corporate run vs family

I really like the trend of family parks investing in CCI woodies lately.  They're just wonderful coasters, much more affordable than the steel big-boys being built at all the corporate parks.  And they add an aesthetic quality you just don't get from steel.  The family parks just keep getting prettier....and more fun.

.....case in point: Silverwood

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mmmmmmmmm.....coasters

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BrandonR said:
Cedar Fair family? Bwahahahahaha!! I love SixFlags, nothing they do is ever wrong. I don't care about names or clones, I care about coasters.

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Nothing they do is ever wrong?  What are you on? 

I do not think you can make a general statement here. There are some good and some bad in both. Corporate parks that I have experienced that have been good were BGT, SWOrlando, IOA, and Dorney Park. I will throw Kennywood (traditional feel, but no longer a family run park) and Herhseypark (not a 'chain' park, but corporate none the less) into that. Of the true "family" run parks I have been to... I will put Knoebels and Dutch Wonderland (though now bought by Hershey) in the good ones.

A poor park (in terms of up keep and the like) that is family is Williamsgrove. The only park that I have ever been to that I truely disliked has been Six Flags America, a corporate park.

I think you have to look at this one case at a time and not make a blanket statement.

One thing... Coasting Ohio said "Counting Cedar Fair as family". Oooooookay. Let me get this straight... you say that Family parks are the best, and since you have made that comment, you will consider your favorite corporate park chain as "Family" just to include it in the "best" category?

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 10/18/2001. ***

Does Holiday World still have the free soft drinks?.

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Déjà vu kicks all forms of butt!!!!

Honestly, now, which category do you put Holiday World in? After all, in spite of so many protestations to the contrary, Holiday World is a "corporate" park. Granted, the Koch Development Corporation is pretty closely held by the Koch family, but it is still very much a corporate theme park...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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SLFAKE said:
...Kennywood (traditional feel, but no longer a family run park)...

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Huh?  Someone better tell Harry Henninger, Bill Henninger, Bob Henninger, Rob Henninger, Mike Henninger...etc.

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"Reality" is the only word in the language which should always be used in quotes.

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slithernoggin said:
...but they very size of the operation means many of the employees are strangers to one anther. Small family parks allow employees to truly be a team, ..

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not true, the crew I work on at SFGA, is very friendly to each other..we get to know each other before we even start working.  Everyone cares for each other, as if we were a 'coaster' family.  We all have the same interests.  Its cool.

IMO most parks aren't even comparable to parks like Universal, Busch Gardens, and Disney.

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Montu, God Of Coasters

Raging Bull, Don't Fight It, Ride It

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Lynch said:
"After going to Kennywood for years and losing my Knoebel's virginity on Tuesday, I think I'd have to say family.

Cedar Point is probably the best mix between the two. Great corporation-calibur rides, but it still feels like a family park.

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Matt Lynch
Co-Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com"

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I'm with Lynch on this one. First, Kennywood has the greatest atmosphere and charm that any park could have. It defines charm in an amusment park, though I want to visit Holiday World as well.
Second, Cedar Point does feel like a family park, with the budget of a corporation. Thats what I like about Cedar Point is its selection of QUALITY coasters, and its frienliness.
I think Knotts fits in this category as family owned still. Cedar Fair is as close as you can get to being family owned! Plus you get new rides more often!!
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Montezooma's Revenge Count: 34
Ghostrides: 22

Working both at a family park (Lagoon) and Corp (Cedar Point) I would say Corp produces SOME better rides (Power Tower falling very short of it's shorter sister ride The Rocket, Rocket having a more powerful launch) but so far I would trust my safety in Lagoon by far.
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- http://www.lagoonpark.com

In my experience, it's not the size of the park or who owns it, it's how they run it. I'd consider Cedar Point just as much a "family" park as I would Holiday World, the difference being the massive scale.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

Well then, I have no "idea" what you all mean by family. Cedar Point to me felt no different than Six Flags Great America or Paramount's Kings Island. Maybe because you all have personal relationships with some of the workers it feels more at home to you. But Cedar Point came off as cold and mechanical as other big time parks.

Now, the two "corporate backed" park that really had a 'caring' aura about them to me were HersheyPark and Busch Gardens Tampa (save the old fart working on Gwazi). Those parks have big bucks, but they seem to really care about the details (e.g. the ride ops will actually take time to assist you).

Then of course there's always DisneyLand, who rapes you for every dollar, but somehow, I never feel bad about it....
jeremy
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Hey Chitown, please close this topic and kick both of them off the furoms (sic). 2Hostyl and Jack Daniels No 7 do not belong in these forums at all. Plus 2Hostyl seems to have a problem to complaine (sic) alot and get into it with others. - IL_MForce_Junk

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ALF is cool said:
"

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slithernoggin said:
...but they very size of the operation means many of the employees are strangers to one anther. Small family parks allow employees to truly be a team, ..

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not true, the crew I work on at SFGA, is very friendly to each other..we get to know each other before we even start working"

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Well, that kind of proves what I was saying. You know your crew well, but do you know people who work in other areas, or in corporate capacities? When I worked at Cedar Point, I was close to the people I worked with, but wouldn't have recognized a corporate big shot unless they were wearing a name tag; my mother, in her time at Michigan's Adventure, knew everyone from people running games to the family that owned the park. One of the charms of smaller family parks is the way the employees all know each other, regardless of position.

2Hostyl couldn't have said it better. I love HW, but they dont have as much rides as corporate parks do. I love a family parks vibe, but i also love a corporate parks vibe.(maybe it's just me) and after all, corporate parks have much morea attractions. I would rather be at SFGAm, which i love the vibe over there, than any other place on earth.

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-Defender of Shockwave

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Jeff said:
In my experience, it's not the size of the park or who owns it, it's how they run it. -----------------
Amen to that one, Jeff, and someday (not too far off I hope), I'll have ALL Six Flags parks running in as clean and friendly an atmosphere as any family park...save for those folks at HW, they are downright unbelievable...Hey Paula!
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rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you

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kpjb said:
"

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SLFAKE said:
...Kennywood (traditional feel, but no longer a family run park)...

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Huh?  Someone better tell Harry Henninger, Bill Henninger, Bob Henninger, Rob Henninger, Mike Henninger...etc.
"

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I guess we are getting into a problem of deffinitions here...

I classified Kennywood as a "Corporate" for two simple reasons... Idlewild and Lake Compounce... and three simple words... "Kennywood Entertainment Company". Perhaps a family run "Corporation", but a "Corporation" non the less.

I guess it is a problem of the deffinitions of the following:

Corporate, Family, Chain, Traditional, Theme, etc etc etc.

Some parks fit into more than one category.

As someone said... it is how a park is run, not what type it is that is really important. As I mentioned, in my opinion...

Family parks: Knoebels (Good), Williamsgrove (poor)
Corporate: Hershey (good), SFA (Terrible)
Chain: Busch Gardens Tampa (good) SFA again (still Terrible!)

As stated, there are some Corporate parks out there that have a "Family" feel (i.e. they actually care about your experience and have friendly and competent workers)... locally Hersheypark and Dorney Park come to mind. However, while they may have a "Family" feel, these are corporate parks. CP keeps coming up in the arguments, same as KBF. I have never been to either of these, but they (like Dorney) are Cedar Fair owned parks. They are a chain just as Six Flags and Busch. However, from what I have read and from what I have personally experienced at Dorney, they may be owned by the same chain, BUT in their day to day management they seem to have a bit more autonomy. All of them were in existance before inclusion into Cedar Fair. They started as "family" parks and, even after their inclusion into the chain, they have maintained some of their "personality" and "atmosphere" from before, however. While being corporate parks and part of a chain, they have not lost their earlier idenity... they do not seem to be carbon copies of other parks in the chain.

Chain and Corporate do not autmatically equal BAD. How a park is run makes all the difference in the world.

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"Resistance is Futile. You will be assimilated," mantra of Star Trek's Borg and also Six Flags.

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 10/22/2001. ***