The Interpreter Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Not to be missed: http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/27676.aspx The link to the interview can be found in this thread. Very well done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Very well done indeed. Mr. Ouimet is no Dick Kinzel, that's for sure. Love his comments on ride capacity and making the beach more of a focal point. The road ahead for Cedar Fair seems very bright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Very nice! I did notice a Disney slip-up: at 7:26 he used the term "annual passholders" instead of "season passholders". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium13 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Very impressive! I cannot wait to see what he has in store for the company and the parks. That interview just further enforces my view that the company is in good hands, he just seems to 'get it'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagoda Gift Shop Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I think season pass and annual pass are pretty much the same thing. Knotts is open almost year round anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGatorHead 8904 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Wow. The more interviews I see with him, the more impressed I am. It looks like Cedar Fair is in good hands, and I can't wait to see the direction he takes the company. I like that he said that for KI and KD, the 2 parks in 1 is a great marketing tool. Let's keep it that way! Also caught another Disney-ism. At one point when he was talking about having something for the guests at night, he referred to it as "a kiss goodnight". For those of you that don't know what that is in Disney terms, at the end of each night, some time after the official "closing time" as guests are leaving the park, they light up Cinderella Castle in various colors. It's not as impressive as The Magic, the Memories and You presentation, but it's a nice touch to end the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel_SoB_fan Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Gator the kiss goodnight is probably the most underrated "show" on the MK lineup every day. Man I miss working at MK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSalsa Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Great interview. Some points I'd like to make: #1-He stated that Cedar Fair WILL still add coasters every now & then, but not so often that when they DO add a new coaster, it will feel "special". I agree- if Kings Island built 5 coasters in 5 years, I would, by year 4, be saying "Another coaster? Really? Can't we get something else, like a flat or water ride or something?". Not to mention the lesser coasters built during the period would only be popular for a fleeting moment. We should, however, get at least a small-medium sized roller coaster every 3-5 years or so, and/or 1 "Biggie" each decade. #2-He talked about Fast Lane, and I believe him- for a family that isn't going to be able to go to KI a lot, this is a great option to offer. But yes, do limit them- Ouimet was not in charge yet during HH 2011, but from what I've heard, they may have sold A TON more Fast Lane passes then needed. It may have been a "test" ("Exactly how many can we sell before it really hurts the regular lines?") or it could have been greed, I don't know. I just don't want to be waiting 1 1/2 hours for Beast on a weekend in May (normal crowd levels, normal wait 30-45 mins) because they sold too many Fast Lane passes. #3-I agree, the Beach at Cedar Point must be used more. Also, they need to upgrade their water park- right now, if me and my family visited Cedar Point, we would actually IGNORE the water park because it is so small compared to Kings Island and Holiday World's Waterparks (then again, Splashin' Safari kicks butt and only a few waterparks can compete with them!) Just my opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Wykoff Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 The awareness and management of park aesthetics by Matt Ouimet is refreshing. The new open views along the Cedar Point midway is an example of making the built environment work to your advantage. The rides and what not will provide excellent backgrounds for the Luminosity events. Mr. Ouimet's focus on employees and leadership from all corners of the park are a welcome departure from the past. Ouimet knows everyone has something positive to contribute--if you let and lead them to contribute. It is a leadership climate situation. Agree the beach at Cedar Point needs to be more of an active part of the resort. It is an attraction requiring little capital outlay but offering huge potential gains. The expansion of camping and cabins is a reasonable and productive move. The refreshment of hotels as an ongoing process suggests Ouimet sees much work which must be accomplished. Stretching out the capital expenditures to accomplish the renovations speaks to the great level of need. But in this we can see Ouimet is looking to the future and a more rational application of capital expenditure allocations. He knows ongoing refreshment of the hospitality areas is necessary for the long term health of the company. Look to see more CapEx money regularly directed to these maintenance and improvement of product projects. The FastLane revenues will likely supply the additional capital necessary to address ride capacity issues. With the extra revenue they can add more trains and improve capacity. Which will make the FastLane customers not be such a drag upon the ride times--they essentially will pay for extra capacity which will benefit all guests. Good to see Ouimet is working to address capacity and delay issues. The FUNforward plan also hinted at these plans. He knows to improve the experience requires guests to spend less time on ride lines and more time doing. It is also helpful to acknowledge people standing on line for hours do not spend more money on park. Each minute Cedar Fair can give back to the guest is another revenue opportunity. FUNforward presentation also alluded to the replacement of rides with high maintenance or operating costs. Ouimet has spoken of the need to reduce the cost of acquiring rides--possibly by working with manufactures to improve design and lower development costs by ordering multiple rides. Wind Seeker may serve as a model of such a strategy. While the interview was Cedar Point centric, being shot at the Point and all, we extrapolate and know the good vibes are resonating at each park in the Cedar Fair system. It will be interesting to continue following the Kings Island board to read of the improvements and new directions as they reach KI and are integrated. Congratulations are in order to Jeff, at CoasterBuzz, for the excellent video and interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 FUNforward presentation also alluded to the replacement of rides with high maintenance or operating costs. We're seeing this already. The Crypt is gone. What's the next (or maybe, previous?) ride at Kings Island with high maintenance and operating costs? Like it or not, sometimes it's good business sense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 It has been said the Carolina GM, son of the former CEO, is high maintenance and has high operating costs. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 ^ oh, snap! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 FUNforward presentation also alluded to the replacement of rides with high maintenance or operating costs. We're seeing this already. The Crypt is gone. What's the next (or maybe, previous?) ride at Kings Island with high maintenance and operating costs? Like it or not, sometimes it's good business sense... Yeah, but doesn't Diamondback and The Beast also have high maintenance and operating costs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 And virtually no downtime. That can't be said for The Crypt or Standing But Not Operating. The latter had other associated costs, too...from litigation to public image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTheater Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 It has been said the Carolina GM, son of the former CEO, is high maintenance and has high operating costs. I was told he was "the best man for the job." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Wykoff Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 We have another telling interview with CEO Matt Ouimet. Some very interesting observations and clarifications: http://www.ceocfointerviews.com/interviews/FUN-CedarFair12.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 We have another telling interview with CEO Matt Ouimet. Some very interesting observations and clarifications: http://www.ceocfoint...CedarFair12.htm Great article! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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