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Cedar Fair presented for the first time on December 3rd at the 40th UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. Matt Ouimet with 18 total months service, and near his first anniversary as CEO, expressed his firm belief Cedar Fair would close the year with a third strong record setting season. Revenue guidance up 4% was confirmed, as was average guest per capita spending up 4%. Attendance flat, inline with previous year record attendance. Caution was suggested against focusing on simple attendance figures, rather the revenue generation per turn-style click was emphasized as the key metric. Revenue management practices from the cruise line, hotel, and broader amusement industry were identified and evaluated as valuable management tools. More season pass sales can result in less per capita income as incremental admissions are essentially discounted. However, season pass revenues are captured up front and are resilient to downward pressures affecting daily admissions, such as adverse weather conditions. Essentially strong revenue gains are being somewhat masked by the downward pressure of season pass sales which have the effect of discounting some marginal admissions. Given this reality, it is better news than it may appear at first glance, per capita spending was up a healthy 4%. The staycation was identified as a permanent fixture rather than a short term trend limited by the recent economic downturn. Ouimet spoke again of the "genetic vacation behavior" where by what you did as a youth on vacation will have influence over those activities you enjoy with your children on vacation. Ouimet identified positive amusement park visits as an experience worth repeating as an adult. The pipeline feeding such legacy family visits was judged superior. The importance of the Dinosaurs Alive attractions were explained as having the education component necessary to justify and capture the school market. The capital investment is low as it is a partnership in which the DA folks split the up-charge gate fees with Cedar Fair. The defining nature of large rides, such as the new Gatekeeper Coaster and Gold Striker Coaster, were highlighted along with the superior returns they earn both at the turn-style and in promotional value. The YouTube Gatekeeper video was reported to have generated over two million hits to date. Strategic investments in new rides, and corresponding editing out of old rides, was demonstrated by Gatekeeper at flagship park Cedar Point. The operating costs saved by removing two older rides provides 75% of the cost of operating the new coaster. Those rides had low ridership and high maintenance costs. Costs are thus limited, and controlled by new rides, while reducing the fixed base costs. Evening lighting and music will continue to receive management attention and expansion as they have the power to retain guests on park longer resulting in lucrative dinner sales while simultaneously improving the value perception by guests. Promotional activities will rely upon less discounting and more relationship building. Price integrity will be practiced and new pricing models, such as installment season pass purchases, will continue to be developed and nurtured. Dynamic pricing and advance purchase commitments will be the watchwords. Incremental customer acquisition will be guarded to assure pricing and revenue opportunities are maximized. "Late to party" revenue opportunities such as sponsorships, marketing partnerships (such as the recently announced Coke deal), front of line passes, dinosaurs, premium parking, premium Halloweekends mazes and haunts, and improved e-commerce options, are and will be expanded and exploited. Cedar Fair is committed to spending approximately 9% annually of revenues on marketable capital projects going forward. These investments are viewed as absolutely necessary to promote the value and desirability of the properties to guests. Wise deployment of this 9% capex budget will also have the benefit of trimming, containing, and/or reducing operating and fixed costs as new rides replace older rides. The projected 4% annual growth in revenues was identified as coming three quarters from pricing and new products, and one fourth from new attendance. Hotel refreshment is primarily driven by the desire to extend the stay by guests and capture the second and subsequent daily admissions as well as increased room revenues. Cedar Fair has little interest in developing additional resort hotel rooms at this time. Campgrounds and other niche products may see growth. Ouimet supports the development of outside hotel rooms around or adjacent to Cedar Fair properties but is not interested, at this time, in expanding Cedar Fair hotel room inventories. The sale of Soak City in San Diego was disclosed to have sold for "around $15 million." Proceeds will be devoted primarily to fund the hotel refreshment program. Soak City SD was not a primary growth asset and it made sense to redeploy the capital to the hotel refreshment program. Ouimet indicated the company did not have many other assets ripe for sale. Cedar Fair will continue to be managed to provide significant returns to unit-holders via a sustainable dividend. Management and the Board of Directors is committed to increasing the dividend as the earnings of the company increase. See this Conference Transcript for details and sourcing of information and brief quotes: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1042371-cedar-fair-l-p-s-ceo-presents-at-40th-annual-ubs-global-media-and-communications-conference-transcript Leland Wykoff

Here's a list of all of the options up to this point that were not used (i.e. the next poster chose the other option), along with the user who posted it in parentheses: Easy Kings Island skyline (TombRaiderFTW) The Beast sign (Mr. Christopher) Eiffel Tower (TheCrypt) Grand Carousel at night (TombRaiderFTW) Flight Deck (ohiocolts) Any of the Planet Snoopy gang (SonofBaconador) Anything pertinent to Adventure Express (TheCrypt) Invertigo boomerang (ohiocolts) Liberty Bell topiary (Mr. Christopher) Backlot Stunt Coaster train coming out of the billboard (MF2000CMH) Boo Blasters sign (Beastie1980) Hot Blooded (PKIDelirium) Halloween Haunt scareactor (standbyme) Shake, Rattle, & Roll orange cars (TOPGUN1993) Jukebox Diner (TOPGUN1993) Fireworks (KIfan73) Blue spaceship located inside Department 47's Fort Cooper (TOPGUN1993) Delirium (ohiocolts) Diamondback from KI&MVRR (PKIDelirium) Scrambler (PKIDelirium) Interior of Beast station (jcgoble3) Inside of Boo Blasters (TTD-120-420) Hard Viking Fury entrance sign (TOPGUN1993) Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown theming (TOPGUN1993) Delirium's storage lockers (standbyme) White Water Canyon turntable in action (jcgoble3) Backlot Stunt Coaster's fire effect (TOPGUN1993) Massacre Manor (TOPGUN1993) British Invasion (TOPGUN1993) PotatoWorks sign (BeastForever) Graveyard Shift (VortexBFForever) Photo from Flight of Fear tour (Hendrick) Park-approved photo inside Madame Fatale's (ohiocolts) Locomotive parked in front of the engine shed (SonofBaconador) Rivertown Arcade (TOPGUN1993) Pay-to-soak geyser stations on White Water Canyon (malem) Park-approved photo inside Mysteria (ohiocolts) Full boat on Congo Falls (PKIDelirium) Full moon somewhere in the park (Original) View of a Diamondback train from inside the last helix (SonofBaconador) Night shot of Zephyr (KIfan73) Coke Freestyle machine (jcgoble3) People in raft on White Water Canyon from train (KIfan73) Boomerang Bay items in Surfside Supplies in 2012 (BB1) Mysteria "this attraction opens at" sign (TombRaiderFTW) Inside Congo Falls's queue (KIfan73) KI&MVRR from the White Water Canyon exit path bridge (TombRaiderFTW) Green X-Flight paint showing on Firehawk (PKIDelirium) Zoom Flume from KI&MVRR (DBInternational) Festhaus stained-glass window (TOPGUN1993) Unspecified Wheels that help Viking Fury go to each side (kblanken) Bowling ball rolling game with the ball in winning position (kblanken) View of Firehawk from Dinosaurs Alive! (SonofBaconador) A few options that did not comply with the requirement to be current were excluded from the list. If you're having trouble coming up with options to attach to your own post, feel free to reuse some of these; it would be a shame to let these go to waste.

Because some people would pay for both the premium "paid" mazes/experiences and the Fright Lane passes. Thus, Cedar Fair would get even more income from these individuals. Sure, enthusiasts and people that post here may complain about such an offering, but if it proves to be a money maker for the company, then why not roll it out across more of their parks. This is my 10,000th post. Hard to believe that I have made that many posts. I haven`t been on much lately as I have been working two jobs (and close to 70 hours a week). Right now I`m on a brief reprieve as I do my civic duty and am on jury duty.

^

Hey Guys! Just wanted to let you guys know about a cool new thing on Google Earth. If you go to Kings Island and put the little "street view" character on a path in the park, you can act view it like a normal street view image and "walk around" the park. It's pretty neato as the pictures are very high quality and they seem to be quite recently taken. I first noticed this feature with amusement parks when i was looking at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and tried it out. Just today I've looked and seen that Kings Island, Cedar Point, Michigan's Adventure, Dorney Park, California's Wonderland, World's of Fun, and Canada's Wonderland (which were taken during the beginning construction of Leviathan). And thats just the Cedar Fair parks. I think its prettty cool and think you guys should go check it out! Hope ya like it, DBI

This is actually the 30th year that the Cincinnati Zoo is hosting the Festival of Lights. It first began in 1982. I plan on going with my girlfriend in a couple of weeks. While not as widely acclaimed as the Columbus Zoo, the Cincinnati Zoo has been investing a lot of money in upgrading their facilities over the years. It is vastly different than even when I visited on field trips for school in the mid 1990s. Its been a while since I`ve been on here. Two jobs going on and I`ve been working close to 70 hour work weeks since mid-October, leaves little time to get on here.

Finally have one! Hard: the Italian Job sticker on Back Lot's control panel Easy: Inside of Boo Blasters

My head hurts. I thought Original had the floor. jcgoble3 was only trying to give ideas to those whose turn it was, not laying down 67 or whatever challenges all at once.

They did, CP has had one for years.

A year round restaurant…why didn't they think of that before?

You should make one a day, these are priceless, great job and great humor added!

Knott's Berry Farm featured a Scare Zone Maze requiring reservations and an up-charge fee. This first time trial was successful and Ouimet reported it more than payed for itself in the first year. The CEO stated "So we think there [are] other opportunities around the Halloween program, as [an] example." This fits within the model of providing services and product tailored to the benefit oriented consumer. The requirement of holding a reservation to access the up-charge Maze is in essence a Fast Lane Pass to Haunt. It allows customers seeking a premium experience to better manage time on park. These revelations further drive home the point: managements realization people standing in line are not spending money. It will be interesting to see if Cedar Fair will adopt some more extreme adult versions of haunts. Read a review of such an activity in New York here: http://www.blackouthh.com/reviews

http://www.flickr.com/photos/original2/7875069756/'> Heck yeah I got one! Option 1: Delirium Option 2:Viking Fury sign

Hard: Festhaus Stain-glass Window Easy: Blue Ice Cream (not the building)

Easy: Planet Snoopy from top of Eiffel Tower Hard: Zoom Flume from KI&MV Railroad

^ Festival of Lights. And a delight it is, too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcgoble3/6976934580/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcgoble3/7123027975/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcgoble3/6490243487/'> (Last one taken while walking the tracks at the 2011 GOCC Holiday Party/Winter Tour) Hard: Park-approved photo from an area off-limits to the general public Easy: Interior of Beast station

Easy: Drop Tower Hard: FOF during launch

I guess I'll just continue with my post to keep things going smoothly for the Terp and the rest..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/original2/7875072794/'> Easy: Eiffel Tower Hard: Grand Carousel at night (my profile picture has that, ha)

Chrome or Firefox are almost always better options for browsing than Internet Explorer. I work in IT at my University and IE 6, 7, 8, and 9 are my worst enemies. No matter which browser you use, clearing your cache is likely to fix missing images and broken richtext editor buttons. I posted instructions for all major browsers, including mobile, in reply #13. Switching to another browser would have the same effect, but you don't need to. (I have plenty of dislike for IE too. I'd prefer that everyone use Firefox, but all major browsers are pretty good with web standards nowadays. It comes down to privacy, performance, and choice of features/add-ons.) I sent him a PM the other day with the information I found about the mobile site problem, but it looks like he hasn't got it yet. Until it's fixed, you can do the workaround as long as your browser supports viewing the page's HTML source.

Put a Pinks hotdog restaurant in the KI parking lot and Merry Christmas to me!

Ask and thou shalt receive Hard: walkway towards Soak City (Wooden pannels with Australian animals area) Easy: koi in the Oktoberfest lake

^^^^^ Thanks for that great summary! Did they start doing this this year at CP or something? (I've never been to Halloweekends.) I really dislike the idea of upcharge haunts... Hope this isn't the new trend. Or are they talking about the fact that Haunt isn't included with the standard pass? Their upcharge Haunt this season intended for mature audiences only. It was intended as a more "extreme" Haunt, with greater interaction between scaractors and guests. This severely limits capacity, so groups had to reserve a time for a cost of $60/group. For information on what that was like, there are plenty of reviews: http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/trapped-374964-maze-room.html I'd be excited to see such an attraction at KI's Haunt. There are a lot of things they could do with this that just aren't possible in a standard, high-capacity Haunt, such as actors touching guests or being asked to eat something disgusting. Assuming you can get into a group of 6, $10 per person isn't bad.

for what its worth, the area around the zoo has dramatically improved in recent years. Even so, I don't know that I've heard of too many instances where Zoo goers have been adversely harassed by others in that area. I'm sure it happens, but definitely not of epidemic proportions. Ive driven through the area by myself with no issues and my wife has taken our 3 & 7 year olds to the zoo by themselves before without me. no, its not the best area of town, I don't know that I'd recommend get out for a stroll down the street, but seems decently OK to drive through.

Replying on my phone, don't know how to quote from other posts. There are some trade offs between ki and the Columbus zoo. We went last year and for the most part the animals were an after thought once the Sun went down. Granted, there are some indoor attractions, but ki has indoor options too.

Get there long before dusk, if possible, to 1) Beat the crowds in the gate (once you're through the turnstiles the crowds disperse pretty well, and 2) Get a chance to see the animals before they go to their night houses. Can't miss: Hank, the largest elephant in North America, the new Polar Frontier (including the underwater viewing), and the Amur tiger cubs.

The preshow makes it clear that you are going inside the computer / digital testing that new cars undergo. Basically, instead of building physical cars and testing them, you ride a SIM car into the digital test circuit. It's much more themeatically appropriate for the EPCOT Center vision, as well as Futureworld, than TT1 was.

Diamondback media day Easy: International Street Bandstand Hard: Green X-Flight paint showing on Firehawk

Easy: Scrambler Hard: WWC from train

Hard: KI&MVRR from the WWC exit path bridge Easy: the International Showplace

hard: inside congo's queue easy: night shot of fountains

Anyone else realizing what things you've never taken a picture of at KI thanks to this thread? Hard: the Mysteria "this attraction opens at" sign Easy: the Kings Island Theatre (outside or inside)

Rides would be my first choice! Wait...

So true, so many ways. You deserve a cookie, not just any cookie, but a cookie that says KIC, with your name on it, given to you by KIC.

Did you try the complex workaround I posted in reply #20? Doing this got me out of mobile mode, after I stuck myself in it while testing.

^ That one gave me a genuine LOL!

I just tested this by switching to the mobile version on my desktop computer. The "full version" button fails to work, and clearing both cache and cookies didn't switch it back either. According to the IPB bug tracker, fixing this requires the site owner to submit a ticket to IPB support: http://community.invisionpower.com/resources/bugs.html/_/ip-board/cannot-switch-to-full-version-from-mobile-r36558 For what it's worth, here's the way-too-complex workaround I figured out to fix it: 1. Go to the forum community homepage 2. View the page source 3. Search for the line containing 'base_url' 4. Make a note of the URL, starting with http:// and ending with a random alphanumeric string. 5. Search for the line containing 'secure_hash' 6. Make a note of the hash, consisting of another random alphanumeric string 7. Concatenate the following three strings (A, B, C): A) the URL from step 4 Β) this exactly: app=core&module=ajax&section=skin&do=change&skinId=1&secure_key= C) the string from step 6 8. Visit the URL that is the combination of all 3 strings. You should have the full version back. EDIT: Β) was apparently a smiley. Fixed it. I understand that doing this from your iOS device could be tricky, but at least you can get it working on your desktop until a real fix happens.

Super bump.

this season was fun! Can't wait for next year!

In Memory of LilSammy. March 5th, 2009 - March 5th, 2009

Major bump. Seriously. Big one.

All the previous posts on this page remind me of sketching this last school year when I was bored.

Today, 7/23/08 has been officially declared 'Joke Topic Day' by many. I have dedicated this KIC Doodle to it, but this doodle isn't an official KIC Doodle, so it will not go on the first post.

WEEK 2 KIC DOODLE IS UP!