Posted Monday, February 14, 2005 8:13 PM | Contributed by Gemini
Cedar Fair, L.P. today announced several organizational changes within the Partnership, including the promotions of Jack Falfas to chief operating officer and Wayne Olcott to corporate vice president of accommodations. The Partnership also announced the upcoming retirement of Dan Keller, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point.
Good news - since I've found out who the guy is and the directions he's lead the park, I think it's a good thing he's out of there before CP really starts to hit a skid.
You think? How has VF been, in your opinion, under his watch?
Looking around the company, John Hildebrandt just got to Dorney, so I can't imagine him coming back. None of the other GM's I can think of have had a long tenure at the other parks either. Internally at CP, none of the VP's I can think of would be a good fit other than perhaps Olcott, and he's obviously in his new position.
Like I said on PB, I think there has been a negative culture change at the park under Keller's watch, so I'm not particularly down on this move. I think his replacement needs to be hands on and be a bit of a cheerleader that mingles out among the common folk. Miears did that, and even though people didn't always agree with him, he seemed to garner a lot more respect.
I think you've hit the nail right on the head. The new GM should be a person who is out there amongst the people. Like I said over at PB, I'm pretty sure the new GM is already at CP and, when you take your comment into consideration, won't exactly be "out of left field".
The more I think about it, the more I think that Monty Jasper would be a good candidate. As VP of maintenance and construction, he already has significant fiscal responsibility, and he obviously knows operations. He might not be as strong in marketing, foods and merchandise, but those areas are run by very capable people.
Jeff, I don't do a lot of hanging out with employees...but the ones that I speak to on occasion sang his praises.
On the plus side, he accomplished a lot with common-sense rule changes and fiscal control. Among the negatives: CS-MOA's loss during his watch, VF's brochure reading more and more like a legal document and the total ban of on-ride pics--tho it's hard to tell where his hand stops and corporate begins.
He didn't seem to be the biggest fan of the waterpark; while it appeared in the ads more often, the hours were subject to cuts without warning if they wanted to crank up the in-park spending.
My highest hopes for a successor? A plan to relocate WWC's 6 fiberglass slides to undeveloped land a la GL with a Koala Play area. Then a Tornado. Then a wavepool.
-'Playa *** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya 2/15/2005 10:39:51 AM ***
Change is rarely bad in such a well-run company, as there are many qualified people who will have a new passion for their jobs and bring in new Ideas. I do hate to hear all the negatives about Dan Keller, as he is one of the friendliest people I have ever met. With that said, I'm sure there is some truth to what is being said about him.
I can't remember a visit to Knotts where I didn't see Falfas in the park talking to employees, guests...heck, even picking up trash! He's a great guy IMHO....he'll be missed out here.
Moosh, you should apply as his new replacement. I'm sure the ads will be up on Monster soon. ;)*** This post was edited by janfrederick 2/15/2005 1:14:17 PM ***
What are you talking about? That's the most ridiculous and baseless opinion I've seen. They didn't buy the park to sell it, and the effort to turn it around is hardly something one guy came up with.
