The merger of Cedar Fair and Six Flags into the new Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is officially complete. And now, questions need to be addressed. Both theme park guests and those who work within the industry are wondering what kind of impact a merger of this size may have upon the companies and careers of everyone involved.
The good news is that, for now, nothing is supposed to change. It should be business as usual on the surface for all the Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks for the remainder of their respective seasons. It was also confirmed that each Cedar Fair park will keep its unique brand identity. In other words, Cedar Point will not suddenly be renamed Six Flags Cedar Point, nor will Carowinds become Six Flags over the Carolinas, and so forth.
The post-merger management team at Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
Through an official press release, we also know the top management leadership team assembled to control the united chain of 42 parks (26 major parks and 16 smaller waterpark properties) spread out across the United States, Canada and Mexico will consist primarily of Cedar Fair’s management team.
This includes Cedar Fair’s Richard Zimmerman serving as president and CEO, along with Cedar Fair’s Tim Fisher (COO), Brian Witherow (CFO), Brian Nuse (chief legal and compliance officer) and Christian Dieckmann (chief strategy officer). Only Gary Mick will remain from the Six Flags old guard. He will now serve as chief integration officer instead of his former position as Six Flags EVP / CFO.
With this in mind, it is easy to assume that the new Six Flags may begin to adopt many policies and practices that have served Cedar Fair management well over the years. Exactly how this will all play out is likely what is being worked out daily at the new Six Flags Entertainment Corporation HQ, as operations for the combined chain are moving from their previous offices in Texas and Ohio to Charlotte, North Carolina.
This will go far beyond internal matters such as park schedules, pricing, and safety policy. A significant consideration as we advance after the merger will be over what IPs the various Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks will use, what might be shared going forward, and even what could be retired. For example, Cedar Fair was never a chain that felt very strongly about using official branded IPs in its parks over the years, other than maintaining the relationship to use the Snoopy/Peanuts branded characters in its parks.
A matter of IP
When Cedar Fair acquired the former Paramount Parks chain in 2006, it abandoned every one of the Paramount/CBS-owned IPs it inherited from those parks rather than pay for expensive new licensing contracts.
This included dropping the popular Nickelodeon-branded characters and attraction tie-ins to themed properties such as Star Trek, Top Gun, Tomb Raider, etc. It is also interesting to remember that before 1998, Cedar Fair didn’t even have access to the Peanuts characters. The chain acquired those when it purchased Knott’s Berry Farm in late 1997, which previously had exclusive use of the characters in North America.
Conversely, Six Flags has extended its agreements to use the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned Looney Tunes and DC Comics characters in its new parks as it has expanded. Unlike Cedar Fair’s previous deal, I don’t see it dropping any IPs that will now follow under its control. This is likely a significant reason why Six Flags and Cedar Fair will not be cross-branded at this point in the merger until they have time to work out how to move forward.
For example, I don’t think we will see Batman crossing into Knott’s Berry Farm. Or Snoopy and Friends moving into Six Flags Magic Mountain. However, we could see Superman and Batman branding for a few coasters at Kings Dominion.
For example, that park just retired its use of the Dale Earnhart-branded ‘Intimidator’ name. The Intimidator 305 roller coaster could transform with a new Superman theme. In a bit of irony, its Dominator coaster (B&M Floorless) was built for the now-closed Six Flags Ohio park outside Cleveland and originally named Batman: Knight Flight. If some Cedar Fair parks were to adopt some DC Comics theming, it could be fitting for Dominator to return to its original identity.
Branding
Meanwhile, I’m unsure if Snoopy and Friends would coexist well in the same park as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Thankfully, as long as the chain is ready to hold onto its deals and continue using all these brands, it should have the time to figure out where each may best benefit its guests.
Character branding isn’t the only issue that the business needs to work out in the wake of the Six Flags and Cedar Fair merger. There may eventually be a need to address entire park brands. While Cedar Fair park brands remain untouched for now, it does make me wonder if the company might consider borrowing some unique Cedar Fair branding, such as the Knott’s, Soak City, or Schlitterbahn brands, for select Six Flags parks and waterparks. Especially those waterparks not directly attached to a Six Flags theme park property.
Then there is also Halloween to consider. While the two chains offer similar rides and attractions, their approach to running a Halloween-themed event has been about as opposite as possible.
Halloween at Six Flags and Cedar Fair
Six Flags has always marketed its Halloween festival under the “Fright Fest” name across the entire chain. Typically, the parks were open during normal daily operations, allowing the spooky activities to launch at night. Any walk-through Haunted House-style attractions were up-charge experiences, where guests would have to buy separate passes to experience them.
Cedar Fair’s take on Halloween has always been more customized to each park’s needs. The unique individual branding of many of its parks has led to unique brand names for its events, such as Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends, Knott’s Scary Farm, SCarowinds, or ValleyScare. Meanwhile, other parks in the chain that never developed their own custom brand names would typically use the more generic-sounding “Halloween Haunt” brand name instead.
While not every Cedar Fair park would put on a full-scale “Haunt” event, typically those that did would include access to the Haunted Houses as part of admission to the park. Even then, each park was allowed to customize its event to determine if the Haunt itself would be part of a regular full day’s admission to the park or if it would close down the park entirely around 5 pm to launch its Haunt a couple of hours later as a separately ticketed special event.
While 2024 will be business as usual, I expect a shake-up for the 2025 season. Especially as Six Flags has just attempted to entrench itself a little deeper starting this season by using many name-branded IPs for this year’s Fright Fest events, some of which now go by the name Fright Fest Extreme.
Special events
Also, there will be a showdown on how the two chains may promote any winter holiday events on the near horizon.
Six Flags traditionally holds “Six Flags Holiday in the Park” events at select parks in the chain. These events mainly focused on holiday light displays, food, and live entertainment and offered very few rides. However, the size and various offerings could vary quite a bit from park to park, depending on the market, the local weather conditions, and staffing levels.
In 2022, however, many of the northern climate parks began to opt out of hosting Holiday in the Park events. This included Six Flags Great America, Six Flags New England, Six Flags St. Louis and Six Flags America. At the same time, bigger events featuring more rides and unique offerings thrived better at parks like Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
Cedar Fair has taken a more reserved approach to winter season events, limiting them to only a few parks. Historically, it even canceled them entirely for several years before bringing them back. Primarily, Carowinds, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, California’s Great America, and Canada’s Wonderland hold WinterFest events. Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California becomes Knott’s Merry Farm for the holiday season.
Post-merger operations at Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
On the operational side, one of the most speculated topics among fans right now is whether the combined chain would offer a super-premium annual pass granting access to all Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks.
Currently, Six Flags offers a Diamond tier annual pass that gives access to all Six Flags branded theme parks and waterparks during a calendar year, as well as the Six Flags Plus program option, which also features all-park access with a monthly membership payment plan. Cedar Fair offers different-tier annual passes to its parks. Purchasing Gold and Prestige level tiers also provides an “All Park Passport” option as an add-on.
Since each chain offers an all-park option, theme park fans who love to travel hope the merger could create a single pass option for them all. Still, at this time, I’m not sure this is something we may see in 2025, especially if the company opts to keep things a little more separate next year while it works on how best to integrate the parks all together as a single company.
As you can imagine, the leadership team will assess many internal programs to integrate the parks’ operations over the coming months.
The newly merged management team has already removed a somewhat controversial program at Six Flags that added a surcharge fee to every guest payment transaction. They will also need to assess parking fees. Most Cedar Fair parks charge around $30, while parking at most Six Flags parks has risen to the $45 to $50 range.
Then, each chain offers various add-on options, including meal plans, virtual queue programs, photo passes, and more. After the merger, I imagine there will be a more standardized pricing plan for everyday items like food, beverages, and merchandise across Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks.
To chaperone or not to chaperone
Over the past few years, Cedar Fair launched an official Chaperone Policy at most parks. This policy banned underage guests from visiting the park after a specific time of the day unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. This was a response to in-park fighting and other problems during special after-hours events, such as the popular Halloween Haunts. However, they became more common at the parks year-round.
Six Flags, on the other hand, attempted to avoid using them at all costs, even at parks where some high-profile violent incidents took place. Much like the quick removal of the purchase surcharge from the “legacy” Six Flags parks, the new combined management has now officially announced the launch of Chaperone Policies at Six Flags America and Six Flags over Georgia. I assume we will see many more launched between now and the end of the summer.
Suppliers for Six Flags Entertainment Corporation after the merger
There is also the matter of how the merged giant will interact with industry vendors and ride manufacturers. It’s no secret that companies all have their preferred vendors with whom they have long-established relationships. Like any relationship, there will be ups and downs over the years. Cedar Fair and Six Flags have lists of current vendors working on assorted projects. How these relationships evolve from now on remains to be seen.
A handful of industry insiders shared their thoughts on the changing landscape with me. In general, they are waiting to see how things pan out. However, they remain hopeful that their good relationships with either chain will turn into more projects in the future.
One big concern, however, is that Six Flags Entertainment Corporate’s new combined buying power gives it far more leverage than before when negotiating contracts with suppliers.
For example, one has only to look at the purchasing power and negotiation strategy used by mega retail giant Walmart. This regularly uses its massive size to get better deals from its vendors than most competitors. As one insider put it, with that many parks under one umbrella, the new Six Flags could easily create situations that could make or break a vendor.
Some also wonder if the Six Flags and Cedar Fair merger will create a lack of competition in the amusement park. This may lead to the purchase of more simple clone-style attractions rather than push for innovations and new record-breakers.Â
After decades Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain battling it out to see who could keep the record for having the largest number of roller coasters in a single park, no one would have predicted that the war would suddenly end with a “hug” between newly formed allies.
