Dick Kinzel
Richard Kinzel | |
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Born | Golden Ticket Awards , Legends Series 2011 | July 25, 1940
Richard L. Kinzel (born July 25, 1940) is the former CEO of
Career highlights
Valleyfair
Richard Kinzel started out at Cedar Point as an employee but was transferred to Valleyfair in 1978 to run the newly acquired park. He served as the General Manager of Valleyfair from 1978 to 1986. In 1986, the then-CEO of Cedar Fair stepped down due to health issues. Kinzel was promoted to president and CEO.
CEO of Cedar Fair
When Kinzel stepped in as CEO of Cedar Fair, the company owned just two parks: Valleyfair and Cedar Point. His first major highlight was the installation of Magnum XL-200, a hypercoaster at Cedar Point that was intended to draw more crowds to the park. "Magnum" was the first coaster to break 200 feet and is considered by many to have started the so-called "coaster war" competition between amusement parks, which would make up the majority of Kinzel's tenure at Cedar Fair. In 1992, Cedar Fair made their first acquisition with Dick Kinzel as CEO; Dorney Park was acquired from Harris Weinstein.
In 2006, Kinzel and Cedar Fair acquired the former Paramount Parks. The deal added all five parks plus their water parks to the Cedar Fair chain. Cedar Fair's revenue went from $569 million to $1 billion. Kinzel is most notable for this move because it expanded Cedar Fair into new markets with competition. In 2010, Kinzel announced that he would retire. On June 20, 2011, it was announced that Matt Ouimet would take over as CEO of Cedar Fair, effective immediately. Dick Kinzel officially retired on January 2, 2012, when his contract was up.[1][2]
Life after Cedar Fair
In an article in the
References
- ^ "Press Releases :: Cedar Fair Entertainment Company". Cedarfair.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ^ a b Chavezblade, Jon (2011-12-25). "Kinzel reflects on wild ride". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ^ Topey, Melissa (May 9, 2013). "Kinzel stepping down from Cedar Fair board". Sandusky Register. Retrieved May 10, 2013.