Cedar Point has announced today that it is expanding its new Celebration Plaza. As a part of that expansion, Cedar Point will be removing the WildCat roller coaster. In a statement on their website, they said…

WildCat was coming to the end of its useful life. With the desired expansion to Celebration Plaza, coupled with the low ridership and increased maintenance costs, Cedar Point has decided to accelerate the removal of the ride. WildCat will be removed from the park prior to Opening Day and the materials will be sent to a recycling facility.

This is the first roller coaster that Cedar Point has removed since the Jumbo Jet in 1978.

They said this expansion is one of several initiatives that will beautify the park midways and enhance guests’ experiences. Cedar Point remains committed to being the roller coaster capital of the world which means that new roller coasters, rides and attractions will always be in the future plans of the park.

Cedar Point Press Release

Brace yourself for a high-speed race that ends with a splash.

Soak City’s newest slide, Dragster H2O, is a six-lane mat racer that sends riders through enclosed fiberglass tubes in a tight spiral that serpentine alongside each other, transitioning into a side-by-side racing configuration. Located in Soak City East, next to the first drop of Magnum XL200, it replaces two speed slides.

Friends compete for bragging rights, so there’s bound to be some close calls and boastful debates. Cedar Point fans chose the name, inspired by the park’s tallest, fastest coaster.

“The sensation of plunging headfirst and racing against friends down a six-lane slide is a new twist for splashing wet summer fun at Soak City,” said Rob Decker, Corporate Vice President of planning and design.

Dragster H20 has more capacity than any other slide in Soak City and can accommodate guests who are 42 inches tall, opening it up to more riders than most larger slides, said Jim Wolshuck, Cedar Point’s manager of waterparks.

“Cedar Point is an awfully large place, and it’s difficult to see it all in one day,” Wolshuck said. “Cooling off in the afternoon after walking around the hot midway is a great way to break up your day.”

Dragster H20 will be ready when Soak City opens for the season on May 26.

Features:

• Guests grab a specially-designed foam racing mat and climb the slide tower
• Six guests line up at the top of the slide tube to race one another
• The race begins by sliding down the tube when the signal light turns green
• Enclosed flume sections at the top help build up speed and add to the racing thrill when the guest pops out into the open flume drop section
• The winner of the race crosses a finish line and all six lanes splash into long flume sections that slow racers to a stop
• The mat racer style ride has strong visual and spectator appeal will keep guests coming back, again and again

Facts & Figures

• Height: 45 feet tall slide; 60 feet including tower
• Lane length: 350 feet
• Lane Width: 2 feet
• Capacity Per Hour: 150 riders per lane
• Speed: Starts slow at 10 mph, then accelerates to nearly 30 mph.
• Hydro power: Uses a high-quality filtration system that delivers 400 gallons per minute to each slide.
• Manufacturer: Whitewater West Industries Ltd., the world’s largest provider of water park attractions.. Whitewater has supplied several other attractions for Cedar Point, including the Zoom Flume and Splash Zone attractions. The fiberglass is made using a special manufacturing process that results in a smooth surface on both sides of the slide.
• Height requirement: Must be 42 inches to ride.

Cedar Point opens for the summer on Saturday, May 12 and will be open daily through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 3, 2012 and Friday through Sunday through Oct. 28. Soak City opens May 26. For more details and additional information about Cedar Point, please visit the new cedarpoint.com or call the park’s general information line at 419-627-2350.

SANDUSKY, Ohio, April 13, 2012 — This summer, when the sun sets on another day of thrills at Cedar Point, guests will be treated to an entertainment encore that ignites all of their senses.

Cedar Point’s new live show, Luminosity, Powered by Pepsi, will transform the park’s Main Midway into a dance club aglow with flames, lasers and more than 1 million lights that extend beyond the stage, illuminating rides and buildings.

Luminosity will take the stage with a grand opening on Friday, June 8, igniting the night through Sunday, Aug. 19. Guests can experience the magic before then as the show unofficially starts Friday, June 1.

“Cedar Point is a magical place on a summer night, and Luminosity is going to treat our guests to a very special nighttime experience,” said John Hildebrandt, Vice President and General Manager of the park. “Luminosity will be many things: midway and ride lights, music, singing and dancing on a 75-foot stage, pyrotechnics, video and a few surprises — but it will also be a way for families to connect at the end of the day and create new memories of their visit to the park.”

“We believe all our rides and shows are special, but the real joy comes from sharing those experiences with family and friends.”

Each day at dusk, the park will begin to glow with enhanced lighting on the Giant Wheel, Power Tower and Millennium Force, as well as along the Main Midway.

At the new Celebration Plaza in front of the Iron Dragon roller coaster, more than two dozen dancers, singers, drummers and other performers will accompany guests on a multi-sensory adventure. Onstage with a backdrop rising nearly 25 feet, performers will journey by land, under the sea and through space, with eye-catching costume changes and scenery that unfolds throughout the show to set the mood. They’ll twist and twirl to the tune of dynamic pop favorites, firing up the crowd. The adventure culminates in an explosion of fireworks and pyrotechnics that will light up the sky.

While guests are riding high on a wave of excitement, a DJ will crank up the dance hits and take requests.

Pulsating rhythms from top performers such as Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull and Britney Spears will coax even the most reluctant dancers from the sidelines. They’ll take a cue from flash mobs that will make surprise appearances throughout the day to give guests a glimpse of what’s to come. Another DJ stationed in front of the Cedar Point Ballroom will invite families to join the party along the midway. It’s the perfect way to continue celebrating together after an action-packed day at the park.

“It’s very much an all-encompassing experience,” said Charles Bradshaw, Corporate Vice President of live entertainment. “There will be many technical accents and special effects, combined with concert-style music and 30 talented performers that really connect with the audience in a close setting. We want them to feel like they’re part of the excitement.”

Luminosity is one of many ways Cedar Point is connecting people through thrills, in addition to its 17 roller coasters, award-winning entertainment and resort accommodations. Watch a preview of the show atluminosity.cedarpoint.com.

Cedar Point opens for the summer on Saturday, May 12 and will be open daily through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 3, 2012 and Friday through Sunday through Oct. 28. For more details and additional information about Cedar Point, please visit the new cedarpoint.com or call the park’s general information line at 419-627-2350.

SANDUSKY

Cedar Point’s new leader wants to keep the energy coursing through visitors’ veins night and day.

Such is the philosophy behind Cedar Fair’s multimillion-dollar Luminosity, Ignite the Night, the newest offering at the company’s flagship park this summer.
Matthew Ouimet, Cedar Fair’s new CEO and president, noticed the energy level among guests would drop off later at night, said Bryan Edwards, Cedar Point spokesman.

Enter Luminosity, a $6 million production that doesn’t pull any proverbial punches when it comes to showmanship.

The park opens May 12, although Luminosity doesn’t debut until June 1.

Luminosity, a 40-minute show, will feature dancers and acrobats, creating a sort of Cirque du Soleil feel.

Singers and drummers will also be part of the mix, followed by a dance party where a DJ keeps the midway swaying with songs by the likes of Jennifer Lopez and LMFAO.

But the finale comes when lights and pyrotechnics set the night sky on fire.

“It is going to be an amazing show,” Edwards said.

The show will play out each night near the Iron Dragon, in what is now being called Celebration Plaza. Crews are currently building a stage for the program.

SANDUSKY — Walking along Cedar Point amusement park’s Midway and arriving at a spot where a new light-lasers-and-fireworks show will entertain guests this June, Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair LP’s ebullient new chief executive officer, can no longer contain himself.

“Isn’t that a great view?” he says, gazing across a plaza where a large video screen has been removed to reveal the towering Millennium Force roller coaster bathed in the sunlight of a cloudless blue sky.

“We really should be open today. What a great day,” said Mr. Ouimet, not bothering to conceal his pride in Cedar Point, which this day is devoid of people other than a handful of workers painting, repairing, and primping the grand old amusement park for its May 12 opening.

The excitement in Mr. Ouimet’s voice is audible, the bounce in his step visible, and the twinkle in the eye of the former Disney Co. executive perceptible.

Although he spent 17 years as a trusted Disney lieutenant running its historic Disneyland theme park and popular cruise line, it is clear that in Sandusky, the 54-year-old Mr. Ouimet knows he finally is captain of his own ship: Cedar Fair, the nation’s third-largest amusement park chain with 11 parks, including the flagship Cedar Point, plus six water parks and five hotels.

Mr. Ouimet, who also spent short stints running Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Corinthian Colleges, was chosen last June to be president of Cedar Fair and heir-apparent to longtime company executive Dick Kinzel. When Mr. Kinzel retired on Jan. 1 after 25 years with Cedar Fair, Mr. Ouimet gained the CEO title and the keys to the candy store, so to speak.

The new CEO’s acumen as an amusement park executive is well documented — he developed and implemented a comprehensive strategic plan leading to a significantly improved and sustained performance for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary in 2005. And the Cedar Fair board clearly found in Mr. Ouimet a kindred replacement for Mr. Kinzel, whose fondness for walking the midway and riding the roller coasters revealed him to be both a top executive and a big kid at heart.

Mr. Ouimet acknowledged that if a staff meeting were to drag on too long, he isn’t above calling a halt and taking the participants into the park to ride a coaster, something he did one day last summer.

Above all, the new CEO said that he’s honored to be Cedar Fair’s new custodian and plans to take the company’s parks in directions they may not have gone before to enhance their value not just for customers, but also investors.

“A person once told me that there’s a difference between revering history and respecting history. Respecting history reminds you to look at what’s really important and learn from it,” Mr. Ouimet said. “Revering it means you never change anything, and if you don’t make change … we won’t be here in 20 or 30 years.

“And so I think that’s the delicate balance. When you’ve got such a loyal audience, you know you’re always going to have somebody disappointed that the ride they rode as a 5-year-old is no longer here,” Mr. Ouimet said. “But I hope they’re equally excited or more excited about what replaced it. I think that’s one of the hardest parts of my job is to try to figure out where change is good and where legacy is good.”

Though a confirmed Disney disciple — he still slips up and calls employees “cast members” about half the time — Mr. Ouimet said he has no plans to Disney-fy Cedar Fair.

The Millennium Force gets some new paint. A string of unseasonably warm days has helped maintenance workers get a jump-start on sprucing up the park before it opens on May 12. THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT

Instead, he said, he plans to use lessons he learned from the premier theme-park firm wherever applicable at the Sandusky-based chain.

“It’s funny, but when I was considering this job I went back to the history here — there’s some wonderful books on it — and what you realize is there’s a lot of parallels,” Mr. Ouimet said. “I think the other thing that’s common here is the value system of the people who visit us and the people who work here,” he said.

“Disney was really founded on Midwestern values, and I think that, clearly in the Cedar Fair portfolio, that’s part of the DNA both for our guests and for our employees. That’s maybe why I feel as comfortable as I do here,” he said.

Last week Mr. Ouimet was having a hard time staying at his desk, the warm weather and sprucing up of Cedar Point beckoning him into the park like a siren’s song.

“So the good news is the weather was, I’m told, unseasonably warm. Clearly we’ve been able to get ahead of our maintenance and cosmetics and annual maintenance scheduled,” he said. “So the Millennium Force is almost fully painted, the Blue Streak is almost done, the Giant Wheel is almost done.”

However, special lighting for the park’s new nighttime show, “Luminosity: Ignite the Night,” is proving more complex than he imagined.

“That will be a little bit of crunch time, but that show doesn’t launch until the beginning of June, so I’ve got a little bit more time to work at night. But obviously when I open the park in May I don’t want the consumer to see a lot of construction,” Mr. Ouimet said.

At Disneyland, Mr. Ouimet and other Disney execs always were aware of Cedar Fair and its southern California venue, Knott’s Berry Farm. Disney never viewed Knott’s as a true competitor, Mr. Ouimet said, but it was always jealous of the Sandusky company’s ability to turn high profits.

“I studied Cedar Fair on and off for 20 years. They were known — and I give Dick Kinzel the credit for this — as great operators. … We studied them and marveled at the quality of the product they could deliver and still deliver the margins they delivered, because that was, candidly, where my focus was,” Mr. Ouimet said. “How could they do this and still deliver the returns they did to their investors?”

Mr. Ouimet admits he “never fully cracked the code.”

Now in control of Knott’s, Mr. Ouimet admits it would be nice if Disney executives looked his way and wonder how he does it. “I hope my former colleagues feel a little pressure. I know that they’re paying a little more attention,” he said.

If Disney officials are paying attention they might recognize a similar philosophy, a “kind of emotional sentiment” that Mr. Ouimet plans to emphasize at Cedar Fair.

“We are successful here if I can get you to come with your family and friends and laugh and smile. I’ve created value for you and value for my shareholders,” Mr. Ouimet said. “And whether it be Cedar Point, Knott’s, Kings Island, or Kings Dominion, that’s really our mission.”

Mr. Ouimet is convinced laughs and smiles go best with friends and family. And while Cedar Fair parks have been good at providing thrills, a friend and family connection may have been somewhat overlooked.

In response, it will launch a new marketing campaign, “Thrills Connect,” to show people that they can go to a Cedar Fair park, never get on a coaster, but still have a great day with family.

“We want to remind people that time with family, time with friends is precious. This is the place to spend it,” Mr. Ouimet said.

Over time, Mr. Ouimet said he plans to build more rides that families, from a young child to a grandmother, can enjoy together.

“I think that we’re known for thrill rides. I think we will always be known for thrill rides. But there clearly is an opportunity to expand the offering for children,” Mr. Ouimet said. “So you’ll see us over time try to make sure we’re adding enough for the young families. Because if I can get you to come at that age …you start your relationship with us earlier, you stay with us longer. I’m absolutely convinced of it.”

Several Cedar Fair’s parks have room to add family rides, but Cedar Point, built on a peninsula, has always been land-challenged. But Mr. Ouimet said the problem isn’t huge. There are underutilized areas, and employee dormitories on the grounds could be relocated off the peninsula, he said.

Mr. Ouimet said the most under-used attraction at Cedar Point is its beach — which was the focus of the park when it was founded in 1906.

“You can come here and not even know we have a beach. So one of the things we’re going to encourage people to do is make more use of the beach, because it’s nice,” said Mr. Ouimet, adding that he plans to add cabanas, tents, chairs, and other recreational services this summer to lure more visitors to the Cedar Point beach.

Mr. Ouimet could have started his tenure as CEO slowly, but he seemed determined to hit the ground running when his hiring was announced last June. The company, which had record revenues of $1.028 billion, profits of $72.2 million, and a record attendance of 23.4 million in 2011, had already announced last year a new $1 million attraction, Dinosaurs Alive!, for 2012 at its flagship Cedar Point park. The attraction, which made its debut last year at Kings Island near Cincinnati, is being duplicated at three other parks.

But Mr. Ouimet wanted customers to have more.

He ordered the creation of Luminosity, a mix of lights, lasers, fireworks, music, and dancing that reportedly will cost $6 million and, he hopes, entice people to stay longer in the park. If the show performs as expected, it will be duplicated next year at other parks.

He also asked for and got two new Peanuts characters — Woodstock and Franklin — to delight children at the park’s Camp Snoopy area, and he will have a Snoopy show to fill the Luminosity stage in the daytime.

The former Disney executive also turned his focus on three other items he hopes will make a difference: food, marketing, and ecommerce.

Cedar Point used to be known for its delicious french fries, but the recipe was labor-intensive. So several years ago it abandoned its popular recipe in favor of quicker service.

“[Operations vice president] Phil Bender, who runs about half of our parks for us, is now bringing back the original recipe at all the parks. …It will take us longer, but they should taste really, really good,” Mr. Ouimet said.

“The food in the parks, to some degree, has been an afterthought. So this year we’re going to have in our major burger places all fresh burgers, never frozen,” he said. “So with those, the french fries, and we’ve got some other little surprises that we’re going to do for the food, we’re trying to make that part of it a little better.”

Marketing, in Mr. Ouimet’s view, wasn’t a Cedar Fair strength. So he created a chief marketing officer position and filled it with Kelly Semmelroth, a former Disney colleague.

“I needed someone like Kelly, who can take what I would call modern marketing techniques. She is very much into CRM — customer relationship marketing — which is, ‘How much do I understand my consumers?’ ‘How do I capture their information?’ ‘How do I communicate with them in the digital era?’ ”

If the individual parks gathered that information it would have produced 11 databases, Mr. Ouimet said. But Ms. Semmelroth can centralize data to find economies of scale, yet still allow each park the independence to do what is needed for their markets, he added.

An area where Mr. Ouimet already has made progress is ecommerce. Previously, each park had its own Web site and methods of ticket sales. But late last year the new CEO standardized the Web sites so they can offer discounts on tickets and other premium services.

“From a system technology standpoint, the rides were as technologically advanced as anything you’ll see in the industry. From a back of the house standpoint, we were probably behind the curve,” Mr. Ouimet said of Cedar Fair’s previous technological efforts.

The growth of smart phones and other devices has necessitated new ways to reach customers, he said.

“The way I see it today is, before you grab your car keys to go on a road trip to Cedar Point, you grab your keyboard to see what you’re going to do and what tickets you’re going to buy,” he said. “So clearly, today when somebody sees our commercial on television, I guarantee you the vast majority are going to the Web site, and I needed that Web site to be able to be of value to the consumer.”

In return, Cedar Fair can communicate with its guests in ways it couldn’t before, the CEO added.

“I can now talk to every kid instantly, and I think that’s how you balance out the technology side. I guarantee you we’ll come up with things we haven’t even thought of yet using technology for people to enjoy the parks better, to stay in touch with each other.”

SANDUSKY

Dinosaurs are invading Cedar Point.

Tyrannosaurus Rex, Angustinaripterus, Allosaurus and others began arriving at the park Wednesday.
Contractors are getting the creatures ready for an eventual release into their new habitat — the trees and sands of Adventure Island.

The Dinosaurs Alive! attraction, a $1 million undertaking featuring 50 animatronic dinosaurs, should be ready for exploration when Cedar Point opens May 12.

“We are still receiving deliveries,” said Charles Hutchison, Cedar Point’s digital marketing manager. “This is going to be amazing.”

The display opens up areas of the park that most visitors have never ventured into during the regular season, other than Terror Island during HalloWeekends.

Guests will find themselves stepping onto Adventure Island after crossing a bridge near Camp Snoopy.

In seasons past, visitors could only view the island from certain rides or specific vantage points in the park.

The new exhibit also lets guests walk underneath the back part of the Millennium Force.

Three dozen different types of dinosaurs will be included among 13 different scenes, each scene specific to a prehistoric era.

Most impressive, no doubt, will be the 40-foot-tall and 72-foot-long Ruyangosaurus, whose neck and head will stretch out over the midway, towering over the passersby.

Each dinosaur is eerily realistic, with synthetic skins made from materials and colors that create a genuinely authentic look.

Dinosaurs Alive! winds along a half-mile concrete trail that’s made to resemble petrified soil. The path is also peppered with what’s made to look like fossilized leaves and dinosaur footprints.

But the coup de grace comes when the life-sized dinosaurs thunder to life, moving and roaring as people walk by.

Contractors should have all the dinosaurs installed in short order, providing them more time to focus on building foliage and scenic elements.

“In true Cedar Point fashion, we will take every minute available to us to make it perfect,” Hutchison said.

The park is charging guests a $5 fee — beyond the regular admission price — to view the exhibit.

“A $5 admission makes it an exclusive experience for the guests who want it and can appreciate it,” Hutchison said. “That is, families with children.”

Dinosaurs Unearthed, a Canadian company, created the attraction for Cedar Point.

SANDUSKY — Monstrous roars are echoing at Cedar Point as the summertime scream park invites guests to come face to face with dinosaurs.

The new 2012 attraction – ”Dinosaurs Alive” – which is currently under construction on Adventure Island near Millennium Force, features more than 50 animatronic dinosaurs.

Photos: Dinosaurs invade Cedar Point

WKYC.com was invited to the park for an exclusive sneak peek of Dinosaurs Alive with Bryan Edwards, the spokesman for Cedar Point.

“We’re putting them (dinosaurs) out on the island right now, hooking up the sound system to them. It’s really going to be a cool experience. I don’t think words and pictures will do it justice until you actually see these things in person and how big and massive they are.”

The decision to bring these massive creatures to the park came from another Ohio destination — Kings Island.

“The reason we brought ‘Dinosaurs Alive’ to Cedar Point this year was our sister park, Kings Island, down near Cincinnati, introduced dinosaurs and had a similar attraction at their park last year and it was hugely successful,” Edwards says. ”Guests of all ages really enjoyed it.”

Although this addition isn’t a signature scream machine, Edwards says it’s a family experience.

“We’ll have three dinosaurs that will have interactive controls that you can move the head, the body, the tail. There will also be a dinosaur dig-pit area for children that they can go through and actually unearth dinosaur bones.”

Edwards anticipates it will take guests at least 45 minutes to soak in the entire attraction.

“Dinosaurs Alive,” which costs an additional $5, will debut when the park opens for the 2012 season on Saturday, May 12.

The long-running Paddlewheel Excursion was removed at the end of the 2011 season to make room for “Dinosaurs Alive.”

Cedar Point’s upcoming attempt this summer to get customers to stay later — and presumably spend a little more money — will be a mix of singers, dancers, drummers, acrobats, lights, lasers, and fireworks. And if that isn’t enough, a DJ will get a dance party started afterward.

The Sandusky amusement park has been tight-lipped about the new after-dark event — Luminosity: Ignite the Night — that it plans to unveil in June.

But details of the Disney resort-inspired extravaganza leaked out recently on the independent Cedar Point aficionado Web site “Point Buzz” following an “off-season tour” Feb. 25 that offered insights of the upcoming season and an up-close look at the park to a group of roller coaster enthusiasts.

Point Buzz operators said they were told that Luminoisty will feature “25 dancers, 3 drummers, 2 [acrobats], a DJ, and singers.”

The 40-minute show also will feature four sections: land travel, sea travel, space travel, and a finale with fireworks, the Web site said.

A Cedar Point spokesman confirmed most of the details.

Point Buzz said the show will cost Cedar Point $6 million, but the Cedar Point spokesman wouldn’t confirm that.

By contrast, its new attraction for the season, Dinosaurs Alive!, will cost just $1 million.

After the fireworks, a DJ will host a dance party on a new stage to be built on the midway area near the Iron Dragon roller coaster. The new area will be dubbed Celebration Plaza and it will be used during the day for a show featuring Peanuts characters, Point Buzz said.

In January, new Cedar Fair LP Chief Executive Officer Matt Ouimet told Wall Street analysts that Luminosity would be tested at the company’s Cedar Point flagship park and, if successful, would be duplicated at the chain’s other amusement parks. Mr. Ouimet said at the time that in his 17 years as an executive at Disney Co., he had learned that lights and fireworks were the only two things that get customers to extend their stays at an amusement park.

Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc. of Cincinnati said Luminosity’s reported $6 million price tag, if accurate, is inexpensive by current standards.

“Specifically, one of the best indicators of what is happening in the industry is what Disney’s California Adventure [in Los Angeles] has done with the introduction of their new light and water show. That cost $100 million,” Mr. Speigel said.

“So what we’re seeing with [Luminosity] — and this is what we here have been talking about for several years as it pertains to the changing demographics and to the families — is what Cedar Point needed to do,” Mr. Speigel said. “Cedar Point may be the roller coaster capital of the world, but there comes a point when some people stop riding these attractions as aging occurs.”

It’s past time, Mr. Speigel added, that Cedar Point began adding more family attractions, and Luminosity is a positive step. “This is exactly what we forecast that Matt [Ouimet] would be bringing to the park. This is his history, coming out of Disney and its resorts, of knowing how to make people stay longer, make them spend a little more,” Mr. Speigel said.

Bryan Edwards, the Cedar Point spokesman, said Luminosity is to be launched around June 1 and start around dusk each evening.

“It’s unlike any other show we’ve ever done here at Cedar Point. It’s really going to revamp the whole midway,” he said, adding that new lighting and sound systems are being installed on the midway from the front gate to the new Luminosity stage.

Mr. Edwards said the show “is really kind of our way of rejuvenating the night. After a seven or eight-hour day of riding some of the best coasters in the world, you can feel a little run down by the end of the day.”

Park officials see the show as being a “high-energy, must-see event with something for all ages,” Mr. Edwards said. “It will be really neat. We don’t want the public to think this is just another laser show because it isn’t.”

Workers at Lakeside Interior Contractors will exhaust every drop of 500 gallons of paint before they’re done painting the Blue Streak’s 2,000 feet of track.

The coaster — the oldest one at Cedar Point — is known for its sky-blue skin, although the color’s official name is “Blue Bell,” said Kim McLennan, project manager at the Perrysburg-based Lakeside Interior.

About once every seven years the Blue Streak gets a fresh coat of paint — partly to maintain its appearance, but also to weatherproof the wood.

Cedar Fair LP said Thursday it expects a record dividend in 2013 and foresees higher revenues because of new initiatives that include a fresh ad campaign, more e-commerce via updated Web sites, a nighttime light show at Cedar Point to get customers to stay longer, and “fast lane” programs at all 11 parks that let customers pay extra to bypass long lines on popular rides.

“We believe there are substantial growth opportunities available to us,” Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair’s new chief executive officer, told Wall Street analysts in New York during his first investor presentation since replacing the company’s longtime leader, Dick Kinzel, this month.

During the two-hour presentation, Mr. Ouimet, 53, a former executive with the Disney Co. who was chosen in June to replace Mr. Kinzel, outlined his vision for the Sandusky-based amusement park company, a plan he called “New Fun” — a word play on the company’s FUN ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.

Financially, Mr. Ouimet said Cedar Fair’s primary goal is attractive returns for its shareholders. He said the company will continue its $1.60-a-share dividend this year, but expects a record dividend “of more than $2″ a share in 2013. On Thursday, Cedar Fair’s stock closed up 60 cents a share at $24.53.

With a debt load still at $1.56 billion and 2011 revenues expected to be at $1.03 billion when the company reports its earnings Feb. 21, Cedar Fair said it expects modest sales growth in 2012. But the company ended 2011 with $35 million in free cash flow and it expects to increase its free cash flow by $50 million beginning in 2013 because of interest reduction on its outstanding debt, Brian Witherow, the company’s chief financial officer, said. By 2016, Cedar Fair expects to show a compounded annual growth rate of 4 percent, with its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or ebitda, reaching $450 million.

Mr. Witherow said 2011 adjusted ebitda earnings are expected to be $375 million.

Mr. Ouimet said Cedar Fair’s expected higher dividends will hinge on earnings growth. The company expects to achieve growth through a number of moves, some already implemented and others announced Thursday by the CEO.

In November, Cedar Fair hired a new ad agency, Cramer-Krasselt of Chicago, to handle its strategic planning, branding, advertising, media buying, and other duties for its 10 U.S. amusement parks. Mr. Ouimet said the agency created a new ad campaign based on multigenerational memories of the company’s parks with the goal of getting customers to come to the parks as a family.

Cedar Fair also is updating its parks’ Web sites to accommodate more e-commerce and drive customers, Mr. Ouimet said. On Wednesday, Cedar Point debuted its new Web site and unveiled a two-price ticket strategy — a one-day adult ticket for $44.99 if bought online, and $51.99 if bought at the gate.

“We want to train the consumer to know the best ticket value is on our Web site,” the CEO said.

Another change recently implemented is allowing Cedar Point and other parks to offer season passes paid for on an installment plan of four equal payments.

Mr. Ouimet said the installment plan could be “one of the most impactful changes the industry could make” and eventually embed visits to a Cedar Fair park into a customer’s routine by giving them time to budget for it, essentially paying a portion each month like a cable TV bill.

“For us, such a model would improve cash flow, reduce annual insurance, reduce our marketing costs for seasonal passes, particularly where we spend a good chunk of our marketing money, and most probably increase the seasonal pass holders’ spending when they do visit,” he said.

The CEO said he is implementing several small changes at the company’s parks, including never-frozen fresh hamburgers at all its hamburger stands, and early entry programs for guests staying at Cedar Fair resorts or its resort partners.

In the future, Cedar Fair will continue testing new ideas at one park and, if successful, deploying them at its other parks the next year.

Based on a test last season, the company will implement “Fast Lane” — a program tested in July and August at Kings Island park near Cincinnati — at all of its amusement parks this season.

Fast Lane charges customers $50 over the admission price for the privilege of jumping to the front of the line for every popular ride. Each park will limit the number of Fast Lane passes sold each day so as not to disrupt customers who do not buy Fast Lane.

Mr. Ouimet said that for the half-season Fast Lane was used at Kings Island, it generated close to $1 million in revenue.

This season Cedar Fair will test a new light show, “Luminosity — Ignite the Night,” at Cedar Point. If successful, the combination of lights, fireworks, and music will be duplicated at all Cedar Fair parks.

Cedar Point spokesman Robin Innes said the park is finalizing details of Luminosity, but it will be held at a fixed spot on the Cedar Point midway nightly beginning in June. The idea had been under consideration for a while, he added.

Mr. Ouimet said that from his 17 years working at Disney, he learned that there are just two things that keep people at a park through dinner — lights and fireworks.

“You are trying to keep them through the dinner or keep them late enough. They stay in a resort and come the next day. … We’ve tried everything throughout the industry forever and the only thing is lights and fireworks, and the reason that works is because you can’t do it ’til after dark. It’s just structural,” he said.

From the Toledo Blade…

SANDUSKY — As he walked the vacant midway of Cedar Point amusement park one day last week, a blustery and cold wind off Lake Erie swirling about him, Dick Kinzel suddenly turned and pointed to a boarded-up fast-food stand.

“See that place?” he said, staring at the two-story “Walking Tacos” stand. “That used to be my first office there up on the second floor. Things sure have changed.”

For Cedar Point, its parent firm, Cedar Fair LP, and especially for Mr. Kinzel, things will change again in a very large way on Jan. 3 when the 71-year-old chief executive officer retires after 39 years with the Sandusky-based amusement park company — 25 years as its top executive.

The former Toledoan, who was a vice president with the company and general manager of its Valleyfair park in Minneapolis from 1978 to to 1986, is among a handful of men to run the amusement park chain since its founding as Cedar Point amusement center in 1906.

But it was under Mr. Kinzel’s stewardship, beginning when he became chief executive officer in 1986, that Cedar Point grew from a two-park mom-and-pop operation with revenues of $100 million into the current Cedar Fair LP conglomerate of 11 amusement parks, seven water parks and five hotels, which had revenues of $1.01 billion in 2010.

Last week, Mr. Kinzel, who lives on the Cedar Point island within walking distance of the amusement park, reflected on some of his triumphs and missteps, his best and most disappointing moments, and his impressions on the company and his industry over his almost 40 years at northwest Ohio’s premiere entertainment destination.

Mr. Kinzel, who remains a ball of energy, said he’ll most miss walking around Cedar Point on a crowded day and interacting with customers.

“It’s been a way of life for a lot of years and I’m going to miss it, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “I’ll miss just coming in and walking the parks and being with the people, walking the park with [park general manager] John Hildebrandt or the general managers, and talking about what can we do to make them better.”

As Mr. Kinzel departs, Cedar Fair is but a few years away from having changed from a limited partnership whose shareholders were mostly individuals concerned about its “distribution,” or quarterly dividend, to one now dominated by institutional investors who care more about its daily share prices and quarterly earnings.

Over the last two years, Mr. Kinzel has been in several shareholder fights with the company’s largest investor, Texas hedge funds Q Investments, over the direction of the company.

Q Investments led a shareholder fight that eventually stripped Mr. Kinzel of the title of company chairman, which he held from 2003 to 2011.

Mr. Kinzel said he won’t miss dealing with Wall Street. “I much more prefer dealing with the retail base and having the shareholders in here. … we used to have shareholders just come in and say hello, and we sort of lost some of that,” he said.

Nowadays, “You have to deal with the bankers more than you just deal with what you like to do. You have to figure that I went for 23 years and we never needed a financial banker in here because we paid for all our capital out of cash flow and we paid the distributions. And we were only leveraged about three times.

“It was smooth sailing for 23 years,” he said.

But Mr. Kinzel admits that he is partly responsible for the de-emphasis of small investors — prior to 2006, 80 percent of Cedar Fair’s shares were held by individuals, but now 55 percent of its shares are held by large institutional investors — because of the $1.2 billion acquisition of Paramount Parks that he engineered in 2006.

The deal added five amusement parks to Cedar Fair’s portfolio and took its annual revenues from $569 million to $1 billion.

History, Mr. Kinzel said, is likely to prove the Paramount acquisition his biggest achievement as chairman and CEO.

“That’s probably the thing I’m proudest of, making that acquisition,” he said. “They put it up for bid for auction, and we bid on it. We paid a very high price … but we knew there were five great parks in five strategic geographic locations.”

However, Cedar Fair struggled with a high debt load for three years after the acquisition, forcing it to consider being acquired by private equity group Apollo Global Management LLC of New York. The $2.4 billion deal eventually was called off after shareholders indicated they would not approve the sale.

Looking back, Mr. Kinzel said that if he could do one thing differently with the Paramount deal, “I wish we could have … done a public offering for the stock instead of trying to pay off the debt out of cash flow. That’s what sort of got us in trouble with the banks, is when the recession hit and we couldn’t come back,” he said.

Trying to absorb the debt of the deal left the company weakened, and it was forced to suspend its dividend, a move dictated by loan agreements, but one that cost it goodwill with its smaller shareholders. Many small shareholders sold their stock as a result, and it was snapped up by institutional investors intently interested in the company’s financial bottom line.

“In hindsight, I’d do it all again … but I certainly would do an offering for [new shares] to get that debt down,” Mr. Kinzel said.

Mr. Kinzel’s other strategic regret is letting the opportunity to buy Kings Island near Cincinnati get away in 2000. The company acquired Kings Island in 2006 in the Paramount deal, but Cedar Fair could have had it six years earlier at a lower price. A $40 million tax liability on top of the sale price killed the sale to Cedar Fair in 2000, he said.

“Kings Island, that was always my favorite park outside of the Cedar Fair system. It opened in 1972, the year I started at Cedar Point, so we knew the park, and I visited it just about every year just to see what they were doing,” Mr. Kinzel said.

With retirement just days away, the CEO said he is “real proud” of Cedar Fair’s financial position as he leaves. “If you look at our projections, our forecast for this year, we’re going to leave the company with record projected revenues, record attendance, and projected record [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization]. So I’m real pleased. It’s a nice way to go out.”

A known name

Mr. Kinzel also is most proud of the fact that Cedar Fair went from a regional company to an international brand under his watch. One of the company’s most successful parks now is its Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto, and every year Cedar Point is visited by coaster enthusiasts from several continents eager to try its world-renowned collection of roller coasters.

“We put in the first 200-foot, 300-foot, and 400-foot coasters and I think our capital [expenditures] plan, our five-year plan for all these years has been good. It’s kept attendance coming and revenues increasing every year,” he said.

“It’s sort of nice to be the trendsetter in some things, and certainly Cedar Point is known for the roller coasters. To be voted the No. 1 amusement park for the last 14 years, most of that is attributable to not only the cleanliness and our employees but also to putting in those major attractions,” Mr. Kinzel said.

“You know, it’s always been a surprise to me that when we put in the Magnum XL-200 [in 1989], no one followed through with a big coaster like that,” he said. “Then we put in the 300-foot coaster. Then we put in a 400-foot coaster, and Six Flags did match us. They modeled theirs after that one, but other than that, no one’s really modeled the success we’ve had with the big steel coasters.”

While coaster enthusiasts view Mr. Kinzel as the main architect of Cedar Point’s collection of 17 roller coasters, Mr. Kinzel said he didn’t set out to make the park the “coaster capital.”

“I was basically just doing my job — you do what you do to draw attendance, to bring attendance into the park,” he said. But building the Magnum in 1989 “just changed the whole environment of what Cedar Point was,” Mr. Kinzel said.

“All of a sudden Cedar Point was the coaster capital of the world, and John Hildebrandt, who is now the general manager of Cedar Point, was vice president of marketing then, and he took that and ran with it and helped build the brand,” he said.

Scariest moment

The launch of the Magnum XL-200 also gave Mr. Kinzel his most memorable — albeit scariest — moment in 39 years at Cedar Fair.

“When we opened the [310-foot high] Millennium Force in 2000, that thing, they ran it for a month before they’d let anybody on it,” Mr. Kinzel said. “But with the Magnum XL-200, it was the Saturday before the park opened and we were on the platform. And they sent the first train around — one time around! — and somebody said, ‘Let’s go,’ and we hopped in the front seat and we went up that crazy hill.

“Coming in, the brakes weren’t on in the station. You know how you come around and you come back into that station and there’s a set of brakes there? None of those brakes were hooked up and we didn’t know it,” Mr. Kinzel said.

“So we went screaming into the station. Nobody was hurt or anything but that was a real exciting day,” Mr. Kinzel said, laughing at the memory. “You know what though? I knew we had the best ride in the world at that point. I got off that ride saying ‘We got a winner’ because … I had ridden all the coasters and there was nothing like Magnum XL-200 when that was put in. Needless to say, after that day, we run [coasters] for months before we’ll let anyone on one,” he added.

Another coaster, Cedar Point’s Disaster Transport, a lightly regarded ride by coaster enthusiasts, gave Mr. Kinzel his worst moment over the decades.

Built as an outdoor “bobsled” coaster, the family-friendly attraction was later converted to an indoor space-themed ride by Mr. Kinzel. “The story I always tell about it is we had a dog ride and we took a dog ride and put a cover on it,” he said.

“We had a board meeting on opening day and I had the board out there and some guy came right up to me with his little kid and said, ‘You named that right. That’s a disaster.’ And he just walked away,” Mr. Kinzel said. “What can you say?”

Attractive target

Over his 25 years as CEO, Mr. Kinzel has been involved in several major Cedar Fair acquisitions. But during his years with the company, Mr. Kinzel said, Cedar Fair itself often was an acquisition target, more so than is known.

“We’ve been courted — while I’ve been at Cedar Point — many times. By Taft Broadcasting, right after they built Kings Island, Marriott tried to buy us twice, and Anheuser-Busch wanted us. Up until we went public [in 1987] there were a lot of people courting us,” Mr. Kinzel said.

“Marriott was going to build three parks with us, and they ultimately built two of them. They didn’t buy us, but they hired a lot of our people. Thirty-two people from Cedar Point went to the Chicago [Great America] park alone,” Mr. Kinzel said.

“That’s when [former CEO Robert] Munger decided to promote from within and not go outside to rebuild his team. That’s what gave me my big break. Well, actually, Marriott gave me my big break I guess,” he said.

As he heads into retirement, Mr. Kinzel said he plans to see what people who don’t work throughout a summer do. For starters, he bought golf clubs and plans to try the game.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, and I hope I can go there in September. I’m going on a cruise in February, and I’m just going to do stuff where I don’t have a calendar,” he said.

“I’ve never had a Labor Day or a Fourth of July or a Memorial Day off in my life, or at least in the last 40 years,” he said. “I’ve never had a summer vacation … but that’s just part of our policy. You have to be here.”

But now that his successor, former Disney Co. executive Matt Ouimet, will be the person walking the midway, Mr. Kinzel said he feels good about the future.

“I’ve been asked to be on a couple of projects from a civic standpoint but I’ve been telling everybody I just want to take six months to a year just to not do anything. I’ve been wound up tighter than a $2 clock and I just want to unwind a little bit for six months to a year,” he said.

SANDUSKY, Ohio, Oct. 24, 2011 — Summertime fun will officially end on Sunday (Oct. 30) when HalloWeekends at Cedar Point will close for the season.

This will be the last weekend to enjoy the park’s roller coasters and the fun and frights of HalloWeekends.

During HalloWeekends, the park combines its vast assortment of rides with dozens of Halloween attractions that range from scary fright zones and haunted houses to live entertainment and children’s attractions that include the Monster Midway Invasion Celebration parade (4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday afternoon), the Magical House on Boo Hill, the Hay Bale Maze and a sleeping ogre.

With two new fright zones, Blood on the Bayou, featuring zombies and a self-taught butcher, and Screamworks that is inhabited by creatures donning gas masks and goggles, HalloWeekends has more haunted attractions than ever before!

Guests interested in frights can find their fill all weekend long. All of the haunted attractions are ready to scare each night. Plus, the park’s rides and roller coasters will be in operation from open to close. (On Friday night, there will be a reduced ride offering.)

There are also several ways to save money on a visit to the park. A four-pack of tickets can be purchased online for only $156, a savings of nearly $11 per ticket. Seecedarpoint.com for all of the details. (Tickets must be purchased in advance online.)

Plus, Sunday (Oct. 30) is also the last day of the park’s Climbing to a Million contest when current and new Facebook fans of Cedar Point will be able to receive a $10 discount on admission to the park ($39.99 per person) by downloading and printing a special voucher from Facebook and redeeming it at Cedar Point.

There is also still time to save money on summer fun for next year. Cedar Point Season Passes and Cedar Fair Platinum Passes for 2012 are now on sale for the lowest rate available through the end of the weekend. See cedarpoint.com for great ways to save!

On Friday, Cedar Point will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight; noon to midnight on Saturday; and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information about HalloWeekends at Cedar Point, please visithalloweekends.com or call the park’s General Information Line at 419.627.2350.

Cedar Point Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio, Oct. 5, 2011 — If you “like” Cedar Point on Facebook, the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park/resort has some money-saving deals and lots of fun waiting for you on Sundays at the park through the end of October.

Beginning this Sunday, Oct. 9 and all Sundays through Oct. 30, Cedar Point will be hosting the Climbing to a Million contest when current and new Facebook fans of Cedar Point will be able to receive a $10 discount on admission to the park ($39.99 per person) by downloading and printing a special voucher from Facebook and redeeming it at Cedar Point on any Sunday in October.

There is even more fun and prizes to be had for Facebook fans on Sundays at the park.

On all Sundays in October, all Facebook fans at Cedar Point will receive a specially designed Facebook sticker. If a Facebook fan is spotted by an official fan-finder (only on Sundays), those Facebook fans could win valuable prizes such as complimentary merchandise, food or front-of-the-line privileges on a favorite ride.

And when the park reaches one million fans (before or after the season), a special fan will win the Ultimate Opening Day Experience that includes complimentary tickets to the park on Opening Day 2012, the first ride of the season on your favorite ride, plus tours and more. Plus, all Facebook fans will be able to unlock a special prize when the park reaches one million Facebook fans. To enter the Climbing to a Million contest, please visit facebook.com/cedarpoint.

During HalloWeekends, there is fun for guests of all ages that includes more than 70 rides, including 16 roller coasters, and a variety of Halloween attractions.

With 10 haunted attractions, HalloWeekends has more creatures and spooky areas than ever before. This fall, Screamworks on the Frontier Trail and Blood on the Bayou, located in a wooded area along the lagoon, add to the screams.

HalloWeekends also has gypsy fortune-tellers, dancing monsters on the midway, two new shows and the Monster Midway Invasion Celebration parade that features floats, marching bands and dozens of strange-looking creatures.

HalloWeekends at Cedar Point will be held Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 28-30. Cedar Point will be open 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday nights (only a portion of the park is open); noon to midnight on Saturdays; and noon to 9 p.m. Sundays. This Sunday, Oct. 9, the park will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information about the Climbing to a Million contest, please “like” Cedar Point on Facebook.com or follow us on Twitter. For additional information on HalloWeekends at Cedar Point, please visit cedarpoint.com or call the park’s General Information Line at 419.627.2350.

SANDUSKY, Ohio, – Frights, fun, mouth-watering food and a firefighters competition are just some of this weekend’s activities during HalloWeekends at Cedar Point.

In addition to challenging Cedar Point’s rides and roller coasters, guests of all ages at the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park/resort will also be able to enjoy a variety of Halloween attractions that range from encounters with ghastly creatures to friendly monsters who dance on the midway.

With two new fright zones, HalloWeekends now features 10 haunted attractions. This fall, Screamworks on the Frontier Trail and Blood on the Bayou, located in a wooded area along the lagoon, add to the screams.

HalloWeekends also has two new shows (The Edge of Madness – Six Feet Under and Dr. Cleaver in the Clink). Plus, the Monster Midway Invasion Celebration, a parade that strolls down the main midway at 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, has several new floats and dozens of strange-looking characters.

In the middle of the park, the sleeping ogre who talks and recites poetry is also a crowd-pleaser.

Not to be outdone, G. A. Boeckling’s Eerie Estate, one of four haunted houses at HalloWeekends, is adding a new service. In addition to the Boeckling’s Banquet that offers a fine-dining experience on Fridays (5:30 p.m.) and Saturdays (12:30 p.m.), the ghostly mansion will now serve a Boeckling’s Brunch on Sundays at 12:30 p.m. (excluding Oct. 16 when the Boeckling’s Banquet meal will be served).

Served buffet-style, Boeckling’s Brunch will include eggs, breakfast meats, pastries, potatoes, rice, vegetable medley, carved prime rib, signature dessert, beverages and mimosa for only $49.99 including tax and gratuity. Price does not include admission to the park. Reservations required. (Visit cedarpoint.com for more information.)

Next door in the Soak City parking lot located adjacent to the park, the first Scott Safety Firefighter Combat Challenge will be held on Friday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 1.

More than 100 firefighters will participate in the competition that includes climbing stairs, carrying a rescue manikin and dragging a fire hose – all while wearing full firefighting gear. There will also be a kids’ event on Saturday. The activities will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 30) and 9 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 1). Admission to Cedar Point is not required but a parking fee will be collected.

HalloWeekends at Cedar Point will be held Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 28-30. Cedar Point will be open 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday nights (only a portion of the park is open); noon to midnight on Saturdays; and noon to 9 p.m. Sundays. (On Sunday, Oct. 9, the park will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) For more information, including attractions, entertainment and hours of operation, please visit halloweekends.com or call the park’s General Information Line at 419.627.2350.