Jump to content

PKI Sold?


pope03
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 87
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Completely Random Topic:

I found the group who produced some of the scenery items in Nick Universe, a company called Heavy Industries:

Heavy Industries

Now I know that Paramount Parks is cheap when looking at some of the past projects HI has done, and the items that they did for PKI (most noticeably, the facade for Jimmy Neutron and pagoda for Avatar). dry.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I spoke to a friend who still works at what is left of Paramount corporate in Charlotte. The word this person gave to me is that Cedar Fair had aquired or was close to aquiring Paramount Parks. I spoke to this person on Monday, May 8th. I have seen no official word, but this person is a reliable source, so I would expect we should hear about the sale soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've heard from a certain credible source that posts here occasionally, that Cedar Fair has indeed bought the parks..........that is, 4 of the 5 parks. Which park was left with someone else remains to be seen. I'm pretty sure that PKD and PCar are done deals though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm. Four of the five parks? Well, there are valid reasons why Cedar Fair might not want one of the other three. Canada`s Wonderland with its performance in the last couple of years I would imagine would be a shoe in for CF to want them. That leaves PKI and PGA. Cedar Fair already has a park in both states that these parks are in (they have two in Ohio). I would imagine that they would want PKI, since it is the flagship park of the chain. That and the fact that PGA is landlocked and does not own their land (they lease it from the city of Santa Clara) would lead me to believe that PGA would be the park left out.

But I still am not convinced that they will be buying the parks. Even to buy four of the five Paramount Parks (especially if they bought Viacom/Paramount licensing to use the Nickelodeon and Paramount themes) would cost quite a lot. I`m not sure how many of you have listened or seen Cedar Fair`s first quarter results, but they are not exactly debt free (somewhere in the tune of $500 million I believe.) They would have to come up with a lot of money to buy some or all of Paramount Parks. Not saying it can`t happen, just that I do not believe that they will be the buyer of the parks. As an aside, during the conference call, Dick Kinzel said any look at potential takeovers of Paramount Parks was ongoing.

That said, I feel that Cedar Fair could do some really great things with the park. (And, maybe PKI would finally get that B&M coaster.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now, I do see Carowinds and Kings Dominion definitely being part of a Cedar Fair deal - they are both a long ways from any current CF Park. Which is the "5th park not included?" Here's the pros and cons for the other three (other than KD and Carowinds):

A: Kings Island

Pro (reasons why Cedar Fair doesn't want this park):

They would have a "monopoly" in Ohio

Kings Island has a lot of highly themed attractions, do they want to keep them up?

Con (reasons why CF DOES want this park):

CF bought its closest "competitor", Geauga Lake, from Six Flags in '04

Six Flags has 3 (scratch that, 2) big parks in Texas: SFOT, and SFFT (Fiesta Texas). Almost listed AstroWorld!

KI's first B&M installtion could be on its way...

B: Great America

Pro:

CF already has a park, Knott's, in CA

This Santa Clara park is landlocked by the office buildings of Silicon Valley.

Con:

Again, the Geauga factor. And prior to the end of the MOA agreement, ran two parks in Minnesota as well: Valleyfair! and Camp Snoopy

There is a clause by the City of Santa Clara, that an amusement park continue to operate on its site. The City bought the park from Marriott after the 1984 season, and gave management rights to Kings Entertainment Co. (who later bought the park and became Paramount).

CF, then, might feel "right" to continue this landlocked park.

C: Canada's Wonderland

Pro:

CF may not not want to expand into Canada. (Liability?)

Con:

International presence.

Great flat ride selection, probably even the chance to finally add a "mega-coaster"

That's why I think, according to your rumor, and after personal assessment, that Canada's Wonderland is the park Cedar Fair probably doesn't want.

EDIT: Looks like CoastersRZ beat me before I could post! What the heck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry CoastersNSich! But we both differed on the parks that we think CF would not be buying. And afterall, that is assuming that Cedar Fair would be buying Paramount Parks, and assuming that they are only buying four of the five parks. Both of which are pretty big assumptions at this point in time.

Could this be another one of those "Those who know don`t tell and those who tell don`t know" scenarios? I`m sure whoever the buyer is as well as corporate headquarters for Paramount Parks have been mum on potential buyout deals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No problem!

No doubt this is an assumption. The previous posters either may be real, for all we know, or are just shysters playing with us! Who knows, another entertainment company, or large corporation, that is currently NOT in the amusement industry, could become the new owner, at least for PKI.

Remember when both KECo and Carl Lindner (KI only) were selling the parks back in '92? We didn't have the internet to speculate: could we have ever dreamed that Paramount Communications, a movie and TV conglomerate, was seriously getting into the amusement park business?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow it seems everyone has a credible source, either some people jsut cant keep their mouth shut or a lot of you are just blowing out hot air, either way everyone has presented good points and some interesting evidence to suggest Cedar Fair could be looking to aquire some of the paramount parks, just a reminder to everyone that anythning you read on here or any other fan site is not gospel truth, and needs to be taken with a large grain of salt. Tonight Boddah, Zoso, italianchef, and I were discussing a theory that if Cedar Fair were to aquire PKI or possibly some other parks that maybe they would want to ditch the paramount themes yet keep the nickelodeon themes and use those throughout their other parks, I could see this being quite expensive though but would be an interesting strategy for Cedar Fair to play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

CombatStupendous89, I`ve actually thought of the same thing. Really, Cedar Fair would not be interested in the Paramount themes. But I think they would be foolish to not want to get the rights for Nickelodeon. Nothing against the Peanuts characters, but Nickelodeon is mainstream with most kids these days.

And yes, especially at PKI retheming some rides could prove quite expensive and interesting. How to retheme TR:TR to not be themed to TR? IJST, might not need quite as much work as what TR:TR needs but might still require some work. And every rides in the Paramount Action Zone with the exception of Xtreme Skyflyer, Delirium and Son of Beast would recieve a new name: Face Off, Drop Zone, Top Gun, Congo Falls, and Days of Thunder.

The only sure way we will find out what happens is by waiting. Eventually, the buyers of the park will be disclosed. And even once that happens, there will still probably be many, many questions remaining. Any changes the new owners make likely will not occur until next year`s operating season, much like what happened when Paramount bought the parks back in July of 1992.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight Boddah, Zoso, italianchef, and I were discussing a theory that if Cedar Fair were to aquire PKI or possibly some other parks that maybe they would want to ditch the paramount themes yet keep the nickelodeon themes and use those throughout their other parks, I could see this being quite expensive though but would be an interesting strategy for Cedar Fair to play.

Yeah...Nick is definitely where the value is at as far as the current themeing goes... (No offense to the 20-year old movie "Top Gun biggrin.gif ) I had mentioned a "what if" scenario a few months ago regarding CF (or another operator...actually, I think my example was Busch) wanting to expand Nickelodeon properties to their other parks.

While I think Nick would be valuable to CF anywhere, where I really think the franchise would be invaluable is at Knotts. That would certainly be a great tool in their competition with DL and SFMM is the crowded So. Cal. market!

And, let's keep in mind, there is opportunity for a win/win situation here. While the Nick licensing would be good for another park operator, it's also good for Viacom to keep their properties in the public eye at theme parks. (Without the headaches of actually having to own and operate parks themselves.)

The park's whose future I have the most questons about is ST:TE. Let's face it, that's a pretty difficult retheme...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The park's whose future I have the most questons about is ST:TE. Let's face it, that's a pretty difficult retheme...

But it is in Vegas, where it really fits in, so I don't think it would need to be. I'd just get the rights, and leave it be as it is! My parents went to it to see in October, said it looked great, and was busy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The park's whose future I have the most questons about is ST:TE.  Let's face it, that's a pretty difficult retheme...

But it is in Vegas, where it really fits in, so I don't think it would need to be. I'd just get the rights, and leave it be as it is! My parents went to it to see in October, said it looked great, and was busy!

Actually, my point was that it couldn't really be rethemed...without making it completely worthess.

There's a joint ownership situation with the LV Hilton with that property as well, so any deal regarding ST:TE would have to be structured differently. It's also possible that CBS/Viacom could retain their share of ownership, but turn management operation over to the Hilton.

I guess my real point is that ST:TE is COMPLETELY different than the other parks, and its fate may or may not end up the same as the others. We'll just have to wait and see...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another question, along the same lines of ST:TE is what will happen with Paramount Parks` management contract with CBS Television City as well as Bonfante Gardens in California.

The management of Bonfante Gardens is an interesting question... The main reason that Paramount Parks took on the management contract was to prevent another operator from moving in and upgrading it so that it would be a competitive threat to PGA. (And, that was pretty certain to have happened...Bonfante Gardens couldn't survive the way it was going, and it was a very attractive acquisition target for someone.)

That being said, however, PP's management of that park has been extremely good for Bonfante Gardnes. The professional management and economies of scale of a major operator has really stabilized their operation while still holding true to Mr. Bonfante's original vision. To be honest, thrill parks are a dime a dozen, but my understanding of Bonfante Gardens is that it something unique. It would be a shame if that were to change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The management of Bonfante Gardens is an interesting question... The main reason that Paramount Parks took on the management contract was to prevent another operator from moving in and upgrading it so that it would be a competitive threat to PGA. (And, that was pretty certain to have happened...Bonfante Gardens couldn't survive the way it was going, and it was a very attractive acquisition target for someone.)

That being said, however, PP's management of that park has been extremely good for Bonfante Gardnes. The professional management and economies of scale of a major operator has really stabilized their operation while still holding true to Mr. Bonfante's original vision. To be honest, thrill parks are a dime a dozen, but my understanding of Bonfante Gardens is that it something unique. It would be a shame if that were to change.

Interesting that Paramount Parks would have that type of focus on Bonfante Gardens where as it did not with it's theme parks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, come on...then what would we have fun obsessing over and speculating about? It goes hand in hand with discussing for hours what the new ride at Cedar Point is going to be, even though we've only seen a handful of footers, and something that *might be* track under a tarp... That's just the nature of an "enthusiast" community. biggrin.gif

Wooferbear...the funny part is that even as I was typing that line a few posts above, I knew you'd have some commentary on it!! wink.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, come on...then what would we have fun obsessing over and speculating about? It goes hand in hand with discussing for hours what the new ride at Cedar Point is going to be, even though we've only seen a handful of footers, and something that *might be* track under a tarp... That's just the nature of an "enthusiast" community. biggrin.gif

Wooferbear...the funny part is that even as I was typing that line a few posts above, I knew you'd have some commentary on it!! wink.gif

Am I that predictable?

Am I that obvious?

It's cause I'm stuck in the house today on a day I wish I could get outside. <G>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

oh... wooferbear... come back up to Ohio for a spell. I think the extended forecast here calls for 8 of the next 10 days to have rain to compliment the 5 consecutive days of rain we've already had. everyone needs to stay on alert for an increase in suicides. stay away from sharp objects and cliffs.

It has been a miserable day here... for me to do google searches and by other means on this topic is truly sad for me. I would think that if a pending sale was immenent that there would be commentary on it somewhere on websites like: CBS Corporate, Wall Street Journal, Cedar Fair LP, Charles Schwab, Smartmoney, CNBC. No one is reporting anything other than the original announcement from back in January. None of those sites even mention a possible conversation of any nature to a sale.

My wife and I have stock in Cedar Fair (stock code: FUN.... nice touch). Now our 75 shares don't hold a drop of water in the hat of their corporate affairs, but we are able to login to the Cedar Fair site and download webcasts of corporate meetings. Yes in my boredom over the weekend I listened to reports on 1st quarter earnings and the operating season outlook. Sorry folks, there was NO mention of a pending Paramount Park acquisition. they did spend a good 5-10 minutes discussing the operating dependability (or lack thereof) of TTD and speculation of maintenance costs for the next three years to operate it. so if there is a pending sale to CF coming (and who knows, there may be) it is so secret that they don't even talk about in board meetings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...