Cedar Fair considers purchasing Paramount's Kings Island

First of all, shame on the morons complaining about the lack of a 2-for-1 ticket deal. The company doesn't owe you jack other than the quarterly distribution. Owning a $29 unit doesn't entitle you to anything more.

Second, shame on The Blade for not reporting on the real story here. That's HUGE.

Wow I'll repeat what I said over at PB:

I love Cedar Point and I love Kings Island.

I don't love the idea of Cedar Fair owning and operating Kings Island. Both parks are thrill parks but the guest experience is completely different in a way that the parks can distinguish themselves from each other.

Even though I don't like the idea of it, it's a pretty darn good buy and it's a great growth opportunity for Cedar Fair.

As far as the perks go to the shareholders, that is kind of crappy that they changed that for those who aren't season pass holders.

~Rob Willi

I'm shocked I tell ya.....SHOCKED!!!!!!!!!!

:-)

I find it interesting comparing the nature of this potential sale to the secrecy and surprise that surrounded the Geauga Lake deal.

Well, he could have spilled the beans to see what kind of reaction there would be in the market...or to divert attention away from what could be an even bigger story.

It's hard to tell. Though, I suspect that he wouldn't have said anything at all if there wasn't some type of positive movement.

And I suspect that there is a bigger story. Just a hunch, of course.

I would try to buy the whole chain if I were Cedar Fair. And this is exactly what I was suspecting you were hinting at in the "big event" to happen. If they buy the whole chain it would make sense to consider licensing to keep the Cedar Point and King's Island's brands differentiated in experience. That is just me. The Paramount Park chain is exactly what Cedar Fair needs. Not too small, not too big, maybe a bit pricey but overall I think it would be a great fit with Cedar Fair as long as they maintain licensing for the Paramount properties.

EDIT: Spelling*** This post was edited by beast7369 5/19/2006 10:29:04 AM ***

Closing Geauga?

Can you Ohio-area locals shed light on how folks around the state view the parks? Like, is Cedar Point a must-do annual trip, or Kings Island, or both? Do they primarily draw from the surrounding areas, or do they draw solidly from all over? I'm just curious about the different dynamics for each park and how *potentially* having the same owner could affect it. For instance, down here in San Antonio, most folks know about or have been to SFOT. But having SFFT here makes a trip up to Dallas unnecessary... folks see Six Flags as Six Flags. Why go there if there's one right here?

Of course, I imagine CP and PKI are very well-established in Ohio, so maybe those issues wouldn't come into play. I'm curious what you think.

Fingers crossed. Please turn PGA into CFGA. Please, please, please dismantle Grizzly and make it something great (http://www.coasterbuzz.com/rollercoasterphoto.htm?i=226).

"Please, please, please dismantle Grizzly and make it something great"

Because CF is always so proactive when they're sitting on a stinker of a woody.

http://www.rcdb.com/qs.htm?quicksearch=mean+streak

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I find it interesting comparing the nature of this potential sale to the secrecy and surprise that surrounded the Geauga Lake deal.

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It's never been a secret that the Paramount parks were for sale. I would imagine the secrecy surrounding the GL deal was in part because PKS didn't want it known (for whatever reason) that they were shopping the park.*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 5/19/2006 11:08:43 AM ***

I thought Cedarfair wanted to expand the territory ownership not that i would not love it if Cedarfair bought Kings Island i just thought they would buy all the Paramount Parks , but Kings Island would be great to own. I just have a feeling Cedarfair will annnounce in a few weeks they bought not only Kings Island but all the Paramount Parks.

I highly doubt they buy all Paramount parks.

I totally expect all licensing to VANISH if they do buy PKI.

They tossed Time Warner out the window and wouldn't pay for it at Geauga.

I do think if they retain any Licensing that Nickolodian be the one thing.

Chuck

Well there really is only a couple of truely themed rides in the park anyway that benefit from the theming.

Italian Job - easily changed to cop car chase generic theming

Tomb Raider - this one isnt so easy to alter the theming on

Flight of Fear - just change the name?

etc.

Flight of Fear is not themed to any Paramount movie. If it still had the Outer Limits phrase on it then yeah they'd have to change it. But it can just be kept as is now.

I wish they didn't have to change the Face/Off or Drop Zone names though. They're pretty original. I mean seriously, who would know they are movies unless they looked at the posters they put up on buildings next to them.;)

Flight of Fear lost it's 'Outer Limits' correlation years ago. There's no licensing issue there.

Tomb Raider and Italian Job would be EASY to alter to avoid paying for the rights. Same with Drop Zone and Face/Off.

The only rights that make sense to keep is Nickelodeon. Especially since Paramount just dropped a ton of money into getting rid of HB and creating Nick Universe.

Though I am not a fan of Nick stuff, I think CP would be foolish to dump the Nick theme unless Paramount asked for a rediculous amount of money. Kids seem to love it.

The Blade never misses anything ;-)

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They tossed Time Warner out the window and wouldn't pay for it at Geauga.

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I doubt they had any choice. There's likely an exclusivity clause for Six Flags.

They would also have to change the entire dark ride as well. I assume that the hanna barbera will not be included.