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Kennywood has finally settled their amusement tax dispute.

 

Kennywood has finally settled their 2005 dispute over what they claimed was an unfair amusement tax. Unfortunately the settlement didn’t abolish the Amusement Tax and required Kennywood to pay a portion of taxes the park didn’t collect in 2006 and 2007, the borough will instead place a cap on the amusement tax at 5% or 50 cents a ticket (whichever is less).
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  • 3 weeks later...

NO!!!! The shareholders have approved the sale.

 

Kennywood Shareholders OK sale to Spanish Company - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Kennywood Entertainment, parent company of the West Mifflin amusement park, now expects to complete the company's sale to Parques Reunidos of Spain near the end of May.

 

A majority of the Kennywood's owners, who are the 76 descendants of the park's two founding families, approved the transaction Monday night, said spokeswoman Mary Lou Rosemeyer. The tally, as well as the value of the deal, have not been disclosed.

 

The transaction still requires the approval of the Federal Trade Commission and the state of Connecticut. Aside from the West Mifflin park, the sale to the Spanish company includes Sandcastle Waterpark in West Homestead, and Idlewild & Soak Zone in Ligonier Township, as well as theme parks in Bristol, Conn., and Glen, N.H.

 

The sales agreement, which was struck in early December, had been expected to close by March.

 

 

 

I guess the only thing we can do now is hope that Parques Reunidos really does share Kennywood Entertainment's philosophy on how to run a park.

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Does anyone else think Parques Reunidos is like Premier Parks in the 90s in that they adding many parks frequently?

 

I have nothing against the sale as PR seems like a company that will be able to do a good job of running the park. The other parks they own look like great parks to visit, and hopefully they add great rides to these parks like they have to the European parks. I believe that PR will be able to keep the charm of these parks while adding new rides, and of all the major park chains, they will be able to run the parks the best.

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^ I completely agree. PR has reassured time and time again that they will keep the traditional aspect of Kennywood intact. However, now that a big corporation owns Kennywood, multi-million dollar upgrades are not out of the question anymore. With ownership under the family, we'd never see a $20 Million B&M, Intamin, giant Kiddie Land overhaul, or any upgrade of any sort, that expensive. Ghostwood Estate at only $2 Million was a HUGE investment for Kennywood.

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Truly, I really don't think much is going to change about the park, if anything at all. Granted they keep the current management in place, like they said they would, I think Kennywood's philosophy of a traditional family amusement park will remain intact. You have to keep in mind that there are still family members who are not only shareholders of the park but also work in the park in management. I work at the park and I believe there are several Henningers who are hold management positions throughout the park, so even if this park is OWNED by a new company, I believe that there will still be members of the Henninger and McSwigan families who will remain in management and continue to run the park the same. In my eyes, I only see this as a financial decision, allowing Kennywood to have other more money to work with when it comes to making new investments for the park.

 

FeeltheForce said perfectly, Ghostwood Estate cos around $2 million dollars and KWP talked as if this was some HUGE investment. Before that the park only spent a little over $2 million for SwingShot. You have to keep in mind that currently, this park is operated almost solely on park revenue. It's not like each of these 76 shareholders are multi-millionaires like Daniel Snyder. That's one of the main reasons we haven't seen a new coaster at Kennywood in quite some time, the park just doesn't make enough money each year to warrant a $6-7 million dollar wooden coaster, let alone a $15-20 million dollar B&M or Intamin. This sale is going to open up A TON of opportunities in regards to Kennywoods future investments. We're talking about a company who made $570 million dollars in 2007 at only 5 amusement parks and a ton of small entertainment centers, waterparks and zoos. Quite frankly, the possibilities of this sale at Kennywood are endless. The park could finally get itself a hotel and indoor waterpark, could finally start its expansion, could get several new big attractions in the next few years, all of which would probably take Kennywood Entertainment twice as long to do. So really, I don't see this sale being as bad as some people are making it sound. As long as the current management remains in place, I really don't see much changing at all, at least not stuff most people would recognize.

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Granted they keep the current management in place, like they said they would, I think Kennywood's philosophy of a traditional family amusement park will remain intact. You have to keep in mind that there are still family members who are not only shareholders of the park but also work in the park in management. I work at the park and I believe there are several Henningers who are hold management positions throughout the park, so even if this park is OWNED by a new company, I believe that there will still be members of the Henninger and McSwigan families who will remain in management and continue to run the park the same.

 

I completely agree with what everyone is saying here, this sale does open a lot of possibilities for Kennywood, and since the current management will stay the same, the park should retain it's traditional feel.

 

However, what I'm concerned about is what happens far in the future when all those people on management retire. Who's PR going to put in to replace them, Pittsburgh locals who grew up with and understand Kennywood, or are they going to put in their own people, people who don't know anything about Kennywood and its traditions?

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However, what I'm concerned about is what happens far in the future when all those people on management retire. Who's PR going to put in to replace them, Pittsburgh locals who grew up with and understand Kennywood, or are they going to put in their own people, people who don't know anything about Kennywood and its traditions?

 

I think you're thinking a little too much about the what ifs regarding this acquisition. I'm sure that since current management will remain in place that they'll be the ones to pick their replacements. As I've said before, I think Parques Reunidos will run this parks very hands off. And what I mean about that is the current management will be the people making all the decisions but will have to go to the upper management to get the proper permission to do so. I highly doubt this company is going to make any drastic decisions that would make them step over the feet of current management, even though they have the power to do so. I really don't think Parques is going to make any decisions noticeable by the general public, but will be more behind the scenes allowing current management to do their job. Parques Reunidos has said they like how the parks are currently run, so I doubt that will change, regardless if people retire or not.

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I find it funny on these things that people are always upset that it won't be family run anymore. that family is the one who choose to sell the park, it is not like the company forced KW to sell, they choose to sell and seeing that they did that they are no different then anyone else. It came down to the money.

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Well, the FTC has approved the sale. Now nothing stands in the way of the sale being completed.

 

Here's the article I took from the Pittsburgh Business Times:

 

The Federal Trade Commission signed off Wednesday on the sale of Kennywood Entertainment, the parent of Kennywood Park, to a Spanish firm.

 

Last December, Kennywood Entertainment said it would sell its amusement park holdings, including Kennywood, Idlewild and Sandcastle, to Parques Reunidos, a company based in Madrid, Spain.

 

No financial terms have been disclosed.

 

A Kennywood spokeswoman, Mary Lou Rosemeyer, said the company would not have an official comment on the deal until it closes, which she said could be June 2.

 

Parques Reunidos manages 61 amusement, animal and water parks in the United States and Europe, with total annual visitors exceeding 22 million and revenue exceeding $570 million.

 

The Henninger and McSwigan families have owned Kennywood since 1906.

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  • 4 weeks later...
más de un millón de visitantes cada año.

 

^Yeah, I just wish the number was a little more exact.

 

I'm actually suprised it's over a million. And I'm sure that it's going to get higher, especially if they go through with the expansion plans. (Hoping for Intamin Wood!) For those in the area, the off season is going to be quite interesteing to watch that area of land, since there's really no way of blocking it's view.

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Well, this sale doesn't seem to be quite as everyone made it out to be. It seems Kennywood Entertainment will still function just as it always has, just as a subsidiary of Parques Reunidos.

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Yeah, if Kennywood builds something that Cedar Point doesn't have, Cedar Point will just build a larger one when they get the chance.

 

At least the sale went through, and PR is probably one of the best companies to run the park. Their other parks look like great family parks with some good thrill rides, and the Kennywood Company parks will fit in perfectly.

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  • 1 month later...

For the first time ever, Kennywood will be offering season passes for the 2009 season.

 

Greetings ACE members:

 

ACE Western Pennsylvania is pleased to be the first to announce this exciting news that we are sure will interest you. We have learned that for the first time in the history of the park, in 2009 Kennywood will offer season passes! The cost is expected to be $89.95. A "season pass" rate will be available for KennyKon XX.

 

Sincerely,

~The Fun Team

Your ACE Western Pennsylvania Regional Reps

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OMFG! As a Kennywood Alumni, I'm am FREAKING over this news, but at the same time, with it's new owner, I kind of expected this.

 

Looking back, it took them years to adopt a pay-one-price admission when all the surrounding parks were doing it. And when they started, it was only one day a week, Sundays. Ride-All-Day admission was $8 for groups, and $10 individually. Ahh, the memories.

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I've heard they will start selling them on November 1. I definitely plan on getting one. Although I'm not sure if this is a good move for the park, as most of Kennywood's visitors are locals. If alot of people in Pittsburgh buy the season passes, Kennywood may end up losing money on this.

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