Six Flags and Cedar Fair Merge

[BB1]

5 hours ago, CoasterJack said:

I've heard rumblings as well, but where I'm curious here is, if nothing is planned for that plot at the moment, why remove it. Sure it reduces the amount you have to pay for staffing, but I assume on the days it operates, they definitely make more in revenue than they spend on staffing. Assuming the $10-20 range, 4 employees being paid $18 optimistically. After payroll fees and taxes that's like 5-10 guests an hour to make a slight profit. Assuming we factor in a bit more for electricity and upkeep, but even then, I've seen them work through a lot of paying guests on the weekends, so I fail to see how reducing staff on an attraction that brings in additional revenue is necessarily a good thing for business long term. Unless of course the attraction costs more to operate and staff that it brings in.

 

Sure slingshot was removed, but they placed a new land and attraction within a year. I'm curious to hear thoughts from others...

It costs way more to maintain a large structure and keep staffing when you could be losing money vs having a plot of land ready to go for a new expansion opportunity. I'll say this now, I know there will be something being removed at KI without a doubt; as it's happening chainwide. Xtreme Skyflier's removal doesn't hurt any integral attractions, nor does it really affect the overall guest experience like an Invertigo removal or Congo Falls. I've been around the block enough to know people on the inside but also know how the park works. I don't see Koontz wanting to have a ride like Monster or Shake Rattle & Roll removed, this is a safe and effective move to cut costs and give the opportunity to have a sizeable expansion pad. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

On the bright side, surely all of these freshly cleared spaces at each park will allow for guests to get some food, go lay out their picnic blankets, and enjoy a nice meal under the sun! 

What's that you say? The open land will all be behind fences with no way to access it? Well shucks, that stinks. Yet another patch of grass they have to pay someone to mow, I guess.

 

On a more positive note, I feel like some of these removals will turn out to be painful but good cost cutting measures if the chain actually ends up investing the savings back into the parks like they should. We are still within the first year since the merger officially went through and I am mostly just hoping for myself and the economy to survive these next few years to see the reinvestments happen. 

[rlentless]

Unless the maintenance is just too extremely high, I do not want to see anything go unless it involves a new attraction for replacement.  Who wants to walk by and see an empty plot of land for the next 5 years?  I feel the same way about Congo Falls that everyone seems wants to have removed. They are in no hurry to put in a replacement on The Vortex lot.

Then what if they do start removing GF, Xtreme Flyer, Invertigo, The Bat, etc., then where does the next major attraction get built?  In Action Zone or Vortex plot??  Either way we will have to look at an empty plot of land for years.  I would guess AZ would get something new since it's in the front of the park.  So write off Vortex spot for another 5-10 years.

[mikejenkins1]

Vortex plot would have been a nice spot for Siren's Curse.......

[Diamondback_Is_King]

But alas, Cedar Point gets yet another thrill roller coaster worthy of a top 5 spot

[Orion-XL200]

[Vortex1987]

This isn't good.......

 

 

Get ready to kiss X2 goodbye....................................... It wouldn't suprise me one bit if they decide to axe it after this.

[Diamondback_Is_King]

9 hours ago, Vortex1987 said:

This isn't good.......

 

 

Get ready to kiss X2 goodbye....................................... It wouldn't suprise me one bit if they decide to axe it after this.

Yeah not good at all. Dragster led to a lawsuit and that was destroyed and revamped. I wonder why they waited three years to file the lawsuit. Not a lawyer or anything, but can you actually wait that long before filing it?

But, this could just be a rare accident like the woman that rode the Voyage and had a heart attack or something. Bad news for X2 though.

[disco2000]

29 minutes ago, Diamondback_Is_King said:

Yeah not good at all. Dragster led to a lawsuit and that was destroyed and revamped. I wonder why they waited three years to file the lawsuit. Not a lawyer or anything, but can you actually wait that long before filing it?

But, this could just be a rare accident like the woman that rode the Voyage and had a heart attack or something. Bad news for X2 though.

With these types of lawsuits, many are usually advised to wait and many will file within days of the statute of limitations.  It allows for more medical bills if they survived and what not to pile up to make their case stronger or in the event of death, show the emotional toll it has caused, etc.  And in some instances they hope that the defendant has lost/destroyed evidence over time, which then plays in favor of the complainant.  It is all strategic in the timing.

While sad and unfortunate, how many people have ridden that ride safely?  It is likely an underlying condition that wasn't diagnosed.  Sadly many rides have had incidents like this.  Most do not end up in a lawsuit.

This is different than TTD though in that a part didn't fly off the coaster.

[DoomPlague]

  

2 hours ago, disco2000 said:

With these types of lawsuits, many are usually advised to wait and many will file within days of the statute of limitations.  It allows for more medical bills if they survived and what not to pile up to make their case stronger or in the event of death, show the emotional toll it has caused, etc.  And in some instances they hope that the defendant has lost/destroyed evidence over time, which then plays in favor of the complainant.  It is all strategic in the timing.

While sad and unfortunate, how many people have ridden that ride safely?  It is likely an underlying condition that wasn't diagnosed.  Sadly many rides have had incidents like this.  Most do not end up in a lawsuit.

This is different than TTD though in that a part didn't fly off the coaster.

On one hand CF was wanting an excuse to close TTD which was expensive to maintain and while I imagine X2 isn't a great ride to keep running, it doesn't seem to be TTD level of problematic.

But on the other hand, they've been on a spree of closing down rides and SFMM, probably more than anyone, needs to cut out some fat.

[WoodVengeance]

5 hours ago, DoomPlague said:

  

On one hand CF was wanting an excuse to close TTD which was expensive to maintain and while I imagine X2 isn't a great ride to keep running, it doesn't seem to be TTD level of problematic.

But on the other hand, they've been on a spree of closing down rides and SFMM, probably more than anyone, needs to cut out some fat.

True, but there are at least three other coasters highly likely to get removed from that park.

• Superman Escape From Krypton being an old and rare Intamin model that's been SBNO since September
• Ninja being an Arrow Suspended Coaster that's already rumored to be removed after 2025
• Viper being one of the last Arrow mega loopers out there

Throw X2 in there and that would be four major coasters cut from Magic Mountain. Although I'm sure the new Six Flags wouldn't mind it if it meant they could market Cedar Point as having the most coasters in the world...

[Diamondback_Is_King]

1 hour ago, WoodVengeance said:

Although I'm sure the new Six Flags wouldn't mind it if it meant they could market Cedar Point as having the most coasters in the world...

This sounds familiar...where have I heard it before?

In all seriousness though, this would give Cedar Point yet another way to market their park. Lucky for some of us, we benefit from living in Ohio because not only do we get our beloved Kings Island additions, but we also get to experience Cedar Point's new additions.

[DoomPlague]

 

2 hours ago, WoodVengeance said:

True, but there are at least three other coasters highly likely to get removed from that park.

• Superman Escape From Krypton being an old and rare Intamin model that's been SBNO since September
• Ninja being an Arrow Suspended Coaster that's already rumored to be removed after 2025
• Viper being one of the last Arrow mega loopers out there

Throw X2 in there and that would be four major coasters cut from Magic Mountain. Although I'm sure the new Six Flags wouldn't mind it if it meant they could market Cedar Point as having the most coasters in the world...

I believe they would need one more along with Siren's and TT2 to match Energylandia.

[Vortex1987]

3 hours ago, WoodVengeance said:

True, but there are at least three other coasters highly likely to get removed from that park.

• Superman Escape From Krypton being an old and rare Intamin model that's been SBNO since September
• Ninja being an Arrow Suspended Coaster that's already rumored to be removed after 2025
• Viper being one of the last Arrow mega loopers out there

Throw X2 in there and that would be four major coasters cut from Magic Mountain. Although I'm sure the new Six Flags wouldn't mind it if it meant they could market Cedar Point as having the most coasters in the world...

 

1 hour ago, Diamondback_Is_King said:

This sounds familiar...where have I heard it before?

In all seriousness though, this would give Cedar Point yet another way to market their park. Lucky for some of us, we benefit from living in Ohio because not only do we get our beloved Kings Island additions, but we also get to experience Cedar Point's new additions.

See?

 

Cedar Point is the golden child. They are going to do whatever it takes to keep Cedar Point the flagship at ALL costs.  It is Cedar Fair running the show with the merger, so they're going to take all means necessary to prop up Cedar Point. This is exactly why Ka was demo-ed. To give Cedar Point the North American height and speed records back. And Ohio now has the North American Height, Speed and Length records.  I firmly believe Viper, X2 and Superman Escape From Krypton are next to get the axe. But nothing at Cedar Point is going to be touched. And Cedar Point gets ANOTHER new coaster, Sirens Curse after they stole it from Six Flags Mexico. 

 

Man I HATE Cedar Fair.

[Tr0y]

19 minutes ago, Vortex1987 said:

 

See?

 

Cedar Point is the golden child. They are going to do whatever it takes to keep Cedar Point the flagship at ALL costs.  It is Cedar Fair running the show with the merger, so they're going to take all means necessary to prop up Cedar Point. This is exactly why Ka was demo-ed. To give Cedar Point the North American height and speed records back. And Ohio now has the North American Height, Speed and Length records.  I firmly believe Viper, X2 and Superman Escape From Krypton are next to get the axe. But nothing at Cedar Point is going to be touched. And Cedar Point gets ANOTHER new coaster, Sirens Curse after they stole it from Six Flags Mexico. 

 

Man I HATE Cedar Fair.

Those hotels ain’t gonna fill themselves. 

[Diamondback_Is_King]

37 minutes ago, Vortex1987 said:

 

See?

 

Cedar Point is the golden child. They are going to do whatever it takes to keep Cedar Point the flagship at ALL costs.  It is Cedar Fair running the show with the merger, so they're going to take all means necessary to prop up Cedar Point. This is exactly why Ka was demo-ed. To give Cedar Point the North American height and speed records back. And Ohio now has the North American Height, Speed and Length records.  I firmly believe Viper, X2 and Superman Escape From Krypton are next to get the axe. But nothing at Cedar Point is going to be touched. And Cedar Point gets ANOTHER new coaster, Sirens Curse after they stole it from Six Flags Mexico. 

 

Man I HATE Cedar Fair.

Couple of things about this post:

1. Kingda Ka was demoed because of maintenance costs

2. Something at Cedar Point did get touched: Snake River Falls

3. They did not steal Siren's Curse from Six Flags Mexico. They didn't get the permit submitted by the park approved, so it had to be relocated. Why they chose Cedar Point, I have no clue (please don't say because "Cedar Point needs to be king") Many other parks could have used this coaster, but they chose Cedar Point. Probably to make up for the disaster of TT2.

4. Cedar Fair is now called Six Flags.

Also, had it not been for Cedar Fair, all of the parks you know and love like I do wouldn't be the same without them. Cedar Fair made the parks what they are today, and we can thank them for it. Sure, we can be upset about the decisions they make or the rides they close, but it's out of our control. We just have to accept it and look on into the future. Look forward to what is to come and not what things used to be. Don't be disappointed that Siren's Curse went to Cedar Point "to let them be king" but instead be happy that you can enjoy it and it's not too far away from KI. Me personally, I would rather have Siren's Curse at Cedar Point than Mexico because I wasn't planning on making a trip down there anytime soon. I'm just excited to get on TT2 and Siren's Curse this summer because I've never ridden it before! Cheers to Cedar Fair for evolving the parks we have today, and lets see what Six Flags has in store for the future!

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I have a feeling that a good number of these ride removals are — as has been said here before — mostly a product of the chain choosing between closure and deferred maintenance. The former is always upsetting and consistently leads to bad vibes, but the latter is dangerous when it goes on for too long. I'm by no means an apologist for the chain (see my other posts on this website), but I know that the removals mean more resources are freed up overall with potential for bigger gains in the future. 

Now, on the topic of Cedar Point: I think it had the least amount of deferred maintenance (whether by being the golden park or not) and therefore did not see as many disruptions to its lineup. It had a flat, sizeable plot of land where a new coaster could be built. It also had a "New for 2024!" coaster that was SBNO for almost the entire season and needed something to make up for that. The stars may have aligned for the park to get Siren's Curse, but I don't think it was explicit favoritism. If I was in charge of the new Six Flags I'd look into making Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland into my Top 2 golden eastern parks since they are very highly attended and can be open a lot longer than Cedar Point can be. 

So far, Kings Island has lost Firehawk (replaced in a timely manner by a giga coaster), Vortex (park management decision which they regretted making), Slingshot (replaced by two new non-upcharge flat rides), and Xtreme Skyflyer (an upcharge attraction that is being removed from many other parks). KI has been extremely lucky throughout this merger process.

 

Sidenote: has anyone else noticed that the (Legacy Cedar Fair) parks that lost a major coaster kept their Skyflyer (Carowinds, KD) while the parks that did not lose a major coaster lost their Skyflyer (CP, KI)?

[silver2005]

Psst- there's more to parks than coaster count.  

[SmartCat7162]

On 11/14/2024 at 7:34 PM, BeeastFarmer said:

Cedar Point General Manager Carrie Boldman to step down - cleveland.com

 

Sounds fishy to me.  

They have yet to name a replacement which I find very interesting.

[Orion-XL200]

It wasn't until April 6th that Ms. Boldman was announced as the GM...it'll be coming soon I'm sure. 

Colleen Murphy-Brady the CP Assistant GM has been featured in press events and news stories for this upcoming season. I'm hopeful that she is named the next GM.

[disco2000]

Rumor was Tony announced at Winter chill out that they were not going to replace the role and instead do the regional park approach like they are for PR.  Wasn't there, so can't confirm it.

[Orion-XL200]

Did not hear that at WCO....have heard people say that...but it wouldn't make sense.....the Cedar Point role is more than just Cedar Point...it's also over the resorts. 

[KIghostguy]

56 minutes ago, Orion-XL200 said:

Did not hear that at WCO....have heard people say that...but it wouldn't make sense.....the Cedar Point role is more than just Cedar Point...it's also over the resorts. 

Resorts reports to Corporate, not to the park GM. 

[SmartCat7162]

1 hour ago, disco2000 said:

Rumor was Tony announced at Winter chill out that they were not going to replace the role and instead do the regional park approach like they are for PR.  Wasn't there, so can't confirm it.

I feel like having a GM on the ground that knows the associates and interacts with the guests is super important and feel like if this is true could be a major loss to everyone all over the board.

[Orion-XL200]

6 hours ago, KIghostguy said:

Resorts reports to Corporate, not to the park GM. 

That must have recently changed, because Carrie at one point oversaw them as part of her GM role per conversations with her.

[KIghostguy]

12 minutes ago, Orion-XL200 said:

That must have recently changed, because Carrie at one point oversaw them as part of her GM role per conversations with her.

Oh, interesting. I am not sure when that changed. The GMs of the resorts have reported to a corporate resort VP for at least a year at this point. 

[Orion-XL200]

11 minutes ago, KIghostguy said:

Oh, interesting. I am not sure when that changed. The GMs of the resorts have reported to a corporate resort VP for at least a year at this point. 

Yeah, very interesting. Wondering if that was part of a pre-merger concession or something. Maybe not..lol. Either way the structure of the company has drastically changed that's for sure. Always love your insights sir and congratulations for going through RAAM.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I wonder how long it will take to merge the two companies systems together. The park mobile apps, pass add-ons, and common offerings seem like things that should be standardized as quickly as possible. Something like FunPix might be a little harder to change since it is based through a third-party (Colorvision International) and PicturePass looks to be done in-house. Fast Lane and Flash Pass might also be lower priority. The mobile apps and websites take some time to develop and change, but at least the framework already exists. 

I also can't imagine a world in which the Six Flags season pass memberships survive as they currently exist without being brought to other parks. I think I can understand what they're meant to be, but the ticket systems should be more consistent than not. One thought that I haven't seen too much conversation about is this: Does the new Six Flags want to market itself as one big cohesive chain of 42 parks and resorts, or does it want to be seen at the level of individual regions or parks? 

The pre-merger Six Flags did the first idea. Almost every park was branded using the Six Flags name, there was (and so far still is) one mobile app for all parks, and each park seemed to be the same in terms of how people perceived the company. The pre-merger Cedar Fair did the second idea. While each park offered the same branding and experiences, park names did not include "Cedar Fair",  each park got its own mobile app, and, despite having the same baseline factors, each park retained its own distinct identity.

Having said all of this, the new Six Flags definitely still feels like it is two separate companies at the guest experience level. Getting into all of the parks is about the only thing guests can do on one All-Park pass. We'll see how much might be changing as more parks open for the season, but I don't think we'll see too much change until after July. Even then, 2026 will hopefully see a turning point for the better where everything is more stable and standardized. I could be talking complete nonsense throughout this post — I just want to be able to use my meal plan everywhere I go.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[Orion-XL200]

Legacy Six Flags had the app thing right. I liked being able to go into Six Flags St. Louis and utilize the chain's app to get information about the park I was in and then when visiting Six Flags Great Adventure I was able to use the same app to check out that park's info. The app did great in regards to utilizing the membership including the fact that it never glitched. 

 

I just wish the add ons made it's way through all parks...I don't know why they couldn't implement a way to make it happen. 

[disco2000]

On 3/26/2025 at 6:32 PM, Vortex1987 said:

 

See?

 

Cedar Point is the golden child. They are going to do whatever it takes to keep Cedar Point the flagship at ALL costs.  It is Cedar Fair running the show with the merger, so they're going to take all means necessary to prop up Cedar Point. This is exactly why Ka was demo-ed. To give Cedar Point the North American height and speed records back. And Ohio now has the North American Height, Speed and Length records.  I firmly believe Viper, X2 and Superman Escape From Krypton are next to get the axe. But nothing at Cedar Point is going to be touched. And Cedar Point gets ANOTHER new coaster, Sirens Curse after they stole it from Six Flags Mexico. 

 

Man I HATE Cedar Fair.

 

Bye-Bye Superman

 

https://www.ocregister.com/2025/03/28/six-flags-magic-mountain-permanently-closes-superman-coaster