November 14, 200717 yr Nah, I'm too lazy. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 13, 200817 yr Point lists plans for '08 By JANET NGUYEN | Saturday January 12 2008, 8:00pm SANDUSKY New shows. New rides. New children's area. For the 2008 season, Cedar Point plans to spend $5.2 million in capital improvements in and around the amusement park. A two-year refurbishment at Sandcastle Suites Hotel will cost $3 million. The project, which includes renovating the lobby and registration area and upgrading the hotel's 187 suites, restrooms and hallways, is slated to be complete by the summer... http://sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/01/12/front/560619.txt
January 13, 200817 yr Cedar Fair's HQ to stay right here By JANET NGUYEN | Tuesday January 08 2008, 10:54am SANDUSKY Cedar Fair is growing. The company is in the early planning stages of constructing a new building at Cedar Point to house its corporate employees. Since the acquisition of Paramount Parks in 2006, the company has created about 20 new corporate positions. The new positions include corporate director of human resources, vice president of corporate tax, corporate director of training and vice president of information systems -- to name a few... http://sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/01/09/front/557733.txt
January 13, 200817 yr Good news indeed! I'm sure Cedar Fair park attendance will be better for 2008 than 2007. Last year was a big year for transition. This year will be better.
January 13, 200817 yr uh..most of the chief employees aren't even at the park, they have an office just off of it.... Oh well..
January 13, 200817 yr Good news indeed! I'm sure Cedar Fair park attendance will be better for 2008 than 2007. Last year was a big year for transition. This year will be better. Actually, Cedar Fair attendance has dropped like a rock since their takeover of the Paramount parks. This item is being discussed all over the theme park forums. The combined total attendance of all the parks (CF parks and Paramount parks) in 2005 was: 24.9 million (Cedar Fair made that announcement during the buyout). The combined attendance total for 2007 (same parks) was 22.1 million. That means these same parks have had a decrease in attendance, since the CF buyout, of 2.8 million. Ouch!!! If you look at their press release they are comparing 2006 (when they only owned the Paramount parks for 6 months), to a full year of ownership of all the parks in 2007. They even admitted back when they were buying the parks that the total attendance for the company would be about 25 million per year. It will be interesting to see how the analysis deal with this (unique reporting by CF) during their conference call in Feb. Maybe this is one of the reasons CF stock has been falling for some time now. It peaked in 2005 at about 33 dollars and is now down to 20 dollars and continues to fall. Even if they have been able to get personal spending up by 5 dollars or so a person (inflation) their overall revenue of the parks combined has fallen significantly and that numbers is what they were banking on when they took on the massive debt. If they can't turn this around by the end of 2008 they are in big trouble. Kings Island may find itself being owned by another company.
January 13, 200817 yr ^---I really doubt this had anything to do with CF purchasing the parks. The truth is most of the general public really had no clue that CF had bought out the parks (unless they caught it in the news). Attendance was down across the country, not just at CF parks. As far as amusement park die-hards, the vast majority will tell you that Paramount ran their parks into the ground and CF has been cleaning up a lot of the damage that Paramount caused since they acquired the parks, especially Kings Island.
January 14, 200817 yr Actually attendance has not been down across the country. Most of the main theme parks had increase in attendance in 2007. CF leadership over the last couple of years has admitted to several 'mistakes'. They said they underestimated the draw of the animals at Geauga Lake (Six Flags) which now has been closed by CF (what a shame, that was an Ohio amusement park institution). They paid a lot of money for that park, only to have to close it. They just recently admitted that they 'underestimated' the impact of season pass holders at the Paramount parks, and are now throwing the kitchen sink into pass sales, trying to bring back a lot of those 'lost attendances'. They also are having some noticable 'struggles' with their indoor water park at CP. Matter of fact, attendance has been so poor they have went to a reduced operational schedule. It appears that CF has made some noticable mistakes and it is costing them in attendance, potential revenue and stock price. As far as Paramount operation of the parks. I can find amusement park fans that don't like, CF, Six Flags, Disney, etc... Sure there are different opinions outs there, but a lot of them were not upset by Paramount's operations, they were upset by the final year operations by CBS, who took control of the parks from Viacom during the break up of the company. I have nothing against Cedar Fair, they are a great Amusement Park operator (one of the best) but they are a very bad Theme Park operator and their problems with the Paramount Parks and the Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (Geauga Lake) is showing that.
January 14, 200817 yr Actually attendance has not been down across the country. Most of the main theme parks had increase in attendance in 2007. Not really sure how anyone would know that. The 2007 park attendance reports have not been released yet. My statement was based on the fact that Six Flags lost a lot of ridership last year due to ride mishaps including the incident in Louisville, and the New Orleans park still has not opened. Other parks that estimated a loss of attendance were Holiday World, Disney California, Busch Gardens Virginia (don't know about Florida). Don't know about other parks as I have not read anything yet, but Six Flags loss constitutes a large chunk of parks across the country. But on a side note, CF is claiming that last year was a success as reported WHIO and WCPO last week. "SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) - The Sandusky company that owns Cedar Point and Kings Island in Ohio says all of its amusement parks in the U.S. and Canada had a good ride in 2007. Cedar Fair says its properties welcomed 22.1 million visitors, up from 19.3 million in 2006. Also, the average park-goer spent about five percent more last year. To keep the good times rolling, Cedar Fair plans to introduce new promotions this year and spend 88 million dollars to put new stuff in its parks. That includes 21 million to build the Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland in Toronto, which will be Canada's tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster." http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=e535942a-dc5a-4173-993d-388bc52b063f So according to CF, attendance was actually up from 2006.
January 14, 200817 yr 19.3 million - 2006 (this only included the Paramount Parks for 6 months) They bought then on June 30. 22.1 million - 2007 (this includes the full year of Paramount Parks) Total attendance of the Paramount Parks + Cedar Fair Parks in 2005 - 24.9 million Can you see how they are comparing apples to oranges. What would you expect them to say in the press release. We lost 3 million people? Their conference call should be very interesting. As far as 88 million for new rides. That's another 'trick of the hand' by the company. Many of their 'new rides' are actually used rides from the closed Geauga Lake. Kinzel in a conference call a few months ago admitted that was the preceived value of the rides if they were all new. He also in a conference call said that most moved rides cost about 1/2 the amount of a new ride. So in reality they are not spending 88 million for new rides. Probably more like 60% or so of that amount in real dollars. Which is very smart on their part. As far as park attendances. Many have not given their full year yet, but Six Flags just confirmed their full year guidance and said their attendance will be slightly up or flat. So no drop. I know Universal just recently said attendance was up significantly at their Florida Parks. I think the amusement park business is going to have some struggles as the consumer cuts back on 'extras' to cover the cost of needs do to the economic downturn we are in. The problem for CF and Six Flags is they have massive debts to deal with and it becomes very hard to deal with that debt when the economy is not doing well. CF also has the extra problem of finding themselves 3 million people less in attendance than what they had projected during the buyout.
April 15, 200817 yr Cedar Fair gets tax abatement for HQ City awards 10-year deal for Cedar Point building By JENNIFER GRATHWOL http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2008/04/15/front/709232.txt SANDUSKY - A city tax abatement has laid the foundation for Cedar Fairs new corporate headquarters at Cedar Point. Cedar Fair will soon break ground on the three-story building, said Robert Decker, corporate vice president of planning and design. This is our commitment to staying in Sandusky, Decker said...
November 20, 200816 yr Cedar Point plans lean winter Steve Fogarty | The Chronicle-Telegram SANDUSKY — King’s Island, Cedar Point’s sister park in southwest Ohio, will be the main recipient of a $62 million capital expenditure program in 2009 with the addition of the $22 million Diamondback roller coaster. Cedar Point appears to have no major attractions on the horizon, although Stacy Frole, Cedar Fair’s director of investor relations, said the park would release details of its 2009 season at a future date. Post edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/11/19/cedar-point-plans-lean-winter_122/
March 9, 200916 yr Cedar Fair considers selling 2 amusement parks Monday, March 9, 2009 11:13 AM SANDUSKY, Ohio -- Ohio-based Cedar Fair says it's considering selling amusement parks in Missouri and Minnesota so it can pay down its debt. Cedar Fair says the two parks are Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo., and Valleyfair near Minneapolis... http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/03/09/cedar_fair.html?sid=101
March 9, 200916 yr Cedar Fair considers selling 2 amusement parks Monday, March 9, 2009 11:13 AM SANDUSKY, Ohio -- Ohio-based Cedar Fair says it's considering selling amusement parks in Missouri and Minnesota so it can pay down its debt. Cedar Fair says the two parks are Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo., and Valleyfair near Minneapolis. http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/03/09/cedar_fair.html?sid=101 Lots of debt. I would also say the chances of reorganizing that debt is very low. So, they look to sell assets.
March 10, 200916 yr The company also said today that it will cut its annual distribution rate nearly in half to $1 per limited partner unit. Darn, there goes my son's quarterly dividend check. He currently gets $7.20 every quarter from Cedar Fair. Sounds like it will be around $3.60 now :-(
March 10, 200916 yr If I remember correctly, CF was planning on restructuring their debt in the next year or two when they bought all the Paramount parks. They maybe finding it difficult to accomplish this.
March 16, 200916 yr Monday, March 16, 2009, 10:18am EDT | Modified: Monday, March 16, 2009, 11:17am Cedar Fair hires Merrill Lynch to explore asset sales Business First of Columbus Days after telling investors its considering the sale of some properties, Cedar Fair LP said it has retained a firm to assist in the move. The Sandusky-based company, which operates the Cedar Point and Kings Island amusement parks, has retained Merrill Lynch & Co. to help explore the sale of assets and other strategic alternatives. The company last week said it was considering the sale of the Worlds of Fun park in Kansas City, Mo., and Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minn., along with land it owns in Cleveland and Toronto... http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/03/16/daily2.html
August 6, 200915 yr It looks like the recession is starting to hit CF pretty hard. 2nd quarter profits were off by 50% and attendance was down by 1 million. In one article Kinzel tried to calm investers by saying the company would make it through the 2009 season but, he did call the situation a crisis. Cedar Fair sees second-quarter earnings plunge as attendance sags "Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. (NYSE: FUN) has reported a sharp drop in second-quarter earnings as attendance and per-capita spending at its amusement and water parks continue to trail the level of a year ago. The parent of Cedar Point and Kings Island said its net income in the quarter that ended June 28 fell nearly 50%, to $7.4 million, or 13 cents per diluted partnership unit, from $14.7 million, or 26 cents per unit, in the second quarter of 2008... http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20090804/FREE/908049982#
August 6, 200915 yr It looks like the recession is starting to hit CF pretty hard. 2nd quarter profits were off by 50% and attendance was down by 1 million. In one article Kinzel tried to calm investers by saying the company would make it through the 2009 season but, he did call the situation a crisis. Cedar Fair sees second-quarter earnings plunge as attendance sags "Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. (NYSE: FUN) has reported a sharp drop in second-quarter earnings as attendance and per-capita spending at its amusement and water parks continue to trail the level of a year ago... http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20090804/FREE/908049982# I would say this is a combination of the economy and this summers below average temps. and rainy weather.
August 6, 200915 yr Apparently the joke was on me last Thursday when i went to Cedar Point. We waited an average of 2 hours for Millenium Force, Top Thrill Dragster and The Raptor and only got on 6 rides the entire day! Everybody else i talked to who went on saturdays or sundays said the longest they waited for ANY ride was 30-45 minutes
August 6, 200915 yr Apparently the joke was on me last Thursday when i went to Cedar Point. We waited an average of 2 hours for Millenium Force, Top Thrill Dragster and The Raptor and only got on 6 rides the entire day! Everybody else i talked to who went on saturdays or sundays said the longest they waited for ANY ride was 30-45 minutes 30-45 min?? I'd say it's rare I've waited less than an hour for a ride in the many, many years I've been going to CP. Was something going on at CP on a Thursday? I always try to avoid CP on weekends.
August 6, 200915 yr Apparently the joke was on me last Thursday when i went to Cedar Point. We waited an average of 2 hours for Millenium Force, Top Thrill Dragster and The Raptor and only got on 6 rides the entire day! Everybody else i talked to who went on saturdays or sundays said the longest they waited for ANY ride was 30-45 minutes 30-45 min?? I'd say it's rare I've waited less than an hour for a ride in the many, many years I've been going to CP. Was something going on at CP on a Thursday? I always try to avoid CP on weekends. Ive talked to multiple people about multiple different weekends and they have all said that 45 minutes was the most they waited on a weekend. The past couple times I went was on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and the longest wait was around 45 minutes as well. The parking lot was pretty much full on the Thursday that i went but there was no special promotion or event going on that i had heard of. We figured Thursday would be a slower day than a friday-sunday, but apparently we misjudged that one.
August 6, 200915 yr Apparently the joke was on me last Thursday when i went to Cedar Point. We waited an average of 2 hours for Millenium Force, Top Thrill Dragster and The Raptor and only got on 6 rides the entire day! Everybody else i talked to who went on saturdays or sundays said the longest they waited for ANY ride was 30-45 minutes 30-45 min?? I'd say it's rare I've waited less than an hour for a ride in the many, many years I've been going to CP. Was something going on at CP on a Thursday? I always try to avoid CP on weekends. Ive talked to multiple people about multiple different weekends and they have all said that 45 minutes was the most they waited on a weekend. The past couple times I went was on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and the longest wait was around 45 minutes as well. The parking lot was pretty much full on the Thursday that i went but there was no special promotion or event going on that i had heard of. We figured Thursday would be a slower day than a friday-sunday, but apparently we misjudged that one. Thats my thinking as well. Humm. Strange, very strange. :wtf:
August 6, 200915 yr I go all the time. Have had a Cedar Fair season pass every year for about the last 5 years. Longest I ever wait is on Maverick which lately has been just over an hour wait (last year was 2+ hour waits). Usually 30-45 for Raptor, 45-hour for MF, 45-hour for TTD, 30 or less for MXL2000 and lesser coasters like Iron Dragon, Bluestreak and Gemini. Pretty much a walk-on for Meanstreak these days. May have been a special engagement going on, like school trips, employee specials, etc. Or if other rides were down, that would funnel the riders to other lines. On a side note, if you get the Platinum Pass, ALWAYS take advantage of the 1 hour early ride time it offers. Almost a straight walk-on for Raptor, MF, TTD and Maverick from 9-10am. Great way to wake up!
August 6, 200915 yr Ahhhh, one of the perks of getting old. You WON'T wait in line for anything, and you don't care what you miss!!!
August 7, 200915 yr The parent of Cedar Point and Kings Island said its net income in the quarter that ended June 28 fell nearly 50%, to $7.4 million, or 13 cents per diluted partnership unit, from $14.7 million, or 26 cents per unit, in the second quarter of 2008. Great! I'll be watching for the total elimination of my stock dividends in the near future. BTW - I herd Kings Island is doing well this year, as the 'staycation' notion is helping them a lot. I guess CP has to rely on drawing a large crowd from metro Detroit to make its numbers, and hence, the problems. Don't know about the other parks.
August 7, 200915 yr The parent of Cedar Point and Kings Island said its net income in the quarter that ended June 28 fell nearly 50%, to $7.4 million, or 13 cents per diluted partnership unit, from $14.7 million, or 26 cents per unit, in the second quarter of 2008. Great! I'll be watching for the total elimination of my stock dividends in the near future. BTW - I herd Kings Island is doing well this year, as the 'staycation' notion is helping them a lot. I guess CP has to rely on drawing a large crowd from metro Detroit to make its numbers, and hence, the problems. Don't know about the other parks. Heard from who? It don't see anywhere where CF breaks out attendance or P/L per park.
August 7, 200915 yr I have a friend coming in from out of state who wants to check out Cedar Point over Labor Day weekend. Our options are Fri-Mon. Anyone have any idea which day would be the least crowded?
August 7, 200915 yr I have a friend coming in from out of state who wants to check out Cedar Point over Labor Day weekend. Our options are Fri-Mon. Anyone have any idea which day would be the least crowded? Over the Labor Day weekend, I would say its a crap shoot.
August 7, 200915 yr Heard from who? It don't see anywhere where CF breaks out attendance or P/L per park It was on one of the local (Cincinnati) TV newscasts. My wife saw it at lunchtime one day.
August 7, 200915 yr Heard from who? It don't see anywhere where CF breaks out attendance or P/L per park It was on one of the local (Cincinnati) TV newscasts. My wife saw it at lunchtime one day. Humm. I wonder how they know, how they determined that or where they got that information?
August 8, 200915 yr SanduskyRegister.com Front Article Cedar Fair having a tough summer Thursday, August 6, 2009 12:55 AM EDT http://sanduskyregister.com/articles/2009/08/05/front/doc4a788670e79ab335499539.prt SANDUSKY Operating in the middle of a recession hasn't been a sunny day at the park for Cedar Fair. Dick Kinzel, Cedar Fair's chairman, president and CEO, took questions from analysts Tuesday and blamed the bad economy, poor weather and fewer operating days for a 9 percent drop in attendance at Cedar Fair's amusement parks for the first six months of 2009, compared to like months of 2008... Post edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Cedar Fair extends time to repay debts Friday, August 7, 2009 By RICHARD PAYERCHIN [email protected] SANDUSKY — Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. has worked out a deal to extend its agreement to repay creditors. The parent company of Cedar Point and Kings Island was $1.671 billion in debt at the end of the second quarter with the money due in 2012. Now, Cedar Fair will have two more years to repay up to $900 million of term debt, which will mature in 2014... Post edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use URL: http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/08/07/news/business/mj1435891.prt © 2009 morningjournal.com, a Journal Register Property
November 4, 200915 yr http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-business-news/kings-island-owner-suspends-cash-distributions-to-stakeholders-384256.html Kings Island owner suspends cash distributions to stakeholders The parent company of the Kings Island amusement park in Warren County will suspend cash distributions to stakeholders next year as the company continues to weather downturns in sales and profits, executives said Tuesday, Nov. 3. Sandusky-based Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. said fewer people visited its parks and those who did spent less money. ... the article also posts quarterly and YTD financial info.... For the quarter ended Sept. 27, the company reported profits fell to $107.6 million, or $1.92 per diluted limited partner unit, compared with net income of $91.5 million, or $1.65 per diluted limited partner unit a year ago. Revenue for the most recent quarter fell 4 percent to $519.9 million, compared with $540.3 million a year ago, the company said. For the first three quarters, the net profits was $61.7 million, or $1.10 per diluted limited partner unit, compared with a net profit of $62.5 million, or $1.12 per limited partner unit. Revenue was $810.5 million, versus revenue of $877 million during the year-ago period. -------------------------------------------------- Now I've got to explain to my son that his quarterly dividend check, that was cut in half a year ago, is not even go to show up anymore.
November 4, 200915 yr Right now Cedar Fair is like many of the other park chains, the name of the game is survival. Sell parks, sell assets, go BK, whatever you have to do.
December 17, 200915 yr Cedar Fair to be acquired by New York private-equity firm "Sandusky-based amusement park operator Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. has an agreement to be bought by a large New York private-equity firm, the company announced." http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/12/cedar_fair_expected_to_be_boug.html To much debt. They needed all the stars to align perfectly to make the huge Paramount parks deal to work financially. The economic turmoil made sure the stars never got close.
March 16, 201015 yr Cedar Fair aborts vote (for now) Sounds like Cedar Fair did a last-minute halt of the vote to sell the company (share-holder vote scheduled for today). The sell requires approval of 2/3 of the "unit holders". Publicly, 2 of the largest block holders came out against the sell, and their shares alone total 27.8%. So it won't take too many other shareholders to kill the deal. One has to suspect that management did not have the required 2/3 votes to move forward with the sell. Note - my son voted his shares over the weekend. Voting has been going on online and via the pone for some time now. http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/vote-delayed-on-proposed-merger-of-kings-islands-owner-602565.html
March 18, 201015 yr http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2010/03/18/front/1970616.txt McMuffin jobs coming to Norwalk's New Horizons Bakery By CORY FROLIK Thursday, March 18, 2010 1:01 AM EDT NORWALK "The Muffin Man" might be sung by children worldwide, but local economic officials prefer to sing praises of Norwalk's muffin maker, New Horizons Baking Co. It's little wonder why. As many local employers shed jobs and reduce wages, New Horizons continues to expand, upgrade facilities and retain jobs. It even plans to increase its payroll. New Horizons Acquisition Co. announced on Wednesday its Genesis Baking Co., a division in Norwalk, is expanding and will add 25 jobs through the next three years. More at link above:
March 19, 201015 yr While editing this thread, I had to know the end of the story --- Published: April 04, 2008 06:07 pm ThyssenKrupp to bring in 200 jobs Plant to close its Ohio facility BY ANNA HERKAMP DANVILLE — ThyssenKrupp announced Friday it will close its Fostoria, Ohio, machining facility and bring 200 new jobs to Danville. The company will combine its crankshaft operations in both Danville and Fostoria into a single location on Lynch Road, eventually expected to employ more than 400. All ThyssenKrupp heavy-duty forging and machining operations will be located in Danville effective in November 2009... http://www.commercial-news.com/local/local_story_095180956.html
April 6, 201015 yr Cedar Fair CANCELS planned merger... http://www.western-star.com/news/lebanon-oh-news/merger-agreement-for-kings-islands-parent-company-called-off-638558.html from the article.... Cedar Fair agreed to be purchased by Apollo Global on Dec. 16, but since the announcement, major investors have loudly protested the $11.50 per unit price and vowed to stop the deal. Other investors filed lawsuits, also hoping to stop the $2.4 billion purchase.
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