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would spend eight hours at the park, then depart and the attendance would be replaced in the evening after 5:00pm. Therefore, the day was split with half of the attendance coming before 5pm and half coming after 5pm and it was literally two different operating days and attendance mixes on the same day. I would think most parks would love that type of arrival pattern, length of stay and use distribution today. I was at Knott’s during the advent of events being introduced as a means of bridging the seasons in the industry, which led to me having a significant role in the introduction and evolution of such events. It has been great to watch events evolve and grow around the industry over the years to fill all seasons of the calendar. The use of technology and analytics are probably the biggest evolution that I observed over the years at Knott’s and continuing in the industry.
You moved to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in 1998. What initiated the move and what did you achieve while in the role? I was involved in the presentation and sale of Knott’s Berry Farm in 1997 for the Knott family. The Park was eventually sold to Cedar Fair and the combination of their corporate structure and operating approach led to the removal of my position as being redundant. It was a wake-up call to realise there was work beyond my first job and place of employment. I had the good fortune to be sponsored by Knott’s to participate in the IAAPA Institute at Cornell University in 1993. At that particular session I met Dick Kinzel and Kieran Burke and I established a relationship with both. Following the sale of Knott’s, I ran into Kieran Burke at the IAAPA Expo in Orlando in 1997 and he asked if I was in a good spot with Cedar Fair. Knott’s had just sold, so I assumed I had a long term role with the company under Cedar Fair. As a result, I told Kieran that I was feeling confident and secure in the role, but I appreciated him asking.
In February of 1998, I was released from Knott’s and contacted Kieran to let him know I was available. He was generous and gracious enough to return my email and call me to let me know that Premier Parks was in the middle of a major transaction in Europe and he would get back to me. Within about 24 hours, I received an email and call from Gary Story, who asked me to come to Oklahoma City to meet him. I flew out the next day and Gary offered me a role at The New Marine World in Vallejo, California, as they were planning on moving the VP and GM there to Europe to take on the regional leadership role for Six Flags on all the parks they had just acquired.
In May of 1998, I relocated to Walnut Creek, California and began leading the efforts of rebranding the park to Six Flags Marine World and continued a significant capital programme of adding 35 rides to a zoological facility. The biggest challenges were introducing rides in a zoological environment, which did not make the animal keepers comfortable; converting a pastoral golf course to a parking lot, which did not make the neighbours happy; and, working through the dynamic situation of establishing the theme park mentality in a city that bought a zoo and needed to have the revenue anticipation notices repaid, while balancing community needs and reducing debt.
Am I correct in understanding that Six Flags opened Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid in 2002, and at this point you moved to Spain to serve as the park’s vice-president and general manager? Did you effectively look after both parks during this time? What were challenges, what were the highlights?
Yes, Six Flags bought the rights to Warner Bros theme parks in 1999 for the US and Europe and began the process of taking over Movie World Germany, and the construction of Movie World Madrid. The Warner Bros. Recreation and Entertainment team had already designed the park and the construction was just beginning. I was asked to relocate to Madrid, Spain in 2000 to take over the role of VP and GM of the development and eventual operation of the Park, which opened in 2002. I had the responsibility of finishing the design, the development and then operating the Park, with no other parks under my responsibility. This was a greenfield development in an area about 25km south east of Madrid in a little town called San Martin de la Vega and it was being built in an area that was a gypsum quarry and historically significant for the Roman’s having passed through the area 2,000 year prior, so there were archiologically significant findings when the ground was opened up and it led to many stops and adjustments to preserve the history, or to remove the non-historical elements. The Euro was being introduced to Spain at the time, so significant infrastructure investment was occurring everywhere and development was occurring in every community. Inflation was rampant and controlling costs and schedule were critical. We eventually delivered the park on time, on schedule and below budget, which was a significant result.
By this stage, the industry must have changed significantly?
The industry was becoming much more IP driven and the developments were getting more and more significant, as the various investors realised the mulitiplier effect of theme parks on the surrounding community. Governments were getting more involved in investment and development as it drove property development and retail integration, as was evident in Asia more than anywhere else. Technology, immersive experiences, integrated environments and metrics of the industry began to drive more and more of the investment and diversification of the investments. It was exciting for me, as I was always quite interested in the metrics of theme parks and guest experience management. I always believe if you can measure it, then you can manage it.
Tell me about your move to Ocean Park Corporation as chief executive; what were your biggest challenges and achievements
DECEMBER 2020 Knott’s Berry Farm, California
From left: John Gentile, senior director & executive producer, Universal Beijing Resort; Bob Dennis, creative director; Transformers Metrobase; Florence Hu, vice president, marketing & sales, Universal Beijing Resort; Tom Mehrmann, president and general manager, Universal Beijing Resort; Sabrina Han, creative coordinator for Transforers Metrobase; Dean Orion, creative director, Kung Fu Panda Land of Awesomeness; Frank Fang, production art director, Kung Fu Panda Land of Awesomeness.
If you can
measure it, you can manage it.
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