Six Flags and Cedar Fair to Merge

[GAcoaster]

It’s official now, unanimous approval of both boards, CF CEO will run the company with SF CEO as chairman.

Together the parks will operate under the Six Flags name, and trade under the Cedar Fair stock symbol FUN.

Cedar Fair and Six Flags to Combine in Merger of Equals, Creating a Leading Amusement Park Operator

Combined Company Will Benefit from Expanded and Complementary Portfolio of 42 Iconic Parks and 9 Resort Properties Across 17 States, Canada and MexicoDiversified Geographic Footprint with a More Balanced Presence in Year-Round Operating ClimatesMore Robust Operating Model and Technology Platform...

investors.sixflags.com

 

[Disneyhead]

It will be interesting to see what the stocks do when the market opens this morning.

 

[GAcoaster]

They were both up on speculation of the merger yesterday.

 

[Southerncoasterer]

I know im in the minority , but i am over the moon with this merger. CF is MUCH better at treating their employees and staff...

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I know im in the minority , but i am over the moon with this merger. CF is MUCH better at treatibg their employees and staff...

Viewing it like this is a major win. Both companies don't compete with one another head to head, mostly relying on locals for visits. So they'll have to build new attractions to attract attendance anyway.

If CF can fix Six Flags operations and maintenance, that's a huge win.

 

[grlhowl]

Can someone explain this for my friend who doesn't fully understand this beyond them merging? Said friend is signed in on my account btw

 

[SixBillium]

My biggest question, being a haunt nerd, is how this affects Halloween events- I would assume that some of the smaller Six Flags parks may be re-branded to have the family-friendly "Tricks and Treats" event instead, but with both parties wanting to increase year-round crowd levels, I hope that also means that we see an increase in quality for some of the lesser Halloween events, specifically Fright Fests.

With Six Flags also dipping their toes into IPs recently, is there a potential that the heavy-hitters of Knott's, Cedar Point and King's Island/Dominion start to see IP haunts to draw in crowds, given that the chain's only real competition now will be with Universal's events?

It's an interesting development for sure- and there's a lot to unpack and a lot we won't know for months, and years- but I'm most curious to see how this affects the off-season operations for many parks.

 

[GAcoaster]

I’m guessing they’ll upgrade all the Halloween events and make them hard ticket unless you’re a pass holder like they’ve been rolling out at the Cedar Fair parks.

I’m looking forward to buying one pass for them all.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I hope it works out but....I'm not a fan of mergers at this point.

I think we need to be shrinking companies not combining more

 

[GAcoaster]

 

[Jerroddragon]

View attachment 20012

lol

there goes all the theories about at least Batman coming to Universal

 

[GAcoaster]

lol

there goes all the theories about at least Batman coming to Universal

Things can still change…

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I hope it works out but....I'm not a fan of mergers at this point.

I think we need to be shrinking companies not combining more

I think this situation is positive for both companies and guests. A good chunk of their properties don't compete so it's not like they'll stop investing in their parks. Regional parks rely heavily on locals and season pass holders - they always need something new to convince renewals/new members to join.

CF maintains its parks at a somewhat higher level than Six Flags, a win for everyone.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I think this situation is positive for both companies and guests. A good chunk of their properties don't compete so it's not like they'll stop investing in their parks. Regional parks rely heavily on locals and season pass holders - they always need something new to convince renewals/new members to join.

CF maintains its parks at a somewhat higher level than Six Flags, a win for everyone.

Like I said, I hope it works out....I'm just not a fan of making these companies so big that when they fail it affects everyone in a big way vs if a company fails and it's small, it sucks but someone else can come in and try again or something new starts to try to improve on what didn't work.

That's how the system is suppose to work, no business is suppose to last forever but once you get so big they just are not allowed to fail because of the Economic impact, which is not how the system is suppose to work. It's suppose to be companies with good ideas and products get to stay around longer until they fail or a competitor does it better and they close.

Things can still change…

They can...but not holding my breathe

 

[Rideguy70]

I'm cautiously optimistic about this. Looks like Cedar Fair gets a slight majority, and while both companies have their issues, I feel between the two, Cedar Fair is better focused on improving guest experience and park maintenance.

I'll be most curious to see how they reconcile AP programs, with Season Passes vs. Memberships. Or if they'll just stay separate for a while.

For the most part, I'm not expecting any immediate changes. This strikes me more as something to watch over the long term.

 

[MikePat]

Two quick notes:

• Integration will begin in 2025/2026
• None of the Cedar Fair parks will get branded with Six Flags (so no Six Flags Cedar Point, Six Flags Knott's Berry Farm, etc)

EDIT: The thing I am most worried about (and there are a few concerns) is the potential for one, or a few, of these 51 properties to be neglected or slowly bite the dust to some of the locations and markets some parks hit being the same.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

View attachment 20012

Don't matter what the IP is as long as you can slap that IP label on it.

 

[HandsomePete]

Two quick notes:

• Integration will begin in 2025/2026
• None of the Cedar Fair parks will get branded with Six Flags (so no Six Flags Cedar Point, Six Flags Knott's Berry Farm, etc)

EDIT: The thing I am most worried about (and there are a few concerns) is the potential for one, or a few, of these 51 properties to be neglected or slowly bite the dust to some of the locations and markets some parks hit being the same.

I would think consolidation is basically a guarantee. Not just at a corporate level but the smaller parks can be (frankly) sacrificed not just because they’re less profitable but because they can ship 12-15 rides to other parks.

The deal makes sense but it’s a bit unfortunate I’m afraid.

 

[GAcoaster]

They can...but not holding my breathe

With so much in flux on the media landscape (especially with WB), there could be major changes. They could be trying to leverage the contracts as well so either Peanuts or WB gives them a financial incentive for choosing one over the other. Or possibly all Peanuts kids areas and DC branding coming to some of the CF parks where it makes sense.

 

[Mad Dog]

I would think consolidation is basically a guarantee. Not just at a corporate level but the smaller parks can be (frankly) sacrificed not just because they’re less profitable but because they can ship 12-15 rides to other parks.

The deal makes sense but it’s a bit unfortunate I’m afraid.

Good take. I'm of that same mindset. They don't have a ton of money for capital projects. Close the poor performers, and move their attractions to the larger parks. Small subtle theming changes and voila, new attractions to market. They can only increase prices so much since their customer bases trend towards teenagers and early twenty somethings. Six Flags tried that increase last year and their customer base disappeared. This year they cut prices and their spend per customer dropped since the customers that went back were those of the lower economic demographics. Once you become primarily a coaster park system, you end up with a baked in demographic. Both chains painted themselves into a corner when they went that route. Knotts is probably the exception since they've kept some of their diversified attractions. I'm guessing at least a half dozen parks will disappear within the next five years.....They don't have the types of parks with diversified high level real theme experiences, like Disney & Universal are, whereby they can keep raising prices and their demographics will continue to show up.