Why Six Flags Is Betting on Memberships Instead of Traditional Season Passes

[00:00:00]Could Six Flags memberships eventually replace traditional season passes?

[00:00:04]Alongside Ryan Sir, I'm Don Hellbig. And on this episode of Tower Topics, we take a closer look at what this shift could mean for guest and why membership may become the preferred option for many visitors.

[00:00:22]Tower Topics drops three times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So, hit that subscribe button on YouTube or follow us on your favorite podcast apps.

[00:00:31]>> So, Ryan, the expansion of Six Flags membership uh that program to Kings Island, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Dornney Park, Knberry Farming, Schlitzb, Sch Slitterbond, New Bronzefells may represent more than just another ticketing option. It could offer a glimpse into the future of how the new Six Flags uh builds loyalty and generates revenue. guest at those parks now have access to memberships that include year-round admission, regional park access, monthly payment options, and benefits ranging from parking and discounts to skip the line privileges.

[00:01:07]Six Flags has positioned the program as an alternative to the traditional season pass rather than a replacement. Uh, for now, that appears to be the case.

[00:01:20]>> Yeah, I mean, when it boils down to it, we we both kind of saw this coming. Um, but when it what it comes down to it is this is going to branch off because either this was a very successful program for Six Flags and they're expanding it to some of the other parks, which we both hope is the case, or Six Flags did this, they started about 10 years ago. They kind of got stuck with it since it's a monthly plan thing. You can't just say like, "No, we're gonna stop this now. You have to buy your pass out, right?" Uh, and this is a death whale. Uh and and honestly I I'm gonna go ahead and say this up front. The reason why they're doing this is because they want to in midappril of next year be like we had the best quarter 1 in the history of the company. We got so much revenue from our uh season pass membership program because they wouldn't be getting revenue from that January, February, and March. That's quarter one for them. So, they want to be able to report that and they will report that because, you know, they have very little income with just a handful of year- round parks being open that time of year. So, that's their goal. That's their saving grace. Uh, but what we have to explore, you know, why the company does it is kind of immaterial to us. It comes down to you, the guest, and what it means to you. So, let's pull up uh the methodology here.

[00:02:41]And these are numbers as of yesterday, which was June 9th when I looked at this stuff. So, a gold membership is a $40 initiation fee and then $10 a month on top of that. All these are 12-month commitment. Prestige pass $40 initi initiation fee and $24 a month. Dining is $25 initiation and $12 a month. And fast lane is $100 initiation fee and $165 a month.

[00:03:09]Um, so the real question is how does it compare to an actual season pass if you bought it outright? And again, these are the most current numbers. So, very close. Uh, it's a gold pass is about $10 cheaper.

[00:03:24]Um, you know, $150 outright as opposed to 160 total for the program over 12 months, you know, and it's also interest free. Prestige pass is 325 versus 328 for the membership. Dinings 145 versus 169 for the membership. Drinks are not and fun picks are not available on the membership program. They're $55 and $56.99 respectively. Here's the real kicker. Fastlane if you bought it right now, $1,249 for allseason fast lane. If you do it through the membership, $2,80.

[00:04:00]Uh so that's an intentional gateway right there.

[00:04:03]>> Oh yeah. Yeah. and you know that they know that people aren't going to look at this close enough to really be able to, you know, break it down on what they're spending versus, you know, the regular pass, gold pass, prestige pass versus membership. So, there will be a little bit of uh, you know, hoping that people go into this blindly and and uh, they're going to be doubling what they're paying.

[00:04:28]>> Yeah. [snorts] And u the financial person in me, I do not have a problem with the $10 difference between gold and uh and the membership and you know the $3 difference between gold and prestige because they are giving you technically a 12-month no interest loan. Now there are some ethical questions that I have in terms of I'm paying for a membership for a region in which all the parks are closed for like you know four months out of the year. So, I I have a little trouble with the phrasiology of the membership, but is, you know, with the exception of the fastlane thing, which is atrocious, is this really that different from a payment plan because you're committed to six payments or nine payments as opposed to 12 with the payment plan?

[00:05:05]>> Not really. But my question for you, Ryan, and I could not find this broken down on the website anywhere. So, you have the payments for 12 months and then it says you just continue to pay, you know, every month it just kind of rolls over.

[00:05:20]>> How long is that $10? I mean, at any point, can they just jack it up to 15 or 20?

[00:05:25]>> I my understanding is that Six Flags has done that in the past.

[00:05:29]But with that same token, the price does go kind of down because, you know, if you look, there's the initiation fee. I don't think you're charged that every year. I think you're charged that once.

[00:05:39]So, it might end up being a little bit cheaper year two, you know, but that's that's planning pretty far ahead. Uh, Don, you know, I I discussed the two different ways. Well, just spitfire with me, theorize. Do you think that this is something that worked well for the Six Flags legacy parks and they're bringing it to the Cedar Fair legacy parks or do you think that this is a desperate cry for money in Q1 of 2027?

[00:06:06]>> Well, I mean, I I think it worked okay.

[00:06:08]I don't think it was, you know, if it was that good of a program, they would have started it immediately right after the merger with it. It has potential upside. There [clears throat] are other parks that do it uh you know I know the bush parks had the memberships and that but my thoughts here you know okay let's start with you know season passes you know they remain popular because of their simplicity >> guest pay once or maybe they do the payment plan they got five six months whatever the terms are the time you buy it you receive a season of access you re you avoid those recurring bills >> for many families especially those who visit a single park several times times a year. The traditional model, you know, still makes the most sense to me, I think, on this uh memberships, however, they align with the broader, you know, trends across the entertainment industry. You know, consumers, they've grown accustomed, Ryan, to increasingly, uh, you know, they're increasingly comfortable with subscription-based services, uh, from streaming platforms and fitness memberships to software subscriptions. So, I think that's, you know, what the consumer today is kind of accustomed to. So they they probably will adapt to this pretty quickly. Uh monthly payments often feel more manageable for a lot of people than one big, you know, fee for buying a season pass uh than a larger upfront expense even when you know the annual cost is is comparable for Six Flags memberships create a more predictable revenue stream for them >> while encouraging long-term engagement.

[00:07:41]I think that's what they're looking for here too is that long-term engagement.

[00:07:44]Uh the company has emphasized the value of recurring revenue and that's what this would be and like you said they would be able to go in and report you know great first quarter earnings and all that. Um you know memberships you know help maintain an ongoing relationship with guests instead of just relying on annual renewal cycles. Uh the question is not whether season passes are going to disappear anytime soon. I think there's little evidence at this time to suggest that. A more compelling question, I think, Ryan, is is whether memberships will gradually become the company's preferred offering, and that'll be what they focus on with all of their marketing efforts. Uh, if memberships continue gaining traction, uh, Six Flags could shift, uh, more perks, uh, exclusive benefits, incentives, you know, more toward the subscribers, you know, make it more worth their time to do that. So, similar strategies have emerged in other industries and, you know, where subscription customers receive the most value. uh most valuable rewards and experiences. And you know, someone who has watched the theme park industry evolve over several decades, I believe the most likely outcome is a kind of a hybrid approach. Traditional season passes will continue serving guests who continue uh to prefer a one-time purchase. And I think the memberships will appeal to visitors that are seeking that flexibility, regional access, and enhanced benefits. And for Kings Island fans, I think the key question it may not be whether memberships replace season passes, but how quickly they become the preferred option.

[00:09:17]>> Yeah, I mean that that's definitely an interesting thought and that's kind of where my head was at. I do uh want to give a little bit of push back be first of all if memberships replace um season passes like that's it for Kings Island because you the that attitude of they'll come anyway is going to be real simple when you're not even hawking season passes when it's like everybody just auto renews and it's 12 months a year or whatever like why invest in the park people won't think to cancel it you know so if you're a Kings Island fan you care about the park you should be rooting against this um but I I think that you you you made mention of like gym memberships, Netflix, stuff like that. I think the problem with calling it a membership is that there's no time when you subscribe to Netflix where there's three months where you can't use it.

[00:10:02]>> That's true.

[00:10:02]>> You know, and there's no like, you know, I'm a member of Planet Fitness. They renovated my Planet Fitness every two weeks. I can get into anyone with my card, but some people can only get into a single club and they expanded it. So, all right, you can go to any of the other ones. And I guess technically, you know, you can get into any Six Flags park, but that's realistically it's not like, oh, it's February. I wanted to go to Kings Island. Now we'll go to Knots instead. I mean, that's not the same thing.

[00:10:26]>> No, I mean, let's be honest. The majority of the people that own a even a Prestige Pass right now and they can go to all the barks. The majority might go >> go to Cedar Point. Cedar Point >> if they even go to Cedar Point and maybe out of that even a smaller percentage may add Carowinds or King's Dominion to that.

[00:10:45]>> So very few are you know looking at that and uh especially like the families you know very few are just taking that and and going everywhere you know every weekend they're somewhere else at a Six Flags park. It just doesn't happen that way. Sounds good in theory when they keep saying you know you can go to all these parks and that but very few do. I mean, the coaster enthusiasts, yeah, they're going to go everywhere, but the families, the majority, vast majority of the Kings Island passholders, they're Kings Island fans. They don't really go to too many other parks.

[00:11:13]>> Sure. And now, my other thought was this. You you talked about whether or not it will replace season passes and stuff. How do you get yourself out of this conundrum?

[00:11:23]They put season passes on sale, lowest price of the year in the fall. What do you do about memberships? Are people that renew going to get a lower rate?

[00:11:31]And are you perpetually going to get a lower rate? Um, are new members going to get no initiation fee? Like, how do you handle that? I I feel like, you know, >> that's gonna be interesting. And what they do when the 2027 passes go on sale?

[00:11:44]I can see a world where there are no payment plans >> with regular passes, you know. So, it's just an upfront fee and that will drive more people to memberships. You know, those that need those payment plans, those families of, you know, three, four, five uh individuals, you know, they're going to want some kind of a payment plan. And the only payment plan, you know, is likely going to be memberships. So, if you want prestige, whatever price they put it on at the fall, whether that's $200, $300, whatever it is, it's an upfront fee right there. So, I think that will help drive some uh you know, some people to transfer over to memberships, but I think the timing of it right now is a little odd because they're putting it out there. It's it's you know, they they've made several so social media post about you know, get your membership now and all that. If you've already got your season pass for 2026 and it's good through December 31st, you're not likely to get the membership right now. you know, you're not going to decide to do that until it's it maybe it's time to renew or if it's a upfront fee, you know, just everything has to be paid at once for season passes, they would wait until, you know, January, February to switch over to memberships.

[00:12:54]So, it's a kind of a, you know, a little bit of a of an interesting time to see how that's all going to transpire and work out for them.

[00:13:01]>> Yeah. And then I I think that as far as driving new revenue, this is going to hurt them a little bit more too because if everybody's perpetually a member, then you can't really give we every year we do the the the subject give the gift of a gold pass to Kings Island. You can't really do that if you're subscribed to it. It's not like you hand them a card saying another year when you can say like, "Hey, I renewed your pass."

[00:13:24]>> You know, I feel like that's not the same thing. And especially with season passes [clears throat] um expiring on December 31st, if you're going to switch to memberships, you're going to do it right after Christmas.

[00:13:34]>> Yeah. My biggest thing that I I would guard against though is just it sounds good right now that it's $10 a month for 12 months and then it automatically renews every month is just what that price is going to be in month 13. You know, in the 13th, 14th month, is it still going to be 10 bucks for you? Is it going to be, you know, 15, 20? That's what you don't know.

[00:13:55]by doing this. So, I think there is some some risk involved there. There's no I'd like to see them put some kind of a, you know, something out there on their website that locks in a price for a certain amount of period that you're guaranteed past the 12 months because you're asking guests who have long had a gold or, you know, prestige season pass or platinum before Prestige was introduced and all that and you're asking them to switch over to something that's a little bit of an unknown how it's really going to work. you know, for them. So, I think that's a little bit of a question mark.

[00:14:28]But I I do foresee though, you know, again, not having the option to, you know, put down a certain amount and have a, you know, five or six months payments of, you know, just 8 to$10, whatever it is, you know, every year in the fall. I don't see that happening. I think it's if you want to get the regular season pass options, you're paying the full freight up front or you can do the memberships or else they wouldn't be rolling this out like this right now.

[00:14:55]Yes. Now, timing uh does mean a lot and it was very questionable when they added the uh the regional passes. Uh which may mean that, you know, when John Riley came in, he wanted to do this and, you know, it just took some time to get the Ducks in order, but it also may mean that they're not getting the season pass revenue that they thought they were going to and this is an attempt at that.

[00:15:18]That we don't know.

[00:15:21]Yeah, I would say that that's probably playing a part into why June 8th that this was introduced is that the spring season has not gone as well as they expected with season pass sales.

[00:15:34]>> Yeah. And then another thought I had um you mentioned, you know, well, what about in month 13? What's it going to cost? And I I'm completely on board with that qu line of questioning, but the other thing to litigate is what I kind of mentioned in the fall. Are they going to offer people a $7 a month gold pass and you're stuck with a $10 a month gold pass? You know, I mean, you shouldn't buy this now. Let's make this very clear. We've seen people online that have a season pass that have bought this. Do not do that. You are good until December 31st. You're paying them twice if you get a membership on top of a season pass. Wait till the end of the year. Heck, even if you really want to feel saucy, you could add the membership once the new passes for 2027 go on sale.

[00:16:15]you know, if they offer you some sort of deal like the VIP pass or whatever. Um, so many unknowns and honestly, you know, this doesn't negate any of the questions that we had about the VIP sale of what are they going to do? Are they going to backpedal the prices? Because, you know, they can't skyrocket them after having 99 and $109 $99 passes, but they can't keep them that low. It's unsustainable.

[00:16:40]They've got that problem. Now, they've got the membership problem as well.

[00:16:44]So, I've got a feeling they didn't think that far ahead. I think >> No. No. And I, like I said, I do think you're not going to have that, you know, where get a gold pass for $99 in the, you know, in the fall when that goes on sale in August or even late July like last year and then it's just, you know, like seven, eight dollars a month.

[00:17:01]You're not going to have that payment option with those passes. I don't think anymore. I think that's going to be gone. And if you want a payment plan, your only choice is going to be memberships. They're going to have to streamline that a little bit. Now, from Six Flags perspective though, Ryan, I do think this does make a lot of sense. You know, in the position that they're in especially, they do need that recurring revenue. Majority of their parks, you know, outside of like Knots Berry Farm, you know, is is they're seasonal. You know, they're closed for several months a year. So, they need that recurring revenue. You know, they they're not like Universal or Disney, you know, where they they have money coming in 12 months a year, you know, from from the gate being open. So, I think it makes a lot of sense. It's just going to be interesting to see how they're able to really execute this. Execution has not always been a strong point.

[00:17:45]Communication has not been a strong point. So now's a time where they have to do both.

[00:17:52]Exactly. And and again, it was one of those things where the VIP sale definitely they did not take a measuring stick or a litmus test as as to how this would affect 2027, you know, because it's such an unknown.

[00:18:05]So, do they underpric the thing to the point where I mean, welcome, have a Six Flags day. Do they do that or do they jack up the price and then risk really alienating people that paid $50 less the previous year? And honestly, jacking up the price is probably the right decision to make and then >> then you got these memberships and then at that point, are you locked into it?

[00:18:27]Because I know I've got friends that, you know, have had like the diamond membership to Six Flags and you get like 50% off merchandise and stuff. They offered you everything because they were desperate, you know.

[00:18:39]>> I had the diamond pass for Six Flags before the merger. So, yeah, I'm very aware of of how that all worked.

[00:18:45]>> Yeah. So, I mean, what are you going to do with that? So, I'm very curious as to how this unfolds right now. You know, for me, obviously, I don't have to make this decision till December 31st. I would encourage anybody else that has a season pass to not make this decision until December 31st. Most certainly do not make the decision before you find out what 2027 pricing is going to be like because who knows what they have up their sleeve if anything. But Don, what are your thoughts? Do you think you'll switch to a membership or would you buy a pass like all a cart?

[00:19:14]>> Well, I think if I had to make the decision today, I'm not doing either, >> right? You know, so um yeah, I'm not doing either, you know, as I look toward 2027. Um there's there's several reasons you know for that u won't go into it here on the podcast but um you know until couple things would change >> you know I've spent my last dime there you know I'll use my past for the rest of this year you know when when I decide to go but um you know I have to see a couple things different and then I'll you know really look at these two options and then I would make a choice then if some things did change.

[00:19:51]What if I offered you the opportunity to have a 12-month experience paying for your season pass? And that is the phraseology they used in in the press release. A 12-month experience. We made a season pass a 12-month experience.

[00:20:06]Yes. Paying for the pass, not visiting the park. I get like not I mean I'm a I'm a Disney and Universal. I'm an annual passholder as they call them there. But I'm a member because I'm committed for 12 months to these parks, but I can also go anytime I want, you know. Yeah, I think I like the part where it says you can engage with you're engaging with us, you know, throughout the entire year, 12 months. Yeah, you're engaging with them by paying for four or five months that you can't go visit the parks >> by pulling up your US Bank app. You engage with them January, February, and March. I've always missed paying them money during the coldest months of the year. You know, my birthday's in January. So, the one thing I wish I could do on my birthday, it's not visit the park, it's actually pay a membership fee. Hopefully, it comes out on the 18th. Yeah, but like I said, I I do like the idea of it. I just hope that they're able to uh you know, really execute it and really communicate, you know, what's going on with it, be a little bit more transparent about, you know, all the differences between and they I know they you know, recently did a little blog about it and stuff, but still, I mean, it's it's just one of those things we've seen many times where terms and conditions are subject to change. terms are subject to change >> and they do and you know I'd like to see you know what it actually is before you know being someone that jumps on board and there have been people that we've seen already they have their pass it's good through December 31st but they've already you know committed to the membership they're paying right now for something they already have access to for the next six months >> yeah and honestly uh I I guess my final advice for somebody that's not me would be if you don't have a pass look at the options and which one makes more sense for you if you can drop the money. Um, it's probably a little bit better for the peace of mind just to do that. But we are like almost a third of the way through the season now. So, a 12-month membership that'll buy you, you know, a couple months in 2027, that that could make sense. You you pay a few dollars more, but whatever. Um, but >> if you don't have a season pass right now, that would be something, you know, to consider that you get the rest of this year and up until June next year.

[00:22:10]>> Yeah. So, it's something to consider.

[00:22:12]Uh, I I'm not going to put my foot down the way I did with the Prestige Pass because again, I'm going to evaluate what this looks like in 2027. And if it makes better sense for me, then it will.

[00:22:23]I'm a bigger fan of not having payments in general. Like, you know, I like I paid off my car three years early just because I got tired of paying for it.

[00:22:33]Um, but with that being said, you know, after that initial fee, if it's $10 a month for a gold pass or whatever, and it's cheaper that way, that may make sense. Now, under no condition should anybody, if you need to do the $2,200 option for the for the fast lane, you need to spend your money elsewhere. You are out of your freaking mind. I cannot allow that. the $1,000. Okay. The 12250, uh, a little much, but when they price it out to be over $2,000, it's $2,200.

[00:23:04]No fast lane in the world is worth that.

[00:23:08]So, um, speaking of perpetual money grabs, uh, this was actually sent to me, uh, by uh, Mr. the Field Reporter, Noah's Noah, the Field Reporter's father at the park today. as of this recording, they're doing a new thing, and this is it looks like it's for the games over in Coney Mall, the Squirt Racing game and so on, uh where it's $20 for an entire family. And if you look at it, it's um it can do up to like 10 people.

[00:23:35]So that's $2 a person. It's a heck of a deal. But Don, at this time, like, you know, if it's $20 for a whole rack of people, you know, they're charging 10 or 15 for one person normally. Is this another one of those VIP sale situations where you're never going to be go able to go back to your previous pricing?

[00:23:55]>> Um, I don't know that you can't go back to your previous pricing. I I like what they're trying to do here. I think that, you know, when you look over the last several years, there's always been different times of the year that they have some different deals with games, different ways that they've promoted it.

[00:24:10]And that's I think this is just another another piece of that. But that is a heck of a deal, you know, especially for those that, you know, have not wanted to play the games because it is a little pricey like you said, $10 to $15 sometimes. So something like this, you know, it's going to maybe incentivize you to to try and play a couple of games.

[00:24:28]>> I agree with you except for the price.

[00:24:30]The price is scary low. So, is this a desperate death whale or do you think that this is just some crack marketing person that determined that $20 was an appropriate price for 10 people to play a game because it's cheaper than an arcade game at that point?

[00:24:46]>> It is uh I I like number one, like I said, people because of the price, you know, you don't see as many people playing the games as you used to at Kings Island. This is a way to kind of, you know, get them back to to playing some games. they get hooked on it and then you know when these deals aren't available anymore then you know they they're more willing to spend you know the going rate to play a game because you know they've enjoyed it they like the competitiveness of the games and so I like what they're doing here I think it's a good thing >> I I disagree wholeheartedly like aggressively disagree because I think if somebody plays this game and they pay let's say they've got eight kids so like we're dealing with like the early on duggers from 19 kids in counting when they only had eight kids. So, mom, dad, and eight kids all get to play for $20.

[00:25:31]Mentally, Jim Bob, the father, sees this as a $2 per person value.

[00:25:37]>> Do you think he's going to turn around and spend $100 the same thing a few weeks later, even if he has a good time?

[00:25:44]>> I think they gradually work back up to that. Yes, I do. I I think that's how that works. You get them hooked, interested, the kids want to play.

[00:25:52]They're going to go to the park again.

[00:25:53]It's now more expensive, but they're still going to want to play. Dad's not going to want to disappoint.

[00:25:59]I I I think it's a smart play by Kings Island.

[00:26:02]>> My dad would totally have disappointed.

[00:26:04]I think that the other problem is, oh, little Billy wants to play. Hey, let's wait till they have another one of those $20 deals. We'll do that. I think that's the other thing you run into.

[00:26:13]>> That does happen. So, yeah. But no, I think, you know, just I I it's sad sometimes to walk around and you just see nobody playing the games. I mean, the Midway games used to just be packed all the time, you know, back in the the 70s, 80s, you know, I always go back to the old days, but um you know, there's days you walk up and down Coney Mall and nobody's playing, you know. So, if this helps get more people to play, then then I'm all for it. I just feel like it's coming at a price. There's another change to the games. This isn't as kind of comical, but it is actually kind of interesting. This is for the human claw.

[00:26:44]Uh they now have a mystery capsule where you could win uh a free ride pass, which I'm wondering is a fast lane or a singleuse fast lane or just the ability to ride a ride.

[00:26:57]>> I would imagine it's probably a single use fast lane.

[00:27:02]Um, yeah. I mean, the thing though is a single-use fast lane has very little intrinsic value, but the the perceived value of the inflatables and stuff in there are pretty high. I mean, now it's $20 for 10 people to play, so it's not that bad.

[00:27:20]But, um, I don't know. I had people telling me it was fast lane, but the the way that it reads, I think it's a single ride pass because I think they would have said fast lane if it was fast lane.

[00:27:32]But, uh, the human crane thing, I I like the idea. I put a short up of that last year or the year whenever it was new.

[00:27:38]Last year, the year before, I got like 30,000 views before I left the park.

[00:27:42]>> Uh, so that was interesting. But, um, it's it's very visual and stuff. Uh, and I think it's cool that they're trying new things because, you know, the inflatables and the plush and stuff that are in there are kind of boring. So, something like this might be more widely appealing to more people.

[00:27:58]>> And I agree.

[00:28:01]>> All right. Uh, I'm out of breath. You know, we knew that this whole membership conversation was going to be uh, >> you know, going to be like kind of intense and that was fun. It was definitely the conversation you I I thought you and I would have, you know, >> I I wrote a I wrote a piece about it on theme parks by Don, published it, I think it was on Monday, you know, when it was when it launched. Put a lot of thought into it, you know, how this is, uh, you know, why Six Flags would do it, what they're looking to do. Uh, but it'll be interesting to see how it all works out.

[00:28:34]>> Yeah. Hey, let's take a moment to thank our prestige members. Let's now we have to make that distinction. We had it first. Uh, let's give a big shout out to Miss Mandy 1983, Lil Mack 21, Brian Hower 33T, Aaron Bard, Jacob Fix, Damon Barnes, Dakota Cole, Eric Grout, Gibson Hills, Dustin Jackson, Son, Miku, Medic 302, Eastern Coaster, Guys and Girls, Justin Y, Mike Garrett, Galaxy B Boy, Gregie Rocks, Kayla Lat Cleveland, Tim Dwelly, Sunfun, Sarah, Ian Ross, and Connors, Lionyl Trains. Thank you guys so much for supporting Tower Topics at the highest level. That's the prestige level. If you want to be involved in Tower Topics, there's a link in the description. Members get early access to the videos, exclusive content, exclusive live streams, and some tiers even get a free t-shirt. And by the way, Don, today, Wednesday the 10th, we shipped out the t-shirts for those of you who send me the address. Now, if you didn't send me your address, and we owe you a t-shirt, or even if we don't, for the gold members, go ahead and send it. Uh we did have extras printed, and I will personally ship them out for you. Uh just make sure that you send your uh your name your name, your YouTube username, and uh your t-shirt size to host at towertopics.com. That's hosts at towertopics.com.

[00:29:48]Um your name, your YouTube username that I read here, your shipping address, and your t-shirt size. Uh that would be great. There's a couple of you I never heard from. I definitely want to get you guys your shirts. Um most of them will be I think uh Erica Erica's our printer. She said Friday, most of them are going to arrive. So, the day this drops, be on the lookout for them. Some of them may be a little bit later. There's one that was an odd size that uh she had to wait an extra day to get the shirt in. So, that one might be as, you know, as far as Monday or whatever. But, they are coming. And again, if you haven't sent me your information, it's not too late. But, thank you all for your patience with that. I really appreciate it. That was definitely more of an undertaking than I kind of thought it was going to be, but uh we're here and we're happy to be here. Stick around. We got the listener questions coming up next.

[00:30:44]All right, first listener question from Ben Roberts from Whereabouts Unknown. He said, "I feel like this goes hand inhand with cheap passes this year. What an appropriate topic. Uh, a good friend of mine was in line and noticed line jumpers and him being the way he is called them out which caused them to get irate. They got security there which eventually got those guests booted from the park. But that's where it gets interesting. My friend got home that night and the guest he got booted from found him on Facebook and sent him a friendly message about he knows where he lives and now he's going to turn his house into Swiss cheese all over line jumping.

[00:31:22]This uh this is $99 passes or $9 memberships uh at work right there. At the current path the park uh is in with all the garbage it lets in. It just might actually be time to not renew until they get their crap together. It's really becoming not fun anymore. Um appropriate topic. Uh, and I didn't want to bring this up because I I just couldn't think of a way to sandwich it in, but I do honestly wonder if the park is too accessible. That's been a problem for a long time, and memberships are only going to make that worse.

[00:31:59]>> Yeah, and I I think Ben, uh, you know, you're spot on there. It is a product of of cheap season passes, you know, bringing in sometimes the wrong crowd there. Uh, you know, where you say it's it's, uh, really becoming not fun anymore and whether you should renew.

[00:32:14]You're not alone. You know, I see that a lot. You know, whether it's on social media or people that are dropping messages to me or to Ryan telling us that, you know, this is it. They're not going to renew. You know, we we have heard that a lot where people say they're not going to renew. They turn around, they do it. But [clears throat] maybe this is finally, you know, that point because of how it is is getting there. Now, the part about, you know, them messaging on Facebook, you know, threatening, you know, to turn the house into Swiss cheese and that, if I'm, you know, them, you know, since they message you on Facebook, you know who they are.

[00:32:47]I'm certainly letting security know that, you know, here's the people that, you know, got booted out for line jumping and now they're threatening.

[00:32:54]They know who they are. If they got passes, you know, they can ban them from the park.

[00:32:58]>> Let the Let the police know, too. They threatened your life.

[00:33:00]>> Exactly. So, I mean, don't let that sit idle. You know, definitely uh you know, let it be known that this is what happened because nobody deserves that. I mean, you know, it's line jumping, you know, just stand in line like everyone else, you know, wait your turn, you know. So, I think that, you know, you certainly have to let the park and let the police know that that that situation has happened, unfortunately.

[00:33:24]>> Yeah. And you know what? I um I've seen more in Now, I I do want to give the park credit. They've been great about like, hey, this person line jumped gone out of the line at least. I've never seen somebody kicked out of the park. My guess is this person got a little belligerent with security or whomever accosted him. But him or her, let's be fair. Uh, I saw a group that line jumped in Banshee and a group told on them and they were just not allowed to ride and they the woman, you know, got on the ride and closed the restraint and, you know, there was this girl and she's like flipping her off and saying like like, you know, acting like she was going to hit her and and all that stuff. Again, um, that's what cheap passes bring.

[00:34:05]That's what too of a park brings. And it's not necessarily I my my thesis here isn't that poor people act like that. My thesis here is that if there's no value to the park, you know, if you're young and you have a undeveloped s your frontal cortex as they try to use in defense of crime and so on, why wouldn't you act like that, >> you know?

[00:34:24]>> Yeah. And it's it's becoming a big problem with line jumping at Cedar Point, too. You know, you look at the different Facebook groups every day there's multiple people, you know, posting about the line jumping issue >> and how that's a problem. So, they definitely have to deal with that. But you're right, Ben. It is a product of the of the cheap passes and you know that's that's what's happening there.

[00:34:45]You know, you made it too accessible for everybody and you're bringing in sometimes the wrong crowd.

[00:34:49]>> All right, here's a lovely one.

[00:34:52]This [clears throat] isn't this isn't the same vein, so this is going to be really kind of a blue >> blue uh question listener question section. Jeremy from Loveland said, "Don and Ryan, I was riding Diamondback and one of the workers pointed at my Tower Topic shirt when checking my restraint and said, "Twower Topic sucks." and asked why I support you clowns. I guess we're not they're not a fan of the show.

[00:35:13]I had an issue with uh stands and restaurants being out of ice. The workers didn't seem to care that me and the others had to get drinks with no ice. I got an eye roll when I said I wanted ice. What's happened to King's Island? Well, if you could see the first part of our show about it being too cheap, uh, that's part of the explanation, but I will tell you this and Don, I'm definitely I know I'm taking over this, but I >> No, no, you're fine. You go. You're on a roll. You go.

[00:35:37]>> I Yeah, I'm on a roll. So, >> yeah, you go, Ryan.

[00:35:41]>> People that work at the park are very passionate. They do work very hard. And if anybody works at the park and they don't like us, I I think that's understandable because we critique things at the park. Okay. Um, and it it would be kind of like taking something that you know you're passionate about. I mean, obviously like you know you're passionate about Tower Topics, you write us all the time, you watch every show and then somebody's saying it's a clown.

[00:36:05]Like that bothers you. So like I understand the psychology, but to me when I read this initially, what came to mind was I would expect this at a Legacy Six Flags Park 10 years ago. Like why would you ever go to a guest and say your shirt sucks? like like what kind of employees do they have now? Like is this what a Six Flags day is as many people joke about?

[00:36:29]>> I think it's incredibly sad. And there's one reason why this person did it. And it's not because they're so overly passionate about Six Flags or maybe they're friends with, you know, maybe a little over makeup social media manager or whatever.

[00:36:41]>> It's because they knew they could get away with it. They're under such poor leadership in a lot of cases that they knew that even if you talked about this to us and we talked about on the show, they're not going to do anything about it. If you reported it to the management, they're not going to do anything about it. You report it to the supervisor, they're not going to do anything about it. So why wouldn't they do that, >> right? They know, >> you know.

[00:37:00]>> Exactly. So Don, I'm going to open it up to your thoughts if I haven't truncated everything. What I know is you would never see that outside of a Six Flags park because that employee would not be working there anymore if they did something like that. The culture wouldn't allow it. So, I'll leave it at that. Um, [clears throat] as far as the ice thing and the eye roll, that's another thing that starts at the top with the culture.

[00:37:24]Um, you know, I just, you know, was recently at Universal and at Disney and I've done other parks, Dollywood, Holiday World, and at those parks, they can be asked the same question, you know, a thousand times and they treat it as though it's the first time they've ever heard it.

[00:37:45]>> As you should.

[00:37:47]There's no eye rolling or anything like that, but it's the culture, you know, and it used to be like that at Kings Island, you know, they were trained to treat everything like it's the first time you've ever had that situation and do what you have to do to make it right for the guest, you know, to roll your eyes because there's no ice. I mean, it's a guest expectation that you have ice. And let's be honest, it really shouldn't be a problem with ice at Kings Island because other parks have it figured out.

[00:38:14]>> Yeah. Why don't you call Dollywood or Universal? It's way hotter. Universal, they have it figured out. Call them. See what they're doing. See if their ice is different.

[00:38:21]>> Yeah, Holiday World has >> Holiday World than all the other parks.

[00:38:24]>> Yeah. Free and unlimited soft drinks all day long. But it's not that hard to figure out, you know, a system and have somebody assigned to making sure that there's ice. It's a simple thing. It's a guest expectation. You know, you get a drink plan, you expect to have ice with your drinks. You do have the apologist that will say, you know, oh, so what?

[00:38:43]you didn't get ice, just suck it up, you know, drink your drink. No, it's a guest expectation. This is where Kings Island's failing and it starts at the top. You know, the culture allows this kind of stuff to happen. And until more guests put their foot down and stop going at that point in time, they'll take care of it and there'll be ice all the time and there will be no eye rolls once it starts to impact the bottom line.

[00:39:08]>> Well, and they'll have the expectation that you don't tell somebody that. I mean, if this person would do that, like what if somebody's wearing like a Trump or a Biden shirt or something? Hey, he's an idiot. Like, is that where we're at where you feel at liberty to like critique somebody's clothes? I'm wearing a tower.

[00:39:26]>> That may happen. We don't know. We just know that uh what's his name? Jeremy here brought it up to us about, you know, he's wearing a tower top. First of all, thanks for purchasing the shirt. Um but I don't know. I mean, it's just you just wouldn't expect that, you know, and there was many, many years at Kings Island where that would not have been acceptable. You know, you treat every guest with respect and that and certainly that wasn't happening here because somebody chose to wear a Tower Topics shirt. You know, they're being asked, "Why do you support those clowns?" That's that to me that's unacceptable, Ryan. I I just don't know why that's allowed to happen, but it does.

[00:40:01]>> Yeah. And again, yeah, any problems with us, like that's fine. Like I I understand the perspective, but why would you say that to a guest, >> right?

[00:40:10]>> Like why would you why would you like again? Like what you're >> if you're riding Diamondback, Ryan, and this individual, you know, knows who you are, you know, they still should just check your restraint and keep going down the line. They shouldn't say any like I don't like your I mean, that's not their when you're working like that, you shouldn't be doing that. You know, they just have to check your lap bar and treat you like every other guest. That's what the role should be.

[00:40:36]Yeah. I uh I wish you had included the guy's name because we would have said it on the air. I'm just saying. Uh >> we don't know if it's a guy or a girl.

[00:40:43]They just said one of the workers.

[00:40:46]>> Hey, no fine lady would ever call us clowns. Ah, they would. Okay. I'm Ryan.

[00:40:52]That's Don. This is Tower Topics and we're clowns.

[00:41:00]Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music]