I wonder if Premier isn't going to try to flip the company to another bigger
company: Universal, Disney, Time Warner?
Coaster rider.
I wonder if Premier isn't going to try to flip the company to another bigger
company: Universal, Disney, Time Warner?
Coaster rider.
Okay, I just have to ask this... Is Premier Parks in this game for the
long term?
It seems their rate of park aquisitions is nothing short of staggering!
What also conserns me is a post in a previous thread that depicts
Premier Management as dark, evil, greedy men.
I believe there is a growing trend of buy/sell companies. A good example
of this is Starwood Lodgings. While the name might not sound familiar,
there is a good chance (with the amount of travelling we do) that you
have stayed on one of their properties... The Allentown Hilton is owned
by this company. Their goal is to make money! They buy and/or arrange
partnerships with A LOT of regional and chain hotels with big names
(Hitons, Marriotts, Hyatts) The majority of their aquisitions are
properties which are not meeting expected quotas. Starwood then pumps
MILLIONS into renovations. Now, here's the fun part, a few of the hotels
they keep; but many get sold off, putting lots of money into their and
their stockholder's wallets!
Now, before I go any further, no I am not an expert. Actually, I am
hoping someone can prove me wrong. But, as it stands now, the amount of
Premier Park Purchases (a PPP I don't know if I can say I'm thrilled
about) seems kinda fishy.
Is a relatively new management company truly ready to handle (and
operate) 14 major parks?
Is it really as simple as buying four*** SLCs and*** up a sign
that says "The McGreat Escape"?
Is Premier REALLY in this for the long haul? My great grandparents had
14 children. I'm sure there were times they said: "what were we
thinking?"
I'm just concerned.
Chris
I also have thoughts about their most recent purchase, SFoT. I think
the park has a unique "feel" to it that I hope Premier continues to
preserve. Certainly, I hope they don't go messing with any current
coasters. I'd be very unhappy if they removed or changed the Texas
Giant, Shockwave, Judge, or Mine Train at least.
This is not to say that Premier will be bad for the park. I visited
two Premier parks this summer. I really liked Geauga Lake, and it
seemed like they were going in the right direction. Though I had some
complaints about the operations at Adventure World, I thought they had
a very good ride package and lots of potential (and have even more with
the new GCI woodie going in). I just hope that Premier takes a fairly
"hands-off" approach to SFoT.
Dave Sandborg
Gordon Peterson
http://www.computek.net/public/gep2/
>Okay, I just have to ask this... Is Premier Parks in this game for the
>long term?
>It seems their rate of park aquisitions is nothing short of staggering!
>What also conserns me is a post in a previous thread that depicts
>Premier Management as dark, evil, greedy men.
Yep. This whole topic was just on my mind. The whole Premier Blitz is rather
scary to me, especially since the CF reorganization is coming up. I have
nightmares of Premier snapping up all these parks just to get the CF group,
then dumping some of the other parks and milking CP.
OK, so just my private nightmare..... ;-)
Honestly, what IS the reason for their eagerness? Certainly not preservation!
Money, of course, is the factor, but what exactly DO they want to do? Become
the #1 theme park company? Own the most? Make the most? Save parks? Ruin
parks? :-) Somehow it just seems like they are headed for disaster. Unless
they know something no one else knows, (aliens land, population booms and
Premier Parks' properties become favorite Earth attraction for the aliens), it
almost seems spooky.
Anything involving so much money, so fast, must have more behind it. I'd
love to know Premier's mission statement. They are into cookie cutter rides,
which is one bad sign. CF is not, IMHO, even with the Mamba/Wild
Thing/Magnum/Steel Force quads. (We'll ignore the Detonator logo) Each is
different, and each is made to bring hypers to the market, not take the same
ride and throw it down. SF, well, they are; ditto for P. I have heard
complaints, mostly about TPM and *** bigwigs. Hmm...why do I feel that SFoT
isn't the last park to join Premier's team? Call in ITPS!
Coaster Gods, please bless management that do not cookie cutter :)
Feeling like the Chicken Patio: Torn-down,
backseat~cp~
- Premier owns three of the ACE Coaster Classics: the Frontier City Wildcat,
the Geauga Lake Big Dipper, and the Wyandot Lake Sea Dragon. There isn't
another park chain (aside from Kennywood Entertainment) that owns even
*one* (unless you count Classics that have since had their trains
replaced/modified such that they no longer qualify; Premier, to their
credit, have kept their Coaster Classics classic!).
- Premier owns three wooden coasters that have been relocated from defunct
parks: the aforementioned Wildcat, the Adventure World Wild One, and the
Great Escape Comet. Granted, the latter two were relocated before
Premier bought those parks, but still, none of the other large chains
have made any effort to relocate SBNOs.
- The only coaster I can think of that's actually been removed from a
park under Premier's ownership is the Corkscrew at Geauga Lake, which
was replaced with a Vekoma Boomerang (pretty much an even-or-better
trade, IMO). As I've said before, Premier had nothing to do with the
relocation of Elitch Gardens, and does not own the original site;
therefore, one *cannot* rightly put blame for the original Twister
and Wildcat being abandoned on their shoulders.
I'm not saying Premier is perfect. Like all chains (and, indeed, all
parks), they have their strong and weak points. I just don't see how
they deserve even half of the trashing they're getting in this group
as of late. I went to three of their parks this year - Riverside,
Adventure World, and the Great Escape. Two of those parks looked to
me to be quite well run, and I can't think of a single complaint that
I could lodge against them. The third (yes, it's Riverside) has had a
history of past problems that Premier seems to be working to correct.
I don't see them as being any worse than any of the other chains. Indeed,
in some aspects, they're actually better, IMO.
-Shawn Mamros
Regarding CF, there will be no reorganization. The Government has extended
the tax law, and they can continue, indefinately, as they currently are.
Robert Reagan
Texas ACE Regional Rep
Cheers.
--Robb
Planning a coaster trip? Then visit the following site:
http://www.themeparkreview.com
If this is so, and it means that Premier understands the SBNO plight, MAYBE
THIS MEANS THEY'LL BUY OTHER SBNO'S! They're small enough to be able to add
the small rides to the parks, unlike SF and CF, who look to be biggest and
best many times. Yahoo! ACEers should correspond with Premier, and let them
know that the purchase of SBNO's would forever warm Premier to ACE's heart :)
I just don't see P/SF/CF buying a SBNO.....
"New At Cedar Point: JACK RABBIT!"
Nawww.......
But we can dream!
backseat~cp~
Thanks everyone for responding in this thread. You have helped to loosen
the knot in my stomach a bit. All I could think of when I heard of all
the Premier aquisitions was my aunt. She bought tons of houses (before
Reganomics) when prices were low (as were taxes on non-owner occupied
properties), pumped money into their facades, sold them to various
others (keeping the ones she wanted as rentals and personal retreats)
for a large profit... then retired. I just had visions of her sitting at
a Premier board meeting like Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest!
Who knows what the future will hold, for now I know my '98 coaster
vacation is going to be a lot cheaper!
It's 6:10am, I gotta get some sleep... resting much more comfortably:
Chris F
>> Yep. This whole topic was just on my mind. The whole Premier Blitz is
>>rather scary to me, especially since the CF reorganization is coming up.
>I >have nightmares of Premier snapping up all these parks just to get the
>CF >group, then dumping some of the other parks and milking CP.
>Regarding CF, there will be no reorganization. The Government has extended
>the tax law, and they can continue, indefinately, as they currently are.
>Robert Reagan
>Texas ACE Regional Rep
<user lets out a sigh of relief that can be heard in downtown Tijuana.....>
backseat~cp~
>> Honestly, what IS the reason for their eagerness? Certainly not
>preservation!
>Actually, Premier's score on that account is FAR better than any of the
>other large park chains, IMO. Consider this:
>- Premier owns three of the ACE Coaster Classics: the Frontier City Wildcat,
> the Geauga Lake Big Dipper, and the Wyandot Lake Sea Dragon.
Yep, you caught me on that one. But, I wonder: Did Premier fully understand
the power of the Coaster Classic designation? I know that the rides being
ACECC's didn't make them buy the parks, so will they pick up where everyone
else left off, and keep up the CC? Ack - us Cedar Po!nters should SHUT UP on
this one! :-)
It's just this- These parks had the CC's already when they bought them. Would
Premier THEMSELVES relocate a SBNO? Or just put in another MindEraser? :-)
>How does the new GCI wooden twister going into Adventure World next year
>qualify as being "cookie cutter"? Far from it!
You know, I have rethought this. I don't know how Premier will do. They might
kick ***in the long run and make everyone else look rotten. Or they might go
belly up, and the parks in the group go along with it. Or they might do
moderately. You get the idea. I just have a "bad feeling" about it; chalk it
up to women's intuition :-) Bad feelings don't mean results ensue.
backseat~cp~
I'm surprised that it's cheaper to relocate a coaster than to design and
build a new one from scratch. Even so, if Premier wants more woodies, I'd
expect them to build new ones. They can probably cut costs by signing a
multi-coaster contract with one manufacturer (such as GCI).
If Harry Traver were still alive today, how many ACErs would be complaining
about his cookie-cutter Cyclone coasters?
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