Contacts
Info
An insider’s take on the theme park and themed entertainment industry trends, Green Tagged Covers the Top Theme Park News from each week. From theme parks to zoos and aquariums...
show more
An insider’s take on the theme park and themed entertainment industry trends, Green Tagged Covers the Top Theme Park News from each week. From theme parks to zoos and aquariums to haunted houses, we scour the world for what you need to know. We may not have all the answers, but we ask the right questions. Subscribe to PRO content on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
show less
Episodes & Posts
Episodes
Posts
Transcribed
13 APR 2026 · Disney is laying off 1,000 employees across film, streaming, and marketing as it continues to shed costs and reorient itself. This comes against the backdrop of two major digital plays failing: OpenAI killed the Disney/Sora partnership and Epic Games (which Disney invested $1.5B into) laid off 20% of its workforce after a 25% slump in Fortnite players. It's clear where Disney's moat lies, as its experiences posted $10 billion in quarterly revenue and 6% growth. In a parallel story, Meow Wolf is betting that it can extend its IP beyond its physical experiences. Also this week, Disney filed a patent for a weather system that would use biometric data and park sensors to adjust your itinerary in real time. https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged.
Transcribed
5 APR 2026 · Six Flags appointed Richard Haddrill as executive chairman of the board, replacing Marilyn Spiegel (who stays on as lead independent director). Haddrill comes from the gaming industry — he was CEO of Bally Technologies and executive vice chairman at Scientific Games. The move continues the board refresh that Jana Partners demanded, and it puts more pressure on CEO John Reilly to deliver results now that the "board is in the way" excuse is gone. Merlin Entertainments reported its 2025 annual results: attendance down 6.2% in North America, total visitors down 2.3 million globally, and revenue dropping 2.8%. North America was the weakest market across all of Merlin's brands, while Asia-Pacific saw strong growth driven by Legoland resorts in Japan and Shanghai. And in Mexico, the Supreme Court ordered Xcaret to stop using Maya cultural elements in its parks, hotels, and advertising — a ruling based on a 2024 constitutional reform recognizing indigenous communities' collective IP rights over their cultural heritage. https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
Transcribed
31 MAR 2026 · We just got back from TransWorld's Halloween & Attractions Show in St. Louis, a show any attraction with a Halloween or Christmas event should attend. This week, we discuss the growing trend of immersive booth experiences, the robotic pig that won Best New Product, rising insurance costs hitting independent haunts, the record-breaking OSCARES ceremony, and why it all matters for professionals. Listen to weekly bonus episodes https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged.
Transcribed
23 MAR 2026 · Jana Partners sent a letter to the Six Flags board pushing the company to explore a sale and replace board chair Marilyn Spiegel — just one week after the Travis Kelce brand ambassador announcement. We break down what Jana actually wants, why the timeline doesn't add up, and what this means for CEO John Reilly's turnaround plan.
Then: Sesame Workshop filed a federal lawsuit against United Parks to terminate their licensing agreement. United Parks stopped paying royalties in September 2025, took over a year to pay a court-ordered $11.4 million judgment, and is still operating Sesame-branded parks and attractions. We dig into the pattern, the contract questions, and what happens to the parks if Sesame walks.
Transcribed
14 MAR 2026 · Six Flags has officially named Travis Kelce as a brand ambassador. Kelce, who joined investor group Jana Partners when they acquired a 9% stake in the company last October, will provide marketing support across Six Flags' portfolio of parks — including digital content on his own social media platforms and the use of his name, image, and likeness in broadcast, streaming, and in-park marketing.
We also tackle what listeners have been asking us about for weeks: the impact of the Middle East situation on tourism and the attractions industry. IAAPA has canceled its Middle East expo, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and the inflationary ripple effects of higher oil prices could squeeze discretionary spending. Scott and Philip disagree on whether that helps or hurts regional parks like Six Flags, and we talk through what parallel planning actually looks like for operators right now.
Plus, Disney Experiences announces its post-D'Amaro leadership team: Thomas Mazloum as chairman, Jill Estorino to Disneyland Resort, Tasia Filippatos to Parks International, and Lisa Baldzicki to Consumer Products.
For the full conversation and our deeper takes, https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged.
Transcribed
9 MAR 2026 · Six Flags is selling seven of its parks to EPR Properties for $331 million in cash.
Back in January, we flagged a series of trademark applications from an Orlando-based LLC called Enchanted Parks Holdings and connected those filings to the parks now being sold. This week, it became official. EPR is buying the real estate, Enchanted Parks is stepping in as the management company for six of the properties, and Kieran Burke — Six Flags' CEO before the company's 2009 bankruptcy — is picking up La Ronde through his own company. Full circle.
We break down the deal structure, what the 7.3x EBITDA multiple tells you about the buyer pool, why Six Flags called $331 million only "slightly beneficial" to its leverage ratio, and whether EPR and Enchanted Parks just became a new competitor in the regional park space.
Also this week: San Fransokyo Street aboard the Disney Adventure, Royal Caribbean's smart glasses policy, and more.
Listen to bonus episodes on our Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
Transcribed
2 MAR 2026 · United Parks & Resorts reported fiscal 2025 results this week; Revenue, attendance, net income, EBITDA were all down. "Our fiscal 2025 results did not meet our expectations. While the consumer environment was uneven and our results were impacted by negative international tourism trends and volatile weather during certain peak visitation periods, we should have delivered better results, particularly on the cost side of the income statement," CEO Marc Swanson said during the earnings call. The earnings call, however, spent relatively little time on what went wrong in the parks. Instead, the company debuted a supplemental investor presentation focused on the value of its real estate, the replacement cost of its assets, and why the stock is undervalued. The company has spent $247 million on stock buybacks over the past 14 months, while cutting expansion CapEx nearly in half.
https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
Transcribed
23 FEB 2026 · Six Flags posted Q4 2025 results this week. Modified EBITDA margin fell from 33.2% to 27.1%. Attendance dropped 13%, with roughly 425,000 of those lost visits tied directly to cutting winter holiday events at four parks — a decision the company now calls a self-inflicted headwind. New CEO John Reilly is two months into the job and was candid about not yet having a full plan. He's toured 14 parks, collected over 300 employee proposals, and shared examples from his listening tour: increasing ride uptime and throughput, placing executive chefs in parks, and buying equipment the chain has been renting at a loss for years. All good ideas. All things that probably should have been happening already. What the examples reveal is a deeper structural problem with how information and decisions have flowed across 26 parks — and whether the merger made that worse. Reilly deserves time. But the margin, the debt, and the parks that barely contribute to EBITDA aren't going to wait forever. https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
Transcribed
16 FEB 2026 · Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 9 after a $116 million wrongful death judgment. The park generates up to $16 million a year and is operationally healthy, but a judge's "felonious killing" ruling removed Colorado's damages cap, turning what would have been a $1.2 million verdict into one that's seven times the park's annual revenue. We break down what happened on the ride, why the training failures matter, and what this means for insurance costs across the industry. Plus, we respond to your comments on last week's discussion of the Six Flags pass restructuring.
https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
Transcribed
8 FEB 2026 · Six Flags is rolling out a simplified season pass structure. Silver passes grant access to a single park. Gold passes now cover all parks within a regional tier: East, Midwest, Texas, or West. Prestige passes unlock the entire North American chain. Existing gold passholders who added the All Park upgrade are automatically bumped to Prestige, and for a limited time, gold passes are available at the silver price at select parks. Is this simply a turnstile play? Or is it a hedge to keep customers when they close future parks? Disney's Experiences segment posted $10 billion in quarterly revenue with 6% growth, carrying a company where Entertainment lost 35% of its income and Sports dropped 23%. Disney credited its newest cruise ships for the growth but flagged international visitation headwinds at domestic parks. Against that backdrop, Josh D'Amaro replaces Bob Iger as CEO on March 18, becoming the first person in the top job who has actually run a theme park. The Wall Street Journal framed the succession as a contest for Disney's soul between real-world and on-screen entertainment. With the parks propping up the rest of the company, D'Amaro's promotion raises a question worth watching: is this good for the guest experience, or just good for the balance sheet? https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
An insider’s take on the theme park and themed entertainment industry trends, Green Tagged Covers the Top Theme Park News from each week. From theme parks to zoos and aquariums...
show more
An insider’s take on the theme park and themed entertainment industry trends, Green Tagged Covers the Top Theme Park News from each week. From theme parks to zoos and aquariums to haunted houses, we scour the world for what you need to know. We may not have all the answers, but we ask the right questions. Subscribe to PRO content on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GreenTagged
show less
Information
| Author | Haunted Attractions Network |
| Organization | Haunted Attractions Network |
| Categories | News Commentary , Entertainment News , Leisure |
| Website | greentaggedshow.com |
| hernandez.philip@gmail.com |
Copyright 2026 - Spreaker Inc. an iHeartMedia Company
