Cedar Fair Parks Win Three Golden Ticket Awards for 2023

By: Cedar Fair Entertainment Company via Business Wire

September 11, 2023 at 07:00 AM EDT

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and immersive entertainment, today announced it has earned three honors in Amusement Today’s annual Golden Ticket Awards (GTA).

Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels, Texas, was recognized as the “World’s Best Water Park” for an unprecedented 25^th time. Schlitterbahn is an iconic Central Texas property best known for its unique spring-fed river setting and German heritage. With 51 attractions across 70 acres, Schlitterbahn remains a fan favorite and a one-of-a-kind family waterpark and resort experience.

In addition, Carowinds, which straddles the border of North Carolina and South Carolina, took home the highly coveted “Best Steel Coaster” for its giga coaster Fury 325, marking the eighth time it has won a Golden Ticket. Carowinds also snagged the Turnstile Award for Aeronautica Landing, which opened earlier this year and was inspired by the spirit of adventure and innovation that made world history in the Carolinas. The Turnstile Award is chosen by Gary Slade, Amusement Today publisher.

Presented annually, the prestigious GTA recognizes 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.

“Making people happy is what our parks do best, so it’s always tremendously gratifying when our commitment to serving guests is recognized and celebrated,” said Richard A. Zimmerman, Cedar Fair’s president and chief executive officer. “A total of 22 rides, attractions, events and leaders throughout Cedar Fair’s portfolio of amusement parks and waterparks were recognized by the Golden Ticket Award in 2023, and we salute these parks for consistently delivering amazing experiences to guests of all ages.”

Once again, Fury 325 at Carowinds won the GTA for best steel coaster. The coaster has won top honors for best new ride and best steel coaster since its debut in 2015. Cedar Point’s Steel Vengeance finished second and Millennium Force finished fourth in the “Best Steel Coaster” category. Other Cedar Fair coasters in the top 10 spots were King Dominion’s Intimidator 305 (#9) and Cedar Point’s Maverick (#10).

Three Cedar Fair wooden coasters were again voted into the “Best Wooden Roller Coasters” category, including The Beast (#6) and Mystic Timbers (#7) at Kings Island, and GhostRider (#9) at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

Other notable rankings from the Golden Ticket Awards:

Best Park: #5, Kings Island
Best Kids Area: #2, Kings Island; #3, Canada’s Wonderland; #5, Carowinds
Best Halloween: #2, Knott’s Berry Farm
Best New Coaster: #5, Zambezi Zinger at Worlds of Fun
Best Christmas Event: #4, Kings Dominion
Best Water Ride in a Park: #4, Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm
Best Show: #2, Summerbration at Cedar Point; #4, Wave the Dead, Cedar Point; #5 (tie) Retrospect, Carowinds
Leadership: #4, Mike Koontz, Kings Island vice president and general manager

About Cedar Fair

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world, is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. Focused on its mission to make people happy by providing fun, immersive, and memorable experiences, the Company owns and operates 13 properties, consisting of 11 amusement parks, four separately gated outdoor waterparks, and resort accommodations totaling more than 2,300 rooms and more than 600 luxury RV sites. Cedar Fair’s parks are located in Ohio, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Texas and Toronto, Ontario.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this news release that are not historical in nature constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements as to the Company's expectations, beliefs, goals, and strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct or that the Company's growth strategies will achieve the target results. Important factors, including general economic conditions, the impacts of public health concerns, adverse weather conditions, competition for consumer leisure time and spending, unanticipated construction delays, changes in the Company’s capital investment plans and projects and other factors discussed from time to time by the Company in its reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) could affect attendance at the Company’s parks and the Company's growth strategies, and cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations or otherwise to fluctuate or decrease. Additional information on risk factors that may affect the business and financial results of the Company can be found in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the filings of the Company made from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether a result of new information, future events, information, circumstances or otherwise that arise after the publication of this document.

This news release and prior releases are available under the News tab at http://ir.cedarfair.com