SANDUSKY, Ohio, Sept. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cedar Fair
Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement
parks, water parks and active entertainment, received three top
honors in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards
(GTA). The coveted Best New Ride award went to Sandusky, Ohio's Cedar Point for its record-breaking Steel
Vengeance hyper-hybrid roller coaster. Charlotte, North Carolina-area park Carowinds'
giga coaster Fury 325 won Best Steel Coaster for the third year in
a row. And the PEANUTS™ themed children's area at Mason, Ohio's Kings Island won Best Kids' Area
for an extraordinary 18th consecutive year. In all, 24
rides and attractions throughout Cedar Fair's portfolio of
amusement parks received GTA recognition.
Richard Zimmerman, Cedar Fair's
president and CEO, said, "As an entertainment company, it is an
honor for Cedar Fair to be recognized by industry peers and
enthusiasts for being the best at what we do. Our hard-working team
is both grateful and quite proud to be fan favorites and recipients
of multiple Golden Ticket Awards again this year. Looking ahead to
2019, we are excited about introducing two incredible coasters as
well as other entertaining thrills we trust will be favorably
received by our guests. I thank everyone at Amusement Today, and
congratulate all winners for their dedication in creating memorable
experiences."
GTA Best New Ride winner Steel Vengeance, whose massive wooden
structure and twisted red I-beam metal track dominates Cedar Point's FrontierTown area, broke 10
roller coaster records when it debuted in May 2018. The coaster was also recognized as one
of the top steel roller coasters overall. Also placing in the Best
New Ride category was hybrid coaster Twisted Timbers at Kings
Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. In
2017, the company's Mystic Timbers roller coaster at Mason, Ohio's Kings Island received the top
GTA as Best New Ride.
The GTA for best steel coaster again went to Fury 325 at
Carowinds. With a towering teal green track piercing the sky above
the North and South Carolina state
lines, the coaster has won top honors for best new ride and steel
coaster since its debut in 2015. Recognition for other Cedar Fair
steel coasters went to Cedar Point's Millennium Force, Steel
Vengeance, Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, and Magnum XL-200
coasters; Leviathan at Canada's
Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario;
Diamondback at Kings Island; Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion; and
Intimidator, also at Carowinds.
Racking up an impressive 18-year winning streak, Kings Island
has won the top Best Kids' Area GTA more than any other park in
history. Its Planet Snoopy boasts an elaborate collection of
PEANUTS-themed rides and attractions, including more kids' roller
coasters than any other amusement park in the world. Kings Dominion
also placed for its Planet Snoopy kids' area.
In the category for Best Wood Coaster, several Cedar Fair
coasters received recognition - The Beast and Mystic Timbers
at Kings Island; Gold Striker at California's Great America in Santa Clara; Ghost Rider at Knott's
Berry Farm in Buena Park, California; and Shivering
Timbers at Michigan's
Adventure in Muskegon.
The company's parks also earned a range of spots in other
categories - Cedar Point in the
Best Park category, Kings Island in the Best Christmas Event and
Best Halloween Event categories, Knott's Berry Farm in the Best Halloween Event category,
and Gilroy Gardens in Gilroy,
California in the Best Landscaping category.
The prestigious Golden Ticket Awards are presented annually to
recognize excellence in the amusement park industry. The awards are
calculated from an international poll conducted by Amusement
Today, an Arlington,
Texas-based publication that covers amusement and water park
news and trends.
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company is a publicly traded
partnership headquartered in Sandusky,
Ohio, and one of the largest regional amusement-resort
operators in the world. The Company owns and operates 11 amusement
parks, two outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and four
hotels. It also operates an additional theme park under a
management contract. Its parks are located in California, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North
Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Toronto, Ontario. For more information, see
www.cedarfair.com.
Contact:
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Laurie Tardif,
Corporate
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Communications
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419.357.9559
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SOURCE Cedar Fair