Six Flags this week completed an $8 billion merger with rival Cedar Fair to create the largest amusement park operator in the United States. Together, they operate 42 amusement and water parks in 17 states.
The success of the deal will determine the future of these amusement parks, and die-hard roller coaster fans are watching closely. Some are optimistic that the condition of the Six Flags parks will improve. Others worry that it will become more expensive to enter their favorite parks.
Many amusement park fans are passionate about the design and history of the parks and notice the smallest changes. For now, each park in the new company will carry its old branding and name. But fans fear the parks could lose their nostalgic elements and become a sea of corporate sameness.
“It’s scary,” said Bill Kneass, who has been a Six Flags season operator (but mostly active) for 30 years, riding the Nitro and Wonder Woman rides at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.
Kneass goes to the park with his sons and friends. He also goes off on his own sometimes to take in the noise of the slie or to find quieter spots around the park gardens. He punctuates each visit with a trip to see the carved brick he bought on a park trail to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Six Flags.
“If the new Six Flags can find a way to honor the history of their parks and bring new attractions to all kinds of enthusiasts, they are poised for success,” he said.
Chris Miller, who runs a YouTube channel about theme parks called Coaster Conquest and co-hosts the Theme Park Stan podcast, is “cautiously optimistic” about the merger.
“I’m hoping that joining forces will help bring a number of new rides to parks that don’t normally see updates,” he said. But he “is concerned that the cost of a season pass for the entire park is going to be super expensive” because of less competition.
He also worries that Cedar Fair’s “beautiful” parks will lose their distinct identities and become more like Six Flags.
“I hope they keep the parks the way they are,” he said.
The new company, Six Flags Entertainment Corp., does not anticipate making any major changes at the park level, spokesman Gary Rhodes said. Fans also shouldn’t expect any “immediate changes” to prices, ticket options or season passes.
“We expect this combination will enable us to offer even more engaging and entertaining experiences for guests,” he said.
Six flags fight
The two companies are teaming up to compete with destination parks like Disney and Universal and to use their new scale to cut costs with vendors and suppliers. People come from all over the world to go to the Disney parks, while Six Flags and Cedar Fair are regional attractions.
Cedar Fair controls 51% of the new company and Six Flags owns 49%. The company, with FUN shares, will be led by Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman.
Six Flags has struggled in recent years, going through various management changes and strategies. Its stock has fallen 40% over the past five years.
Six Flags raised ticket prices in 2022, raising the average price of admission to $35.99 from $28.73. The move caused a 26% drop in annual attendance.
It was part of Six Flags’ “premiumization” plan to bring fewer people to the parks but get them to spend more. CEO Selim Bassoul complained in 2022 that Six Flags had turned into “cheap day care centers” for teenagers and said the company wanted to “migrate … a little bit from what I call Kmart, Walmart to maybe the Target customer.”
Relocation strategies affected the park experience, Kneass said.
Six Flags, he noted, focused on adding thrill rides and overlooked smaller rides for kids and families and other park activities, such as entertainment and evening shows. Park staff and customer service also became inconsistent.
“Six Flags can feel a little disjointed,” he said. “Finance was more important than the guest experience.”
Participation in Cedar Fair, which operates its flagship park Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio; Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California; and other parks, surpassed Six Flags last year. Analysts and fans consider Cedar Fair a stronger manager of day-to-day park operations than Six Flags.
That gives fans like Matt Kaiser, who runs the 23,000-member Facebook group Great Adventure Connoisseurs, optimism.
“Many people used to Six Flags parks are happy to be joining and look forward to Cedar Fair behind the wheel,” he said. “People tend to think Cedar has better service.”
Possible changes
The amusement park industry faces significant volatility, including the growing threat of extreme weather driven by climate change. Six Flags has said it is adding more shade structures, water mists, splash zones and air-conditioned areas to combat the extreme heat.
The merger makes the two companies less dependent on a park or region if weather forces them to close.
“They are strategically located throughout the United States. There’s not a lot of overlap,” said Dennis Speigel, chief executive of consulting firm International Theme Park Services. “If you take those parks and put them together, you have tremendous marketing opportunities.”
Park enthusiasts may see other changes, including new season pass options and loyalty programs that give passengers access to more parks, said Chris Woronka, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. Retaining and retaining peak season passengers is critical because they make up more than half of the annual attendance for Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks.
The new company can also combine its intellectual property licenses in the parks to design new themed rides and attractions. Six Flags has an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery owns the rights to the DC Comics and Looney Tunes characters, and Cedar Fair has the rights to the Peanuts and Snoopy characters. (CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)
It could mean, for example, that Looney Tunes rides are featured in both park brands.
Halloween has become a prime time of visit for theme park fans and there may be changes to these events. Cedar Fair hosts Halloween Haunt and Six Flags hosts Fright Fest.
But Michael Musil, who lives in Bay Village, Ohio, and is a longtime Cedar Point visitor, worries that Cedar Point will suffer.
“Six Flags is going to corporatize it and budget everything and end up with this very sanitized, fixed version of the amusement park,” he said. “That might be great for the bottom line, but it would be boring.”
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