How would everybody feel if Cedar Fair lost the bid to buy KI and a different company bought the park instead? Read about each company online and what would be different, the same, and other miscellaneous items. The companies are: DISNEY, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, MERLIN ENTERTAINMENT, SIX FLAGS, HERSCHEND FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT, PARQUES REUNIDOS, and SEAWORLD ENTERTAINMENT/BUSCH GARDENS.

No Blackstone?

No Blackstone?

Blackstone is a BANK like what Apollo is. Blackstone is a majority owner in Seaworld and Merlin.

Blackstone is NOT a bank.

Apollo Gobal is NOT a bank.

Blackstone is NOT a majority owner of SeaWorld Entertainment.

Blackstone is NOT a bank.

Apollo Gobal is NOT a bank.

Blackstone is NOT a majority owner of SeaWorld Entertainment.

Blackstone is NOT a bank.

Apollo Gobal is NOT a bank.

Blackstone is NOT a majority owner of SeaWorld Entertainment.

Apollo and Blackstone are INVESTMENT BANKING FIRMS. Look it up. BLACKSTONE lowered ownership in Seaworld is why their attendance dropped and finances dropped. Just look it up.

I don't have to look it up.

They are not banks.

An "investment banking firm" is not a bank.

They do not accept "deposits."

Herschend would have rocked :::

If six flags bought Paramount parks The Racer would be gone and the iron racer would take over

If six flags bought Paramount parks The Racer would be gone and the iron racer would take over

How would you feel in The Beast had a "Rocky Mountain Makeover"

If six flags bought Paramount parks The Racer would be gone and the iron racer would take over

Both Six Flags and Racer are trademarks. As such, they are always capitalized here.

Also, just wait....

If six flags bought Paramount parks The Racer would be gone and the iron racer would take over

How would you feel in The Beast had a "Rocky Mountain Makeover"

About the same way I feel about square tail lights on the new Corvette! Now, it WOULD be cool for a park to build an RMC Beast clone, so we could experience it without *******izing a Classic!! Imagine an inline roll coming out of the curve right before the second lift hill!

^^You're not implying...

A world where we have a steel Racer is a world I don't want to live in.

No matter what they say, you can't call it a wooden coaster after that make-over.

I'd take Herschend by a mile.

I'm not a finance guy, so just conceptually discussing who I think would be a good owner in terms of their style:

• I think the park is too big for Herschend. That's not really their expertise. They do manage Darian Lake, but that's STILL a step or two behind Kings Island's size and scope. Darian Lake ain't makin' any top 10 most visited seasonal parks in the U.S....

• Parques, I think, would actually be a good fit. They seem to do well with Parque Warner and Parque de Atracciones, which - again conceptually - I think Kings Island should strive to be more like. They seem to be sort of the masters of maintaining and respecting the past, building for the future, and keeping power de-centralized so each park has its own identity and leadership and story. I like that.

• Merlin would also be a great fit. Their UK parks are outrageously cool and wonderful. They know what they're doing. They need a way to enter into the U.S. business beyond LEGOLAND, and acquiring some great seasonal parks would be a nice step. Their ideology also meshes well with Cedar Fair's, but takes it up a notch - coasters, but with a purpose. Well done theming and animal encounters and history and design. They could do wonders.

• I only see SIX getting the park if it's through a third party or through a merger / partnership with Cedar Fair. It seems unlikely to me that Cedar Fair would knowingly allow their primary industry alternative to come into possession of one of their top three parks. They probably wouldn't want SIX to control Cedar Point's primary competitor, and one of America's top three most visited theme parks.

• SeaWorld / Busch would - conceptually - make me giddy. I have yet to encounter a SeaWorld Parks park that wasn't lovingly cared for, wonderfully staffed, and filled with delicious food and drink. Obviously, current finances would probably make it wise for Kings Island to not be under SEAS' ownership.

Why is this topic being created? Is Kings Island giving up they're rights to Cedar Fair?

Here's a few zany thoughts:

In 2002, Universal Orlando's then-half-owner Vivendi was looking to lose its half of the resort (which was way in the red thanks to a lack of investment, post-9/11 vacation dropout, and the low attendance at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure - a dark time for the resort).

When asked by Reuters, Disney CFO Tom Staggs said of a possible acquisition: "Any assets that are in our core business that come available, we would certainly take a look at. Our primary focus is our core business. To the extent we can do an acquisition that is not dilutive to the earnings or cash flow, we'll take a look." Disney's stock was at a 52-week low post-9/11, so they obviously didn't go through with it.

Instead, General Electric snatched up Universal for $3.8 billion.

Vivendi was asking for $14 billion.

But can you imagine if Walt Disney World had six parks divided into two resorts, one up the road from the other? Weird. Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Doubtful. New Fantasyland? Equally unlikely. Avatar? I don't think so.

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Another fun thought... I was researching for a proper Geauga Lake article for Theme Park Tourist and came across a few different takes on the story concerning the merger of SeaWorld Ohio and Six Flags Ohio. The one we all know is the whole county-line-coaster-height-rule, or maybe the non-compete-agreement theory.

A third theory I uncovered in my research was that, re-branded as a Six Flags, Six Flags Ohio refused to continue the cross-promotion with SeaWorld that they'd traditionally always done, and SeaWorld's attendance was hurting for it. So SeaWorld made the offer to purchase Six Flags Ohio not with the intention of combining them, but with the intention of owning both separate parks so that they could control promotions and marketing and create a two-day, two-park destination. (At the time, Geauga Lake / Six Flags was still a reasonably sized family park.)

Obviously Six Flags refused and counter-offered, combining the two parks into Worlds of Adventure. But it begs the question: if that's true, might we have seen (or even still have) SeaWorld Ohio and Busch Gardens Ohio across from each other around Geauga Lake? If SeaWorld had bought Six Flags Ohio with intention to operate it, it makes sense that they would've folded it into the Busch Gardens brand, right?

Even so, if it had taken that path, and given today's climate, it might STILL be closed. But weird to think about.

Why is this topic being created? Is Kings Island giving up they're rights to Cedar Fair?

Kings Island's got no rights to Cedar Fair. Just responsibilities.

Cedar Fair is a theme park owner / operator who owns 11 theme parks in the U.S. and Canada, manages an additional one, and owns one stand-alone water park. One of the parks they own is Kings Island.

Not too many years ago, Cedar Fair owned and operated only seven parks. Kings Island wasn't one of them. It was owned and operated by a division of Paramount (then Viacom and later CBS) called Paramount Parks. In 2006, Cedar Fair purchased all five Paramount Parks for $1.24 billion and folded those parks into their own, uniting them within their brand identity. That's when "Paramount's" left the park's name and film titles / references were more or less removed from the park.

Cedar Fair has a particular style of ownership and management - just like any owner does or would!

Just for fun, the original poster is having us imagine what it might be like if back then, Cedar Fair hadn't been the ones to buy Paramount Parks. What if Herschend Family Entertainment (owners of Dollywood and Silver Dollar City) had? What if Parques Reunidos had? What if Busch Entertainment had? Universal?

Cedar Fair owns Kings Island and hasn't expressed any interest in letting it go. Some of the wisest among us foresee a not-too-distant future where Cedar Fair is no longer the owner of Kings Island, but for now it's just brainstorming and imagining and wondering what things could be like.

Why is this topic being created? Is Kings Island giving up they're rights to Cedar Fair?

No, I just wanted to know what others would think if Cedar Fair DIDN'T buy KI.

^^ Oh ok. I was scared there for a few minutes. My bad, carry on!

A big take away from this is to enjoy the parks while we can. CF seems to be entering a golden time for the parks. An emphasis on the past while building strong park portfolios. Creating parks to cater to families and thrill seekers both. No one really knows just how long this era will last and what will happen afterwards. I hadn't really been back to KI since the CBS days and this year I have noticed a genuine improvement of the park. It's a place I'm happy to take my son.

It would be interesting to see Kings Island owned by Universal, it would be nice to see movie based shows and rides again. It would also be cool to see Marval and The Simpsons too, would it be better than Paramount? I really liked Paramount so if Universal ever owned Kings Island it would really have to impress me, but it would be cool to see it happen.

Disney now owns Marvel...

I thought Marvel was at Universal?

Universal has a contract in place granting them limited exclusive rights to use Marvel characters in their parks, possibly only within a certain geographic area (I'm not familiar with the contract). That contract predates Disney's purchase of Marvel, and furthermore is apparently perpetual (i.e. no ending date), so Disney's stuck unless they can talk Universal into mutually terminating the contract (which would almost certainly require giving them huge amounts of cash).

If someone could take the time to share specifically why he believes Cedar Fair may not own the park in the not too distant future I'd appreciate it. Don't get yourself in trouble though.

In an ideal world, If Cedar Fair goes, I'd like to see a good family take over Kings Island. Good ones are few and far between, but nobody else treats a park like their baby.

Maybe Comcast has some extra cash in their pockets now? But I doubt they would ever buy seasonal parks. Universal Studios was just an asset in the NBC/Universal package. While it is a profit making asset, it did put Comcast in a place that not many companies have been. Its able to directly complete with the largest entertainment company Disney on most every business level. A group of seasonal parks would just not be a good investment.

Universal owns the rights to Marvel for any theme park east of the Mississippi River.

Subject to some very important caveats and limitations.

It'd take a Philadelphia lawyer weeks to opine on that. And if you asked 46, you'd get 46 opinions. Or more.

Some computer chair lawyers have also stated that the deal was for Universal to put Marvel into their parks but never did.... So some speculate that outside of the immediate vicinity, a park could have Marvel.... Could maybe or possibly are key words for who knows except for some very fine legal reps from the park chains

And the courts.

Which it may eventually come to.

Or, a contract modification in exchange for a monetary consideration.