Six Flags and Cedar Fair Merge

[BeeastFarmer]

Q2 is in the books. It is the last of the quarters that involve attendance comparison from legacy parks. If combined attendance is up across the chain, will investors be happy?  However, from anecdotal social media references, attendance seems to be down.  I predict this will be attributed to:

1. Canadian wildfire smoke.

2. Storms.

3.  Extreme heat.

4. Labor ( this is self inflicted).

5. Consumer unrest r/t tariffs and or political unrest. 

 

In the recent past, if the quarter has been successful, they put out press releases within days to tout good news. ( As an aside, interesting that they could report chain wide numbers within days, but they couldn't figure out how to make add ons work between different Cedar Fair parks).  

With the stock price performing as it is, I am sure they are looking for anything they can to try and bolster it.  

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

No Ice, No Carbonation, Smaller Cups: Visitors to Kings Dominion and Cedar Point are beginning to notice a new cup size when they use their All Season Drink Plan. The new cups are noticeably smaller at approximately 10-12oz, compared to the former 16oz cups. Could these be coming to more Six Flags parks as the chain continues to slash budgets?

As inevitable as it is I really hope these smaller cups don't come to Kings Island. I can always get another drink after 15 minutes, but the drink plan cups have always been this size. What is the reason behind getting smaller cups besides wanting to save another 2¢ per cup? The old ones were a good size to get through a meal. I wish Six Flags would at least be more consistent if they're going to keep downgrading the guest experience. 

 

10 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

5. Consumer unrest r/t tariffs and or political unrest. 

I bet they'll save the tariffs excuse for when they can't deliver their 2026 ride promises. Political unrest would be an interesting excuse though, considering there hasn't been any in the parks recently.

"Due to the sudden increase in the cost of rides and roller coaster parts, we were unable to create new experiences for our guests in 2026. As North America's largest chain of regional amusement parks Six Flags is committed to entertaining our guests and shareholders. Please enjoy our existing attractions as we make way for new expansions coming in 2027."

[Tr0y]

17 minutes ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

No Ice, No Carbonation, Smaller Cups: Visitors to Kings Dominion and Cedar Point are beginning to notice a new cup size when they use their All Season Drink Plan. The new cups are noticeably smaller at approximately 10-12oz, compared to the former 16oz cups. Could these be coming to more Six Flags parks as the chain continues to slash budgets?

As inevitable as it is I really hope these smaller cups don't come to Kings Island. I can always get another drink after 15 minutes, but the drink plan cups have always been this size. What is the reason behind getting smaller cups besides wanting to save another 2¢ per cup? The old ones were a good size to get through a meal. I wish Six Flags would at least be more consistent if they're going to keep downgrading the guest experience. 

I believe the new cup size will put the park in line with what Holiday World provides. 

As you’ve mentioned however, Holiday World doesn’t have a time limit for how often you can get a drink.

At this rate the fact they are willing to giveaway the drink plan with season passes they should switch to Holiday World’s model.

[shark6495]

On 7/8/2025 at 6:11 PM, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

No Ice, No Carbonation, Smaller Cups: Visitors to Kings Dominion and Cedar Point are beginning to notice a new cup size when they use their All Season Drink Plan. The new cups are noticeably smaller at approximately 10-12oz, compared to the former 16oz cups. Could these be coming to more Six Flags parks as the chain continues to slash budgets?

As inevitable as it is I really hope these smaller cups don't come to Kings Island. I can always get another drink after 15 minutes, but the drink plan cups have always been this size. What is the reason behind getting smaller cups besides wanting to save another 2¢ per cup? The old ones were a good size to get through a meal. I wish Six Flags would at least be more consistent if they're going to keep downgrading the guest experience. 

 

I bet they'll save the tariffs excuse for when they can't deliver their 2026 ride promises. Political unrest would be an interesting excuse though, considering there hasn't been any in the parks recently.

"Due to the sudden increase in the cost of rides and roller coaster parts, we were unable to create new experiences for our guests in 2026. As North America's largest chain of regional amusement parks Six Flags is committed to entertaining our guests and shareholders. Please enjoy our existing attractions as we make way for new expansions coming in 2027."

The Disney Dish had a great discussion on Tariff impact on a ride. This was from a few months back. But basically park and manufacturer negotiate a price. The threat of a tariff happens. The park says what’s changing. The manufacturer has to go to their suppliers to find their new price(and do the suppliers have to check their prices etc), then they set their price. They send it to the park then board votes. But if the tariffs change again, then the process can start over. 

[BeeastFarmer]

Canada's Wonderland now has '26 passes on sale.

Gold now (at least from this park) gets you into all Six Flags parks.  No passport required.

All Six Flags park meal plan--$155 CD.

Gold, All Park Meals, Drink+, Funpix is approximately $250 USD.  Add ~ $73 USD for prestige.  Add ~$730 for all park FL+.

 

EDIT:  You now have to process your pass at your "home park", which is the park you bought your pass from.  I understand why they are doing this, buying from Canada in the US has saved quite a bit of money and cut into  pass sales at US parks.  I wish people, myself included, had not blasted this out so much because I am sure this made corporate more aware of the "problem."  

This was my beef with legacy Six Flags vs Cedar Fair.  I thought (and think) it was ridiculous to have to drive all the way to Atlanta to activate a pass vs the Cedar Fair way.  For example, St. Louis is the closest LSF to me but their calendar didn't start until later in the season.  So if I wanted go to Georgia early in the season, I would have to buy a Georgia pass.  Next year, if I didnt go to Georgia early but wanted  to use the same pass, I would be forced to go to Georgia first before St. Louis.  Easy solution would be to buy a new St. Louis pass.  But just annoying and  making it harder to do business with LSF.

LCF:  I renew my Platinum pass in the fall online.  Then I decide I want to go to Carowinds in March, or KBF in Febuary.  I am not forced to go to KI to "process" the pass as it is already active and ready to go.  

Just another bone headed move by an out of touch corporate team who will spend a dollar to save a penny.

Edited Tuesday at 03:10 PM by BeeastFarmer

[Kenban]

There does not appear to be a plastic bottle option for the drink plans, Canadas Wonderland website is only listing the two paper cup options for 2026.

In previous years you could activate the annual pass on the Canadas Wonderland website, or even upload a photo when purchasing the pass and it started working immediately.  I would wait until someone actually tests it before jumping to too many conclusions since Canadas Wonderlands website still allows online activation and still asks for a photo when buying the pass.

[WoodVengeance]

One main concern I have is that if you need to activate your all-park passport at your home park before going to other parks (Kings Island), if I wanted to go to a park like Carowinds or Six Flags Over Georgia in March, would I not be able to use the all-park passport there since Kings Island wouldn't be open for the season yet?

[brenthodge]

2 hours ago, WoodVengeance said:

One main concern I have is that if you need to activate your all-park passport at your home park before going to other parks (Kings Island), if I wanted to go to a park like Carowinds or Six Flags Over Georgia in March, would I not be able to use the all-park passport there since Kings Island wouldn't be open for the season yet?

Are we talking new buys or reactivations as well? Lots of ??? When they just drop this like they have   

 

mmm

[disco2000]

2 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Are we talking new buys or reactivations as well? Lots of ??? When they just drop this like they have   

 

mmm

It will change 12 times as they realize that they messed up.

Caveat Emptor

[disco2000]

Since this is starting to roll out earlier than usual, this tells me that attendance is down chain wide and they need some good news momentum for the TBD Q2 call. 

They wanna be able to say 2026 pass sales are strong and momentum going the right way and all that jazz to divert attention away from YTD performance.

I would be shocked if we don't see this rollout to other parks in the coming days.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Oh to be a fly on the wall of that boardroom. Imagine all of the discussions you'd hear only to still wonder what is going through their heads.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Double post because I need to separate my humor from my seriousposting. 

I feel like we're still seeing two companies trying to merge instead of one massive company that is semi-confident in what it's doing. The websites and mobile apps are still unchanged. It may take a while to develop new ones, but the base templates for a temporary solution has been there from the start. Associates (who have been the saving grace of Kings Island this season) aren't receiving the hours that would make it worth coming back to work at the park next year. The season pass programs are in the process of being unified across all parks and resorts, but the wording for each of the pass options are very vague. I have some questions whose answers should either be easily found or should not need to be asked at all.

• What is the difference between a dining plan "add-on" and a dining plan "upgrade"? They have the exact same descriptions and drastically different prices. Similar thoughts for the other add-ons.
• Why am I seeing the "All Park Passport" symbol on any 2026 offerings when that program would not exist under the new benefits?
• Can I really trust that Halloween Haunt or Winterfest will still exist as a part of the 2026 season? The pass may be the cheapest out of the major chains, but why should I buy one when there is no guarantee that we'll see a steadier park next year compared to how things have gone this year?
• The first asterisk on the pass benefits page mentions that passes must be processed at the holders' "Home Park". How does someone process their pass before the beginning of that park's season? Most of the Season Pass Processing areas were phased out and their spaces converted to other uses. (I would support bringing these spaces back!)
  • If I get a 2026 Gold Pass at Cedar Point, will I not be able to go to other Six Flags parks before May when the park opens? Will a ticket window or Guest Services be open from January-April for my 2026 pass to be processed? 
  • Canada's Wonderland currently has a 2026 pass activation link. Does this mean people can just activate their pass through the link, or do they actually need to go to Canada's Wonderland and head to a ticket window to complete the process? 
• Will physical season pass cards be available for guests without access to a smartphone? That answer can't really be found anywhere. 

 

Canada's Wonderland has a section on their Season Pass FAQ page that specifically states: 

Quote

The 2026 Gold and Prestige Pass purchased during the [Most Valuable Pass] MVP Sale may be used to access all 40+ Six Flags parks...

I wonder if this means that the MVP sale will be one of the only times when Gold/Prestige passes are bundled with the (seemingly dead) All Park Passport. Again, these things aren't consistently laid out across everything like they should be. We shouldn't have to ask these kinds of questions when most of the answers could be listed directly on the purchasing page. 

As much as they would like to act otherwise, this version of Six Flags is a new company with new challenges and opportunities. I think it's about time they started to show that. 

[DJSkyFoxx]

This is one of those things that continues to annoy regular pass holders and any new pass holders. The redundancy, double-speak, clear as mud language they use to explain each bullet point in the FAQ section is an entire mess. It really shouldn't be this confusing considering they have changed the pass structure so much over the last few years. When you read everything over it's like multiple people had their hand in writing out the information and didn't bother to cross reference with one another.

The left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing. It all tracks as to why you hear different associates stating different things at different times on different days. There is no real clear language or consistency and that then becomes a major point of frustration for the guests.

There really needs to be some serious grip on what the company wants, what their end goal is and a much more cut and dry clear language that doesn't beg the guest to ask so many questions or leave their staff also unable to fully grasp what they are saying/doing.

Also. Completely random, but regarding dropping brownie points in the guest experience, I got bored one day recently and looked at Google reviews. Now granted. It's Google reviews. I'm clear that a lot of the complaints can often be just regular ignorance often portrayed by the GP who didn't get their way because they were line cutting and got kicked out. But it was interesting to see from last year that both KI and CP held a 4.6 star rating on there. KI has retained their 4.6 while CP has dropped down to 4.5. I realize this isn't a huge dip. But it is sad to see any dip at all seeing how many total reviews there are for each park. It's just mildly telling that even though we have been seeing so many cuts at KI this season that they must still be doing just a hair better than big brother up north is. Because as it is noted, the GP is what brings the business, not us. We are but a mere drop in the bucket as enthusiasts in a sea of GP. Just sad to see, even if it is just Google reviews/one .1 point lower than last year.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I was looking at different pass hierarchy systems between park chains for a different project before Canada's Wonderland unveiled their MVP sale. The biggest differences between Six Flags and the other companies is that Six Flags (and Cedar Fair / Six Flags before it) offers access to all of their parks as a prominently standard option separate from being its own pass tier. Parks like California's Great America only offer a Gold Pass and a Gold Pass with the All Park Passport.

The other difference is that 2025 Six Flags parks all have different pass systems which only generally follow a standard hierarchy. The Gold Pass is the only option offered at every park. Meanwhile, I've seen variations between parks having park memberships, basically an EZ Pay option, separate from regular pass sales; the Silver Pass; the Prestige Pass (this one is somewhat understandable); a KidZPass, which is also open for Seniors aged 62+ to buy; a Summer Pass; a Pre-K Pass; a Season Pass; the FUN-Jumper pass, a regional park passport; the All-Park Passport; and all kinds of varying benefits that aren't even standardized across either former company's legacy parks. 

10 hours ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

The left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing. It all tracks as to why you hear different associates stating different things at different times on different days. There is no real clear language or consistency and that then becomes a major point of frustration for the guests.

There really needs to be some serious grip on what the company wants, what their end goal is and a much more cut and dry clear language that doesn't beg the guest to ask so many questions or leave their staff also unable to fully grasp what they are saying/doing.

If I were someone trying to figure out if I wanted to buy a my first season pass to a Six Flags park, I think I'd get more frustrated trying to understand what is offered than it should be worth. The unclear language with mixed reviews are making me, someone who's obsessed with these parks, question how comfortable I am with getting my pass with all of the add-ons that I want. I can't imagine trying to go through this without prior knowledge and a forum like KIC.

With so many things being centralized to regional teams and Six Flags corporate teams, the lack of complete standardization looks very worrying. Yes, different parks can offer different things based on what they have, but I don't think it is too much to ask for more standardization beyond pass names and hierarchy. 

That all being said: $100-ish to get into every Six Flags park for all of 2026 is a deal that I think most people should take advantage of. If you've got the money for the regular pass prices, this is super worth it IMO. If Six Flags wants to give away the gate then let them do it — it'll probably make them more money than they did with the 2020/2021 season pass situation. Maybe that means they'll be able to get closer to their projected numbers and make some good additions in 2026 and 2027, and possibly get to a good place for 2028.