News Cedar Fair Merges with Six Flags

[BlueHawk47]

That actually may be a good thing for Six Flags... at least for food and decor let's hope!

It could be good theoretically for larger corporations, but is necessarly not good in some circumstances, and can lead to liquidation if things get really out of hand in situations. But it's not the first time it has happened, as SF back in 2009 filed Chapter 11 and succuesfully emerged the following year in 2010. Chapter 11 is basically a restructure process or a "reset button" for large corporations. Chapter 7 is what should be more concerning as that means total liquation, as since we're dealing with a large corporation like Sf, the chances are extremely low. However, some parks maybe sold off if they are deemed "non-core essential" during the restructuring process.

 

[Fiender]

It could be good theoretically for larger corporations, but is necessarly not good in some circumstances, and can lead to liquidation if things get really out of hand in situations. But it's not the first time it has happened, as SF back in 2009 filed Chapter 11 and succuesfully emerged the following year in 2010. Chapter 11 is basically a restructure process or a "reset button" for large corporations. Chapter 7 is what should be more concerning as that means total liquation, as since we're dealing with a large corporation like Sf, the chances are extremely low. However, some parks maybe sold off if they are deemed "non-core essential" during the restructuring process.

He was talking about the Cracker Barrel lady executive, not a bankruptcy.

 

[CoasterRattler🐍]

I know that the conversation is about the Cracker Barrel lady, but I thought about this for a moment. I won’t be surprised if the regional managers doesn’t make it into 2026

 

[SweetBabyJames]

I know that the conversation is about the Cracker Barrel lady, but I thought about this for a moment. I won’t be surprised if the regional managers doesn’t make it into 2026

Can you clarify? Are you saying that you believe the company will bring back park presidents?

 

[CoasterRattler🐍]

Can you clarify? Are you saying that you believe the company will bring back park presidents?

Yeah, I meant by that. I don’t know why it came into my mind, but I think because the new CEO coming in and the supposedly rumors that Selim is stepping down, I think they’ll find stuff that isn’t working and I think regional managers could be one of them

But hey, I don’t know how effective it’s going on

 

[SweetBabyJames]

Yeah, I meant by that. I don’t know why it came into my mind, but I think because the new CEO coming in and the supposedly rumors that Selim is stepping down, I think they’ll find stuff that isn’t working and I think regional managers could be one of them

But hey, I don’t know how effective it’s going on

I mean, yeah, I kind of hope the same is true. I think having a park president is very much integral to running a successful park operation. However, It is still very soon to determine whether the regional manager strategy is working out IMO.

On the other hand, if they did go back to having park presidents, can you imagine though how much of a blow to former park presidents and a blow to the company's image that would be? If in early 2026 SF puts out hiring ads for new park presidents, that would be less than a year's time since the firing spree. YIKES

 

[AmyUD06]

I mean, yeah, I kind of hope the same is true. I think having a park president is very much integral to running a successful park operation. However, It is still very soon to determine whether the regional manager strategy is working out IMO.

On the other hand, if they did go back to having park presidents, can you imagine though how much of a blow to former park presidents and a blow to the company's image that would be? If in early 2026 SF puts out hiring ads for new park presidents, that would be less than a year's time since the firing spree. YIKES

You say that as if there's anything stopping SFEC from going "Hey, Mx. Past-Park-President-That-We-Let-Go, would you like your job back?" Not to say that all of them would jump at the chance, but some might, especially if SFEC incentivized it somehow.

But I agree, it is way too soon to determine if the Regional Manager (big picture stuff) + Park General Manager (day-to-day stuff) is working or not, or if its the cause of any of the problems.

 

[Tacky3663]

It could be good theoretically for larger corporations, but is necessarly not good in some circumstances, and can lead to liquidation if things get really out of hand in situations. But it's not the first time it has happened, as SF back in 2009 filed Chapter 11 and succuesfully emerged the following year in 2010. Chapter 11 is basically a restructure process or a "reset button" for large corporations. Chapter 7 is what should be more concerning as that means total liquation, as since we're dealing with a large corporation like Sf, the chances are extremely low. However, some parks maybe sold off if they are deemed "non-core essential" during the restructuring process.

I don’t think Bankruptcy in general is a good thing for any corporation tbh. However, it basically seems inevitable that we will likely see a lot of parks sold off or closed.

I feel at the end of the day the company will look like this


Honestly after all is said and done. Here are the parks that I feel will still be left standing

Cedar Point
Kings Island
Carowinds
Kings Dominion
Canada’s Wonderland
Knotts Berry Farm
Dorney Park
Worlds of Fun
Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Six Flags Over Georgia
Six Flags New England
Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Mexico
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels & Galveston

On The Ropes: Valleyfair, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, The Great Escape Lodge.

Most if not all of the independently owned waterparks will be sold off or shut down. Leaning more towards sold off than shut down tho

 

[guy305]

I don’t think Bankruptcy in general is a good thing for any corporation tbh. However, it basically seems inevitable that we will likely see a lot of parks sold off or closed.

I feel at the end of the day the company will look like this


Honestly after all is said and done. Here are the parks that I feel will still be left standing

Cedar Point
Kings Island
Carowinds
Kings Dominion
Canada’s Wonderland
Knotts Berry Farm
Dorney Park
Worlds of Fun
Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Six Flags Over Georgia
Six Flags New England
Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Mexico
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels & Galveston

On The Ropes: Valleyfair, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, The Great Escape Lodge.

Most if not all of the independently owned waterparks will be sold off or shut down. Leaning more towards sold off than shut down tho

The smaller Cedar Fair parks apparently were quite profitable with little to no investment. Michigans Adventure in particular (so I’ve heard) so I believe that’s safe as well. But that’s a good list.

 

[Tacky3663]

The smaller Cedar Fair parks apparently were quite profitable with little to no investment. Michigans Adventure in particular (so I’ve heard) so I believe that’s safe as well. But that’s a good list.

I’d like to believe Michigan’s Adventure is safe. But since they just scrubbed their Fall season which usually isn’t a good sign. I don’t know what to think.

I would also keep an eye on Six Flags St. Louis as I heard that park might be next on the chopping block.

 

[YachtyLogs]

I’d like to believe Michigan’s Adventure is safe. But since they just scrubbed their Fall season which usually isn’t a good sign. I don’t know what to think.

I would also keep an eye on Six Flags St. Louis as I heard that park might be next on the chopping block.

Last season was Michigan's Adventure's first ever fall season. They may have just realized that it wasn't popular enough to have it again so they cut it this year.

 

[Tacky3663]

Last season was Michigan's Adventure's first ever fall season. They may have just realized that it wasn't popular enough to have it again so they cut it this year.

Who knows

I’d also like to think the company would keep around Valleyfair, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom & The Great Escape, but I have no clue.

 

[BlueHawk47]

I don’t think Bankruptcy in general is a good thing for any corporation tbh. However, it basically seems inevitable that we will likely see a lot of parks sold off or closed.

I feel at the end of the day the company will look like this


Honestly after all is said and done. Here are the parks that I feel will still be left standing

Cedar Point
Kings Island
Carowinds
Kings Dominion
Canada’s Wonderland
Knotts Berry Farm
Dorney Park
Worlds of Fun
Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Six Flags Over Georgia
Six Flags New England
Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags Mexico
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels & Galveston

On The Ropes: Valleyfair, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, The Great Escape Lodge.

Most if not all of the independently owned waterparks will be sold off or shut down. Leaning more towards sold off than shut down tho

I would keep SFMX instead of SFNE in out of the supposed 15 parks that should remain given that there is a posibility of SF having to sell of 10 from their portfolio. Might be a little biased but just saying it making sense if there is a scenario of SF having to sell a park that was once originally "not touchable" before but is now. All of the other parks listed definately makes sense to keep around.

 

[horsesboy]

Yeah, I meant by that. I don’t know why it came into my mind, but I think because the new CEO coming in and the supposedly rumors that Selim is stepping down, I think they’ll find stuff that isn’t working and I think regional managers could be one of them

But hey, I don’t know how effective it’s going on

New CEO and Selim leaving don't change the overall financial picture that drove those changes. It seems highly unlikely that given the current financial picture and that it's been less then one year sense the change that a new CEO will quickly reverse course on this move. On top of that the park manger position holds much of the same day to day powers and responsibilities that the old park president position held. What was taken away was much of the long term planning, budgeting and administrative stuff. Basically your park manager runs daily operations and thr regional VP is handling things like figuring out next years schedule, budget for next next year , planning for any addition or renovation, and a whole list of other things. Hopefully the two people are having quite a few conversation and working together as a good team if sonthen this might be a good business model but one season is not going to be enough to tell either way.

 

[mugnezz]

I don't think Cedar Fair parks are that unsellable.
Worlds of Fun and Dorney can easily be sold.
And I don't think they're that upset about getting rid of Kings Dominion.

 

[CoasterBroCam]

I don't think Cedar Fair parks are that unsellable.
Worlds of Fun and Dorney can easily be sold.
And I don't think they're that upset about getting rid of Kings Dominion.

If herschend picks up KD I’ll be so happy
1. Not having to give my money to this greedy chain for my favorite park
2. CINNAMON BREAD

 

[JohnKell]

I don't think Cedar Fair parks are that unsellable.
Worlds of Fun and Dorney can easily be sold.
And I don't think they're that upset about getting rid of Kings Dominion.

KD is not for sale...its the 300 acres of excess property around the park that is for sale (KD has over 700 acres of land).

 

[CarolinaDog]

I'd anticipate the core Paramount parks that were picked up by Cedar Fair back in the aughts to stay, with CGA being the exception of course.

The issue with selling off parts of the portfolio is that a buyer needs to be found. Some of these properties are not appealing investments to purchase as the economy slows and continues to be volatile.

I feel like mid-sized profitable parks that haven't received massive investment (WOF, VF, SFSTL, SFNE, Frontier City, Darien Lake) as well as the profitable standalone water parks (Schlitterbahn, Hurricane Harbors) may be attractive in a sale.

 

[paintervision]

I feel like mid-sized profitable parks that haven't received massive investment (WOF, VF, SFSTL, SFNE, Frontier City, Darien Lake) as well as the profitable standalone water parks (Schlitterbahn, Hurricane Harbors) may be attractive in a sale.

My strategy: get out of managing/operating contracts Hurricane Harbor in Phoenix AZ, Frontier City, and Hurricane Harbor in Oklahoma City - all three are EPR Parks properties, try to package these to Premier Parks. As long as they don't have to pay a steep penalty, there may be a way to have another operator buy them out of any kind of management contract.* Probably not the business they want to be in and this is easy to explain to investors.

Put Six Flags Great Escape on the market. IB Parks, Herschend, Five Star Parks, Premier, Merlin, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, or even Ripley's Entertainment could pick it up? I would think this is a desirable park with solid attendance AND it's own indoor waterpark resort hotel. Park is charming and in good condition, but it's never going to be a flagship property for the chain. (also a park that doesn't have to be de-themed much in terms of Looney Tunes, Peanuts, or DC characters)

Close or sell off Six Flags St Louis. Much like SFA there's not much here to move to another property; lots of older rides and coasters nearing the end of their service life, and the park was hurt by a few years of neglect and poor upkeep. Close it and make WOF the focus in the area.

Legacy CF parks were kept in better condition, so parks like Valleyfair, Michigan's Adventure, Dorney, etc can skate by. Compared to parks like SFA, Discovery Kingdom, or St Louis, these are on another level and could get by with small additions for years to come (although MiAdv needs a Corkscrew replacement sooner than later, IMO).

Reorganize the park into California parks, Texas parks, Midwest, South and North/Mid-Atlantic divisions, and change the season passes to reflect this - season passes get into all parks in a "region" while "all parks" goes back to being an upgrade.

* (Darien Lake is iffy, if they have a region with Wonderland, La Ronde, and SFNE in it, I could see that being a plus. Then again, I have no idea if they want to keep operating parks they don't own. My gut says this one is probably the exception to the rule for being more popular than the other EPR parks.)

 

[CarolinaDog]

Only time will tell. It's going to be an interesting couple of years, that's for sure.