Cory Butcher

I think you should save up your money and keep your eyes-peeled for a rather large trip developing soon.

I personally like the Flight Deck logo. I was not so high on the name, as Flight Deck sounds static and not dynamic. However, I do like the logo.

Looks like a global warming trend! lol

Jzarley, I was just about to say nearly exactly what you said...so I will just say "ditto"! lol.

Interpreter, do you happen to know where attendance figures from FMP can be obtained from last year? If so, did they improve over HRP's numbers for the year prior? I would have thought after buying FMP for such a bargain that the owners who converted the park would have been able to open it this year with very little improvement in attendance?

Does anyone here have a picture of the car fronts to post? Is the Mini logo specifically used? If not, seems to me this issue has more to do with the Trade Dress than the Trademark in question?

People like YOU, that make comments like this should not be here on this forum. What a pathetic waste of a post. Simply disgusting.

PKISecurity, You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion. Everything The Interpreter spoke of is correct regarding LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park. Coney Island is doing a dandy job with locals and company picnics. This is the very thing that LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park used to do very well. The one main reason for Coney Island still surviving in my opinion however: Sunlight Pool.

For those of you interested in (or already hold) a career in Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, or just business in general; I recommend that you read the following article I have posted. Of course if you are interested in this proposed sale of Cedar Fair to Apollo I think you too will find the following article to be an engaging read. There is some jargon in the article as it takes a legal approach to discussing the transaction, however it brings up some interesting points about the transaction. Roughly the first half of the article will be of importance to most reading this thread. The last half will be more interesting to those wanting to understand the legal implications of a large deal like this! Cedar Fair's Management Entry Ticket Some intriguing items from the article: Speaking to the legality of the transaction: Is senior management being retained solely as a management team, or is there something else behind the curtain that would allow the retained management team to be partners in the ownership of the company? Another quote on this: http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/cedar-fairs-management-entry-ticket/?partner=yahoofinance

All parks are full day excursions. Especially with young kids in tow. You will need in all likelihood twice the time of some of us regular visitors to Disney to see everything, appease the kids at various times and make your way from attraction to attraction. It really becomes a question of not "Is there enough to do?" but rather, "Will we have enough time to see everything?" Where are you considering staying on your vacation? You definitely came to the right place for some ideas. Some of us have been to the Walt Disney World Resort more than 10 times! And some of us have been to the parks even more times than that!

That last Picture of the Jurassic Park sign truly depresses me. What have they done? *gasp*

Interpreter, I am quite peeved that you did not acknowledge Klondike Katie or Cinderella until just now. What gives?

Too much money. In all probability, it would cost too much. And no, its not the cost of putting in the animatronics, it's the upkeep.

Piranhas 3-D would go great in Action Theater. I am sure Captain Nemo and Gordon Bombay would agree! lol

I think Kings Island is a business and if they want to refurbish the band organ than they should pay for it themselves. This isn't a non-profit we are talking about.

These "Cretins" as you are calling them believe that the board of directors do not have their best interests in mind, and are realizing their guaranteed legal right to sue, if nothing else to be sure that their best interests (the maximizing of shareholder value) are met. Many of these people who you belligerently claim are cretins bought the stock at a higher value, a value in many cases three times as high as the current market price. They have every right to exercise legal intervention in this matter. Many of the people who own Cedar Fair units, were holding onto them as a Fixed Income investment and relying on the dividends to secure a healthy retirement, pay for grocery bills, save for vacations, or even to set up college funds. With the ending of the dividend these people have every right to at least sell these shares at what would be a fair market value to purchase some other Fixed Income securities. When you invest you do risk losing what you have put into an investment. These people know that, however they do have every right to proceed how they see fit as investors. They are just making sure there is no agency problem, and have every right to do so. In addition many analysts would contend that the stock at 11.50 is undervalued (long-term) for a profitable but debt-laden company. To the best of these investors' collective knowledge, unpayable debt payments may be looming or they may not. They certainly have every reason to find out and exercise their rights as investors.

Oh, sadly what could have been, it wasn't!

From the document provided by The Interpreter: Oh, it would really be terrible to terminate the merger agreement and have to pay that amount! The total acquisition, I read somewhere, is actually costing 2.4 Billion dollars. Apollo is purchasing Cedar Fair for $635 Million, but Apollo also essentially must "purchase" the debt that Cedar Fair is carrying which is well upwards of 1 Billion! From Kansas City Business Journal: "The deal also refinances Cedar Fair’s debt, with a $1.95 billion financing commitment from a banking group that includes affiliates of J.P. Morgan and others." So you see, the acquisition is actually costing more than double what Cedar Fair paid for the old Paramount Parks. In addition, the 10 Busch Entertainment parks were recently purchased by Blackstone for 2.7 Billion dollars, so that puts some perspective on this sale. Keep in mind that the $635 Million price tag you are seeing is only the cost incurred to buyout the shareholders and take complete control of Cedar Fair. The real cost to buy the parks includes the refinance of $1.95 Billion of the company's debt!

I wish I could ride around with the Mello Yellow Chevrolet Lumina to this day

So, how long was the wait for that ride? Ahaha, and now I must clean up rootbeer off the floor, thanks guys! lol

Hmm, where to start? 1.) Cedar Fair's "troubles with money" stem solely from their very large debt-laden acquisition of the former Paramount parks. The chain is 1.6? Billion dollars in debt. That money will be coming due in greater increments shortly. Keep in mind that for three quarters, attendance was down across the chains by 1.4 million visitors (the last number I have seen cited). It is hard to pay down BILLIONS in debt with declining attendance, revenues, and per caps. The current economic climate just makes it difficult to repay the debt, thus Cedar Fair has found a partner who can assist in refinancing and helping pay off that debt if times get more difficult. 2.)Six Flags has not recovered faster than Cedar Fair. I do not know what you are quoting with this statement. Six Flags is in Bankruptcy and has been since June I believe. They couldn't pay off their debt when it was due and had to rely on wiping out their debt to creditors via the legal system. Cedar Fair is avoiding this in the short term by merging with Apollo. Does that help?

Any park chain in the world would in all probability use that same explanation. It is definitely not specific to Kings Island or Cedar Fair. As we now know, there was an ongoing investigation and "mechanical reasons" would represent a neutral term to explain the closure during an investigation to the public.

As the world turns, the plot thickens....! Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Investigates Possible Breach of Fiduciary Duty by the Board of Cedar Fair LP - FUN This is a very interesting article and raises some very serious questions. As I think Terpy will tell you, this WILL be a headache for Cedar Fair. If nothing else, you can be sure that this will raise others who agree that fiduciary duty was not met. Even if a legal battle does not ensue, I would imagine that this movement will gain some steam, and could push the acquisition price up to a marginally higher level. Once again I stress it could, not necessarily will. Disclaimer: I make no claims as to whether I agree or disagree with the article presented. I merely present this information to the KIC community for further knowledge.

Where will the Clydesdale horses be moving to?

This is very saddening news for the industry. As many previous posters have mentioned, Roy kept Walt's dream alive and essentially continued to lay the groundwork for the Florida project after Walt's death. Rest in Peace Mr. Disney!