These two amusement park giants just combined in $8B merger. Rollercoaster fans are nervous

Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN

New York (CNN) — Six Flags this week completed an $8 cardinal merger pinch rival Cedar Fair to create nan largest amusement parkland usability successful nan United States. Together, they run 42 amusement and h2o parks crossed 17 states.

The occurrence of nan woody will find nan early of these amusement parks, and diehard rollercoaster fans are watching carefully. Some are optimistic that nan information of Six Flags’ parks will improve. Others interest it will go much costly to get into their favourite parks.

Many amusement parkland fans are passionate astir nan parks’ creation and history and announcement nan smallest of changes. For now, each parkland successful nan caller institution will support its aged branding and name. But fans fearfulness nan parks could suffer their nostalgic elements and go a oversea of firm sameness.

“There’s apprehension,” said Bill Kneass, who has been a Six Flags play passholder connected and disconnected (but mostly on) for 30 years, twisting done Nitro and Wonder Woman rides astatine Six Flags Great Adventure successful New Jersey.

Kneass goes to nan parkland pinch his sons and his friends. He besides goes by himself sometimes to return successful nan roar of nan coasters aliases find quieter spots astir nan parkland gardens. He highlights each sojourn pinch a travel to spot nan engraved ceramic he bought connected a parkland pathway to commemorate Six Flags’ 50th anniversary.

“If nan caller Six Flags tin find a measurement to grant nan history of their parks and bring successful caller attractions for each types of enthusiasts, they’re poised for success,” he said.

Chris Miller, who runs a YouTube transmission astir amusement parks called Coaster Conquest and co-hosts nan Theme Park Stan podcast, is “cautiously optimistic” astir nan merger.

“I americium hopeful that joining forces will thief bring a assortment of different caller rides to parks that don’t usually spot updates,” he said. But he is “worried that nan costs of an all-park play walk will beryllium ace expensive” because of little competition.

He besides worries nan “beautiful” Cedar Fair parks will suffer their chopped identities and go much for illustration Six Flags.

“I dream they support nan parks arsenic they are,” he said.

The caller company, Six Flags Entertainment Corp., does not expect making immoderate awesome changes astatine nan parkland level, said spokesperson Gary Rhodes. Fans besides should not expect immoderate “immediate changes” to prices, summons options aliases play passes.

“We expect this operation will alteration america to present moreover much engaging and entertaining experiences to guests,” he said.

Six Flags struggles

The 2 companies are joining to compete pinch destination parks such arsenic Disney and Universal and to usage their caller standard to thrust down costs pinch vendors and suppliers. People travel from astir nan world to spell to Disney parks, while Six Flags and Cedar Fair are location attractions.

Cedar Fair controls 51% of nan caller company, and Six Flags owns 49%. The company, pinch nan banal ticker FUN, will beryllium led by Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman.

Six Flags has struggled successful caller years, going done various guidance changes and strategies. Its banal has dropped 40% complete nan past 5 years.

Six Flags hiked summons prices successful 2022, raising nan mean value of admittance to $35.99 from $28.73. The move caused a 26% driblet successful yearly attendance

It was portion of Six Flags’ “premiumization” scheme to bring successful less group to parks but get them to walk more. CEO Selim Bassoul complained successful 2022 that Six Flags had turned into “cheap time attraction centers” for teenagers and said nan institution wanted to “migrate…a small spot from what I telephone nan Kmart, Walmart to possibly nan Target customer.”

The shifting strategies impacted nan acquisition astatine nan park, Kneass said.

Six Flags, he noticed, focused connected adding thrill rides and overlooked smaller rides for kids and families and different parkland activities, specified arsenic evening intermezo and shows. Staffing astatine nan parkland and customer work besides became inconsistent.

“Six Flags tin consciousness a spot disjointed,” he said. “Finances were much important than nan impermanent experience.”

Attendance astatine Cedar Fair, which operates its flagship Cedar Point parkland successful Sandusky, Ohio; Knott’s Berry Farm successful Buena Park, California; and different parks, outperformed Six Flags past year. Analysts and fans see Cedar Fair a stronger head of day-to-day parkland operations than Six Flags.

That gives fans for illustration Matt Kaiser, who runs nan 23,000-member Facebook group Great Adventure Connoisseurs, optimism.

“A batch of group utilized to Six Flags parks are happy that they’re merging and look guardant to Cedar Fair down nan wheel,” he said. “People thin to deliberation Cedar has amended service.”

Potential changes

The amusement parkland manufacture faces important volatility, including nan rising threat of utmost upwind driven by ambiance change. Six Flags has said it’s adding much shaded structures, h2o misters, scatter zones and air-conditioned areas to contend pinch utmost heat.

Merging makes nan 2 companies little limited connected immoderate 1 parkland aliases region if upwind forces them to unopen down.

“They’re truthful strategically laid retired crossed nan United States. There’s not a batch of overlap,” said Dennis Speigel, nan main executive of consulting patient International Theme Park Services. “If you return those parks and meld them together, you person tremendous trading opportunities.”

Park enthusiasts could spot different changes, including caller play walk options and loyalty programs that springiness passholders entree to much parks, said Chris Woronka, an expert astatine Deutsche Bank. Retaining and increasing play passholders is captious because they dress up much than half of yearly attendance for Cedar Fair and Six Flags’ parks.

The caller institution whitethorn besides harvester its intelligence spot licenses astatine parks to creation caller themed rides and attractions. Six Flags has a woody pinch Warner Bros. Discovery for nan authorities to DC Comics and Looney Tunes characters, and Cedar Fair has nan authorities to Peanuts and Snoopy characters. (CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)

It could mean, for example, that Looney Tunes rides are featured astatine some brands of parks.

Halloween has go a primary visiting time for taxable parkland fans, and location could beryllium changes to these events. Cedar Fair hosts Halloween Haunt and Six Flags hosts Fright Fest.

But Michael Musil, who lives successful Bay Village, Ohio, and is simply a longtime Cedar Point visitor, worries that Cedar Point will suffer.

“Six Flags is going to corporatize it and fund retired everything and extremity up pinch this very sanitized, fixed type of nan amusement park,” he said. “That mightiness beryllium awesome for nan bottommost line, but it would beryllium boring.”

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