My immediate thoughts on the Six Flags / Cedar Fair merger – DePaoli on DeParks
News recently broke that in 2024 Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks will be merging as one company. Although both businesses have amusement parks across the country, it immediately made me think about the two parks represented in Southern California, where I live. Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm (owned by Cedar Fair) are two very different parks and I’ll be curious to see what this merger means for their future.
To be totally upfront, I’m more of a theme park guy and less into thrill parks. For me it’s more about showmanship and production value, and less about roller coaster tracks taking over the skyline. Therefore, it’ll come as no surprise to read that I’m a much bigger fan of Knott’s Berry Farm than I am Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Although Knott’s Berry Farm has their fair share of thrill rides, they balance it extremely well with special events, live shows, and unique forms of entertainment. That is what keeps me returning to Knott’s Berry Farm. Six Flags Magic Mountain on the other hand does have their own special events, but I find them to be sub-par in most cases. My hope is that this merger will bring more live entertainment into Six Flags Magic Mountain and not strip it away from Knott’s Berry Farm.
For example, the Halloween season that recently passed featured a Knott’s Scary Farm event with so much live entertainment happening in addition to their haunted mazes that it was difficult to get it all done in one night. And that was even with a Fright & Fast Lane pass. Six Flags Fright Fest on the other hand had less live entertainment than I’d ever experienced at their event. It was essentially a couple of DJs. The question is, will Six Flags continue to primarily cater to simply thrill seekers, or will the Cedar Fair influence encourage more entertainment and variety for all kinds of amusement park-goers to enjoy?
Speaking of Knott’s Scary Farm and Six Flags Fright Fest, I consider Knott’s Scary Farm to be the best amusement park haunted event in Southern California. On the other hand, I consider Six Flags Fright Fest to be the least successful (albeit somewhat enjoyable). As a huge haunt season fan, I’m really hoping the folks from Cedar Fair will be able to convince the people from Six Flags to invest more heavily into their Halloween event. This merger may even bring an entirely new way to how Six Flags Fright Fest is structured.
Currently, Six Flags Fright Fest is open to any guest with a daytime ticket, season pass, or membership. To experience the haunted mazes, an add-on wristband is required. But you can go and enjoy the rest of the event with no additional admission. Perhaps with the success of Knott’s Scary Farm and other Cedar Fair haunt events, we’ll see the strategy of a high-priced hard ticket event transfer over to the Fright Fest event as well.
Roller coasters are already a fairly big part of the Knott’s Berry Farm experience. With roller coasters being Six Flag’s forte, I would assume we’ll see even more being invested into these popular thrill rides for both parks. Perhaps the merged company will even get some sort of deal if they’re building a new coaster for each park with the same design and construction companies.
One thing I’m most curious to see the outcome of is how the parks will handle characters that they license. Currently, Knott’s Berry Farm licenses Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts characters. Six Flags licenses DC Comics and The Looney Tunes. Will we begin to see a crossover from one park to the other? That could potentially be really interesting.
I believe it’ll be very important to continue making these two parks feel like individually unique parks. The worst thing that could happen is if they simply use the same playbook and become cookie cutters of each other.
Knott’s Berry Farm in particular has a 100+ year history. The Ghost Town streets guests walk down today are the birthplace of what eventually expanded into a full theme park. To lose something like that would be like tearing down Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. I hope such a thought doesn’t even cross anyone’s mind. If it does, I beg the merged company to consider selling off Knott’s Berry Farm. It’s a crowned jewel of a park. Perhaps give Dolly Parton a call and see if she’d like some west coast representation in the amusement world.
Both Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain currently have various annual pass options. I’ll be curious to see whether or not an option becomes available that includes the theme park, thrill park, and both water parks.
Ultimately, we don’t’ know what this merger really means for all the amusement parks in the expanded portfolio. There will surely be some good and some bad to come of it in the eyes of the varied guests who enjoy them. Six Flags Magic Mountain has needed a solid shakeup for a long time in my opinion. I guess I’m hoping that Six Flags Magic Mountain ends up being influenced more by Knott’s Berry Farm’s way of doing business rather than vice versa.
What do you think of this merger? Are there certain things that excite you about it? Or anything that worries you in particular? Leave a comment and let me know.
Jeff DePaoli is a producer and voiceover artist living in Los Angeles. He can be heard as the voice of Disney Trivia on Alexa as well as the host of “Dizney Coast to Coast,” the ultimate, unofficial Disney fan podcast. Get your FREE gifts of “America’s Hidden Mickeys,” “On the Rohde Again,” “Theme Park Comfort Kit” and more at DizneyCoastToCoast.com. DePaoli’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent Attractions Magazine.
I have your same concerns, Jeff. I worry that Six Flags will drag Cedar Fair down to their level.
Let’s hope not. Knott’s is a very special park. I haven’t visited any other Cedar Fair parks, but from what I understand Knott’s stands out from among their portfolio as well.