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Cedar Fair, News and Updates, News Stories

Cedar Fair and Affiliates of Apollo Global Management Mutually Terminate Merger Agreement

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Cedar Fair Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio, April 6, 2010 – Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (the “Company”) (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced that it and affiliates of Apollo Global Management, a leading global alternative asset manager, have mutually agreed to terminate the previously announced definitive merger agreement.

Consistent with the terms of the agreement, Cedar Fair will pay Apollo $6.5 million to reimburse Apollo for certain expenses incurred in connection with the transaction. In addition, both parties will release each other from all obligations with respect to the proposed merger transaction as well as from any claims arising out of or relating to the merger agreement.

As a result of the termination of the merger agreement, the Special Meeting of Unitholders to be held on April 8, 2010 has been cancelled. The Company will hold its 2010 Annual Meeting of Unitholders on Monday, June 7, 2010, for unitholders of record as of April 23, 2010.

Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Company, said, “The Board has heard from Cedar Fair unitholders and it is apparent that the merger transaction does not have the required level of investor support. We are honored and excited by the opportunity to continue to manage and operate Cedar Fair as a public company and to provide our guests with an outstanding experience.

“Our 2010 operating season is upon us, and we have already introduced major new attractions at two of our parks. Intimidator305, a 305-foot-tall roller coaster at Kings Dominion, and Intimidator, a 232-foot-tall roller coaster at Carowinds, both had very successful opening days. We hope to continue this momentum across the rest of our properties and throughout the operating season. As we execute on our business objectives, we will also be evaluating next steps to address our capital structure. The Board and management team remain committed to acting in the best interests of all Cedar Fair unitholders. We appreciate the feedback that we have received from unitholders as well as Apollo’s interest in Cedar Fair and their cooperation and professionalism throughout the process.”

In order to allow adequate time to evaluate all options, a unitholder rights plan (the “Rights Plan”) has been adopted. The Rights Plan is designed to enable all unitholders to realize the long-term value of their investment in the Company and to ensure that all unitholders receive fair and equal treatment in the event of any hostile attempt to gain control of the Company. The Rights Plan is not designed to prevent transactions that treat all Cedar Fair unitholders fairly.

Under the plan, the rights will initially trade together with the Company’s units and will not be exercisable. The rights will generally become exercisable after a person or group becomes a beneficial owner of 20% or more of the Company’s units. The rights will expire on April 5, 2013, unless earlier redeemed, exchanged, or amended.

The Rights Plan was not adopted in response to any specific effort to acquire control of the Company, but as an appropriate preventative measure to ensure all unitholders are protected while the board of directors considers next steps. A copy of the merger termination agreement and the Rights Plan have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can also be found on the Company’s website at www.cedarfair.com/ir/financial/sec.

About Cedar Fair

Cedar Fair is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio, and one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world. The Company owns and operates 11 amusement parks, six outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels. Amusement parks in the Company’s northern region include two in Ohio: Cedar Point, consistently voted “Best Amusement Park in the World” in Amusement Today polls and Kings Island; as well as Canada’s Wonderland, near Toronto; Dorney Park, PA; Valleyfair, MN; and Michigan’s Adventure, MI. In the southern region are Kings Dominion, VA; Carowinds, NC; and Worlds of Fun, MO. Western parks in California include: Knott’s Berry Farm; California’s Great America; and Gilroy Gardens, which is managed under contract.

Forward Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this news release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements as to Cedar Fair L.P.’s expectations, beliefs and strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, may be beyond the Company’s control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors could adversely affect the Company’s future financial performance and cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations, including general economic conditions, competition for consumer leisure time and spending, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated construction delays and the risk factors discussed from time to time by the Company in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Additional information on risk factors that may affect the business and financial results of the Company can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the filings of the Company made from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Cedar Point holds final audition for this summer’s shows on April 2

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Cedar Point Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio, March 29 — Cedar Point will hold its final talent search for entertainers and technicians to fill more than 100 positions in the park’s Live Entertainment Division for this summer.

Representatives from Cedar Point will be holding open auditions and interviews in Sandusky from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, April 2, in the Live Entertainment Office at Cedar Point.

Positions that are available include:

* Performers — singers, dancers, singers/dancers and singers/musicians;

* Musicians — electric guitars, bass guitars, keyboards and drummer/percussionists;

* Technicians — stage managers, sound and light technicians, stage crews, ushers, costume shop personnel and dressers;

* PEANUTS characters — costumed characters and escorts; and

* Karaoke hosts and DJs

Applicants must be at least 18 years old by May to audition.  Each audition piece should be limited to 16-32 bars.  Applicants should select music that is upbeat and illustrates their personality and ability to interact with audience members.  A CD player and piano will be available, but other instruments and amplifiers will not be provided.  Interested applicants should bring a one-page resume with references to the audition.  Reporting dates run from late April to early September.

Cedar Point opens for the summer on Saturday, May 15.

Those who cannot audition in person can send audio and/or videotape with a resume to:  Cedar Point Live Entertainment, One Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky, OH 44870-5259.

With thrilling rides, award-winning live entertainment, special attractions and resort accommodations, Cedar Point is one of the most popular amusement parks and vacation destinations in the country.  It has been named the “Best Amusement Park in the World” for 12 consecutive years.

New this summer will be Shoot the Rapids, an exciting river-ride adventure that will feature two hills, rocky canyons with spraying water and a splashy grand finale.

For more information, please contact the Live Entertainment Division at 419.627.2388, by e-mail at liveshows@cedarpoint.com or online at cedarpoint.com.

News and Updates, News Stories

Cedar Point builds fan base on Facebook, social-network sites

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From the Sandusky Register…

SANDUSKY

If you’re a popular person on Facebook, you could well have hundreds of friends. Maybe even thousands.

When Tony Clark is on Facebook, he stays in touch with more than 300,000.

When he’s at work, toiling away in the marketing building for Cedar Fair at the back of the amusement park, Clark is the “interactive marketing manager.”

But for hundreds of thousands of roller coaster fans, Clark has a different name. When he posts on the amusement park’s Facebook site, he’s identified as “Cedar Point.”

As of Saturday morning, Cedar Point had 309,180 fans. The number will be higher by the time you read this.

The growth has been rapid.

Clark said Cedar Point’s Facebook presence began as a fan page. The fan made it clear it was an unofficial page, and handed it over last year when Cedar Point asked to take it over. At that point, the page had 30,000 fans.

Cedar Point’s promotion grew that number tenfold in a year, and promotional efforts will continue. This summer, signs will urge Cedar Point visitors to visit the park on Facebook, Clark said.

“The great thing about it is, it’s exponential growth,” he said.

While many of those 300,000 plus fans probably don’t pay much attention to the page, hard-core Cedar Point fans often post comments there.

Sean Foley, 36, who lives in a suburb of Pittsburgh, frequently shows up on the page.

Foley’s profile picture on Facebook shows him standing next to Snoopy.

“That was taken right outside of TGI Fridays at the Hotel Breakers,” he said.

Foley, a national account coordinator for Verizon Wireless, says he’s at Cedar Point 15 to 20 days a year. The day he was interviewed last week, he had used a webcam to check Sandusky’s weather and noticed that it had turned sunny.

“It’s all I can think about right now,” he said.

Foley said Cedar Point’s Facebook page is a good source of information.

“It’s nice to interact not only with other fans but also with their staff as well,” he said.

The frequent answers Cedar Point posts to fan questions is a particularly nice feature, Foley said.

“You can often find the answer before even asking it,” Foley said. “You can see other people have asked the question.”

Because fans can post questions and comments, Facebook provides instant feedback, Clark said.

While the comments are overwhelmingly positive — it’s a fan page, after all — it also lets Cedar Point address potential problems.

For example, a fan posted she wouldn’t stay in Cedar Point’s hotels because they are too expensive.

“That honesty is there for everyone to see,” Clark said.

Cedar Point told the woman there are customizable hotel plans and ways to get discounts.

“You cannot purchase cheaper tickets than if you stay with us,” Clark said.

Hooking up with Cedar Point’s Facebook page — or subscribing to the park’s Twitter feed — has practical advantages.

The park has begun experimenting with offering discounts to its social media fans. Last week, Cedar Point was offering $99 stays at Castaway Bay, exclusively to Facebook fans.

“We will do that more this summer,” Clark said.

As the administrator of the page, Clark doesn’t just post to it. He removes posts that violate Cedar Point’s guidelines.

Personal attacks on other fans are banned, and foul language is taboo, too.

“We don’t want attacks on other people or things you wouldn’t let your child read,” Clark said.

Videos that obviously were taken while a rider sat inside a roller coaster are also forbidden.

“It’s a strong rule here at Cedar Point we don’t allow cameras on their rides,” Clark said.

That’s for safety reasons. If someone dropped a camera, “that could be a bad situation for the other riders,” he said. “Safety is No. 1 at the park.”

Facebook provides Clark’s biggest audience, but he also communicates with fans in other ways.

He also posts to Twitter, where twitter.com/cedarpoint had 5,944 followers last week. He uploads videos to YouTube’s Cedar Point channel. And he and Tyler Adams, director of sales at Cedar Point, write the posts on the official Cedar Point blog, Onpoint!

Clark, 31, a Perkins Township resident, worked in radio for several years in Milwaukee. He said he enjoyed talking to people in his radio job, and has found that interacting with fans on the Internet is similar.

He often posts status messages on Facebook to get fan discussion going.

When the flamboyant pop star Lady Gaga announced she was coming to Cleveland on her new tour, Clark posted, “Cedar Point wonders if Lady Gaga will visit the park before her Cleveland show.”

Reaction was split 50/50. Some coaster fans said they hoped she’d show up.

“There were some who said, ‘She’s a freak, keep her away,'” Clark said. “It just got a lot of reaction.”

Cedar Fair, News and Updates, News Stories, RollerCoasters

Roller-coaster year for amusement industry may head uphill, analyst says

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From the Sandusky Register…

SANDUSKY

The amusement park industry’s roller coaster ride is on the upswing, an analyst says.

Theme park revenues fell in 2009, but revenues in the industry should rise 1.7 percent in 2010, predicts Nima Samadi, an industry analyst at IBISWorld, a market research company based in Los Angeles.

Samadi said Friday his forecast of an upswing definitely applies to Cedar Fair.

“It’s a company that’s been a real cash flow generator in the past,” he said. “It’s definitely a company that has the potential to remain profitable in the future.”

Samadi said his forecast for an amusement park revival assumes the travel business will get better and the economy will recover.

Stacy Frole, director of investor relations for Cedar Fair, Cedar Point’s parent company, said Cedar Fair also is expecting better days ahead. She pointed to forecasts in the proxy statement the company issued earlier this year.

Cedar Fair reported on Feb. 11 that it had a rough year in 2009, with net revenues of $916.1 million, down from $996.2 million in 2008.

EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the company’s favorite metric — fell 15.7 percent, from $355.9 million to $299.9 million.

Cedar Fair didn’t provide guidance to analysts last year and hasn’t announced plans to do so this year.

But in its definitive proxy statement, filed Feb. 10 to make its case for the sale to Apollo Global Management, Cedar Fair revealed the four-year financial forecast it shared last year with Apollo officials.

The company projected revenues of $966.6 million in 2010, $988.2 million in 2011, $1,012.2 million in 2012 and $1,036 million in 2013. EBITDA also will steadily rise, the company forecast on page 58 of the proxy statement.

Samadi remarked that major amusement park chains have been acquisition targets. He noted that Apollo Global Management is trying to acquire Cedar Fair and that Apollo reportedly also is interested in buying the bankrupt Six Flags chain.

It might make sense for Apollo to buy both amusement park chains and achieve economies of scale by merging the two, Samadi said.

A special meeting to decide whether to approve Apollo’s takeover of Cedar Fair has been rescheduled for April 8.

The Blackstone Group, a private equity company similar to Apollo, bought Busch Entertainment Corp. and Comcast bought NBC Universal.

“Industry players have been a prime private equity target due to the massive amount of debt the industry had acquired over the last decade,” Samadi said.

“Major players have overpaid in the past to acquire regional players and increase their market share. But despite the cyclical downturn in revenue, private equity firms can still reap the benefits from these relatively stable cash producers in the long-term.”

Cedar Fair executives have explained that Apollo’s acquisition with the company will help Cedar Fair deal with about $1.6 billion of debt. Cedar Fair acquired much of that debt in 2006, when the company bought the Paramount theme parks chain.

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Snoopy Song and Dance

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From The Morning Journal…

Auditions took place at Cedar Point yesterday for three separate song and dance shows, two Snoopy children’s shows, ice show and extreme all-wheels show in Sandusky. Each of the three different shows are performed 25 to 30 times a week during the summer season. Today, the park will interview candidates for summer jobs such as ride operator, food service attendant and merchandise and game associate from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Breakers Express Hotel, 1201 Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky.

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