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News: Cedar Fair Conference Call Notes

By BryanWood

Mar. 10th, 2004 -- Cedar Fair, L.P. held a conference call this afternoon to discuss the principle agreement they've reached to purchase Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. The conference call drew many questions about the future of Geauga Lake Amusement Park.

-The live animals will be relocated within Six Flags parks, presumably to Six Flags Marine World. Cedar Fair president Dick Kinzel said that Cedar Fair has no real experience in dealing with all of the live animals.

-Cedar Fair hopes to have the sale complete by early April, and open the park in time for the scheduled opening day of May 1st. -Cedar Fair plans to market the park as a regional, traditional family park.

-They changed the name back to Geauga Lake because locals can identify with the name and they could no longer keep the Six Flags name.

-Superman Ultimate Escape, Batman Knight Flight, Roadrunner Express and Looney Tunes Boomtown will have name changes, since Cedar Fair does not have licensing agreements with Looney Tunes or DC Comics.

-Bill Spehn, who has spent 25 years with Cedar Fair, is the new General Manager of Geauga Lake. He was the Vice President of Operations at Cedar Point.

-Geaugalake.com will be the new website for the park, once the sale is completed in April. Kinzel said it will be the primary way for Cedar Fair to communicate with the public on the changes at the park.

-Cedar Fair is not sure how to develop the former Sea World property, since there will be no animals. They might open the rides close to the Geauga Lake side, but the rest of the "Sea World" side will be closed in 2004.

-Pricing for the 2004 season has not yet been set, it will be dealt with once the sale is complete.
-Cedar Fair season passes will NOT be valid at Geauga Lake in 2004, but they are planning on a Cedar Point/Geauga Lake combo pass for the future.

-Cedar Fair will continue to add rides at Geauga Lake, just as they do at every Cedar Fair park. "Capital drives our industry", Kinzel said. -Kinzel said all employee positions, including full-time employees will be evaulated. Cedar Fair plans to keep the core of the full-time employees at the park.

-The acquisition of Geauga Lake will not affect Cedar Point's marketing strategies at all.

-Kinzel said all rides should be open for opening day, except for Silver Bullet. He said that the ride might not operate. It was closed for the majority of the 2003 season.

-The waterpark will be included in front-gate admission, similar to how Cedar Fair runs Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom.

-Cedar Fair will work with local officals to eliminate traffic problems. Kinzel stated that Cedar Fair is a "good corportate citizen".

-Cedar Fair realizes that Geauga Lake could take an attendance hit because of the loss of the animals. They believe they can make up for it in the long run.

-The former Six Flags Hotel will continue to operate seasonally. -Cedar Fair is looking into upgrading the campground, they believe it has great potential.

[Editor's Note: The call lasted about 50 minutes, and Cedar Fair officials took a strong stance that they will market the park individually from Cedar Point and will upgrade the park as normal, not giving preference to Cedar Point. They believe Geauga Lake has tremendous potential to become a great money-maker for the company.-Bryan]