14 hours ago, New display name said:

After the 2016 accident, attendance collapsed.

You're also forgetting Covid.

DW wasn't 'swimming in cash' prior to 2016. They weren't investing in the park and were cutting corners on maintenance and staffing which led to the accident. Most of Ardent's profits were coming from their American businesses and their cash was from the sale of those businesses. The park wasn't investing in major new rides.

You're also forgetting that the park closed the Rapids, Log Ride, Thunderbolt, ToT and Wipeout, and the same management that created the conditions for the accident thought it was acceptable to replace those rides with 'shaded seating' and a grassy knoll. They also destroyed the Main St facade with Sky Voyager and thought the next 'big' attraction was going to be a lazy river.

The accident created the ideal conditions you're seeking - lower attendance, shorter queues, lower staffing, less ride maintenance because rides were removed, higher per-guest in-park spend.

$62 per person for a day out (+ park entry) is not 'cheap'. That's a lot of money for most people. For a family of 4 that's about $250. The park makes $62.11 from a guest attending the park, or $0 if they don't. And park prices are currently $149 for a pass - $50 higher than a year ago. But even if that is 'cheap' by your standards, who cares? The park still has world-class attractions and will be getting more of them, excellent staff, and good operations. Why does expensive = good? If people can have an affordable and enjoyable day out and the park is making money, why is that a bad thing?

The park has spent plenty of money investing in major rides with lower gate prices and in-park spend. They've built the Flyer, Steel Taipan, JR, MM, KC, Big Red Boat, Jane's, a splash pad, modified Tiger Island, and made plenty of aesthetic improvements to the park including Dodgems and Main Street. They've spent well over $100M on all of that and are still planning a Rivertown expansion. Everything they've done since 2021 has been moving in the right direction.

In my opinion, you've got a very warped view of how a business should be run. People don't have unlimited amounts of money for discretionary spending like at theme parks. You seem to want the park to be a luxury item - high ticket prices, fewer guests making fewer visits but spending more each visit, and yet somehow think that will translate into more money 'to invest in major rides'. That is a one-way ticket to bankruptcy in the current economic climate. If it's too expensive to spend a day in the park people won't bother buying passes at all and you lose all of that money.

If you lose 25% of your customers, you need your other customers to pay more than 25% just to stay in the same place - since you're losing gate sales + in-park sales (which have supply costs). So you either need to jack up prices (which bleeds more customers), or you have to lower in-park prices to entice existing guests into the park - which you seem to have a problem with.

If you're that unhappy with the new direction the business is taking, sell your shares. If you don't then save your complaints for the AGM.

That just sounds like a list of excuses to me. Covid, the GFC, bad weather, the war in Iran. There’s always something to blame.

A good captain knows the sea won’t always be calm and it’s their job to steer the ship through the worst of the storms.

2 hours ago, New display name said:

A good captain knows the sea won’t always be calm and it’s their job to steer the ship through the worst of the storms.

What makes you think this isn't what they are doing?

Just because they're not doing it your way or to your timeline, doesn't make it wrong.

2 hours ago, New display name said:

That just sounds like a list of excuses to me. Covid, the GFC, bad weather, the war in Iran. There’s always something to blame.

A good captain knows the sea won’t always be calm and it’s their job to steer the ship through the worst of the storms.

Give it a rest

@Ashley Jeffery You’re basically a pop-up ad nobody asked for. 🤣 funny way of saying you’ve got nothing to add to the conversation.

@wikiverse at least raised a few good points.