Business School Project: New Cedar Fair Park in Phoenix area

[redfoot12]

I'm taking a Strategic Management class and as part of that class my group has to choose a company and present a 3-year strategic plan and we chose Cedar Fair. One of my thoughts would be to (sorry folks in Northern Cal) close California's Great America and sell the land then use the capital to reinvest in a built-from-the ground up park in the Phoenix area. This idea came mainly from the thread about what area of the country could use an amusement park.

I was wondering if folks from the Phoenix area could provide some feedback on a theoretical area to open such a park (land that has good road access would be ideal). I'm open to other suggestions as well, such as a park name, themed areas (well, as themed as Cedar Fair gets), rides, etc. Would the Phoenix area welcome and support a new amusement park?

Keep in mind that the park would be opened in stages. I personally think a GCI woodie as well as some of the steel coasters and rides from CGA could start off the park. Maybe a dark ride. Later stages and years could see a maverick style ride, a B&M hyper, or whatever. CGA has been cited as an area that's land-locked and there doesn't seem to be much room for growth. I think a new park for Cedar Fair in an untapped area could work. If other people think that nuking CGA isn't necessary for a new park to work I'd like to hear thoughts on that as well.

I know there's a great deal of Cedar Fair hate. I'm by no means a Cedar Fair fan boy but the company is in better (not by a whole lot) shape financially than Six Flags to try to pull something like this off. Any suggestions would be welcome. Any roadblocks for this idea are also welcome.

[dj snow]

Any roadblocks for this idea are also welcome.

Cedar Fair doesn't own the land on which CGA sits, so there's no potential for proceeds from a land sale.

 

That said, if your assignment allows you to assume otherwise, one of the Phoenix area's Native American reservations might be a potential partner/location. Many already have casinos, golf courses, etc.; perhaps a new category of entertainment would be of interest to one of these communities.

[redfoot12]

Thanks! I guess I could see what Cedar Fair pays to lease the land for CGA.

[jarmor]

I would be inclined to only move flight deck as far as coasters and name it some bird of prey. As far as a theme, I would try to incorporate some of the areas history into the park. I would also do a seperate water park (if there isn't competition. if there is, include it with park) and a themed snoopy hotel.

[Skramp]

^^But, like the poster above said, if you could partner with a Native American tribe, you would greatly reduce your startup costs as they could provide the land, if you purchase the rides, maintain them and basically run the park on a daily basis.

[redfoot12]

Thanks for the feedback so far, guys!

Another strategy/plan I was thinking about would be for Cedar Fair to implement a Q-bot system into their parks. I'll have to do some research but I can imagine that it's a decent revenue earner for Six Flags. It might go a long way to help out with some of the debt from the Paramount purchase.

If you guys can think of any other strategies that would benefit the company (and my group's report) post 'em here!