NYT Article on Paramount's Decline

[KIBOB]

Given the history of our park, I found this to be very interesting and revealing. While not mentioning the parks division, the last decade has certainly proven that the parks are once again in good hands.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/business/media/paramount-pictures.html

[Gordon Bombay]

That's a really good and interesting read. It's interesting how all of this would come to effect Paramount Parks as a company as well as the regional/seasonal parks they took over. The acquisition of the properties would've taken place before Redstone's acquisition. Had he not come into play, I wonder how different (for better or worse) they would've been. There's a great vintage video from a news station in Columbus covering the KECO/Paramount transition in 1993. I love hearing the optimism and bold vision for Paramount Parks, just before what truly altered any "best laid plans" as Viacom came into play. 

On one hand, the addition of the Nickelodeon properties was probably a huge boost. On the other, Paramount didn't really have any great movies that could become rides/attractions and then failed (or couldn't) leverage the films that were truly popular/good. Contrary to popular belief, Adventure Express wasn't "truly" themed to Indiana Jones (and never marketed by Paramount as such, just implied), Titanic never became any real attraction, Spieldberg associated films went to other parks, and Top Gun/Days of Thunder were already well beyond their best years of relevance. I remember taking a Paramount Parks survey once, asking if people would be interested in a ride themed to the film "The Core." I had to look up what movie that was. 

Oh, and Tomb Raider—yeah. Italian Job: Stunt Track. Piecemeal ride, forgettable film.

While I think Cedar Fair gets far, far, far, too much praise as a company, it certainly has a better vision for the parks than what Paramount/Viacom cobbled together whenever they occasionally remembered that they owned theme parks. It always struck me that PP would offer up a themed attraction one year (seemingly doubling down on the theme park business) and then do a "amusement park" ride the next. It was like they couldn't decide between going full theme park (Tomb Raider, Italian Job) or traditional regional amusement park (Son of Beast, Delirium, Drop Tower, etc.). In the end, they always seemingly missed the mark of both categories. 

And that woeful CBS year... good Lord. 

[KIBOB]

19 minutes ago, Gordon Bombay said:

That's a really good and interesting read. It's interesting how all of this would come to effect Paramount Parks as a company as well as the regional/seasonal parks they took over. The acquisition of the properties would've taken place before Redstone's acquisition. Had he not come into play, I wonder how different (for better or worse) they would've been. There's a great vintage video from a news station in Columbus covering the KECO/Paramount transition in 1993. I love hearing the optimism and bold vision for Paramount Parks, just before what truly altered any "best laid plans" as Viacom came into play. 

On one hand, the addition of the Nickelodeon properties was probably a huge boost. On the other, Paramount didn't really have any great movies that could become rides/attractions and then failed (or couldn't) leverage the films that were truly popular/good. Contrary to popular belief, Adventure Express wasn't "truly" themed to Indiana Jones (and never marketed by Paramount as such, just implied), Titanic never became any real attraction, Spieldberg associated films went to other parks, and Top Gun/Days of Thunder were already well beyond their best years of relevance. I remember taking a Paramount Parks survey once, asking if people would be interested in a ride themed to the film "The Core." I had to look up what movie that was. 

Oh, and Tomb Raider—yeah. Italian Job: Stunt Track. Piecemeal ride, forgettable film.

While I think Cedar Fair gets far, far, far, too much praise as a company, it certainly has a better vision for the parks than what Paramount/Viacom cobbled together whenever they occasionally remembered that they owned theme parks. It always struck me that PP would offer up a themed attraction one year (seemingly doubling down on the theme park business) and then do a "amusement park" ride the next. It was like they couldn't decide between going full theme park (Tomb Raider, Italian Job) or traditional regional amusement park (Son of Beast, Delirium, Drop Tower, etc.). In the end, they always seemingly missed the mark of both categories. 

And that woeful CBS year... good Lord. 

I agree, but regarding the credit given to Cedar Fair... I very much thought the same thing during the Kinzel era. While I'm grateful his reign at Cedar Fair oversaw the purchase of Paramount Parks, I was critical of the moves seen as diminishing to the individual identity of the parks. I think the fresh management brought in over the last few years has created a significant shift in priorities. Not only have we been seeing a renewed emphasis on atmosphere (theming and otherwise) and quality (while still seeing the addition of large, thrilling attractions), but we've also seen a greater commitment to the overall experience. The performance of the company is reflective upon these moves. Cedar Fair is worth much more now than it was at the end of Kinzel's tenure.

[Gordon Bombay]

18 minutes ago, KIBOB said:

The performance of the company is reflective upon these moves. Cedar Fair is worth much more now than it was at the end of Kinzel's tenure.

Couldn't agree more.

[BoddaH1994]

1 hour ago, Gordon Bombay said:

That's a really good and interesting read. It's interesting how all of this would come to effect Paramount Parks as a company as well as the regional/seasonal parks they took over. The acquisition of the properties would've taken place before Redstone's acquisition. Had he not come into play, I wonder how different (for better or worse) they would've been. There's a great vintage video from a news station in Columbus covering the KECO/Paramount transition in 1993. I love hearing the optimism and bold vision for Paramount Parks, just before what truly altered any "best laid plans" as Viacom came into play. 

On one hand, the addition of the Nickelodeon properties was probably a huge boost. On the other, Paramount didn't really have any great movies that could become rides/attractions and then failed (or couldn't) leverage the films that were truly popular/good. Contrary to popular belief, Adventure Express wasn't "truly" themed to Indiana Jones (and never marketed by Paramount as such, just implied), Titanic never became any real attraction, Spieldberg associated films went to other parks, and Top Gun/Days of Thunder were already well beyond their best years of relevance. I remember taking a Paramount Parks survey once, asking if people would be interested in a ride themed to the film "The Core." I had to look up what movie that was. 

Oh, and Tomb Raider—yeah. Italian Job: Stunt Track. Piecemeal ride, forgettable film.

While I think Cedar Fair gets far, far, far, too much praise as a company, it certainly has a better vision for the parks than what Paramount/Viacom cobbled together whenever they occasionally remembered that they owned theme parks. It always struck me that PP would offer up a themed attraction one year (seemingly doubling down on the theme park business) and then do a "amusement park" ride the next. It was like they couldn't decide between going full theme park (Tomb Raider, Italian Job) or traditional regional amusement park (Son of Beast, Delirium, Drop Tower, etc.). In the end, they always seemingly missed the mark of both categories. 

And that woeful CBS year... good Lord. 

What was your favorite part of the CBS year? Only having two shows (leaving half of the venues vacant) or the park literally not having enough money for name tags? Both are fond memories.

[Gordon Bombay]

19 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

What was your favorite part of the CBS year? Only having two shows (leaving half of the venues vacant) or the park literally not having enough money for name tags? Both are fond memories.

I particularly like “one uniform shirt per employee” and “just wear your ID badge on your belt as a name tag.” 

[CoastersRZ]

Don`t forget that during the CBS year, they made the decision to not open International Street before the park opened.  They didn`t start scanning people in until 10am, when the park opened.

[BoddaH1994]

1 hour ago, CoastersRZ said:

Don`t forget that during the CBS year, they made the decision to not open International Street before the park opened.  They didn`t start scanning people in until 10am, when the park opened.

I had completely forgotten about that!

[CoastersRZ]

Which resulted in chaos and depending on the day, it would be nearly 10:30 before you were in the park.

[McSalsa]

Yikes. I did not attend it myself (My first visit to Kings Island was in 2000, when Viacom/Paramount owned the park, and I did not return and start coming to the park "regularly" until 2009) but this CBS year sounds truly awful. I'm guessing it was 2006, right? If so, that was the same year Cedar Fair bought Kings Island and the Paramount chain, which makes me wonder if some of this awfulness was reversed immediately, or if it wasn't removed until 2007, when Cedar Fair fully took over.

[BoddaH1994]

5 hours ago, McSalsa said:

Yikes. I did not attend it myself (My first visit to Kings Island was in 2000, when Viacom/Paramount owned the park, and I did not return and start coming to the park "regularly" until 2009) but this CBS year sounds truly awful. I'm guessing it was 2006, right? If so, that was the same year Cedar Fair bought Kings Island and the Paramount chain, which makes me wonder if some of this awfulness was reversed immediately, or if it wasn't removed until 2007, when Cedar Fair fully took over.

Yes and no.

They reversed some stuff. For example, KD’s Flight of Fear was closed in 2006, and Cedar Fair almost immediately reopened it. The rumor was that they planned to move it and CF squashed that. 

Some stuff was growing pains for KI. Cedar Fair had some arrogance coming in and they did not see the value in season pass and group sales. There was no gold pass program in 2007. Attendance reflected this. Over time, it was evened out and many of Paramount’s “ways” were adopted by Cedar Fair. 

[Dan]

On 1/18/2019 at 6:04 PM, BoddaH1994 said:

..or the park literally not having enough money for name tags? Both are fond memories.

Huh? 

[Joshua]

I read this article the other day and found it worrisome and somber. In the golden age of film, Paramount Pictures was part of "The Big Five," a group of major film studios that also included MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. (no mention of their Warner sister, Dot), and RKO Pictures, the studio that produced King Kong and Citizen Kane. (Universal, United Artists, and Columbia Pictures were known as "The Little Three.")

Today, RKO is practically nonexistent and the majority of its filmography ended up in the hands of Turner Broadcasting, which eventually merged with Warner Bros. MGM is on its death crawl and has been for quite some time. Its Pre-1986 films also ended up in the hands of Turner/WB, while Fox distributes everything Post-86. Currently, it con-finances its films with other studios. And everyone knows about Fox's sale and acquisition by Disney. 

Signs of Paramount's struggles haven't gone unnoticed. For a time, its catalog titles were being distributed by Warner Home Video and they have continuously floundered their IPs. (They could do so much more with Star Trek and so much better with TMNT, for example.) A few years back, like Fox, Paramount was to be sold, but Viacom canceled it. Thus, the studio limps on, hopefully to a better fate than MGM and RKO. 

It's not all bad. I haven't been this excited about the Mission: Impossible franchise since the Brian DePalma film in 1996 and for once, they have produced a Transformers film that was actually good. Also, I've enjoyed many of their smaller films, such as Arrival and Annihilation. What they need to do is dust off Star Trek for a big screen return, acquire some other major IPs, and, in response to Universal/Blumhouse's huge success with last year's Halloween revival, shovel out whatever money it takes to clear up those Friday the 13th legal battles and bring Jason Frickin' Voorhees back from his watery grave to slash up the box office. (Also, you know, original/new stuff wouldn't hurt either...)

To bring it all back to the park, a lot of the blame goes to Viacom. They simply didn't care. Had Paramount Parks been around longer and had a history of success prior to the merger, Viacom might've properly invested into them instead of brushing them off to various subsidiaries. And it's also possible that things would've been better had the merger never happened at all. It's hard telling. In retrospect, the biggest conceit might've been purchasing a pre-existing, non-film related park, turning it into a movie park, and selling it to a general public that doesn't care about movies apart from their casual thrill on Friday night.

While Universal Studios and Disney Parks are accessible to anyone, there's no arguing that they are built for and geared towards movie/television experiences brought to life. That's part of their magic and those parks are built from the ground up to create those experiences. Paramount's amusement parks already existed, each with their own fanbase and patronage that had little to do with films. They had to work with property that already existed with rides that had themes non-specific to an IP, apart from those struck from Hanna-Barbera. For the most part, that's the way it remained even in Viacom's tenure, an amalgamation: half-movie theme park, half-general fun amusement park with Paramount decorations loosely stickered onto the Taft/KECO legacy still fresh in the general public's eye. 

The attempts to truly immerse riders into theatrical experiences were few and far between. What many consider to be their best attempt, Tomb Raider, came far too late into the game and, honestly, it shouldn't have been the first with that amount of effort and immersion. (Unfortunately, I never rode TR:TR with its original theming, so I am going on what I've seen and hear about it here.) Still, given a number of factors, up to and including the way those Tomb Raider films were conceived, produced, and handled, as well as their "**** in the wind" longevity/public appeal, it was most likely -- an unfortunately -- always doomed to fail. 

While it's sad to see another one of "The Big Five" falling from its monolith, it's amazing to see Kings Island continually rising back to their's, as CF corrects past mistakes and honors KI's legacy with acts such as overhauling I-Street and bringing the Antique Cars back. Hopefully, Paramount will do the same. 

P.S. It's silly, but the more I think about it, the more I realize my favorite thing Paramount brought to KI was not Top Gun nor the Mirthmobile nor even Marc Shaiman's score from the Addams Family playing majestically when you first strolled onto International Street. Those things were amazing, but what I love most was the Wings restaurant. They actually themed a buffet to the 1927 silent film, the first to win an Academy Award for what is now called Best Picture, and then played it on a continuous loop on the monitors while you ate your grub. That's actually pretty stinkin' incredible if you ask me!   

[Gordon Bombay]

18 hours ago, Dan said:

Huh? 

Due to budget cuts that year under CBS, nameteags were not produced for (not sure if all, but at least line) employees. Instead, employees wore their badges on their belt loops as a name tag. 

[BoddaH1994]

19 hours ago, Dan said:

Huh? 

I’d love to say if you say out 2006 you say out the right year, but there was some good (all of which was residual from 2005):

-School of Rock had its second year (it was unheard of for a show to run two years under Viacom) the show was a rock concert with a storyline and a feel good ending. It was the on par with Cirque shows in entertainment value but well above other musical shows.

-The Nickelodeon Celebration Parade returned and had new songs and new choreography. With how bad the quality was of much of Paramount Parks’ entertainment in the years leading up to it, this was an incredibly pleasant surprise.

[Leland Wykoff]

A documentary was produced in 2002 concerning Paramount Pictures, The Kid Stays in the Picture, and the near death sentence it received under ownership by the Gulf+Western conglomerate.  It is quite the view and is instructive of many of the forces which continue to shape and influence Entertainment Companies (even CedarFair).  Following is a link to the IMBD entry for The Kid Stays in the Picture.  Enjoy the read, and if you are interested in about a couple of hours of good film, stream the film on one of the services where it can be found.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303353/

[BoddaH1994]

-Titanic

-Forrest Gump

-Star Trek

-Saving Private Ryan

The lack of intellectual properties is a less-than-stellar excuse for why Paramount didn't make their parks "regional Universals."  Above are just a few that could have been played creatively into their hands.  It was doomed from the start.  Paramount purchased the parks and had no idea what they were getting themselves into.  They couldn't justify the absorbinate cost of operating and upkeep.  Viacom stepped in early on and had little interest in the parks to begin with, and it fizzled from there.  Issues with stock growth forced the company to split and that was the beginning of the end of the chain.

Were these the darkest years of KI?  Oh, god no.  Even 2006 wasn't the worst.  While bad, everything CBS did was reversible. 

If you look at the lush Disney-esque landscaping, detailed architecture, roaming entertainment, and over all quality of the 1970's and then zip ahead to the asphalt jungle that we enjoyed until recently, there is one man responsible for cut after cut after cut: Mr Carl Linder.  He ran the park the way he runs all of his other "side projects."  Linder's ownership of the park was tantamount to a car accident and the progress of the physical therapy are only slowing being seen today.  

[CoastersRZ]

On 1/21/2019 at 12:37 AM, BoddaH1994 said:

I’d love to say if you say out 2006 you say out the right year, but there was some good (all of which was residual from 2005):

-School of Rock had its second year (it was unheard of for a show to run two years under Viacom) the show was a rock concert with a storyline and a feel good ending. It was the on par with Cirque shows in entertainment value but well above other musical shows.

-The Nickelodeon Celebration Parade returned and had new songs and new choreography. With how bad the quality was of much of Paramount Parks’ entertainment in the years leading up to it, this was an incredibly pleasant surprise.

I still wish that some form of the Celebration Parade would return.  The atmosphere of the park when the parade was going on was electric.  The parade did not run all season at KI, but rather the floats traveled to all five Paramount Parks.  I too like the Winterfest Parade they had.  With the current incarnation of Winterfest, a parade is not needed due to the abundance of entertainment elsewhere.  It would be cool to have a parade return during the peak summer season in mid-June through early August.

[BoddaH1994]

9 minutes ago, CoastersRZ said:

I still wish that some form of the Celebration Parade would return.  The atmosphere of the park when the parade was going on was electric.  The parade did not run all season at KI, but rather the floats traveled to all five Paramount Parks.  I too like the Winterfest Parade they had.  With the current incarnation of Winterfest, a parade is not needed due to the abundance of entertainment elsewhere.  It would be cool to have a parade return during the peak summer season in mid-June through early August.

Didn't we get our hands on info for an international event that included a parade this year?

[Dan]

On 1/21/2019 at 12:37 AM, BoddaH1994 said:

-The Nickelodeon Celebration Parade returned and had new songs and new choreography. With how bad the quality was of much of Paramount Parks’ entertainment in the years leading up to it, this was an incredibly pleasant surprise.

I said "huh?" because I didn't remember the name tag thing. CBS decided they wanted to sell the parks and based every decision they made on what would help them sell the parks for the most money.

The Nick parade was a massive hit. It could have rivaled the Disney parades if CF kept Nick licensing.

And Carl Linder was definitely the worst owner just like he was the worst owner of the Reds.

[BoddaH1994]

1 hour ago, Dan said:

I said "huh?" because I didn't remember the name tag thing. CBS decided they wanted to sell the parks and based every decision they made on what would help them sell the parks for the most money.

The Nick parade was a massive hit. It could have rivaled the Disney parades if CF kept Nick licensing.

And Carl Linder was definitely the worst owner just like he was the worst owner of the Reds.

Wait... where have you been???

[Joshua]

On January 22, 2019 at 5:26 PM, BoddaH1994 said:

The lack of intellectual properties is a less-than-stellar excuse for why Paramount didn't make their parks "regional Universals." 

That's an aspect I personally choose to focus on because I was always disappointed by the lack of solid IPs used for the parks. Of course there were far worse issues with Paramount Parks, but it's still a fair criticism. They had plenty of IPs to work with, but went with Face/Off and Drop Zone because their titles sounded cool.

Of course, it's probably for the best they didn't go all in. We could've lost more classic rides and up with others damaged by new theming in the process.