MSNBC.com: Six-Flags files for Bankruptcy Protection

[ECU-ALUM]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31342514/ns/business-us_business

Some people have wondered what would happen if one of Snyder's business went under...we may find out.

[THE OUTSIDER]

People want to go to either their local amusement park or one of the destination resort themed parks like Disney or Universal studios. From experience, after you've gone to the one of the latter, you don't want to go to Six Flags.

[sly]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31342514/ns/business-us_business

Some people have wondered what would happen if one of Snyder's business went under...we may find out.

I don't believe much will change. The company isn't doing terrible, they just have massive amounts of debt they need to get rid of.

http://www.sixflags.com/national/footerNav/News_OpenLetterFromOurCEO.aspx

[mjah]

I imagine this will give Six Flags the opportunity to engage in some minor shake-ups at the end of the summer, possibly selling off a couple of their poorest performing parks as long as the "patient" is in surgery anyway.

But Six Flags' only major problem is their debt. They are doing a somewhat better job of operating parks than they used to, and that's turning out to be good enough. (Charging $15 to park doesn't hurt the bottom line either.)

Get rid of the debt, continue operating their parks like responsible adults, and they're probably back to breakeven or better -- even despite the recession.

This bankruptcy is a problem 12 years in the making. Most reasonable people called the Premier Parks/Six Flags buying spree an idiotic decision back then, and it certainly looks that way now. But I can't imagine anything will happen to their better parks. They still pack 'em in by the tens of thousands per park almost every day.