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99-605: On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair (now Six Flags ) acquired the company, and the deal included a ten-year license to use the Paramount Parks name and theme, and a four-year license to use Nickelodeon names and themes. Cedar Fair declined to exercise the Paramount licenses and they dropped Paramount and CBS-licensed names from the parks after the 2007 season, but opted to retain Nickelodeon names and themes until after

198-481: A Disneyland resort in Shanghai 's Pudong district. The resort opened on June 16, 2016. California Adventure completed its overhaul in 2012 adding two new lands: Cars Land and Buena Vista Street . The overhaul also included a re-themed of several attractions plus a pair of classic dark rides. In July 2017, it was announced that Paradise Pier land would be replaced by Pixar Pier, with four neighborhoods, and

297-502: A merger of equals , former Cedar Fair leadership remained in control of the new company, along with two former Six Flags executives. The company's headquarters will reside in Charlotte, North Carolina , a site once occupied by Paramount Parks before its acquisition by Cedar Fair in 2006, while the company will continue to use its Sandusky office location for financial and administrative operations. Cedar Point Amusement Park began as

396-534: A 15-year marketing contract on January 25: Coca-Cola products would be exclusive in Disney theme parks, and Coca-Cola would use some Disney characters in their ads. On March 16, 1990, Attractions president Nunis announced a 25-year plan for a 4,400-acre (1,800 ha) development in Osceola, Florida , with homes, shopping malls and industrial buildings. In 1990, the possibility of a West Coast version of Epcot Center

495-1027: A Japanese theme park. Tokyo Disneyland opened on April 15, 1983 on 200 acres (80 ha) in Urayasu, Chiba , Japan. With the retirement of Donn Tatum as Walt Disney Productions' Chairman and CEO on June 3, 1980, three divisions were formed, including the Walt Disney Outdoor Recreation Division, of which Disney Legend, Dick Nunis was named division president. Disneyland started using Disney Dollars on May 5, 1987, while Walt Disney World parks started with Epcot on October 2. A renegotiated Disneyland Japan royalty agreement in April 1988 by Chief Financial Officer Gary L. Wilson netted Disney US$ 723 million in cash in exchange for lower royalty payments. The steam railroad and monorail at Disneyland were purchased from Retlaw Enterprises , formerly WED Enterprises, in 1982. Bear Country

594-549: A U.S. traveling attraction, which premiered in September 1996. The fair was poorly attended and was pulled after a few stops. Disney Entertainment Projects (Asia Pacific) Inc., a new Disney Asian Pacific subsidiary, selected a renamed fair called DisneyFest as its first project, taking it to Singapore to open there on October 30, 1997. In November 1995, Disney announced the building of Tokyo DisneySea , to be owned by Oriental along with Tokyo Disneyland. Oriental and Disney signed

693-483: A Viacom property remaining were the characters and titles used in Nickelodeon Universe (Kings Island) and Nickelodeon Central (Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Great America, and Canada's Wonderland), all of which were rethemed to Peanuts for the 2010 season, to match the children's areas of Cedar Fair's other parks. In June 2007, it was revealed that a Paramount Theme Park was to be developed and opened at

792-471: A bathing beach resort in the 1870s, and its growing popularity as a recreational destination led to the formation of Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company in 1887. The company was founded with the purpose of expanding the resort commercially. An economic depression in the 1890s threatened the resort's future, however. A newly formed business, Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company of Indiana led by George Arthur Boeckling , purchased Cedar Point for $ 256,000 in 1897. It

891-422: A cash transaction valued at US$ 1.24 billion. Shortly following the transfer of ownership, Cedar Fair began the process of integrating the two companies. With the purchase of the Paramount Parks, Cedar Fair LP announced that it would do business under the name Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Cedar Fair LP remains the legal company name. The individual parks continued to operate under their Paramount names during

990-881: A corner of the Magic Kingdom parking lot, the Walt Disney World Speedway opened on November 28, 1995. In 1996, the Disney Institute opened on February 9, and Disney's BoardWalk opened on July 1. The first of the World of Disney stores opened in the Disney Village Marketplace on October 3. The Downtown Disney district opened in November 1997, combining Disney Village Marketplace and Pleasure Island. A fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom , opened at Disney World

1089-456: A cost of $ 400 million. The Magic Kingdom had six themed lands: Main Street , Adventureland , Fantasyland , Frontierland, Liberty Square , and Tomorrowland. Additionally, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort campground and two hotels, Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort , also opened. Disneyland expanded in 1972 with a seventh themed land, Bear Country , replacing

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1188-540: A deal for Disney-produced TV show and Disneyland investment. American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT) agreed to the Disneyland, Inc. investment. Joining AB-PT as Disneyland investors were Walt Disney Productions (WDP), Western Publishing and Walt Disney . Walt Disney Productions had the option to repurchase the Walt Disney, WED and Western Publishing shares (31%) by May 1, 1959, for $ 562,500. With

1287-717: A division called KECO Entertainment (King's Entertainment Company), which was formed in order to build theme parks nationwide. In 1972 and 1975, KECO built Kings Island and Kings Dominion respectively. In 1975, KECO led a forced purchase on the Carowinds Corporation, a bankrupt company, leaving them no choice but to sell Carowinds theme park in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1981, KECO opened Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. In 1984, hotel company Marriott , owner of two parks named Great America,

1386-622: A joint venture, Hong Kong International Theme Parks Ltd., between the Hong Kong Government and Disney Resorts. The Disney Wonder cruise ship began operation on August 15. Disney World's Discovery Island was closed on April 8, 1999. Walt Disney Attractions, LLC changed its name to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, LLC on April 14, 2000, then to Disney Destinations, LLC on April 25, 2006. Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort opened on September 4, 2001. The Walt Disney Company in selling its Japanese and US chains decided to keep

1485-534: A licensing agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), giving Disney the right to use the MGM name, logo and movie library for this third park. Construction of the Disney-MGM Studios theme park began in 1986. Disney-MGM Studios opened on May 1, 1989, along with a Pleasure Island entertainment area; its second water park, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon , opened on June 1. In 1983, Walt Disney World Village's name

1584-928: A need for the Disneyland Hotel nearby and no funding available for Disney to build it, Walt Disney approached Jack Wrather to build the hotel who agreed. Disneyland , changed from Disneylandia, was announced in April 1954 by Walt to be opened in July 1955 . On July 17, 1955 , the Disneyland park opened with five themed "lands" containing eighteen attractions with double the expected guests. WED owned Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad opened, too. On June 29, 1957, Disney Production exercised its options to purchase all but AB-PT's common stock outstanding. This allowed WDP to consolidate DLI into its 1957 annual accounting statements adding four months' worth of net profits, $ 511K. In June 1960, Walt Disney Productions completed

1683-524: A real estate development company, for $ 310 million. Cedar Fair signed an 11-year lease from the buyer and intends to close the park at the conclusion of the lease. On November 2, 2023, Cedar Fair announced plans to merge with Six Flags , forming a new company and retaining the Six Flags name. Described as a "merger of equals", former Cedar Fair management will remain in control of the new company, which will be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina ,

1782-639: A resort at Ko Olina Resort & Marina in Kapolei, Hawaii , featuring both a hotel and Disney Vacation Club timeshare units. The 800-unit property, named Aulani , opened in 2011 and joined the other resorts not associated with a theme park, such as Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort in South Carolina. With the Walt Disney World Millennium Celebration starting on October 1, 2000, sanctioned Disney pin trading

1881-531: A self-produced live arena show starting in 1969. Small World and its famous song lasted two years at the fair; it was then moved to Disneyland as an expanded major attraction in 1966 and later duplicated in the other Disney theme parks. In 1965, Walt Disney won a bid with the US Forest Service to develop Mineral King as a ski resort. The Sierra Club sued in June 1969 to stop the development, which

1980-552: A site once occupied by Paramount Parks before being acquired by Cedar Fair in 2006. Some financial and administrative operations will continue to reside in Sandusky, Ohio. The combined company was projected to have 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and 9 resort properties in its portfolio and would operate under the Six Flags name with plans to use Cedar Fair's stock exchange ticker symbol , FUN. President and CEO of Cedar Fair, Richard Zimmerman, will serve as President and CEO of

2079-413: A ten-year licensing deal for Paramount names and icons, such as Star Trek , Cedar Fair opted to terminate the agreement and not pay an annual licensing fee. All references to Paramount/CBS-licensed properties were removed before the beginning of the 2008 season. This deal also included a four-year licensing deal for Nickelodeon names and icons, such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Rugrats , this agreement

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2178-582: A three land expansion: Mystic Point , Grizzly Gulch , and Toy Story Land . In June 2005, Disney Magic made the first cruise outside of the Caribbean, by moving its port for the summer to Los Angeles with a Mexican Riviera schedule. Disney Cruise Line ordered a new 2 ships class from Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany by February 22, 2007. The Magic in May 2007 transferred its homeport to Barcelona, Spain, for

2277-533: A trip to Florida for final site selection. In 1962, Disney Productions purchased Celebrity Sports Center (opened on September 17, 1960, in Denver, Colorado) from its owners, including Walt Disney, Art Linkletter , and John Payne , to use as a staff training center for its second resort. In 1963, Roy made plans to buy from 5,000 to 10,000 acres (2,000 to 4,000 ha), which was carried out in 1964, amassing 27,443 acres (11,106 ha) by October 1965 . Plans for

2376-841: Is renamed Disney's Hollywood Studios in January 2008. Pleasure Island 's core remaining six nightclubs were closed down in late 2008 to change the area to match the family friendly make-up of the other two sections of Downtown Disney at Disney World. Walt Disney Studios Park opened March 16, 2002, as the second theme park at the renamed Disneyland Resort Paris . The first park was renamed Disneyland Park (DLP). DLP Paris opened in August 2000 Toy Story Playland with three attractions. Construction on Hong Kong Disneyland began on January 12, 2003, then opened September 12, 2005. Groundbreaking occurred at Hong Kong Disneyland in December 2009 for

2475-690: The Disney Stores in Europe, along with the store in Manhattan, which was converted into a World of Disney store run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in 2004. Downtown Disney opened at the Disneyland Resort on January 12, 2001, between Disneyland and the future California Adventure. Disney California Adventure opened at the Disneyland Resort on February 8, 2001, with three major areas: Paradise Pier, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, and

2574-707: The Disney Wilderness Preserve . The Disney Inn hotel was leased starting February 1, 1994, by the US Army, then purchased on January 12, 1996, and later renamed Shades of Green. Planet Hollywood opened a location in Pleasure Island on December 17, 1994. The third water park at Walt Disney World, Disney's Blizzard Beach , opened on April 1, 1995. The Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland was completely refurbished and reopened in June 1995. Taking up

2673-687: The Disneyland Resort . He officially became CEO on January 3. Cedar Fair launched new websites for their parks in 2012 as well as a new marketing campaign, Thrills Connect . On November 20, 2012, Cedar Fair announced it had sold its Knott's Soak City: San Diego location to SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment . About nine months later, Cedar Fair announced it had sold its Knott's Soak City: Palm Springs location to CNL Lifestyle Properties . Cedar Fair's portfolio, according to an SEC report filed in 2013, contained eleven amusement parks, four outdoor water parks, one indoor water park, and five hotels. On September 5, 2016, Cedar Fair closed Wildwater Kingdom,

2772-652: The Dubailand complex (which itself is currently on hold) in the United Arab Emirates . No further developments were made, and the project was abandoned in 2016. In October 2011, plans for a new Paramount theme park to be developed in Alhama, Murcia were revealed in Madrid. The resort to be called Paramount Park was to be the second-largest theme park in Europe after Disneyland, Paris. Projects to continue with

2871-519: The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota . In 2005, Cedar Fair withdrew from the lease arrangement leaving Mall of America to manage the park on its own. Mall of America formed a partnership with the Nickelodeon franchise in 2007 and continues to operate under the name Nickelodeon Universe . Several new water park properties named Knott's Soak City opened around the southern California area since

2970-836: The Queen Mary and Spruce Goose tourist attractions. In March 1988, Disney purchased Industrial Equity's half of Wrather Corporation. In 1985, Premier Cruise Line became the licensed partner cruise line with Disney. This allowed Disney characters on their ships and combined cruise, hotel, and theme park packages. The Walt Disney Outdoor Recreation Division was incorporated as Walt Disney Attractions, Inc. on August 10, 1989. In January 1990, Disney CEO Eisner announced plans to expand both Disneyland (by 20% in 10 years) and Walt Disney World (WDW). The plan would have WDW add another theme park and 16 new attractions in Disney-MGM Studios. Disney and The Coca-Cola Company agreed to

3069-481: The 2006 season, however Cedar Fair began removing the Paramount name and logo from the parks in January 2007. The names of the parks were changed back to their original pre-Paramount names (the Paramount's prefix was removed) with the Cedar Fair corporate logo added. Bonfante Gardens was changed to Gilroy Gardens. Cedar Fair began removing references to Paramount Pictures . Although the acquisition granted Cedar Fair

Paramount Parks - Misplaced Pages Continue

3168-559: The 2006 season, planning to continue their operation until a buyer was found. Cedar Fair , owners of more well known Cedar Point and Knott's Berry Farm theme parks approached the company in 2006. Within the acquisition, there was a license for ten years of use of the Paramount prefix on the parks and Paramount properties at the former Paramount parks, and a four year license for the use of Nickelodeon names and properties. Cedar Fair opted to remove all mentions of Paramount and Paramount intellectual properties by mid-2007. The only references to

3267-604: The 2009 season when this license expired. The company once owned and operated Paramount's Kings Island , Paramount's Kings Dominion , Paramount's Great America , Paramount's Carowinds , and Paramount Canada's Wonderland and managed Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy, California . From late 2001 until late 2004, Paramount Parks also managed Terra Mítica , an amusement park in Benidorm, Valencia, Spain . Paramount Communications, previously known as Gulf+Western , in turn had acquired

3366-405: The 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) called for a 150-acre (61 ha) amusement park, a campground, a golf course, 2 million square feet (190,000 m ) of office/commercial space, and 2500 homes. With projections indicating that the park would operate at a loss and with opposition in the press, Disney canceled the project on September 15, 1994. Walt Disney Imagineering created Disney Fair ,

3465-515: The DisneySea licensing agreement in November 1997; the theme park was scheduled to open in 2001 at a cost of $ 2.6 billion. In December 1998, Walt Disney Attractions added Disneyland Paris , Disney Regional Entertainment and Walt Disney Imagineering to its portfolio, which already held Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland. Chairman Dick Nunis retired at the same time. On October 31, 1999, Walt Disney Attractions, Inc.

3564-590: The Disneylandia project started to become a reality, Walt Disney Productions at Walt's request set up Disneyland, Inc. (DLI) in 1951 and agreed to a design deal in March 1953 with WED Enterprises (WED) , Walt 's personal corporation, which then included what would now be called Walt Disney Imagineering . With the WED concept designs and prospectus for Disneylandia, Roy Disney in September 1953 met with TV networks in

3663-711: The Florida project that would eventually become Walt Disney World were announced to the public in November 1965. Legislation forming the Reedy Creek Improvement District , the Reedy Creek Improvement Act , was signed into law by Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. on May 12, 1967, allowing Disney to build the infrastructure for the second park. Ground breaking followed for the future Reedy Creek park on May 30. In Roy O. Disney's last act as CEO in 1968, he officially named

3762-602: The Golden State. In California Adventure on October 6, 2002, A Bug's Land area opened. Parks and Resorts chairman Jay Rasulo announced at Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California on September 12, 2009, that Walt Disney World's Fantasyland would be overhauled and increased in size by 2013. A $ 1 billion expansion/renovation of Disney California Adventure was announced in 2007 to be completed by 2012. River Country water park closed on November 2, 2001. Disney-MGM Studios

3861-489: The Halloween events. For the 2016 season, Cedar Fair began testing all season Fast Lane at Valleyfair and Dorney Park. By the 2019 season, all parks offered all season Fast Lane. See aslo: Template:Six Flags for anything after the merger (2024). Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Disney Experiences , commonly known as Disney Parks , is one of the three major divisions of The Walt Disney Company . It

3960-800: The Indian Village of Frontierland , and later renamed Critter Country. In 1979, the Disneyland crafts and maintenance union workers went on strike for 15 days, at first, rejecting and then accepting the park's contract. Space Mountain opens at Disneyland in 1977. Two more hotels opened in 1973 at Walt Disney World: the Golf Resort and the Gold Resort; Disney opened the Buena Vista Club golf club in Lake Buena Vista on November 22, 1974 . Lake Buena Vista Village ,

4059-488: The Paramount Parks chain, including Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton and the management agreement of Bonfante Gardens . On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair announced that it had completed its acquisition of Paramount Parks from CBS Corporation in a cash transaction valued at US$ 1.24 billion. Shortly following the transfer of ownership, Cedar Fair began the process of integrating the two companies. With

Paramount Parks - Misplaced Pages Continue

4158-485: The Paramount Parks were renamed to more generic names so as not to infringe on Paramount's copyrights. Many of these changes were "in name only", having no actual bearing on the ride's appearance. Because of the level of theme involved in Paramount's later rides, though, (such as The Italian Job: Stunt Track and Tomb Raider: The Ride) some rides did lose core elements, such as synchronized musical scores, special effects, and pre-shows (thereby eliminating story lines). Perhaps

4257-480: The Paramount Parks, they revolutionized their own season pass system using Paramount's as a blueprint, and also absorbed some of Paramount's theme-focused entertainment, combining it with their own well-proven thrills to create some of their most famous attractions: Maverick at Cedar Point and Diamondback at Kings Island, among others. Without the Paramount Pictures film licenses, many of the rides at

4356-425: The Paramount name. Effectively, it seems, Paramount was attempting to enter into the movie-based theme-park business popularized by amusement park and resort companies, such as Walt Disney Parks and Resorts , SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment , Six Flags Theme Parks , Cedar Fair , Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment and Universal Destinations & Experiences . In the 1970s and 1980s, Taft Broadcasting created

4455-561: The Walt Disney World monorail line was extended to EPCOT Center from the Transportation and Ticket Center. The EPCOT Center theme park opened on October 1, 1982, at a building cost of US$ 1.2 billion , with two areas, Future World and World Showcase . Plans for a Hollywood-style theme park were announced in April 1985 for the Walt Disney World resort at a project cost of US$ 300 million. In April 1985, Disney signed

4554-536: The acquisition which included Buena Park in 1999, Chula Vista in 2000 and Palm Springs in 2001. Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon, Michigan was purchased for $ 27.6 million in 2001. Cedar Fair opened its first indoor water park in November 2004, Castaway Bay . It was added to the former Radisson Hotel which was then renamed. The indoor waterpark resort is open year-round. Larger acquisitions followed in 2004 with Six Flags Worlds of Adventure . Cedar Fair purchased

4653-417: The agreement and not pay an annual licensing fee for all properties besides Nickelodeon as the deal included a four-year license for the latter brand's associated names and icons, which was terminated during 2009. The process of removing references to Paramount/CBS properties began in the parks during the beginning of the 2007 season and by the 2008 season most of the major references were completely removed from

4752-599: The animals. The amusement park remained in Cedar Fair's portfolio through 2007, and the water park continued to operate as Wildwater Kingdom through 2016. On May 22, 2006, Cedar Fair announced it had outbid competitors and intended to purchase all five parks in the Paramount Parks chain, including Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton and the management agreement of Bonfante Gardens . On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair announced that it had completed its acquisition of Paramount Parks from CBS Corporation in

4851-477: The company's 180,000 employees as of 2015. In March 2018, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media was merged into Parks and Resorts and renamed Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. In September 2020, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products laid off 28,000 employees in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . Originally, entry into the theme park and travel business was a side project of Walt Disney himself. As

4950-581: The construction of the park have been scrapped. In December 2018, it was announced that Paramount Pictures signed a deal with Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment to install the first Paramount-branded theme park in Incheon, South Korea. It is slated to open in 2025, three years after Inspire Integrated Entertainment Resort's opening. Paramount and Daewoo Motor Sales previously announced in 2008 that it will build Paramount Movie Park Korea in Songdo near Incheon, but

5049-419: The contract. On February 1, 2022, news broke that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment made an unsolicited all-cash bid to buy Cedar Fair for $ 3.4 billion. Exactly two weeks later, on February 15, 2022, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment issued a statement that the offer had been rejected. In June 2022, the company announced that it was selling the land occupied by California's Great America to Prologis ,

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5148-466: The death of the promoting companies CEO ( Jesus Samper ) and a High Court ruling, the construction of this park did not continue, and the area was instead expected to be reclassified for agricultural purposes. In the summer of 2017, a deal between Paramount and developer London Resort Company Holdings to build a resort collapsed, partly for the latter's wish to work with other media and broadcasting companies alongside Paramount. In June 2019, they relaunched

5247-561: The formation of its cruise line. The Disney Cruise Line launched with the Disney Magic ship in 1998 along with its exclusive resort island port of Castaway Cay. Disney reportedly had plans to build a park named Disney's America . The park was to have been located in Haymarket, Virginia ; 2,300 acres (930 ha) of property were purchased from Exxon in 1993. The history-themed park was announced on November 11, 1993. The plans for

5346-467: The last operating part of the former Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom. A portion of the land that once contained both properties has since been redeveloped. On October 4, 2017, Cedar Fair announced that Ouimet would step down as CEO and be succeeded by COO Richard Zimmerman on January 1, 2018. Ouimet would remain with the company, taking the newly created position of executive chairman of the board of directors. On March 27, 2019, Cedar Fair announced it

5445-473: The lines' first summer Mediterranean itinerary then returned to its permanent port in September. The Chicago DisneyQuest location was closed in September 2001. Disney Parks started the Adventures by Disney tour vacation business in 2005. Disney entered a float, "The Most Magical Celebration on Earth", into the 2006 Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade . In October 2007, Disney announced plans to build

5544-446: The main parks were changed back to their original pre-Paramount names (the Paramount's prefix was removed) with the Cedar Fair corporate logo added. Bonfante Gardens was changed to Gilroy Gardens. Cedar Fair began removing references to Paramount Pictures from all parks. Although the acquisition granted Cedar Fair a ten-year licensing deal for Paramount names and icons, such as Star Trek and Tomb Raider , Cedar Fair opted to terminate

5643-468: The most notable change between park owners, Kings Island's $ 20 million indoor Tomb Raider: The Ride had its water effects, lasers, Hollywood lighting, pre-show, synchronized musical score, film props, artificial fog, and flame effects removed. Notably, The Crypt at Kings Dominion, similar to the ride at Kings Island with the exception that it was outdoors, retained all of its original theming, music, film props, lighting, fog, and flames. On January 27, 2006,

5742-492: The name of both parks were combined to form the name Cedar Fair . By 2006, the company's portfolio had grown to eleven amusement parks, eleven outdoor water parks, and one indoor water park in the US and Canada. The acquisition of Schlitterbahn added two more outdoor water parks in 2019. Cedar Fair and longtime rival Six Flags merged on July 1, 2024, forming a new company and retaining the Six Flags name. Announced in November 2023 as

5841-538: The new Cedar Fair company came in 1992 when Cedar Fair bought Dorney Park from Harris Weinstein. Cedar Fair also bought Worlds of Fun from Hunt-Midwest in 1995. One of the biggest acquisitions came in 1997 when Cedar Fair bought Knott's Berry Farm from the Knott family. This marked the first time Cedar Fair operated a year-round amusement park. The acquisition included operations of the Camp Snoopy indoor park at

5940-402: The new combined company, while Selim Bassoul, President and CEO of Six Flags, would become the executive chairman of the company's board of directors. On July 1, 2024, the merger was successfully completed. Fast Lane is an expedited queue system in use at parks formerly associated with Cedar Fair. It was first announced for Kings Island on July 18, 2011. The park served as the testing park for

6039-539: The offer was turned down. On July 29, 2021, Cedar Fair announced the submission of plans to the City of Sandusky to build a $ 28 million esports arena expansion of the Cedar Fair Sports Center. Targeted opening in the first half of 2023 On December 31, 2021, the contract to manage Gilroy Gardens expired. Both Gilroy Gardens Inc., the nonprofit that owns the park, and Cedar Fair agreed not to renew

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6138-439: The park for $ 145 million, reverting its name to Geauga Lake, as it was before its Six Flags branding in 2000. Subsequently, Cedar Fair stripped the park of all references to Looney Tunes and DC Comics characters which were licensed properties owned by Six Flags. The zoological and marine life portion of the complex ( SeaWorld Ohio ), which was annexed to the theme park in 2001, was also shuttered. Six Flags retained ownership of

6237-489: The park's projected high cost. That park was then replaced by plans for the California Adventure park, hotels, and a retail district. At Walt Disney World, Mickey's Birthdayland closed on April 22, 1991, then reopened on May 26 as Mickey's Starland. In order to expand Disney World on wetland, on April 23, 1993, the company agreed to form an 8,500-acre (3,400 ha) wilderness preserve in Florida, known as

6336-406: The park, and the name was reverted without the Paramount suffix. Paramount Parks were one of the few remaining seasonal park operators to exclusively use themed layouts and rides (a practice usually observed only by annual park operators such as Universal Destinations & Experiences , Six Flags , SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts ). This aspect likely helped

6435-405: The parks became part of Viacom Recreation, a division of Nickelodeon and MTV Networks . On December 31, 2005, as Viacom went through a corporate split (creating a new version of Viacom and renaming the original company CBS Corporation ), Paramount Parks was assigned to CBS Corporation. CBS Corporation, in order to "toss overboard" any unnecessary company assets, sought to sell the parks during

6534-759: The parks from Nelson Schwab and his management group. Schwab and his KECO Entertainment acquired the group in a management-led LBO from the Taft Broadcasting Company , which had built Kings Island in Cincinnati using rides that were moved from the Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio Taft had just closed. The parks were part of Viacom's Blockbuster Entertainment division until 2002 when they were moved back to Paramount Pictures. After another Viacom corporate shuffle in 2004

6633-830: The parks stand out against other regional competitors such as Cedar Fair (who later purchased the parks), who ran lightly themed amusement parks exclusively. For example, while Cedar Fair's flagship park Cedar Point debuted Wicked Twister and Top Thrill Dragster in 2002 and 2003, respectively, Kings Island opened Tomb Raider: The Ride and Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Mansion . These two attractions, while costing only slightly less than Cedar Point's additions, were indoor, highly themed, immersive rides with synchronized musical scores and Hollywood special effects. The same can be said of Paramount's last additions to their parks, The Italian Job: Stunt Track , which are family-oriented roller coasters that also feature flames, water, synchronized music, and many movie props. When Cedar Fair acquired

6732-463: The parks, besides some minor remnants and logos occasionally found in the park. On October 10, 2011, it was reported that Paramount would develop a theme park in Murcia , Spain with work set to start in 2012. The $ 1.5 billion Paramount Murcia park was hoped to rival Disneyland Paris as a European tourist destination. The resort would have featured 30 attractions with an adjacent shopping center, hotels and casino. Following further set backs such as

6831-405: The plans was never announced due to financial problems of Daewoo Motor Sales. In December 2019, it was announced that Paramount Pictures with London Resort Company Holdings Paramount-theme in London United Kingdom The London Resort will open in 2024 and start construction in 2021. The Paramount Parks were not built by Paramount, but rather were pre-existing and purchased as a whole, rebranded with

6930-426: The project, named London Resort and scheduled to open in 2025. Cedar Fair Cedar Fair Entertainment Company , or simply Cedar Fair , was an American company headquartered at its flagship Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio , United States. The company was a publicly traded master limited partnership that originally formed in 1983 following Cedar Point's acquisition of Valleyfair , in which

7029-438: The proposed transaction. Cedar Fair also adopted a unitholder rights plan as a preventative measure to help protect unitholders in the event of any future hostile takeover . On September 16, 2011, JMA Ventures, LLC entered into an agreement to purchase California's Great America from Cedar Fair and take ownership of the Gilroy Gardens management contract. The agreement required approval of Santa Clara's city council which

7128-487: The purchase of AB-PT's share of the company for nearly $ 7.5 million and its TV contract, and the theme park became a fully owned subsidiary of Walt Disney Productions. Beginning in 1958 with the contracting of Economics Research Associates (ERA) to find a location for another Disney resort, Disney Productions moved beyond a single park. ERA recommended Florida; another study in 1961 named Ocala or Orlando in Florida as possible locations. In November 1963 , Walt Disney made

7227-421: The purchase of the Paramount Parks, Cedar Fair LP announced that it would do business under the name Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. Cedar Fair LP remains the legal company name. The individual parks continued to operate under their Paramount names during the 2006 season. After 14 years of operation under Paramount, Cedar Fair began removing the Paramount name and logo from the parks in January 2007. The names of

7326-592: The second park Walt Disney World . Disneyland International was incorporated on November 20, 1961. The next year, The Oriental Land Company contacted Disney about building a theme park. In 1959, the WED-owned Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System began operations at Disneyland. The first Audio-Animatronic attraction, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room , opened at Disneyland in 1963. Disneyland's first new themed land, New Orleans Square, opened in 1966 . Tomorrowland

7425-749: The shopping area, opened on March 22, 1975 and was renamed Walt Disney World Village in 1977. Celebrity Sports Center, Disney World's training center, was sold on March 29, 1979. At Walt Disney World, the Treasure Island nature preserve pens opened on April 8, 1974, renamed Discovery Island in 1977. On July 1, 1975 , the WEDway PeopleMover opened in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland. The first water park, River Country , opened on June 20, 1976 at Disney World. EPCOT Center's groundbreaking occurred at Walt Disney World in May 1979. In 1979, Oriental Land and Disney agreed to build

7524-401: The system. For an increased cost, visitors get a wrist band which gives them the ability to wait in a shorter queue for most attractions. Originally, it could only be used from noon to 7:00 PM, but it was soon expanded to be available all day. Fast Lane would be rolled out to all Cedar Fair parks for the 2012 season. There is also Fright Lane, which is Fast Lane for the haunted attractions during

7623-408: The then-newly minted CBS Corporation announced its intent to sell Paramount Parks due to the fact that it did not fit well within the company's core business (producing and distributing television content). A number of groups expressed interest in purchasing the company, several placed bids, and on May 22, 2006, Cedar Fair announced it had outbid competitors and intended to purchase all five parks in

7722-411: The total value of the transaction close to US$ 2.4 billion. Cedar Fair planned to hold a shareholder meeting on March 16, 2010, to vote on the transaction but postponed the meeting to April 8, 2010, implying that two-thirds of the shareholder vote needed for approval wasn't yet secured. On April 6, 2010, the deal was terminated, and Cedar Fair paid $ 6.5 million to reimburse Apollo for expenses incurred from

7821-505: The use of a double possessive noun. Thus, the first five parks of the Paramount Parks were established: Paramount's Kings Island , Paramount's Kings Dominion , Paramount's Great America , Paramount's Carowinds , and Paramount Canada's Wonderland . In 2000, Paramount Parks purchased the majority of shares in Spanish theme park Terra Mitica (Land of Myth), branding it Terra Mitica: A Paramount Park . In 2004, Viacom dropped its shares in

7920-667: The week of April 20, 1998. The first Disney Vacation Club Resorts , Vacation Club Resort, opened on October 1, 1991, and was renamed Disney's Old Key West Resort in January 1996. These vacation club hotels were operated by Disney Vacation Developments, Inc. as vacation timeshares . The first off-resort vacation club hotel was Vacation Club Resort, which opened on October 1, 1995, in Vero Beach, Florida . In 1993, Premier Cruises discontinued its partnership with Disney for one with Warner Bros. After failing to reach agreements with Carnival or Royal Caribbean , Disney announced in 1994

8019-694: Was announced that Cedar Fair had signed a $ 261 million deal with Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts to buy their Galveston and New Braunfels locations, with the option to buy Schlitterbahn Kansas City for an additional $ 6 million, and the rights to the Schlitterbahn name. On July 2, 2019, it was announced that Cedar Fair had acquired the Sawmill Creek Resort in Huron, Ohio. The property cost $ 13.5 million. In October 2019, Six Flags offered to buy Cedar Fair for $ 4 billion, however

8118-492: Was changed to the Disney Village Marketplace. A new themed area, Mickey's Birthdayland, opened in the Magic Kingdom near Fantasyland on June 18, 1988. In 1987, Disney and Ron Brierley 's Industrial Equity (Pacific) Ltd., already a 28% owner of the Wrather Corporation , agreed to purchase the remaining Wrather Corporation stock with a 50% share each. Wrather Corporation owned the Disneyland Hotel and operated

8217-481: Was formed in 1983. Its name was derived from both parks – "Cedar" representing Cedar Point and "Fair" representing Valleyfair. The company went public on April 29, 1987. Under Cedar Fair's leadership, Cedar Point grew to become one of the largest amusement parks in the world, and the company increased its portfolio by acquiring other amusement properties throughout the United States. The first acquisition of

8316-467: Was formed under President Al Weiss in 2009. Worldwide Operations would take over various back-office functions previously performed by both Disney World and Disneyland including training, procurement, menu planning, and merchandise development. While its Walt Disney Imagineering subsidiary combined its three development units. In November 2009, Disney received approval from the Chinese government to build

8415-499: Was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Walt Disney World . Led by Josh D'Amaro , the company's theme parks hosted over 157.3 million guests, making Disney Parks the world's most visited theme park company worldwide, with United Kingdom-based Merlin Entertainments coming in second at 67 million guests. It is Disney's largest business segment by employee headcount, with approximately 130,000 of

8514-788: Was granted by the federal district judge. The Forest Service appealed and won at the appeal and the Supreme Court. This ruling opened the possibility of refiling to the club. In the next round of lawsuits, the same district judge blocked the redevelopment. The injunction and the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act led to Disney backing out. $ 40 million worth of Walt Disney Productions Convertible Debentures were sold in January 1968 to fund Disney World (WDW). The next year in February, an agreement

8613-425: Was later purchased by Viacom). The remaining property, Australia's Wonderland , was not fully owned by Kings Entertainment and the minor stake they owned was sold to various Australian investor groups as the stake was not opted to be purchased by Paramount. Subsequently, in 1993, the "Paramount's" prefix was added to the parks, excluding Canada's Wonderland, which was renamed to "Paramount Canada's Wonderland", to avoid

8712-588: Was later reorganized as the G.A. Boeckling Company. The resort thrived under Boeckling's leadership, which lasted through 1931. G.A. Boeckling Company continued to control operations at the amusement park for much of the 20th century. A proposal in 1974 to build an amusement park in Cambridge Township, Michigan , was contemplated and later abandoned the following year. Then in 1978, Cedar Point acquired Valleyfair amusement park. Parent company Cedar Fair Limited Partnership, commonly known as Cedar Fair,

8811-677: Was looking to divest itself of its parks. One of the parks was located in Silicon Valley in the exurbs of San Francisco and the other was located in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago . The California park was purchased by KECO, while the Illinois Park became part of the Six Flags chain. In 1992, after 22 years of international operations, KECO Entertainment sold five of their parks to Paramount Communications (which

8910-557: Was made with multiple labor unions, in which the unions exchanged the right to strike for regular pay increases during the first building phase. By 1971, chairman of the Park Operations Committee and vice president of park operations Dick Nunis was appointed executive vice president of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Walt Disney World began operation on October 1, 1971 , with the Magic Kingdom park at

9009-543: Was merged into Walt Disney Attractions, LLC. On June 19, 1998, Disney Regional Entertainment opened its first DisneyQuest, a location-based entertainment venue, at Downtown Disney West Side in Walt Disney World. The first DisneyQuest outside of a resort was opened in Chicago on June 16, 1999, with plans for more locations worldwide. In 1999, plans were announced for a new resort in Hong Kong , Hong Kong Disneyland , as

9108-524: Was placed in development. This was announced as WestCOT in 1991, to be placed at the Disneyland Resort. On July 31, 1990, a new 350-acre (140 ha) ocean-themed park and resort, Port Disney, was announced for Long Beach. Port was to have a cruise-ship terminal, five hotels, restaurants, and shopping areas, costing $ 2 billion to build. On December 12, 1991, Disney selected only one California project to go forward with, Disneyland Resort, which

9207-479: Was purchasing the land occupied by California's Great America from the City of Santa Clara. The 112 acres beneath the park cost $ 150 million. Cedar Fair had been previously leasing the land from the County of Santa Clara for 6 to 7 million per year. In April 2019, Cedar Fair announced a partnership with Feld Entertainment to bring a Monster Jam Thunder Alley Area to select Cedar Fair parks. On June 13, 2019, it

9306-667: Was renamed Critter Country on November 23, 1988. Tishman Company 's plans for two Walt Disney World hotels were rejected by the new CEO Michael Eisner on September 30, 1984, marking a change in Disney architecture. New plans for the Dolphin and Swan hotels were submitted by Michael Graves in July 1986; ground breaking took place on January 28, 1988. The first non-Disney owned hotel, Pickett Suite Resort, opened in Disney World Village on March 15, 1987. On June 1, 1982,

9405-413: Was retained until it expired prior to the 2010 season. In December 2009, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would offer Cedar Fair $ 11.50 per share, a 28 percent premium over the market price, as part of a takeover plan which would also make Cedar Fair a private company. The deal included a cash payment of $ 635 million in addition to assuming Cedar Fair's debt of over US$ 1.7 billion putting

9504-533: Was revamped in 1967 with seven new attractions. The design and architectural group and the WED Enterprise name was purchased from Walt's corporation, renamed as Retlaw Enterprise. Disney expanded into attractions at the 1964 New York World's Fair with It's a Small World and costumed character appearances. When the characters proved a hit at the 1964 World's Fair, Walt wanted another outlet for "live" characters; thus, Disneyland put on Disney on Parade ,

9603-515: Was scheduled to vote on the matter on December 6, 2011. However, JMA canceled its plans to purchase Great America and bowed out of the agreement. On June 20, 2011, Cedar Fair announced that long term CEO Dick Kinzel would retire on January 3, 2012, and that Matt Ouimet would take his spot as the CEO of Cedar Fair. Ouimet had been employed by The Walt Disney Company for 17 years, including serving as president of Disney Cruise Line and president of

9702-661: Was started. In 2001, the Themed Entertainment Association gave Disney Parks and Resorts the Thea Award for Breakthrough Innovation for the park's FastPass system. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was incorporated on September 29, 2008, and took over the parks and resorts business segment. Disney Parks and Resorts reorganized in early 2009 which included layoffs in all units due to recession-induced falling attendance. 600 U.S. managers in January were buyout packages. Worldwide Operations

9801-609: Was to include the WestCOT Center, hotels, a shopping mall, and a lake. Port Disney was abandoned in March 1992, and Disney canceled its leases on the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions picked up from the Wrather Corporation. Mickey's Toontown , a new themed land at Disneyland, opened on January 24, 1993. Disney canceled its plans for WestCOT in mid-1995 due to financial issues at Disneyland Paris and

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