(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.”
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.