Six Flags Strategic

Management Plan
03.24.21

Kalina Richardson
Mia Wright
Ella Salter
Part I: Analyzing Six Flags Over Georgia

Six Flags over Georgia is a part of an international theme park chain that has taken the

world by storm. President and CEO, Mike Spanos, works alongside his VP Laura W. Doerre to

improve not only Georgia, but all of Six Flags locations. The company’s mission statement is,

“Establish Six Flags Friends as the pre-eminent community outreach program within the

entertainment industry by encouraging and inspiring children and families throughout our parks

and their local communities. Through volunteerism, giving programs, special events, and

educational and social awareness we weave a wide circle of friends and foster the bonds that

make up communities across our nation.” Throughout COVID though, fulfilling this statement

has been hard and their recent financial statements reflect that. As of right now, their total

revenue is $248 million compared to the $979 million they made within the first nine months of

2019. Their net loss was $338 million, which is a decline from the $528 million within the first 9

months of 2019. The Six Flags locations include: Atlanta GA, Buffalo NY, Chicago IL, Dallas

TX, Lake George NY, Los Angeles CA, New Jersey, New England, Oklahoma City OK, Phoenix

AZ, San Francisco CA, San Antonio TX, St. Louis MO, Washington DC, Mexico City MX, and

Montreal Canada.

Six Flags Over GA has a wide variety of rides and services offered at their location. They

have a total of 42 rides within the 15 total sections of the park. They do have special

entertainment services such as SHENANIGUNS which is a show they do at the park at certain

times, promotional entertainment like Fright Fest, pop up games, and Looney Tunes Characters

in the kids section. They have a total of 16 restaurants with a variety of foods and themes. 23

other services are offered at the GA location like candy shops, caricature services and more.

Overall, the company as a whole is still making improvements to their companies such as the
new light show offered in Jackson, NJ. They have had failures just like every other company

during this time, they’re losing an average of $67,000 to $80,000 per day. Their COVID-19

response is, “First a six flags members will receive one “free” month of Membership for each

month that the park was closed during the original 2020 Season, rounded up to the nearest

month. These months will be added to the end of their Membership. Any Membership add-ons

they own and are paying for will also be extended. If they choose to keep paying for your

Membership until the park re-opens in the spring (or March 2 if the park is open year-round or if

the park opens prior to March 2) they will receive a free upgrade to the next membership level

until the end of the 2022 season (that’s 2 years free upgrade!).

The outlook for Six Flags within the next year is very hopeful. Since the COVID-19

pandemic, Six Flags has lost around 3 million season pass holders, and about 900,000 members.

You may be asking yourself, how do they plan to gain them all back? Well the answer is

customer loyalty. While this leaves a lot of uncertainty, they have given customers many

incentives that were previously mentioned in their COVID-19 response. With this plan, they

expect to be back to their former selves within 2 years. Their long term outlook is looking more

normal. With the hope of the corona virus settling down, they plan to not follow COVID-19

guidelines, and max out their parks once again within the next 5 years.

Part II: Analyzing the Competition

I. Walt Disney World

Compared to Six Flags the Disney Company is pretty intimidating with six very large

locations. Focusing on one park alone, and not all six locations, Six Flags has some

competition. The Orlando, Florida location allows for warm and only semi-cold weather,

attracting tourists all year round. This location has 12 roller coasters and many other rides

throughout their 4 parks, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood
 Studios. Disney World also has multiple water rides both throughout their four parks and

in their water park. Disney has a n abundance of choices for their guests to choose from

when dining. They offer over 20 types of cuisine, multiple different dining experiences,

and Disney exclusive foods and treats. They offer various beverages ranging from

milkshakes to smoothies to mocktails to floats. Not only does Disney offer every ride and

roller coaster you can imagine, they offer a long list of entertainment for people to enjoy.

If you aspire to be more involved in Disney or not some extra assistance during your

trip/stay Disney is happy to help and provide their services. Being in Orlando, Florida

Disney is in the middle of an expanse of tourists just visiting Florida and surrounded by a

large number of other cities and areas. A reason Dosney stays busy year-round is, like Six

Flags, they offer holiday themed (and decorated) experiences and events. Recently,

Disney has started to open back up and will start getting their parks back to normal so

visitors can experience and enjoy the full experience.

II. Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens is a small competitor but unique. It has two locations, one in Tampa, FL

and Williamsburg, VA. They have a total of 28 roller coasters in the animal themed parks.

The Tampa location has a jungle theme with 10 total park sections. The Williamsburg

location is european themed with 9 total park sections. They also both include a total of

19 other rides, including water rides. Overall, the Busch Gardens park has a total of 17

restaurants over the two locations. The Tampa location has a total of 7 restaurants to

choose from, 5 including air conditioning. The Williamsburg location has 10 total

restaurants, 7 being outdoor. Busch Gardens entertainment varies from safaris to kids

shows. The Tampa location has 17+ animals that one can view from walking around the

park. They have 8 total different animal tours/ encounters and a safari express. The
 Williamsburg location has 10 total different animal tours throughout the park. Tampa has

9 upcoming events, including a COVID safe grad night at the end of the school year. The

Williamsburg location has a total of 8 upcoming events, one including a St. Patrick's Day

event.

Part III: Strategy Formulation

Through our new additions to Six Flags, our top priority is to not only gain all of our

original customers back, but to accumulate new ones. The ride we would like to add is a new

water ride correlating to the connection Six Flags already has with the Justice League

specifically, Aquaman. With an Aquaman water ride, we would be able to attract new customers

who are lovers of Aquaman, D.C Comics fans in general, and anybody who is looking for a fun

ride to cool off during the summertime. This ride will be kid friendly to increase the

demographic for this ride, and will be located in the Justice League section of the park. Overall,

the entire project would cost around $50 million dollars including: building, materials, licenses,

marketing and advertising the new project. To help advertise this new addition, we will have an

Aquaman themed concession stand with limited edition merchandising.