(Sorry, the link may be paywall for some) The Wall Street Journal is not only reporting that the two park chains are potentially merging but are stating that the deal could go through as early as this week. Not sure how anyone else feels about this but I think this could really hurt the consumer… sure, everyone wants to think about a unified season pass but the cost to the consumer would likely skyrocket and we’d see less competition which would likely mean even less major rides being built.
From the article: “An agreement could be finalized as soon as this week assuming there is no last-minute snag, according to people familiar with the matter. Cedar Fair is scheduled to report quarterly results on Thursday morning.”
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Wow. I hope the resulting parks end up being run like Cedar Fair parks, not like Six Flags parks. I’ve never been cut in line at a Cedar Fair park. At Six Flags parks it happens constantly.
Honestly some Six Flags are absolutely terrible for line jumping but Cedar Fair parks can be just as bad… there are times that at Cedar Point the line jumping has been constant for me (though I have had days where it’s not been a problem). I think the reality is that Cedar Fair is getting more like Six Flags as time goes by… yes, they are still currently better than Six Flags but CF has really taken a huge focus on the bottom line and off of the actual guest experience recently. I guess what it boils down to is that management styles seem to be converging but Cedar Fair has a huge momentum that keeps that experience better for now. The bottom line, at least in my eyes, is that a merger like this gives whichever management team that emerges an excuse to lean even heavier into that mindset. We desperately need the CF/SF competition.
Not really excited to hear this, thinking cedar fair already seems stretched thin with their current collection of parks and development levels are down (while increasing prices ugh), but six flags can’t seem to find employees to clean the bathrooms… And of course any org this large will get full attention and priority from coaster manufacturers which could disrupt innovation.
This may be an opportunity for smaller parks that can capitalize and provide a better overall experience and value, I think we’re about to see a lot of park consolation.
My biggest hope is that this gives independent parks a boost. They are the soul of this industry and I honestly think they are the parks that pressure the chains to care about their experience at all.
I’m skeptical but I wouldn’t think the WSJ would make this up. Assuming Cedar Fair runs things this might not be terrible, especially for top tier SF parks. I have some concern about lack of competition but with so many other regional parks, plus Sea World building coasters like it’s the early 2000s there’s no monopoly with this merge.
The problem is that SEAS isn’t really a mainstream competitor to SF/CF mainly because of their locations. The bulk of America only has CF and/or SF and the travel to a SEAS park isn’t accessible. Palace is closer competition than SEAS but even they have a lack of locations as well.
