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      Everyone likes a good read from time to time, or even all the time. That's why our team of writers is constantly at work putting their opinions and insights into words, and this is the place to find their work: the Editorials & Articles section! We write about anything and everything, from the implications of the latest topics of news around the amusement industry, to the timeless topics of interest, to just plain satire. If you can think of a topic you would love to see in the form of an article, chances are you'll be seeing it in the future!

Paramount Parks: the End of an Era?
Paramount Parks: the End of an Era? / By: Devin Olson, Thursday, March 10, 2005 -

Every few years, there comes along at least one major theme park or group of parks that changes hands. As history shows, this can be a positive change, or a very negative one depending on the case. In 1999 and 2000, Six Flags was the park chain in the news around the world for their bold acquisition of a number of parks. This was a positive move for some of the parks that found themselves being drowned in a deluge of new rides and attractions that otherwise would have never come along. But then, it was the opposite situation for the same chain four years later, in debt over their heads and selling off several properties including the fiasco acquisition of Geauga Lake into the trusted hands of Cedar Fair.

Now, the latest buzz is that Viacom, parent company of Paramount and Paramount Parks, is looking to sell off its theme parks, specifically Doswell, Virginia's Kings Dominion. Being that Kings Dominion is my lifelong homepark and sentimental favorite, news like this produces strong feelings for me. My earliest memories of Kings Dominion come from the first year that Paramount took charge of the park, and the Paramount themes have been a major part of the atmosphere at the park; an existing part of most of my memories that this theme park has provided me with over the years. I can always relive it in my mind vividly: walking down the midway of Kings Dominion past the Paramount movie plaques encompassing the Eiffel Tower, beyond the Paramount Theatre... And of course, those overtures fill the air; movie themes that conjure memories of Kings Dominion when I'm watching a movie rather than vice-versa.

Kings Dominion certainly survived well before Paramount came into the name, but in the decade since then, the Paramount theme has become a major piece of its identity. From the Drop Zone Stunt Tower, to Scooby Doo and the Haunted Mansion, to the Nickelodeon Central themed area, the Viacom themes are almost everywhere you look. However, some mistaken Hollywood identities were never planned, such as the giant mountain that some confuse for that of the Paramount logo, which was built well before Paramount came into the picture; the inverted coaster Volcano: the Blast Coaster, which has no ties whatsoever to the Twentieth-Century Fox movie Volcano that was released the year before, and the neighboring Anaconda coaster, which came six years before a Columbia and Tristar movie of the same name.

It comes as ironic that Viacom would explore selling off the Paramount Parks now, as just in the last several years the chain has put a new emphasis on the movie and TV-based themes. 2004's Park slogans were "The Best of Hollywood Entertainment. Now Playing," and this season will bring installation of some the most elaborately-themed rides and expansions associated with Viacom in their history such as the Italian Job Stunt Track coasters at Paramount's Canada's Wonderland and Kings Island, the Tomb Raider: Firefall vertical spinning ride at Kings Dominion, and the largest Nickelodeon-themed kids' area with Nickelodeon Central at Paramount's Carowinds. Park management obviously never saw this move coming either, with concepts in the planning for the next two years associated heavily with Viacom-owned themes.

If the parks were to be sold and the former Paramount Parks lost the rights to the movie themes that have become a prominent part of their experiences, potentially up to thirty major thrill rides would be in need of name changes and theme removals, including the Top Gun inverted steel coasters and the Drop Zone Stunt Tower freefall rides. Some theme removals would be easier than others. In 2001, Paramount's Kings Dominion and Kings Island discontinued use of the Outer Limits theme on their Flight of Fear coasters, which resulted in only minor changes and removals in theming. So would it be possible for the parks to continue use of the Viacom-associated themes even after a sell-out? Yes, and hopefully that would be the case. Of course, there is a trend of theme parks stepping outside of their typical themes with rides bearing names such as Scooby Doo appearing at Six Flags properties, and Indiana Jones and Star Wars themes present at Walt Disney resorts.

One of the interested park chains is said to be Cedar Fair, owners most notably of Cedar Point, and the company known for purchasing Michigan's Adventure from its owning family in 2001 and the aforementioned Geauga Lake from Six Flags just last year. However, Cedar Fair parks have their own distinct style, trends, and atmosphere, something that could easily clash with what has been carefully developed at the Paramount parks. When Cedar Fair took over the former Six Flags Worlds of Adventure to convert it into the new Geauga Lake, all previous themes were removed, and Cedar Fair's own identity began to take root. If a company could purchase the Paramount chain and keep the current themes intact, nothing would be changed superficially, but Cedar Fair is known for converting purchased parks into their distinctive style with their own themes. The more park chains, the more unique styles of parks, and with Paramount out of the picture, that would only leave Cedar Fair, Six Flags, and Busch in the business of regional parks.

Whatever happens, the coasters will continue to thrill, the water parks will continue to chill, and the theme park food will continue to fill, but a turning point in the very identity of the five primary Paramount Parks could be just around the corner. So next time you're at your local Paramount Park, whether it's Kings Dominion, Kings Island, Carowinds, Great America, or Canada's Wonderland, don't take today's experience for granted; after all, it could just be Snoopy or Bugs Bunny who greets you next year.