Weekly Topic: Cedar Fair, the new company to hate
Remember just a few short years ago when Cedar Fair could seemingly do no wrong? When Six Flags did everything wrong? The time I’m talking about was the time period between Cedar Fair’s purchase of
Why is all of this anger going around, or is it just me? I frequent many a coater board, and it seems that the tables have turned. There is a lot of optimism towards Six Flags, while Cedar Fair has fallen off of the table. Let’s look at why this is happening.
The first thing that comes to mind is the lack of creativity, particularly in the recently purchased parks. The recent name changes, due to licensing, have been uninspired at best. Top Gun to Flight Deck is just one example, if not the best example of this. The loss of
Cedar Fair has seemingly ripped the heart out of many parks. This assessment may or may not be true depending on who you talk to. The chain wide implementation of unnecessary policies, like the horrible rain one, has also been troubling.
A lot of fans of these newer Cedar Fair parks have noticed the biggest change, and as always, change is unwelcome. Is Cedar Fair taking a turn for the worse, or is it just a part of the business? Have they become the new company to hate? What can they do to correct themselves (if necessary)? And what is Cedar Fair doing right?
Share you opinions and ideas here. This post will be updated with the responses of other blogs involved in the Weekly Topic.
Responses:
A Walk in the Park Podcast
News Plus Notes
Theme Park Village
March 31st, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Cedar Fair is just a money rich buisness who cares less about the public and our tastes. Sounds like they need a little work. But who knows, they might spring back. We’ll see what the future holds.
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Thats not true… Cedar Fair is a very good company that tries hard to make the environment amazing for its guests. Just because it has become the biggest, its popular to hate them… i personally love them.. and they are a heck of a lot less of a rip off on prices than any other parks…
April 4th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Cedar Fair is a public relations nightmare. Dick Kinzel doesnt care what his guests or any other public person thinks about him or his company. He doesnt even care about his employees; my best example, is when I worked for Geauga Lake, I wanted to say hi to him, he nudge me and gave me a get back to work look. VERY RUDE. This company is in it for the money. That is very obvious. They run a very unethical business though, they do not follow there core values by any means.
Geauga Lake was set up to close the day Cedar Fair bought it, that is obvious. I watched the park deconstruct itself in its final seasons. It was pitiful to see a great family park be set up to fail because a guy with money didnt want competition for his flagship park just 2 hours away. Cedar Fair did a good job on hiding there plans to the public, but did not fool enthusiasts nor there employees well. We saw it falling from the start. No rides, just refurbishments, repaints for rides instead of new ones. Little things to set the park up for closure and transfer most of the rides to there other parks. Cedar Fair even cut off the Haunt after its first season, not because they didnt make money; but because Geauga Lake had a higher turnout then Halloweekends at Cedar Point….Ooops Kinzel, did Geauga Lake win not Cedar Point? Dick says no way, that piece of crap park cannot beat my favorite overrated park in the world.
Cedar Fair is pure BS. They lie to the public. There not ethical at all of how they do business. All they care about is the money when it all comes down to it, not there guests. There service is horrible! They paint commericals and adveretisements over there bull to cover this. People look at the big picture.
April 6th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Cedar Fair has 2 big problems in Northeast Ohio, the primary market for Wildwater Kingdom and a key market for Cedar Point. They have done virtually no damage control and seem bent on making things worse.
1) They are on the verge of destroying the 1925 Big Dipper, the 12th oldest operating wood roller coaster in the world. They have it on the auction block for June 17-18 and have been insulting dismissive of ACE’s plan to save it on site, as summarized here on CNN’s irreport site along with some historic pictures of Big Dipper:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-4020
2) By closing Geauga Lake after the season ended and without prior notice, they departed from the long-standing pattern of giving a month or more warning of a park closing (Astroworld, Erieview, Myrtle Beach Pavilion, Euclid Beach), despite making media statements last Spring that “the rumors of the demise of Geauga Lake, or that we’re slowly phasing it out, are completely untrue” and “Geauga Lake is here to stay.” There is strong resentment over this in the NE Ohio general public.
The situation would improve if Cedar Fair takes steps to seriously consider the ACE idea to preserve the Big Dipper on site along with the Geauga Lake ballroom as an amusement park museum to complement a shopping/entertainment area.
On the other hand, if Big Dipper is destroyed, the resulting backlash will make the negatively to date look mild.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
hey im coaster worshiper but nobody answers thi Question DOES CEDER FAIR OWN CEDAR POINT????? thanks if you answer
April 9th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Hey Kat, yes Cedar Fair owns Cedar Point. Can can view all of the properties Cedar Fair owns at www.CedarFair.com