Outdoor Man

i wouldn't think it is a "forever" / indefinite thing. If they are using the Scooby Doo likeness and the characters are not the intellectual property of CF... then they would be paying royalties to use them, much like the Nick characters.... it is a matter of how long will they elect to pay for them... which was my question.

question of my own.... i apologize if thjis has already been talked about. but, say that CF does not continue the licensing agreements and all paramount and related namesakes fall away, what becomes of Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle? Neer thought of it, but this could be the collective end of Scooby Doo's 36 year association with the park. I was looking at the other CF park websites and noticed Snoopy and Woodstock on the front of most, if not all of them. I think the CF purchase will benefit in the long run, but not sure I am ready to see the 1950's Charlie Brown gang take over the park.

just a thought, but outside of dropping the "Paramount Parks" logos, I suspect that the theming of rides like IJST, TR:TR, ect.... may have one park per year re-theming because of the cost that may be involved in doing them all at once. In some instances there is more involved than removing a sign a putting a new one up.

not to beat a dead horse, but....... http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/c...y/0528mary.html

in defense of Paramount Parks corp.... try being in their shoes.... since January you've basically been handed your untimed pink slip. You know whoever buys your company likely will not keep most of you and your office will probably be dismantled. Not a lot of incentive to excel at this point. CF already said that PP staff will be re-evaluated, or something to that effect.

someone could correct me on this but right after Paramount bought KI in 92, all of the print and media immediately started using the "Paramount's Kings Island"... the signeage didn't get changed until the next season. at this point, can they cancel Winterfest? hope not, already have tickets. And I don't necessarily agree with the "one dirty, all dirty" thought. there are some McD's in Cincy that I won't even drive past... but that doesn't sour all of them. I have worked with some of the cleanup crews at midnight... and beyond.. waiting on the Supervisors to "invite" their subordinates to work. Most sups are too interested in being a "cool boss" than being a leader. Cleanliness, or lack thereof is not a Charlotte (paramount parks home) issue.... like any independent franchise, it is a local issue. And I am not beating a drum to defend Paramount (i see this acqusition as a HUGE positive).... I'm just stating an opinionated fact.

at 12:01 last night, received a proxy from the Cedar Fair, LP investment news department. "Cedar Fair Board of Directors to announce 1.2 Billion Dollar acquisition in morning press conference. So my mind thinks.... hmmmm, who could that be. So, if you can't beat the competition, buy them. (USAir buys Piedmont Airlines, WWE buys WCW, etc....) healthy competition absolved into one larger corp. I wonder what will become of many things. Like, when CF took over Worlds of Adventure..... why didn't they keep the WoF moniker and go back to Gauega Lake? Did the licensing not come with it or did CF seek to restore the GL legacy? don't know. If the latter is true, and I think it may be more the case, some of the traditional King Island items may return. More characters walking park (not just in NU), maybe even a return of the old logo. The sale is seeking to complete in the 3rd qtr.... so that means July-Sept. I could see the Paramount being dropped from the name as fast as it got added. Outside of Nick... does anyone see CF picking up the theming on everything else? No reason, but I don't. I see re-theming of the movie themes over the winter. I have nothing to base that on, just an opinion. Also it will be nice in the fact that when we get a good ride/coaster there won't be a cookie-cutter version at a sister park. If I'm not mistaken, the other CF parks do not have "clone" coasters at other parks. By and large... a positive for KI Just a side note though. Cleanliness of the park does not have much to do with Paramount Parks.... that's a local issue.

I will have to try and find my pictures from Gorky Park (Moscow, Russia) in 1993. It was to have been the Soviet Union's gift to its people for entertainment and recreation (i guess). Wife and I are packing to move soon, so those pictures should be easy to find. It was almost like walking through Coney Island after Kings Island opened.... at full price.

I haven't been to pki yet this year so I can't comment on certainty- but in my own little sarcastic bit- I know that Americana had it's share of "carnival" rides... maybe NU could clean house and exand.

not that ride branding is all that important but if the rides themes were changed after an acquisition, to most they would always be the Paramount name(s) for a while. To re-theme Top Gun to Thunder Road.... OK, maybe someday, but I would subconsciously always refer to it as Top Gun. Now, assume that Cedar Fair is one of the interested parties.... would they buy the naming rights? Everything at Gauega Lake was changed, even beyond the Warner Brothers themed items. I know they probably really didn't have an option to retain the Warner Brothers tags but I would see their motif running consistant with their other parks, much like Paramount did with all of the KECO parks.

yea, it's pretty much there are NO CONSEQUENCES to any action you may do. Do whatever you like, because at the end of the day, it's someone else's fault.

for what it's worth, pki did have a rather expensive year. a new coaster, despite what you think of IJST... it is still new and costs serious $$$$. SOB continues to be a maintanence money hog, WinterFest was a huge investment, and the remodeling of NU took some funding. Though I agree about the shows.... it would not have taken much investment to run a new show. what's up with FOF not being listed as a main attraction... can someone explain what that means?

agreed. and I am only speaking to the topic of those that are saying that the sale has already been closed..... and just not announced yet. they may have had conversations, but I would think that if anything has been near-finalized there would be some rumblings of the sale somewhere on reputable "business" sites. not fan sites There is nothing out there. But I do like the endorsements that could come from a P&G ownership.... Boomerang Bay now themed with Dial soap (is that P&G???) and Tide detergent (I hope that is P&G as well).... couldn't tell you which brands are there's.

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.

according to Time Warner Cable channel guide.... LATE SUNDAY / EARLY MONDAY at 1am

not saying it hasn't happened, but the first place that would have such a report would be the CBS Corporate Press Releases, Wall Street Journal Online, SEC filings, etc. Didn't see anything. They do confirm that a transaction is taking place (not completed) but declines to comment on interested parties, as from what I am ready there are several, which may confirm a breakup of the Paramount Park system..... or not.

uh.... what ride is the skycoaster?

have to agree. with an impending sale, CBS isn't likely to allow a large investment to go out. And a new owner... chances are it will be a year or two after the sale that we see something large. HOWEVER, whatever is on the table for 2007 most likely has already been sent to the drawing board and is probably in production. Most of the large announcements come in mid-July and my guess is multi-million $$ investment conversations don't start in May. I was watching the TOP AMUSEMENT PARK show on the Travel Channel (i think) last night.... IJST at PKI got the #2 award for best new steel coaster of 2005. good job for the PKI planners... but it must have been a slow year for coasters because while IJST is good... I would not have placed it at a #2... or #3 for that matter. the post about SOB being hidden... I could not agree more. Outside of the obvious roughness of the ride. The designers i feel did not use the terrain and woods nearly enough in the design. The "atmosphere" of The Beast is partly what makes it a great ride. SOB is about 75-100' above ground most of the time and makes almost no use of the trees or geography. as far as when the next large coaster investment comes.... I'm sorry, but if I were a betting man I would say we're looking at 2009. We'll have a better chance at re-themes of FOF or good flat rides until that time. I am probably wrong, but that's my opinion anyway. and when it does i hope they don't try and find a "record breaker"... just a flat-out innovative ride that has good "WOW" factor.

there is a huge discrepancy between those employees who enjoy what they do and those who it seems their parents TOLD them to "get a job.... and you have to get it here." I live pretty much in a hickville area... and students in this area would be over enthusiastic to work in such an environment.

part of the problem of NU... and I haven't been there yet to see, but the "paramount" in KI announced a large expansion for NU... then announced they were selling the park system. So, it is possible that due to that news funding for NU might have been scaled back... and, again I haven't been there, nor am in the "know" so this might have been the plan all along. problems with the employees goes once step past the supervisors. Too many of the supervisors are college students just a few years ahead of their High School understudies.... and too many of them are concerned with being a "cool" sup than being firm. Employees that break the rules "IN UNIFORM" with lewd behavior need to have their a## hauled to the Adm. building to be wrote up, fined, and fired.

a tough thing about a seasonal park is the turnover that occurs during an "off-season." Parks in florida and much of the southern half of the US being open year-round don't have that problem.... employees durations overlap. It can only be expected that a seasonal park is going to have some rough edges in the early weeks. It would be awful if you paid regular admission for what it appeared opening weekend was though.

I'm still trying to get used to the fact that we need to go through metal detectors to get into an amusement park. Though to be honest, probably should have had them years ago. in 1996 a group of us "singles" went to the park. And some dumba## in our group brought a flippin handgun with him..... and showed us. Some people do some VERY dumba## stuff! I hate the idea of them... but they do serve a purpose.

but wouldn't we have some great camper selections though?

woofer... ActionZone is too far away from a German theme.... Coney Mall I think could undergo a HUGE transformation and buy back into the heritage that got the park there in the first place.

I heard it's that "Couch's Campers" guy that bought Americana. He's going to doze over the new resort and restore the campgrounds, put a mini ferris wheel by the sign, and line the front of the parking lot with campers.... that could just be heresay though