Six Flags and Cedar Fair have Merged. What's Next?

Let's just hope they improve all the Six Flags parks, especially SFMM. SFMM needs major improvements to maintenance and landscaping. Too much concrete, not enough shade

Six Flags always felt cheap to me and I think that has to do largely with the lack of landscaping and theming. That's especially true of the parks that Six Flags has owned since the 70s where new additions are put in parking lots, covered in blacktop, or literally on top of a dying field next to maintenance yards. When you look at a Cedar Fair park they always put effort into beautifying everything the guests see and it pays off a lot in the overall atmosphere of the park. I hope this merger fixes these issues.

Mergers are basically never good for anybody other than shareholders.

0:44 The “Six” has the Cedar Fairs flag on it, looks like it is the combo logo after all!

It's crazy that the merger actually happened... the og Cedar Fair parks will be like Kings Island-A Six Flags Park. Also, Happy Independence Day!

As long as it has a positive effect on Six Flags parks and not a negative effect on Cedar Fair parks.

As a guy that invest on stocks and read some 10Ks, I can say with some confidence the expression "financial flexibility" usually means cost cutting.

It would be a big treat but imagine parks like Great Adventure or Magic Mountain receives a B&M Giga

As long as they throw ValleyFair or Michigan's Adventure a treat here and there, now...

i think this merger is the biggest bombshell to the industry since the old cedar fair bought the paramount parks.

Look at the bright side. More flags, more fun.

I can see why the merger happened. Unless your park is located in California or Florida (maybe Texas as well), you basically have about 4 months to make your money. That's a pretty risky business model. Having more locations helps alleviate that risk. I lived in Texas for four years and just visited some friends and went to Six Flags Over Texas. I was struck by how run down that park looks. And it's not just the park, but the area around it. Roach motels, pawn shops, payday loan stores, bad neighborhoods near by. It just didn't feel all that good, and that's with brand new NFL and MLB stadiums right next door. You'd think they'd pump some investment into that area, and they really haven't.

Mergers are never good. I've been through 3 of them. On the conference call it sounded like their main focus will be on the improvement of Six Flags parks. The Cedar Fair parks will not receive the investments they received earlier. Right now, they are basically lying to everyone . Several parks are going to be closed or sold. Also their won't be any competition between the two companies. There is no need to add record breaking coasters, especially parks like Cedar Point. I hope Hershend makes and offer on Cedar Point or Kings Island to keep their history and legacy.

As a legacy Six Flags member, it is crazy to think that this merger is happening now. We'll just have to wait and see how things go from here.

This was a merger and not an acquisition and from their profit reports since 2020 we know they're both struggling financially. That means they're desperate. Generally, a merger of two struggling companies means they both need to shed assets to bring in revenue but they're afraid that they aren't big enough to survive large scale sell offs on their own but they might have a more stable base if they combine. This has me worried. Park sell offs seem like the purpose not just a possible side effect. And if that's the case, the focus would likely be on selling parks whose property would result in the highest price. A lot of people are thinking about places like Frontier City and Michigan's Adventure. But those wouldn't bring in the revenue the new company needs. But parks in the Bay Area, southern California, the Toronto metro area may bring in the most even if they are popular parks. And it's not like the company would refuse an offer from a housing developer in order to sell a park for less to another park chain. I'm not saying this is guaranteed. But people seem to think that two chains with massive debt will somehow have more money to invest in more parks if they combine. That's just not how it works and from a business point of view the opposite is far more likely.

The new logo reminds me of the United / Continental Airlines merger announcement, where the "United" name was jammed into the Continental logo and font. Looked like a blundering self-own out of the Onion. Luckily, public reaction was embarrassing enough for them to change it. Hopefully this logo is specifically for the corporate HQ in Charlotte, not the individual parks.

Should they have a plan about adding dark rides to the cedar fair parks who don’t have it and indoor water park resorts that the parks should want during cold weather?

This will only drag down Cedar fair parks. I said what I said.

As someone whose home park is Michigan's Adventure, I'm cautiously optimistic. The park is out in the middle of nowhere, so there aren't going to be a lot of prospective buyers to redevelop it, so I think Six Flags is probably stuck with the property whether they like it or not. If they do sell it off, it would likely be to someone who would keep the park open. With that said, if they do decide to close other parks, MA is a prime location for some relocations, with a lot of room for expansion. Maybe it's a pipe dream to think that something might change after all this time, but I have some hope for the first time in a while.

Happy forth of July everyone!