Sk610 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Yes, thanks for doing those as they are very cool. My only ask is to not do red as we already have two red coasters and need to change those very bad. I thought the purple on viper looked awesome. I am thinking one of the current red coaster should turn blue. On a similar note, you should rent out your services to parks to show them what their coasters would look like after being painted. If you charged $100 per picture, and each coaster took 5-10 pictures to make a decision you could make some decent extra money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 It's something that I've thought of but i really have a busy schedule right now between work and other projects at home. Even if I showed these to management, I'm sure that they wouldn't give me anything for it or really care. They would probably reply with the usual "Thank you, we'll submit these tithe creative department". I imagine that things are a little hectic at the park now that the season is over and all this ownership business is going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zspaw Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I think ME would look great with the rougarou color scheme, if youre able to do that id like to see that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Here are my suggested color schemes for Mind Eraser and Ride of Steel Mind Eraser .Teal (track) and black (supports) .Green (track) and tan (supports) .Orange (track) and yellow (supports) .Purple (track) and gray (supports) Ride of Steel .Gray (track) and red (supports) .Yellow (track) and teal (supports) .Orange and (track) and teal (supports) .Black (track) and rusty red (supports) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golddisk Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 From a new countdown timer on the website's homepage the 2015 opening day has been announced. It will be May 9th. This is the same weekend the park has opened recently - the second weekend of May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Maybe they'll have two trains running in 2015! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk610 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Really? they just closed for the year and they already are giving a countdown until opening day next year? Maybe if they gave us something good to look forward to next year I would be excited for opening day next year. Until then I will be there next year, just not opening weekend unless something major. Hanges between now and then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zach2012 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 (edited) I don't know if anyone has seen this yet... CNL Lifestyle Properties issued a statement back on September 12th describing how they had signed a deal in June 2014 to sell off their entirely portfolio of golf properties, and were looking into the best opportunities to “explore liquidity strategies, our focus will remain on seeking attractive exit alternatives for the remainder of our property portfolio.” In other words, it looks like CNL Lifestyle Properties will be seeking to sell off their many Ski Resorts, Senior Housing projects, Marinas and their Theme Park / Water Park attractions. With that in mind, it almost seems doubtful that CNL would bother to invest in new capital additions for the 2015 at any of their properties. This list includes Darien lake, Elitch Gardens, Frontier City, Magic Springs, Wild Waves as well as the Wet ‘n’ Wild waterparks in CA, AZ, TX and Hawaii. Currently CNL hired outside management companies with experience in the theme park industry to run most of these parks, so I guess the question is if they would considering selling them individually to these management groups, or if they are going to try and group them together for a single group purchase instead. via screamscape.com Edited October 21, 2014 by zach2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 ^That quote is from screamscape (always best to source the info). Here's a full article about the situation, but it you have to register (for free) to read it: http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20140911/FREE/140919984/-2-7b-nontraded-reit-plans-sale-or-listing Here's CNL's latest quarterly earnings as well: http://www.cnllifestylereit.com/core/fileparse.php/472/urlt/CLP-Announces-Second-Quarter-2014-Results.pdf Doesn't sound like their portfolio is panning out, but their attractions are doing pretty well. They bought too many golf courses and ski resorts. The golf courses are on a downward trend nationally, and ski resorts struggle during the off-season. It sounds like they're in more of a hurry to get rid of the golf courses first thing, there's no mention yet of selling the parks. I hope Premier scoops up Frontier City and HFEC gets DL though. Here's a quote from the SEC filing (http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1261159/000119312514336782/d786049dex991.htm): Our equity offering was completed on April 9, 2011. In March 2014, we engaged Jefferies LLC, a leading global investment banking and advisory firm, to assist management and our board of directors in evaluating various strategic alternatives to provide liquidity to our shareholders. Consistent with this strategy, in June 2014, we signed a purchase and sale agreement to sell our golf portfolio to a third-party buyer, and we expect to complete the sale by the end of 2014. As we continue to explore liquidity strategies, our focus will remain on seeking attractive exit alternatives for the remainder of our property portfolio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDarkMaxim Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Its not they are performing bad. The golf and ski properties had a rough year due to weather. Their status as a REIT was only chartered through 2015. Basically they have two options by the end of 2015. When they say "liquidity" it means two things: 1). Sell off all the properties. 2). File an IPO and become a publicly traded company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golddisk Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 The information regarding the liquidation of the REIT was discussed a few pages back. The investment portfolio has reached its maturity, which basically means its time to repay the investors of the portfolio. As Thedarkmaxim said, there was two ways they could have done that, and it appears they choose the first option he listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 With all this "liquidity" thing that CNL is doing, what does it mean for Darien Lake, is it going to be put for sale again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterchitchat Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 With all this "liquidity" thing that CNL is doing, what does it mean for Darien Lake, is it going to be put for sale again? They could simply offer it to Herschend and then Herschend buys the park. CNL may not want a "huge" news report about the park being up for sale but instead have a "quiet" sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk610 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Yes CNL may just quietly sell DL to HFE, but in reality the park will be put up for sale. The reality may be that there is only one option but it will be put up for sale. I still stick to previous statements to say that HFE ownership will be the best thing for the park in the long run. On the flip side with the park up for sale possibly, I would not expect CNL to be investing heavily in the park...meaning no new rides next year. The best thing would be to have the sale to HFE now, so at least they could get a new flat in place for next year at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDarkMaxim Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 The information regarding the liquidation of the REIT was discussed a few pages back. The investment portfolio has reached its maturity, which basically means its time to repay the investors of the portfolio. As Thedarkmaxim said, there was two ways they could have done that, and it appears they choose the first option he listed. Not necessarily. CNL is still buying properties. Its possible they just decided they didn't want the golf resorts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLGuy Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 No more Herschand after this Sunday sadly. They were a very good group of management and it was awesome to have them around. Things ran much more smoothly than past years. Hopefully the next group can do just as well. It's rumored to be premiere managing the park now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcmfidl123 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 No more Herschand after this Sunday sadly. They were a very good group of management and it was awesome to have them around. Things ran much more smoothly than past years. Hopefully the next group can do just as well. It's rumored to be premiere managing the park now. Are you able to reveal your source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zspaw Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Can't really believe Wikipedia but someone posted this On October 26, 2014, Herschend Family Entertainment's management of the park ends and on Monday the 27th, Premier Parks, LLC management begins. This was announced to employees at the park on Tuesday October 21,2014 If this is true it isnt very good news for the park itself, it seems that CNL will hold the park for at least another year and that Herschend wont be purchasing it. Anyway people can start a petition for CNl to sell the park and stop sucking all the money it can get from it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 This doesn't look too well. Premier is a very small company and hasn't really handled a project this big before. I can't judge them until we actually see what they bring, but this is truly sad news. So does this mean that we have no chance at all that Herschend will buy the park? Is there a possibility that next year they will or did they leave because they didn't want it anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I don't pretend to know what direction HFEC wants to go, but IMO they've put too much effort into DL just to drop it. Premier isn't going to buy all of CNL's parks, and I don't know who else will. If I had to hazard a guess right now I'd say they're still doing a dance. If HFEC really is leaving the contract then it's probably just so that they'll be in a better position to make deals. I mean, back in 2009 wasn't HFEC trying to buy multiple Six Flags properties? The only reason they didn't buy Elitch, Frontier City, and Darien Lake outright back then was because SF wanted to sell them as a package deal with a bunch of other stuff, if I recall correctly. Then again, this is a chain that sunk tens of millions of dollars into a big piece of Branson property and then just gave up on it completely after 5 years because it was performing just under expectations. They also gave up on their waterpark at Stone Mountain after purchasing all the equipment for it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfelice Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 ^As I said in a thread about CNL, what has already been sunk into Darien Lake doesn't matter towards the future of the park. HFE will never get back however many millions they have sunk into the park. Just because they have pumped a lot of money into the park doesn't make HFE automatically obligated to keep on investing into it. The fact is, HFE would be nuts to overpay for Darien Lake based on the fact they already put money into the park. That money will never be returned back to HFE. This is basic finance. Unless HFE can realistically see a positive return on their investment based on what they want to pay for the park and what investment is required in the FUTURE to make the park viable, they are not going to bite on purchasing the property. HFE has no more leverage than any other potential buyer as their past investments mean nothing in the bidding and negotiation process of CNL liquidating assets. The company that sees the most potential return on investment and offers the right price will come out with Darien Lake. It could be HFE, Premier, Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Palace Entertainment, the homeless guy off the street, anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Oh I agree completely on the financial aspect, I'm still just betting that HFEC will go for it and probably win. But maybe we should just keep the sale discussion to the other thread, we're already getting into a split discussion here. Anyone been watching attendance levels lately? How has their Halloween event been working out? It sounded like DL's was a little subdued from what I read earlier. Meanwhile every other park I've seen is milking Halloween for all it's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkid124 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I haven't visited the park at all for the Halloween event, but it was from what I've heard a lot smaller than normal. The attendance levels weren't too good either. It seems like the park only did the event because they had to or practically nobody would visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarienLaker Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 No mater who's going to buy Darien Lake, the "Lake Monster" project is dead or is it? Only time would with the new owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk610 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I would think that the Lake Monster project is dead for now at least. Who knows what next year holds though.... I would like to point out a few positives to all of this...Premier ownership were people that came from Six Flags. Back in the day, the original Premier ran this park and ran it very well before buying out Six Flags and getting in over their heads. Who here remembers the four straight years with coaster additions in the 90's? My point is that these people know the park and know how to manage it. Secondly, Premier may want to look good to CNL if they have hopes of buying the park eventually. With that in mind, they may try to do something very quickly to generate attendance. Is there time to add a coaster to the park still? Maybe...as long as they can get footers poured before the freeze happens. Even after it can happen, it just costs more. Even if no new coaster, could they add a thrilling flat ride or two to try to increase attendance? Sure. And don't forget about the waterpark. The old premier used to put in a coaster and something in the waterpark each year. I think of they have the capital and follow the same plan, they should be fine Lastly, if they are from the old premier an Six Flags, they will most likely be putting a focus on thrill rides and coasters. I know the big knock on HFE is that they are too family oriented and are just not Disney. Maybe in a few years when DL has three more costers in four years and some waterslides, we may be singing a different tune. I still think HFE is the best option as I would like to se DL with actual themed areas like they are getting and a great variety of rides, but it may not be as bad as some may think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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