What would have been a better time for Kinzel to retire?

Here's a what-if topic. It goes without saying that Mr. Ouimet's regime is doing things with CP and the other Cedar Fair parks that would arguably have never have happened under the previous administration, and of course that's a good thing considering how well Cedar Fair has been doing as of late and how that looks to be a continuing trend.

That being said, I'm trying to remember when exactly it was when opinion on here and in the coaster fandom in general really started to sour on Dick Kinzel. I feel like for the longest time we were blinded by the Coaster Wars until it tapered off after Dragster, and it started to seem like that was still all Kinzel was interested in focusing on.

If anything I think the combination of the Paramount acquisition (which admittedly turned out quite well in hindsight), the closure of Geauga Lake, and the perceived genericization of the chain (automated ride spiels that didn't sync with the ride at all, the dumb Paramount replacement names, all the rest of the CF parks switching to derivatives of the CP logo, etc) were the start of the calls for him to retire and the entire fiasco with Apollo Management sealed the deal.

I want to say there was a point somewhere where Kinzel was about to retire but changed his mind at the last minute, but my memory is hazy. That all being said, for all of his innovations with record breaking rides and bringing CP to prominence, Kinzel's reign is still now just as remembered for neglecting the historical aspects of the park, micromanaging the park to a ludicrously absurd level, neglecting the non-CP parks in the chain, and probably plenty of other grievances I'm forgetting.

The only time I can think of where he could have potentially stepped down without tarnishing his reputation too much would've been either right after the Paramount acquisition or right after Dragster. I know at the time many people were talking about the Paramount parks being Kinzel's swan song, but if anything his micromanaging tendencies ensured he stuck around to see the transition rather than handing over the reigns.

Again, obviously this is all what-if and retrospective speculation, but it's still interesting to ponder.

I think the time for Kinzel to retire would have been before the Paramount acquisition. But, in hindsight, it was good that he hung on as that made the timing right to get Oiumet. That was the best thing to happen to Cedar Fair and far, far better than if Falfas would have taken over, as it was speculated at the time of Kinsel's original retirement announcement.

I think we were starting to get skeptical for a number of years prior to his departure. The results had a theme no one was crazy about... "attendance is down slightly while per capita spending is slightly up." We all knew that wasn't sustainable. Had he retired when he originally said he would, I suspect that would have been good, but to Pete's point, Ouimet becoming available when he did, combined with the Falfas firing/quitting (whichever way it went in reality), definitely had a better outcome.

When Kinzel wanted to sell out to Apollo, with the unit price in the crapper, I think most people had fully turned on him at that point. Those were not good days. I thought for sure the sale would happen, and I sold my units at $7. Still slightly annoyed with that with the price approaching $60 now. Mind you, I rolled money into other stuff like my 401k at the time, but it still sucks.

That Crazy Dan said:

...the other Cedar Fair parks that would arguably have never have happened under the previous administration...

You could have easily dropped the "arguably" here, I think. The direction Ouimet is leading the company seems to be a very good direction to go.

I agree with Pete. At the time, before the Paramount acquisition. But in hindsight, exactly when he did.

I can't complain too much about the Paramount replacement names. As when CF acquired Geauga Lake, they didn't have a lot of time to develop new names for existing attractions.