All those tickets and passes are electronic. The legacy IT systems almost certainly don't talk to one another and it's not as simple as just making a few minor updates.
News Cedar Fair Merges with Six Flags
- Thread starter horsesboy
- Start date
But that was my point— they both use the same system (Acesso) for ticketing and passes. The integration should be prettty straightforward.
They are likely heavily customized and interface with numerous other applications and services. It's not just changing a couple settings to make this work.
Their couple year timeline to get things integrated is probably just for bear minimum things to make it work operationally. If you want a comparable example look at how long airline mergers take to be cross functional even though they use the same back end services. It takes quite awhile.
Airlines make sense though. That’s a far more complicated system.
This should be a process where you integrate one customer database into the other system, cross reference the overlapping barcodes/customer numbers it issue new ones, and then integrate the one you keep into the others website.
Sorry to ninja edit on you @GAcoaster and @Zachary but I just did the math on something.
Since I like keeping the top level pass is would cost me $888 to be able to do all of the new Six Flags combined parks (that’s with the cheaper SFA being the home park, $908 at SFGAdv). If I do something similar for HP/United it totals $724 with a few more benefits and if I go to $775 I would add more benefits through Hershey I can’t get elsewhere.
This should be a process where you integrate one customer database into the other system, cross reference the overlapping barcodes/customer numbers it issue new ones, and then integrate the one you keep into the others website.
Sorry to ninja edit on you @GAcoaster and @Zachary but I just did the math on something.
Since I like keeping the top level pass is would cost me $888 to be able to do all of the new Six Flags combined parks (that’s with the cheaper SFA being the home park, $908 at SFGAdv). If I do something similar for HP/United it totals $724 with a few more benefits and if I go to $775 I would add more benefits through Hershey I can’t get elsewhere.
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Laughs in data engineer...
The issue is rarely ever IT competency (understaffing, however...) - lift and shift, ETL, and other methods exist for data migration and/or transformation.
However, the challenge usually lies in the involved parties within each business - most of whom don't understand the data backbone and/or migration challenges and thus will have to spend a decent amount of time having conversations and planning to make things work.
Add to that the ever-changing nature of the amusement industry, and it gets complex real quick.
Then don’t sell 2025 passes yet if that’s the issue. Like I said, there’s some things that should be taken care of really quickly. I don’t mean time overall, but rather timeline wise getting this solved should be priority 1.
I would imagine there are more than just technical issues. Cedar Fair and Six Flags have fundamentally different pass structures and benefits. Moreover, Six Flags, itself, has several different pass and membership options, none of which seem to resemble each other at all. Integrating them is bound to be a colossal mess. And there are going to be a lot of people who are going to lose benefits and accesses, who will be very upset. So, there has to be a strong information and marketing campaign, as well.
For example, I know that in my case I have Six Flags' Diamond Elite VIP, because I paid throughout COVID, and a Cedar Fair Prestige Pass with an All-Parks Passport. I have the All-Park dining for CF, but rely on my 50% discount at Six Flags (which was more effective than a meal plan). SF gives me free The Flash passes every trip; CF doesn't give anyone free FastLane ever. SF doesn't even offer the membership I have anymore. So, what will I lose, when the systems are merged? How would access to all of the parks compare to what I am paying right now for a SF membership that was upgraded for free, because of COVID? What does any of this mean for my meal and drinks plans? For my food and merch discounts? For my other benefits?
All of this to say that I actually don't understand why they are even planning to merge the systems before 2026.
For example, I know that in my case I have Six Flags' Diamond Elite VIP, because I paid throughout COVID, and a Cedar Fair Prestige Pass with an All-Parks Passport. I have the All-Park dining for CF, but rely on my 50% discount at Six Flags (which was more effective than a meal plan). SF gives me free The Flash passes every trip; CF doesn't give anyone free FastLane ever. SF doesn't even offer the membership I have anymore. So, what will I lose, when the systems are merged? How would access to all of the parks compare to what I am paying right now for a SF membership that was upgraded for free, because of COVID? What does any of this mean for my meal and drinks plans? For my food and merch discounts? For my other benefits?
All of this to say that I actually don't understand why they are even planning to merge the systems before 2026.
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source Cedar Fair policy going into the Six Flags parks!
Update: America & Discovery Kingdom was also hit with the policy
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. Good look, Six Flags.I just got the email and submitted a post about Six Flags America
While Great Adventure didn't see any decrease in individual food item pricing (there were a few things that went up a buck or two earlier in the season), it sure was nice to see menu boards with no surcharge message.
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Mama Flora's is also a contractor, so any corporate price changes may not be reflected in their menu. Check out the park owned and operated stands and see if prices changed.
Though the reasons were unrelated, I'm kinda wondering if it'd help if they went with a PRKS membership system set at a corporate level similar to the transition from passes?
I'm thinking that from there the migration would then focus on setting the appropriate business rules to give all existing pass holders the most similar levels of access and perks.
If this was planned well enough, that also allows for ample time to effectively communicate the changes and market the new program.
This could also allow for different multi-park options like a regional membership that also gives a hefty discount at the other parks.
^Excellent point. I mainly based my observation off the chicken strips + fries pricing, which was $16.49 at Primo's early on in the season (not including the surcharge). Interestingly, the Yum Yum Cafe does offer chicken strips for 50 cents less than Mama Flora's.
Here's a (very crooked, sorry) snap of the Jersey Devil BBQ menu. You can still see a tiny bit of the surcharge message in the bottom corner where the tape is peeled back. No changes to this one yet.
Something else that’s interesting here is that they’re already using the Cedar Fair branding on the Six Flags park social media pages. That template with the little “wave” design in the bottom corner is what CF has been using across their parks for the past few years.
That’s just for that market— we may see other prices for different parks.