How has Dick Kinzel been as a CEO?

I know many of us are still upset about what happened to Geauga Lake! I feel that he still could save the small area that the Dipper is on and maybe make a Castaway Bay II and make it much bigger than the original one. I mean it is sad that the east side has no indoor water parks and Sandusky has so many! He could make up some of the loses that happened with the Geauga Lake thing. As for Cedarpoint, I feel he is working hard to make it a clean, happy, safe park for everyone and he cares enough and most likely enjoys being in the park!

Who would actually visit a 'Castaway Bay II'? I know I sure as heck wouldn't. There's no place I'd like to spend a februrary weekend more than in Aurora, OH.. Oh wait, there's a lot of places I would rather be.

Not saying Sandusky is much better, but at least it's more 'resorty'

Don't know if this has been posted yet but . . . .http://www.iaapa.org/expos/attractions/ShowDaily08/wed/CandidKinzel.asp

1- “We are only as strong as the weakest person in the room,” Kinzel said. “You cannot reward mediocrity.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

5- Wear many hats. Kinzel said he keeps his full-time staff to aminimum and requires himself and his managers to juggle many differentresponsibilities as needed.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

#5 is a joke. If you are corporate (as DK is) he should have no hand in ANY of the day to day operations of a single park. None whatsoever. If he were the GM/president of a park still, then it would be ok. It is this mentality that is a problem. It would be like having Steve Jobs in the Magic Kingdom telling the ops how they should be running tea cups.

I thought rewarding mediocrity was one of the four cornerstones.

I don't have a problem with Dick (any CEO) in the park (or at their place of business) and pointing out things that need corrected. Walt Disney was notorious for that and how has the Disney empire turned out?

If Dick wants to pick up trash or point out a problem to a ride operator I think he has the right and the responsibility to do so. I am a leader of a municipal park system. You can bet I am in my parks regularly and I will approach employees anytime. And, if the City Manager or the Mayor are in the parks I would expect them to do the same thing.

But, Dick rewards LESS than mediocrity in his own family so just about anything else he does from here on out is nullified by that.

Dick Kinzel would make employees cry if they did something wrong. He's an old man that needs to gracefully step down while he still can.

Most bosses will make "kids" cry when they do something wrong. And certainly not intentionally. You are dealing with some young, immature kids who...these days...are rarely told "no" or corrected. I made some employees cry in my day but I certainly didn't have the intent to do that.

Dick is old...but that isn't why he needs to go. He needs to go because of poor decision making.

I think the time has come for Kinzel to move on. Though his record is outstanding, I agree with Jeff's earlier post that his ego has gotten in the way since 2000. Besides the GL fiasco, I think he made some poor decisions at CP. To me, spending $25 million on a maintenance nightmare for TTD was a horrible decision. It was done for one reason, to break the coaster record for good, with the whole Superman Magic Mountain/Millenium Force debate. The layout was of zero concern...only height and speed. Then, it only set the record for one season with Kinga Ka coming in the next year. $25 million could have been spent more wisely on variety to the masses. I'm not saying TTD is a bad ride...heck it's a major rush, but the cost to this day can not be justified.

Putting WIcked Twister in when, at the time, the same ride existed 90 minutes down the highway was a mistake as well. This is when the coaster wars got out of hand and Kinzel fell for it. Who really cares now what park has the most coasters...isn't it about quality?

On a good note, I think sound decisions were made with Max Air, Skyhawk and Maverick. But, I think CP is now paying for the GL fiasco with hand-me-down kiddie rides last year and nothing new this year. Meanwhile huge chunks of land are occupied by a wooden coaster everyone rips on, and an indoor coaster (on a beach???) that in reality is a warehouse. If I were CEO, I would address these two rides sitting on prime real estate. Visitors are not exactly lined up around the block to get on these two anymore.

I hate to defend the guy...but:

My kids loved Planet Snoopy. I didn't see anything wrong with that decision, particularly considering what occupied that space before.

I think Wicked Twister is a pretty good ride and certainly an excellent use of space. That whole are of the park is coming around...and will be excellent once they get rid of the aquatic stadium and Disaster Transport.

You can rip on Dragster all you want but LOTS of rides are one trick ponies. That is one HELL of a trick and people are still lining up for it. Now, would I have preferred a more "family" oriented ride? Yes...and I still do. But again, that was a pretty major addition to the park that used space pretty sparingly to make it happen.

There is no doubt the Geauga Lake "fiasco" was butchered. But, I don't think that park exists today weather or not Cedar Fair bought it. Premier/Six Flags did some significant damage and the loss of Sea World was really the end.

DICK KINZEL IS GOD! ENOUGH SAID!

Well...sometimes he might think he is...at least in terms of his skills as a CEO. As a Catholic, I doubt he believes he is actually God though.

lladnar said:
I thought rewarding mediocrity was one of the four cornerstones.

That must be why they went so far in the other direction and made it nearly impossible for anyone but a Zone Sup's favorite people to earn one no matter how hard other employees worked.

Kingda Ka opened 2 years after dragster.
How could anyone possibly know that dragster was going to have as many problems as it did? Kinzel has admitted that dragster was a bad investment.
Do you really care about planet snoopy or peanuts playground? Do you regularly play there now?

Chief Wahoo said:
Well...sometimes he might think he is...at least in terms of his skills as a CEO. As a Catholic, I doubt he believes he is actually God though.

I am Catholic too, but I still think he is a God.

My opinion on Dick is this, He has done a great job. He has turnedCedar Point in to what we love and admit it the park we compare everyother park to. Yes he had made bad business decisions. But he is notperfect. He is human. As for Geauga Lake. I have said time andtime again that I am really sad that its gone. I strongly think that when he bought GL he did not intend to close her. I blame Premear / Six Flags for that. They tryed to turn GL into CP over night. They had poor service and poor saftey issues. They killed GL not Dick.

net said:
...spending $25 million on a maintenance nightmare for TTD was a horrible decision. $25 million could have been spent more wisely on variety to the masses.

Amen. While the ride is a pretty cool experience, I bet the amount of downtime and upkeep is pretty ridiculous. Not to start into the "Don't tear down all the trees!" arguement, but the area TTD occupies was one of my favorite parts of CP. That coaster is an ego driven escapade.

Chief Wahoo said:
I don't have a problem with Dick (any CEO) in the park (or at their place of business) and pointing out things that need corrected. Walt Disney was notorious for that and how has the Disney empire turned out?

I agree, and wish a lot of other corporations' CEOs would do that and take in what really keeps the business rolling.

I don't. Do you know what kind of a pain in the ass it would be if I had Jeff Immelt (GE's CEO) looking over my shoulder thinking he knows how to do it better? If he's got that kind of time on his hands, he's being paid too much and doesn't have enough work to do.

maverick_owns said:
I am Catholic too, but I still think he is a God.

Why, because you met him? That's a pretty low standard.

I used to really look up to the guy. The company hasn't tanked exactly, but I have enough units of FUN to be annoyed that even the crappy markets started out-performing the units about three and a half years ago. Again, I think that largely comes out of thinking he could magically turn around GL and "trim the fat" on the Paramount Parks. Instead he pissed off the core of many of the new markets and lost countless well-qualified people (and by lost I mean canned or drove out).

I don't even care that he doesn't have the right answers, I care that he doesn't delegate authority to the people who do. That, to me is, the ultimate failure in leadership.

And that, folks, is Cedar Fair summed up in two sentences.