BoddaH1994

I'm not sure if this has been posted anywhere or not, but here is a video that someone uploaded to YouTube which includes many great shots of Son of Beast construction including teaser signage and the scale model.

Check out this photo that DH sent me of The Racer covered in a lite blanket of snow. I think I see a different version of this photo every year and it never gets old.

I want to note, however, that if it weren't for Apollo, Claire's would likely be liquidated and its 17,600 employees would be seeking employment elsewhere.

Interesting conflict of info in this article (posted above originally). Kinzel said in an earlier article that they had no regrets about acquiring Paramount Parks... "We would have never gone into the acquisition if we didn't think we could control the debt," Kinzel said. "The economy was different then, and there were reasons we wanted those parks." http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/12/cedar_fair.html

True, but I think $11.50 is a pretty attractive price considering some of the alternatives. Attractive? Hardly. I'm sorry but even just a few months ago FUN was trading upwards of $12. Yes, there are other (possibly worse) alternatives, but to call $11.50 attractive is laughable. Why would it be laughable? If Cedar Fair went bankrupt the LP unit holders would get nothing. $11.50 sounds pretty attractive in comparison to that. In the News: Dayton Daily News - Kings Island owner says merger won't mean changes. Cincinnati.com - New Owner, Same Park

True, but I think $11.50 is a pretty attractive price considering some of the alternatives.

From what I understand, the Clydesdale horses were not part of the agreement for Blackstone to purchase the parks and will be moved to a farm on AB's property in Missouri.

This topic is being discussed here.

SANDUSKY, OHIO, December 16, 2009 -- Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, a leading global alternative asset manager. Under the terms of the agreement, Cedar Fair unitholders will receive $11.50 in cash for each Cedar Fair limited partnership unit that they hold, representing a 43% premium over Cedar Fair’s volume weighted average closing unit price over the past 30 days and a 28% premium over the closing unit price on December 15, 2009. The transaction is valued at approximately $2.4 billion, including the refinancing of the Company’s outstanding indebtedness. Affiliates of J.P. Morgan, B of A Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital Inc., UBS Investment Bank and KeyBanc Capital Markets have provided an aggregate $1.95 billion financing commitment in support of the transaction. The board of directors of Cedar Fair has unanimously approved the merger agreement and has resolved to recommend that Cedar Fair limited partnership unitholders adopt the agreement. Cedar Fair’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, Dick Kinzel, said, “We have considered a wide range of strategic alternatives over the past several years. After considering these strategic alternatives, we have concluded that the transaction with Apollo is in the best interest of our unitholders.” “This transaction allows Cedar Fair unitholders to realize significant value from their investment in our Company over recent trading levels,” added lead director, Michael Kwiatkowski. “Apollo has a strong track record of growing businesses, and its desire to add Cedar Fair to its portfolio serves as a testament to our solid business model and the talent of our people.” Aaron Stone, a Senior Partner at Apollo, said, “We are extremely pleased to be acquiring this premier amusement park operator. We look forward to partnering with Cedar Fair’s management team and employees to build on the many strengths of the Company. We are firmly committed to Cedar Fair’s continued growth as an industry leading amusement park operator.” Transaction Details The merger is conditioned upon, among other things, the approval of holders of two-thirds of Cedar Fair’s outstanding units, the receipt of regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Assuming the satisfaction of these conditions, the transaction is expected to close by the beginning of the second quarter of 2010. The merger agreement does not include a financing condition. Upon completion of the merger, Cedar Fair will become a private company, wholly-owned by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Cedar Fair may solicit alternative proposals from third parties for 40 days and will consider any such proposals. There can be no assurance that the solicitation of such proposals will result in an alternative transaction. In addition, Cedar Fair may, at any time, subject to the terms of the merger agreement, respond to unsolicited proposals. Rothschild Inc. and Guggenheim Securities, LLC are the Company’s financial advisors, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey are its legal advisors. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and O’Melveny & Myers LLP acted as legal advisors and B of A Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Barclays Capital Inc., and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors to Apollo Global Management in connection with the transaction.

I don't think anyone's really panicking. The truth is, there's nothing but uncertainty in the future. Then again, that was the case even before this was announced.

Here's to a member of one of the most visionary families in American history... http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/12/roy-e-disney-disney-exec-and-nephew-of-walt-disney-dies-at-79.html

Well, if I wanted to compete with ACE's Winter SOAR, I would out-book them in presenters and undercut their price. I wouldn't withdraw from a venue to do it.

SOAR going there is the real deterrent. Great Wolf Lodge, however, could be extremely expensive.

Ha... Like Winterfest. No?

Again, nothing is in the works. It was just a thought. Although I would doubt that the DAFE discount would be able to be applied to a special event there.

Sorry. This is a forum game... and forum games need to be approved by a mod. This didn't end well last time around.

I have pondered EnterTRAINment Junction. Has anyone been there? What do you think?

Right now we don't have anything in the works. We may plan an official offseason meetup after the new year, but it will not be at Kings Island.

Cool find, nonetheless. Thanks for sharing!

Terpy, where is your Xmas spirit? We are trying to wish here.....lol But spoken with true words... To wish for this is one thing, but the facts behind it just don't add up because 1 - It's presumable that most SP holders live within a reasonable driving distance from KI. 2 - KI doesn't own the Great Wolf Lodge, so wanting them to offer discounts to season pass holders is like wanting to get a free Biggie Size upgrade from Wendy's.

Let's keep things with the situation with SOB centered around the initial topic here.

Kings Island had family meal deals and other chains had their various deals long before we discussed them here. I haven't been to a Six Flags park in a few years, but it sounds to me like you're describing Kings Island's old meal deals. I remember them having a large LaRosa's Pizza, four Cokes and a family salad and a few other deals like that. To me, a certain percentage off would be a lot more appealing. Of course, they did in fact offer a discounted rate at Rivertown Junction last year, so we'll have to wait and see what happens.

We'll probably do a front page story when the online store opens officially.

Agree totally, Ryan. By no means was HRRR a cheap investment, so to have it no do anything to help the business and at the very least plateau flaggling attendance that Universal has been seeing....no it isn't something I would call a success. Just do a little research on attendance and compare Uni's attendance from the year that IoA opened compared to now. To me, its honestly quite scary how much they've lost. By comparison, Manta has absolutely been a huge success for SeaWorld this season and certainly helped offset any big declines in attendance. While I certainly find the ride hideous, especially all the flippin' massive brake runs that dot the layout, thats irrelevant :-) You can agree that its a fail or not, whatever, I'm just saying from what paying guests are saying and the headaches that have plague the operations team at USF....HRRR is far, far from a favorite. I agree entirely. I think that Manta is a great ride added to a park with a great reputation. Sea World puts a lot of thought into their additions, and I think that they'll consistently be winners until they start cutting large sections of the budgets out. HRRR, however, struck me as a kind of desperate attempt to rejuvenate attendance. According to its Wikipedia page, it cost $45 million to construct - although I doubt that number is anywhere near accurate. Maybe it got bumped up into the $30 million range due to the delays and reconstruction. The sad part is, it's so tempting to rip on Universal Studios saying that it's a stupid park that added a stupid attractions, but nothing could be further than the truth. The truth is, Universal is one of the most beautiful and elaborate parks in existence and it is very evident that they had a rushed project that looked good on paper and are paying dearly for it.

The link to the online store has been removed for now. It's not ready for you quite yet. But don't worry -- it'll be ready soon!!!!