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Cedar Fair Looking into Selling Valley Fair/Worlds of Fun


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Could this be Geauga Lake all over again for one/both? I highly doubt it because of Prowler, and Valleyfair just got Renegade 2 years ago, but you never know.

 

I highly doubt it. The parks are both profitable and probably would only be sold as parks as the land they sit on, at least in VF's case, has horrible value right now because it is right next to a dirty river that often floods. Thats not a good place to build up some houses/condos.

 

The only reason I can think of why Cedar Fair would sell would be because they need some quick cash.

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I think with the sale of CGA, VF and WOF and selling a ton of land in Canada and elsewhere they could easily knock a huge chuck of that debt off.

 

It also helps cause they can just send CGA's rides throughout the chain as new additions for the next 2-3 years knocking off more debt. I think it's a smart move and a great idea for looking into this option.

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^^ Yeah it doesn't mean they will close, they could stay open. But honestly do you believe that? Yeah it's sad to see my park close, I've been going there since early 80's. I truly believe the park has run it's last days, adding a BMX stunt show? A magic show? Like that's anything to be proud of?

 

Canada's wonderland got Behemoth, KI is getting Diamondback, KD Got Dominator , Carowinds might get a hyper. CGA? A stunt show?

 

CGA's time has come as sad as it is, I hate to see them go myself but we all kind of knew this was coming. Now we just have to wait and see what happens.

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^^Come for the 49ers, stay for the Intamin drop tower? Doesn't make much sense to me. If the 49ers buy CGA they'd probably buy the land, tell CF they can keep the rides, and build an extravagant parking structure. Now as for selling the parks, I see it as taking in games you've passed already into Gamestop. Yea you've beat it already, but it's entertaining every now and then. If your circumstances were better you wouldn't trade them in, but you're broke, so it's either a sell a park or donate sperm.

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CGA has always been an underperforming park, I think. Marriott, the park's original developer, wanted to dismantle the place and turn the land into an industrial park because they were disappointed in their annual profits--but the city of Santa Clara objected (they ended up running the park for a few years, until Paramount came along).

 

I remember how Great America was surrounded by a whole lot of nothing when it opened in the late 1970s (it was quite nice then, too). You could see the Sky Wheel (long since defunct) from miles away. Now it's hemmed in by a lot of other buildings.

 

It may just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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If CGA is sold to the 49ers, I wonder if Cedar Fair is retained to manage the park, like they do for Gilroy Gardens? That could be very good for them... they continue to get some revenue, but shed some of the responsibility of dealing with the city?

 

This could be Cedar Fair's way of telling the city council to put up or shut up wrt to letting them build in the park. You'd think Santa Clara would have thought it fortunate for Cedar Fair to come in and want to improve the park by building new attractions and restoring the regular fireworks shows... but instead they jumped at the opportunity to obstruct future development at the site, using a whiny neighbor's complaint as an excuse... for what? a football team?

 

edit: good lord, i apologize for abusing the question mark in this post.

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This all sounds like the publicity stunt that Six Flags put out a few years ago with such parks as SFMM. In this case, I can see one park being sold, and the others being retained. CGA would make the most since to sell since it is in the middle of a prime development area, and Cedar fair could get much more for what the park is worth compared to the others out in the midwest.

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So is this what CF does:

 

Go in, ruin a park and then sell it??? (at least in the case of WoF)

 

Bad things Cedar Fair has done to WOF-

-Removal of Zambezi Zinger (1997)

-Shows and smaller rides removed along with other charming elements

-Removal of Orient Express (2003... Though hard to consider a bad thing really)

 

Good things Cedar Fair has done to WOF-

-Detonator and Rip Cord added (1996)

-Mamba added (1998)

-Boomerang added (2000... not an amazing addition to us but the public sure does eat them up)

-Thunderhawk added (2002)

-Spinning Dragons added (2004)

-Worlds of Fun Village added (2005)

-Patriot added (2006)

-Prowler added (2009)

-New shows, shops, smaller rides, and other additions that added family elements and overall attraction value to the park

 

While I don't agree with many of the changes CF made quickly after the inquisition of the park, its hardly possible to say they ruined it. The park may not be as charming as it once was, but people don't go there for the shows, they go for the rides. They've added five new coasters and removed two under-performing ones. They've done their part to get me to go there a few times over SFStL (which is the same distance), and that's what matters from a business standpoint.

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^Patriot is highly more attractive than Orient Express or any new show or "traditional element" will ever be. It's hard to argue their additions haven't added to the value of the park.

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You'd think Santa Clara would have thought it fortunate for Cedar Fair to come in and want to improve the park by building new attractions and restoring the regular fireworks shows... but instead they jumped at the opportunity to obstruct future development at the site, using a whiny neighbor's complaint as an excuse... for what? a football team?

 

Besides being land-locked, CGA is directly north of the San Jose airport and may have federally imposed height limits, although they do have a sizable drop tower already. I'd think the airport proximity almost surely prevents any fireworks shows, though.

 

Santa Clara is in the heart of Silicon Valley and the area directly surrounding CGA is host to electronics-related conventions year-round, including the Convention Center itself, which is practically next door. I've been to plenty.

Santa Clara is like Vegas for nerds, and CGA doesn't really fit the neighborhood anymore. Considering the problems the city has with adding a wooden coaster, I'm guessing the city council would rather just replace CGA with more hotels and corporate buildings.

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I'd think the airport proximity almost surely prevents any fireworks shows, though.

 

Actually, in 2008 they had fireworks in early summer, and then every Saturday in August, and I believe they are planning to do the same thing in 2009.

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See this is where people have crossed the line:

If they sell off WOF I'd love to see patriot get relocated to KD seeing as how it was a recent installation....of course this would never happen however but one can still dream about it.

 

About halfway through the removal process of Geauga Lake, it hit me that this could happen to other parks, such as my home park (Valleyfair). I saw people saying "Ooh I want this!" or "Oh that ride sucks, but I really hope we get this!" and it made me feel sick knowing that the rides & attractions people loved so much are getting tossed around by the enthusiasts like their worthless little trinkets. For Example: If KD just all together announced they were closing forever (not gonna happen) and then people started saying "OH we call Dominator! I don't want King Cobra, it sucks. Maybe we'll get Volcano too!" wouldn't you feel bad knowing that they could go to a park besides your own. I mean I guess this is a moral debate, but for me it makes me extremely disheartened hearing things like this. Plus for all we know, the parks may just end up fine, and not be sold. Who knows, but for now, let's leave this Geauga talk alone & talk about the actual sale.

 

Jeez, when did sale turn into foreclosure.

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Santa Clara is in the heart of Silicon Valley and the area directly surrounding CGA is host to electronics-related conventions year-round, including the Convention Center itself, which is practically next door. I've been to plenty.

Santa Clara is like Vegas for nerds, and CGA doesn't really fit the neighborhood anymore. Considering the problems the city has with adding a wooden coaster, I'm guessing the city council would rather just replace CGA with more hotels and corporate buildings.

 

What's interesting here is that when Marriott was considering turning Great America into an industrial park, the city of Santa Clara cited the loss of summer jobs and activities for teenagers as one reason that they really wanted to keep the theme park.

 

If your speculation is correct, how times have changed.

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