Why do people hate the Paramount Period of KI?

[RD Reynolds]

Just curious, seems a lot of folks hated the period when Paramount owned KI. I liked it, I thought they did a nice job theming the park, which is something I liked and missed...

RD

[The Interpreter]

Don't ask me. In no way do I hate the Paramount period, but I do despise the CBS period. I think Paramount Pictures would have done a grand job with the park...unfortunately, it was acquired by Viacom before it could be seen what they would have done. I see the Paramount period as one of great splendor, yet many missed opportunities for synergy...largely caused by Sumner Redstone's cheapness.

[Browns4life]

Yeah they did a nice job theming, but at the same time the attractions they added were usually short, i.e. Face Off, Backlot. Or far to ambitious, i.e. Son of Beast. Not to mention using a crappy company to build it.

[The Interpreter]

...yeah. Paramount Parks.

[RD Reynolds]

Don't ask me. In no way do I hate the Paramount period, but I do despise the CBS period. I think Paramount Pictures would have done a grand job with the park...unfortunately, it was acquired by Viacom before it could be seen what they would have done. I see the Paramount period as one of great splendor, yet many missed opportunities for synergy...largely caused by Sumner Redstone's cheapness.

So when it was "Paramount's Kings Island", there were different owners? I'm really bad with the timeline, so I wasn't sure who owned it and when and what the pros and cons were of each set of owners...

RD

[jdawg1998]

How did Paramount do anything bad to Kings Island? They brought a lot to us, if it wasn't for them, we probably wouldn't have the best kids area in the world!

[Delirium13]

I did not at all hate the Paramount period. Actually a lot of the decisions Cedar Fair makes, make me look back even more fondly on the days of the Paramount Parks. They were in no way perfect owners, i.e. placement of Italian Job, ironically not having the best entertainment, etc. But nowadays, when I see things like the clock over the Festhaus not working, the Tower Gardens being waterless, the area-appropriate music being gone, and most recently Half-Pint Brawlers for this year's Haunt, I truly do miss the Paramount days, when Kings Island was still the flagship park.

I think most of the negativity about the Paramount days is that they weren't as good as the Taft days.

Just my two-cents.

-Delirium13, who misses when the magic of the movies, met the thrills of a lifetime.

[LordSkippy]

The only reason I didn't like Paramount was because of the name. The word Paramount's at the beginning of the Kings Island name was somewhat annoying and unnessicary.

Paramount would have been one of my favorite owners of Kings Island, had they not removed Flying Eagles.

[jdawg1998]

^That gives me a question. Why did everybody call it Paramount's Kings Island? Why didn't everybody just call it Kings Island?

Why don't we call Kings Island now Cedar Fair's Kings Island?

[Cormaster]

I miss the Paramount era myself. Like others have said I miss KI being the flagship park, and I miss the movie theming and movie music. Why is the water shut off in tower gardes btw? Does Cedar Fair prefer the park to just be ugly and themeless? Sometimes it seems that way.

I myself wasn't aware of the CBS acquisition until I joined this site, but it does sound like they were crappy owners.

[The Interpreter]

...That gives me a question. Why did everybody call it Paramount's Kings Island? Why didn't everybody just call it Kings Island?

Why don't we call Kings Island now Cedar Fair's Kings Island?

Most people did just call it Kings Island. The company called it Paramount's Kings Island. For the longest time, NOTHING was allowed that said only Kings Island. Not shirts. Not ads. Not references in press releases. It was so much so that at Great America in California, there were signs that said:

Paramount's Men

Paramount's Ladies

Paramount's Guest Relations

Paramount's First Aid

and my favorite:

Paramount's EXIT

Though that didn't happen until June 30, 2006.

[Beast1979]

If you're talking about Paramount, I assume you mean the Viacom-led era. I dislike that era because they added bad rides (Excluding Flight of Fear and maybe Tomb Raider), put wayyy too much cooperate ads into the park (It's one thing to base your rides off of movies (See: Universal Studios, where rides are designed around movies) but they added generic things and gave it a movie name, not to mention everything else, "Gillette Mach 5!" for one) and they were essentially running the park into the ground. The park was trashy, there were only two live shows, and from what I hear they weren't financially interested in running the parks much longer. Had they kept the parks much longer, PKI may have been gone.

That's not to say I think current management is a godsend. Yes, they are much better, but have room for improvement too. I, personally, would love to visit the park in the mid-late 70's and early 80's.

[bkroz]

The following is all what I've come to understand from hanging around here - I haven't verified it on a website or anything, so feel free to correct me as needed. I'm not claiming it's correct or anything. This is just what I've picked up. I'm just typing it for RD Reynolds:

The park has undergone many changes in ownership - more than its changes in name represent.

The park (and its four sister parks, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland, Kings Dominion, and Great America) were purchased by Paramount Pictures in 1992. I've heard (and it makes sense) that it was their attempt to "break out" in the amusement park world, as Universal, Disney, and (less successfully) Warner Brothers have done. In their first year owning the parks, Paramount had already begun to "nationalize" them. Carowinds was no longer just some dinky amusement park in in the Carolinas. No, it was Paramount's Carowinds, a place where the magic of the movies would meet the thrills of a lifetime! The parks were inundated with the Paramount logo, character meet-and-greets, movie props, and more. Paramount Pictures seemed pretty intent to make the parks incredible.

In 1994 (just a few seasons into ownership), Viacom bought Paramount Pictures as a whole and folded it into its larger corporate scheme. The parks continued to operate much the same way. Kings Island (or, Paramount's Kings Island) was the "flagship" park - the main park. You can think of it as the one that would always be listed first, just like Cedar Point is typically listed before Dorney Park on lists of Cedar Fair parks.

Basically, the parks were kind of tossed around (supposedly being placed under Viacom's Blockbuster division for a while? True?). During that period, I think it when people complain a bit. The parks (Kings Island, in particular) were known for being very, very corporate. Advertisements everywhere. The safety spiel for Top Gun mentioned Gillette Mach 3 razors, as did an advertisement on the side of the train (granted, nothing compared to what Six Flags has on its rides today...). The real problem was when Viacom split into two separate companies - the "new" Viacom and CBS Corporation. This was during the time when financial depression was nearing, and many companies began selling off non-core assets. For example, Anheuser-Busch, the beverage company, began searching for a buyer for its theme parks (Busch Gardens & SeaWorld, among others). Busch Gardens was profitable, and a wonderful place, but it had nothing to do with brewing beer. And when financial collapse is approaching, you have to drop the non-essentials. I believe that's sort of what happened with the Paramount Parks. While the "new" Viacom retained control of the Paramount Pictures banner, the Paramount Parks were weaseled onto CBS, who didn't do much of anything. As Terpy said, they were one of two truly dreaded owners in the parks' histories.

CBS got the last laugh, however, because they turned around and put the parks up for sale. Allegedly, they got a few bidders, but Cedar Fair LP (best known as the owners of Cedar Point, but they also owned four or five other amusement parks at the time) stepped forward and paid... well... a lot. More than they should have. $1.24 billion dollars. That was in June of 2006, and the parks were immediately handed over to their control. It's been said (don't know if this is true) that Cedar Fair could've paid more big money to continue using the trademarked and licensed properties owned by Paramount Pictures (Top Gun, Tomb Raider, etc) in the parks, or paid even more money to bring Paramount properties into its Legacy Parks (the ones that had never been associated with Paramount). I'm not sure if the option was actually there or not, but either way, it didn't happen. So all of the rides that were named after Paramount movies were renamed to more generic, trademark-free titles (Top Gun -> Flight Deck; Tomb Raider -> The Crypt; Drop Zone -> Drop Tower).

And, simply because of a difference of priority, "theme" was sort of diminished in the parks. For example, Backlot Stunt Coaster (formerly The Italian Job: Stunt Track) lost its water, fire & fog effects. Probably, that wasn't mandated in the turnover of the parks - it's just that Cedar Fair doesn't find those smaller effects to be important, for better or worse. Cedar Fair also has a history of large, standalone installations every couple of years (Firehawk, Diamondback, etc) whereas Paramount Parks did a lot of smaller, carbon-copy attractions with more theme (Italian Job: Stunt Track, Tomb Raider, Scooby Doo & The Haunted Castle). There are pros and cons of each. Myself, as a person who appreciated theme, on-ride-soundtracks, flames, fog, pre-shows, and attention-to-detail? I liked Paramount's Kings Island better. Cedar Fair's doing a fine job, though.

[CoastersRZ]

And it should be noted that the final years under the Paramount Parks banner, they were finally becoming comfortable with not having the Paramount`s name plastered in front of every mention of Kings Island.

And Paramount Communications bought the parks in July of 1992. I believe that Viacom bought Paramount at some point in 1993. That is the connection that allowed the Nickelodeon licensing in the parks. At the end of 2005, Viacom itself split into two companies, one consisting of higher growth properties and one consisting of the lower growth properties, like the Paramount Parks chain. CBS was the low growth company which Paramount Parks was situated in during the 2006 season. That was a dark year for Kings Island, as price cuts were apparent to the casual guest. CBS was in no way interested in running the parks and was trying to improve the bottom line performance of the parks to make them more attractive for a potential buyer.

**EDIT** Looks like I was beat with some information. However, Backlot still has its fire effects working, and there is still water in the splashdown, although the sprayers are no longer present.

[The Interpreter]

Yes, the Paramount Parks were under Blockbuster for a time...

But, it was Paramount Parks who moved corporate offices from Cincinnati to Charlotte, and who made quite clear the flagship park was Carowinds...not Kings Island...this happened round about the same time as the corporate move.

Note that Six Flags Entertainment Corporation just moved from New York City (near Great Adventure) to Dallas (near Six Flags Over Texas). Take that for what it's worth, which remains to be seen.

Also, CoastersRZ, I believe you mean COST cuts were apparent under CBS...not price cuts. CBS greatly raised prices, a strategy that Cedar Fair adopted as well. Cedar Fair had just cut pricing before the acquisition, even having 25 cent cotton candy. When they saw CBS's books, they abandoned the cuts for in park pricing.

[CoastersRZ]

While they may have claimed that Carowinds was the flagship park, with the exception of Afterburn, what major signature attraction did Paramount add to Carowinds during their tenure? Although, its safe to say that the market down in the Carolinas isn`t quite as competitive as it is in Cincinnati.

[The Interpreter]

After Afterburn, what major attraction did Paramount put in any of their parks? By then, they were into "cheap and cheerful" attractions (their words). See, for instance, Italian Stunt Job...

And Carowinds gets quite a bit of competition, believe it or not, for theme park dollars from Six Flags Over Georgia...the two parks watch each other carefully.

[bkroz]

Right. Towards the end of the park's run under Paramount, there were big 'press-release-worthy things happening, like Winterfest (a last-ditch effort to find a buyer by increasing the attractiveness of the park), while everyday park operation was essentially motionless. It truly was a sad time - by that point, the parks were dirty. Some of the Paramount Parks in other states had really degraded to the point that people didn't feel safe, the parks attracting the "wrong kind of people" as fight broke out (which, apparently, the park is hoping to bring back this year!). The parks weren't known for being exceptionally clean, advertisements ran rampant, and many of the effects on rides perished.

In some ways, you can't entirely blame Cedar Fair for the lack of theme. After all, in one year (and one off-season) under CBS, many of the rides effects died, with literally no attempt to revive them. Tomb Raider: The Ride was, quite literally, on its last leg. It was closed more than it was open, nearly every single light had burned out (today there's probably about a dozen theatrical lights inside the building - probably, the only ones left after CBS's year), there was no on-ride soundtrack (if you think the ride's cycle was tame, try riding it without its pulse-pounding score...) and the fog & water had been almost entirely removed. Across the park, pre-shows were shut off, lighting was reduced, and pretty much, the parks were put into a low-operation stasis until a buyer would take them over.

Cedar Fair did. They fixed up many of the parks, improved infrastructure (if you ask me), and found a fair, regulated pricing system that kept the "wrong kind of people" out (a day at Kings Dominion is nearly $15.00 more than a day at Kings Island). They replaced many of the things CBS had let rust. Not enough to bring Tomb Raider back, though...

[The Interpreter]

CBS reduced the train to ONLY waterpark transport, running it only if the waterpark was open, and only from the time it opened until it closed. Much longer under them, it would have been gone.

Viking Fury on opening day in 2006 had leaves in it...from autumn 2005.

Truly unbelievable, yet true.

[BoddaH1994]

...but to reiterate what others have said, Paramount Pictures can not be held responsible for any of Paramount Parks' "phone ins" especially in the end. Viacom, who had little to no interest in the parks from the beginning, purchased Paramount Pictures early on.

[The Interpreter]

...which makes one wonder. IF Apollo had gotten its mitts on Cedar Fair, wonder what would be happening now?

Somehow, I doubt midget wrestling would be on the agenda. Nor do I think you could buy a gold pass for the currently advertised price. Four WindSeekers? That's a very interesting question. And would Dick Kinzel still live in the parking lot at Cedar Point? Very interesting Q indeed...

[bkroz]

^^ So it wasn't their fault. Viacom wanted Paramount Pictures. It didn't want the dinky regional theme parks that came with it. But, they tried to milk it and tried to make their way into the industry. Before too long, they simply gave up. That's when they gave the parks to CBS (which, by its very nature, meant that they would be given practically no running budget in the future), who in turn, sold them for immense profit to Cedar Fair (I start to sweat when I think of how much money that one transaction entailed).

For a company that felt the same, but handled it much more efficiently, see the former Busch Entertainment parks division. Anheuser-Busch knew that it intended to sell itself, and that the parks would need to be sold. So, it immediately ended in-park, complimentary beer-sampling (thus greatly reducing the cost that any potential buyer would incur by purchasing the parks). Then, InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch in a monumental, multi-billion-dollar transaction (giving unit-holders $70 per share, I should mention). Within a year, InBev sold the Busch Entertainment division to The Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. The emancipated division was renamed "SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment." The transaction was harmonious! The parks retained their name (Busch Gardens) and numerous references to Anheuser-Busch remain in the parks - fitting, considering AB stayed on as a primary sponsor.

AB knew that any purchasing company during such trying economic times wouldn't want control of their theme parks. So, they carefully re-evaluated and updated their in-park distribution to reduce costs in preparation for sale; InBev came into control, knew beforehand that it didn't want the parks, and (most importantly) didn't fart around and cut costs and damage the park's reputation - it sold to Blackstone almost immediately, and then stayed on as a sponsor in the parks, allowing the name & some AB images to continue to be used while the parks were given a fair budget under their new owner.

And that's how you buy & sell amusement parks.

[CoastersRZ]

Speaking of very interesting Qs, have we heard anything out of Q lately?

[The Interpreter]

...And that's how you buy & sell amusement parks.

Really? Seems to me CBS maximized its return on the parks to an extent no one thought possible...and all it took was a Winterfest.

Speaking of very interesting Qs, have we heard anything out of Q lately?

As to Q, they have been strangely quiet. I do not think that will continue much longer.

[KIfan1980]

Just curious, seems a lot of folks hated the period when Paramount owned KI.

Hate is too strong a word. I'd say I was reluctant to accept the change that occurred with adding "Paramount" to the name. It took something away from the magic of what was just Kings Island - seemed too corporate. Probably made me biased about other things that they did.

I'd also reiterate a point I've made before. To me, theme at a park isn't about a ride being themed, it is about an area being themed. Personally, I prefer a street of shops with an International feel, an area where I could experience wild animals and adventure, an area with a traditional amusement rides, and a remote mining town area versus a group of rides with incredible back-story, queue houses, and on ride effects.

To my memory, this type of theme left during the "PKI" days (whether Pictures, Viacom, or CBS driven - it felt like Paramount to me, since they changed the name to that).

[bkroz]

...And that's how you buy & sell amusement parks.

Really? Seems to me CBS maximized its return on the parks to an extent no one thought possible...and all it took was a Winterfest.

A Winterfest, and a very persistent man in Sandusky...

CBS did maximize profit. I suppose what I meant was, that's how you buy and sell amusement parks if you want harmonious transitions in power, minimal re/de-branding, and the least amount of confusion for visitors, employees, and the industry. The transition between CBS and Cedar Fair Entertainment Company was anything but harmonious. Ask any former general manager. Ask the public if they've noticed a change. Ask families. Ask teens. I'm not saying it's for the better, or the worse, and it certainly varies between groups, individuals, etc. But that was not an ideal situation when it comes to park sales. For CBS? Probably. For Cedar Fair unitholders? Higher-ups? Employees? Guests?

To re-iterate what you said: Cedar Fair is not Paramount Parks...

But is SeaWorld Parks the same as Busch Entertainment? In most ways, yes.

[markr]

Just curious, seems a lot of folks hated the period when Paramount owned KI.

Hate is too strong a word. I'd say I was reluctant to accept the change that occurred with adding "Paramount" to the name. It took something away from the magic of what was just Kings Island - seemed too corporate. Probably made me biased about other things that they did.

I'd also reiterate a point I've made before. To me, theme at a park isn't about a ride being themed, it is about an area being themed. Personally, I prefer a street of shops with an International feel, an area where I could experience wild animals and adventure, an area with a traditional amusement rides, and a remote mining town area versus a group of rides with incredible back-story, queue houses, and on ride effects.

To my memory, this type of theme left during the "PKI" days (whether Pictures, Viacom, or CBS driven - it felt like Paramount to me, since they changed the name to that).

I good example of this is how Tomb Raider was built in Rivertown-what did Tomb Raider have to do with the Rivertown theme? Nothing.

[The Interpreter]

About as much as Italian Stunt Job beautified the peaceful, bucolic area it went into....

Then again, how does Diamondback fit into Rivertown?

[RD Reynolds]

Thank you guys so much for the history lesson. Very interesting.

I've been reading a couple of biographies of Walt Disney of late, and one of the issues he had with folks when planning Disneyland is they didn't understand why he wanted to spend so much on theming. They argued the landscaping and building facades were a waste of money, because people wouldn't be buying bushes as souvenirs or riding buildings. His argument is that he wanted to make DL a place that you never thought you were in the real world. He wanted it to be a true getaway from your normal life.

That's something I miss about KI, from both my youth and from the PKI days. Interestingly enough, you can still get glimpses of it, as I did just sitting by the fountain eating pizza. I looked up and down International Street, and saw some theming in the buildings, saw the glass blower, etc., and these were not things I see every day. I just wish there was more of that in the park, which was why I asked about why there was such a negative view of the Paramount days.

RD

[The Interpreter]

It was Paramount, too, that first breached the theme park wall with structures other than the Eiffel Tower being visible from the parking lot. And built that huge, ugly box beside Beast. And the wonderfully beautiful building housing Flight of Fear. And took out the monorail, the safari and the antique cars...after first letting one side sit in near ruin for years....