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Son of Beast A No-Go, Cedar Fair Sale To Apollo Delayed, Planet Snoopy & More!


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One of the most asked questions among the roller coaster community has been what the future holds for the tallest, fastest only former modern looping wooden coaster on Earth. The turbulent history of the ride has involved a series of incidents, long delays and closures dating back to its debut in the spring of 2000. The future of the ride has truly been in question since its last extended closure beginning in May of 2009 and continuing through the end of the operating season. Greg Scheid, Vice President and General Manager of Kings Island, told the Business Courier that the ride would be closed through the foreseeable future. The last closure was immediately following a woman's report of the wooden roller coaster causing a blood vessel to burst in her brain. The ride was inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and was deemed to be operating correctly. Although the ride was cleared to return to operation, the park elected to keep it closed citing that they were unhappy with the overall experience that it offered its guests.

Business Courier: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2010/03/kings_island_hopeful_new_owner_or_not.html

Cincinnati.com: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090723/NEWS01/907240329/Son-of-Beast-inspected-more-than-any-ride-in-Ohio

The stock holders' meeting to vote on the proposed acquisition of Cedar Fair, Kings Island's parent company, by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management has been delayed. Originally scheduled for March 16th, it has been rescheduled for April 8th, 2010. The Cedar Fair Entertainment Company released a statement earlier today stating that the delay was for the purpose of soliciting more votes and proxies and giving the unit holders more time to consider their options. During this time the unit holders can still cast their votes and changed their previously cast votes.

Apollo Management is a private equity firm that owns such entities as AMC Theaters and the retail store Claire's. Its $2.4 billion merger proposal with Cedar Fair would distribute a cash value of $11.50 per limited partner unit.

Source: CedarFair.com

Move over Spongebob, there's a new gang in town! In 2010, Kings Island's award winning kids area will be receiving a new look and some new friends as Planet Snoopy comes to town. Based on Charles Schulz's timeless Peanuts comic strips, Snoopy, Woodstock, Linus, Lucy and many others will now adorn some of Kings Island's most popular family attractions. Take a spin on the Character Carousel, take a thrilling ride on the Peanuts 500 or enjoy "Charlie Brown's Hoedown" a new song-filled show set to open with the park in the Peanuts Playhouse - all while enjoying the world's best kids area!

For a full list of ride names an attractions, click on the following link:

http://www.visitkingsisland.com/attractions/category.cfm?ac_id=39

Do you want the latest information from KICentral sent directly to your phone? Join the KICentral Mobile Club! For more information follow the link below:

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12088

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Guest IceCream329

Ok so let me get this straight, it will not be bad if Apollo takes over, nothing changes really except how the financial office is ran and it is also to distribute money for each unit holder and in turn they take our debt away.....and this is only temporary and soon we will be sold off again back to public market and so really only the corporate office will change and only really the way the money is handled right!!! Please explain the whole story I don't know if I understand, and if so dumb it down lol..........???????????/

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No....not the case. The debt does NOT go away. It continues on Cedar Fair's books and eventually must be paid or the company will have to declare insolvency (go bankrupt). As for nothing changing, that's a Dick Kinzel dream...why on earth would a company buy another company for a bargain price because it thinks the company is in trouble, then not make any changes? May I remind you that Dick Kinzel himself said management would stay on and there would be no immediate changes when Paramount Parks was acquired? Hasn't been the case, has it?

Plus, this is by no means a done deal or even a likelihood, at this point...

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Guest IceCream329

Well Should I be worried, will KI still be Cedar Fair owned???? I am a little worried, I sure do love Cedar Fair, and not because I work for them but still???

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Zoinks! This news makes me happy that I was only planning on visiting the park at least twice this season! I love Son of Beast always have and am kinda upset over it not being open this season. Planet Snoopy is great and all it's coming along nicely but I wanna take the kids to a park with cartoon character they know and love and honestly can relate to!

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my guess is that Apollo will buy CF, shore up the books, delete non-performing properties, relocate popular attractions to more profitable venues (KI being one of them)- and eventually sell them off piece by piece. Oh, and clean house of the current CF management and install their own people.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Regardless of who owns the park in the future, it is going the same way as my full time job which is a Blackstone company. People who have been there 15 years and such were let go, and we are bare boned on our own staff. Management denies it, but when other locations across the country ask me if I am local or with a call center, you know something is up-and I am hearing from Indiana they are in the works right now to get rid of us and consolidate. Personally, I have been there almost 9 years, and there is a major push to clean up the books and get everything in order, to the point there are several conference calls and emails daily micromanaging us and "nagging" to get it done. I have tons of overtime right now as well.

Point being, this whole deal smells like my full time job-you need employees for an amusement park, my job could technically be run overseas, which is their ultimate goal. Se la vie, they are losing customers right and left because of it. No matter what happens, I think KI will be ok, but its going to be really bumpy for a while. I long for the days of small time ownership-corporations stink, period.

I am being told to be flexible at the park-at this point no one knows what is going to happen. On the other hand, flexibility will keep you employed.

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