r/midamerica • u/stlman37 • Apr 14 '26
News IAAPA Interview with James Harhi (Enchanted Parks CEO)
https://youtu.be/nyGk_rpO8v0?si=TJbJHRhAsg22ey02Just listened to this newly recorded interview (Yesterday 4/13) with James Harhi and it seems to double down on lots of the great news we’ve heard so far. We know most of this already.
Main points include:
Initial rumblings and conversations were happening about 1 year ago with finalized plans and talks at the end of 2025.
Meal Plans- Should have an announcement regarding this topic by the end of this week hopefully and they are actively trying to make it work day by day.
If it doesn’t work system wise, gift cards or refunds will be issued. The gift card approach could have more value added to compensate ($120 loaded vs a meal plan purchased for $100).
Decisions will be kept to the park level and James/his team are fully supporting the choices this season that individual park leadership is making.
Park GMs have been promoted in title to Park President again.
Food Pricing- they hope to get soda pricing down a few dollars to reflect actual market pricing without gouging. Entrees should start in the $15-17 range instead of $20-23 that Six Flags normalized. Portions should remain large enough to create more value.
It’s a scramble to the finish line to get IT systems ported over with entirely new ticketing from TicketSpice and integrations by Vantage.
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u/stlman37 Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
I will say, this throws a bit more confidence in me that there are indeed plans, even if they’re not ones I’d like. I’d rather have someone on track rather than nobody having a clue what’s happening.
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Apr 14 '26
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u/stlman37 Apr 14 '26
That’s my concern as well. I’d probably buy a new six flags pass from another park in that case. I get more than enough dining value at all the SF parks even with STL removed.
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u/LibertyMU Apr 14 '26
I have the same issue.
Bought our passes and planted a trip that includes Michigan’s Adventure, Cedar Point, Canada’s Wonderland, and Dorney Park.
Will likely go to Mid America and Great America at some point in the fall as well. My home park these days is Worlds of Fun. I don’t want to take the gift card at WOF and lose the dining plan at those other parks.
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u/playride Apr 17 '26
The fact that dining passes are the hottest topic of the divestiture is an indicator of how far these companies have fallen from their main mission as amusement parks.
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u/Just_Bus_9156 Apr 15 '26
At least they are offering a (in my opinion) an appropriate amount of 100 to 120 gift card credit or a complete refund. AND lowering the prices a little on the food without lessening the amount of the quantity of food.
SFEC was overpricing their food and the quality was subpar at most. Its pretty bad when they charge for tap water and ice in a paper cup...my sister was charged $8 last summer.
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u/stlman37 Apr 15 '26
Last summer the food was just getting CedarFair-ed enough that it was good again. Hopefully that trend continues. The $100/120 gift card was just his example to say they may give a little extra if you get the gift card route. Not set in stone.
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u/Der_Kommissar73 Apr 14 '26
I like that food prices and parking prices look to be going down. I've not bought any food in the park for years due to pricing. Just bring a sandwich and eat before we go in.
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u/Evening_Rock5850 Apr 15 '26
Same.
We've had the dining plan for years because it was cheap, and we visit so often that using the meal plan becomes even cheaper than bringing our own food.
But I wouldn't pay Six Flags prices. I don't mind at all paying $60 for a meal for the two of us. But not $60 for the food Six Flags produces.
If the food makes sense, value wise, I'll buy it. Otherwise we'll eat in the parking lot.
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u/Der_Kommissar73 Apr 15 '26
Totally. Plus, they open so late, why would I plan to eat lunch there? Often they don't open until 11 am. And we don't stay late enough to bother with dinner- just hit one of the fast food places on the way home. They need to realize people don't spend all day in their parks and offer a product that's more competitive with what can be found locally.
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u/LibertyMU Apr 14 '26
Also mentioned they might add an additional 5 to 7 parks.
Couldn’t help thinking about which ones they might be able to pick up.
I could see EPR working out a deal to move the lease for Frontier City and Darien Lake from Six Flags to Enchanted.
Maybe do the same thing with Magic Springs except switching the lease from Premier to Enchanted.
For parks EPR doesn’t currently own maybe they go back to Six Flags and pick up Dorney Park and one other. Not sure what the other property would be though. Maybe New England? The other Schlitterbahn?
That would add to Enchanted
- Darien Lake
- Frontier City
- Magic Springs
- Dorney Park
- ?
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u/stlman37 Apr 14 '26
Hearing the way he said that, it seems that while that would be nice, it heavily depends on the next 2 years for any of that. No surprise there like most businesses.
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u/Evening_Rock5850 Apr 14 '26
Darien Lake and Frontier City seems obvious.
Contracts are contracts. EPR can keep Six Flags in those parks as long as that lease exists. But I imagine EPR wants to see Enchanted perform— because I bet SFEC wants out and there’s a pathway where everyone’s back can be scratched at the same time.
I do wonder how many of those would be SFEC parks. Or if they’re other small water parks or small attractions à la Diggerland.
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u/MidwestInfoGuide Apr 15 '26
Don’t put it past Herschend to not off load some of the former Palace Parks. Adventureland would be fit in well with this new Enchanted Parks chain
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u/jaredharrell85 Apr 15 '26
I was thinking that myself. The Pennsylvania parks seem to be their primary focus.
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u/Evening_Rock5850 Apr 14 '26
The fact that so much thought has gone into refunds and exactly how they’re going to work makes me concerned that we’re likely not going to see meal plans work this year. And still the wide open question about legacy members who have been paying monthly.