Matt Ouimet

Where exactly was Dick Kinzel's house?

I've seen Tony throughout the park numerous times and even John Hildebrant when he was GM. I'm not sure if I seen Jason yet.

I think Kinzel's house was that nice brick one next to the main parking lot.

I've met him a couple of times. It's great that the leader of a multi-million dollar company interacts with the guests. On media day, my daughter and I were chatting with him. Mentioning we were at KI a few weeks back, he asked how we enjoyed Banshee. My daughter told him it's the love child of GateKeeper and Raptor.

If I recall correctly, one of Matt's first orders of business was Luminosity and removing the Wildcat. That was unpopular at the time, but probably the best decision. Wildcat was a carnival-like ride and probably not best suited for CP. (That's why I wouldn't be surprised if the Kiddie Kingdom rides are ultimately removed.)

Chief Wahoo said:
He was a pain in the ass...but he wasn't a bad guy.

My opinion is not as kind, based on one first-hand story, and a lot of gossip. It's not worth talking in public about though... he's history now and we can focus on the present.

I would hope kiddie kingdom doesn't get removed. Sure Planet Snoopy and Camp Snoopy have some similar rides but the jr. dodgem and the extra carrousel are both very popular. If Kiddie Kingdom is removed I'd like to see those two rides kept.

Oh, he had bad guy moments to be sure...as have most of us. I just don't think he was all bad. I saw examples of things I thought were out of line but I have yet to have a boss who didn't display those tendencies from time to time.

I think Kinzel's biggest fault was in surrounding himself with people who would not disagree with him. When he did have those people in his sphere it obviously didn't go wrong.

My experience is that when you think you are the smartest man/woman in the room...you likely are not.

To play some Monday morning quarterbacking, where does everyone think the park would be at today without the Paramount acquisition?

If I recall correctly, Geauga Lake was starting to invest in the park with some success. Even though Kinzel bought at the worst time possible - pre-Great Recession - and went out with Windseeker and Dinosaurs Alive, Geauga Lake was taken out as a competitor and the other Cedar Fair parks got rides to fluff up their inventories.

Geauga Lake was not a competitor. It was an over-built and expensive to run park that started to lose its place in the market long before Cedar Fair ever got its hands on it.

Six Flags destroyed GL by making it into a mega park.

The demise of Geauga Lake was not brought about by Cedar Fair purcashing it. The end for Geauga Lake came when Cedar Fair paid $2 billion for the Paramount Parks. It is that easy.

As a Cedar Fair unitholder I will say that was a precarious time but even though my heart and my history was with Geauga Lake, I'm glad they have the aresenal of Paramount Parks.

Sometimes you have to get rid of Michael Beasley to acquire James, Wade and Bosh.

I'm taking my talents to South Beach.

cedardorney said:
To play some Monday morning quarterbacking, where does everyone think the park would be at today without the Paramount acquisition?

An interesting question. I don't follow the business details extensively, but it seems like Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland have gotten the most attention in terms of capital investments since the acquisition. Without those parks, it's hard to say where Cedar Fair would have chosen to make investments in order to try to grow financially.

Having parks in those growing markets (Toronto and Charlotte), as well as Kinzel's love for Kings Island all seem to have contributed to the high price paid.