Six Flags Seeks to Lure Families, Not Just Teens

Not only has the nation's largest regional theme park operator experienced several years of declining revenue and attendance, but it's also had to cope with a power struggle fueled by shareholder discontent.

Now that a new management team is in place, headed by Washington Redskin owner Daniel Snyder and former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro, the company known for its screaming roller coaster rides is attempting to refashion itself as a family-friendly destination.

Shapiro, Six Flags' new chief executive, paused last week on his tour of Six Flags parks -- there are 30, including Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Valencia -- to talk about his plans for turning the company around.

Question: You've inherited a company that's seen declining revenue and attendance for several years in a row. What are you planning to do about that?

Answer: First off, I want to tell you that our revenue for last year appears that it will be going north, and our attendance did go north. We were up just over 5% last year as a whole.

But to your point, yes, over the last six or seven years it has been declining, but we're going to increase our numbers by improving the guest experience and swinging the pendulum back to focus as much on families as we do on teenagers.

Q: How will you appeal to families?

A: We're ramping up our Main Street USA strategy; it's going to be more about "streetmosphere." We're going to add a parade every day, and from June to August we're going to do a super-parade every night, complete with a fireworks show.

We're tripling the number of characters you see in the park. We're introducing the Justice League for the first time, so Superman, Batman, Robin, Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, they're all going to be visible.

We're adding character breakfasts and lunches and we're doing afternoon story readings for the kids. We're introducing the Chinese acrobats this year, which is clearly aimed at attracting more families.

Q: Might this approach drive away some of the teenagers?

A: Absolutely not, because at the same time we're launching Tatsu, which will be the tallest and fastest flying coaster in the world. And it'll also be our 17th coaster [at Magic Mountain], which cements our position as the coaster capital of the world. I love our heritage of thrill rides and I'm very pleased that they attract so many teenagers, it's just that we can't alienate the families and I think, over the years, Six Flags has done a bit of that.