Riding Roller Coasters for a Cause

Interested participants can sign up and create an individual fundraising page on the " Coasting for Kids" website .  Businesses or groups can also help raise money for Give Kids The World by signing up as a team.  Entrants will receive complimentary admission to the park of their choice, a "Coasting for Kids" t-shirt and unlimited rides on the event's featured attraction. Each park will also offer additional event perks unique to their location. Those that take part are encouraged to reach out to their families, friends and communities to support them in this fundraising event for Give Kids The World.

"We are thrilled that Cedar Fair Entertainment Company is hosting 'Coasting for Kids' for the third year in a row," said GKTW President that creates magical memories for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. GKTW provides accommodations at its whimsical resort, donated attractions tickets, meals and more for a weeklong, cost-free fantasy vacation. With the help of many generous individuals, corporations and partnering wish-granting organizations, Give Kids The World has welcomed more than 107,000 families from all 50 states and more than 70 countries. For more information about GKTW and its mission, visit givekidstheworld.org .

What should Matt Ouimet do with the Cedar Fair amusement parks?

Based on the way that the Disneyland Resort improved under Matt Ouimet's leadership in the mid-2000's, many Disney fans are hopeful that Cedar Fair's just hired itself a top-flight President and CEO.

Ouimet doesn't need our advice to run Cedar Fair's amusement parks. But here are six things I hope to see under Ouimet's watch - signs that Ouimet's turning the company around.

Don't try to be Disney. Or Universal. Or even Busch Gardens.

Cedar Fair's parks aren't theme parks, built as immersively themed environments like Disney's, Universal's or even Busch Gardens' are. They're amusement parks, where the focus is on ride experiences rather than storytelling. Changing the parks to challenge Disney et al on their own themed turf would be financial suicide for a company that's still sagging under the expense of buying the Paramount Parks chain.

Under Mark Shapiro, Six Flags lusted after Disney's family market. But the company lacked the capital to build those types of rides, and the licensing deals the company inked during Shapiro's time are now gone, leaving the chain with awkwardly now-unthemed Thomas the Tank Engine kiddie rides and such.

Cedar Fair lost Paramount's licensing deals, including Nickelodeon. And it's main license, Peanuts, is losing appeal as newspaper die, taking comic strips with them, and fewer and fewer young people develop any connection with Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

But a park doesn't need licensing deals and story themes to attract a family audience. Don't try to be Disney, but do try to learn something from parks such as Holiday World, or the Herschend chain, which have shown how you can build a loyal, cross-generational audience of fans that drive attendance even in lean years for the rest of the industry.

Do offer unique ride experiences

Just because an amusement ride is not themed to a specific story doesn't mean that it has to be a mass-produced, off-the-shelf carnival attraction. Cedar Fair parks offer some great rides. Going back to Holiday World as an example, that park has plenty of standard carnival rides. But it's best known for its trio of unique, world-class wooden roller coasters. Cedar Fair parks should strive for unique identifies with a few individual rides that define those identities.

Clean, paint, mend and repair

Always.

The American amusement park

Cedar Point

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