new regional manager is in charge of all strategic business decisions and future planning. In other words, the former park president/GM role has been split into two roles. The article mentions that the park manager also serves as a department head, with Schofield also coming in as KD’s VP of in-park revenue (which I believe is a new position for the park).
I know Jennifer won’t have the same strategic decision-making authority that Bridgette had, but I’m at least reassured that they selected someone with strong leadership skills and a deep connection to the park.
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The new KD PR Manager is Sydney Snow based out of SFNE. Once a month she’ll be down to KD.
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Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Why the hell would PR for KD be managed out of Massachusetts?!
Insane behavior.
Insane behavior.