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I know it isn't Disney news but...

Cedar Fair Buying Paramount Parks
Park Operator Cedar Fair Is Buying Paramount Parks From CBS for $1.2 Billion

Talk Hollywood on Joel Siegel's Movie Board
NEW YORK May 22, 2006 (AP)— Cedar Fair LP, an Ohio-based amusement park operator, is buying the Paramount Parks business from CBS Corp. for $1.24 billion in cash, the companies announced Monday.

CBS Corp. had been looking to sell the parks business, which didn't fit with its media holdings. CBS Corp., which split up with Viacom Inc. at the beginning of the year, owns the CBS network and a group of affiliated TV stations, a large radio business and an outdoor advertising company. Viacom, which owns MTV and VH1, kept the Paramount movie studio.

The five Paramount parks being sold to Cedar Fair are: Canada's Wonderland, near Toronto; Kings Island near Cincinnati; Kings Dominion near Richmond, Va.; Carowinds, near Charlotte, N.C.; and Great America located in Santa Clara, Calif.

Cedar Fair is a publicly traded partnership based in Sandusky, Ohio that operates seven amusement parks and five water parks, including Cedar Point, on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo; Knott's Berry Farm near Los Angeles; Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom near Allentown, Pa.; Valleyfair near Minneapolis/St. Paul in Minnesota; Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo.; Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom near Cleveland; and Michigan's Adventure near Muskegon, Mich.

CBS B shares rose 20 cents to $25.41 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, while Cedar Fair shares fell 12 cents to $26.88.

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[jk8]

Interesting for us since we are near Kings Island. Cedar Point has always been tops when it comes to big coasters. I wonder how Kings Island will change long term.

[DayDreamer]

Kings Domionion is close to me. I'm wondering how this will effect the parks as well. Thanks for the info.

[KittieKChick]

Carowinds is close to me. I'm interested in seeing what all will change too.

[Cincy]

Even if everything stays the same, if we can now visit Cedar Point with our Kings Island passes, then I am all for it. I am sure they will have some licensing problems with some of the rides, but Next to Disney buying Kings Island this was the next best option.

[SaraAriel]

Originally Posted by Cincy

Even if everything stays the same, if we can now visit Cedar Point with our Kings Island passes, then I am all for it. I am sure they will have some licensing problems with some of the rides, but Next to Disney buying Kings Island this was the next best option.

This was my first thought exactly! I'm hoping my PKI passes will be good at Cedar Point.

[jones4117]

I live about three hours from Cedar Point. Though I havent been in the past two years I have gone to Cedar Point problably 30 times and Love it!
Not only are there roller coasters awesome. The service and cleanliness of thier park is also. For anyone hoping this will effect thier park in a positive way, it should. Everything Cedar Point does, has always been great!
Good For Cedar Point!

[coasterman2002]

This is very good news for Paramount parks. Cedar Fair prides itself as being #1 in the amusement park industry. I visit Cedar Point very frequently (Season pass) and find it to always be great. They have the best thrill rides on the planet and seem to have great service. They will bring new and exciting things to the Paramount parks next couple years, as this year will be management transition as will next year. I suspect that we will see the first major improvements to be fairly simple, with rides and attractions a couple years away. Another quick note is that even with this incredible addition to the Cedar Fair lineup of parks, Cedar Point will remain the "flagship" park.

[Pooh Fan]

You are making me want to go back to Cedar Point. Now that it is so far away, we won't be going until next summer. I think I will be going through withdrawals by the time we get back. We used to go 3 times a summer when we were in Michigan. I guess I will have to make do with Six Flagsin Dallas and San Antonio.

[jaljayjar]

I live between Cedar Point and Kings Island (Lima, Ohio), and I just hope that Kings Island doesn't lose the quality geared towards kids. That is the only place for us to take our young kids that is close by. Kings Island has came far with the coasters they have...getting bigger every year. I wish Cedar Point would have a better kids section. I do have to say they are different experiences for me...we take the kids to PKI and then WE go to Cedar Point

[Soundgod]

Kings Island will only benefit from this. There's speculation that in the future, Cedar Fair could actually license the Nick properties from CBS/Paramount for all twelve of it's parks and turn the Camp Snoopys into Nick lands. Kings Island needs to freshen up it's coaster selection too. Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland overall have underwhelming coaster selections, even with Beast and SOB. PKI seriously needs a B&M coaster and Flight of Fear sorely needs new wheels. I heard a rumour that Top Gun is already on it's way out, but I'd rather swap out Vortex for something newer and smoother.