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This Web page discusses the Construction Watch observations during October, 1997 for the new Mr. Freeze roller coaster being installed at Six Flags Over Texas.
As of October 5th, I've gotten a report of an interesting rumor floating around among employees at Six Flags... the rumor being that management is considering giving this year's season passholders free season passes for next year.
Certainly this would be a nice gesture, and would pre-emptively torpedo any likelihood of a class action lawsuit among this year's season passholders (as has still been being at least very seriously discussed) for Six Flags' failure to open Mr. Freeze as promised. (If such a suit were to be filed, it's pretty clear that Six Flags would lose it, and surely incurring substantial legal expenses in the process... there's a lot of printed information around offering season passes and simultaneously promising Mr. Freeze, and that together with the exchange of money constitutes a contract.)
It's not as crazy an idea as it initially sounds. I doubt that revenue from season passholders' subscriptions is a major percentage of overall park receipts anyhow... I'd guess that most visitors through the gates don't have season passes. Even for those who do, the park probably makes far more on games, food and beverage, souvenir purchases, and perhaps even parking. What's more, those of us who do have season passes probably tend to be far more inclined to suggest "Let's go out to Six Flags!" when we have out-of-town visitors; generally most of those visitors pay full price (and, being on holiday, tend to spend more anyhow on souvenirs etc. than we locals would).
It would also be a way to win back the locals... one has to wonder how many of them would be lining up otherwise to buy season passes for next year, after the major disappointment and loss of confidence of not getting Mr. Freeze open this year (and perhaps not even another major new ride for next year, either... rumors are still divided about a Superman ride at the present lagoon, or else the new projects all being shelved to spend the money instead on the extra costs of finally getting Mr. Freeze working).
Of course, there's a darker side to the rumor, too... that being that this whole rumor and supposed free-season-pass "plan" for next year could be part of the mindgames and maneuvering being played between SFTP Inc and the actual owners of SFOT as they lead up to their final (?) confrontation now less than three months away.
As of October 6th, I've received reports that Mr. Freeze in St. Louis was being tested last night about 9:30pm. The rumor there is that "they still haven't given up on opening it this year" (although I will be very surprised if they open it there before next season).
It 's not impossible, though... at some point, they might figure that the LIM housing failures they've seen are not so likely to occur over the few remaining 'open' days for the park this season. (It might, however, be ugly when they DO occur, especially if there are passengers aboard the train when it happens...)
The other issue of course is that opening the ride would mean that they couldn't take the LIMs off for rework until the park closes for the season.... less problematical in St. Louis of course, where the park closes for the season earlier than it does here in Dallas. Here, if they waited until January to take the LIMs off, they'd run the risk of not having the work done and being ready to open the ride when the park reopens in early March. And there had been this "gentleman's agreement" between the parks that said that they'd open the two rides together... another reason why it's not likely to open now until next spring.
As of October 8th, it's being reported that Mr. Freeze in St. Louis ran tests nearly continuously all day Tuesday (Oct 7th). There is much talk around the park about the ride maybe opening before the park closes for the season on October 26th, and one rumor has it that the new LIMs are installed (based on my other sources of information, that last rumor is definitely not true.)... even one person reporting that they believe the new LIMs are in place reports nevertheless that "nothing has gone on around the park for a while".
It's certainly conceivable that the ride could be opened for a few days (without the pending mechanical improvements) before the end of the season; after all, the New Jersey ride was open for a few days earlier in the summer, and generally to rave reviews by those who were fortunate enough to ride it. At this point, it would be a calculated risk as to whether another failure (similar to the "incident" that occurred here in Dallas that so abruptly stalled testing earlier in the summer) would occur over the relatively short number of launches and runs remaining before the St. Louis park closes for the winter. Then after closing, the necessary mechanical corrections can be made and the ride will be ready to really open when the park reopens in the spring.
But by now, I really doubt (much as I might wish otherwise) that the parks will open the ride before next spring. Six Flags already had made the hard decision... the one to not open the ride until they're certain that it's reliable... and I'd be surprised to see them change their mind now. The only one likely to be maybe done in time to open before spring would be here in Texas, and that because the "season" doesn't end here (this far south) before January 4th... more than two months later than the end of the season at the park in St. Louis.
As of October 10th, local CBS radio station KRLD has reported that Six Flags Over Texas will change management as of January 1 1998, with Premier Parks taking over management responsibility for the park. The Arlington (and Fort Worth) Star-Telegram has also posted an article with further details... click on the link to read it.
It reported that this means the end of the Warner Brothers characters at the park, the end of Batman-themed shows and attractions, and a return to the park's original emphasis on Texas history and traditions. The name Six Flags Over Texas can be retained by the park until 2009.
The change bumps Premier Parks into being the largest regional theme park operator in the nation, with 13 parks. Six Flags, on the other hand, drops to second place with only 11 parks, and loses their flagship park (the "heart and soul of their chain") in an extremely important market. Premier Parks is now fourth largest theme park company in terms of park attendance, and will consider Six Flags Over Texas as their new flagship park.
I'm told (thanks, Dave Althoff!) that the other parks owned or managed by Premier include:
...so I count them as now/soon owning or managing fourteen parks.
The radio station also stated that Mr. Freeze is expected to open next year, but now under a different name (presumably this change won't affect the name of the Mr. Freeze coaster in St. Louis). It's not clear how much re-themeing of the station building will have to take place at the park here in Texas.
The only attractions at the park where the Warner Brothers characters and theme take a primary role are probably the Yosemite Sam River Adventure (which is likely to need major revisions) and the Warner Brothers Movie Backlot show, which is likely to also disappear entirely (sigh, it was a good show) after only one season. (It's not clear that The Right Stuff will need to change themeing.) It is reported that Premier has already committed $30 million in new rides and attractions (during the next 18 months) for the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
Dave continues, "Premier Parks began as a real estate development company called Tierco. Tierco bought Frontier City, figuring to shut it down and develop the site. But the season was still going on, so Tierco let the season finish. A strange thing happened. Tierco discovered that not only are amusement parks profitable, they are also a fun business. Instead of shutting down Frontier City, they bought Wild World, invested a bunch of money, and turned it into Adventure World, apparently dramatically improving the park's reputation in the process. "Hey, this is fun...And PROFITABLE!" thought Tierco. And they promptly bought out FunTime...which owned and operated Geauga, Darien and Wyandot lakes. At about that time, Tierco changed its name to "Premier Parks" to better reflect what had become the core business...and as I understand it, at the same time sold off assets to get out of the real estate business."
"So far, Premier's M.O. has been to purchase a park, then to take advantage of the existing management team, at least initially, so the first most obvious difference that people notice is that (1) the season passes are suddenly valid at a bunch more parks, and (2) the park operating budgets suddenly get a lot bigger. This lasts until the managers get promoted among the parks...for instance, this year, Wyandot Lake's GM got promoted to head up Geauga Lake. According to trade reports, Premier hasn't been raiding the other park operators for staff, because they have inherited a bunch of good people by buying the parks."
Perhaps the previous Premier Parks flagship park was Darien Lake. A visit to their Web site (click on the link) reveals several things about the way Premier does things there (and this might give some insight into what kinds of things they might be inclined to do here):
One rather disappointing thing is the indication that their Web site isn't much more actively maintained than Six Flags does... with for example the admonition to "check back here for our 1997 concert listing." Sorta late in the season to still not have one posted, isn't it?
I've now gotten confirmed that the agreement for the change of management has been signed, subject only to "customary closing" and final ratification by the general partners who actually own the park. It's clear from the agreement that Premier Parks plans to not just manage, but eventually to own the park, by buying out the current 224 investors in the group which owns it.
I called Nancy St. Pierre, official spokesperson at SFOT, mid-afternoon today and asked her a whole variety of questions, but she wouldn't/couldn't tell me anything whatsoever. (Her "stonewalling" is quite familiar, she's been basically stonewalling me regarding Mr. Freeze for months.) It would appear that the announcement has taken existing management quite by surprise, and they seemed to be in something of a state of shock.
Frankly, I wouldn't be at all disappointed to see a new management team put in place. I have been hugely disappointed during the past year by the management practices here at SFOT, ranging from stonewalling regarding information on Mr. Freeze, outrageous pricing of beverages and such in the park, through the Gestapo-like tactics of the park's "Security" department. I don't know how much of existing management would have to be changed to fix that, but I know that if I were in charge, there'd be a number of people who would be looking for work.
Here however is a press release (click on the link to read it) issued by Premier's Public Relations firm discussing the new agreement. It's the most official document I've been able to get, so far.
I will post additional information here as soon as I am able to find out more. Stay tuned!
As of October 11th, I'm starting to collect a "wish list" for Six Flags Over Texas fans to express their thoughts on what they'd like to see changed and fixed at the park. I will post the list here on the Web site, to make the list available to the new management company. Perhaps collectively, we can offer them suggestions on what we would most like to see them do with the money they'll be investing at the park over the next 18 months. You're invited to check out the list, and forward your ideas to me for inclusion!
The news today from St. Louis is that one of the Mr. Freeze trains there has valleyed again, presently stuck between the top hat and the wingover.
As of October 12th, as the seriousness of their loss has apparently started to sink in, Dallas radio station KRLD has reported that the Six Flags chain is trying to retain/regain control of SFOT. There is talk that Six Flags may try to block the change of management, reportedly claiming that it violates unspecified agreements.
Subject: SFTP says "Hey wait a minute...."
Date: 10/10/97 6:30 PM Central Daylight Time
Message-id: <19971010233001.TAA14622@ladder01.news.aol.com>
PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 1997--In light of
yesterday's announcement by Premier Parks Inc. that it has signed an
agreement to manage the partnership that operates the Six Flags Over
Texas theme park located in Arlington, Texas, Six Flags Theme Parks
Inc. today announced that it is reviewing its options to protect its
interests in Six Flags Over Texas.
Larry Bouts, chairman and CEO of Six Flags Theme Parks Inc.,
said, "While we do not yet know very much about the Premier Parks
agreement, we see that Premier's press release noted the conditional
nature of the transaction, whereas our offer is unconditional. We
are also concerned that the Premier transaction may violate our
existing agreements between Six Flags Theme Parks Inc. and the
limited partners of Six Flags Over Texas Fund Ltd. Six Flags intends
to assert its rights vigorously. In addition, Six Flags Theme Parks
Inc. has a substantial interest in the increase in the value of the
Texas Park over the past 30 years, and such interest is not forfeited
by dissolution of the partnership."
Bouts continued, "We are committed to maintaining the most
enjoyable, safe and thrilling parks in the industry. To that end,
over the last several years, we have continued to invest heavily in
new rides and attractions and, importantly, we have continued to
utilize the valuable Warner Bros. brands. In 1997 alone we
launched over 20 new attractions at our parks, utilizing the Warner
Bros. brands.
"In the past several years we have made multi-million dollar
investments in new capital expenditures across all our parks. We
are also actively pursuing expansion goals of our own. I want to
emphasize that we remain extremely optimistic about the future of
all of our parks and of the Six Flags brand."
Finally, Bouts noted that arrangements have been made by Time
Warner Inc., a shareholder of Six Flags Theme Parks Inc., to ensure
that there are no material adverse consequences to its bondholders if
agreements with the Texas Park are not renewed.
All I can say is.... stay tuned!
As of October 16th, I've heard reports on local radio that both the owners of Six Flags Over Texas and Premier Parks have filed individual lawsuits against Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. (the Parsippany-NJ-based company which has managed Six Flags Over Texas for the last 28 years) in an attempt to prevent SFTP Inc. from trying to block the orderly change of management to Premier Parks when the current management contract expires on December 31st.
The Arlington (and Fort-Worth) Star-Telegram has an online article about the new lawsuits. The article says that Premier filed their suit in Monday at the State District Court in Dallas, while the park's owners filed their suit Tuesday at the State District Court in Fort Worth. Click the link to go read the article!
I'll be posting more information about these new lawsuits as soon as I have it.
As of October 21st, there have been a number of interesting ideas and comments coming in for the "wish list". If you haven't been there lately, drop by and see what kinds of things other park fans are asking for the new management to change. Some of the things are thoughts I concur with, others are clearly impossible (like everyone wanting a B&M inverted, which now we simply have to wait for), and some others I don't agree with (and I've included my own comments there too).
I've received a rumor about "...La Vibora: I have heard a rumor that this ride is owned by SFTP, not SFOT and that they intend to take it with their management. I believe it may have been at another park before so it is possible that it will be removed." I will mention that SFTP (unfortunately) removed the bobsleds ride which they previously had at Six Flags Great America in Illinois, so I doubt they'd want this one for another park (I suppose that they might take it out just to scrap it or sell it to someone else, sort of a "scorched earth" policy upon leaving...).
Does anybody know which other rides and attractions might also belong to SFTP Inc., rather than SFOT, and which we might also lose after this season? It's a safe guess in any case that the Warner Brothers Backlot film will be gone next year, and that the Yosemite Sam River Adventure will require a substantial change of the animatronic characters (at least). The Batman Stunt Show obviously is history (good riddance, there... it was embarassingly cheesy). And many other rides and attractions (especially in Looney Tunes Land) will have to change names.
And of course, the change in themeing will undoubtedly affect Mr. Freeze too, where I expect that the "Snowy's Cones" figure may be removed (both from the ride and from the shooting game across from the entrance) before the ride ever even opens to the public in its original form.
As of October 23rd, there seems to be a lot of confusion about what rides are likely to stay and which rides might vanish at the end of this year. One correspondent hints darkly that "most rides since 1993 (from the Bob Pittman years) were owned by SFTP and leased to SFOT under an agreement. You've already noted most of the rides in your update that are going -- my source tells me that Mr. Freeze is one of them, and most likely will head south to Fiesta TX!" I personally think it's nearly inconceivable that Mr. Freeze would be removed from the park piece by piece and reassembled somewhere else before it even opens to the public here, but I suppose nearly anything is possible. Of course, most of us did not anticipate the possibility of the park leaving the Six Flags chain, either.
Still, it would seem to be hugely expensive to move the ride, maybe almost as expensive as having another new copy built for Fiesta Texas (or wherever) and one would presume anyhow that the "agreement" under which it was leased to SFOT probably was a long-term one, and would most likely not be written in such a way anyhow as to envision a change of management and thus an early removal of the ride. Even in the event of a lease, one would normally imagine that SFOT would continue to lease the ride from SFTP Inc (or whoever actually owned it) on the same basic terms they originally had planned.
There has been discussion here about pricing, and whether there might be a substantial change in admission price policy for next year (more like admission pricing at the other Premier parks). One message I got came from a fellow who said that "I don't really have a problem with the price. It costs many dollars for a family to spend a day or two at the park, but I do not deny them the revenue stream. My wonderful wife got our season passes last christmas, for ~$50 each, and I feel that we got our money's worth. (Free passes for next year? a neat Idea, but I'll spend another $100 to get the quality time with my daughter!)"
There has also been some discussion here about casualties at the park, and about the "El Sombrero" ride. One correspondent reports: El Sombrero, with the modern control system is safe, even though it is the only killer ride at the park. (there was a bit of discussion earlier that SFOT has never had a casualty, that is wrong. A 16 year old girl was killed by El Sombrero in July 1967. I was working at the park at the time, and we all went to several safety meetings right after that... I worked a double on that ride about 3 weeks after the event, and the supervisors were as thick as flies!)
As of October 24th, speculation continues regarding what rides might leave SFOT as of the end of this year. La Vibora is one that is being mentioned, although rumor has it that SFTP already still has the one from Great America in Gurnee, Illinois sitting in storage awaiting a buyer someday, so it's not clear that they would gain much by adding a second one to their stockpile of rusting pieces. Far better that they leave the existing ride here (like with any other rides SFTP might own, such as Mr. Freeze perhaps) and lease it to SFOT or something.
This uncertainty makes "Holiday in the Park" this year (starting Friday Nov. 28th) a rather special opportunity to ride for the last time some of the rides which may not be here when the park re-opens next spring.
But apparently SFTP is quite unhappy with the way things look like they're going to turn out, and (despite their own apparent intransigence in negotiating the renewal of the management contract, the direct reason for the outcome that seems now to be taking shape) a 'suitor spurned' is likely to do almost anything. Hence the concern about them possibly taking a "scorched earth" policy to the park they'd be leaving behind. One correspondent reports that:
Getting back to the "leased rides" bit -- this, again, goes back to the Bob Pittman days -- when he was vying for controlling interest of the park from the Shareholders. The "leased, not owned" agreement started so that Bob could play hardball against them, and at one point, reportedly out and out threatened to "take all of his rides and open his own park down the street."
Of course, that whole battle pretty much ended when Bob left and Boston Ventures took controlling interest of SFTP. For a while, however, he wanted 100% control of all the SF parks and their assets. He was NOT keen at all on TX and GA -- the two shareholder parks (hence their 'not getting anything new' trend they both fell into during that timeframe).
Needless to say, the corp folks in Parsippany are NOT happy, and are out to make life as miserable as possible for Gary Story and the shareholders. Their words: "this is FAR from over!"
Of course, in any abusive relationship, the best avenue is usually to get away (permanently) from the abusive spouse, even given that it's perhaps initially a rough hump to get over. What's the most important, long-term, is that the park be restored to the high-quality and unique family entertainment and cultural place it once was. And I suspect that the management change and substantial new investment will go a long way toward achieving that goal.
I'm told that Fiesta Texas, one Six Flags park which has started selling season passes for next year, has removed any mention of the Dallas park from their promotional materials.
As of October 25th, another correspondent has written me about another death that supposedly happened at SFOT: he writes that "The Big Bend at Six Flags was taken out because it derailed and killed someone. " Can anybody else confirm or deny that? I know about the 'coaster' at the other 'Entertainment Area' east of Six Flags on the north side of IH30 that had derailed and killed or injured people, but I wasn't aware of that happening at SFOT too. I'm told that the Big Bend was originally about where the Mini-Mine Train is now.
There has also been discussion about a Rotor-style ride called "Spindletop", reportedly taken out when The Texas Giant was installed. That ride is rumored to still be in storage somewhere, with the original intention being to eventually put it back into the park at some other location.
And this whole topic brings up the other issue: even if some rides (La Vibora, perhaps) "belong" to SFTP Inc., having been moved here from other Six Flags parks... what about the rides from this park that SFTP has taken out (such as Spinnaker) and moved to other Six Flags parks? Surely, if Six Flags can take out their rides that are still here, we should insist on the return of our rides that have been moved to their other parks.
And this change of management might just give us the good excuse to take the opportunity to reinstall some of these classic old rides that SFOT is rumored to still have in storage somewhere.
As of October 28th, there are conflicting stories about the former Big Bend coaster (some are absolutely sure that a rider died due to an accident on it, others claim not, although there does seem to be agreement that somebody... perhaps a young boy... was thrown off the ride). It apparently was previously located between Looney Tunes Land and G-Force, or approximately where Splashdown is today, and not on the site of the Mini-Mine Train as had been previously suggested here. It's said that some of its queue remnants can still be seen east of Looney Tunes Land, east of where the closed walkway crosses the train tracks. The ride was reportedly taken out around 1976 due to an "insurance conflict".
It's also being reported to me that SFOT's former Spindletop (Rotor-type) ride is currently installed and operating at Frontier City (that's right, Premier's original park) in Oklahoma City.
I'm told that other former rides that have been taken out at SFOT include:
In further news, it's been reported that Premier Parks has also aquired the site from the (presently closed and 'derelict') Old Indiana water park near Indianapolis, which it intends to open during the 1999 season as a complete family theme park and water park. Counting their other recent acquisitions, this will give Premier Parks fifteen parks.
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Artist conception images and drawings are copyright Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. (C) 1997, Mr. Freeze and related elements are property of DC Comics, (C) 1997. The rest of this page (including my own original photographs) and all linked contents originating with me are Copyright (C) 1997 by Gordon E. Peterson II, all rights reserved worldwide. Last revised December 2, 1997.