News: CEDAR FAIR, L.P. TO ACQUIRE PARAMOUNT PARKS

http://www.pointbuzz.com/news.htm?id=914

WOW. I don't know if this is good, or if it means MA is going to slide further down the list. This looks to be good though, and adds a bit more value to my MA pass.

AWESOME! My entire life, I've been visiting both Cedar Point and Kings Island. CP has always been my favorite spot on the planet but Kings Island has always been a strong second.

Now, Cedar Fair, PLEASE offer a season pass good for all parks in Ohio.

Ohio = The Rollercoaster State owed by Cedar Fair!

Woo Hoo!

Mike, Columbus, Ohio

When will my CP pass work at PKI?

When will my PKI pass work at CP?

If any cross-pass honoring happens this season I now have double the pass. Does that mean double the fun?

I look forward to using my pass at KI (supposing they still call it that)

I think Cedar Fair will do just fine with the parks, and hopefully they'll have more than three weeks to change everything like they did with geauga lake.

Except that KI is already in pretty good shape. So the change over shouldn't affect things that much. I'm more interested in the licensing aspect. If CP is also getting use of the Paramount properties, or if they are going to have to re-theme a lot of things.

Wow. Good move to grow the company!

MrScott

Hopefully they won't change much, at PKI at least. Don't fix what isn't broken. Sure there are things that aren't up to "Cedar Fair Standards", but for a park that draws as well as PKI does, there probably isn't much you can do. I just hope they keep the Paramount licensing.

I'm sure this season's CF passes won't work at any of the Paramount Parks. The deal won't even close until the third quarter, so that could be September.

WOW. I know that there are many differences, but I really hope that Cedar Fair is not overextending themselves like Six Flags did. Cedar Fair did buy five really good parks from as far as I can tell, which is unlike Six Flags. Hopefully Cedar Fair doesn't take the "let's throw a bunch of money into these parks and build a bunch of new rides" approach. It didn't work for Six Flags, it won't work for Cedar Fair.

I'm really hoping my season pass will work at PKI, though. I know it won't this year, but next year!

I'm excited, yet nervous about this decision, but I know Cedar Fair already had a lot on their plate. That plate just became a buffet....

This will be very interesting to watch as it pans out...

With Mr. Kinzel retiring at the end of next year, I'm wondering about the heir apparent. I don't know much about Jack Falfas, but I do know that his job just got a lot more difficult!

Jeff Y.

Cedar Fair didn't just pick up 5 properties, they picked up 5 SOLID properties including Canada's Wonderland which was the most attended seasonal park in North America last year. I agree with you on on your hope that CF isn't overextending themselves. This is a huge investment and a huge growth opportunity for the company.

Getting the parks up to "Cedar Fair Standards" should be a walk in the park compared to getting MiA, Dorney Park, and even GL up to par. I'm sad to see the Paramount parks going and I hope that Cedar Fair can continue improving the guest experience that Paramount offered.

As I said over at CB:

Kinzel went out with a bang.

~Rob Willi

EDIT: Opps that didn't sound right.
*** Edited 5/22/2006 1:52:06 PM UTC by HeyIsntThatRob?***

As I said on CB... I spoke with some people at the "home office" this morning (actually they called me ragging on me for not having the news up fast enough), and you shouldn't count on any inter-chain season pass sharing this year.

Also, while none of it is final, at least some of the licensing agreements will be in place for the foreseeable future, since they were just established when CBS split off of Viacom. Spongebob will be around for awhile.

It will take some time for the dust to settle and things to become clearer, but I was hoping they would go through with this. And like those above, I hope my CP pass will work at PKI. We love both parks.

Especially now that Son of Beast has been refurbished...

The future is bright for thrill seekers who have been disheartened the past decade by PKI. I remember as a kid (early 80's) when KI was THE place for cutting edge rides...Vortex...King Cobra...

Cant wait to look in that crystal ball. :)

So, are we going to see a special edition podcast for this, or is it just going to dominate next weeks podcast?

Does this mean that all 5 paramount parks will have to lose the first part which is paramount? I'd hate to go to Kings Island and just see it called Kings Island. I like the paramount name. Other then that I like the aquisition. Kevinj I grew up on Kings Island before I started going to Cedar Point a lot. All of our family trips were at Paramounts Kings Island. The Beast will always be my favorite wooden coaster, that the wooden coaster I first rode when I was learning to ride rollercoasters.

Just looked at a PKI forum... sounds like most people are pretty excited, except for people concerned about the upkeep of the wood coasters. Trim brakes on the first drop of SOB? Oh well.. It can't get much worse... I hear even with the overhaul, its still quite rough

A lot of questions will be answered during the conference calls, I'm sure.

Josh M. said:
except for people concerned about the upkeep of the wood coasters.

That's a valid concern. Although, I'd be more concerned about first drop trims on Beast before I worry about SOB.