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

Jason Hammond said:
Jeff, (though this may be a silly question) is this what you were talking about when you said Project 2007 wouldn't be Dick's legacy?

Kinzel has been running the company for 20+ years. To think that one purchase, or one construction project is his legacy is just ludicrous. His legacy is taking a two state park (Cedar Point) and turning it not only into a regional destination, but also turning the company (Cedar Fair) into a national amusement chain.

Gomez said:
CP.com home page has been toned down due to the high traffic. I found that kind of interesting.

I see that. Now there's no "Full Graphics Site", it's all low quality.

I disagree Jugga. I think the last 20 years (and more specifically the last 10 years) has all led up to this purchase and it is historic. Yes, they have bought a park here or a park there and they were meaninful.

But, Cedar Fair just pulled the trigger on a $1.2 billion dollar transaction by buying 5 parks from CBS. Other companies were bidding and CF won. That is significant and it shakes the core of the amusement industry...not just Cedar Fair.

I have had my disagreements with the Kinzel philosophy but I cannot disregard the lasting impact this will have.

However, if he hadn't made the right decisions over the last 20 years, they never would have made the purchase. I don't doubt that this is huge (it is, hell, I've been kinda giddy all day after hearing about it), but I think his legacy goes deeper than this one thing.

If he had managed Cedar Point/Fair like Six Flags this never would have happened.

If they hadn't built Magnum, would we have Millennium to ride?

If they hadn't smartly purchased the other properties, would they be in the position to buy the Paramount parks? I think its the smart purchasing, managing and growing of the 7 existing properties that put them in position to make this deal.

As a footnote: Legacy's aren't known until well after the fact. We won't know until 10 or 15 years down the road if this is truly a great thing.

*** Edited 5/22/2006 5:51:39 PM UTC by JuggaLotus***

Anyone catch that CNN Headline news gave the location of King's Island as outside Cleveland

I love the media... report.. then correct...

"All 12 miners are alive.....wait, I mean dead."

That must go down as one of the worst botched news reporting days ever.

a little OT, but with 3 parks in ohio now, and Cedar Point being the least accessable from a major airport... Do you think CF could profit from sponsoring Ohio park destination packages for people traveling considerable distances? They could even just do it a couple times a year... Have a week or 5 day package which includes transportation from the airport, admission to the parks, lodging at the park hotels, and transportation from one park to another. 2 days at CP, 1 day at GL, 2 days at KI? I think it would be a nice option for enthusiasts traveling considerable distances. CF could contract charter bus companies to transport the groups from one park to another... Just a zany idea...

EastAer said:
My only concern is all of the themeing that makes the Paramount parks so beautiful. With PKI for example, Tomb Raider is one of my favorite rides because of the themeing. And what about the brand new Nickelodeon Universe? That area is so heavily themed I can't imagine them tearing all that down already since it just opened this year. And what about Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion? I really hope that they also aquired licencing (sp?) rights to use some of the Paramount movie trademarks, along with the Nickelodeon stuff as well.

That is true. I asume if they don't get the rights they will rename alot of the rides and atractions and mabie even remove some of the ride themeing.

Just listening to some their answers on the press conference. They seem to be going with the idea of not really changing the parks at all.

This isn't like the other times CF has bought a park. These 5 parks have very strong roots right now and all CF isn't going to tear any of that away.

Whether they are going to make sweeping changes or not isn't going to be answered in a conference call. Those parks are operating now and the last thing they want to do is make those operating the parks feel any more threatened than they likley already feel.

There has to be some stability over the next several months. That said, I expect there will be organizational changes as would be the case if these were any other types of companies.

Jason Hammond said:
Jeff, (though this may be a silly question) is this what you were talking about when you said Project 2007 wouldn't be Dick's legacy?

Yep. I just didn't want to say too much in case I was wrong. I'll talk more about it on the next CB Podcast.

I'm in complete shock at the moment. I figured they might acquire a park or two, but I was no where near expecting the entire chain; I simply can't believe it. I hope it works out for them; I really don't want to see the chain heading the way Six Flags did when they began to acquire so many parks.

Exactly, a perfect example of becoming too large to keep the guests happy would be Toyota, their flagship vehicle is the 07 Camry and it had just been recalled due to a major transmission failure w/ the Highlander following suit due to an axel problem.

Companies become too large and begin taking things for granted that normally operate well. I can only hope they stay with keeping their rides in great condition and the lines moving.

Jeff,

The Sandusky Register online alludes to the idea that the Corporate Headquarters might be moved. That was just the headline and I couldn't read the story.

That didn't come up in the 11:00am call. Did you catch anything on that?

During the 1pm call the subject was brought up by Brandi, the Register reporter that covers CP a lot. They pretty much avoided the question, but did say that the lease that Paramount has on there headquarters in North Carolina, I beleve, is up in either Aug. or Sept.

Cedar Fair moving out of Ohio might have some IRS implications that I don't know anything about. That said, the history of Cedar Point has a lasting impact on many areas of the corporation and that would be a pretty significant change.

However, the Carolinas offer golf almost year round and Sandusky doesn't. Not that THAT would be a determining factor.

Rick Payerchin from the Morning Journal was the one who asked about the corporate HQ. They did say the lease on the Paramount Parks office in Charlotte was up later this summer and it would be something they would look at in the next couple of months.

My take was the Charlotte location was up in the air, not Sandusky.

I would guess that the corporate employees would be the first folks they would look at. There isn't a great need for two comptrollers, two PR Directors, etc. Some of those people might get offered jobs at CBS and I would bet those discussions commenced earlier today, if not prior to today.

If they move from being an Ohio based company, I'll go from from loving this deal to hateing it. I know I'm wierd, but I've always had state pride, and try to support companies in Ohio to at least some extent. All the same, I'm not too worried. Current Cedar Fair poperties outnumber the number of new ones, so I'd guess their current headquarters is probably at least as well prepared for the changes as one in North Carolina would be. Also, wouldn't it be strange to see Cedar Fair, suddenly with all 3 big Ohio parks move out of Ohio. I guess if they were mad enough at the city of Sandusky though, it might make a good threat.