No Flat Rides for 2025

[MusicEnlightens]

Does anyone else find it odd that currently there are no new flat rides added to the chain in 2025. All of the year’s investments across the portfolio are rollercoasters, water slides/water park upgrades, and restaurant shop reimaginings/upgrades. The only exceptions are Carowinds splash battle, which is a tracked water attraction, and DC universe at Fiesta, which was supposed to open last year.

Do you think this is a trend that will continue in the new company? Do you think the investment for flat ride packages was transferred to food and dining instead for this year (a huge low-point for legacy six flags parks)?

Flat rides are the cheapest investments with minimal margins on investments. Normally they would be sent to a number of parks without a larger investment that year, just to give them something new to market. Heck, even CGA got a wind star last season! Perhaps with the possibility of selling smaller parks Six Flags sees no reason to spread out investments to any parks that could be gone. Or, does this have something to do with the failure of TT2 (different division of Zamperla but still) and strained relationship with Mondial.

I actually swear I read in an investor call last July or August that more rides would be announced in the spring for legacy Six Flags parks, but maybe that plan changed with the dire financial results and huge cost-cutting decisions of late.

 

[GAcoaster]

Flat rides are cheaper than coasters, but there is still a large capital outlay for them between purchase, installation, maintenance, and staffing. Generally they’re not nearly as marketable as a coaster, so there’s little upside to adding a flat ride to a park.

 

[bill s]

All the rides opening this year are the completion of projects started pre-merger, in one way or another. Only 2 of the flats took that long. It seems everything stopped, and then went full tilt late last year.

 

[horsesboy]

Flats have significantly less planning and prep work then my guess is that the 2025 projects that we are seeing are simply the ones that were far enough a long or already had tied down enough investment that they were not easy to scrap at the time of the merger.

 

[The Master]

Six Flags has been fairly adverse to large flat packages since the WOL in 99. The issue is most flats can't be marketed to attract large crowds in like roller coasters. Moreover, a good number of coaster enthusiasts, at least the vocal ones express a disstain for flats which further disincentivizes the addition of flats.