At Magic Mountain, the rides will go on

Pounding hammers and whining saws at Magic Mountain in Valencia signal a new roller coaster dubbed Terminator Salvation and other changes in the works for the summer tourist season.

But the noise and excitement about the park’s plans can’t completely muffle the bad news coming from New York-based parent company Six Flags Inc., which announced Thursday that its stock value had fallen so low that it was being delisted by the New York Stock Exchange. Trading was halted, with shares at 27 cents.

The company says that it plans to trade in the over-the-counter market and that the delisting would not affect its 20 parks across the country and in Mexico and Canada.

“This development will have zero impact on our park operations, the guest experience this summer or our vendor relationships,” Six Flags Chief Executive Mark Shapiro said in a statement.

At Magic Mountain on Thursday, executives showed no signs of worry as they bragged about the park’s latest improvements.

“To me, this is our time to shine,” said park President Jay Thomas, as he showed off new attractions at the 250-acre park. “Scaling back is not what’s in our DNA right now.”

Thomas and General Manager Tim Burkhart said the company spent more on Magic Mountain improvements in 2008 than in any recent year, but they declined to say by how much.

The new features include Thomas Town, an attraction based on the characters from the books and television show about Thomas the Tank Engine. Nearby, workers were putting the finishing touches on a new $1-million picnic area and cafeteria for family reunions and company meetings.

As spring-break crowds shuffled past, construction was also underway on a stage and arena for a stunt show that will open this summer, featuring skateboarders, BMX bike riders and motorcyclists.

Last year the park also added another increasingly popular amenity in today’s online world: An Internet cafe where visitors can check e-mail, news and stocks in between thrill rides.

“I’m very pleased where we are,” Thomas said.

Six Flags has retained financial and legal advisors to assist the company in restructuring its debt, primarily by issuing stock to its debt holders. In an interview this week, Shapiro said he was “cautiously optimistic” about resolving the debt problem by the end of the year. “Most of our debt holders are highly motivated for a deal,” he said.

Still, the company’s financial picture is cloudy. Six Flags reported a loss of $201 million for the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $127 million in the same period a year earlier. For the year, the company said it lost $113 million. Annual revenue was $1 billion, up from $971 million in 2007.

Shapiro made the move to Six Flags three years ago, after working for 12 years at ESPN as a programming and production executive. His goal, he said, has been to turn the ailing company around by upgrading the parks and broadening the demographics of the visitors by drawing in more families with younger children.

The Thomas Town attraction helps meet that goal, he said. Six Flags has long had a reputation as a playground for thrill-seeking teenagers.

Because theme parks rely on exciting new rides and attractions to drive attendance, Carl Winston, director of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program at San Diego State University, wonders whether the corporate debt problem would squeeze future capital needed to invest in new rides and attractions for the next few years.

“Lack of access to capital is a certain death knell for a theme park,” Winston said.

In recent years, Six Flags’ financial problems have sparked speculation that the corporation may consider selling Magic Mountain, which sits on a prime piece of real estate bordering Interstate 5 and is only 36 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

But Magic Mountain chief Thomas stressed that he was planning new exhibits for 2010 and 2011, to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. So far this year, he said, attendance is up over the same period in 2008, although he gave no specific figures.

Because of the recession, vacationers are likely to stay closer to home this year, which can benefit a theme park that borders a metropolis of nearly 24 million people, he said. “We are not blind to the fact that there are economic troubles out there.”

For the last 18 months, the park has been working on the Terminator Salvation coaster, an all-wood thrill ride that will rocket passengers as fast as 55 mph from a 100-foot peak. The ride is expected to debut on Memorial Day weekend, on the same day as the release of the movie of the same name.

Burkhart said the ride wouldn’t surpass other attractions with speed, drops or total ride time but would incorporate riders into the story like no other attraction.

He provided few details but said two actors from the movie would be featured in video clips that would be shown during the ride. He added that riders waiting in line would walk through tunnels and around props before getting on the ride.

“This,” he said, “is, by far, going to be the most elaborately themed ride in the park.”

--

hugo.martin@latimes.com