Some are speculating that amusement park operator giants Six Flags and Cedar Fair could possibly merge. According to this article from the Wall Street Journal, Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm from New York that is looking to buy Cedar Fair also wants to buy Six Flags and then merge it with Cedar Fair.
Though neither side has commented on the speculation, it is interesting to think what would happen if Cedar Fair was to acquire Six Flags. Discuss what you think of the possibility!
UPDATE, 10/4/2019: Hey, 9 years later this came up again! And look at these fun old logos! If you’re interested in the most recent news, check out our 2019 post!
I think it’s a good business plan, just as long as they sell most previous Cedar Fair park (except knott’s and Cedar point)
I feel it’s a great idea but, i would be more enthusiastic about it if they were to change the names of the six flags parks and maybe have a halloween haunt instead of Fright Fest X)
I absoulty HATE the idea!!
This story may be from 4 years ago. I’m not exactly sure what Six Flags and Cedar Fair would look like if a merger were to take place. Six Flags owns 13 parks, and Cedar Fair owns 12 (not including waterparks)… unless Six Flags and Cedar Fair were to sell several parks piece-meal to Herschend Family Entertainment and CNL Lifestyle Properties, if a merged Six Flags-Cedar Fair operation couldn’t handle ownership of 25 parks.
Herschend owns Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, and Wild Adventures. CNL owns parks, like Darien Lake, Elitch Gardens, Frontier City, and Magic Springs & Crystal Falls… Darien Lake is managed by Herschend… while Elitch Gardens, Frontier City, and Magic Springs & Crystal Falls is managed by Premier Parks.
Not sure if Ed Hart will keep ownership of Kentucky Kingdom (former Six Flags park) indefinitely, or if it gets sold later on (either Herschend owning and operating… or CLN owning, with either Herschend or Premier Parks operating)… Six Flags most likely wouldn’t want it back. Not sure about Grand Texas’ ownership either… the new Houston area park (due to open by late 2015) being a replacement/successor of former Six Flags AstroWorld.
To add to my previous post about Herschend and CNL being possible buyers… I really don’t see Busch Gardens-SeaWorld, Disney, and Universal parks being interested in expanding their theme park portfolios beyond their existing North American parks… even though things could change. Busch Gardens has Tampa Bay and Williamsburg parks… SeaWorld has Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego parks… Universal has Hollywood and Orlando parks… Disney has Disney World and Disneyland.
I know I’m late, shhhhh….
Anyway, I wouldn’t like the idea of Cedar Fair and Six Flags merging. They are by far the two biggest companies designed for thrill in the U.S., aside from Disney or Universal, which I consider to be different. As of now, Six Flags and Cedar Point help to keep each other’s prices competitive, to attract more consumers. However, if they were to merge, there would only be one big company, with not much competition, that could drive prices up without much consequence. I would like them to stay separate, just from a consumer’s point of view.