But for better or worse, this is not a business of equality, but of equity.
Equality would be that each and every Cedar Fair theme park gets exactly the same investment every single year.
Equity would suggest that everyone gets what they need, even if its different from what someone else needs.
I expect that I will never see the day when Michigan's Adventure receives a $24 million hypercoaster. It is a small, locally-targeted, family-aimed park not unlike the old Geauga Lake before (and now, after) its Six Flags days. The attendance at the parks drives the investment. As of 2010, the top three seasonal parks owned by Cedar Fair are Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, and Cedar Point in that order. Cedar Fair's investment has been greatest in those three parks, and I imagine it will continue to be. In purchasing the Paramount Parks, they also came into ownership of other medium-sized regional parks that they have helped "beef up," like Carowinds and Kings Dominion.
Will parks like Worlds of Fun, Michigan's Adventure, and Valleyfair be invested in? Certainly. But we're talking about a much different scale I think. Prowler is a fantastic ride and is perfect for Worlds of Fun, but it was an $8,000,000 investment. That's appropriate for a park that size. The same year, Kings Island was given an addition that cost nearly three times as much, and that was entirely appropriate for a park our size. I don't think any Valleyfair fans are expecting the next Intamin giga-coaster to go there, and in my opinion, they probably shouldn't.
Very, very, very well said. They do tend to invest more in certain parks.