Cedar Fair Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 8, 2024

There are 12 speakers on the call.

Operator

Thank

Speaker 1

you for standing by. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to today's 6 Flags Entertainment Corporation Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Thank you.

Speaker 1

I would now like to turn the call over to 6 Flags Management. Management, please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Greg, and good morning, everyone. My name is Michael Russell, Corporate Director of Investor Relations for 6 Flags. Welcome to today's earnings call to review our 2024 Second Quarter pre merger financial results for our legacy companies, the former Cedar Fair LP and the former Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. Earlier this morning, we distributed via wire service our earnings press release, a copy of which is also available under the News tab of our new Investor Relations website at investors. 6flags.com.

Speaker 2

Specific to Cedar Fair, our prior year reported quarter ended June 25, 2023 to provide investors with more informative comparisons due to the fiscal calendar shift, our release this morning offers an alternate set of results comparing Cedar Fair's current year quarter ended June 30, 2024 with results for the 3 months ended July 2, 2023. Before we begin, I need to remind you that comments made during this call will include forward looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those described in such statements. For a more detailed discussion of these risks, you may refer to the company's filings with the SEC. In compliance with the SEC's Regulation FD, this webcast is being made available to the media and the general public as well as analysts and investors.

Speaker 2

Because the webcast is open to all constituents and prior notification has been widely and unselectively disseminated, all content on this call will be considered fully disclosed. On the call with me this morning are 6 Flags' Chief Executive Officer, Richard Zimmerman and Chief Financial Officer, Brian Witherow. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Brian.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Michael. Good morning, and thanks to everyone for joining us today. We're excited to welcome you to the very first earnings call for the new Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. In actuality, it's the final earnings call for our legacy companies, Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags, as we begin our journey together as a merged company. I'll start my review by discussing the legacy Cedar Fair second quarter results before providing some color around 2nd quarter results for legacy Six Flags.

Speaker 3

I'll wrap up with an update on more recent performance in the state of the long lead indicators for the combined portfolio. Before I dig into the details, I'd like to say how pleased we are to report a record setting second quarter performance for Legacy Cedar Fair, a quarter in which thanks to our top line revenue growth and effective cost savings measures, we achieved record adjusted EBITDA for the period and meaningful margin expansion. The strong second quarter performance capped off a trailing 12 month period that saw us produce $585,000,000 of adjusted EBITDA, ending Cedar Fair's legacy on a high note and setting a great foundation for our new journey together as the new Six Flags. As Michael mentioned at the beginning of the call, due to a fiscal calendar shift in the current year, Cedar Fair's Q2 of 2024 included 50 3 net incremental operating days compared to the Q2 last year. Because of the impact of the fiscal calendar shift, I'll focus my comments this morning on comparing Cedar Fair's 2nd quarter with the 3 months ended July 2, 2023.

Speaker 3

For the quarter, Fair generated a record $572,000,000 in net revenues on record attendance of 8,600,000 guests. This compares with net revenues of $557,000,000 and attendance of 8,300,000 guests for the comparable 3 month period last year. In addition to the 368,000 visit increase in attendance, the higher net revenues during the period reflect a $4,000,000 increase in out of park revenues to a 2nd quarter record $73,000,000 The increases in attendance and out of park revenues were partially offset by a 3% decrease in in park per capita spending. The increase in attendance was the direct result of several factors, including a larger season pass base, the continued recovery of the group channel, including our school and youth business, which has now recovered back to pre pandemic levels. And lastly, stronger general demand in the markets where we introduced impact for new rides and attractions for the 2024 season.

Speaker 3

We are particularly pleased that we were able to drive increased attendance over 33 fewer operating days than the comparable period last year, reflecting the positive impact of many of the initiatives we've put in place in the last year to drive demand. On a comparable week basis, average attendance per operating day in the 2nd quarter was up 9%, primarily the result of eliminating smaller attendance days during the period at several seasonal parks as well as increased demand from the season pass channel. The increase in auto park revenues reflects the improved performance of the Knott Hotel, which was under renovation at this time last year, as well as higher ADRs at the other resort properties across the system. Meanwhile, the decrease in per capita spending is due to planned reduction in season pass pricing at several parks and a higher mix of season pass visitation, somewhat offset by improved guest spending on food and beverage and extra charge products. Food and beverage spending during the quarter was up 3% versus the comparable 3 month period last year.

Speaker 3

The improved F and B spending was driven by an increase in average transactions per guest and an increase in the average transaction value, reflecting the guest willingness to buy up for higher quality offerings. Guest spending on extra charge products during the period was up 1%, driven in large part by increased Fastlane sales, which benefited from the broad rollout of our new single ride Fastlane product and overall stronger demand as a result of higher attendance levels. Moving to the cost front, Legacy Cedar Fair's operating costs and expenses in the 2nd quarter totaled 387,000,000 dollars 15,000,000 compared with 3 months the 3 months ended July 2, 2023. The period over period increase reflects a $23,000,000 increase in SG and A expense offset by a $9,000,000 decrease in operating expenses. The increase in SG and A expense included $11,000,000 of merger related costs and $8,000,000 of higher equity based compensation expense.

Speaker 3

The balance of the increase was attributable to higher spending on technology initiatives and advertising during the period. The decrease in same week operating expenses, which was accomplished while our parks entertained 368,000 more guests during the period is the result of planned reductions in entertainment expenses and labor costs, including the use of fewer seasonal labor hours and lower full time headcount. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter increased to a record $205,000,000 while adjusted EBITDA margin for the period improved to nearly 36%, up 2 30 basis points versus the comparable 3 month period last year. The higher margin reflects the value and leverage that comes with driving higher levels of demand while tightly managing operating costs. As we've noted in prior earnings calls, we remain laser focused on improving margins by increasing demand and driving operating efficiencies across the portfolio, particularly around variable operating costs such as seasonal labor.

Speaker 3

Through the 1st 6 months of the year, we reduced our seasonal labor hours by 5% or more than 340,000 total hours while not eroding the guest experience or our ability to drive demand as evidenced by the meaningful lift in attendance. Through these key initiatives, we've made considerable progress strengthening margins closer to pre pandemic levels. We have now improved legacy Cedar Fair adjusted EBITDA margin by 300 basis points through the 1st 6 months of the year compared with the same 6 month period in 2023. Now turning to 2nd quarter results for legacy Six Flags. As noted in this morning's earnings release, Six Flags' Q2 of 2024 included 58 fewer operating days compared to the Q2 last year.

Speaker 3

For the quarter, Six Flags generated $438,000,000 in total revenues on attendance of 6,900,000 guests. This compares with total revenues of $444,000,000 and attendance of 7,100,000 guests during the Q2 of 2023. In addition to the 2% decrease in attendance, the decline in total revenues in the quarter reflects a $9,000,000 decrease in revenue for memberships beyond the initial 12 month commitment period, what we call 13 plus. The decrease in 2nd quarter attendance and membership revenues attendance was largely the result of the strategic decision to remove operating days at certain parks and the earlier Easter holiday, which occurred in the Q1 of 2024 compared to the Q2 of 2023. We estimate that the Easter timing shift represented a headwind of approximately 90,000 visits in the 2nd quarter, while the elimination of operating days accounted for the majority of the remaining attendance difference.

Speaker 3

The increase in total guest spending per capita during the quarter reflects an admissions revenue per capita decrease of 2% and an in park spending per capita increase of 5%. Excluding the impact of membership revenue from both periods, which we believe better reflects the parks higher average ticket pricing and in park monetization efforts, total guest spending per capita for the quarter would be 3% higher than prior year Q2, reflecting an increase in admissions revenue per capita of less than 1 percent and an increase in park spending per capita of 6%. We expect revenue headwinds from memberships to be negligible in the second half of the year. Moving to the cost front, legacy Six Flags operating costs and expenses in the Q2 totaled $281,000,000 down $18,000,000 compared to the Q2 of 2023. The decrease in operating costs and expenses was the result of a $12,000,000 increase in operating expenses offset by a $30,000,000 decrease in SG and A expense.

Speaker 3

The decrease in SG and A expense reflects the impact of a $38,000,000 self insurance reserve adjustment made in the Q2 last year, offset slightly by higher spending on advertising in the Q2 this year. The increase in operating costs was driven by increased seasonal labor costs resulting from higher average seasonal wage rates and an increase in seasonal labor hours. Through the 1st 6 months of the year, the average seasonal wage rate at Legacy Six Flags Parks was up 3% over the same period last year and seasonal labor hours were up 3% or approximately 150,000 hours. Six Flags adjusted EBITDA for the quarter decreased $23,000,000 to $138,000,000 driven primarily by the decline in attendance, lower membership revenue and higher operating expenses offset in part by higher total guest spending per capita. Due to the increase in operating costs and lower total revenues, legacy Six Flags modified EBITDA margin for the Q2, which excludes the impact of non controlling interest in Partnership Parks, decreased to 36.9% from 41.6% in the Q2 last year.

Speaker 3

Taking a closer look at more recent results and the long lead business indicators for a moment. During the month of July, difficult weather conditions including the impacts of Hurricane Barrel and record heat and rain across much of North America have impacted demand in several parts in the combined portfolio. Over the 5 week period ended August 4, 2024 attendance across the combined portfolio totaled 10,900,000 visits, down 3% or approximately 350,000 visits compared to the same 5 week period last year. A meaningful portion of this attendance decline can be attributed to 4 parts where operations were either partially or entirely disrupted by macro events, including a utility disruption at Michigan's Adventure, excessive flooding at Valley Fair and the effects of Hurricane Barrel on our Galveston and Houston water parks. Excluding these four parks, attendance within the balance of the combined portfolio was down 1% or approximately 150,000 visits during the fiscal month of July.

Speaker 3

Meanwhile, when compared to the same 5 week period last year, July guest spending trends were essentially flat year over year across the combined portfolio. Despite the pressure from attendance mix on admission spending, in park guest spending in July continued to benefit from higher levels of demand for food and beverage and premium experience products. Despite recent demand disruptions in certain markets caused by weather events, we remain encouraged by the overall attendance trends as we approach the end of the summer. This validates the strength we saw earlier this year in our long lead indicators, including strong season pass unit sales and solid booking trends within our group sales channel and our resort properties. As of June 30, 2024, the legacy Cedar Fair season pass base totaled 3,000,000 units, a 9% increase versus the prior year Q2, while the 6 Flags active pass base comprised 4 point 3,000,000 passholders, a 6% decrease versus the prior year, which still included the Six Flags discontinued annual pass product.

Speaker 3

Excluding discontinued annual passes, the balance of the 6 Flags active pass base at the end of the second quarter would have been higher than the prior year Q2 by 5%. Driven in large part by the solid momentum in the season pass programs, legacy Cedar Fair deferred revenues as June 30, 2024 totaled $282,000,000 up 3% compared to the same time last year, while deferred revenues at Legacy Six Flags totaled $191,000,000 an increase of 8% versus the prior year. On the capital allocation front, during the quarter, legacy Cedar Fair spent $61,000,000 on CapEx, bringing total investment through the first half of the year to 100 and $18,000,000 For the full year 2024, we expect capital investments in the legacy Cedar Fair parks will be $200,000,000 to 220,000,000 dollars Meanwhile, during the Q2, Legacy Six Flags spent $77,000,000 on CapEx, bringing total investment over the first 6 months of the year to $114,000,000 We expect full year CapEx spend in the legacy Six Flags parts will also be in the $200,000,000 to $220,000,000 range. As we are in the early days of our combined company, we are still conducting the analysis for our long term CapEx outlook. With that said, we are very encouraged by what we see in terms of both our combined company's existing infrastructure as well as the opportunities to drive growth in the combined portfolio.

Speaker 3

While there will be some level of CapEx necessary to address deferred infrastructure needs within the portfolio, the majority of our investments will be on initiatives and new attractions that can achieve a minimum ROI and that are meant to increase demand, drive higher levels of guest spending and make us a more profitable business over the long term. We plan to provide more details around the scale and scope of future capital programs by spring of next year. Lastly, for cash flow modeling purposes on a go forward basis, we are projecting annualized cash interest payments of $300,000,000 to 310,000,000 dollars and annualized cash tax payments of $140,000,000 to $150,000,000 before further tax planning efforts. With that, I'd like to turn the

Speaker 4

call over to Richard. Thanks, Brian. First, let me congratulate our collective team for a job well done to complete our transformational merger. This achievement wouldn't have been possible without the support of both legacy boards and our leadership teams, as well as our associates commitment to embracing positive change and building upon the rich heritage of our 2 companies. I want to personally thank Salim for his partnership throughout this process.

Speaker 4

We share a strong belief in the full potential and value creation that this merger represents and we are excited for the future ahead. That value creation includes the continued growth and margin expansion within the legacy Cedar Fair portfolio, the opportunity to improve legacy Six Flags performance through attendance and revenue growth and the realization of the meaningful synergies available to us through the merger. Because today represents our first opportunity in many months to address the market broadly about the merger, I think it's worthwhile revisiting why we are so excited to have brought together 2 of the most iconic players in the amusement park industry. First off, the deal's equity structure. The merger between these two companies presented a unique opportunity to offer legacy Cedar Fair unitholders and legacy 6 Flags shareholders with a tax efficient means to each participate in the significant value creation available as a combined company with even more growth opportunities.

Speaker 4

2nd, the benefits of scale. The new Six Flags has a highly diversified footprint with geographic scale never before seen regional amusement park industry. This helps mitigate weather related and seasonal earnings volatility ensuring that no single park contributes more than 17% of park level adjusted EBITDA and no single region contributes more than 30%. While only a small sample size, we saw the value of a more geographically diverse portfolio play out during the month of July, when weather was very challenging in several key markets yet combined attendance was down only 1% at our parks that weren't forced to close due to disrupted operations. The expanded scale also provides a larger portfolio of properties to efficiently allocate capital and pursue more high ROI initiatives for growth, including innovative new attractions and high quality, high throughput dining facilities, just to name 2.

Speaker 4

Additionally, our larger geographic footprint sets us up with an opportunity to offer season passholders with access to an expanded portfolio, enhancing our strength and appeal versus other entertainment options. Broader access to our family of parks has the potential to not only boost guest loyalty, but also drive higher season pass sales and park visitation. 3rd, the operational efficiencies created by consolidation. Combining organizations gives us a unique opportunity to select the best strategies and practices from both companies, making us smarter and more efficient overall. We can centralize many of our core administrative functions and deploy shared services to reduce redundancies and improve efficiencies that drive operational savings.

Speaker 4

To that end, where we aren't at risk of disrupting operations or the guest experience, we've already begun to eliminate duplicative cost and services and renegotiate third party contracts where appropriate. While there is much more work to be done, some of which will have to wait until after the season, we fully expect to capture our stated cost synergy goal over the next 12 to 18 months. 4th, combining resources enhances our financial strength and flexibility. We believe that using our proven playbook to significantly increase attendance across a larger customer base, particularly in underperforming markets, will allow us to drive a consistent long term growth in revenue and free cash flow. Higher levels of free cash flow generation will provide flexibility in our capital allocation and investment decisions and enable us to improve our capital structure.

Speaker 4

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the unique opportunity to refresh and renew the guest experience, unifying both companies' intellectual and practical know how obtained over decades of market leadership presents the new Six Flags with an opportunity to create an experience so compelling that our guests will view our parks as an indispensable choice in entertainment. We are tapping the skills and imagination of a deeper talent pool to develop a richer guest experience seeking to position our parks as essential destinations for out of home family fun. Since completing the merger less than 6 weeks ago, we have made considerable progress with our integration efforts as we work to realize the full potential of the merger and deliver value to our shareholders and customers. Our integration team is working diligently to fully analyze and evaluate both legacy companies' data gain a thorough understanding of our combined portfolio, including guest perceptions, market potential and the competitive landscape. The conclusions we draw from this comprehensive review of our collective strengths and opportunities for improvement will be the basis for establishing the company's long range plan to offer the guests the best possible experience and generate profitable, sustainable growth.

Speaker 4

As we proceed through the early innings of this work, our operational focus will be on quickly capturing the synergies available to us and implementing the parts of our playbook that will have an immediate beneficial impact. States in point, we recently announced 2 park level changes. 1st, like a number of legacy fair parks, we implemented a chaperone policy at selected 6 Flags Parks to ensure we maintain a family friendly environment while increasing the appeal with parents who are the decision makers and who have the deeper share of wallet. And second, we removed the surcharge on in park purchases at all legacy 6 Flags parks, which was very unpopular with our guests. We believe the incremental revenue lost in the near term will be more than offset by an increase in transactions and higher levels of guest spending over the long term.

Speaker 4

Over time, we will make additional changes to the business that will be based on consumer research and our decades of experience and success in the industry. Our time tested approach to the business remains grounded in the basic principle of creating fun and memorable experiences for our guests. A high quality experience drives long term success and makes everything else we do as a business easier to accomplish. Getting there, however, requires a steadfast cultural commitment to the long term success of the business. I'm confident we have the perfect leadership team to strike a balance between creating long term fiscal stability and generating sustainable profitable returns for our shareholders.

Speaker 4

Our consolidated team recognizes the extraordinary opportunity in front of us to achieve something remarkable, a prospect that has fueled excitement and dedication for perpetuating the legendary status of our expanded family of parks. The merger's most attractive and important growth opportunity, however, is returning legacy 6 Flags parks to their historical levels of attendance. With the data now available to us, we have focused our initial efforts on 3 key performance indicators, all of which are currently trending at roughly half that of legacy Cedar Fair. They include season pass renewal rates, season pass average visitation rates and market penetration rates. Closing the gap on season pass renewal rates and average visitation rates alone would add more than 10,000,000 visits annually at the legacy Six Flags parks, implying a return to predict pandemic attendance levels is very achievable over time and something we will be laser focused on achieving, laser focused on achieving.

Speaker 4

At the same time, we remain committed to improving renewal rates and driving higher levels of season pass visitation at the legacy Cedar Fair parks as we work to also increase the penetration rates at those parks. Our initial assessment is that many of the near term improvements needed to drive higher demand levels are largely OpEx versus CapEx related achieved by refining pricing, increasing marketing and adjusting programming strategies including park operating calendars. We will however also invest what is necessary in new rides and attractions to reenergize demand and achieve our attendance growth objectives as the upside in doing so is significant. Promoting a better guest experience and improving guest satisfaction ratings at the legacy 6 Flat parks is crucial. Ensuring rides are available to guests from open to close can be accomplished cost effectively through better utilization of seasonal labor hours by deploying enhanced workforce management systems and methodologies.

Speaker 4

We also believe there is a tremendous opportunity in upgrading the food and beverage offerings at the legacy Six Flags parks. Taking a page from legacy Cedar Fair's playbook that is driving our successful food and beverage expansion, we can drive higher per capita spending and cost efficient growth by adding high throughput commercial kitchens, efficiently designed air conditioned food locations and expanded menu choices with higher quality food options. Over the long haul, we have seen the strength and resilience of our business model not only carry us through varying economic cycles, but also push results beyond expectations when market conditions are strong. Even in the depths of the financial crisis of 2,009, our parks displayed the resiliency that comes with being the closer to home, less expensive and less complicated choice for out of home entertainment. During that period, capita spending was only down 1% and while attendance was briefly disrupted at a number of our properties, 2 parks in the portfolio introduced major new coasters and delivered record years in 2,009 despite the economic headwinds.

Speaker 4

In all instances, our business approach has remained consistent comprised of the following 8 core principles. 1, guest satisfaction is vital to our long term success. 2, strategically invest marketable capital into the business drives growth and ensures the long term sustainability of our business even in challenging economic periods. 3, we are a volume driven business where strong attendance drives longer length of stay, higher per caps and better pricing power. Keeping our parks comfortably crowded is a must.

Speaker 4

4, the season pass programs have always been and will continue to be the financial engine of our business and provide us with a recurring and reliable revenue stream. 5, guests today view the availability of unique high quality food and beverage as an essential and increasingly valuable part of the guest experience. 6th, safety, park cleanliness, attractive landscaping and family entertainment are essential core elements that resonate with mom and dad who maintain share of wallet and represent our primary target. 7, we staff our parks to operate fully yet efficiently without sacrificing excellent customer service. And finally, leveraging the power of scalable technologies today is fundamental to enhancing the guest experience.

Speaker 4

These core principles form the foundation that has helped produce Cedar Fair's long tenured steady performance and record results over the past 12 months. They will also form the business foundation from which the new Six Flags will grow over the long term. We are confident we have the right team and strategies to implement these core principles across our entire portfolio of properties as we drive compelling value for all our stakeholders. Some of our parks have already announced the start of their 2025 season pass sales program with many more to follow in the next few weeks. We believe that compelling introductory pricing and targeted advertising campaigns will drive strong early cycle demand.

Speaker 4

You will also be hearing news about our exciting lineup of new rides and attractions being added for 2025, which promises to contribute to another outstanding season. We are as confident as ever in the potential of our combined company, strengthened by the ongoing encouragement and enthusiasm shared by our investors and business partners. We are extremely optimistic about the opportunities ahead and as always remain committed to dreaming big, planning smart and executing with precision. Finally, over the next 6 months, we will be continuing our integration work and filling out our new long range plan. By spring of next year, we expect to be in better position to share more details around the strategic initiatives and investments that will drive the future growth of the business, deliver the full value creation for our shareholders as soon as possible.

Speaker 4

Greg, that concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the call for questions.

Speaker 1

Great. Thank you. And it looks like our first question today comes from the line of Lizzie Dove with Goldman Sachs. Lizzie, please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Hi, there. Thanks so much. Thanks for taking my question. I guess you're just over a month in to kind of looking at these like new Six Flags assets. The consumer environment is maybe in a little bit of a different shape than it was when you kind of put out the presentation last year.

Speaker 5

What are the key kind of learnings that you've had since being there? We've seen you've already made some changes. And has anything changed about that kind of initial targets, I suppose, especially on the revenue side, given that we've seen a little bit of pressure to the consumer?

Speaker 4

Lizzie, great question. Thanks for being with us today. First, let me address either the health of the consumer and what we see out there. I think our performance during the second quarter and over the first half of the year underscores that our business remains healthy. Strong first half performance reinforces the value proposition of our parks and really does underscore, as I said in my prepared remarks, our confidence in the resiliency of the business.

Speaker 4

At the closer to home, less expensive and less complicated offer, We really are an outstanding option for entertainment. So as we think about the now combined portfolio, I continue to go back to what we tried to highlight in our prepared remarks, which is the most significant opportunity we have is the ability to drive attendance and revenue growth throughout the whole portfolio. And as we saw recovering from the pandemic that was our priority. And we knew that if we could drive enough top line growth in the most efficient disciplined manner, which I think our trailing 12 month shows we accomplished that, still more to be done, that there's a way to sustainably drive performance over an extended period of time. Brian, anything you want to add?

Speaker 3

I would just say in terms of your question about how things have changed, Lizzie, from when we the presentation that announced the merger. I think it's still fair to say that those strategies, those projections still represent a reasonable way to think about the long term potential and progression for the combined business. And we're just excited to get the deal closed and start on that path forward.

Speaker 5

Got it. That's helpful. One follow-up, if I can. So obviously, there's kind of been lots of puts and takes per cap across these 2 kind of legacy businesses. You have the California reset at the legacy Cedar Parks, the 13 plus impact of 6.

Speaker 5

I think you did say that in park has been up in July. Just curious like where all of those puts and takes kind of net you out as you look into the second half of the year and next year in terms of that outlook for per caps?

Speaker 3

Yes, Lizzie. We're not going to give specific guidance around where we're modeling for the second half of the year. But what I can say is we remain confident that over time, we can continue to grow per caps as we've demonstrated. But as Richard noted, our primary near term focus is on driving revenue growth. So as we think about the balance of 2024 rolling into 2025, we came into this year on the SEER FAIR legacy side with a focus on revenue growth that was going to come largely from expanded demand, growth in demand in attendance, which can at times be at odds with per caps, but it's critical to the long term success of the business as Richard said.

Speaker 3

So I think what we're most encouraged by is continued strength we're seeing in in park spending in areas like food and beverage and premium experiences or extra charge products that are often influenced by those higher attendance levels. And we see no reason why to expect that to stop in the future.

Speaker 5

Great. Thanks so much. Congrats.

Speaker 4

Thanks, Lizzie.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Lizzie. And our next question comes from the line of James Hardiman with Citi. James, please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hey, good morning guys and congrats on getting this deal done and in the rearview mirror and good luck with that going forward. So I have 2 questions. I have a sort of a math question, hopefully it doesn't get too hairy with Brian and then sort of an operational question for Richard. I guess first on the financials, the math, you went out of your way to talk through the like for like adjustments for the legacy Cedar Fair Park, right, 53 more operating days. But you didn't really adjust the Six Flags or at least at the EBITDA level.

Speaker 6

And so I think what people are doing is they're scaling back the EBITDA growth for legacy Cedar Fair, right? I think EBITDA was up like for like maybe $18,000,000 but then leaving the 6 flags unchanged. So down, call it, I think you pointed out down $23,000,000 And so we're arriving at sort of a year over year EBITDA decline for the combined business. I guess, should we be making any adjustments for the legacy 6 parks? And if not, sort of is that EBITDA decline how we should be thinking about 3Q and beyond?

Speaker 3

Yes. So at a high level James, I think there was very purposeful reason for legacy Cedar side because of the change in the fiscal calendar from Q2 of 2024 versus Q2 of 2023, right, ending on June 30 this year versus June 25 last year leads to a little bit of a comparability issue. So that was the driver behind that adjustment and why we spoke to what we believe to be the more the fair 3 month comparison, which was July 2 last year. On the legacy 6 side, there was no fiscal calendar shift. So I think the 3 month comparisons year over year are fair.

Speaker 3

As we think about pushing those 2 together, those are the legacy results for the 2 standalone companies. As Richard alluded to in his prepared remarks, we are certainly focused on now harmonizing a lot of stuff across the portfolio as we build out a long range plan for the future. I don't know that a lot of that is going to have significant impact on the balance of 24. We're really running the standalone playbooks for both companies out with a little bit of tweaking on both sides of the fence. But we're really more focused on 2025 and beyond at this point.

Speaker 3

So I'm not sure if that helps answer your question or not.

Speaker 6

It does. And I guess that sort of leads me to more of an operational question. I guess it sounds like the trajectory at Cedar Fair Legacy Parks is a lot better than the trajectory at 6. Why is that the case? And I guess, Richard, I thought one of the more interesting parts of your prepared remarks was the idea that you thought attendance could and should go back to pre pandemic levels for the legacy 6 part.

Speaker 6

Obviously, the previous management team, their sort of marquee move was to steal back attendance purposely. I think 20% down versus pre pandemic was sort of their goal. It was worse than that for a while. But maybe walk us through the thought process there, why that's the right move and any timetable around getting there?

Speaker 4

James, great question. Let me level up and say that over the when I look at our combined portfolio, I'm probably more excited about the opportunity to drive market penetration, to drive attendance and revenue growth than I was as we went through the process and I was excited then. What I see is as I look back over a much longer stretch of time, go back pre pandemic, go back through the 2010s, is 2 companies that had slightly different strategies, as Brian would always say, we were both hunting the same thing, just slightly different strategies. I think when I look at what we've been able to do to cultivate that core business, core guest in each of our regional markets and we are regional and understanding the difference between regions is going to be critically important. But we were able to take season passes from under $1,000,000 to a record of 3.2 drive considerable market penetration and more importantly cultivate what you've always heard me talk about a lifetime customer where we become part of the fabric of what families and friends do over an extended course of the calendar, certainly during the summer.

Speaker 4

But as we're going to see as you come into Halloween and the appeal of Halloween events, will do great attendance throughout the whole portfolio because it's driven by such a sense of urgency. I think when I look back over that those 2 decades, one of the things that really resonates to me, we really try to hone in James on our prepared remarks is so much of it's driven by the season pass program. We believe in a consistent approach training the markets to react in certain ways and certain timeframes. And I think the challenge as I look throughout the portfolio, sometimes when you shift too much too quickly, the market then reacts differently. You've got to retrain them.

Speaker 4

I am so I was really pleased given that we closed this deal on July 1st that we're able to find a way to roll out the Allpark Passport, which we will be doing over the course of the 2 weeks throughout the portfolio. Because I think it represents an answer to your question which is as I look forward I try and take the learnings of the past but I really want to make sure that we prioritize our efforts on what will drive the best the biggest impact while sowing the seeds for the longer term things that will also drive that sustainable lasting impact. So long winded way of answering your question, but James, I got tell you, we are as I've gotten to see the portfolio, these are really the similar businesses operating in different regions. And I think there's no reason over time that we can't drive that market penetration these types of levels. So looking back gives us an opportunity to evaluate.

Speaker 4

We've got the opportunities I said in my prepared remarks to take the best practices and the approaches from both, find a new path, which really merges them together, but all of them still have the same priority in terms of what are the levers in the business and what would drive that. That's really helpful. Thanks guys. Thanks, James.

Speaker 1

Yes. Thank you, James. And our next question comes from the line of Steve Biedzinski with Stifel. Steve, please go ahead.

Operator

Hey, guys. Good morning. So Richard and Brian, I have 2 higher level questions about the combined company. And I'm going to take another crack at kind of the lost getting the lost attendance back in a little bit of a different way. So bear with me.

Operator

But obviously, the legacy Six Flags parts are being operated much differently versus the way you guys are running your legacy Cedar Fair assets. And Richard, you noted some of this in your prepared remarks about how you're going to try and get some of that lost attendance back. But I'm wondering how we should think about the impact on the attendance per caps, maybe a little bit more specifically over the next year or so as you try and get that lost attendance back? And I guess the simple question is, do you feel like you're going to have to materially adjust pricing on the lower side in order to get that lost attendance

Speaker 4

back? It's a great question, Steve. I really think when I listen to your question, anytime I think about pricing, I think about the value proposition. You hear me talk about price value all the time. We firmly believe in dynamic pricing.

Speaker 4

But I think what we've got to do is take the steps as we have taken already to make sure that the guests in each of our particular regions see the value in what we offer. The opportunity to program all four parts of the season, for instance, as we've done so successfully, and highlight that drives the value of the season pass. So on the attendance level, the more we can put value into the guest experience and enhance the experience, the more we can lean into pricing over time. There's 2 things that drive attendance. 1 is that guest satisfaction.

Speaker 4

The good news is even in the last 5 weeks, we've been able to see increased guest satisfaction ratings in the legacy Six Flags Park. So I'm really pleased with the way the teams jointly have worked together, how we've come together in the field and at the park level, high compliments to everybody for the persistence, the dedication and the passion that I'm seeing in really focusing on the guest experience to try and improve it. I think over time, we've shown an ability to drive both attendance, but also per cap growth as Brian said. So I think from my perspective, I do think there's ability to recapture the attendance by continuing to focus on that improvement in guest experience. Brian?

Speaker 3

Yes, Steve. In terms of the admissions per cap or I guess the that focused on recovering attendance that lost attendance. As I said in response to Lizzie's question, when the revenue growth is being driven by step function growth in attendance that is at odds with per caps overall. So we would expect some admissions per cap pressure much like we've seen this year on the legacy Cedar results, right. We talked about that 3% decrease in the second quarter and a lot of that coming from some pricing decisions we made in a couple of markets, but more importantly the mix of attendance, right.

Speaker 3

A lot of the growth that we would anticipate and as Richard laid out in his comments would come from the season pass channel recovery of group. Those are 2 lower admissions per cap channels for attendance. But again at a much higher attendance and revenue base. So we'll live with the mathematical pressure on admissions per cap. I think it gives us opportunity on the in park side of things.

Speaker 3

One of the things that we've seen over the years and gets back to Richard's comment in the prepared remarks about the parks staying comfortably crowded. The larger attendant stays lead to the longest length of stays for visits that leads to the highest per caps and the best margin days. So it's important to get that demand back. I think it will help on the in park spend, maybe a little bit of mathematical pressure on the admissions per cap. But again, that's going to be at a much higher attendance and revenue base.

Operator

Okay. That's really good color. And then second question is around the combined portfolio of assets now. So Richard, I guess the question is, are 42 parks the right number? And what I'm getting at is, do you think there's an opportunity to whether it's sell, shut down, certain parks that might not be essentially core or are under earning on the EBITDA side in order to drive leverage down at a quicker pace.

Operator

It just seems like some of that land optionality might outweigh the EBITDA potential at some of your parks. And I hope that all kind of makes sense.

Speaker 4

Listen, from a strategic standpoint, I understand your capital allocation question. We're going through the extended period now and I'll take you back Steve. The extensive antitrust review process meant we were limited in terms of the information that we'd share between the companies. We're going through in a pretty comprehensive review as I said to create our long range plan and our long term outlook. I think every property has got opportunities.

Speaker 4

We understand the challenges. We've got lease parks. We've got partnership parks. We've got fully owned parks. We believe in strongly in making sure that we look at the potential of each site.

Speaker 4

And the good news is even within both portfolios, there are some really strong performers regardless of size. Some of the most consistent performance and the sustainable performance, not necessarily growth, but performance is that some of the smaller and the mid tier parts. So I do think there's an opportunity to stratify portfolio and make sure that we're looking at the high growth opportunities. But I do believe every park that we now own and that we now operate has a place in the portfolio if we properly define its role within the portfolio. Brian?

Speaker 3

Yes. I think the only thing I would add Steve is, I think you can look back at the approach that standalone or legacy Cedar Fair has taken on that front. We've acquired a lot of assets over the years and we've also divested of assets that we over time deem no longer core in the portfolio. I think it's as Richard said, it's still very early. I mean we only closed on this deal a little over a month ago.

Speaker 3

And so right now we're drinking from the fire hose as we work through that longer term strategic plan. But certainly portfolio optimization will be part of that exercise over time.

Operator

Okay, great. Thanks guys. Really appreciate it.

Speaker 7

Thanks, Steve.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Steve. And our next question comes from the line of Thomas Yee with Morgan Stanley. Thomas, please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Thanks so much. I was hoping to dissect the July pacings a bit more. It sounds like even with that down 1% in July, if you kind of exclude the closures, it doesn't fully strip out the weather headwinds. So maybe beyond the weather you cited, have you seen any evidence of the shift in value proposition you mentioned relative to maybe some consumer weakness at the low end? And how has that shaped out to date?

Speaker 8

And as a follow-up to that, I think Brian, I think he had mentioned before that hope to return to 2019 attendance levels at Legacy Cedar. I know there's a little bit of a weird 2Q calendar timing shift, but is that still on track? Or are you hoping to exceed that at this point?

Speaker 3

Yes, Thomas. So maybe I'll take the latter first. I think what I would remind everyone is that the second half of the year and this is a comment that applies to both sides of the portfolio would represent close to 2 thirds of the attendance and revenues for the combined portfolio. And so, it's great to have the results that we've seen through the first half of twenty twenty four, but the second half of the year is critical in terms of where things land. July, as Richard noted and as we said in our prepared remarks, has been a little bit bumpy being down 3%.

Speaker 3

There's no doubt we've dealt with some extreme weather conditions in some market, but the whole idea behind this one of the core drivers behind this merger was to create a more diversified footprint. And so we're not going to use weather as an excuse. Was it a challenge in some markets? Sure. Record heat in a number of markets is problematic.

Speaker 3

The 4 parks we called out, I think those were very anomalistic events where the parks were shut down for length of period of time either because of the hurricane that hit the Gulf or utility disruption up in Michigan as an example. I think broadly speaking, we still remain encouraged by the broader trends that we've been seeing around attendance. Demand is there when weather is good, we're seeing strong demand. There are always going to be short periods where we see those macro trends or those macro headwinds impact demand trends a little bit. And then it plays out like last year, we saw something similar, right?

Speaker 3

July was a little bit challenging because of the heat and rain in a number of markets. And then we turned to August and turned the page and August took off like gangbusters and on the legacy Cedar side led to a record second half performance. So we're still encouraged by the broader as I said the broader trends. The deferred revenue balances indicate that there's a lot of pent up demand. There are a lot of tickets in the market, whether those be season passes or single day tickets.

Speaker 3

And so we think we're still well positioned over the second half of the year, but we'll have to see how everything plays out.

Speaker 4

Thomas, one more thing for me to jump in here, it's Richard, is one of the unique windows we have into the health of consumers is our resort and portfolio. And I would tell you in the month of July, we've had some outstanding days where we were sold out in many of our Cedar Point Hotels at increasingly higher ADRs than we've seen last year. So in terms of our look and certainly throughout our portfolio, we serve all income classes and stratus through our resort portfolio because we've got a wide array of hospitality and resorts for people to stay at. I will tell you, I've been really encouraged and pleased with the resort and our out of park performance over the month of July.

Speaker 8

Great. Thanks. And then just beyond evaluating the pricing strategy, Richard, you mentioned some OpEx tweaks, including maybe leaning more deeply into marketing. Can you elaborate a little bit more on where you see maybe the most clear areas of underinvestment at legacy 6 and where you think you'd be able to generate a lot more opportunity from low hanging fruit? Is it staffing levels or maintenance or anything more specific that would be helpful?

Speaker 8

Thank you.

Speaker 4

Let me take your advertising question first. And this goes for the combined company, both sides of the portfolio. Coming out of the pandemic, we all skinned up advertising. There was a lot of pent demand. We knew that would be there.

Speaker 4

But we also, like a lot of companies in other industries, really narrowed our narrowed our approach to highly digital when percentage of ad spend went highly digital, which is great because it's very targeted, but you also give up a little bit of breadth. What we've seen is as we play with the mix, get to a little bit better rounded portfolio of media channels. We've seen an ability to get different get more traction. And the other thing that we've noticed over the last couple of years is as we look at the impact of advertising more and more of that impact in terms of generating awareness of our parks and generating performance is extended out over a longer period. So what we're trying to do is make sure we've got the right mix of channels, but also the right pulsing so that we maintain those awareness and improve those awareness levels as we go through.

Speaker 4

So I think that's our challenge on that front. In terms of the overall parks and what we're doing and I would again look at the Cedar portfolio as much as the Six Flags portfolio. We're trying to make sure we're as efficient as possible while driving a lot of attendance, a lot of revenue growth. And we've got a weekly performance meeting where we go through transactions per hour. We go through all the metrics that we watch to make sure we're being really efficient with our dollars, ridership, rides per guest, all the things that ladder us into that guest satisfaction.

Speaker 4

So what we're trying to do is make sure that we are very disciplined in our approach that we listen to the consumer that we really take a look at what's different region by region, but start to lay in place the things we think can drive guest satisfaction. We make sure that all the rides are open on both sides of the portfolio because sometimes these are mechanical. All rides are mechanical and sometimes they have challenges. But as we made sure that we are riding more riders as we make sure we've got all the rides open, we've seen a statistically significant increase in guest satisfaction and that's what's important.

Speaker 8

Appreciate the color. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Thomas. And our next question comes from the line of Matthew Boss with JPMorgan. Matthew, please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Great. Thanks. So maybe first for Richard, on the like for like attendance trends during the Q2 and then softening in July that you cited, I guess any changes in the pricing or larger picture promotional landscape that you're seeing? And then just help us to think about your back half demand assumptions. Have you made any internal changes just based on more recent consumer behavior?

Speaker 4

I'll take a stab at that and then I'll let Brian weigh in. Again, caveat, we don't give financial guidance. But as I look at the business and what we're seeing, I think each legacy company had a plan coming in. I think when you look at the demand levels per channel, I think relatively both companies were coming in within range of expectations of the plans they put in place. So it wasn't significant shifts from a for certainly demand tickets.

Speaker 4

We break it down into season passes, group channels, and demand tickets. So not significantly significant changes up or down in terms of the level of pricing within that demand channel, really saw significant growth in the group channel with the recovery of use, which we thought would take almost 3 years after the pandemic and it did. The encouraging part is the strength in the group and school and youth channel. A little bit of come back in corporate as well. So I don't want to underplay corporate.

Speaker 4

We've also seen come back in that. But really, there's a lion's share when we think about what's happening, and Brian referenced it, season pass is such a dominant impact on our attendance mix. A lot of times it's less about the price and more about the attendance mix and how much you can drive season pass. Season pass, if you drive enough and a higher percentage of penetration and a higher attendance mix is going to put pressure on your admission per cap. But it's the most expensive single ticket we sell and we want to sell as many of them as possible.

Speaker 4

And then we want them to visit lots. Brian?

Speaker 3

Yes. Just I think Matt what I would add, as we think about both sides of the combined portfolio looking at this year versus last year, I don't know that there's anything that was a demonstrative pivot or change. And we've talked over the last couple of quarters on the legacy Cedar side about changes that we made around season pass pricing in a few select markets that was the result of some analysis and consumer research that we did in 2023 late 2023 coming into 20 24. But when it comes to promotions, I'll tie it to maybe take it as a level higher dynamic pricing of single day tickets. Our business intelligence teams have always been in the practice of dialing up price on single day tickets and dialing down price just based on the demand trends.

Speaker 3

And so I wouldn't say that that's new, that's certainly something that is a practice that we've gotten really good at. And so as we look at the balance of this year and what's ahead, when there are headwinds like weather in a market, no matter what you do with price, it really has a hard time resonating because the reason they're not visiting isn't price related, it's more the macro weather conditions. But as we think about the fall ahead in the demand, the strong demand that we've seen around things like Halloween Haunt on the legacy Cedar side or Fright Fest on the legacy 6 side. I think there's going to be opportunities to again continue to lean in demand. The only thing that I would add on the season pass, unfortunately closing this deal on July 1, only maybe 6 weeks or so, 4 to 6 weeks before we were going on sale with a lot of season passes or season pass programs at the parks.

Speaker 3

Didn't give us a lot of time to fully harmonize the pass programs across the combined portfolio. We've made some taken some steps and made some strides in moving in that direction. But I think over time, you're going to see those programs get a lot more harmonized and a lot more opportunity. But we're going to have to only move a little bit forward on that as it relates to 25 just because of the late timing of the close of the merger.

Speaker 7

Great. And then maybe just a follow-up, Brian. Could you help quantify or just ballpark maybe the organic operating expense structure? Just anything to help get our arms around the magnitude of some of the upfront investments that you cited to improve the park offerings, increase attractions and the higher marketing?

Speaker 4

Well, I think as we

Speaker 3

said in our in the prepared remarks, both and Richard alluded to this just a few moments ago, both companies have increased their advertising spend mid year this year relative to what we thought coming into the year. And again, the last thing you want to do is have new attractions, new initiatives, new entertainment at your parks and not be in market with enough advertising to support. So I think we're trying to find the right the level of advertising. As it relates to some of the other things that we've alluded to, we're not all the way there yet on being ready to commit to where CapEx is going to land go forward. I think what we said on the call between the two sides of the portfolio for the 2024 season, we're going to be spending between $400,000,000 to $440,000,000 The number was a little bit closer to $500,000,000 that was in the proxy.

Speaker 3

I think there's still some more work to be done as I said in my prepared remarks on the call around determining what's the right landing spot for CapEx going forward. And then in terms of OpEx, we are going to invest in some more asset OpEx to the system. Quite frankly, on both sides of the portfolio, I think it's fair to say as we think about building out the season pass program and look to drive higher levels of demand on the SiX side there's a compelling reason to add operating days back into the system. So that's something that we're still working through. Those changes incremental operating days aren't going to happen overnight, but rather will be phased in along with other initiatives and capital programs.

Speaker 3

And we certainly would expect that there would be attendance and revenue growth that comes along with that.

Speaker 7

Great. Best of luck. Thank you. Thanks.

Speaker 1

Great. Thanks, Matthew. And our next question comes from the line of Michael Swartz with Truist Securities. Michael, please go ahead.

Speaker 9

Yes. Hey, good morning guys. I know that you it's pretty early in the season pass sales process

Speaker 4

with some of your parks, But

Speaker 9

I think you had mentioned that a handful you've already rolled out 25 season pass programs. Can you give us a sense of maybe where pricing is coming in relative to the year prior? I know it's a limited sample size, but any color that you can provide would be great.

Speaker 3

Yes. It is Mike, it's Brian. It is very early. And it's really on the cedar side, well on the combined portfolio quite frankly, it's maybe only 4 or 5 parks that are in market. I would say out the chute, there's no parks in the system that are seeing the kind of reduction in pricing that we felt was necessary last year on the legacy Cedar side.

Speaker 3

I also think it's fair to say given the economic headwinds that as I look back on the legacy Cedar side and there was a period of time there from right outside the pandemic where we were pushing pricing really aggressively. I think high single digit, low double digit increases, I think that's probably not a realistic expectation. But I do think it's fair to believe that something in the low single digits is achievable as we look ahead to 25. But there's still we have to get more parks into market before we begin to see how that's all playing out. A lot of times, Mike, it comes down to the mix of past products.

Speaker 3

Are people buying prestige? Are they buying gold? Are they buying regular? So that's often what drives it as well as which parks are selling right now. Not all passes are priced the same.

Speaker 3

And so when some of our higher priced parks are leading the charge in terms of volume, that can play into it as well.

Speaker 4

Mike, one more thing. As Brian said, we're very early in the process. I'll give you an early snapshot though. As you know, last year we reformatted and offered the Allpark Passport across the Cedar portfolio where we have been on sale with the All Park Passport which is right now only Cedar Parks are about to go on sale with the 6 Flags parks as well. We're up in penetration in every market that we're offering that product.

Speaker 4

So I'm really encouraged that the guest is paying attention and they see great value in the Allpark Passport.

Speaker 9

Okay. That's helpful. Maybe sticking on a similar thread, just in terms of visitation frequency, I know prior to the pandemic, there were about 4 to 5 visits a year on average for season pass. Maybe give us a sense of where that's trending now at the legacy Cedar Fair parks and I believe you said that it's about 50% of that level for Legacy 6. Just trying to get a better handle of maybe what the opportunity is there

Speaker 3

longer term? Yes, Mike. The average visitation on the Cedar side still sits a little north of 4 visits. As Richard mentioned, that number might have been closer to 5 or a little north of 5 back when we were only selling a couple of 1,000,000 passes a year. But as you grow that pass space, that's pushed that average down to closer to 4 times or a little north of 4 times per pass, but still holding strong.

Speaker 3

We haven't seen that really move since we established this new base. And I think when you compare it to as we said in the prepared remarks, the legacy 6 parks, there's a lot of opportunity there. They'd be closer to 2 times on the average visitation. And I think when you start applying those incremental visits another turn or 2 turns to that pass base, that active pass base in the 6 portfolio, it gets pretty compelling pretty quickly.

Speaker 9

That's helpful. Just a real quick housekeeping question. With regards to the July, the 5 week commentary that you provided, does that reflect the fact that there were 2 fewer weekend operating days versus the year ago period?

Speaker 3

No. So the way when we're talking about that 5 week period, it's not a calendar July, it's a fiscal July. And so it starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday. So July 1 through August 4. And so we should be capturing comparable numbers of weekend days based on it being a fiscal 5 week period.

Speaker 7

Okay, great.

Speaker 10

Thank you.

Speaker 4

No problem.

Speaker 1

All right. Thanks, Mike. And our next question comes from the line of Ben Chaikin with Mizuho. Ben, please go ahead.

Speaker 7

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Flow through in the quarter was 77%, which is really impressive on a reported basis. I think you also provided some comparable results, which suggested you converted $14,000,000 of revenue into $18,000,000 of EBITDA. If that's correct, would you agree this is the operating day reduction compressing revenue over less cost?

Speaker 7

And then at legacy fund, can you legacy Cedar Fair, can you continue this elevated high flow through or is there something you need to flag comparability or otherwise? Thanks.

Speaker 3

Hey, Ben, it's Brian. No, it's a great insight. I think a big part of that flow through is being driven by a more efficient operating calendar. As we said to drive attendance north of 360,000 more visits on 33 less operating days on a comparable 3 month to 3 month period is a big part of that. Not the entirety, Mike, because there's also cost that the teams have done a very good job of getting costs out of the system even on apples to apples operating day comparisons.

Speaker 3

We're running more efficient on seasonal labor. Sand, the days that we've taken out, even on days that we are open, we're being more efficient with hours, we're being more efficient in full time headcount. So I think what you're seeing play out. At some point, it will normalize. I'm not going to promise that we're going to do more north of 100% flow through every quarter.

Speaker 3

But I think it does speak to as we've said all along, the path towards better margin, long term margin expansion isn't just cost, it's demand and getting those higher attendance levels is a big part of it.

Speaker 7

Got you. That's very helpful. And then just to level set, are you still considering reducing operating days at Legacy Cedar Fair by 112 for the full year. And I guess I if it's directionally is in that range, I guess I ask, because that would suggest that 3Q high level would be around down around 10% on an operating day basis, at least directionally, which obviously would have an impact on attendance. I just want to ask you that and flag that.

Speaker 7

Thanks.

Speaker 3

Yes. So the outlook for full year Cedars, it hasn't really changed. I mean, as you know, there's always a day here, a day there that is weather related like we just talked about in July where utility disruption in Michigan's venture cost you some days. But still the broader 5% reduction and I think your number is pretty close. Where it ultimately lands for the full year will depend on some of those other unanticipated type events, but about a 5% reduction.

Speaker 3

I think what you're noting is and worth calling out for everyone is that some of that Q3 operating day reduction is tied back to the fiscal quarter shift, right? And so fact of the matter is by ending Q2 2024 on June 30 versus 2025, we've pulled days into Q2 that would have been in Q3 last year. So that's going to be a bit of a headwind in the Q3 in terms of comparability just like it was a bit of a tailwind this year. And so similarly, I think when we get to Q3 numbers, we're going to have to think about again providing a little bit more of an apples to apples calendar comparison. But on a reported basis that's going to be a bit of

Speaker 7

a headwind on 3rd quarter numbers. Then last one, sorry to do 3, just very quickly. There was a lot of conversation around the legacy, Six Flags business. As you think about balancing per caps versus volume, do you do this, on a park by park basis just so you can kind of tweak it and then move in the portfolio or what's the thought process? Thanks.

Speaker 4

Yes. Our approach has always been Ben that we look at each market individually. We go through great lengths to understand how the consumer behaves there. So yes, all of our strategies and all of our tactics are always tailored to each respective park because each park is at a different point in their evolution. There's different opportunities available to us.

Speaker 4

And we want to make sure that while one size fits all strategically is great, we want to make sure that we are optimizing each particular park over time and they're all starting at different levels of penetration.

Speaker 7

Thank you very much. Nice quarter.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Ben. And our next question comes from the line of Chris Woronka from Deutsche Bank. Chris, please go ahead. Hey,

Speaker 10

good morning, guys. Appreciate all the details so far. I had a question on kind of the season pass strategy. And this is more of a I think it's more of a combined company question than Legacy 6. But is there any effort to create some kind of incremental ancillary attachment to the to some of the past products?

Speaker 10

Kind of what I'm getting at is securing a commitment for more than just admission, right? And I think at the 6 parks, you did mention you're you not only like to get pass holders in there more often, but get them spending differently. So is there any way to kind of incentivize that or create that attachment upfront? Is that part of the plan? Thanks.

Speaker 4

Thanks, Chris. Good question. I think one of the things that we've always talked about over the last few years is the importance of what we call the all season add ons, all season dining, all the all season beverage, all season fast lane or flash pass. I think there's an opportunity to continue to bundle to create more value for our guests when they come. We've seen significant uplift in sales on both sides.

Speaker 4

On single day tickets where we bundle with entitlements, a single day ticket plus a flat plus a fast lane. But when you look at the opportunity and I'll go back to the legacy Cedar, we've increased the penetration in our all season products virtually in a straight line since we introduced all season dining, I think back in 2015. So it's a program that has a lot of value. And the reason that's important, we talk about renewal. We've seen significantly higher renewal rates within the legacy Cedar portfolio from those season pass holders who add and purchase the All Season add on.

Speaker 4

So they see a lot of value in it. They use it and they renew at

Speaker 2

a higher rate. So I

Speaker 4

think that's an important point. Thanks for asking that question.

Speaker 10

Yes. Thanks, Richard. As a follow-up, I'll shift over a little bit to CapEx. And I know some of this is still in flux and it will change. So not only if anything, but I think legacy 6, right, I mean, there was always kind of this focus on a new attraction for a year.

Speaker 10

Some of the CapEx maybe got skipped over on certain maintenance related items. So as you think about the combined company going forward and what you've done in the legacy Cedar portfolio, I know I've seen you've done nice big sit down restaurants and you have more of a hotel strategy. Are those some of the components you might look to bring over to 6 on the cat? Whatever the total dollar number ends up being, is that is the goal to take some of those same kind of projects and bring them to 6? Or do you think the parks are too different, the demographics are too different, we're not going to do anything larger like that?

Speaker 10

Can you guys your CapEx has been way beyond just the parks, right? It's been the hotels and the sports arena and everything else.

Speaker 4

Good question. Let me take that one. I think there's tremendous opportunity as we said. I think we're going to look at where the projects are that we can get the most benefit from. But Chris, let me be clear, when I walk through the legacy Cedar Fair parks, I see things that I'd like to change, things I think we should get to sooner.

Speaker 4

So I think both all of our portfolio has things that if we improve, our guests will see value in it. I think what we're trying to do is make sure we bring the learnings of what has impacted the best. Listen, some of our early generation food facilities that we built, we kept modifying year by year. So we're now on our 4th or 5th generation of how we now construct those things. So we've got an opportunity to go in and take advantage of the latest generation of those types of things.

Speaker 4

But listen, as I said in my prepared remarks, attractive landscaping, high quality food and beverage, those sorts of things resonate with mom and dad in particular. And I think we're going to go in and try and make sure that we're creating more perceived value. We're going to do a lot of consumer research as we've always been committed to, to make sure that our CapEx is targeted, as Brian said in his remarks, on things that drive an ROI, that drive more transactions per hour. And on that topic, and it's a CapEx question, but let me go to per capita. As we've driven our per capita, particularly in park spending, true in park with food and beverage, things like that, we've gotten about 3 quarters of our per capita increase over the last several years has been transactions, not pricing.

Speaker 4

So it's important that we do make those investments to drive that revenue because that is how we've unlocked the higher per capita over time. And I think that opportunity exists on both sides of the portfolio, maybe a little bit greater on one side than the other. But as I look forward, I think there's still lots of runway on the legacy Cedar side to continue to do those things as well as the opportunity to see the impact on the legacy Six Flags side.

Speaker 10

Okay. I appreciate all the perspective, Richard. Thanks.

Speaker 11

Thanks, Chris. Thanks, Chris.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Chris. And our last question today comes from the line of Ian Zaffino with Oppenheimer. Ian, please go ahead.

Speaker 11

Hi, great. Thank you very much. I know you guys mentioned that the $10,000,000 bump up in the legacy Six Flags attendance. But the previous management team pointed to about $3,000,000 of those being, I guess, non paying. So how does that kind of factor into it?

Speaker 11

And then also, you get to a capacity issue on the most crowded days when you get there? Again, that was kind of another comment the previous management team said about the parks maybe being just too crowded at those levels. Thanks.

Speaker 4

Ian, I would say it this way. Comfortably crowded is the term that we use. I think we can drive attendance to a level and anytime we see a lot of demand, we price into it. And that's the essence of dynamic pricing. 1st drive the demand then monetize that demand tap that demand to optimize your attendance versus pricing.

Speaker 4

I will say the best example and it exists in both portfolios and we're going to see this this October, Fright Fest on the 6 Flags side, Halloween Haunt, Not Scary Farm, Scarowinds at all of our Halloween events on the legacy Cedar. We drive tremendous volume. Our biggest days of the year are on Saturdays in October, which by the way 15 or 20 years ago I never would have guessed. So I'm going to tell you how the business has evolved. But I think there's an opportunity to get paying customers to come when you provide them with what they desire, when you listen to what they tell you, we get them to come out.

Speaker 4

And when you really lean into the events that drive urgency because they're only there for a limited duration. So I think we've got all the levers to use. We're not going to get it exactly right in all 4 seasons of the year and the calendar quarter every year. But I think we've got all the levers to drive that demand. But our priority is attendance and revenue growth.

Speaker 4

And if we do this right, I think we're going to be very pleased with the revenue that's attached to that much higher attendance level.

Speaker 8

Okay. Thank you.

Speaker 11

And then just one last question. I know of the cost synergies, I think you said about a third of those were independent pre merger or kind of self help on each individual company. Can you maybe tell us where we are in that bucket as far as recognizing those synergies? Thanks.

Speaker 3

Yes, Ian, it's Brian. So first, let me say, as Richard noted in his prepared remarks, we are still fully committed to realizing the totality of the synergies, particularly the cost synergies as quickly as possible, which we think can be accomplished over the next 12 to 18 months. As you just noted, a good portion of those were what we consider to be and characterized in the presentation as standalone operating efficiencies. There's still more work to be done over the second half of this year and it does tie back to my comment earlier about 2 thirds of the demand and 2 thirds of revenue, the associated revenue happens in the second half of the year. So as we've always said on the legacy Cedar side, 3rd and 4th quarters are where our opportunities to be most efficient and have the biggest impact on cost savings lies as well.

Speaker 3

But at the pace that we're going right now between the combined portfolios, we would believe that we should be in the neighborhood of $40,000,000 to $50,000,000 of those operational synergies having been realized by the end of 2024 based on trends through the first half of the year.

Speaker 11

Okay. Thank you very much.

Speaker 1

All right. Thank you, Ian. And that does conclude today's question and answer session. Thank you for all questions. I will now turn the call back over to Richard Zimmerman for final remarks.

Speaker 1

Richard?

Speaker 4

Thanks, Greg, and thanks to everybody for joining us on today's call. And thank you for your interest in the new Six Flags. As the summer winds down, our park teams will be transforming our midways into pumpkin patches and scare zones in preparation for our always popular Halloween events in October, which historically have produced our biggest days of the year. As I mentioned, also look for additional announcements in the coming weeks highlighting the new rides, slides and other attractions our parks will be introducing to the 2025 season. We promise to keep you apprised of our progress on these and other Six Flags initiatives as we move forward.

Speaker 4

Michael?

Speaker 2

Thanks, Richard. Feel free to contact our Investor Relations department at 419 627-2233. Our next earnings call will be in early November when for the first time we will discuss consolidated company results for the 2024 Q3. Greg, that concludes our call today. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Michael. And again, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

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Earnings Conference Call
Cedar Fair Q2 2024
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