Six Flags: Amusement park CEO says parks have become 'cheap daycare center for teenagers

[Demovictory9]

WLS-TV: Six Flags news: Amusement park CEO Selim A. Bassoul says parks have become 'cheap daycare center for teenagers'.
https://abc7chicago.com/six-flags-theme-park-tickets-price-increases/12138917/


Six Flags is looking to make changes and raise prices after seeing a decrease in both attendance and revenue this year.

Six Flags is looking to make changes and raise prices after seeing a decrease in both attendance and revenue this year.

Last week, the amusement park reported quarterly results that fell short of Wall Street's estimates and said attendance fell sharply from a year earlier.

During that earnings call, CEO and President Selim A. Bassoul said the parks have become "a cheap daycare center for teenagers during breaks and the summers."

Bassoul later addressed the company's customers and the demographics when it comes to those who visit its parks, saying "our objective is not to become a park that's not affordable to everyone." He said the company wants to target "middle income" and those who earn "what I call the average income of the U.S."

Still, he went on to say the company is migrating "a little bit from what I call the Kmart, Walmart, to maybe the Target customer."

[Coventina]

1. *cough* elitist asshole *cough*

[AZLD4Candidate]

22. Parents have treated schools and teachers like that for decades.

When I lived in the NE, you should have heard parents howl on snow days: "what am I going to do with my child if there's no school today?"

[genxlib]

29. Add Public Libraries to that list

My wife's work place is overrun with middle schoolers every day between end of school and end of the work day.

They terrorize the place in a way that only a 12 year old on a junk food high after sitting all day can.

And people wonder why librarians have a reputation for being stern and humorless.

[wsulik]

66. I work at a library...

And yes, parents use it as a babysitter. The kids deliberately take books out of the shelves and place them all over the place. I find books on the floor often. That being said, I blame the parents. They should have taught these kids library manners from the time they were toddlers.

I kinda got sidetracked... I was going to say amusement parks have always been 'daycare' for teenagers. Raising the price will only price a few people out of their "daycare' and likely cost Six Flags valuable revenue.

[pstokely]

69. and pools, malls, zoos, etc

and now they don't even allow middle school students without parents at HS football games because of these type of parents who expect babysitting from everywhere open to the public without a huge fee

[Coventina]

35. I get that there is a large, systemic issue with childcare in this country.

My comment was aimed more at the remark about trying to price people out of being able to go to their parks.

I mean, if that's your reason for raising prices, that is pretty much the definition of elitism.

[pstokely]

70. but most teens don't need constant babysitting

and no one should expect it

[Coventina]

71. Agreed. n/t

[Hekate]

62. Calling in sick to work goes over like a lead balloon

There is no snow where I live, but I did have plans for babysitters when the kids were sick

[pstokely]

68. many parents have always treated schools as just free day care

probably the types that sign report cards without looking at them and then complain when their kid is held back

[ColinC]

2. All they gotta do is increase pay and target older workers, right?

Oh wait no, he's talking about the customers...

[Maru Kitteh]

10. Don't forget taking out some life insurance on the ones

you deem most likely to end up taking a dirt nap in the fairly near future!

[Aussie105]

3. So . . . not enough customers

but too many teenagers during school break times?

The bats in the belfy are squawking loud in this one!



But if you are going to run a place with mainly thrill rides, you are going to attract thrill seekers, right?
And the tend to be, strangely enough, teenagers.

[Demovictory9]

4. I know!! He thinks he is going get lots of middle aged rollercoaster riders?

[Sympthsical]

30. I think Covid broke something

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is practically down the street from us. Maybe a 10 minute drive away. I love amusement parks. Love roller coasters, love bumming around all day.

Yet, every time the notion of going comes up, it's, "Eh . . . do we want to deal with this?" My friends who also love coasters and things (30s and 40s) have had the same attitude whenever the idea to go comes up. Ever since Covid, the desire to move around crowded spaces, wait in lines, etc. feels like some massive hassle.

It's as if we just kind of got used to doing activities with less people.

This year, I noticed fewer people in my circles went to things like Pride and Outside Lands. And it wasn't fear of Covid, because we have boosters and vaccines and a lot of these activities are outdoors. Most of us still go to things like movies, plays, restaurants, etc.

I wonder if there are studies being done about this. As if people were being socially conditioned to go to these big events where crowds are. Once there was no social pressure to attend them, we found we simply didn't want to and enjoyed quieter things better.

Part of this is probably just us getting older, but I notice this in my nieces and nephews as well who are teens and 20s. They used to go to this or that concert or Six Flags or what have you. The only thing that enticed the two high schoolers when we asked if they wanted to do something was an escape room.

I wonder what this function is. Last year, once we opened up from Covid, people went out like gangbusters. But after a year of being away from it all, it's like everyone suddenly realized upon returning to these big outings, "Wait. I don't actually like this." And no one's urging others in the social group to go like they had in the past.

There are some big fall events coming up over the next few months that I'd usually hear about plans and tickets and things by now. This year, nada. No one wants to go anywhere. Maybe we are getting old, lol. But it's a definite sudden shift from last year and the pre-Covid times.

[orleans]

72. interesting take/observation

is it a covid backlash?

is there some crowds/guns effect happening?

is it the brain fog/fatigue from folks who've had covid?

or an appreciation for home & quieter times?

or is it an age thing?



or a combination?

[pstokely]

21. people buy season passes expecting daycare at the parks

nt

[Mariana]

38. If they don't want teens using season passes

then they shouldn't sell season passes for teens. It's really that simple.

[msongs]

5. get rid of teens? install a tik tok blocker lol nt

[okaawhatever]

32. Good one 😀

[alphafemale]

6. They should not bear the responsibility of unaccompanied minors.

And roving bands of teenagers can quickly become out of control.

I do not think raising ticket price is the answer.

Identifying and banishing trouble makers from entry would be a better solution.

I am guessing this would be the practice of families who purchase a yearly or seasonal pass.

[Mariana]

39. Then they should stop selling tickets and passes for unaccompanied minors.

[Beachnutt]

7. Simple answer

Under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

[SunSeeker]

8. How about providing security in the park and kicking out teens that cause problems?

These parks are one of the few entertainment venues teens enjoy and that they are old enough to enter. Raising prices and making it unaffordable for teens is not the answer. It will just further lower their attendance numbers.

Adults over 30 are not attracted to roller coaster parks. They are really only popular with those 12-21. Once they turn 21 and can get into a bar/nightclub, that is where most young adults go.

I haven't gone to a Six Flags since I was in my early 20s.

[Maru Kitteh]

13. This old lady freakin' LOVES a good roller coaster

love them

[Rhiannon12866]

16. Same here! When I was in college, I worked summer at an amusement park

And that was the perfect job for me, I've always loved rides. When I was really little, we used to pass a small amusement park on the way home and I always begged my Dad to stop - so I was right in my element at that summer job. I started as Cinderella in the Pumpkin Coach, moved on to running a Swan Boat - but the job I loved the best that I had several summers was driving the Purple Train that went through The Jungle.

[SunSeeker]

17. You gotta admit, you are not like most old ladies.

But rock on!

[Maru Kitteh]

23. Gawd I hope not!

[JHB]

36. But when did you learn to love that thrill?

Odds are it was back when you were a kid or teen.

Would you have ever "picked up the habit" if the price had been prohibited back then so you just didn't go?

[obamanut2012]

19. Lol people over 30 certainly are attracted to coaster parks

And thrill ride parks. Universal, Cedar Point, Busch Gardens, etc.

You are mistaken.

[SunSeeker]

24. Only as place to do stuff with their kids.

Last time I was on a roller coaster, it was with my son. And the only people who looked over 30 were there with kids/teens as well.

I am not familiar with Cedar Point, but Universal is not a coaster park. It is a theme park, like Disneyland. There are non-roller coaster rides and attractions there geared to all ages. Same with Busch Gardens, which has a zoo and lots of other attractions, like the Clydesdales, at least the one in Orlando. And theme parks have gotten ridiculously expensive, especially Disneyland.

Six Flags, at least the one I went to in Valencia outside of Los Angeles, was just roller coasters and various thrill rides, geared to teenagers. No light parades, no great restaurants, no animals, no sculpted gardens, just fast rides and concrete. It is one of the few entertainment places teenagers can go. And up until now, was pretty affordable. Maybe this douchebag CEO thinks his business is a fancy theme park like Disneyland. He will find he is mistaken, as his attendance numbers crater even more after he jacks up the prices.

[dewsgirl]

26. I have had annual passes to several parks in Orlando, since I was 21.

I'm 45 and still had them until 2 years ago. I miss it very much.
I love the Universal parks, I am not crazy about roller coasters, actually I hate them and always have.
My adult children that grew up going to the parks, now bring their own families and have their own passes.
Had I not moved, I would still be going.
My ex husband still goes and loves coasters, he's 49.🤷

[Grokenstein]

9. (Matt Gaetz' and Roy Moore's ears perk up)

[Demovictory9]

12. you are bad..lol

[okaawhatever]

33. 😀😀😀. any

[IcyPeas]

11. Perhaps if they added crudites to their menu they would

attract a better clientele.

🍅🥑🥕🌽🌶🥦🥒🫑🍄

[deelee]

14. I'm trying to understand the economics and the message here

This seems so disrespectful. Their target customers are teenagers. They have annual passes that are perfect for teenagers. Yet he doesn't want teenagers? Are they not paying customers? So where does he want bored teenagers to go in the summer? His neighborhood?

He never said they cause trouble. He never said they are vandalizing or stealing. He just doesn't want them there. The truth is - there is no "daycare" for teenagers, so that is a silly comment. And the solution is to.....raise prices?

I don't think he's the guy I would trust to turn things around for that company.

[SunSeeker]

18. Exactly. This is the problem with today's business executives.

They don't work their way up in the companies they are managing. Long gone are the days of the CEO who worked his way up from the mailroom. Now they helicopter in from the top, and hop from business to business, industry to industry, seeking higher and higher wages. They get their MBA and think they know how to run any business. But every business is unique, and you gotta have a feel for who your customers are and what they want. This jackhole clearly doesn't get it. I guess he's miffed his MBA didn't get him a a CEO job at Tiffany's.

[RobinA]

57. I'm Guessing

it's not teens they don't want it's unruly behavior. Let's face it, the behavior in this country, by all ages of people, just continues to get worse and worse. Add that teens are unruly by nature and you've got an increasingly unmanageable situation. I LOOOVE amusement parks, but you couldn't pay me to go to one these days. And it's not the danger of mass shootings, it's off the hook disgusting behavior of too many people.

[William Seger]

15. "Not enough visitors, so let's raise the price"

Must be a Trump University graduate.

[obamanut2012]

20. You know this strategy works, right?

It always has for Disney and Universal, as well as Cedar Point and Busch Gardens.

[SunSeeker]

28. Not always. Attendance at Disney is down after they jacked up prices.

But Disney parks saw higher revenue despite fewer guests in the parks. https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-parks-revenue-up-70-per-guest-spending-up-genie-success-grows/ My family was among those who stopped going, but most kept going. The demand for Disney parks is high enough that Disney could jack up the price substantially and still have people coming in, albeit slightly less people. And those jacked up prices more than make up for the attendance losses.

Six Flags is not a theme park like Disney, Universal or Busch Gardens. Six Flags is just thrill rides and concrete, at least the one in Valencia outside of Los Angeles is. There is just not the same demand for it like say a Disneyland or Busch Gardens, that have largely non-roller coaster attractions that are popular with people of all ages.

Obviously the Six Flags CEO is trying to recreate the revenue spike that Disney got with higher prices. But he will find out his parks have a different clientele than theme parks. He better learn to like teenagers, or else he will need to make major expensive upgrades to his park to bring in more adults, which will cut into revenues.

[Emile]

25. So they are using Disney as a model.

[Buns_of_Fire]

27. Selim Bassoul total compensation: $11.93 million.

I'd love to know what he considers "the average income of the U.S."

https://www.erieri.com/executive/salary/selim-bassoul-1eqw#:~:text=Selim%20Bassoul%20made%20%2411%2C932%2C585%20in,and%20other%20forms%20of%20compensation.

[Kid Berwyn]

45. Maybe not Walmart...more Target.

What a waste of money that guy is.

[Buns_of_Fire]

49. If he manages to run Six Flags into the ground, he'll probably

be picked up by another company, with more perks and a higher compensation package.

And after that company bites the dust under his masterful leadership, he'll retire with his string of triumphs intact and be heralded as an elder statesman whose advice will be much-sought-after. Maybe even a professorship at someplace like Wharton or Stanford.

The true genius of these CEOs is their ability to defy gravity and fall upward. (And knowing what to kiss and when to kiss it also helps.)

What, me cynical?

[Kid Berwyn]

55. You are both poet and realist.

From "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater," by Kurt Vonnegut:

I think it's terrible the way people don't share things in this country. The least a government could do, it seems to me, is to divide things up fairly among the babies. There's plenty for everybody in this country, if we'd only share more.

"And just what do you think that would do to incentive?"

You mean fright about not getting enough to eat, about not being able to pay the doctor, about not being able to give your family nice clothes, a safe, cheerful, comfortable place to live, a decent education, and a few good times? You mean shame about not knowing where the Money River is?

"The what?"

The Money River, where the wealth of the nation flows. We were born on the banks of it. We can slurp from that mighty river to our hearts' content. And we even take slurping lessons, so we can slurp more efficiently.

"Slurping lessons?"

From lawyers! From tax consultants! We're born close enough to the river to drown ourselves and the next ten generations in wealth, simply using dippers and buckets. But we still hire the experts to teach us the use of aqueducts, dams, reservoirs, siphons, bucket brigades, and the Archimedes' screw. And our teachers in turn become rich, and their children become buyers of lessons in slurping.

"It's still possible for an American to make a fortune on his own."

Sure—provided somebody tells him when he's young enough that there is a Money River, that there's nothing fair about it, that he had damn well better forget about hard work and the merit system and honesty and all that crap, and get to where the river is. 'Go where the rich and powerful are,' I'd tell him, 'and learn their ways. They can be flattered and they can be scared. Please them enormously or scare them enormously, and one moonless night they will put their fingers to their lips, warning you not to make a sound. And they will lead you through the dark to the widest, deepest river of wealth ever known to man. You'll be shown your place on the riverbank, and handed a bucket all your own. Slurp as much as you want, but try to keep the racket of your slurping down. A poor man might hear.

Source: http://akkartik.name/post/money-river

[RAB910]

31. I am glad I don't own stock in this country

the company is clearly struggling and the CEO doesn't have a clue how to turn things around

[MissMillie]

34. absolutely nothing inexpensive about a day at Six Flags

It was too expensive for my family of two 20 years ago.

[Cosmocat]

46. Right

WTF has the $ to use an amusement park as "day care?"

[Hotler]

37. Nature of the free market, no whining. nt

[jcgoldie]

40. attendance is down... raise prices!

Brilliant!

[Iggo]

41. Teenagers don't buy enough side crap.

The Six Flags out this way, though, that place is for the young and the fit. As I was approaching 30, I could tell my time at Magic Mountain was coming to an end…lol. You want to attract an older crowd, you better make your park older-crowd-friendly.

(Then again, my info is a little out of date. I was “approaching 30” over 30 years ago…lol.)

[Demovictory9]

43. agreed. I went to Disneyland earlier in the year. My legs were spent by the end of the day from

all the walking.

[Iggo]

56. Even the rides at Magic Mountain at that time were more for the bold.

Disneyland was for families.
Magic Mountain was for big kids and young adults.

[Demovictory9]

59. Knotts Berry Farm too.. almost entirely fast rides

[Initech]

42. Yeah inflation is bleeding everyone dry, no one has any money for luxuries right now!

[JustAnotherGen]

44. Oh my god!

We had season passes to one (then it was just Darien Lakes) as a teenage kid.

Yes - it absolutely was a 'day care' - because my parents could drop us off and get a guest pass for our friends - and we'd do the water park a few days a season.

What is wrong with them?

[alphafemale]

47. And that near adults think they should be entertained all day every day.

Get a job.

Get a hobby.

Volunteer.

You are not 5 anymore.

Figure something out on you own on how not to be bored.

[panader0]

48. When I was a kid, if I told my dad that I was bored,

He'd say, "I'll find something for you to do."

[Cuthbert Allgood]

51. So maybe the hobby is going to amusement parks?

[Mariana]

54. You should be talking to their parents.

Who do you think buys the season passes and drives the kids there and back?

[jmowreader]

50. "Have become"?

Isn't that klnd of the point of buying your teenager a season pass to a theme park?

[Demsrule86]

52. First of all Teens are the customers and without them, goodbye Amusement Parks...some

malls and movie theaters around here don't let kids in without a parent...for the movies, it is after 9:00. In malls it varies. And malls are closing...teens got parents into the stores and always bought something. Those who run the mall were very foolish. The same thing for movies. And I find it ridiculous that a kid of 16 or above can't have a date at the movies. Movies theaters are ruining their best chance to remain relevant and open.

[Mariana]

53. Imagine whining because people actually buy and use an item that you sell.

Give me a break.

[Xolodno]

58. He's not wrong.

A while back we had the premier Disney annual pass, since we lived a couple of hours away and could only visit on weekends, hence, always crowded. We decided to take a few days off and go midweek. In the morning and early afternoon it was quite enjoyable, less crowded, short lines, etc.

After 3 pm however, it suddenly swelled up with kids. After 5 pm, it swelled up even more, as if it were like the weekend. Not pleasant at all.

At Knotts, a bunch of kids got into a fight at the park, now they require a chaperone. I think all parks should do this.

[Demovictory9]

60. I live near disneyland. Lots of people go to there afterwork during the week

annual pass holders go later in the day...yeah crowds swell. Best to go Tuesday morning in winter

[Xolodno]

61. They made changes to their annual pass system from what I read.

They are now limited from what I gather, which makes sense. They had tourists coming from across the country staying at the Disney hotels (which are expensive), leave the park to take a break, only to come back later to watch a parade, show, etc. and couldn't get in due to the park being at capacity.

And tourists purchase the over priced food, souvenirs, etc. Pass holders don't always do and they get a discount on top of that if they do. I remember when I worked there while in college, New Years Eve was usually the busiest and now they get crowds like that all the time. Crazy.

We are going to let our LA Zoo passes expire this year and opt for Universal (haven't been there in a long while). Might visit Disneyland for a weekend as we haven't seen the Star Wars area yet (last Disney park we went to was Disneyland Paris).

[Demovictory9]

65. Had both la zoo and universal passes when I lived in sfv

For Disneyland..look for the lowest priced days..it's less crowded..in morning anyway

[ecstatic]

63. Good luck. We used to sneak in as teens.

Anyway, the ideal customer he is seeking doesn't exist and won't exist without a ton of rebranding. Everyone knows a day at six flags consists of bad, overpriced food and a bunch of annoying teens running around, unless you go during school hours (are they even open then?). He should be grateful for whatever visitors they get. Lol

[ZonkerHarris]

64. they aint cheap

[pstokely]

67. If you visit multiple times, a season pass might be the best value at the regional parks

like the Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks, but they only put the $ into their biggest moneymakers. Disney and Universal attract global crowds while the Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks are mostly local/regional crowds