Cedar Fair's Dick Kinzel Inducted into IAAPA Hall of Fame

[vortexdemon05]

SANDUSKY, Ohio, November 17, 2006 – Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) on Wednesday, Nov. 15 during the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2006, the association’s annual conference and trade show in Atlanta.

IAAPA is the largest international trade association for permanently situated amusement facilities and represents more than 4,500 facility, supplier and individual members from more than 85 countries.

“This year we are inducting two legends in the amusement park business,†said Charlie Bray, IAAPA President and CEO. “Dick Kinzel manned the helm of a merger that grew Cedar Fair into a 12-park operation with revenues in excess of $1 billion.â€Â

Under Kinzel’s leadership, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company has grown from two parks generating $96 million in revenue in 1986 to 17 parks generating approximately $1 billion in revenues annually. The company introduced the first 200-foot-tall, 300-foot-tall and 400-foot-tall roller coasters in the world and has distributed approximately $1.2 billion in cash to its investors since first going public in 1987. “His continued hard work and love for the industry has helped to make Cedar Fair Entertainment Company what it is today, one of the world’s largest and most successful regional amusement park/resort operators,†said Jack Falfas, Cedar Fair’s chief operating officer.

Prior to becoming the chief executive officer in 1986, Kinzel served as the vice president and general manager of Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minn., after it was acquired in 1978. Kinzel began his career in the amusement park industry at Cedar Point in 1972, where he worked as a supervisor in the foods division. He went on to become the director of park operations at Cedar Point in 1975 and held this position until his promotion to vice president and general manager of Valleyfair.

Kinzel has been very active in IAAPA, serving on the Board of Directors for two terms, as well as the Executive and Finance committees.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Kinzel attended the University of Wisconsin at Lacrosse. He has also received an honorary doctorate of business administration degree from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. Kinzel was voted the 1998 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Northwest Ohio.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio, is one of the largest regional amusement park/resort operators in the world. The company owns and operates 12 amusement parks, five outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and six hotels. Its parks are located in Ohio, California, North Carolina, Virginia/District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, and Toronto, Ontario.

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Congrats Dick Kinzel let the CF and PP franchise excel!!!

[CoastersRZ]

Uhh, this really isn`t new news. It is more than a week old.

[WooferBearATL]

Uhh, this really isn`t new news. It is more than a week old.

I missed it. In what other thread was this posted?

[CoastersRZ]

I don`t think it was posted in a thread by itself. It was briefly mentioned in this thread about IAAPA. And I was only referring to the fact that the press release was dated the 17th of November.