CP Time Machine - October 14, 1999

Photo courtesy of Cedar Fair

Welcome to another addition of the CP Time Machine. Today we're digging deep into the history of Cedar Point's parent company, Cedar Fair, L.P. On October 14, 1999, Cedar Fair announced that they would be purchasing White Water Canyon, a water park located near San Diego, in Chula Vista, California. They announced plans to re-theme the park under the Knott's Soak City brand. Today, the park remains a solid contributor to Cedar Fair's balance sheet. Take a look at the park as it currently stands (Knott's Soak City, Chula Vista)

Photo courtesy of Cedar Fair

Photo courtesy of Cedar Fair

Photo courtesy of Cedar Fair

Moving forward a few months, on December 7, 1999, Cedar Fair issued the following press release announcing the completion of the White Water Canyon purchase:

CEDAR FAIR, L.P. COMPLETES PURCHASE OF CALIFORNIA WATER PARK

SANDUSKY, OHIO, December 7, 1999 -- Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN), a publicly traded partnership which owns and operates five amusement parks, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of White Water Canyon for a cash purchase price of approximately $11.6 million.

White Water Canyon, located near San Diego in Chula Vista, California, is a 33-acre water park that offers more than 20 separate water rides and attractions, including 16 water slides, a wave pool, a lazy river and a children's activity area, as well as food and merchandise shops. The acquisition also includes 32 acres of adjacent land, which is undeveloped and available for further expansion.

"White Water Canyon represents an excellent opportunity for us and will be an ideal addition to our current group of parks," said Richard L. Kinzel, president and chief executive officer of Cedar Fair.

Plans call for the park to be renamed Knott's Soak City U.S.A. and marketed in tandem with a new water park of the same name planned on land adjacent to Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Cedar Fair also plans to retheme the park and add a new family raft ride in time for the 2000 season, with additional improvements to the property to be announced in future months.

Cedar Fair owns and operates Cedar Point, located on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo; Knott's Berry Farm, located near Los Angeles in Buena Park, California; Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, near Allentown, Pennsylvania; Valleyfair near Minneapolis / St. Paul; and Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri.

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So there's a little insight into the history of the Knott's Soak City brand of water parks. Hope you enjoyed this entry, although it's not extremely specific to Cedar Point itself.

Cedar Point is open tonight for another weekend of HalloWeekends! If you're in the area, be sure to get out to the park as there are only two weekends left of the 2011 operating season after this one.From the look of the pictures above, there is virtually no one in the park tonight, which makes for some awesome re-rides. Tomorrow we'll be looking at a new Funtimes entry by the park and another not so scary version of the CP Time Machine. Until then...

See you on the midway,
Jacob Hartman