Buy stock in amusement parks?

Does anyone know if stock is available to purchase from the amusement park industry?

Cedar Fair and 6flags

-------------
SFMM here I come!!July 30

Paramount-- buy VIA (Viacom)
Disney-- buy DIS
Six Flags-- buy PKS
Cedar Fair-- buy FUN
Busch Gardens-- buy BUD

*** This post was edited by Camel@Work on 7/26/2001. ***

I've wondered about this -- with no stock market experience whatsoever, how would you go about buying stock, and how much money would you have to spend to make it worthwhile (dividends not like $0)?

-------------
Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/index.html

Viacom, Disney, and Anheuser Busch all own amusement parks, though the parks are a fairly small portion of the overall business. Six Flags (which I believe still trades under the Premier Parks symbol?) and Cedar Fair are the two "pure plays" in the industry-- amusement parks being the only business they are in.

CrystalKat, check out sharebuilder.com. They deduct a set amount (say, $50) from your checking account each month and use it to buy stock in the company or companies you designate. If you bought stock yourself, you would have to buy whole shares of stock. An advantage to Sharebuilder.com is that they will sell you percentages of a stock. Example, if you tell them to take $50 monthly, and Cedar Fair stock is trading at $75, the first month you would own 2/3 of a share of Cedar Fair stock. It's not quite as simple as that but that's the general idea. It would take awhile to build up substantial holdings, of course, but "the experts" always say stock holdings should be a long term investment.

I guess Hershey (HSY) too, if they own the park, which I assume they do.

The day Cedar Fair trades at $75 will be a happy day for me....but I don't expect it to happen soon. In Cedar Fair, you are a unit holder, not a share holder.

Amen to that! As Cedar Fair is a Limited Partnership you have a lot more paper work for taxes (and the stuff always comes in mid-March.) I do like my tax-free quarterly distributions however.

I own about 10 shares of PKS. it's ding alright.

-------------
"All the good bands are affiliated with Satan." -Bart Simpson

Thanks, slithernoggin, I'll look into that! :)
Next question: What is a "unit holder" versus a "shareholder"? Guys, believe me when I say I know not a thing, but I'm interested!

-------------
Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/index.html
*** This post was edited by CrystalKat on 7/26/2001. ***

---

CrystalKat said:
"I've wondered about this -- with no stock market experience whatsoever, how would you go about buying stock, and how much money would you have to spend to make it worthwhile (dividends not like $0)?"

---

I am generally of the opinion that any stock that pays reasonable dividends is worth while, but to see a big pay-off you need to invest big dollars. At one point I had about 1,800 shares of Cedar Fair, and it was paying out quite well.

FUN and PKS are the only two pure amusement players, the rest are diversified in other things.

-------------
Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"

Hershey Foods does not own Heysheypark. The park is owned by a seperate company which licenses, if you will, the use of the Hershey name and candies in the park.

From the Hershey park website:

Many people wonder how Hershey Entertainment & Resorts is related to the Hershey Foods Corporation, makers of Hershey chocolate products. When Milton Hershey offered stock in the Hershey Chocolate Corporation in 1927, he segregated the business of making chocolate from his other enterprises. These other businesses were placed under a new corporate umbrella as Hershey Estates, which eventually became Hershey Entertainment & Resorts. Prior to this, in 1909, he created a deed of trust establishing the Hershey Industrial School for orphan boys, since named the Milton Hershey School. The Hershey Trust, as trustee for the Milton Hershey School, owns Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company in its entirety and owns the majority of the voting stock of the Hershey Foods Corporation, a publicly held company, of which Hershey Chocolate is the largest division.

Today, the profits generated by these entities perpetuate the Hershey Trust, which in turn funds the school.







© Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company. All rights reserved.
HERSHEY, HERSHEYPARK, HERSHEY BEARS, HERSHEY WILDCATS and ZOOAMERICA are trademarks used under license. HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE WORLD and CHOCOLATE TOWN CAFE are trademarks used with permission of Hershey Foods Corporation.