Six Flags New Orleans 2006 !

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Looks as though March will come and go but the park won't be opening.

Is this really that surprising? :?

Is there really any chance of it ever opening again?

*Ecchoooo Ecchooooo*

Is there really any chance of it ever opening again?

Isn't Six Flags required to rebuild? I thought that was part of their contract with the city of NO.

Is there really any chance of it ever opening again?

 

Isn't Six Flags required to rebuild? I thought that was part of their contract with the city of NO.

Yeah, I think I remember that. A 30 year contract with the city or something?

Despite this, they can't be expected to open for the '06 season anyway.

SFNO prolly wont be back in business until at least spring 2007, seeing all the reconstruction, not to mention the structual surveying, that will take place.

Considering the city only has about 1/4 of all its residents back, who would run it and who would they be open for? It was an under performing park before the storm, and now with even fewer locals it wouldn't be worth it to re-open in 2006.

Yes, the park could reopen in 07.

At this point in time no one knows what will happen except maybe corporate.

So much is up in the air that i doubt corporate knows what will happen unless they are already set on nixing the park.

Contract or not, you can't make them rebuild and re open if the clientele won't be there to support it.

Just like the rest of the city it will be long and hard recovery.

They are telling residence to come back and many who are, find no place to stay and thier kids don't have a school to go to.

It is just still really messed up in new orleans and will be for a long time.

If you want to visit please don't hesitate! The quarter was untouched and you can come out and party as usual then tour the devastated city.

If not to many people live in New Orleans can't Six Flags down size the theme park for now? They can move a couple of their coasters and rides to other Six Flags parks so Six Flags New Orleans can lower their prices. Once people start moving back they can start adding new rides little by little until there back where they once were. I don't think many people can pay $50 to go to Six Flags when there is a lot more important things they need to buy. I know it will take a long time to get New Orleans back to where it was with population but this was just my idea.

Just keep in mind it's quite expensive to disassemble, transport, reassemble rides. Not to mention infrastructure, permits, etc.

Honestly, I believe they should close down the park. Not that I think that's a good thing, but there just isn't the base to make it survive right now, or probably for the next 5 years.

Wow I'm really suprised.

Well, I guess they won't be needing BTR anymore, better swap it with one of the SLCs SF owns.

Well, I guess they won't be needing BTR anymore, better swap it with one of the SLCs SF owns.

Yeah, I'm sure they will get right on that.

Well, I guess they won't be needing BTR anymore, better swap it with one of the SLCs SF owns.

Yeah, I'm sure they will get right on that.

Knowing SF, that's probably what they'll end up doing.

Like everyone else, I don't think the park will end up opening until late next season.

---Brent 8)

I think it's safe to say the customer base will come back quickly. I don't think I've seen traffic this bad in Jefferson Parish ever, though a lot of that is workers. The Parishes around New Orleans house the people who have the disposable income to spend on going to the park. Probably a very low percentage of the park's customers were even from Orleans Parish. I'm almost tempted to say people from Mississippi make the largest percentage of SFNO's attendance. They sure do haul them in with church groups in buses.

It pains me to say this, but Orleans Parish was crime filled with a murder rate several times above the national average. Much of its population was at or below the poverty threshold. Many developers would like to use this opportunity to make New Orleans much better, but some opponents favor the same old expansive ghettos instead of progress (see those fighting against bulldozing red-tagged houses, more like rubble, in the ninth ward).

The biggest problem will be staffing a park since the immediate region (New Orleans East and St Bernard Parish) will probably have little population. I know a lot of employees do commute quite a ways to work at the park, but I doubt the majority of employees, especially the seasonal ones, will want to travel a large distance. I do think that by 2007 many repairs to homes will have been completed far before the park can even reopen. Gutting out and fixing homes will obviously take much less effort than fixing an amusement park with complex and expensive rides.

85 businesses have reopened in New Orleans East, where Six Flags New Orleans is located. Basically all say they feel obligated to rebuild and reopen for the good of their city. They know offering employement to people and tax dollars for the broke city is something that just has to happen if we ever want to see New Orleans come back. I see no reason why Six Flags should think any different as they are a major employer in the region and the local economy has depended on them quite a bit. I would imagine that many of the hotels that grew up in New Orleans East over Jazzland would have to shut down over time after the workers leave if the park closed.

First, Ernie slaps Elissa around a bit, and then says....

Yes, fema says 40% of the pop wants to move back. Where they get their #'s I don't know.

Maybe that’s who applied for trailers.

Mayor Ray Nagin said yesterday that money and help would be put into less affected areas for re building the city first. That probably means eastern New Orleans will be farther back on the list. Not that that is really negative for SFNO because usually parks would sit on the edges of cities anyway and the city would gradually build out and eventually meet the parks.

There seem to be some housing developments that have been sealed up and like 1 or 2 people came back last week to move in or get their stuff. Now another city official said it should be reopened and used for transitional housing. Yeah, Sure.

Many of my team members bussed to work from round Elysian Fields or 9th ward anyway.

Also keep in mind that a big part of our guest arrived from outside of New Orleans. I think the bigger dependence in the city is for employees.

What’s my point? I don't know. Just rambling.

I really just needed to slap Elissa round a bit for that HORRIBLE comment.

8)

I really don't see how it can open up this year, or possibly even next year. It wasn't attracting that many people even before the storm. It's sad, but I've come to expect it. At least I got all my credits there already.

Yeah I totally agree with Ernie. And now here's my uber nerdy census report pre-Katrina.

Metro New Orleans Parishes around 2004:

Orleans - 462,269

Jefferson - 453,590

St. Tammany - 213,553

Tangipahoa - 105,158

St. Bernard - 65,554

St. Charles - 50,073

St. John - 45,581

Washington - 44,161

Plaquemines - 28,969

And these weren't the only areas that SFNO drew from either. Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines Parishes were the ones drastically affected by the storm. In comparison, the other parishes listed were minimally affected. In fact, their populations have probably grown because many displaced people from the affected areas have found housing there.

So above is the second time in a few days I see that someone says the park was an under performer or it didn't draw many guests. (all the same)

It does irk me slightly to hear that because I saw the numbers and figures on paper everyday, and know that the park did not lose money.

It made money.

Certainly was no magic mountain but it was not a money loser.

That is encouraging that it made money. I would have thought it was the opposite. But maybe there still is a future for the park. I dunno. Who knows. If the politicians don't screw things up, maybe the city will come back much stronger, thus possibly making the park stronger in the long run. I guess we'll just have to see.

You could not pay me to live there.

We know from the official word that Six Flags New Orleans made around 2 million EBIDAT. Attendance was around or greater than SFKK's. It had real potential considering what a water park could do for it. Unfortunately mother nature decided on another kind of water park.

There was also a memo a SFAW employee released with the performance of SF parks in 2005 from January up to September. Surprisingly, SFNO was ahead of SFEG :shock:

Heard today that John Odum sent out an email making it *OFFICIAL* that the park WILL NOT reopen at all this year. No SFNO in 2006, for anyone who had any hope left. Apparently they are going to try to relocate employees for the time being and are currently still trying to figure out the insurance situation.

Yeah that was pretty much a given.

If anyone did not hear. SFNO's old general manager, Terry Prather, is now at SFA.