Cedar Fair the new company to hate?

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eightdotthree said:
They ignore that Apple makes a great product.

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My bf just bought a Ipod Touch and I'm absolutely seething in side. For right now I'm happy with my older 30gb so I have absolutely no justification for buying one for myself but it's sitting right next to me and I just want to like...reach out and stroke it. Like I yearn for it. Mmmm gadget lust.

Hopman +1.

One evil empire has toppled and the Neros of the world are still fiddling away. CF is the next 'evilest' in line. I'll be in line with Hopman enjoying my days on the midway.
*** Edited 4/4/2008 4:10:53 PM UTC by Soggy***

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matt. said:
I would say the whole post reeks of link-bait but the tone of it is pretty confusing.

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That's the polite term, I suppose. I call it attention whoring. There's a lot of that in the coaster enthusiast community. Plenty of micro-celebritards.

I think John has it right though regarding the failure, and unfortunately there will always be a group of people who will feel there's some deeper and evil intent, but there's no reasoning with them. I still think the biggest failure was buying the park at all.

I have two iPods, an iPhone, Apple TV, MacBook Pro and Mac Pro. I don't hate Cedar Fair.

As the whole Chuck-n-Charmland thing demonstrated, there's a serious aversion to change, augmented by a non-universal yet rigid definition of what a good park is. For some reason big paved midways are bad, even though they're intended to accommodate big summer crowds. Even when Cedar Fair plants trees, which they've done quite a bit at the open field known as Michigan's Adventure, they can't win.

I view Cedar Fair this way: They've built a hell of a lot of great rides over the years, and that's a good thing. Of the pre-PP properties, I've been to Cedar Point, Dorney, Valleyfair and Michigan's Adventure, and I think they're all sweet parks. The only Paramount property I've been to since was Kings Island, and I noticed no appreciable difference aside from ridiculous food and beverage pricing.

Cedar Fair isn't perfect, but they're far from ruining parks.

I agree with this article totally. They seem to be the new company that everyone hates. People love Magic Mountain now, but they hate Cedar Fair for GL, and the ride names just like that person said. Who cares about ipods, or whatever?

On this site, people were talking about this before in many topics, and now everyone is like no we don't hate Cedar Fair anymore. What the heck?

The "haters" just aren't commenting.

By the way, I think it's pretty fantastic that we're following democratic practices before we pursue a mob mentality. Absolutely brilliant. *** Edited 4/4/2008 6:04:46 PM UTC by coasterMNguy...***

Okay, I'll bite.

I can't say I hate Cedar Fair as much as I hate some of the things they do, especially of late. The closing of Geauga Lake and the way it was handled? Yeah, that seriously rubbed me the wrong way. I don't have to like it from a business point-of-view because I'm allowed to hate it from an enthusiast point-of-view.

There are other things, like the homogenization of the former Paramount parks with bland signage and ride names. The ridiculous prices. The long lines. The wide, concrete midways lacking character and intimacy. Of course there's plenty to dislike, loathe, hate... whatever you want to call it.

I'm not sure if people speak out because it's cool and trendy to speak out. Maybe some people pick sides but I think the majority of the critics are just being critical because the decisions being made are ones they don't agree with. I fail to see a problem with that. As an enthusiast and, more importantly a customer, I don't have to like what the company does. I have a right to complain. So does everyone else.

Perhaps Cedar Fair gets saddled with the most critcism because they're now high-profile- considerably more high-profile that Six Flags, which wasn't always the case. The company acquired the Paramount parks. They closed a historic park. They still invest in big rides. People know who they are, and if they don't, they at least know of one or two of their parks. Step into the spotlight and people will always have something to say.

*** Edited 4/4/2008 6:09:05 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***

For crips's sake!!! Are we all but a bunch of sheep, hating what's the trendy thing to hate and wishing things could like they were "back in the day?"

Cry me a river, build me a bridge, get over and go RIDE!!!

I don't want to turn this into an argument, but "intimacy" is the last thing in an amusement park midway.

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Spinout said:
People love Magic Mountain now, but they hate Cedar Fair for GL, and the ride names just like that person said.

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Please point me to some recent Magic Mountain love threads. I feel I must have missed them.

-Nate

^^ You do know there is more than one definition for the word intimate, right?

^What are you intimating, Rob?

Sorry, it's Friday, and I could NOT resist... :)

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Rob Ascough said:
There are other things, like the homogenization of the former Paramount parks with bland signage and ride names. The ridiculous prices. The long lines. The wide, concrete midways lacking character and intimacy.

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Which Paramount Parks did they do that in, exactly? I'm on board with the stupid name changes, but I don't recall the concrete wasteland upgrades. Come to think of it, no one ever has a good example of that in the old parks either except at Dorney, where at closing time you should be glad they're there.

I do, which definition do you mean?

I could relate to this one I suppose.

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2. characterized by or involving warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association or feeling: an intimate greeting.

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I get that feeling from Cedar Point because I have been going there since I was a child.

Wait, so the park has a history? A place in people's hearts? That's not influenced by concrete?

I don't know if anyone else has posted this, but one thing I truly appreciate about Cedar Fair parks is that none of the parks need to have some identical prefix. It's not Cedar Fair Kings Dominion, as it might have been Six Flags Kings Dominion or as it was Paramount's Kings Dominion. It's Kings Dominion. I really appreciate that. There's no need to impress upon everyone the association of the park to a single company. Just come in and enjoy the park - it's Kings Dominion.

I just wish CF would see the difference between an amusement park and a theme park better. The thing that annoys me the most at this point is standardization (i.e. park logos).

Jeff, who said people can dislike the parks only because of what they've done in recent years? The complaints of "concrete wastelands" have existed for years, so it's possible some people have always had an issue with the parks because of that.

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eightdotthree said:
I do, which definition do you mean?

I could relate to this one I suppose.

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2. characterized by or involving warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association or feeling: an intimate greeting.

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If you went to dictionary.com, I'm surprised #4 didn't seem to be appropriate, or perhaps #9?

*** Edited 4/4/2008 7:38:24 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***

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There are other things, like the homogenization of the former Paramount parks with bland signage and ride names.

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In order to be homogenized, they would have to be different first. You're honestly saying that you dont feel that paramount "homogenized" its parks?

And further more, what is wrong with homogenization anyway? Name one company....just one...that doesnt homogenize its products. Oh wait...you can't, can you.

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The ridiculous prices.

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Compared to what? There have been countless threads discussing prices, but when you consider the cost of admission in relation to the cost of the food, etc., it's ridiculous? Again, you dont give an example.

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The long lines.

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Are you serious? You're complaining about long lines? Then go to a zoo. Disney does not have long lines? A Six Flags park does not have long lines? If Cedar Fair parks have long lines, that's a GOOD sign.

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The wide, concrete midways lacking character and intimacy.

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So Im guessing by this you prefer narrow dirt paths in your amusement parks?

Sounds like your personality is better suited for a metropark, rather than an amusement park.

^^ Sure, those definitions would be appropriate for some parks. If your at Cedar Point and you want an intimate walk, you can take a stroll along the beach.

I think this whole discussion comes into play because some people are looking for the atmosphere and intimacy to be spoon fed to them.

As is the case of Disney, Universal or Busch that works just fine. In the case of most Six Flags parks it usually doesn't. Then there is Knoebels, Indiana Beach and Kennywood where its by default or accidental.
*** Edited 4/4/2008 7:50:31 PM UTC by eightdotthree***