Category Archives: RollerCoasters

News and Updates, News Stories, Rides, RollerCoasters, Water Rides

Thrill season: Fans have their favorites on Cedar Point’s opening day

1 Comment

From the Sandusky Register…

SANDUSKY

Colby Waldroup left his house near Pittsburgh at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning to witness Cedar Point open its gates for its 141st season.

By 9 a.m., the 17-year-old and a pack of his friends waited behind a gold ribbon at the park entrance, eager to be unleashed for a day roller coaster bliss.

Waldroup and his friend Brandon Christie, 18, said they planned to zip over to the Millennium Force as soon as the ribbon dropped.

Many other park patrons had the same idea.

Hundreds of people stampeded into the park to their favorite rides after a short opening ceremony. Platinum pass holders entered immediately after remarks from park officials to ride a special selection of open rides. Folks with regular tickets enjoyed a serenade by The Ohio State University Marching Band while waiting for the park to open to the general public at 10 a.m.

By late morning, families bobbing through the midway enjoyed the scent of the season’s first Cedar Point French fries.

Children scampered ahead of their parents, urging the adults to hurry to the next ride. Some park patrons lounged under shade trees to watch the hustle and bustle.

Park spokesman Robin Innes said the weather, sunny with temperatures in the 70s, was perfect for the occasion and the turnout looked good.

He said the people who come for the opening ceremonies usually zero in on a certain ride to initiate the season.

The debut ride this year — the flume ride Shoot the Rapids — won’t be ready until May 29 while engineers resolve a problem with the boats not fitting in the water flume, but there were plenty of the old standbys ready for riders.

“People will head to Millennium, they’ll stop to go to Raptor here on the left,” Innes said. “The little ones will go to Planet Snoopy.”

Jodie Gambill and her son Wesley, 4, Dayton, got to Snoopy’s Deep Sea Diver ride early enough for Wesley to grab a solo voyage.

“This is the first time we’ve ever been here,” she said, watching her son grin through spins in the yellow submarine.

When asked if there were any rides she aimed to tackle, Gambill said, “I’m just going to enjoy the day.”

The Sanner family from Meyersdale, Pa., said being there for opening day was just a happy accident.

“It was just a good weekend,” Bill Sanner said. “It worked with the school schedule.”

His son, Brody Sanner, 9, and family friend Devin Kretchman, 8, fidgeted with anticipation as Bill and Missy Sanner got their bearings at the park entrance.

Brody held nothing back when asked what he was excited to ride Saturday.

“Everything,” he said with enthusiasm.

Cedar Fair, News and Updates, News Stories, RollerCoasters

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

1 Comment

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.

Cedar Fair, News and Updates, News Stories, Rides, RollerCoasters

Cedar Point’s parent company to see changes in finance, not entertainment

Leave a comment

From The Morning Journal…

SANDUSKY — Even with new ownership, the roller coasters will rise again in May when Cedar Point opens its 2010 season, its top executive said.

This week the amusement park’s owner, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., announced it will be bought by New York investment firm Apollo Global Management LLC. The acquisition made national news and will lead to changes on the company letterhead and its financial statements.

Cedar Point’s tangible assets will stay the same — Top Thrill Dragster will blast off, the Cedar Downs Racing Derby will spin and Snoopy will greet visitors around northern Ohio’s most famous Midway, said Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and chief executive officer for Cedar Fair Entertainment Co.

“The public won’t see any changes at all,” Kinzel said in an interview with The Morning Journal. “We’re going to be the same great quality and entertainment values that we had in the past.”

The only change that Cedar Fair will have is its financing, Kinzel said. The park’s money will come from Apollo Management Group, not the shareholders who buy and sell the publicly traded partnership units, he said.

“It’s business as usual,” he said. “It’s basically going to be the same company and if there was not a public event, most people wouldn’t even know it’s happening.”

Cedar Point next year will honor its group sales and season passes already sold, Kinzel said. The company also will keep its attitude of being a good corporate neighbor, he said.

“The involvement we have in the communities that we’re in is going to remain the same,” Kinzel said.

Sandusky will remain Cedar Fair’s corporate headquarters and the company will maintain its desire to be a good business neighbor, said Kinzel, who lives next to the park.

“Sandusky is our home,” Kinzel said.

“They would have to pry me out of here with bulldozers and dynamite,” he quipped. “Sandusky’s our home. It’s not only Cedar Fair’s home, it’s my home. This is it.”

Cedar Point visitors next year will get a new ride on Shoot the Rapids.

The new, 2,100-foot journey features a 85-foot tall hill, with a 45-degree drop, and another 49-foot drop to “shoot” through water rapids and rocks. The $10.5 million ride is the most expensive water ride Cedar Point has built, and it will carry about 1,200 riders an hour with 10-passenger boats taking three minute rides.

“All of our capital for next year is approved,” Kinzel said. “There’s going to be no changes to that.”

With two rollercoasters planned and smaller improvements spread out over Cedar Fair’s other parks, “it’s a $90 million package and that’s going to go ahead as planned,” he said.

Park officials will begin planning for the 2011 and 2012 seasons in February of next year, a typical schedule because some major rides are on the drawing board two or three years in advance, Kinzel said.

Cedar Fair will get a new board of directors, but Kinzel will stay on as chairman.

“Of all the discussions we’ve had, the main discussion was to get this contract done,” Kinzel said about the deal with Apollo Global Management.

The new members are not appointed yet, Kinzel said, although it may be possible to keep the company’s current leaders.

“They want management to stay in place,” Kinzel said. “I think I’ve got a great management team underneath me. They make me look good, they’ve made me look good for a long time. I think they want to keep that team in place.”

Earlier this year Cedar Fair sought buyers for its Valleyfair park in Minnesota and Worlds of Fun park in Missouri. Kinzel noted Cedar Fair had a “tremendous debt situation” to deal with this year and the company’s board wanted to solve that.

In October, Apollo Global Management approached Cedar Fair’s board about buying in, Kinzel said.

“We were approached by Apollo to see if we would be interested in doing this transaction,” Kinzel said. “They approached us on this. We didn’t solicit this at all.

“They certainly like the company,” Kinzel said. “They like the parks that we have, they like that the parks that we have make money.”

He conceded he still had much to learn about Apollo Global Management, which owns Norwegian Cruise Lines.

“They may see some synergies in there that we don’t know about,” Kinzel said.

Events, News and Updates, RollerCoasters

Season Passholder Appreciation Weekend

Leave a comment

We’re open Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13. And during this Bonus Weekend, we have some pretty sweet news.

As a bonus, ALL Passholders* (Cedar Point Season & Cedar Fair Platinum) can enjoy Exclusive Ride Time on Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force.

Plus, get the family and friends together and track down and identify images from the park during our Season Passholder Scavenger Hunt. You could win your own private ride time for you and 35 friends on Millennium Force in 2010!

You can take advantage of food and game Flash Your Pass offers too. And if you’re worried about missing the Ohio State game on Saturday – don’t! We’re showing it on the big screen. For complete details on this weekend’s event, visit Season Pass Central.

Rides may not be available due to maintenance or weather conditions. Scavenger Hunt forms must be downloaded from our website; limited quantities available at the park.
* Passholders must meet applicable riding requirements.