The Interpreter

...good thing that Disney does, too. Leaving the parks down there and going somewhere else isn't very practical, and many of the places around the WDW resort are far worse rip-offs than anything in any park. Kings Island, nearly like Kennywood, faces far more serious competition for food almost right outside the gates. Kennywood realizes it, has some very good food, and prices it well. There is a lesson here. . .perhaps Cedar Fair will learn it. The old Kings Island never was inexpensive on food, but the quality was excellent. I particularly remember, and miss, the great barbecue cooked outside on the pits, the fruit cups sold by the lake, and, most of all, the International Street Restaurant. Kings Island is one of the few major parks without a single tablecloth, waiter service restaurant. A pity.

I may have posted a Cedar Fair press release, but there is NO way that attendance is up 33 percent this year. I'd be shocked if it were up 0.33 percent!

Back To The Future. Abbreviations will drive us all nuts. . .

If you mean in the way of capital expenditures, yes, that is true. That is what Kinzel has said at each conference call. The dirty secret is that I doubt CBS had any grand investments planned. The parks were, after all, for sale.

Only if you have at least three other people with you. At least at Cedar Point. Minimum of four guests at $350 per. And your spelling of minions was fine...but a minion is someone who works for someone else! Like ride ops are Kinzel's minions.

I wasn't aware that attendance increased every year. In fact, last year Kings Island was DOWN. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/...2295732,00.html

Considered by many to be THE expert about Cedar Point: http://www.legacy.com/ohio/Obituaries.asp?...rsonId=18715063

Yep, particularly the Nick...maybe we will give up the Paramount stuff sooner (oh, please don't make us, tee hee) if we can license the Nick stuff for all the CF parks!

Go to your closet. Get a coat hanger. Bend it. Feel better now?

Kinzel'sKlockster has a better ring to it!

It's times like this that I darn sure hope upper management reads this board. Those two ops at Delirium deserve bonuses! I am very glad you had such a great time!

And the oldsters amongst us (certainly NOT me, tee hee) think of Starchaser. What a nightmare. . . Crackaxle Canyon, anyone?

The Stratosphere proposal was a serious one. The local zoning authorities and neighbors nixed it. Apparently it was too tacky and distracting even for Vegas!

The airtime on those bunny hills was particularly strong in the back row. I remember an ACE event many, many years ago when all the coasters in the park were available for ERT. I was the only person on one of the two trains at King Cobra, and rode it again and again and again. The other ACErs were either on the other train (all of about two of them), or riding Vortex, The Beast or The Racer. I seem to remember being told that Taxi Jam and Beastie sat idle most of the night! This was before Scooby's Ghoster Coaster was ever thought of!

I heard that and didn't really understand. I thought this was already a done deal. Are they trying to get a refund if they don't use all the Paramount licensing for the ten year period? What is up with this? Interpreter, you are really confusing me now. You have been saying on these boards for quite some time now that the licensing was not a done deal. Now, you say you thought it was. What I have said is that Cedar Fair had not decided on whether or not to use the licensing rights it obtained under the sale agreement. I thought the terms of any such use were long ago worked out. Apparently, now Cedar Fair is trying to come to an agreement as to the terms. That is what surprises me. Like other posts in this thread, I believe they may be trying to extend the Nick agreement or agree to the terms of a proposed extension, while perhaps trying to reduce the costs of the Paramount licensing if it is used for a shorter duration or less extensively than first contemplated. So, to sum up, I thought the terms of licensing WERE a done deal. What I didn't think was was a decision on whether or not or how extensively to use the Paramount franchise. Then, today, we had the conference call. Clear as mud?

Oh my. The lawyers would have a field day with that one. Not a good idea. Not at all.

But...are those terms that much more than what Cedar Fair is paying on its new debt? I bet the covenants in the long term financing for it will be interesting, too.

Yeah, why pay a license fee to Radisson? It's the park, not the Radisson franchise, that draws virtually all the business to that hotel!

From: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...qKuE&refer=home

Yeah, I know. The Fool isn't perfect...he has occasionally made errors before, as well. I think this is probably one of them. Or perhaps the gains started in 2005 and are still building?

I think they rebranded that Radisson in 2oo4...

Well, I guess we will see how they do in the future and what they cite then... They are facing a HUGE debt load. I think they can pull this off, but I don't think they can do it easily.

I heard that and didn't really understand. I thought this was already a done deal. Are they trying to get a refund if they don't use all the Paramount licensing for the ten year period? What is up with this?

And when Six Flags cited weather, it was also totally true. Your point is?

Oh, yeah. One other thing, Kinzel said Dorney was facing tough comparisons on attendance due to last year's introduction of an "inverted roller coaster." He was talking Hydra. A floorless.