The Death Of Six Flags Is Upon Us 

1) Clean up the park 2) Get rid of dead landscape 3) Paint the rides 4) Develop a cohesive theme for their parks that makes sense and doesn't look like a patchwork of super heroes, looney toons, pirates, and salvaged licensing deals. Raising prices is not necessarily a bad thing, if these improvements are made. Lately the park has turned into an overcrowded daycare, where people are cutting lines without any consequences or employees to stop them. Wait lines are extremely long, and overall park experience is abysmal.

Six Flags needs to desperately CLEAN their parks, PAINT fading facades and rides, FIX cracked pavement and buildings, MAINTAIN their rides better, MANAGE landscape better and TRAIN their employees on F&B cleanliness, guest relations and employee expectations.

The fact that the CEO thinks that they should focus on families instead of teenagers and adults, just shows how much he knows about the Six Flags parks 😂

Worked for a guy like this, they have all the answers, he’d fein being open to debate but worked to get you fired for speaking your mind. He won’t last long.

As an expert on theme park management, ( I have over 20 hours in roller coaster tycoon), its clear to me that they need more drink stands available and charge people 2$ to use the bathroom. That got me in the green

See, I'm not against the idea of raising prices. However, the value of the park experience has to rise with it. Their operations are a mess and their park maintenance standards are low. I agree that new attraction investment is essential as well, but raising prices, cutting perks and staff is not a long-term solution for growth.

I’m here at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio. This theme park has always thrived. It’s always clean , professional staff, organized and Great theme rides. I’ve noticed the prices have gone up. For my daughter and I I paid $180 along with the entrance/parking space. We’d use to find $45 tickets at the store but I think those went away when covid happened. It’s sad to see this happen to Six Flags. Just like anything great it will always have an end.

Raising prices without making some kind of improvement or anything in return was a horrible business decision. Especially if you're marketed as the 'affordable alternative' which inherently implies that they are second rate in comparison to big name theme parks. So, when the 'dollar store' is charging the same price as everyone else, then why are you going to the 'dollar store' in the first place?

“Our business is struggling to get people in, let’s make it more expensive” I don’t think he realizes how much the higher prices are gonna scare people away, especially the families he wants. The parents have to pay for themselves AND all their kids. A lot of parents are not willing or able to drop upwards of half a grand on one day at Six Flags. They need to get rid of this clown.

So he’s taking the Disney approach, without the Disney appeal? Sounds disastrous…

I can only offer an anecdote, but a spontaneous trip I took to Magic Mountain this year honestly made me sick. Not just because I rode 7 coasters back to back on likely the hottest day of the year (I believe it actually got up to 110!), but because the staff was very clearly exhausted and overworked. Waiting in line for Apocalypse, I walked up to the gate ready to get on the ride, and the operators told us that they needed to take a couple minutes to rest before loading the next train. Of course, none of us complained. We could all see that they were not feeling good and dreadfully tired, some maybe suffering heat exhaustion. I said to one of the operators: "If you need to shut the ride down for a little while, that would be fine. I don't think anyone here would mind at all if you really need a break." I was told in response: "Thank you sir, but we're not allowed to do that, no matter what the guests say. They would rather keep making money than shut anything down." They've had workers literally fainting in the heat. Apparently the only response they got from management was, "be sure to drink enough water." You might not realize it, but it is a very physically taxing job opening and closing those restraints all day. I'm not sure exactly what should be done, but I think it will take some collective effort to make some kind of change happen. I've made a complaint myself but I'm afraid it won't be paid attention to as I'm only one person. We need guests and staff to work together to put the pressure on. I think guests and staff can definitely agree that we all want a pleasant and safe experience and I truly believe that six flags wants to sacrifice that experience for a profit margin.

Six Flags is my favorite park. This whole video was SO SAD. 😞 Everything this new CEO has said, or planned, makes it sound like he walked into Six Flags with no other goal than destroy it. I don’t understand how he got this position, since he seems to actively dislike the park.

If you're a park in a heavy tourist area this is a strategy that can be effective but several Six Flags parks rely on locals and you're pricing them out now. This won't end well for them.

Raising prices before you improve the parks was a huge mistake. They also pissed off a lot of park goers and probably lost them forever. They probably should have invested money first and make improvements and then raise prices over time.

True story. In the summer of 1978, six flags opened the colossus roller coaster. While waiting in the queue I see Clint Eastwood in line. He waited the entire 45 minutes it took to get on that ride. Meanwhile, the actress Kristy McNichol and her three girlfriends cut the line and went through a private gate to get on the coaster right away. Clint is the man.

I’m currently an employee at one of the Six Flags parks. As an employee you can see the rapid and glaring decline of the company. I have been employed by Six Flags for 4 years now and the leadership of the company has seemed to get worse year after year. Every decision comes down to maximizing profit while gutting labor cost, maintenance cost, upkeep cost and operations cost. Everything takes a back seat to maximizing profit and it is having a negative impact(s) on guests and employee experience. So far this year we have had upwards of 20 different variations of season’s passes offered, confusing the hell out of both employees and guests because the terms and conditions of the season’s passes are changing on a week to week basis. Nothing is working to the satisfaction of upper management so they keep going back to the drawing board. They are so desperate to close their profit margins that beginning November 2022, the park that I am employed at will now only be open 4 days a week instead of 7 going forward. It’s sad to see how far this company has fallen, in the early 2000’s when I was a child and would go with my family, the energy of the park was so much more lively, the overall experience was electrifying, now the park looks incredibly dilapidated and grungy. It’s a shame because these parks HAVE SO MUCH potential but for the last 18 years or so, the administrators have the park(s) have made poor decisions and have neglected the well-being of the park(s). There needs to be a MASSIVE overhaul of ownership and management because current and recent administrators have run these park(s) to the brink of extinction.

Cutting staff is almost always the first place management looks to save money, and it's almost always a false economy. There's only so much labor a reduced workforce can do. Maintenance suffers, customer service suffers, safety suffers... everything suffers, including the guests.

I wonder if he's ever actually gone to a Six Flags park. He strikes me as the type who would allow himself to be named the head of programming at NBC, and then go around telling people that he doesn't watch TV.

It's crazy what the internet shows your brain. Never would I have thought to research and understand a company so much, let alone process it into a format that people can not only learn from, but enjoy. Thank you for this!

This makes me sad. I grew up in Ohio, so we had Cedar Point and King’s Island. My family (and all of the families I knew around me) were too poor for vacations. Couldn’t afford airfare, hotels, restaurants. So our only semblance of a vacation as kids was going to an amusement park (we preferred Cedar Point but still loved King’s Island). We were not able to purchase food, drinks or souvenirs from the parks. I actually remember the single time my parents bought me this glowing wand thingy when we were leaving King’s Island. I remember it because it is THE ONLY ITEM we ever bought at any amusement park. They would pack us baloney sandwiches and PBJs with some veggies and chips and jugs of water. This way too long story is to say, it makes me sad that any place would purposely just make it too expensive for poor families. People talk about Disney, I can’t relate. I’m not interested and have never been interested in Disney as a brand or as a theme park, so yes, I’ve never been, but I wouldn’t have wanted to go as a kid. So while it does suck for poor kids who can’t afford Disney and want to go, at LEAST there used to be other options. I don’t know if what I’m saying even makes sense, lol.

Six Flags' appeal has always been the fact that, relatively speaking, it's affordable, and the perks of a season pass + meal plan were fantastic. Without that, I'm not spending a premium to attend a Six Flags park, no way, no how. We let our season passes lapse during the pandemic, but we've not been quick to renew them with price hikes and an obviously out of touch new CEO. Hopefully this guy gets the boot, and soon.

Selim’s earnings report is like a tobacco company denying that smoking causes lung cancer

I worked at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, CA in high school. They made us work passed our hours when we were underage. I was written up several times for being "late". I drove directly from school to work. There was traffic on the freeway. By the time I got there in the late afternoon there was no parking for staff. I parked about a 15 minute walk away from where I needed to clock in. They did not take in any consideration that I was in school and couldn't leave early to take in account the traffic. They also did not pay OT and did not give breaks. I ended up getting a check in the mail a couple years later for a class action lawsuit against them. It was only like $70 because I had only worked their a couple months before I moved out of state.

If you are from LA, you wonder how Magic Mountain lasted this long. I’m in my 40’s and by the time I left for college, they seemed on their last leg.

Magic Mountain has rather abruptly raised their prices to ~$95 for a single day ticket, which is directly comparable to Disneyland about 30-45 minutes away. If Six Flags wants to try playing in Cedar Fair's court then that's fine, but charging Disney and Universal prices demands a far greater quality of experience than they are capable of delivering. They could build 3 Wonder Woman single rail record breakers stacked on top of each other and it still wouldn't justify a 100% price increase

It appears to me he wants to adopt the unfortunate new Disney business model: pay more, get less. Sure it’s working (short term, of course) for Disney, but Six Flags ain’t Disney. Universal seems to be the only entertainment juggernaut that appears to accurately understand how to keep a company going strong.

Wow, this video made so much sense. We purchased season tickets (for the first time) for a family of 6. Worked the math out, break even point was 4 one day park visits. Everything was spot on, half the rides were down, half the staff, and half of the stores/ stalls were not open. The park was dirty and the rides were all sun faded. The water park also closed at 3PM. I'm not a CEO but customer satisfaction is also measured in cleanliness, knowledgeable staff, and hours of business (or lack thereof). Half the rides being down caused the other ride times to increase. Half the stores closed caused the other ones to be over crowded. Half the stores closed reduces revenue and profit (you already have the infrastructure cost already there). Reducing the number of visitors when you're not at park capacity means under utilized/idle resources (wasted cost for excess space/rides/ merch inventory). Why not grow revenue/profit through increased volume sales (i.e. more foot traffic) instead of increased profit margin per transaction (i.e. only the few can afford)? If you want to decrease waiting times, do it right by offering more/ new rides (grow the park) instead of increasing prices to reduce park attendance. Increase park hours. Offer a variety of rides/merch to cater to different demographics.

This explains so much! We have passes for Six Flags Great America and every time we go at least two or more rides are closed. We went for the very first year of Holiday in the Park and had the best time! Now it’s only a “drive through” experience where you can look at the lights. My youngest daughter said it best “We can do the same thing at home and not have to drive over an hour!” Having gone to Universal since my kids were little there is no way the service and rides at Great America equals the value of Universal!

It’s not just the guests who are unhappy. Many employees who I saw last year having fun look miserable now. It’s honestly sad. Guests constantly complain about park hours being slashed (Great adventure was 10am-10pm last summer, this year it’s 10:30am-8pm) and losing so many deals. Even the food employees look miserable. No one even goes into the restaurants anymore cause the prices are awful. I hate going to a park where I see employees looking like animals stuck in a cage that they can’t get out of. Thank you for reporting on this, and, I hope, like other comments said, Selim is just a stain that disappears really fast and we can get back to how six flags is meant to be tun

The “schools and camps can’t afford this anymore” bit REALLY hammered it in for me. For most of the video I was like “yea poor leadership, layoffs and price gouging, sounds like the norm. Guess I won’t go as much.” And then the memories of being a kid, waiting all summer for the camp trip to Six Flags, (sneaking in granola bars bc even 10 years ago food cost too much) just how wholesomely fun it was, especially since trips with summer friends were so rare. Now I get JUST how bad this is

Exactly! I live in LA & I had a season pass for a few years and went quite often to Sixflags Valencia. The last few times I went they were only running 1 train and most of the stores & rides were closed & got more expensive. I would be happy to pay more if stuff was open. Kinda ridiculous to except people to pay more for 50% of the park. At least have all the rides running or at least alternate them during the day

As much as I love Six Flags MM it is in DESPERATE need of overhauling, from paint to repairs and most of all cohesive theming. The park literally looks like it's recovering from the zombie apocalypse and at any moment a walker could roll up on you while waiting in line, It is heartbreaking to see it in such disrepair and neglect. Clearly it's a reflection of mismanagement and their lack of responsibility to maintain an environment that is inviting, fun, family friendly and profitable. Bottom line it's currently barely holding on by the skin of it's teeth and is just short of being a DUMPSITE.

Wonderful video, it seems like every six flags executive and higher up ever since i can remember has wanted the family audience to roll in because they obviously spend a ton of money, but they're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The stupidest thing six flags did was jack up prices SIGNIFICANTLY before this season, take away the perks and memberships, and offer nothing new in the short term to justify it. I didnt think that would work and it didnt seem to. Also doesnt help they waited til Q3 to open their 2 new coasters...why wait til the kids are almost back in school to roll out your big investment?

What this reminds me of a lot is GameStop. They started cutting managers everywhere because they knew they could hire new ones for cheaper. They cut everything and now it feels like the saddest place ever when I go in there

I'm so glad you put out this video. He definitely won't be getting my family's business after hearing his attitude. I can't wait to hear updates on numbers.

Thanks so much for the clarity. I had no idea why the parks in N TX went to crap this last summer. All the things that I liked were taken away. Half their rides were shut down due to staffing. And eating basically doubled. I won't go back until it changes for the better. Thank you.

The only reason my family would go to Great America while I was growing up was because it was the only affordable theme park in our area. This will be disastrous for six flags.

The problem imo is that they’ve officially hit the point where they’re operating too many parks. What they should do is close down the parks that are more of a financial drain and focus more resources on the parks that are making them the most. Another part of the problem is that no one is going to travel long distances to go to a Six Flags for one day, so why not put some money behind turning places like Fiesta Texas into a multi day resort style theme park like Disney or Universal? People would be more inclined to go if they knew they weren’t driving for 3-4 hours to stay for one day.

Wow, this was tough to watch as somebody who worked at the Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. That was about 7 years ago, and I have not gone back since 2016. Its sad to hear that this is the state of Six Flags now, especially since I have so many wonderful memories going to the theme park with friends for so many years. I do hope things get better, even though I have no plans to go back.

I didnt even realzie the park is in shambles, I have always loved six flags. I really hope they can turn this around

It's not the end of Six Flags. It's the end of some greedy CEO that nobody will remember. Guest at Six Flgas are letting their voices be heard with their wallets.

I just went back to six flags for the first time probably 5 or 6 years, and I could not believe how expensive it was just for a regular ticket and how ridiculously long we still had to wait in line even though lines were way shorter than they were in the past

I used to spend my summer’s, in the late 60’s, up in Atlanta with my Uncle & Aunt. We would go to Six Flags once or twice when up there. Got the addiction to roller coasters at an early age.

I was never really a ride person, so I haven’t been to Great Adventure since the early to mid 90s. My family used to get season passes for many years. We live so close to the park, we used to visit a lot and even be able to go home for dinner and return in the evening. Pricing and scheduling now make it a sometimes thing.

Well, this makes a LOT of sense now. My boyfriend and I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain in LA on Monday (two days ago). There was hardly ANYONE in the park, which we just assumed was due to it being a Monday and kids possibly back in school already... but, prices were also INSANELY expensive. I paid $700 for two general admission tickets, two meal passes, and two Platinum Flash Passes... plus parking. (RIP OFF) We ended up not even needing the Flash Passes at all because there was literally no one there.... (annoying that I essentially wasted $400) but with that being said, about half the rides were closed, half (if not more) of the restaurants were closed leaving us with only a couple food options (and no healthy choices at all -- at least parks like Disney offer options for people with dietary restrictions) .... the water park was completely closed. Oh, and the entire park now apparently closes at 5pm?! So at 5pm sharp, all of a sudden all the rides stop running and everyone is rushed out of the park. Like.. GREAT. Glad I spent $700 for about 5-6 hours with minimal food/ride options. There was also no form of entertainment. No shows/performers. Sure, attendance was low and we didn't have to wait in line, but I wouldn't say OUR "Guest Satisfaction" scores were high! Not at ALL. In fact, I just filled out their survey they emailed me (which I doubt they'll read). But all-in-all, this makes so much sense now... They really need to lower prices and staff up so that all rides/games/shows can perform on a consistent schedule and make the overall experience better. I was so excited to finally visit Six Flags Magic Mountain because I had heard so much hype about this park, for so long, and it was a huge let down. :(

Sellm is also forgetting a few things when he compares today to the 90s. My home park is Great Adventure. Back in 1994, the park would open at 9am and close at 12am. All the rides were fully staffed, all the dining locations were fully staffed. Today, the park opens at 10:30am and closes at 9:00pm. Not all the rides are open due to staffing issues and not all the dining locations are open for the same. The park is in disarray. We were there this weekend and pushing my nephew in a wheelchair. This sucked because the sidewalks are falling apart! There are massive cracks, uneven pavement and the aggregate is coming through due to age. The food he says we “pay too little for” is akin to cafeteria food. So yeah, paying $14.99 for a tasteless, dry hamburger with overcooked French fires is a crime. But let’s do away with the meal plan. Selim obviously hasn’t been in a park and then the ones he’s comparing with. I’ve been going to Great Adventure for 30+ years and love the park. I don’t want to see this guy ruin the Six Flags name and extinguish the memories by trying to make the park something it isn’t. He doesn’t care about us or what we think. He cares about money and doing it all wrong. #stepdownselim

I agree with everything you said sir. Every year I get my family season passes to Six Flags St Louis. This year we did not get the passes. The price this year was way higher than I've ever paid for my family. I also get us each a dining pass for the year. The dining passes have more than tripled since last year. It is absolutely ridiculous. And you're exactly right there isn't half the people at Six Flags is there used to be. The new CEO better get it figured out or he won't be a CEO long cuz his Park will close. Since covid people do not have the money we used to.

I hadn’t been to Six Flags over Texas in Arlington in over 10 years, but I bought myself a season pass last year and felt like it was a really good deal. But the whole year, I only went one time because they only had rollercoasters and none of the charm I remembered of the past. The building that used to have the moving seats movie ride (The Right Stuff, then Spongebob) was gone. The indoor Looney Tunes log ride with the sparkley fake gold at the end, permanently closed. So much was gone or not running. I rode the little train around the park 3 times and went home.

The absolute disregard for riders is insane. I can’t believe this man is allowed to run an amusement park… literally nothing amusing about him

I worked at Six Flags over Texas when I was a teen in 95 & 96. I went back a few years ago with my kids and was disappointed in the cleanliness, food quality (especially funnel cake and french fries should be a go too), and lack of customer service. I knew it was going to be terrible because the entrance was not lit, painted, or clean as you walk in. The main sign for Six Flags entrance was hard to see and not lit. I was pissed and I don't even work there. - It needs to be affordable for locals, included with package deals with wet n wild, all sports teams, and hotels, season pass for groups with park discounts, special park access during the year and holidays, partner with round 1 , Top golf, add night club, etc. Transportation should drop and pick you up from all big entertainment venues in that area and drop you off inside Six Flags. Needs to be a one stop shop for all family, friends, teens, and young adult needs. They have a chance to recover because Disney World is horrible, expensive, out of touch, and too many people. Universal Studios was legit with night life entertainment, restraunts, and modern. All age groups can go.

I stopped going back in the late 90’s. We drove hours to Six Flag and when we got there, it started raining which made us not able to ride anything. We walked in the part for a few mins to see if anything was open and nothing… asked for another ticket to go back at a future date and said we couldn’t.. Haven’t been back since!

Since I was a teenager, and for the first few years of marriage (before kids) I visited Six Flags Mexico very often. I’ve had the annual pass for many years, even when visiting only a couple of times a year because of having small children who were too little to enjoy it yet. We are considering not renewing this year because of the new conditions of their new “memberships”. In September 2021 my wife and I travelled to the US for after nos doing it during the pandemic. We realized that there was a Six Flags relatively near our hotel (in San Antonio) and went there with our annual passes from Mexico. We were disappointed; the rides were not that great, it was extremely crowded, and the view from the rides was only literally kilometers of parking space around tue park. The only positive surprise was the food included on the dining pass with big portions. I was comparing it with my local Six Flags in Mexico City. It’s located on the slopes of the tallest mountain in the valley, surrounded by pine forests, right next to a nature reserve, and with an amazing view of the most modern areas of the city. I felt the rides were taller than those in San Antonio, and crowds are smaller most days. Also, apparently our annual passes weee also much cheaper than in the US for the same conditions. Now, their new memberships are more expensive and charged monthly, free parking is only given on certain days, even meals and entries to the park are limited for certain dates. I would have accepted an increase in price to keep up with inflation, but not a complete change in the program like this.

This dude is going to strip mine the value of the company, load the company up with debt, hand out bonuses to big shareholders and then walk away with billions as the parks all close. Ask former Toys-R-Us managers if you want to understand the play. It's sick.

10-18 roller coasters... Yeah, half of which are often closed, unmaintained or running with terrible operations.

I feel like if each park had its own cohesive themeing that would be really cool. Like the one in Georgia could be DC characters while another could be the “great America” theme. The all day refills could be branded towards the theme of whichever park it’s at and then become collectible cups.

It’s sad that the things I grew up doing & looking forward to are going away because of out of touch & greedy CEOs like him. You want young family you go to Disney. Animal + rides it’s sea world or bush gardens. Experience in Universe. But crazy thrill rides have always been Six Flags & Cedar Fair. It has always been a competition on who is building the bigger faster coaster.I don’t spend money in the parks unless it was the drink deal because it was a good value & never have minded standing in moderate lines if the entry fee was reasonable. This guy is single handily killing Six Flags. Very sad, thanks for sharing.

I've been to 6 Flags recently and now there are certain rules and cost-cutting measures that should very well not be in place. Closing MM at 8pm is criminal. And going from $99 for a season pass to about $200 or more with no discernible increase in quality is moving me towards the #SoLongSelim camp.

Less than 2 minutes in and Selim’s business model sounds a lot like another Theme Park CEO we know of.

Big like my friend and subscribed! Excellent video and thank you so much for sharing!

I was a young father when the 6 flags near me first opened up. And for the first several years I got family passes and we went several times over the season. But then the focus shifted and the park began to focus almost solely on thrill rides, forgetting about any type of family entertainment. After a while, there was no point 8n going more than once a year to see what the new thrill ride was, because the rest of the park was the same old same old. And, after a while, even checking out the new thrill ride wasn't worth the bother. It's been 20 years since the last time I was at 6 flags and, so far, I have seen nothing that makes me want to gather up my grandkids and head out there again.

I was a season pass holder for several years, and for the last few I had been a purchaser of the premium dining plan. I used to frequently invite friends to attend with me and get their own passes. I still spent money in the parks on food upgrades, premium attractions, and merchandise. I was strongly considering upgrading to a higher tier pass or membership before the changes were announced. Now, I no longer have a pass or attend the parks, nor do I plan to. My individual business doesn’t make a difference to SixFlags’s wallet, but from the numbers it seems clear to me that I’m not alone in this.

YOU NAILED IT! Well Done! I grew up going to Magic Mountain. I rode the Revolution in it's first year. I know this park as well or better than anyone. And I am seeing the fall you described. The rides, luckily, have kept coming for us out here in the Los Angeles area. But every point you made about the prices and the direction they are trying to take all of the Six Flags parks in are spot on. My last teenager is about to leave the house for College and truthfully, if it wasn't for him I would probably would have stopped going on principal alone. The price raise was a JOKE. And if you think stripping the nice perks we used to have as Members, to be only replaced with a souped up Trick or F'ing Treat Halloween experience is going to make me renew. You are CRAZY! No thanks. The Halloween experience PALES in comparison to Universal, anyway, and it always will. Nice try corporate greed. Break something that isn't broken...STANDARD. Again, great piece you did on the downfall of what once a great company. Thank you!

This is insane. I have never been to Six Flags but I have been a Universal Orlando annual pass holder for the past 10 years and the parks have only gotten better. The most recent rides have been remarkable. People will wait for a new ride, especially if it’s worth it. People don’t want to pay for better food that’s not even what the theme parks are for. 😭

I grew up at Magic Mountain between the 97-99 years my friends and I were there almost every weekend. We loved it there. FFS I had my first kiss in line on Batmans opening day! I have fond memories of Ninja on Samurai Summit, Viper, and the endless runs on Colossus just as the park was closing for the night and everyone was trying to get on the other rides. It breaks my heart to see this going on. Swear if I got 2 quarters I could pull six flags back and make it a gold mine again. And all I would ask for is a life time pass to the the park.

If they have fired 200+ staff, then that means slower ride dispatches, which means longer lines. The guest satisfaction that he wanted is about to drop like crazy, and I hope he realizes that

As someone who worked at SFOT in a managerial position for several years as well as being close friend with current full-time staff? I can only speak to SFOT, but the park has been in overall staff decline for several years now. I had the fortune of working there during a peak time when staffing was relatively appropriate ( but still difficult) and watched as the park restructured and wrapped departments into each other or flat out did away with entire staff sections. When you slash staffing, service suffers, cleanliness suffers and it's a self degrading cycle. The root of the issue is terrible retention policies of employees who were there for many years and letting things like park cleanliness fall to the wayside because dedicated team members for Park Services do not exist anymore. The service/entertainment industry lives and dies by just that.. service. You can't give Disney service, cleanliness or atmosphere with no employees. The human experience is still fundamental to the success of entertainment. Every time they go to slash budgets, their most important asset is damaged.. it's not rides or meal deals or gate costs.. It's the people who have been there sometimes for decades who LOVE those parks that they arbitrarily let go or run off due to their piss poor policies. A 16 year old there for the summer that doesn't really want to be there on that ride dock/snack stand is not going to give the same service as adults who have poured years into the park and are experts in their jobs. Instead, they would rather poorly train super temporary employees while milling through them with predatory attendance policies, poor pay and unreasonable work for said wages. The root of the problem is how they treat their staff and it shows.. yet they just keep undermining their most important asset and acting shocked when their other approaches don't work.

This is what I observed in six flags over Georgia. A run down park with staff that put very little effort into making it a welcoming experience. Lots of broken “run down” rides, there isn’t any of the welcoming magic and constant changing events like on Busch gardens and other parks.

I just booked a package for Halloween Horror Nights in October. I open YT and this shows up, that’s a little creepy but … I’m glad it did, excellent overview and analysis, I’ll keep checking you out. Thanks!

As a person who works at six flags (from 2016-22) I can say the cost has definitely increased and because of that less guests which dose make them happy. In fact that this summer was so slow I was bored but the guest were much nicer than previous years. (Upside the pay got better) As for employee’s jobs they have gotten rid of whole department but gave those different jobs with six flags.

I'm worried for the animals at six flags great adventure, especially their great horned owl. I felt so bad for that bird being in a small cage near a walk way. Poor thing must be stressed out.

I love the channel man, keep it up, this is good👍🏾👍🏾

Six flags should merge with Disney and have miniature Disney parks spread through America while still having six flags rides

I remember clearly when they removed the pass no longer being able to be used on all parks. I live in New England and was planning to go with my family down to NJ for Great adventures that we realized we’d need to pay twice solely on admission. So instead, we opted to do other things than buy the entry season pass. Wouldn’t have been worth it for us if we wanted to go to both parks anymore so they received $0 from us this summer. We weren’t protesting the decision nor thinking about it but simply we moved on.

Very sad to see these parks having such terrible leadership, these parks provide kids and adults incredible memories but those good ol days seem numbered.

When I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain this November I was shocked by how few rides were operating at capacity. The majority were running 2 less trains then they were capable of some were running a single train despite a long line forming for them. On top of that they had non-operational rides, the first day at least 3 rides were down for all or part of the day, the second day Goliath and Scream were still down. If their plan was to decrease wait times then not operating rides at capacity and not having every ride available to spread out the guests is the opposite of how to do that. They can hardly operate their parks anymore, its no wonder they are going down hill.

wow! im so happy cedar fair runs our local park canada's wonderland pretty well. 2 new attractions next year. plenty of shows. more than fair pricing for the gate, getting us to spend on parking + food + drinks. they got my money for all those passes annually now and i convinced my friends to get season passes + all the other additions as well. and omg, "take away all these things" and you expect ppl to goto the park? im spending my money elsewhere if it gets too expensive

Being a Southern California native, Six Flags Magic Mountain to me is kinda the theme park that’s cheap, not well maintained and just good for the rides but not the overall experience. So many rides are either poorly run or out of order. It’s also very dirty and nothing food wise is amazing besides maybe Johnny Rockets but even then it’s a crappy shack not a sit down air conditioned restaurant like at Knotts. It’s too far out of the way in Valencia for me to go at times especially when Universal and Knotts offer better run experiences closer. Hopefully they get their act together because I love Tatsu and Scream. Those two are my two favorite roller coasters in CA. We’ll see.

He's crazy. He thinks that he's running Disney parks and he can get away with these price hikes and cost cutting measures. I mean hell, Disney is doing cost cutting measures and they're getting away from it for now, but that's because they're legendary and known around the world. They have a legacy that everyone knows. Six Flags does not have the same sort of legacy as Disney or Universal and I would imagine that this is unsustainable for them.

Currently at Magic mountain, found this video because of all of the issues addressed here. Was attracted here by family based advertisement, just to arrive at a park that cannot accommodate my children of four and six. My wife and I are Thrill Seekers but infrastructure has not been set up to let the old play as well as the new. We drove 7 hours to get here under the impression of costumes family games and rides applicable to them and the theme and found none of it. Extremely disappointed in a park I remember so fondly as a younger adult.

I visited six flags magic mountain in July and it was the worst experience I ever had at a park. The park was disgusting and dirty, everything looked and felt so rundown you could definitely tell the park was on its way out.

Bonnie Weber started as a food service employee at Magic Mountain in the 70's. She was Park President at Six Flags Magic Mountain, then promoted to Park Operations (or something to that effect) for all of Six Flags. That is a shame she was let go. Boo!!

I stay in San Antonio and have been to 6 Flags once in the 6 years I’ve been down here… me and my fiancé make descent salaries….However the prices are extremely high for what your getting, the lines are incredibly long we were there a entire afternoon and spent most of it in lines…. You can purchase a band for a significantly hire price to skip the line but that basically puts you in another long line with people who … you guessed it! Also bought bands… that was 2 Summers ago haven’t been back since… The price points for the whole thing just doesn’t make sense for what they offer

Thanks for the video. I just bought next year season passes for the first time in years. I hope I still make good memories, but I won't be back to their parks after this I fear

Taking your family for just a single day to a six flags park is expensive, not disney/universal expensive, but still very expensive. If families don't feel like the park was worth the inflated price then they wont return. That was our experience with Six Flags Over Texas this past month.

I used to work a six flags and got laid off a few years ago and I've heard everything right now. If six flags doesn't find another CEO who isn't a scam, then we know it ends for six flags like I'm talking that's all folks!

I went to one of the locations last year around 4th of July. There were maybe 1/4 of the restaurants and food kiosks open. The line to get a fast pass was huge even if you already paid online. Make a pickup line and pay in person line. The rides were all run by what seemed like high schoolers which is very concerning. A girl had a seizure on one ride and they hit the emergency stop button. Thankfully it was just someone in line not yet on the ride. The engineer to fix the ride, arrived faster than the medical team. I know it was still in the midst of Covid but overall wasn’t impressed. I only had fun because the attendance was low because of the holiday and hot weather.

My friend in Illinois has been going his whole life and has stopped because it's become so bad. It's always trashed. They have a crazy turn around so their staff is always new and hardly trained. Their prices go up constantly but their rides are always under maintenance. They never have the full park open. People trash the park without care and leave legit needles on the ground. It's crazy how bad it is now.

Great adventure is my home park, I have always loved it there and I have so many memories there from my childhood. Last year I was a pass holder and I don’t think I will ever be again. The experience 70% of the time was awful. Totally complicit towards disorderly conducts by guests, low upkeep, unreasonable crowds, terrible food, horrible attitude by many employees and more. The kicker is, great adventure is a FLAGSHIP PARK! I have since bought a pass to Hershey and never have had a bad experience. I will be happy to see the day that Great Adventure falls in Cedar Fair’s hands. It deserves much better than this train wreck of a company

If you want to save the company bring back Mr. Six!!

Mid of August 2022 my niece visited me and we went for 2 days to Disneyland in Anaheim. Even though school already started, both days both parks were packed and everything was operational. Now, she was not happy because there are not to many roller coasters. So I decided to go with her to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I was shocked that the price was the same $100+ per day as with Disney and parking was even more than at Disney! The park itself was just horrible. It looked like you were in the 1980s and many rides were not even open. It looked dirty and simple things like the pictures of the roller coasters by year were falling apart, making me think "How well are the coasters being kept up?". Also, at least half of the food places were closed and there was no real nice restaurant at all. Overall, it was a horrible experience even though there were nearly no people at all. The longest wait time was about 25 minutes. The park did not change from when I was there the last time in 1989! At Disney, I get at least a parade, super technically advanced new rides, any type of food and yes, the best fireworks display anywhere, so I am OK to pay $100+ there but not at Six Flags. Sorry, that's all folks.

Lmaooo not the music! Seriously this video came at a perfect time my fiance does not like roller coasters or Heights I'm a big fan but I've been seeing a lot of videos about things happening and for some reason this literally happened last week and I live in New York so I think it's a sign cool with Disney World and baby kiddie rides w my nieces etc but I had my fun not safe anymore frfr

No wonder why the tickets have gotten so much more expensive this year!! I finally have an explanation. Thank you for this video

This man is ruining 1 of the most iconic parks next to Disney and universal. The best one I don’t really know because I’ve never been there

I have only been to Six Flags one time in my life when I was 5 or 6, despite living only 2 or 3 hours away from the now defunct location. The only memory I have of it was a Batman and Robin water show. The only parts I remember were Batman and Robin rolling up on jet skis and maybe an appearance from the bat boat. Outside the stage show there was one of the screen used Batman and Robin bat mobile. Saddest part is I remember it being leaps and bounds better than the Joel Schumacher film it was intended to promote 😂

The last time I went to a six flags was in Six Flags St. Louis and if they would ever increase the cost of literally anything, that park would be abandoned, I went a little while before the lockdown and even before covid was even in the US, that park was EMPTY, there was absolutely no one there and no lines to speak of lol, so if thier plans were to increase the cost to reduce lines because of that less people were going then that place would be a ghost town, it was already literally falling apart and I'm not kidding, the railings and most wooden things were all broken and rotting.

Six Flags was a major part of my childhood. I have great memories having the best time with my family. I hate to see it come to this.

Hit the nail on the head, I have 3 annual passes to theme parks, I have yet to visit six flags this year, raising prices isn’t going to help and taking away customer benefits is even worse. Big difference in the park experience between universal, Knotts, I used to be a Disney annual pass holder but the increase in annual pass cost drove me out but they can do that because their parks are clean and up to date. Six flags on the other hand,….look at the employer uniforms for one.

Dirty is the One thing I always noticed about Six Flag parks. The NJ park use to have a tree in the middle of the park, that was covered in chewed gum and was near the Ferris wheel. I’m sure it’s long been cleaned up but I stopped going because of the filthy conditions.

I have lived in the Santa Clarita Valley for almost 50 years, when I was young it was seasons passes all the time, then I think it was in the 90's the place turned into a dump and never recovered....everything is wore out, dirty in need of repair and repaint. its like they did not do any maintenance whatso ever on the place....

It’s crazy that I watched this today as it was recommended, and Six Flags had an incident on one of their rides today! Makes me really look at Six Flags in another light!