Cedar Fair threatens Santa Clara over 49ers deal

Say what you will about Kinzel, but he's really a great CEO and gets the job done.

^Laughable statement!!

I do luv him for the stuff he's built and treasure my pic with him more than my Megan Fox, Eva Longoria, and Simon Baker pics combined!!

That said, CF could be run so much better. Although, his stubbornness has helped deal with Santa Clara, no question.

I think he's been a terrible CEO ever since the Geauga Lake acquisition. This particular instance has nothing to do with his ability to lead, it's just lawyers doing their job to make sure contracts are enforced. His lack of experience outside of the "mom and pop" (as he likes to say) amusement park operation when the company was small is materially hurting the company. He has a one-size-fits-all mentality to everything, and it shows when he tries to force Cedar Point practices on every other park.

Geez... those are some good points, Jeff. Maybe I should retract my statement.

You're free to think he's awesome, I just won't agree with you. :)

Maybe I'll go half-in-half with you. I'll think he's awesome for some things, and not for others.

You're definitely right on the money about him implementing Cedar Point-style practices at the other parks, though... which works well for some, worse for others.

I know that "defiantly" was probably a typo, but it still makes sense, and is actuially kind of funny.

I'm going to agree with Jeff on this one. There is a lot to complain about when it comes to Kinzel.

EDIT - My spelling sucks!

Jeff said:
He has a one-size-fits-all mentality to everything, and it shows when he tries to force Cedar Point practices on every other park.

This applies more to Jack Falfas more than it does Kinzel himself. It petrifies me to think what things will be like when Falfas becomes CEO. This is my biggest problem with Kinzel; he promotes people based more on loyalty than on merit and qualification.

I completely agree with the above post, as Falfas was the acting GM of Cedar Point a few times over the previous two seasons, but I'll leave it at that.

As for the Great America issue, I was under the impression that this was a park that Cedar Fair would actually like to get rid of. Would this threaten the previous considered amount or what they were hoping to get so much that this matters? That's kind of what I pull away from the article reading between the lines based upon previous statements, articles, etc.

I'm sure they want to get rid of it, and I suspect they view this as a potential out, but if not, then they need to lookout for themselves, certainly. It doesn't sound like this would be good for the park in any way. Ten weekend days with a football game alone would be bad news for a business that lives on weekends, and I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to try and get to the park on one of those days. Then throw in concerts and whatever else they have planned, and I think there's real potential to harm an already crappy business.

That, and if they have the lease, they have the lease.

Of course I would completely forget the situation of them keeping the park. Oh well, my mind is a one lane alley by this time. :)

I'm not entirely clear on the matter, but wasn't the parking lot dual-purpose, serving both the park and the stadium? I seem to remember that being the case (similar to how it was in Houston), but am not 100% sure. Should the stadium be built there, would any new lots created on the site of the old stadium be available for use, or has that not been hashed out yet? Like I said, I'm not really too familiar and up to speed on this particular issue, so forgive me if I'm covering old ground.

The old stadium is not in the same area at all. It's actually in a different town.

As a side note, what would it do to property values? Would their property taxes go up on a business that is struggling where it is currently?

All of this makes you wish Marriott still ran the show.

Why? What difference would that make?

Because when Marriott had the park, they owned the land it sat on.

The city has always owned the parking lot.

They did? That is kind of a crappy deal.