I started my career in 1978 with Cedar Point and retired (or so I thought) in 2018 when the company was known as Cedar Fair.
Prior to what will occur tomorrow when Cedar Fair merges with Six Flags, the single most memorable day within Cedar Fair's history was 18 years ago today (June 30, 2006) when we acquired the five Paramount Parks.
As Phil Bender and I entered the park that day, we discussed how the company would never be the same from that day on. We had gone from an organization that the General Managers "owned" their parks and made the majority of day-to-day decisions on how the park would be operated. Now, with 11 parks in the company's portfolio, we would be corporately controlled, and the GMs would have less input on how a park was to be managed.
This was a major struggle for some, both from the Cedar Fair and Paramount teams. Did we lose some good employees during the transition, yes. Did we struggle with the growth of the company, yes. Were there times that we wondered if the company would financially survive, yes.
The first few years were rough - we had to learn whose business models worked best. Paramount KNEW season passes and how to succeed with the right strategy. Cedar Fair KNEW operations and how to succeed with capital planning. A few years into the acquisition, both attendance and revenue grew to record levels. Dick Kinzel's decision to purchase the Paramount Parks was a success.
After today there will be no Cedar Fair, as per the merger agreement, the company will be referred to as Six Flags. For those who spent the majority of their careers within Cedar Fair, this is a tough pill to swallow. We took pride in our parks and never wanted to be compared to Six Flags in how we operated the parks. Cleanliness, Safety, Courtesy, and Integrity were the four cornerstones for years and we took those to heart, and always felt we did it better than anyone, especially Six Flags.
As I have many friends left within the organization, I wish them nothing but the best moving forward. I worry that the company that I gave 40 years to will never be the same after tomorrow, but hope that just like the Paramount acquisition, in a few years they will thrive.
great photo!