Cedar Fair Entertainment Company:
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, legally known as Cedar Fair, L.P.,(NYSE: FUN) is a publicly-traded company based in Sandusky, Ohio, USA at its Cedar Point theme park that owns and operates amusement parks in North America. Cedar Fair owns and operates 11 major amusement parks: 10 in the United States and 1 in Canada. They also manage a small theme park Gilroy Gardens. Previously, Cedar Fair operated Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America, and Star Trek: The Experience, in Las Vegas.
Readers of Amusement Today, a trade newspaper which ranks amusement parks and roller coasters, continually rank Cedar Fair parks highly. Cedar Fair's flagship park Cedar Point has been voted The Best Amusement Park In The World for 10 consecutive years.[1] Based on stock value, Cedar Fair is the most successful amusement park chain behind Disney.
[edit] Properties
[edit] Theme/Amusement parks
- California's Great America (Santa Clara, California)
- Canada's Wonderland (Vaughan, Ontario, Canada)
- Carowinds (Charlotte, North Carolina/Fort Mill, South Carolina)
- Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio)
- Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
- Kings Dominion (Doswell, Virginia)
- Kings Island (Mason, Ohio)
- Knott's Berry Farm (Buena Park, California)
- Michigan's Adventure (Muskegon, Michigan)
- Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, Missouri)
- Valleyfair (Shakopee, Minnesota)
[edit] Water parks
The following parks are included in the admission price of the listed amusement park:
The following parks are either standalone properties or require separate admission:
[edit] Lodging and campgrounds
- Hotel Breakers (Cedar Point)
- Breakers Express (Cedar Point)
- Sandcastle Suites Hotel (Cedar Point)
- Camper Village (Cedar Point)
- Lighthouse Point (Cedar Point)
- Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort (Cedar Point)
- Knott’s Berry Farm Resort Hotel (Knott's Berry Farm)
- Worlds of Fun Village (Worlds of Fun)
- Carowinds Camp Wilderness Resort (Carowinds)
[edit] Former
[edit] History
Cedar Fair was formed in 1978 as an operating partnership between Cedar Point and the then one-year-old Valleyfair. Cedar Fair's name is constructed from the names of its first two parks. In recent years, Cedar Fair has expanded the number of parks it owns. Dorney Park was purchased in 1993. Worlds of Fun was purchased in 1995. Knott's Berry Farm was purchased in 1997. Michigan's Adventure was purchased in 2001. Cedar Fair purchased Geauga Lake for $145 million in 2004.[3] Cedar Fair announced the purchase of Paramount Parks for $1.24 billion on May 22, 2006.[4] On September 21, 2007, Cedar Fair announced the closing of Geauga Lake, due to falling attendance. The property will operate solely as a water park for the 2008 season.[2]
In 2007, Cedar Fair was the seventh largest amusement park operator in the world by attendance with 22.1 million guests. Cedar Fair operates 4 amusement parks that attract over 3 million visitors a year: Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island, Canada's Wonderland, and the company's flagship park, Cedar Point.[5] Cedar Fair parks have earned 15 major Golden Ticket Awards for roller coasters and amusement park operation.[6]
[edit] 2009 Additions
Cedar Fair is planning to numerous ride and attraction additions to their parks this coming summer. So far, here are the confirmed attractions coming to Cedar Fair parks in 2009:
- Carolina Cobra: Coming to Carowinds in Charlotte, NC is Carolina Cobra, a Vekoma boomerang roller coaster. Standing 116 feet, it will be the park's tallest coaster. [7]
- Diamondback: Coming to Kings Island in Mason, OH is Diamondback, a Bolliger & Mabillard hypercoaster. Standing 230 feet, it will be the parks tallest coaster. [8]
- Prowler: Coming to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, MO is Prowler, a Great Coasters International wooden coaster. It will feature articulated Millenium Flyer trains made by Great Coasters International. Prowler will feature an 85 ft. drop. [9]
- Valleyfair will feature a rethemed water park called Soak City will debut in 2009 as well as an all new 350,000 gallon wave pool, Breakers Bay.
- Kings Dominion will add 2 new family rides for 2009. A new ferris wheel called "The Americana" and a spinning ride called "El Dorado Drive In" will be added to the Grove section.
- Finally, several parks will debut a variety of exciting live shows, including a brand-new ice-skating show at Dorney Park, and the expansion of the “All Wheels Extreme” stunt show, featuring BMX-style bikers, skateboarders, gymnasts and in-line skaters, to several properties.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "2007 Golden Ticket Awards", Amusement Today (2007). Retrieved on 20 December 2007.
- ^ a b "2008 Press Release", Cedar Fair (2008).
- ^ Potter, Derek (2004-03-10). "Cedar Fair Buys Six Flags World of Adventure", Theme Park Insider. Retrieved on 20 December 2007.
- ^ "Cedar Fair to Acquire Paramount Parks", The Point Online (2006-05-22). Retrieved on 20 December 2007.
- ^ "Theme Park Attendance Report 2007", Park World (2007). Retrieved on 20 December 2007.
- ^ "Golden Tickets 2007", Amusement Today (2007). Retrieved on 20 December 2007.
- ^ "Carolina Cobra Press Release", Cedar Fair (2008). Retrieved on 2008.
- ^ "Diamondback Press Release", Cedar Fair (2008). Retrieved on 2008.
- ^ "Prowler Press Release", Cedar Fair (2008). Retrieved on 2008.
[edit] External links
[edit] Cedar Fair park sites
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