Earlier this month Cedar Fair released their 2017 Investor Presentation that is packed full of information about the company, as well as forward-looking statements about what we may expect in the coming weeks, months, or years. We always find these documents rather interesting, and over the years they have begun to release more and more information from behind the curtain. So lets take a peak into some Interesting Facts from the 2017 Cedar Fair Investor Presentation.

Cedar Fair Park Revenue

Cedar Fair has put forth 7 consecutive years of record results in terms of revenue and Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Where it really gets interesting is looking at the breakdown by park to see which parks carry the weight.

Referencing the 2015 Theme Index of attendance, the top four performing Cedar Fair parks were Knott’s Berry Farm, Canada’s Wonderland, Cedar Point, and Kings Island. We expect to see similar results when the 2016 list is released in May 2017.

However, when it comes to revenue by park, Knott’s Berry Farm and Cedar Point are about equal at about 23% and 21% respectively of the $1,289,000,000 2016 revenue. Further, Kings Island beat out Canada’s Wonderland revenue at 11% and 9% respectively.

Knott’s has a distinct advantage of being open year round, but it still interesting to see how the top attendance parks relate to revenue, with the two top earners double what the next closest two earners are for 2016.

On the flip side, it is rather surprising to see Kings Dominion and Carowinds being roughly equal in terms of revenue, yet one has clearly gotten more investment than the other. For reference, the 2015 revenue appears to be about equal as well.

What is also interesting to see if that California’s Great America (CGA) is about equal in terms of revenue as Kings Dominion and Carowinds. However, the 2016 EBITDA of CGA is a small fraction of the other two. Given CGA recently received approval for extensive expansion plans, this is an interesting long term play.

It is also quite interesting to see how the lowest earner, Michigan’s Adventure, is a $26 million revenue park vs the giants, Cedar Point ($272 million) or Knott’s Berry Farm ($293 million).

Developed vs Undeveloped Land

It is always interesting to us to look at how much land the parks have for future development. Fortunately, the Investor Presentation tabulates the numbers nicely.

Most people will immediately look at this chart and think, “wow, such and such park has tons of room for expansion. Why don’t they build 10 giga-coasters with all that land?”

In reality, expansion is not as simple as it once was back when the parks were built. Today’s development rules require extensive engineering to handle normal infrastructure, but also additional storm water runoff measures. In addition, many sites contain wetlands, which can be expensive to mitigate for expansion. Not to say it can not be done, but it all costs a LOT of money. Expansion requires the proper infrastructure behind to make sure it can be sustained.

What is also interesting to look at is where the properties in Cedar Fair ownership are located.

For example, take Cedar Point. They own the majority of the peninsula with the exception of some outlying residential properties. Cedar Point also own extensive property outside the causeway for employee housing, parking, hotels, and restaurants.

The purchase of the former Griffing Sandusky Airport allowed Cedar Point to greatly expand their reach into the sports market.

Now enough of the numbers game. Get out there and have some FUN, because that is what is all about in the end!

Disclaimers:
1) All numbers roughly calculated from Cedar Fair Investor Presentations and do not represent actual values.
2) We do not own any Cedar Fair interests at the time of this article.
3) Photos from slides ©Cedar Fair

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