Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN), publicly traded leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced that combined attendance in 2007 at its eighteen locations totaled 22.1 million guests compared with 19.3 million in 2006. During this same period, preliminary average in-park guest per capita spending increased 5% to $40.45 compared with $38.71 in 2006.
Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and chief executive officer, noted that the 2006 figures include results from the Paramount Parks since their acquisition from CBS Corporation on June 30, 2006, while results for 2007 include a full-year of operations. “We experienced solid increases in average in-park guest per capita spending at each of our parks, ” said Kinzel. “On a regional basis, our northern region parks entertained approximately 12.4 million guests compared with 10.7 million guests in 2006, while our southern region parks entertained 4.1 million guests compared with 3.3 million guests a year ago, and our western region parks hosted 5.6 million guests versus 5.3 million guests in 2006.”
“Overall, we are pleased with our 2007 results as we end a transformational year for the company, ” said Kinzel. “This was our first full year of owning and operating the newly acquired parks and we have learned a great deal about our new customers during this time. With our record-high $88 million in planned capital expenditures for 2008 along with the introduction of exciting new marketing promotions to capture our guests’ attention, we are confident 2008 will be another successful year for the company.”
Kinzel ended by noting that the Company plans to issue a news release and host a conference call with analysts on Thursday, February 7, 2008 to discuss 2007 fourth quarter and full year earnings results for Cedar Fair. The Company’s 2007 year-end tax information will also be processed and mailed to unitholders at the beginning of March. The same tax information will be available to unitholders through the Investor Relations section of the Partnership’s corporate web site (www.cedarfair.com) beginning Monday, March 3, 2007.
About Cedar Fair
Cedar Fair is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio, and one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world. The partnership owns and operates 11 amusement parks, six outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels. Amusement parks in the company’s northern region include two in Ohio: Cedar Point, consistently voted “Best Amusement Park in the World” in Amusement Today polls, and Kings Island; as well as Canada’s Wonderland, near Toronto; Dorney Park, PA; Valleyfair, MN; and Michigan’s Adventure, MI. In the southern region are Kings Dominion, VA; Carowinds, NC; and Worlds of Fun, MO. Western parks in California include: Knott’s Berry Farm; Great America; and Gilroy Gardens, which is managed under contract. Also included in that region is Star Trek: The Experience, a Las Vegas-based interactive adventure.
