The Interpreter

I have no clue what is going on, but throw this out for your consideration. If it IS just a retheming, wouldn't the same thing be going on at PKI? And wouldn't FOF be missing from PKI's website, too? Or is PKD public relations just having a lot of fun by making just a few tweaks to a webpage for a week or two. Put another way: Is Magnum sinking again? Or is SFWofA really being bought by Cedar Point? It's just a few weeks til we know. If not before...

a. Not everyone is saying they know everything that is going to happen. I've been through these things before, both as an observer and personally in my own work. NO ONE, and that includes the good people at Paramount Parks knows what is going to happen. b. Remember that Cedar Fair HAD to untheme the Time Warner stuff at Six Flags Ohio. They had no choice. The seller was staying in business at other locations, and did not have the right to sell the licensing agreements to the buyer of the Ohio property. Paramount Parks has license agreements, some of which no doubt are transferable, and some of which may not be. At this point, it is not even a given that there WILL be a sale. Remember, Six Flags put itself up for sale to keep Snyder from taking over and was not successful in doing so. Yes, Six Flags had and has a mountain of debt, but there is not a plethora of buyers for theme park chains. My guess is a buyer has already been rounded up. The deal is struck. But, it can still fall through. CBS Corporation could end up keeping the parks because Sumner Redstone couldn't find someone with enough money to make him happy enough to let go of the parks.

I doubt it seriously. Jeff saw other challenges and opportunities awaiting him at Schlitterbahn.....

It's just too early to tell. In some ways Paramount has been very good for the parks, but I doubt anyone would argue that the entertainment, food, landscaping and overall cleanliness of the parks didn't go downhill after KECO was no longer running the park.... I have seen FAR better entertainment in at least a couple of Six Flags parks in the last two years than at Paramount's Kings Island. Don't think that all Six Flags parks had entertainment like that put on by Kentucky Kingdom or even Six Flags Ohio... Fiesta Texas, Great Adventure and Six Flags Over Texas, in particular had great shows....The Temple of the Tiger at Great Adventure was a Broadway quality show. Under KECO, Kings Island had superb dining, entertainment (from Broadway quality productions to ice shows) and the park was beautifully maintained. What happens next is anyone's guess at this point.

To those who think this sale will make no difference, OWNERS make decisions about whether or not and what rides, food, shows, etc., go in, who is to be marketed to, what the prices will be, what the hours will be, how much employees will be paid, what parks will be kept and which ones will be sold, whether or not there will be special events such as Winter Fest, Fear Fest, ACE events, Beast Buzz, etc, and right down to what merchandise will or will not be sold... OWNERS also decide who will manage the parks, who will market them, what advertising and marketing will be done, how much money will be spent or not spent on landscaping, litter cleanup, lighting, concrete, ride maintenance and on and on and on... How can ANYONE think it makes no difference who owns the parks?

Excellent answers...the only other divestiture I can foresee CBS Corporation making in the short term future is Simon & Schuster, the book publisher. Books don't fit with television/radio any better than theme parks did/do....

None of the ride manufacturers is in a position to buy Paramount Parks. They have enough to worry about with Six Flags in their current financial position and not buying coasters for at least a while....

So that's who is buying the place! When's this going to be announced? Some Wednesday, I take it?

At this point, it is just too early to know what, if and when changes may take place. Much depends on who buys the parks, why they bought them, and what they expect to do with them. Patience is a virtue... There is even still the possibility that any sale may fall through...

You might want to be careful there. The day may come you look back to the Paramount days as the "good old days."

Nope... They use the name of the biggest metro area close by. Then again, under Snyder and Shapiro, who knows? It might be Six Flags Ohio again, sorta . . .

Since Microsoft's biggest name is Bill Gates, and he is a huge stockholder in Six Flags, rather than Microsoft's Kings Island, it would more likely be: Six Flags Cincinnati Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...it's true....

Yep, NBC has something to do with Universal... That may be part of why that part of the company is now known as NBC Universal!

It is my understanding that Ms. Dinn is no longer affiliated with S & S Power and hasn't been for quite some time....

Uh, Universal is half owned by General Electric. And what wonderful rides have they put in lately? Well?

That doesn't really matter. What DOES matter is who is Paramount Parks going to be sold to...

We posted about the same time. Read my post right before yours. I think they have a buyer in the dock, and are about to finish up the deal...

The language of the release is such that it would be reasonable to assume a buyer has already been rounded up and final talks are ongoing. The divestiture is set to happen the second half of this year, and the parks will continue to operate in the interim. This isn't an announcement of an ongoing effort to find a buyer, it is an announcement of a pending sale, or so it seems...

If you are planning on buying a Six Flags season pass, you might want to do so quickly. Prices have already risen on them once, and may well again several times before opening days at the respective parks. The no-reentry policy has already been rescinded, but there will be major changes at Six Flags this year. See this article, for instance: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/s...izsixflags.html

http://today.reuters.com/investing/Finance...10-03_WEN8935:1