This merger just seems like it benefits Six Flags much more than Cedar Fair. Hopefully the CF representation makes most of the decisions in the now merged company.
It's easy to see it that way from an enthusiast perspective. But keep in mind, Cedar Fair clearly needs this merger so whatever you may prefer about them as a chain, it needs to be mentioned that their business approach can't be that much better from a bottom line perspective. Six Flags was more gratifying from an enthusiast perspective in the late 90s and into the early 2000s when they were building their parks rapidly. But that was not a sustainable business model. Cedar Fair is obviously desperate which means they have made mistakes and need to correct course as well. So it's not as straightforward as saying one chain benefits more than the other.
@zacg_ cedar fair has been consistently profitable. Six Flags has been in the red more often than not in recent years. This is why, after this "merger" Cedar Fair management is running the show. I don't think either company needs this merger to continue to exist. They need it to compete with Universal and Disney.
@@chubbbubb6870 I don't think you are really familiar with either company's profit numbers. Cedar Fair has been down for the last several years. Cedar Fair is not trying to take on Disney or Universal. That's a completely different market by region and customer base and I don't think they ever had it in mind to turn a regional park chain into being a competitor with these coastal park complexes. The only place where there is any overlap is between Knotts and Disneyland and by every metric Knotts benefits from that proximity as opposed to losing out in some kind of competition the way you are framing it. It might be worth your time to look into the recordings of the quarterly phone calls with either company and follow their stock over time. Cedar Fair is a decent company with great parks but it's not at all what you seem to believe it is when it comes to being a corporate entity.
Biggest winners in this merger are Great Adventure and Magic Mountain. These parks will finally get the infrastructure upgrades they need to become two of the best parks in the country.
@@casaboxeo6406 Lol...SFMM is run like garbage. It has no theming, no atmosphere, poor food quality & selections, terrible employees that do the least possible to not get fired, half coasters like Full Throttle, parking lot coasters like Scream. You clearly haven't been to many parks or are a delusional SFMM fanboy, if you think it's even close to the best.
@MCQ-fq6bv no theming? It has DC area and metal meet wood where twisted colossus and who the f*** goes to six flag or parks for theming if that's the case go to Disneyland as for food I'm sorry I don't go to parks for food you eat before u go then eat after you leave. Employees are rude wtf goes to speak to Employees. SFMM has the best line up X2, Tatsu and Goliath is by far the top 3 punch combo as for parking lot coaster or what u called half coaster scream and Full Throttle might not be the greatest but they good to above avg coaster. Calling me a SFMM fan boy let me guess ur from the east coast huh.
YES on prediction #5 !!! Zamperla will NOT be hired to do a major coaster ride again after their major screw up on TT2 trains and ride ! And get rid of Corkscrew at CP please…..and put in an Extreme Mack Spinner.
The only counter I have is CF really likes Zamperla's flat rides and their small coasters. And TT2 is only a big deal if ThunderVolt has similar problems
Cedar fair Park will keep peanuts characters that was already determined and six flags will keep their Looney Tunes stuff and DC that was already determined. California great America will close. Cause that was already sold so they’re not staying around.
You have to understand that TT2 is a one-off conversion. Zamperla has no plans to build a ground-up strata coaster. They're looking to stay within 60 mph for most new coasters, with the occasional 70m Double Heart at parks too small to add a hyper otherwise. Zamperla knew they wouldn't get everything right immediately and stationed engineers in Sandusky to monitor TT2 over its first season. Worst case scenario is they abandon launched coasters and just build a bunch of Wild Mice. They'll be fine.
Never done before concept for TT2 has some issues, wow such a shocker. /sarcasm The original top thrill was down for extended time multiple times throughout its first couple seasons. Not sure if you remember that but it’s not a new thing for new ideas to have kinks You guys are insane thinking they won’t get any more work. They took an existing coaster and made it even better. Rode it 6 times before it went down and it is incredible. I’d much rather them shut it down now get everything worked out so when it does open it will be good to go The first couple weekends they would have to stop the ride for 15- 20 mins every hour or two which was very annoying but it was always related to those wheel, they could of kept running it and replacing wheels with issues in between working hours but it would take forever. I’d much rather them shut it down and fix it now so we don’t have to deal with breakdowns.
Honestly with the money Six Flags has been sinking into DL (Boomerang retracking, predator retracking, and the mind eraser renovation), I believe they plan on keeping the park in the loop for a while. Improvements have been noticeable for a couple years now (between that and general upkeep and landscaping) and it looks like it’ll continue to look up. I can’t imagine Six Flags doing all of that and then ending their lease with the park.
Here’s my take on BOLD predictions for the Six Flags/Cedar Fair merger: 1. We'll finally see parks like Six Flags America, Six Flags New England, California's Great America (which will not close), and Michigan’s Adventure get the love that they desperately deserve. 2. I predict that we’ll see the parks focus on improving their special events. 3. We'll see the company sell some of their parks to other companies (i.e Frontier City, Six Flags Darien Lake, La Ronde). 4. We'll finally see The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis receive an RMC conversion into a hybrid coaster. 5. Despite the Peanuts characters now being part of the company, the Looney Tunes and Justice League will still have a presence in some of the parks. 6. The Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor will open some new rides and attractions, as well as converting into a multi-day park. 7. I predict that parks like Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Over Texas, Kings Island and Dorney Park will receive a new front entrance experience.
CGA is 100& closing, the fact you said that tells me you haven't any idea what is going. The rest of the post is just slightly better than the ignorance of saying CGA isn't closing. The money has been paid to CF, they took the financial steps to close..ie...accelerated depreciation of assets thru Dec 2026, etc..
@NickyD yeah CF has been on the outs with RMC and Intamin very publicly for years now. The problem is RMCs are maintenance nightmares and Intamin over the issues with Top Thrill. Which sucks for park goers as these two manufacturers deliver some of the best ride experiences on earth. Hopefully everyone can work things out and get us the rides of our dreams.
I think this is a play to compete with the Florida giants. I think the future is “resort style” destinations. They print money at Universal compared to Cedar Fair and six flags combined. It’s the hotels, restaurants, all inclusive packages, branding, airline bundles, etc. I could see six flags and cedar fair close several parks and push the “resort” agenda with the remaining parks. Maybe it won’t be a bad thing…who knows though.
I hope at Kings Dominion they actually use their theater. When they were owned by Paramount it would using like Days of Thunder or Spongebob, and it would be like a 4d experience. Since they lost those IP rights, it just sits empty. Hopefully with Six Flags, they could use some WBD IP
CGA is the better park, but it is dead. The land is sold, the area is expensive (taxes and employing in Silicon Valley), and they constantly fought with the local government, regulations, and NFL team.
Gosh I hope Over Texas is given elite park status. Despite what some say there is space for new attractions if you’re creative, and the park’s large attendance rates and prime location make it probably the most important park for the new merged company to pour money into
Not true i worked at sfmm n thats the most attendance yearly because its open year round hopefully cedar people the elite work of sfmm and can fix the park as whole it needs an update to it
That’s always been the farce, in my opinion, of Six Flags over Texas. The fact that they’re the original park and in the 4th largest metropolitan area in the country.
i hope they consolidate/merge HOW things are done. Examples: - CF has all day food/drink passes as bracelets that get scanned. SF pass holder has it attached to the pass. - CF has self scan parking. SF has speedy parking which scans license plates with a camera. - SF has one mobile app for all parks. CF has an app for each park. - SF and CF do mobile food ordering differently. - SF has flash pass on your phone. CF has quick lane as bracelets.
The one I'd get rid of entirely is the Flash pass and stick with the Fast Lane. I hate having to use my phone for that reservation system, and prefer the far more simpler Fast Lane wristband.
Six Flags has been putting Money in the Darien Lake with refurbishing many of the coasters, like Mind eraser, boomerang and predator all getting their tracks redone and rumor has it the area where grizzly run is about to get a major redo. I think Six Flags has plans for that, especially with it being a resort. With the campground, the hotel the performing arts center and the amusement park to see what they can do to get some of the other parks similar.
Six Flags America has upgraded a section of their park themed as a Steampunk section with new trains for their Vekoma SLC which was reviled and loathed by many for years
Also Six Flags does not own Darien Lake or Frontier City, it's owned by EPR Properties, which makes me wonder if Six Flags is going to buy Darien from them.
Definitely a good video and always enjoy watching them. Carowinds is our home park. Passholders here REALLY want to A) see a new water ride of some sort and B) greatly increase indoor rides and show. Many who have been surveyed (myself included) said they would be more likely to attend the park in cooler/colder months if there were more quality indoor options. Carowinds has only one show theatre that has an excellent illusion show, but only about 10 weeks in the Summer and only one indoor ride, Boo Blasters Haunted House ride, which is ok. More indoor options will appeal to more wide range of people, take in a large number of people at once, give people an opportunity to get some A/C (Summers) and rest their feet, give the park more variety/uniqueness of attractions outside of the typical regional theme parks, and draw more people in cooler/colder months.
I didn't realize there was still an "Avalanche Run" style of coaster still operating. CP put lipstick on a pig with their Disaster Transport theme and got a couple decades more out of it before the final wrecking ball.
Love almost all of these! RMC is definitely a one-trick pony right now, would love to see something else from them that isn't the same experience they've been providing. Really like the idea of fast lane and season passes following the Cedar Fair model. Would be a huge benefit for a lot of Six Flags parks! Respectfully, selling off parks though doesn't make sense especially for your stated reason. More parks = lower costs and streamlined operations. They'll dump parks only if they're not profitable enough. A park operator like this would see more benefits with more parks, not less - it's a fallacy to think they just can't deal with "x" number of parks. They may sell some, but it would go against the reason for the merger and would have to have some major underlying reason to it other than "didn't make the cut".
If I'm going to be truly bold I think Darien Lake will stay around for a bit. I don't know why, but it feels like Six Flags is putting some money into the park (Titan Track and an refresh on Mind Eraser). It just seems like they're giving this park more love than Frontier City.
Id really like to see Vekoma come in and work on Viper giving it new life. They need to just get rid of ninja. Suspended coasters are a relic of the past and need to go. Especially because that plot has some insane potential for a terrain coaster!
Brandon, These are my thoughts in bullet point form. 1. Do any parks get sold off? Perhaps the lower tier parks (i.e Six Flags America, Great Escape, Frontier City, Michigan's Adventure) 2. Season passes. Well what tiers based on parks? If it's way expensive .... Chuck it fester.
I see small scale additions at the non flagship parks. As far as them selling off parks, I would like to see Darien Lake go to Palace or possibly Great Escape or Michigans Adventure as well. Herschend would benefit from acquiring one major park but I doubt Six Flags would really be interested in letting anything big like Kings Island or Kings Dominion go. Maybe we will finally get a flier at Cedar Point but that park has so many classic rides that could use an extensive renovation. Millennium Force is confirmed to be getting an extensive renovation for the 2025 season. I have to wonder when Magnum and Gemini will follow. Both are fun great rides but showing their age. I think GCI Titan Track and Millennium Flyers make sense for Gemini and calling in B&M to work on Magnum would be ideal.
NOOO FLYER!! CP! If its a B&M their 'nothing' after first drop & inversion; rest is dull!! When a new coaster is mentioned for CP a Flyer is ALWAYS brought up! WHAT C.P. NEEDS & LACKS is a MAJOR woody ala ---Predator, Prowler & Mystic Timbers!!!! TTD/2Ron4695/46
I grew up going to Six Flags The Great Escape and Kings Dominion, I think there's no doubt about it that once Cedar Fair and Six Flags merge, they may well have to retire the Steamin Demon and Canyon Blaster at Six Flags Great Escape, don't get me wrong they were good rides, but the Steamin Demon is rough, and it's an older model from Arrow Dynamics, when I went to the indoor water park with my sister and grandmother the Steamin Demon sounded like it was just about had it, and if my memory serves me right the Canyon Blaster suffered from long lines maybe with one train which was it, even the defunct Alpine Bobsled coaster suffered with long lines and had issues before being replaced by the Bobcat. I much as I hate to see the Steamin Demon, and the Canyon Blaster go if they consider it, but both coasters mostly the Steamin Demon has gone up in age just as the Alpine Bobsled coaster did, and maybe close to the end if it pains me to say it to be honest, and Six Flags The Great Escape needs a much-needed overhaul, I would like to see the Steamin Demon get replaced with a hyper space wrap from Vekoma, and the Canyon Blaster get replaced with a new mine train coaster also from Vekoma. Vekoma had been improving on their coasters, to be honest and safe to say.
I see Great Escapes next opportunity for a new coaster in about 5 years just in time for the parks 75TH. this will most likely be the Steamin Demon replacement. i do agree a nice new Vekoma would look fantastic in front.
#9 is ridiculous, you just needed to reed the S4 for the projected Six Flags and Cedar Fair Capex individually and the combined Capex once merged. SF was planning increased Capex regardless of the merger b/c they finally seemed to realize skimping doesn't work long term, less attractions yearly, but bigger ones brings people in over 8 cheap clones all over the chain
The notion coaster manufacturers won't be able to produce the number of coasters needed using a short list of companies is ridiculous. Companies can produce what you're willing to pay for. If fro some bizarre reason(like 1% chance) the combined chain added 10 coasters in a year they would have more than enough companies to fill that if they use normal procurement of 2 years out or more for a coaster.
Another thing with Flash pass and why it may end, is it's cost to operate. Flash pass requires a 3rd party and that's why it's so expensive. SF has to split a portion of the revenue with the 3rd party and it's like 25% or more from some reports. Cedar Fair gets to keep all the money in their Fast Lane system
Personally if six flags flash pass works anything like Kennywood’s Speedy pass then it would be way better, for although those systems are more complicated there way better and way more fair, and those parks at least limit the amount of people that can use there skip the line rather than letting the whole park use it like cedar fair have done, for I’ve heard cedar fairs fast lane have had ridiculous line sizes that don’t seem like a skip the line any more because you buy those to skip the line not to end up waiting 30 minutes and hour or even 15 minutes that is unless the rides have technical difficulties
I dont think great america is closing, i know there landlocked and the deal is through but why would they add a new ride to just close it in a few years? also CGA is in a great location and how the park was sold was very sketchy and done under the countys nose, they didnt want to close it, and CGA as potential if it stays open i think they should RMC Grizzly and renovate most the park.
Brandon, think back to when Cedar Fairs purchased Paramount parks. CF tried to improve the landscaping, make things look nice. It took them over 5 years to change the culture of guest just dropping trash all over the place. Kings Island and Kings Dominion has gum all over the wall. Six Flag parks have issues. MAGIC Mountain built Colossus and the next year the que line was destroyed, 5 years later it look worse ... The new six flags have their work in front of them. To change the cultures and clean things up will take a lot of time. MAGIC Mountain gang fights. And chaperone policies...this all take $$$$ to fix.
As for CGA, doesn't the stadium use the same parking lot, closing the park on days there are games? This must be an operations nightmare, and a nail in the coffin for this park.
With investments On the cedar fair side I see cedar point, kings island and Canada’s wonderland leading the charge. So not much change there. Canada’s wonderland attendance from my understanding keeps growing so they’re going to spend there. As for the six flags side I have heard and can see great adventure getting heavy investment. Most of these parks don’t really have competition anymore but great adventure has Hershey near by which is arguably the best park in the country. six flags has been leaning in great adventures direction like giving them all the fright fest mazes this year and getting a whole resort.
Here is the one big thing that i love about this...I am a season passholder for cp..my pass will now cover great America, sfsl, and few other parks..I don't have to worry about buying a ticket..that's automatically takin care of.
I hope they maintain flash pass over fast lane. Flash pass is by far the superior product. It makes it so you don’t have to wait at all. Just show up when the timer runs out
I definitely agree about La Ronde, and Frontier City; Great Adventure should get a piece of lightnin’ loops back if they decide to close that place down or sell it off. America? They just invested on the Steam Punk section, and Darien Lake I just can’t see, the lake view is so picturesque and if they do decide to close it, it would be awful and I feel like Cedar Fair will take advantage of a view so beautiful. DISCOVERY KINGDOM? No I can’t see them selling that park.
They don't own Frontier City or Darien Lake, he pure usual doesn't know what he's talking about. They can't sell or close parks they don't own. They have operating leases.
I could see them selling off Frontier City, Great Escape, and maybe even La Ronde, but I don't think Six Flags America, Six Flags Darien Lake, or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom would be in danger. Most people forget about how they have a lot of waterparks in their portfolio as well. I think they might consider selling off Schlitterbahn to their original owners and a few of their Hurricane Harbor locations that they hadn't previously operated, like the ones in Phoenix and Rockford.
Frontier City and Darien Lake are operating lease parks owned by EPR, along with 3 stand alone water parks. Cedar Fair management will likely not renew the leases or hopefully get out of then early if it's not too costly(penalty provisions for early termination). The lease parks are low revenue & profit by comments made by SF on conf calls. They drag down the already low per caps, etc,, Frontier City must be really hurting on attendance and financially as they are running a summer schedule of 11-6 weekdays(closed tuesday & wednesday) and just 11-7 weekends. Don't see CF management keeping it in the portfolio longer than they have to. SF has taken impairments on FC of 16M and 7M on the OKC water park and 16M on the Houston waterpark. These lease parks were not good deals for SF
They better not touch Whizzer at SFGAM. Also, I could see CP shutting down iron dragon or gemini before the end of the decade in favor of putting up new coasters there.
my home park six flags st louis gets so much hate and neglect, I know with additions of zamperlas Endeavor, : supergirl skyflyer, catwomans whip, last years vekoma, Rookie Racer and this years copy of Fiesta Tx, : Joker Carnival of Chaos including funhouse, how could they improve this park, they still have land to expand, according to the parks layout
I feel like Prediction #5 is basically confirmed. Of course, there is the whole TT2 fiasco, but Sky Striker at SFGAm broke down a lot on opening day. Sure, TT2 is understandable, it is Zamperla’s first time and all, but Sky Striker is a flat ride Zamperla has built dozens of. Come on!
As long as cedar fairs ride regulations doesn't enforce six flags coasters like raging bull because it goes through a tunnel, I will be a little relieved
well something you have pushed for looks to be happening next season at KI. Mason, Ohio public records has a permit for a master blaster water coaster next season. plans look like it is going next to the monsoon ride where the closed surfing ride used to be. so this is to my knowledge the first cedar fair actuall park water coaster. not the biggest water coaster, but still a water coaster. also plans for an upgrade to the kiddie pool. total cost around 8 million for everything.
I feel Discovery Kingdom will continue & CGA will go. You forgot several years ago Cedar Fair sold the land under the park. The lease was for 11 years, so that leaves 8 - 9 years to go.
The lease ends in 2027 with an option for 5 years more. The lease payments have an escalation clause from day one, which , makes it prohibitive to keep as CGA is a low revenue & profit park. The dubious financials are why they were more than happy to sell the land. Cedar Fair never wanted CGA, they tried to get it out of the Paramount deal & they tried to sell it off in the early 2010's, The deal fell thru at the last minute.
Its probably not going to happen, but my bold prediction is that the mack family will buy one of the smaller six flags parks, allowing mack to establish a true presence in america
When assuming when and where could we see another Intamin coaster opening at a SF park. Given the fact that we have GA Surfer coming to SFOG this year, the next park that could see receiving a Intamin after OG is likely going to be SFGAdv later on this decade, probably in 2026 or 2027
Six Flags Great America will receive a RMC Raptor before the year you predicted. And they will probably receive it prior to an Intamin being added to the chain (After the Surf Coaster to SFOG).
I like how everyone considers themselves Insiders. But yet we haven't heard anything regarding pricing or season pass pricing. We haven't even heard what the plans are after the merger. I just think we need to wait and see what happens over the next 6 months to a year. We should know more about the come January 2025 or spring 2025
I don't think SF America will close because while it may on paper be 2 hrs from Kings Dominion, it means driving through DC and NOVA with can quickly stack up to 4+ hrs in traffic or just random. The REAL driving distance between those parks is more like Cedar Point to Kings Island. I think California's Great America is done regardless, the land is already sold. Buying back the land would be INSANELY costly. The company bought the park for the land and I don't see them selling it back to CF/SixFlags without a MASSIVE markup.
I think the parks will continue to add coasters. I also don't think the all parks pass will increase very much. I don't see how they can avoid closing CGA, haven't they already entered into an agreement with the purchaser? I must be the only person in the world that doesn't hate Ninja at SFStL.
Honestly I wish they would remodeled the old coasters like a retrack and new trains because they are kinda classic 2nd I’m curious on who will make the new rides go into each park if that makes sense
Frontier City and Darien Lake are owned by EPR, not Six Flags. You can't sell what you don't own, SF only has an operating lease thru the early 2030's on those parks, as well as 3 water parks.
When I heard RMC was sold and Schilke retired to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Their rides are fantastic. Soooo many parks could be taken to the next level by installing 1 of their hybrids..I'm losing faith we will see the T-REX model come to fruition..Cedar Fair continues to disappoint and hurt themselves by ignoring intiman..Canada's wonderland had a golden opportunity to build something to rival velocicoaster but once again chose the cheaper Mundane option
With Knotts and magic mountain together hopefully there’s a dual pass for both parks since socal is a big market since they’re competing with Disney and Universal and it will help with new attractions before 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics
Woudn't mind if the passes for all parks merge in 2026. Not from the states and its last year that i probable will do a couple of sixflags and maybe 1 or 2 cedair fair parks so that would be nice for me. I do think all of your predictions make sence. As for Zamperla if they can get the problem fixed this year it might not be so bad. This was major step up for them so weill it is a costly mistake if they can fix it with just a seizone delay that not to bad.
I'm also going to make a SUPER bold prediction here... Wonderland will get sold if La Ronde is disposed of as well. This will allow them to contract a bit and concentrate on the USA market primarily (except for SFQ in the middle east, which I think will be a huge success).
Lol...award for silly post,. There is no chance Wonderland is getting sold. It's the 3rd biggest producer in Cedar Fair and will still be in the combined chain.
@@MCQ-fq6bv I get it. But I do see the combined company looking to find synergies, and it is possible that Canada no longer fits the business model that is ultimately decided upon. That’s why I said it was a super bold prediction.
@@mabus42 Toronto is one of the fastest growing metros in North America. Cedar Fair is investing heavily in Wonderland b/c of the area, demographics, good ROI's they are producing. They are getting a new major coaster in 2025 and a themed area. The hotel project shelved b/c of the pandemic has action on permits again.
Think six flags Darien lake is going to make the cut mainly since it’s a resort, has a music venue that not a lot of parks have in the company. Think the parks that will be gone will be the ones you said before you said Darien but I think New England and St. Louis will get added to it.
Perhaps EPR Properties will sell the park to Six Flags since they own the park (along with Frontier City)? Also Darien has been getting a lot of improvement lately.
This sounds like an attempt to have Cedar Fair management attempt to salvage the failing SIx Flags brand. Expect Six Flags parks to close and under-performing rides to be sold off and replaced with crowd-pleasing coasters and water parks. There is a lot of overlap in some areas so they no longer need to compete with each other. Close up the older & smaller Six Flags parks and sell off the rides, assets, and real estate to keep the flagship Parks open.
Did he really just say that it’s been so long for RMC to get work that nobody else may go back and use them and then say opened the last one in 2022…. Not a super long time there Also Steel vengeance is debatable the best ride I’ve ever been on so I don’t see why people would wanna stop using them all together
California's Great America is Land locked and is sharing a parking lot with Levi Stadium....Discovery Kingdom is next to Fairgrounds that are empty all the time....I have no doubt that great america is a better location for audience but if expansion is the key to the decision its going to be discovery kingdom that wins, And Napa/Valejo is not a bad place at all.
Yeah nah, there might be park trimming but i think it'll probably be domestic parks. International parks is something Cedar Faire lacked independently.
I highly doubt they will stop working with zamperla they are working on getting it fixed right now and being diligent and incase you forgot all coasters and rides no matter who there from have lots of problems on there first year expeially if it’s a prototype so don’t worry I’m sure they will get it fixed and it will be running better than ever and better than the original ever did makeing all party very happy and willing to work with each other again
I bet great america gets a single rail in 2025. And i love viper at magic mountain :( hope it stays lol. I was gonna say maybe a multi launch will go there but they already have 2 launched full circuits and a shuttle coaster. And another 7 looping coaster. A vekoma looper would be interesting but really what does this park need
I don't want to see Viper at MM go, but... Imagine if RMC's new business model was converting Arrows into Raptors or T-Rexes? #TRexViper. Too bad there aren't many megaloopers left for this.
The silly fanboy logic on full display about Zamperla. Do you have amnesia of all the epic fails of Intamin over the last 30 years and they are still used. Intamin rides have killed people, permanently maimed others, have poor reliability, etc..
This has not been Cedar Fair's year....AGAIN....TT2 being the worst story. There's also the camels and goats getting out (which is more hilarious than bad) and now the incident with Banshee which was not the fault of the park but still bad publicity. It pains me to say this, but the two companies NEED to merge to stay afloat because while Cedar Fair has done great things, operations wise there's major work that needs to be done.
Theme Park Predictions, I don't want to sound negative, But I need to hear concrete evidence before I believe that California's Great America isn't closing if I understood you correctly. And the reason is because I know someone who is playing a major executive role in the deal that's going on with that Park. Last I heard from family of that person, Great America is going away for 100% certain. I believe it's not over till it's over but I need to hear concrete facts before I can believe it's fate has changed.
CGA is probably better than SFDK, but I don't think the chain really cares about that. CGA is closing because of how much money it's land is worth and not because of the quality of the park. I think they'd rather sell the park worth more and not sell whichever park is worse. When it comes to Six Flags and RMC, I think the pause in new coasters from them is just a result of Selim not buying brand new thrill coasters anymore.
