RE: Kings Dominion's 40th Anniversary Celebration & Park Revitalization
Malsdad said:
Wow, before viewing that video, I had always thought they built the park on 395 acres of asphalt, rather than pouring it later on...
If you go back and look at the movie Roller Coaster, which included filming at Kings Dominion, I find it fascinating to look at the old way the park was decorated, along with the old amusement park music playing in the background. Back then, it wasn't just a major ride attraction that brought people to amusement parks, it was the atmosphere and experience that left you feeling like you left with more than you came with. I think it's this line of thinking that makes most of us on this board sad, when Busch Gardens begins to lose this focus and lets things deteriorate, etc.
I've always called Kings Dominion a 'coaster park'. You can't argue the fact that if you're into coasters and you want to spend a day riding coasters, Kings Dominion is your park. It kind of starts and stops for me at that point. There really isn't that much more to do there. I think this is where Busch Gardens wins over, as there is much more offered, and not just all ride related.
To say Kings Dominion is better than Busch Gardens is not an apples to apples comparison. Kings Dominion will never be the park that Busch Gardens is, and Busch Gardens will never be the park Kings Dominion is. I think both parks have a different opinion on where they are now, and where they plan to go. The main thing both parks do share very closely is money trouble. Neither park can seem to manage their finances correctly, regardless of how many $7 beers they sell...
Oh, and there's no Guinness at KD. Nuff said
Many share your opinion that Kings Dominion is a coaster park ... today; But, it was not so during the Family Leisure/Taft/KECO years of ownership 1975-1992. During those 18 years of ownership under the same management, the park was a very well rounded place.
The 5 areas of the park were themed (Not to the level of detail of BGW. It was easier for them to go to greater levels of detail as the villages/hamlets were small/compact and distinct from each other, separated by woods and ravines.) The rides, attractions, restaurants, shops, and even the employee costumes at Kings Dominion were coordinated to fit the overall theme of the area.
Busch always had the edge in food and landscaping. (Though I think Kings Dominion's landscaping was better back then than it is today. Same with the food).
But, Kings Dominion and BGW ran neck and neck when it came to rides & attractions as well as entertainment. The biggest loss KD experienced, when Paramount took over, was the decimation of the park chain entertainment division Kings Productions. During the Paramount years we lost 3 entertainment venues and a restaurant with live shows in the dining room. We went from 11-13 shows during the prime summer season to 2-3 shows.
I am pretty sure I wrote this before in a forum here. But, Paramount eliminated the animal safari, the steam train, and the sky-ride cable cars. They plopped down "Movie Themed" rides all over the park without regard to the themed area it sat in. Most of the remaining detailed themeing was neglected and left to rot away; and was removed. The park ended up looking like a patchwork quilt.
The first 4 years under Paramount was not too bad, even with the removal of older attractions above. I think that was in the misplaced hope of bigger/better changes to come. After about 4 years under Paramount Studio's control, the park, along with its sister parks, were passed among the other corporate entities, like the red-headed step-child nobody wanted, under the Viacom conglomerate entity. Those last 3-4 years under the Paramount nameplate, were horrid.
Now, the Paramount Park chain is put up for sale at the beginning of 2006. The winner, of what was rumored to be a fierce bidding war, ended up being Cedar Fair. CEO Dick Kinzel got the board of directors behind him and he was determined to acquire the parks and he did for a price. Now, he has almost tripled the size of the Cedar Fair park chain and put the business under a massive debt load. A year and a half later, the economy tanks and Cedar Fair is left with a massive debt load; with very high interest rates. Looking back, it reminds me of many unfortunate folks in real estate/housing who bought homes at an inflated price with high interest rates; that, after the economy crashed, ended up owing more on the home than what it is currently worth. I feel that Cedar Fair was "Underwater" with their purchase of the former Paramount chain.
Now, Dick and company seem to get a little nervous about all of this, and that is what I think is why we ended up with the Apollo buyout attempt. A private equity firm, who was a majority Cedar Fair share owner, fought tooth and nail to prevent this Apollo buyout from happening and they succeeded. Apollo went their own way. Now Kinzel is on his way out along with almost 2/3's of the board of directors with him. Two years ago in comes Quimet and the new board members. The debt load is re-financed with much lower interest rates which, in turn, allows Cedar Fair to put more bucks toward paying down the debt and more cash to do general/capital improvements throughout the chain.
Quimet is trying to re-capture the charm and atmosphere of the older parks by starting the process to give them a gradual themed makeover. Making the different areas, within the park, have a more unified theme. He is trying to put more entertainment back into the park as well.
What is so frustrating sometimes, it the slow pace of those changes; what would normally take 2-3 years is now taking 5-6 years to do. Again, I think it is the huge debt load Cedar Fair still has hanging over them. I personally don't think Cedar Fair will turn the corner on this debt for another 8-10 years.
Now, I don't think all is doom and gloom. With the 40th anniversary happening next year and possibly carrying over to the 2015 season, we will now have 2 more areas to get a refresh with some retro themeing and charm. Yes, they still have a ways to go and I can see folks still calling Kings Dominion a "Coaster Park" for the next few years. Will the park still carry that label 5-6 years from now? Time will tell.
