What a day!

For those who aren't coaster geeks and don't know (or barely care), my local amusement park--yes, the one that had a train derail from their big coaster last night--is now going to purchase a whole slew of new amusement parks for $1.2 billion. This will include their THIRD amusement park in Ohio alone, their second in California and even one in Canada.

On the one hand, It's friggin' awesome to think I'll be able to take Da Babies to a bunch more amusement parks on a single season pass. On the other? I'm sorry, the Paramount parks are head and shoulders better than Cedar Fair's. They look better. They draw more attendees per park. When you enter one of their parks, you feel as if you've entered a whole new world--not just a sea of concrete with coasters plopped in it. They've purchased their betters from a large corporation too stupid to know what they sold. I hope they realize that and don't turn the Paramount parks into Cedar Fair parks.

Anyway...I'm on the phone right now, tied in to the CF conference call.
If anything big comes up, I'll post more.

Cedar Fair - Paramount parks purchase: Oh, no.

The improvements Cedar Fair believes they will make in the Paramount park purchases will stem from SIGNIFICANT OPERATING COST SYNERGIES. Oh no oh no oh no oh no.

Good-bye pretty Paramount parks. Hello spans of joyless concrete.

They intend to implement these changes within the next 3-5 years.

But they do retain the Nick licensing. No word on the Paramount movie licensing.

Questions are starting now. This should be interesting.

Cedar Fair - Paramount Parks Q&A revelations

- Nick licensing lasts 4 years, then they'll have to renegotiate

- The rate on their $2 billion in financing hasn't been set yet. It will depend on their corporate rating, except they've never been rated yet. They're hoping for a BB rating.

- Someone asked about retaining Paramount management; they said they were 'looking at it'

- FINALLY someone asked about the movie tie-ins; no hard answer. "They're being reviewed as we speak"

- Somebody asked "Snoopy vs. Spongebob: Any reduction in overall licensing costs?" No real answer, they're looking into it. It would cost more to move the Nick characters into the sister CF parks.

- Cedar Fair HAS purchased the Star Trek Experience ride in Las Vegas as well.

- The call facilitator is a complete mindless idiot.

If there's more I'll tell you.

ETA: They have to start borrowing money for capital, which they haven't had to do in the past before.

More: In their point of view, it takes about five years to 'turn a park around.' They felt it took five years to turn Dorney Park around; five years to turn Knott's around and needless to say, Geauga is still turning around.

A LIL MORE STUFFS: There's nothing planned for '07 at the Paramount parks on the scale of say, a Millennium Force...which makes sense for a park chain for sale. CF has the option of retaining rights on the Paramount-licensed stuff for another ten years, but can buy out of it now. Sounds as if they're choosing the latter.

You know what would make my day complete?

My day started pretty damned good already. But anyway...

- The landlord shampooed my carpet today; they're all lemony and sparkly
- The weather was absolutely perfect for my late-lunch mile run
- I ordered a 24" x 36" of my favorite sunrise shot evar.com for my living room
- I brought in some classic Babies pics for the office

So I'm in a pretty chipper mood.

But you know what would really REALLY set the night off nicely?

Finishing up some journal entries I never started over a couple coolllllld Miller Lites on tap with a side of chicken wings and an eliminated Spurs team. Hey, can I get that topped with french-fried annoying-ass Phoenix Suns?

Oh, yeah. That sounds nice.