Six Flags and Cedar Fair to Merge (Nov 2023)

[Jrb1979]

I'm shocked how out of touch with the industry the people at the top were to think Six Flags had the brand recognition to warrant keeping that name. More than a few people immediately swore off the big Cedar Fair parks because of what . And once they started really nickel and diming and understaffing, a lot more took it as a confirmation of what they feared. I fully admit I was COMPLETELY wrong on where things went. I thought Six Flags legacy parks would be bumped up instead of CF dropping down. But man, our trip a few weeks ago was ROUGH. Something like 20 attractions (including 2 of the 3 kids areas and like 4-6 coasters) were announced as not opening for the day with a sign at entry. Strictly so they didn't have to pay to staff them.

To be fair once fall hits it's always like that at Cedar Point in terms of rides not opening. Cedar Point due to location has always struggled with staffing at this time of year.

The plan was to get the Six Flags parks up to Cedar Fair standards. I don't think they are that out of touch. What happened is when attendance was down and the loss of revenue they panicked.

 

[LSLS]

To be fair once fall hits it's always like that at Cedar Point in terms of rides not opening. Cedar Point due to location has always struggled with staffing at this time of year.

The plan was to get the Six Flags parks up to Cedar Fair standards. I don't think they are that out of touch. What happened is when attendance was down and the loss of revenue they panicked.

Nah, it's never that bad, we go every year. For reference, same weekend last year had like 5 attractions not opened the entire day (all kiddy areas open). And the weekend of the 18th is even more stark.

Getting Six Flags up isn't what was out of touch, what was out of touch is the idea that Six Flags had this great brand recognition you would want on all the Cedar Fair parks. The reality is the opposite was true. And honestly, there should be panic, but they are responding incorrectly. Making everything Add Ons isn't bringing people back. Inflating lines by closing a bunch of stuff isn't bringing people back. I've said it before, but 4-5 years ago, I thought Cedar Point was better maintained than Disney. Operations were faster and friendlier, park was cleaner, they were really adding on to the family friendly and story ideas. Then they nose-dived and just figured nobody would notice.