^^-- I would suggest no such thing. The lack of a new roller coaster hurt attendance in 2009 and 2017. In 2017, I think they made up for some slack times at other times, but the slack times in June could be early warning they need to progress. I tend to prefer them just barely managing to survive and add great rides, but some times in 2009 were downright eerie, visit after visit.
Tony Johnson Named New VP and General Manager
- Thread starter pickles
- Start date
I think this is a good thing, and if you allow me a minute to diatribe and monologue here (with some pure speculation) I can get to why:
Cedar Fair has long kept their parks in different 'tiers'. I've considered California's Great America, Carowinds, and Cedar Point their 'flagship' parks. Nicely spread through the country. At the bottom end you got Michigan's Adventure, Dorney Park, ValleyFair. They tend to get the "hand me downs" from other parks.
Kings Dominion, Kings Island, Knotts, and Canada's Wonderland all live in this middle 'gray zone'. They are big enough and important enough to CF to not get the 'hand me down' rides, but at the same time, they have to do some work to ensure that they don't end up stepping on the toes of the flagship parks.
Ok so we know all of that.
My 'speculation' as to why I'm liking this:
Clearly that middle zone is really muddled up. It's becoming harder and harder to keep attendance up without having to do something groundbreaking. Planet Snoopy was great for the park as it helped with attendance without being something major.
The best way (IMO) for the park to give the 4 mid-tier parks some breathing room to add rides without stepping on the toes of the flagship parks? Find a way to make the flagship parks a 2-gate or 2-day destination. An expansion to SoakCity - Cedar point; do the same thing with Carowinds. I admit doing this with CGA is much more difficult because of space and where the SoakCity is, so make it a 2 day attraction in order to do everything.
Now, you give the 4 mid-tier parks breathing room.
So getting back to why this new VP and GM thing is good IMO:
He's moving from a main HQ position to the park, which to me shows they have a long term vision for this park and where it's going. With the speculation I would hope for, having a guy from there that knows what the plan is can really make sure this goes smoothly.
Even without that, I like this. I think that CF would admit that the PS announcement was a bit of a disaster and that it was 'egg on the face' for KD to push like that. So having someone in that understand the scope and picture of what they want from the corporate level isn't a bad thing at all.
Cedar Fair has long kept their parks in different 'tiers'. I've considered California's Great America, Carowinds, and Cedar Point their 'flagship' parks. Nicely spread through the country. At the bottom end you got Michigan's Adventure, Dorney Park, ValleyFair. They tend to get the "hand me downs" from other parks.
Kings Dominion, Kings Island, Knotts, and Canada's Wonderland all live in this middle 'gray zone'. They are big enough and important enough to CF to not get the 'hand me down' rides, but at the same time, they have to do some work to ensure that they don't end up stepping on the toes of the flagship parks.
Ok so we know all of that.
My 'speculation' as to why I'm liking this:
Clearly that middle zone is really muddled up. It's becoming harder and harder to keep attendance up without having to do something groundbreaking. Planet Snoopy was great for the park as it helped with attendance without being something major.
The best way (IMO) for the park to give the 4 mid-tier parks some breathing room to add rides without stepping on the toes of the flagship parks? Find a way to make the flagship parks a 2-gate or 2-day destination. An expansion to SoakCity - Cedar point; do the same thing with Carowinds. I admit doing this with CGA is much more difficult because of space and where the SoakCity is, so make it a 2 day attraction in order to do everything.
Now, you give the 4 mid-tier parks breathing room.
So getting back to why this new VP and GM thing is good IMO:
He's moving from a main HQ position to the park, which to me shows they have a long term vision for this park and where it's going. With the speculation I would hope for, having a guy from there that knows what the plan is can really make sure this goes smoothly.
Even without that, I like this. I think that CF would admit that the PS announcement was a bit of a disaster and that it was 'egg on the face' for KD to push like that. So having someone in that understand the scope and picture of what they want from the corporate level isn't a bad thing at all.
^I thought Knott's was the California flagship. Aren't they already a two-gate park, their Soak City being a separate gate?
Also, you forgot Worlds of Fun (and they'd be in the low tier).
Also, you forgot Worlds of Fun (and they'd be in the low tier).
SLC Headache said:
I've never been to Cali (or really researched those parks). I guess CGA because of size TBH. Yea I forgot WoF but they're low tier.
Anyways that was all speculation, but I think this change at the top is a great thing for the park and the chain.
warfelg said:
I don't consider CGA a flagship park in the Cedar Fair chain at all. Considering its small size (it's about 1/4 the size of KD) and the lack of attractions the park gets (2 coasters in the last 17 years), there is nothing noteworthy of designating this park as a flagship. It doesn't even come close to the attendance of CW, KI and Carowinds and certainly doesn't bring in the revenue stream as other parks. I'd even consider KBF more of a flagship than CGA based on attendance alone.
I wonder if there is something bigger going on here. This is starting to turn into quiet the suitcase parade.
It looks like Katelyn's departure is entirely unrelated.
Reading Katelyn's Instagram, is sounds as if she chose to leave for her own professional and personal reasons. People move and switch jobs all the time, because they want a change or something better. I think y'all are reading too much into a coincidence.
THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES! Open your eyes sheeple! This is CLEARLY the silent hand of the Illuminati at work!
Okay, clearly when I post at 4am I sound more wack-a-do then I intend...
Okay, clearly when I post at 4am I sound more wack-a-do then I intend...
For anyone wondering, it seems Katelyn has been replaced by Maggie Sellers, the park's former Interactive Marketing Coordinator who wrote many of the park's blog posts and played a role in many marketing functions in past years. This is the first time in a large handful of years that the Communications Manager has been promoted from within the park instead of coming from an outside field, so congratulations to Maggie! I've been a big fan of her past work for the park.
In The Loop posted a great interview with Tony Johnson. He has an incredible history with Kings Dominion and Cedar Fair, and it's clear that he has a strong passion for the park and its guests.
This popped up recently.
www.richmond.com
Lohmann: Kings Dominion executive started at the park 45 years ago, keeping an eye on lions and other critters
He’s in the big seat now as general manager of Kings Dominion, but back when Kings Dominion started 45 years ago, Tony Johnson was there then, too.
Wasn't sure where to put this, but ACE did a great Q&A with Tony Johnson which I highly recommend checking out. Tony talks about some about his history and experiences with the park, about the 2019 season and what to expect for 2020, Haunt and Winterfest, behind-the-scenes info, and plans for the park's future. It's a really good watch.
Definitely a good watch. I am curious to how truthful the "we have not made a decision on a product for the replacement of Volcano" statement really is; actually I am more concerned of a timeline issue versus the actual replacement choice.
Tony seems like a straight shooter and I hope I get to run into him some day soon at the park.
I just watched an interview with him from that same event where he specifically says they’ve already determined the “product” for that site. Obviously, only one of those statements can be true, but who knows which.
There was a dialog with a ACE member and with Tony about looking into a flat ride package in the same vein as Carowinds "Country Fair" section. I thought Tony mentioned Old VA as a possible location if that were to come to fruition.
I could not make out what Tony said concerning the volcano site as far as the Old Queue House was concerned. He said something about "Huts being knocked down". I kept thinking "what huts?". I'm trying to get some context about if KD is just keeping the buildings for temporary asthetic reasons or if they are looking to re-purpose the queue house for something else.