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Six Flags and Cedar Fair Merge


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Hopefully they have a "if its not broke don't fix it" attitude regarding the names. The top 3 seasonal parks, by attendance, are all Cedar Fair parks (including KI) while SF parks underperform when you consider their size, operating days and proximity to major metro areas. I would like to think the only CF parks in danger of getting branded are the small-to-medium sized ones.

15 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said:

In each of their regions, the names outside of Six Flags doesn't matter. Friends of mine near Six Flags Great Adventure don't call it that, they call it "Six Flags." On a Six Flags Over Georgia group on Facebook, members call it "Six Flags" instead of Six Flags Over Georgia. 

Branding the CF parks "Six Flags _____" would give that brand recognition across the country. Enthusiasts sure would know Kings Island, Worlds of Fun, etc. but how many of the general public of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma have to ask "what is Kings Island?" While yes, people can google amusement parks near me, that doesn't do much to draw audiences in if they don't have a recognizable brand. 

It could very well have the opposite effect. Why go to "Six Flags" on your trip when you have "Six Flags at home?" While the Six Flags brand isn't as tarnished to the gp as it is to enthusiasts, much of the public does see Six Flags rather generically. Trying to turn Six Flags into a trusty, reliable national brand has backfired, imo, and is not a great strategy to begin with when the experiences vary so wildly.

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That concludes the longest ownership tenure of the park. It’ll be interesting to see how things shake up. I’m guessing it’ll take 2-4 years for things to be really harmonized across the new company. 

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Looks like they're basically keeping the Cedar Fair style of branding which I'm happy about. I thought the old Six Flags logo/branding was pretty ugly and outdated and the current CF branding felt pretty modern to me. Hopefully we see the current Six Flags parks drop the old Six Flags logos in their names and get new modern CF style logos in their names. Honestly this is giving me Paramount to Cedar Fair vibes and instead it'll be the current Six Flags parks that go through the transition and will see the most changes in the near future. We'll just have to wait and see, but honestly I'm digging the new logo. 

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39 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I actually really like the new logo. I did not expect them to go with a CF inspired logo especially since the Six Flags logo is so famous. I’m all for it though it looks amazing! I really do hope that the merger benefits both companies and we continue to see the old CF parks treated the same after the merger. Personally I hope the top five old CF park names don’t change as they already have great attendance and guests know them by their name already. I could see the Six Flags name benefiting the smaller CF parks though. I also really like the decision to make Carowinds the new flagship park of the new combined company. It’s in a great location and the park already feels very modern. I do wonder if Carowinds’ name will change since it will be the new flagship park.

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I will illustrate my opinion of today's merger with what I'll call "A Tale of Two Great Americas".

In 1976 Mariott opened two largely identical parks, themed to the different regions of North America. In the 1980s, both were sold off to different owners, where they remained until 2024.

Each of the Great Americas received a new themed area in the 90s, one very much in line with the theme and identity of the park, one not. In one park, the new themed area was the Southwest Territory, with buildings and rides designed to look like the American Southwest. One of them got Action Zone.

Each of these parks had a beloved and rare Schwarzkopf Jumbo Jet coaster named the Whizzer. One of them has been preserved and remains a park staple. One was removed and replaced with... nothing.

One of these parks' owners purchased the 1950 Schmeck Wooden coaster from another local amusement park when it shut down, so as to keep a classic in the same metro area. The other park's owners sold the land from under it to a real estate investor.

One of these parks still maintains and operates its train ride. The other removed the train to build a small swing ride.

One of the parks in this story has been controlled by Six Flags all that time. The other by KECO/Paramount/Cedar Fair. Do you know which is which?

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^There are 14 FAQ and 8 of them relate to passes from one chain are not valid at another chain.

Somehow that still won't be clear enough for people and social media sites will be taken over with questions asking if passes are valid at all parks now lol.

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6 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Very rarely do I hear it called correctly. Even at a Six park. 

Especially because at Six Flags, it's not Flash Pass, it's "The Flash Pass" because the character's name is "The Flash"

So, "I purchased my The Flash Pass online" is actually the grammatically correct version of that sentence.

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1 minute ago, homestar92 said:

Especially because at Six Flags, it's not Flash Pass, it's "The Flash Pass" because the character's name is "The Flash"

So, "I purchased my The Flash Pass online" is actually the grammatically correct version of that sentence.

And soon it will become Fast Lane, because when I looked at the website for Six Flags, They're keeping the Peanuts , but taking away the Times Warner rights.Screenshot 2024-07-01 220743.png

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1 hour ago, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

And soon it will become Fast Lane, because when I looked at the website for Six Flags, They're keeping the Peanuts , but taking away the Times Warner rights.Screenshot 2024-07-01 220743.png

In the initial press release for the merger, this was stated:

"The combined company will also have entertainment partnerships and a portfolio of beloved IP such as Looney Tunes, DC Comics and PEANUTS to develop engaging new attractions enabled by compelling characters, environments, and storytelling."

Perhaps there's a reason they didn't include DC and Looney Tunes on there? If the new Six Flags decided to end their licensing with DC and Looney Tunes, having to retheme every single attraction and area that use those IPs would be a huge project in and of itself given how much old Six Flags used them in their parks.

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It's a stretch to say this is the end of legacy Six Flags IP.  Peanuts Worldwide appeared on just about every legacy Cedar Fair URL.  

And from the very first press release from Six Flags Entertainment Corporation:

"ABOUT SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: FUN) is North America’s largest regional amusement-resort operator with 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties across 17 states in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Focused on its purpose of making people happy, Six Flags provides fun, immersive and memorable experiences to millions of guests every year with world-class coasters, themed rides, thrilling water parks, resorts and a portfolio of beloved intellectual property such as Looney Tunes®, DC Comics® and PEANUTS®." (emphasis mine).

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation - Cedar Fair and Six Flags Merger of Equals Successfully Completed, Creating a Leading Amusement Park Operator

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It was stated in many articles today that....

"The companies plan to leverage their licensed intellectual property in their parks, with Six Flags holding a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for rights to characters from DC Comics and Looney Tunes, and Cedar Fair controlling rights to the Peanuts universe."

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3 hours ago, Benjamin22 said:

I swear if they ditch the Fastlane name for flash pass I’ll be ****ed

I believe it's very safe. I saw that Zimmerman is credited as the one who invented CF's Fastlane

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I think they should have a Cedar Fair Legacy Passport for the ones who don't have any desire to visit the Six Flags parks or just don't want to pay all that money. Same with Six Flags parks, there should be a Six Flags Legacy Passport that only works for the Six Flags parks. Nobody should obligated to get a Passport for ALL parks for a expensive price. 

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43 minutes ago, FALLINLOVE09 said:

I think they should have a Cedar Fair Legacy Passport for the ones who don't have any desire to visit the Six Flags parks or just don't want to pay all that money. Same with Six Flags parks, there should be a Six Flags Legacy Passport that only works for the Six Flags parks. Nobody should obligated to get a Passport for ALL parks for a expensive price. 

Great thought, but you know people will decide to try the other park type and complain they can't get in. 

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4 minutes ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

The sad thing is that there are people who still don't fully grasp the current pass structure let alone if there are more options added to a future offering portfolio 

Isn't that the truth!  I am amazed at the questions posted on social media.  Probably one of the reasons why over half of the FAQ questions center around "your CF pass is not valid at SIX and vice versa" LOL.

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