fair entertainment company type public traded as nyse fun industry amusement parks founded 1983 headquarters sandusky ohio number of locations 13 area served united states canada key people matt ouimet ceo revenue us 1.24 billion 2015 1 operating income us 232.6 million 2012 2 net income us 112 million 2015 1 total assets us 2.072 billion 2016 2 total equity us 159.3 million 2012 2 number of employees 1 700 full time 41 000 seasonal june 2014 3 website www.cedarfair.com cedar fair s corporate headquarters at cedar point in sandusky ohio . cedar fair l.p. doing business as the cedar fair entertainment company is a publicly traded partnership headquartered at its cedar point amusement park in sandusky ohio . the company owns and operates eleven amusement parks two outdoor water parks one indoor water park and five hotels . 4 cedar fair also manages gilroy gardens under contract with the city of gilroy california . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 dick kinzel era 1.2 matt ouimet era 2 properties 2.1 amusement parks 2.2 water parks 2.2.1 outdoor 2.2.1.1 included with admission 2.2.1.2 separate admission property 2.2.2 indoor 2.3 former 2.4 lodging and campgrounds 3 fast lane 4 attendance 5 awards 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit cedar point opened in 1870 as a recreational area . the park was developed over the years going through only a few managements . the park belonged to the cedar point pleasure company . in 1974 cedar point pleasure company proposed building an amusement park in cambridge township michigan on the former frontier city amusement park site . those plans were abandoned in 1975 . 6 three years later cedar point acquired valleyfair . the name cedar fair then was derived from the names of both parks cedar coming from cedar point and fair coming from valleyfair . cedar fair was founded in 1983 then went public on april 29 1987 . 7 dick kinzel era edit the first acquisition of 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 . 8 one of the biggest acquisitions came in 1997 when cedar fair bought knott s berry farm from the knott family . 9 10 this marked the first time cedar fair operated a year round amusement park . several new water park properties named knott s soak city have opened around the southern california area since the acquisition which included buena park in 1999 chula vista in 2000 and palm springs in 2001 . 11 12 michigan s adventure in muskegon michigan and was purchased for 27.6 million in 2001 . 13 cedar fair opened their first indoor water park in november 2004 castaway bay . it replaced the former radisson hotel and is open year round . 14 the biggest acquisitions have come recently starting in 2004 with six flags world of adventure . cedar fair bought the park for 145 million and reverted its name back to geauga lake the name the park used until its conversion by six flags in 2000 . 15 16 however with it being so close to cedar point the park started losing attendance and various rides leading to rumors of the park closing . on september 21 2007 it was announced that geauga lake would close and only the connected water park would operate as geauga lake s wildwater kingdom . 17 most of the rides at geauga lake were sent to other cedar fair parks to operate . in 2011 the water parks name was shortened to just wildwater kingdom removing the geauga lake prefix . 18 on may 22 2006 cedar fair announced they 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 a cash transaction valued at 1.24 billion usd . 19 20 shortly following the transfer of ownership cedar fair began the process of integrating the two companies by eliminating the paramount parks corporate office in charlotte north carolina and transferring all decision making to cedar fair s offices in sandusky ohio . with the purchase of the paramount parks cedar fair changed its name to cedar fair entertainment company . 21 the 301 foot windseeker at cedar point which opened in 2011 . other models of the ride exist at canada s wonderland kings island worlds of fun carowinds and kings dominion the individual parks continued to operate under their paramount names during 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 . they also changed bonfante gardens to gilroy gardens . cedar fair began removing references to paramount pictures since they did not have the licenses to use them . all these changes were made before the beginning of the 2007 season . in december 2009 it was announced that apollo global management would offer cedar fair 11.50 22 23 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 . 24 the deal included a cash payment of 635 million in addition to assuming cedar fair s debt of over 1.7 billion usd putting the total value of the transaction close to 2.4 billion usd . 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 . 25 on april 6 2010 the deal was terminated and cedar fair paid 6.5 million to reimburse apollo for expenses incurred from the proposed transaction . 23 26 cedar fair also adopted a unitholder rights plan as a preventative measure to help protect unitholders in the event of any future hostile takeover . 27 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 . 28 29 the agreement required approval of santa clara s city council which was scheduled to vote on the matter on december 6 2011 . however jma cancelled its plans to purchase great america and bowed out of the agreement . 30 31 matt ouimet era edit on june 20 2011 cedar fair announced that long term ceo dick kinzel would retire on january 3 2012 and that matt ouimet will take his spot as the ceo of cedar fair . 32 33 ouimet was employed by the walt disney company for 17 years . he served as president of disney cruise line and president of the disneyland resort . he officially became ceo on january 3 . 33 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 they had sold its knott s soak city san diego location to seaworld parks & entertainment . 34 about nine months later cedar fair announced it had sold its knott s soak city palm springs location to cnl lifestyle properties . 35 on september 5 2016 cedar fair closed wildwater kingdom the last operating part of the former geauga lake & wildwater kingdom . all land that once contained both properties is now available for redevelopment . properties edit amusement parks edit name location year opened year acquired notes california s great america santa clara california 1976 2006 acquired in paramount parks deal . canada s wonderland vaughan ontario canada 1981 2006 cedar fair s most visited seasonal park acquired in paramount parks deal . carowinds charlotte north carolina 1973 2006 acquired in paramount parks deal . a portion of the park is in fort mill south carolina . cedar point sandusky ohio 1870 founding franchise cedar fair s flagship park and the oldest park in the chain . cedar fair s corporate headquarters are at this park . dorney park & wildwater kingdom allentown pennsylvania 1884 1992 first park acquired under the cedar fair name acquired from harris weinstein . gilroy gardens gilroy california 2001 2006 currently in a management contract with cedar fair acquired in paramount parks deal . kings dominion doswell virginia 1975 2006 acquired in paramount parks deal . kings island mason ohio 1972 2006 acquired in paramount parks deal . knott s berry farm buena park california 1940 1997 cedar fair s only park open year round . most visited cedar fair park acquired from knott family . michigan s adventure muskegon michigan 1956 2001 acquired from the jourden family . valleyfair shakopee minnesota 1976 1978 acquired by cedar point . valleyfair and cedar point then formed cedar fair in 1987 . worlds of fun kansas city missouri 1973 1995 acquired from hunt midwest . water parks edit outdoor edit included with admission edit name location year opened year acquired notes boomerang bay california s great america 2004 2006 located within california s great america acquired in paramount parks deal . carolina harbor carowinds 1989 2006 located within carowinds acquired in paramount parks deal . oceans of fun worlds of fun 1982 1995 located adjacent to worlds of fun . in 2013 the water park became included with admission to worlds of fun . 36 soak city kings dominion 1992 2006 located within kings dominion acquired in paramount parks deal . soak city kings island 1989 2006 located within kings island acquired in paramount parks deal . soak city valleyfair 1983 built by cedar fair located within valleyfair . splash works canada s wonderland 1992 2006 located within canada s wonderland acquired in paramount parks deal . wildwater adventure michigan s adventure 1991 2001 located within michigan s adventure . wildwater kingdom dorney park 1985 1992 located within dorney park . separate admission property edit name location year opened notes knott s soak city orange county buena park california 1999 located adjacent to knott s berry farm . opened under the name soak city u.s.a. cedar point shores sandusky ohio 1988 located adjacent to cedar point . indoor edit name location year opened notes castaway bay sandusky ohio 2004 cedar fair s only indoor water park located about a mile from cedar point . former edit name location year acquired year sold closed notes geauga lake aurora ohio 2004 2007 purchased from six flags in 2004 for 145 million . closed ride side in 2007 the water park wildwater kingdom closed on september 5 2016 . knott s camp snoopy mall of america 1992 2005 in 2005 closed for renovation . moa and cedar fair dissolved their agreement in 2006 . now operates as a nickelodeon universe park . knott s soak city palm springs palm springs california 2001 2013 opened under the name oasis water park . sold to cnl lifestyle properties . 35 knott s soak city san diego chula vista california 2000 2012 opened under the name white water canyon . sold to seaworld parks & entertainment . 34 star trek the experience las vegas nevada 2006 2008 acquired in paramount parks deal . closed in 2008 cedar fair lost rights to reopen the attraction from cbs studios in 2010 . wildwater kingdom aurora ohio 2005 2016 located on former seaworld ohio site . lodging and campgrounds edit hotel breakers cedar point breakers express cedar point sandcastle suites hotel cedar point camper village cedar point lighthouse point cedar point castaway bay indoor waterpark resort cedar point camp wilderness kings dominion knott