What can we expect from Cedar Fair?

[screamingnight]

I for one hope for a strata coaster. Maybe breaking Kingda Ka`s record?

[Erosarrow05]

youre gonna be wishing till the cows come home...

[The New England Snapper]

I expect nothing, why, becuase Cedar Fair only cares about the money, unlike Paramount. paramount want familys to come and have fun and have a great time. Cedar Fair wants us to come and spend all our money so they get richer and they have stupid rules...like sepertators for coaster. why cant we sit were we want to?? do they have a problem were we sit? i just dont like whats comin ahead. i say Cedar Fair ruins the park they are copycats to!! they copy everypark around them. this is so unfair, i would rather have paramount keep the parks. if Cedar Fair ruins this park ,I just wont come.

I hate to break it to you but.... The park was already ruined! Paramount wasnt investing enough money into the parks and the parks were becoming run down and focused on cutting back on budget.

Ill be completely honest with everyone that reads this....those of you who know me, my name is Brandon and I was a Supervisor on WWC last year! I've worked at PKI for 2 seasons and was on the greatest BEAST crew ever! BEAST 04'!!!

I recently visited the park last mon for the first time since I moved up to Agawam Mass to work for Six Flags New England! Here are my thoughts...

Boring employees and they def werent as friendly as recent years! Dispatch times were horrible! Y are we stacking all 3 trains on Vortex? Seriously! No one seemed to be happy! It was sad to see! I love PKI with all my heart and all my great friends out there that work at the park IM not hatting!

I went to Cedar Point the day after and darn! There employees really changed sinced recent years! I met this guy Steve, he was working TTD and by far the best GR that i have ever seen in ANY park! He was goving people high fives and always smiling and pumping you up to ride the ride! It was a great feeling! MF broke down and the workers went out to GR on the ready breaks for 15 min! The park was spotless and I relized why it truely is the best of the best!

Im not saying CP has friendlier workers but everyone at KI needs to step it up a notch like we all did last year!

[Captain Picard]

I expect to see a drop in attendance, less investing money and better employees over the next three years. The drop in attendance will be the result of the last three years of nothing with the next three.

I don't think you will see a big attraction because there will be no money for it. If anything it would be something smaller like SkyHawk or Delirium and some concrete.

[The Interpreter]

Or the drop in attendance will result from marketing no longer being allowed to "give away the gate" what with thousands and thousands of radio contest winners per summer, attending everything from opening day to Nights of Fire to Labor Day Weekend; not to mention the scads and scads of "Bring A Friend Free" days.

The admission price will no doubt go down, the season pass prices will almost certainly rise markedly. Though there will be somewhat fewer guests in the park, what guests there are will spend more per capita and have a better time, as there won't be as many guests who are being babysat by the park. Moreover, Six Flags down the road certainly has no incentive to try to compete pricewise with Cedar Fair, and Six Flags up the road (Columbus) both never was much of a factor, but also will be gone.

And I don't see investment as being any less than it would have been under CBS. I have come to believe that the difference in the way the park was ran this season from seasons past was not due to the park being for sale, but due rather to the fact that it was CBS who was running/budgeting it, and not Viacom.

When CBS got the parks, the only goal was to get rid of them. Soon they will have. I will miss Viacom. I will NOT miss CBS. Cedar Fair will at least do as well, and will probably do far better than CBS ever would have.

[TheKlockster]

Hey maybe Son of Beast will get the Intamin track after all - as PKINick kept talking about. But then again - maybe it will get the boot in favor of something new and not as high maintenence.

I think we will get some good rides - but not for a a few years.

In the mean time I will be enjoying Kings Island, and the free admission into Cedar Point (assuming there is an Ohio Pass - cause if there is I will buy it).

[KIfan73]

I for one hope for a strata coaster. Maybe breaking Kingda Ka`s record?

That would be awesome.

[Flying Eagles 1972-2004]

I hope the bring a friend free days die rapidly. They suck, and all it does is make the park miserably crowded.

They'd do much better just giving passholders a ticket that can be used any time, as bringing your friends to the park when they have 40,000+ for the BAFFD does NOT leave a very good impression.

[KIBeast]

I think we will get some good rides - but not for a a few years.

Why do you think that? KI makes enough money on its' own to pay for their new attractions. Now, of course next year, CF will honor whatever installation that they were planning. After that, it's CF's decision and they know that KI may not be the flagship park, but it has to be a close 2nd.

[CoastersRZ]

Well, Kings Island will be one of their four parks that has attendance of more than 3 million. I don`t think that KI will be neglected.

[Gordon Bombay]

I see PKI and PCW as the gems in the sale, both get over 3 million in attendance and are highly profitable parks, not to say carowinds, dominion, or great america are any worse but they dont make the profit or attendance that pki and pcw does, it wouldnt surprise me to see CF treat those two better than the other paramount parks like how they do with KBF and CF compared to GL and Dorney.

[ragerunner]

Two or Three world record breaking coasters. The biggest collection of thrill rides in the world, the best workers ever, cleaner than disney, shows that will make Broadway look stupid, food that is cheaper than any park in the world and of course the best in the world, landscaping the will make Epcot and BGE look bad, cheap ticket prices, season passes that will get you into every park on the planet and a resort complex larger than Walt Disney World.

Honestly, we probably will see some improvements in some categories, and unimprovements in other categories. The park will be well maintained (because it does make good money) but this concept that Cedar Fair is going to turn KI into the most incredible park, just like all their other incredible parks, is crazy.

[TheKlockster]

PKI won't get neglected - but I don't think they are going to take over and start plastering the park with Intarides and Beemarides. Partly because they are so expensive - and partly because the park isn't DESPERATE for one - I don't see us getting one for a little while. But it will come.

But I am sure that ALOT will be changing each year for the next few years. The Coke-Pepsi transition, lots and lots of new paint, new concrete and some minor new rides to keep the public coming back every year. Then eventually a big coaster.

Look at Cedar Point - they got Millennium Force in 2000 and then Dragster in 2003. Then a new coaster for 2007. So it's not like THEY are getting groundbreaking rides left and right...

[CoastersRZ]

But, sprinkled in there were two flat rides, and Wicked Twister.

I don`t think we will be seeing too much new paint and concrete. Because other than Coney Mall and Octoberfest, most of the other areas have been updated recently with those ammenities. Yes, I certainly don`t think a B&M is in the future of KI for the next two seasons. However, hopefully KI will get a B&M coaster eventually. I think that a B&M coaster would be an excellent fit for a park like KI and would please park guests.

And even the smaller parks like Dorney, and Worlds of Fun have a B&M coaster. While Michigan`s Adventure doesn`t quite yet, the size of that park is not to the size of what PKI is.

[TheKlockster]

Michigans Adventure doesn't nearly have the attendance to warrant putting in a 15-20 million dollar roller coaster. PKI however does.

I for one hope they get rid of the blacktop and Action Zone concrete and replace it with that Nick o Crete - like you see in Nickelodeon Universe and Boomerang Bay - but they probably won't. It looks nice, is cooler temperature wise, and is less maintenence/cleaning than blacktop. That coney blacktop gets pretty nasty on a hot crowded day.

[TopThrill]

The things that I would like to see be changed are. MORE medium sized can's, coney mall is the only place were theres enough can's to even out the trash load. I-street has the big light gray color'd ones, I-Street zone is the two sides(about 42 can's), Eiffel Tower(23 can's), Paramount Story(5 can's), Carousel(7 can's, in total 129 can's.

Action Zone had the red mess metal with the rubber incerts, its jointed up with Oktoberfest which has the brown can's. Theres close to 80+ there. Old Coney has 80 can's. RiverTown has 49 can's the brown ones, Nick Universe has 93 can's new dark gray cans, those are new ones. Boomerang Bay has 94 medium sized blue can's. That comes out to around 525 can's. My numbers in I-street, coney mall may be a little off.

And yes lower the food prices, and through out the park to.

[Vortex]

They'd do much better just giving passholders a ticket that can be used any time, as bringing your friends to the park when they have 40,000+ for the BAFFD does NOT leave a very good impression.

Didn't Kings Island do this before Paramount owned the parks. My friend had a season pass and he got 2 free tickets that you could use anytime during the year, but this was in 1988. Also he got some free food at the time on some dates.

[The Interpreter]

TopThrill: Cedar Point (and EVERY Cedar Fair park) is known for having at least six visible trash cans within 100 feet of anywhere you can be in the park...except in the restroom stalls....and I am just barely overstating things.

Plenty of trash cans will be added. Of that I am certain.

[cincyboy0830]

TopThrill:  Cedar Point (and EVERY Cedar Fair park) is known for having at least six visible trash cans within 100 feet of anywhere you can be in the park...except in the restroom stalls....and I am just barely overstating things.

Plenty of trash cans will be added.  Of that I am certain.

Them trash cans aren't cheap either...trash cans are relativaly expensive with all that plastic.

[CoastersRZ]

Well, at one point, there were a lot of trash cans sitting behind Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle, back behind where Starbucks is at. Not sure if they are still piled up back there or if that was just temporary storage for earlier in the season.

I remember while at Beast Bash last October, Ryan was talking to one of the ecology guys by The Beast entrance. And like you were doing TopThrill, this guy was rattling off how many trash cans were in each area. The thing is though, that rides like The Beast, Racer, Vortex, Top Gun to name a few, have additional cans in their queue lines that the rides crews are responsible for.

[KIBeast]

Hey maybe Son of Beast will get the Intamin track after all - as PKINick kept talking about. But then again - maybe it will get the boot in favor of something new and not as high maintenence.

The gauge of the Intamin pre-fabricated track would have to be the same as SOB. Not sure if it is or isn't.

[CoastersRZ]

Well, I`m sure that Intamin could manufacture their prefab track to fit the current track guage of Son of Beast. The question would be does Cedar Fair see that as a cost effective remedy for SoB`s issues. Or would they rather remove the ride then deal with all the costly upkeep that has been associated with that ride. Only time will tell what they do with it, but I think it will be a few years before they do anything drastic to the ride.

[Gordon Bombay]

I'm sure Intamin would bemore than happy to do it, and I'm, sure theyd be just as happy to charge accordingly. Son of Beast really isnt that much worse than The Beast now though. I rode last night in seat 12 (second from the front) and I had the time of my life on it then I rode in seat 13 (third from the front and a wheel seat) and it was bumby, but the wheel seats on The Beast are far more worse. SOB's real problem is the trains, if it wasnt for their terrible design most people would be able to take the kncoking around and not worry about the restraint attempting to murder them.

[TopThrill]

I agree with somthing has to be done with SOB, I remeber someone telling about on a busy or packed day Top Gun would have a 45 min to an hour line. But SOB would have a short 15 min to 5 min wait. If I can remeber those trash can's by IJST they cost around 900 dollors, and the tops are funny how there a little opening for trash. Then if they get full, they can turn into a SOB sized bag .

[CoastersRZ]

Well, the day you were there might have been the exception to the rule. All the busy days I`ve been at the park this season Son of Beast has had a rather long line, if not longer than Top Gun.

[hidden_agenda]

I think it is really unfair for people to make the generalization about the employees at PKI. You can't encounter a couple of employees and come to the conclusion that the park is unfriendly. Granted there are some poor employees working at the park but it's ridiculous to come to that conclusion based on a couple of people.

Also, the entertainment statement was complete nonsense. Of course there is an entertainment department, the department I have been apart of for 4 years. Its smaller now but it is certainly there. Visit School of Rock, concerts, Nick Meet and Greet, etc. We are there and we are all extremely friendly people.

In regards to Cedar Fair, things are not going to change as drastically as some of you may think this year. We, as I have been informed, will finish off the season without many changes. Most of the tweeking will be done during down time (end of season- FF) and then when Winterfest is over. Things may change, its just one of those things you have to play by ear.

[WooferBearATL]

I think it is really unfair for people to make the generalization about the employees at PKI. You can't encounter a couple of employees and come to the conclusion that the park is unfriendly. Granted there are some poor employees working at the park but it's ridiculous to come to that conclusion based on a couple of people.

Also, the entertainment statement was complete nonsense. Of course there is an entertainment department, the department I have been apart of for 4 years. Its smaller now but it is certainly there. Visit School of Rock, concerts, Nick Meet and Greet, etc. We are there and we are all extremely friendly people.

In regards to Cedar Fair, things are not going to change as drastically as some of you may think this year. We, as I have been informed, will finish off the season without many changes. Most of the tweeking will be done during down time (end of season- FF) and then when Winterfest is over. Things may change, its just one of those things you have to play by ear.

Well, with all due respect, I'm not quite certain that anyone at this point knows exactly how quickly or how radically things will change.

From the press release that Interpreter quoted it certainly sounds that CF is taking an Iron Fist approach.

[CoastersRZ]

Personally, I think you might be reading way too much into that quote from the press release. Yes, technically Cedar Fair does have full control of all the Paramount Parks now. But are they in any hurry to make any changes to the parks before the end of the season? Keep in mind that when Paramount bought the parks back in 1992, they had control of the parks at the end of July, and did not institute any major name changes until the following season. Granted they had one less month than what Cedar Fair has.

I just don`t get why people think changes are going to be quick and widesweeping at KI this season. Cedar Fair has said that the general public will not notice any signifcant changes at the Paramount Parks this season. Sure, some minor day to day operations may change (such as the front gate procedure which has already been altered), but I wouldn`t look for the immediate dropping of the Paramount moniker before at least the end of October. But stranger things have happened.

[TopThrill]

Well I was wrong about SOB CoastersRZ, about the waits. The other things that I hope gets better is, on the major rides and coasters that there fully staffed. When I was at CP last May on the first half day it rain'd, Everything we got on was still fully staffed. I think on the first day CF came to the park, They look at the back areas and gott'em all cleaned up. Some of you don't know that there is a Main Dump thats right behind Fairly Odd Coaster. That one is really clean now, you can see it from the Eiffel Tower just look behind FOC its a big brown object.