I haven't clicked Company Man this fast since he talked about movie theaters! I can add one more example of an interaction between the two chains. In 2016, the Cubs played the Indians in the World Series so Cedar Point made a bet with Six Flags Great America where the loser had to rename one of their coasters in honor of the winner. So Top Thrill Dragster became Top Thrill Cubster for a season (and LeBron had to wear a Cubs uniform and post it on Twitter!) Most enthusiasts would probably tell you that they prefer Cedar Fair, because during the recession, they focused on adding a few quality rides while Six Flags tried to add many cheap rides (like the free-spins and boomerangs). Six Flags also cut a lot of corners leading to poor operations (the speed at which they load people into a ride), cheap food, and a ton of advertisements in your face and in your ears all over the park. There is hope that Six Flags is going to change their strategy, however, because after naming a new CEO, they recently announced a new dive coaster for Fiesta Texas created by B&M (one of the most expensive and reliable manufacturers). Hopefully a sign of things to come.
Yes, a dive coaster that doesn't even use the quarry wall, Fiesta Texas would have been the ONE park where a Dive Coaster would have been a great addition IF it used the quarry wall, but nope, it's just going to be another lame dive coaster
@@coastaku1954 It'll at least be the first B&M dive to be beyond vertical. Also, Fiesta Texas seems to have been a higher-tier Six Flags park throughout the 2010s. I'm waiting to see what happens to Six Flags America.
And neither Arlington nor Sandusky will be the headquarters (although Sandusky will retail many back-office functions). The new HQ is going to be in Charlotte. I can't see both the Peanuts and Looney Tunes' licenses surviving.
We have Knott’s and Magic Mountain here in Southern California. In our case, Magic Mountain has the better coasters, but Knott’s has a better theme, and they’re both only a fraction of the cost of Disneyland Anaheim or Universal Studios Hollywood.
I know that this video was supposed to be about the business of theme parks, but it’s utterly impossible to mention Cedar Point and not talk about roller coasters.
@@luodeligesi7238 Agreed. I live in Valenicia, down the street from Magic Mountain and Magic Mountain definitely has the best coasters but man Knott's is an overall better package imo.
With Cedar Fair and the Peanut’s characters, it kinda comes full circle after their acquisition of Valleyfair in Minnesota. The original creator of the characters, Charles Schultz, was from Minnesota. So the fact that their first acquisition was Valleyfair, giving them their company name; and then their second one owning the rights to use the Peanuts character as mascots, kinda brings it all full circle.
The Cedar Fair/Peanuts/Minnesota rabbit hole goes even deeper: When Cedar Fair bought Knott's Berry Farm, they also picked up Knott's contract to manage Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America. This went well for a few years and they were even able to add a whole 2nd roller coaster to our indoor theme park (The park now has 4 coasters, which is hugely impressive for the niche indoor theme park genre), until the mid-2000's when the relationship between CF and the MOA broke down. CF opted not to renew their MOA contract, and as a result the Peanuts license was pulled from the Mall of America. At this point Valleyfair never once hosted the Peanuts characters before (In fact the *only* license they had was The Berenstain Bears), so the loss of the license was a HUGE gut punch for Minnesotans. Peanuts is *our Disney,* and Camp Snoopy was our Disneyland. Since then, CF brought the Peanut's license to Valleyfair in 2010 - restoring the franchise's presence in its home state, while MOA converted their whole park to Nickelodeon in 2008. But despite both parks growing past it, I still feel a considerable hole with the loss of Camp Snoopy. That park had a certain charm that both Valleyfair and Nick U don't have.
@@scaryhobbit211 I agree I remember being at the MOA back in the 90's when Camp Snoopy was there it really had charm and actually I applied for a job there once but I never got it. I did work for Valleyfair in 1998 and it was awesome. That job was probably the funnest job I've ever had.
Although he was born and raised in Minneapolis/St. Paul area, he eventually settled down in the North Bay Area in California (Santa Rosa) and retired there etc and there’s snoopy statues and memorabilia all over the North Bay just fyi A lot of people aren’t even aware he was primarily raised and influenced in MN
I learned quite a few new cool things about MN from this thread. Aside from that, had never even heard of Cedar Fair before and today I learn that they own Valley Fair.
I grew up going to Cedar Point, and at one point in my career did graphic design for the local 6 Flags. Cedar Fair is my favorite, I bought some stock in them in 2020 during the pandemic and it was a pretty good decision.
Cedar Fair definitely has better quality (rides, water rides, food, atmosphere, etc.) over Six Flags though they underserve their lower parks. Six Flags, while they do have preferences, will serve their lower parks better. However, one thing that I love Cedar Fair for is that their parks feel less corporate than Six Flags as Six Flags places brands all over their parks and put IPs into their larger roller coasters.
Agreed Cedar Fairs has multiple different amusement parks. I didn’t even know Knott’s Berry Farm was owned by Cedar Fairs. That’s just one notable cedar fair park. While Six flags is all six flags and are pretty much the same at any location.
@@calculator3609 You got a GCI, quit complaining. If you want more investment into the park, get better attendance. Canada's Wonderland got nearly 4 Million guests in 2019, making it the most popular Seasonal Amusement Park in North America and that will continue to grow, that's why Cedar Fair gives us money and new rides
I grew up in Cleveland OH, and had been to both Geauga Lake and Cedar Point (as wells as Kings Island). Cedar Point is hands down the best roller coaster theme park in the world. Both were great, with Geauga Lake being smaller and cheaper to get in. Great Job!
Knott’s Berry Farm is increasingly popular with us locals. It is a much less expensive alternative to Disneyland. Good that Cedar Fair has this park in their portfolio.
Great video! I grew up in Northeast Ohio, and Cedar Point and Geauga Lake were annual summer pilgrimages; both about equal distance from where I lived but Cedar Point was far superior. However, when Geauga Lake became a Six Flags, it really introduced some exciting rides, the Superman, Batman, and X Flight come to mind. The years where one ticket could get you a Six Flags+Water park+SeaWorld access was a huge deal and a bigger bargain
I went during the downfall (05-07) and I remember all those rides as well. Some are actually still operating: Dominator is still called Dominator and is now at Kings Dominion Head Spin is now Flying Cobras at Carowinds Thunderhawk is still Thunderhawk at Michigans Adventure Steel Venom is now Possessed at Dorney Park Beaver Land Mine Train is now in France X Flight was Firehawk at Kings Island (scraped in 2018 to make way for Orion, there is a clone of it at Six Flags America called Batwing)
In the last 12 months I’ve visited Six Flags (Dallas), Cedar Point, Disney World, and Universal Studios. I was surprised by how much more I enjoyed Cedar Point than any of the others. Waiting in line for 2 full hours in miserable heat and humidity to ride the Snow White ride was a regrettable experience.
I’ve been to Cedar Point, King’s Island, Lake Compounce, and Six Flags New England in the past year. I also have visited Disney World/Land and Knotts, and I agree with your opinion. Disney is over priced and the lines are miserable. Never really had that problem at Cedar Fair. Six flags is fine; lots of cloned coasters, but they have a of RMCs and I love those. If you got to Knotts, Cedar Point, or King’s Island you are definitely getting a good bang for your buck without breaking the bank.
@@brianharrington7663 same. I luckily ate at the nearby Chick-fil-A all because of that wait, since I didn't want to ride all hungry, neither. hated the wait, but after I got off, so far, it's been the best roller coaster I've ever rode so far.
@@ninjagirl226 that's what I hated about Disneyworld. expensive, crowded, long lines, the "Fast Pass" only worked for certain rides and several of these lines realistically weren't worth the wait.
When I was in college in the mid-late 2000s, there was this girl whose father was some high-up with Six Flags. She had a credit card she could charge basically whatever she wanted to and he'd pay for it. She'd party with us and pay for food, drinks, drugs, hotel rooms. She'd say, "don't worry about it. It's my dads money. He won't even notice." She even slept with most of the guys in that friend group. I guess I'd have to say I'm a Six Flags man.
Cedar Fair consistently has higher quality experiences compared to Six Flags. While Six Flags parks are clean, they aren't as well kept and feel cheaper than Cedar Fair, now you do pay for that quality (I have a Platinum Season's Pass for a Cedar Fair park and it cost me $1500CAD for all of the bells and whistles added, meanwhile and equivalent pass, sort of, for Six Flags would be more like $500 or so), but I feel like Cedar Fair puts more money into their parks, at least the parks they like like Cedar Fair, Kings Island, Carowinds, Knotts and Canada's Wonderland, meanwhile Six Flags' best park: Six Flags Great Adventure, looks pretty dated while walking around. Cedar Fair is also much more conservative compared to Six Flags, when Geauga Lake was turned into Six Flags Ohio, they added 4 new roller coasters, a new childrens area, and a whole waterpark, AT ONCE! That costs a TON of money to do, then they bought the neighbouring Sea World Ohio across the lake too, it's no wonder the park ran out of money!
As someone from New York I have never heard of Cedar Fair amusement parks so it is pretty amazing to me that Cedar Fair is neck and neck with six flags! I personally think six flags has been on the downhill with the park being dirtier and the implementation of new rides being sub-par like the cyborg ride in six flags new england. I used to be a season pass holder but eventually cancelled it because we would rather visit Busch Gardens on a long weekend in Virginia than go to a run down six flags!
Six Flags is actually starting to improve slowly but surely. They have new owners and from the looks of it they are finally taking quality over quantity. Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio is a prime example.
What a great time to make a video like that. I actually have a 3 day trip planned for cedar point next week. Cedar point is honestly one of my favorite places on earth I absolutely love being there and some of my greatest memories have been at that park. Just picturing it getting dark to where all the lights are emulated and you’re climbing the steep hill of the millennium force and you hit that point where you can’t even see the track. You’re now 300 something feet in the air looking down at nothing but the lake and the atmosphere to the left of you nothing beats that
Jacob, what you said, exactly!!!!!! CP is one of my favorite places on earth too and at night the lights are magical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love sunset at CP. Beautiful!!!
@@shawndavis1910 Even the Wind Seeker honestly, if you can't get a fast lane pass to get on Millennium Force or Steel Vengeance. I hope TTD re-opens next year.
Ahh it’s so cool to see one of my favorite non-coaster channels make a video about coasters and theme parks. I live right between cedar point and kings island so I visit both of them a bunch in the summer.
I have long waited for you to cover this topic. I think it might be even more interesting now since Six Flags is transitioning to a more Cedar Fair like investment structure with the new CEO. They have raised prices to be more like Cedar Fair, so I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
Six Flags still doesn't have an All-Season Flash Pass for all parks pass like Cedar Fair does, my Platinum Season Fast Lane Plus pass was the best $1000 I ever spent~
@@coastaku1954 I’m more speaking to the elimination of memberships at some parks and the increased prices of season passes. I also was talking about the new business model that is more similar to Cedar Fair, with two or three big additions throughout the chain each year, rather than one new small thing at every park. I am interested to see how Six Flags fairs in this new environment to compete more directly with Cedar Fair. I think that in the past, the two operated almost parallel with each other by attracting slightly different clientele, but now Six Flags is trying to attract a more similar clientele to Cedar Fair
@@aharonsidorov5145 hard to say, but I’ve been to cedar point and it’s a must do, they do have a ride similar to King Da Ka called Top thrill dragster, sadly it is closed for the season, but it inspired King Da Ka, they also have Steel Vengeance, which a lot say is one of the best coasters in the world and I agree it’s awesome
@@maincoasters that’s my home ceded fair park and I live in Florida so I’ve never been there (I want to though in the future.) the only six flags I’ve been to is over Texas and frontier city in Oklahoma City and I really enjoy both a lot as there very fun but cedar fair is better for sure
I grew up within a couple hours of Cedar Point and the place is like hallowed ground. Generations of people from Michigan and Ohio love the place, and it continues to open amazing rides. I feel very lucky to have experienced a place like that many times over the years.
When I was a child, I always thought cedar point was called "See the Point" which I thought was named after the thrill of the view at the top or point of a rollercoaster. I was so confused when I learned the real name. Especially since I had no idea what cedar was.
I have been to Cedar Fair park Worlds of Fun (Kansas City) many times since 1983. I really loved the coaster Orient Express which, sadly, no longer exists. It was an awesome ride! I also liked the wooden coaster Timber Wolf and the other coaster Mamba. They were awesome to ride! I am now too old to ride on many of the rides at Worlds of Fun, as I am on blood pressure medicine. And a footnote: when I was eleven years old back in the Reagan eighties, I got to visit Six Flags Over Texas, which I also liked.
The Geauga lake part hit me right in the feels, I though no one else realy cared about wild water kingdom, I grew up at that place as a kid, thankfully when they tore it down they brought some of the stuff over to cedar point
Thanks for adding the Geauga Lake story!! It was 15 minutes from home growing up, so was always a family favourite. I remember the constantly changing names were always confusing, but at least we had variety so close to home
Honestly, both chains have some really good parks that they pour a lot of investments into, and have some really bad parks that they've neglected or left by the wayside. It seems to be based around how much competition there is in the park areas. But I think both chains are kind of overbloated and could benefit from selling off some of their lesser parks to either be independently owned or taken over by another chain.
@@countofarcadia Amen. Though at least Great Escape has some good coasters like El Toro and Nitro, Michigan's Adventure mostly gets by on its waterpark being included with theme park admission.
@@JCBro-yg8vd You are thinking Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. Great Escape is north of Albany, New York. Both would do better due to have more of their profits possibly. Michigan Adventure was possibly going to get a hypercoaster before being bought by Cedar Fair.
@@countofarcadia Yeah, and I think it was those hypercoaster plans falling through that forced Michigan's Adventure to sell out to a national chain. That, and the money they had to spend to fix up the park after the 98' Tornado/Derecho outbreak. But it's clear that Cedar Fair doesn't care about Michigan's Adventure specifically because it has no direct competition.
It used to be six flags over Texas, because there was one time where 6 different flags were flying in Texas simultaneously over a hundred years ago with the different governments and conflicts. I want to say that the original six flags in Dallas had the true 6 state flags flying back before they just look like 6 colors now.
Six flags over Texas is in Arlington actually alongside everything else that's cool that people like to say is in Dallas it would be more accurate to just say DFW.
@@manicpepsicola3431 I agree with you as over Texas being near DFW is very convenient compared to say magic mountain for example where that’s 1hr I think from the nearest airport and with LA traffic, That’s gonna be a nightmare for travelers
No there weren't. Six flags got its name because six flags that ruled at different times over Texas Where do you get this shit? The Six Flags over Texas we're chronologically Spain France Spain Mexico Republic of Texas United States of America Confederate States of America United States of America
I've never heard of Cedar Fair, but I went to Cedar Point several times as a kid in Ohio. We also went to Six Flags. Cedar Point was always a remarkable experience!
Yay I’ve been going to Cedar Point since I was a kid. My favorite place. We go several times each year. Platinum pass, meal plan, and drink pass. This was a great video, thanks for covering this comparison!
CP experience is honestly kinda meh without the fast lane plus wristband. Hour - plus long waits and needing to pee really bad halfway through waiting in stupid-long lines is not my idea of pleasure.
Cedar Fair vs Six Flags from a beginning enthusiast perspective: Cedar Fair parks are all good quality but they are clearly divided into 3 levels of investment. It's relatively rare that rides are moved from park to park. Cloned coasters are also pretty rare. I don't have any experience with Six Flags parks but I know that the level of investment is relatively equal between all the parks. It's quite common for rides to be rotated to different parks. There's also a lot of cloned coasters across the parks.
That said, even where Six Flags is concerned there is some level of preference. Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great America tend to get a lot more attention than parks like La Ronde, Great Escape, and Six Flags America. As for Cedar Fair, the three tiers of investment seem to be split between the "Haves" (Cedar Point, Kings Island, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland), the "Have-Nots" (Valleyfair, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Michigan's Adventure), and those in-between for one reason or another (Knott's Berry Farm, California's Great America, Kings Dominion). With Knott's, it seems to be primarily space issues making expansions difficult, and CGA seems to have similar issues. As for Kings Dominion, seems the state of Virginia didn't want to give Cedar Fair the same tax breaks that the Carolinas did, so Carowinds got all the attention.
@@MarsJenkar There's zero doubt they would invest more into Knott's if there were room. It's their only year-round park, and it pulls in massive amounts of visitors each year. It's a great park, but there's simply nowhere to put new things unless they tear something else down, or use up the parking lot. As someone who grew up near Kings Island, the big fear when Cedar Fair acquired them was that, since it's so close to Cedar Point, that they would ignore it or even downgrade it to lower competition. Thankfully Cedar Fair realized the two parks could be complimentary and keep investing into it...
@@thomasrinschler6783 It also helps that despite Kings Island and Cedar Point being in the same state, they're basically at opposite sides of the state. For people making a quick day trip to a major park, the spheres of influence don't overlap too much--mostly just the people in central Ohio. And yes, given the attendance figures for Knott's Berry Farm (they are by far the most heavily attended park in the chain), it _should_ be one of the "Haves", but that land is 100% developed, with little to no hope of further expansion. Cedar Fair still does what they can to help the park out, though. One interesting thing you may note about the "Have-Nots" on the list... all of them were owned by Cedar Fair before they acquired the Kings Entertainment/Paramount parks from CBS.
@ssilent8202 Wdym Seaworld Universal And Herschend Have Some Of The Best Parks In The Country In Fact Only Cedar Point And Kings Island Are Better Then Silver Dollar City
As a passholder for both Magic Mountain (membership, which I didn't cancel during the pandemic) and Knott's (Cedar Fair park, the only one that has solid theming... I love coasters but also good theming), hopefully this means that eventually there will be a universal pass for ALL parks under this merger (as well as not removing the Ghost Town theming at Knott's and the chicken restaurant). That is the only positive I could see from this, otherwise it is a complete coaster park monopoly (Disney and Universal are more into dark rides and family entertainment, and while Sea World has its share of coasters, it is also a marine park as well). I never in my dreams saw SFMM and Knott's being under the same company...
Man....Growing up in southeast Michigan in the 90s.....Cedar Point and Geauga Lake were THE summer vacations as a kid. Camping in a little campground nearby. Making bagel sandwiches and sneaking crackers and peanutbutter in for snacks.....All worth it. I was there for the opening of RAPTOR - The biggest, baddest, loopiest, neon-greeniest, roller coaster that ever existed at the time. I also remember riding Millenium Force - at the time the fastest coaster - at night, in the back car (you got the most speed on the drop), with all my friends after high school graduation. Geauga lake was always fun due to the more vintage rides - Raging Wolfbobs will always be the nastiest wooden roller coaster in my eyes - and then there was this water "sled" ride. You got on a plastic and steel "sled" and went down a water slide at high speed. When you hit the pool at the bottom, you'd shoot forward and make a giant wave. Unless you're my dad. Who hit the water, his sled went like 10 feet forwards, then he just stopped......and sunk. Good times. Great parks.
This is RIGHT UP MY ALLEY! Been to Cedar Point for years, have been a coaster enthusiast for forever, and I’m excited for this. I’ve actually been to six CF parks (plat pass holder), but am itching to finally take on some of the SF parks because of some of their legendary coasters
The only CF and SF parks I’ve been to is kings dominion (my former home park, now it’s bush gardens Tampa) six flags over Texas (Dallas) and frontier city (Oklahoma city) Over Texas is the OG SF and has a pretty unique lineup with the first RMC, new Texas giant, mr freeze, an intense launch coaster, and the boring hyper coaster that is a monorail, titan. Frontier city is a charming little park in Oklahoma with diamondback (not a hyper), and is a cute place to stop by for a day and have some fun at.
Just as far as cultural influence, three private companies' and their unions' managing to destroy one of the most dynamic cities in the world is pretty significant. Definitely worth a video.
Geauga Lake is now apartments and shopping. I'm old enough to remember the original Geauga Lake and the swich to six flags and the swich back. Geauga Lake is truly missed in Ohio.
Important Geauga Lake note: people theorize Cedar Fair let Geauga Lake (a historic 100+ year old park) decline and fail on purpose because it competes too closely with Cedar Point for attendance. Cedar Fair gets a lot of hate from NE Ohioans for this.
There are others who think that Cedar Fair's investment in Geauga Lake was more or less part of an "I win no matter what" gambit--that Cedar Fair did actually attempt to make the park work, but when they couldn't (in part due to Six Flags's previous actions) they allowed the park to fail. Not saying Cedar Fair doesn't deserve hate for what happened to Geauga Lake but giving a more nuanced view--and maybe Six Flags doesn't get enough criticism for their role in the park's downfall.
I felt Geauga Lakes days were numbered. They had no way of surviving. They died a long slow death which started even before Six Flags purchased it. Six Flags threw some money at it in a halfhearted attempt to compete with Cedar Point. Then Cedar Point bough it and did the same but in the end both Cedar Fair and Six Flags knew it was just throwing good money after bad.
One thing I will say, if anyone out there is a teenager, and has the opportunity to work at any one of these parks DO IT! My experience was amazing, super fun job, Plus We Got To Test The Rides Every Morning!! Sitting in the front of a near empty coaster without wait makes you feel like a celebrity, and is way more thrilling.
I live near Michigan Adventures, and they were going to build a hotel resort next to it and expand the park like crazy; but Cedar Fair bought them out so they weren’t a threat to Cedar Point. They add a new ride every 5 years to keep the locals entertained for about a week; and we all go back to grumbling how the park hasn’t had anything good happen to it.
I heard about that a while back. While I would like Mi Adventures to be able to expand or at least do something new, I also like that it's a smaller park. A hidden gem if you will.
That's kind of the thing with Cedar Fair. Their higher performing parks are amazing, and a much better experience than any Six Flags park! But on the other hand, they really don't give much attention to their smaller, less known parks... With Six Flags, at least the quality is consistent between their parks, even if it's generally pretty mediocre when compared to the good Cedar Fair parks.
I grew up about half a mile from Geauga Lake. They used to give us free passes as part of their deal with the township (I guess they got some concessions in exchange for noise and stuff). You could also pack your own food to bring in. When Six Flags bought it, they banned outside food and drink, added bag checks, and of course stopped the free passes. Worse yet, they ripped out all the water fountains and refused to serve free water (the only free water was from the taps in the bathrooms). It was absolutely infuriating. They eventually loosened up a bit, but it still makes me angry. That said, the new rides they added were pretty great, easy to underestimate since the park was so small. The whole situation is really crazy though. I don't understand why Sea World thought it made sense to have a park in NE Ohio in the first place. They could only open about three months out of the year, and they had to tend the animals year round, even moving the orca to other parks at enormous expense. Maybe they did turn some profit, probably not much, but I don't think anyone was surprised when they made an exit and Six Flags got rid of all the animals. It was sad, though. I will miss listening to the sea lions at night, their barks inexplicably carrying on the still air even through a closed window.
@@darkridedan1 Six Flags had largely removed the animals before selling to Cedar Fair. At first, they kept a pretty large area of animals, including some on land, with their pride being a pair of tigers. They also had a pool for touching skates and rays and some other stuff, including shows (but I can't remember if they kept any dolphins--they definitely got rid of the sea lions). But they gradually stripped them away and used the land for other purposes, including water rides. They already had like half a dozen water rides in that part of the park before selling.
I grew up going to Cedar Point and Kings Island. I loved visiting the historical museum at CP and learning about the growth of the park. 💚 As always, amazing research! Thank you for covering these two companies.
As a coaster enthusiast and UA-camr, seeing a video like this from a legit channel is incredible. Personally I think Cedar Fair is a little higher quality overall but Six Flags is rapidly improving and honestly, I think I prefer Six Flags. Their operations are actually much better of the parks I’ve been to and they just seem to have more personality.
I actually never even heard of Cedar Fair until this video. As a Chicago Native (don't come to Chicago... there's third world warzones that are more inviting) Six Flag Great America and Santa's Village were the only parks I knew off outside Disney of course. Hell I still remember learning how weird it was to know there were other Six Flags when I was a kid.
I had no idea Cedar Point had a parent company. As someone who was born and raised In Detroit, and currently lives near Detroit, I've been to cedar point multiple times in my life. I've never been to a Six Flags tho. I had an opportunity to go some years ago on a family vacation but the rest of my family chose to do something else. Crazy how their business history is so similar. Lastly, I just so happen to be going to Cedar Point next week, so you posting this video now is crazy 🤣🤣
Get a Platinum Pass for Cedar Point and travel to the other parks, Kings Island is only 4 hours south near Cincinnati, and Canada's Wonderland is only 3 hours into Canada from Detroit, just north of Toronto, you won't regret it
As of this writing. I spent the entire of month of May 2022 exploring all of the Cedar Fair Parks across NE US. As a committed Disney fan, I'm still loyal, but they are so gosh darn expensive that I gave Cedar Fair a chance, with only a visit to Knotts Berry Farm a few years ago. This month I went to Carrowinds, Kings Dominion, Kings Island, Cedar Point, Dorney Park and Canada's Wonderland all in a span of 4 weeks. The experience was very enjoyable, and while not thematic like Disney or Universal, I had a lot of fun for a fraction of the trip. In fact my vacation of 5 weeks had 5 days at Disney World. And those 5 days nearly equated the cost of visiting the other 6 parks combined as a vacation cost while seeing a lot of sights a long the way. I'm doing Six Flags next year.
I'm Canadian from the east coast, but when I was a kid we used to do road trips to Six Flags in Massachusetts every couple of years. It was always a great time and me and my brother rode our first roller coasters there. I'll have to check out a Cedar Fair park!
I live fairly close to Geauga Lake and grew up going there in the 90s (Sea World was right next door to the park). Such good times...and as a kid, it was a real treat to have something like that less than 30 minutes away. When it closed down, it was a huge let-down to the area and many locals, including myself, hope to see it back up and running but it would take a ton of capital to do so and a lot of elbow grease. What was very sad to me, personally, was the dereliction of the famous wooden roller coasters that were original to the park (Big Dipper, for one). Some drone footage can be found on UA-cam...
I grew up in western PA in the 90s, so Geauga Lake was a common summer destination for my family. I remember all the drama when six flags bought out, then sold it to cedar point, then it finally closing down. Lots of good memories there. For anyone else who remembers it, my favorite coaster was Raging Wolf Bobs.
I grew up in Allentown, PA a few minutes from Dorney Park which is the park in Pennsylvania that Cedar Fair bought in the 90s. Dorney was a huge part of my childhood and, while I knew that it was owned by a company in Ohio, I never visited that park. It is funny to hear though that they reused the name of Dorney's waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom, for the name of a failed park in Ohio. I guess they were trying to turn that into its own franchise.
Dorney Park is definitely one of the undeserved "lesser" parks too that needs more coasters and more Cedar Point-quality stuff. My home park, Michigan's Adventure, is similar. Just not enough to do.
Oh, Cedar was the company that bought Knotts? My family use to go to Knotts every Christmas, until it was purchased. A lot changed and my parents weren’t happy. My parents grew up a few blocks away from Knotts in the 60’s, so it was pretty personal to them.
Just my two cents....When Cedar Fair took over Kings Dominion, in Doswell VA, from Paramount, they GREATLY Improved the service and cleanliness of the park....so much so that I actually wrote a nice email to the Cedar Fair management competently them on the positive changes they made to Kings Dominion in Doswell VA. Also, I wanted to mention that growing up in the late `70's in a suburb of Chicago, my parents frequently took me to the Great American theme park in n Lake County, Illinois. I have a LOT of happy memories of that place!
I’m from Cleveland right, roughly a 20min drive from Geauga lake and an hour and a half drive from cedar point. Growing up, I actually would go to sea world/6 flags/geauga lake/ wildwater kingdom a few times a year. It was cheaper, close by, and they had more rides for kids. From my perspective (which is shared by most northeast Ohio residence), cedar point bought geauga lake to kill it. So they would have no more competition in the area. Which, cedar point always had the bigger, faster, and more exciting rides (especially in the early 2000) and geauga lake was the cheaper and easier park to go to that didn’t have to be an entire day endeavor. Part of the reason why I believe this is because the wildwater kingdom was open for so much longer… but without the park the desire to go to the water park was a lot less… I drive past where the park used to be maybe once a month and it’s just an empty parking lot now with large fences. They recently starting turning it into a housing development which makes me so sad. I have such wonderful memories from that park. I do of cedar point as well but I think about waiting in line forever when I’m there. Cedar point does have a special place in my heart, don’t get me wrong. I just wished we still had both. Also, you did a wonderful job pronouncing geauga.
I'm from the Cleveland area myself and it seemed to me that as Cedar Point got larger and travel to it became a little easier after they finished Rt 2 to go all the way out there it spelled the doom for Geauge Lake. It was a losing business that couldn't survive. It just had too many things going against it. One of them was the pure logistics of it being built around a lake. While at one time this may have seemed like a good idea it eventually hurt it. Six Flags bought it (no doubt to attempt to compete with Cedar Point directly) and they threw a bunch of sub standard rides in it to update it but eventually probably found that there was no way for them to compete directly with Cedar Point in their own market. When Cedar Point bought it they seemed to make an modest effort at keeping it going but it didn't take long for them to fold. I don't know if they just made that effort for appearance sake only or it is was sincere but It didn't last long after Cedar Fair bought it.
Mary, I completely agree with you! My body can't handle the extreme rides unfortunately so I always preferred Geague Lake. I now have 2 young boys and we have to take them to Waldameer park in Erie PA so I can ride some rides with them. I so miss Geagua Lake!
In my experiences, Cedar Fair parks put a lot more emphasis on guest experience and operations - Cedar Fair will run as many trains on a coaster as they can to ensure that operations are smooth, lines go as fast as they can, and the parks generally feel more lively and better maintained. Six Flags definitely seems to put cutting costs above all else, operating at bare minimum capacities and employees, and it shows.
True I happen to live near six flags America and kings dominion I went to both this summer and at six flags everything was a ten minute wait while despite being more crowded kings dominion had station waits for everything except i305 (5 min wait running two trains). But the thing I took away most was that the kings dominion staff where having fun while still dispatching very fast whereas the six flags crews were swearing and taking forever to send trains.
It depends on the park and usually based on size. SFGAdv, SFMM and SFGAm will run as many trains as possible while Dorney, Michigan’s Adventure and Valley Fair usually doesn’t.
I didn't get a notification on this one and I am SO MAD because I live in Cleveland! We have had Six Flags but Cedar Fair is is our #1!!! I will update when I am done watching!
I worked at Valley Fair in the late 1990s! Weird thing about this history is Knotts Berry Farm was also the name stamped on the amusement park rides inside the Mall of America; which if you have never been, is enormous for a indoor amusement park! This all must have happened long after I moved away from Minneapolis in 1998.
I loved this comparison. One piece of economic analysis that would have been helpful is understanding why theme parks thrived in the US during the post-war period.
As a kid in northeast Ohio in the 1970s, I thought Cedar Point was the greatest place in the world. I'm pretty sure they still have the biggest and best roller coasters. But not being located in a big touristy city, it seems like most visitors come by car from fairly long distances. The two way trip for me was 150 miles as a kid. It's 230 miles today. I have to wonder if Cedar Point and similarly situated parks will survive the current inflationary period.
I think they will. There was a huge wave of pent-up demand when parks reopened after the pandemic closures and I don't think it's over yet. Higher fuel prices might cut down on vacationing a bit but I think people still really want to get out there. It's also still a bit harder to travel internationally than it used to be, which has people looking at domestic destinations.
Sixty years ago I looked forward, for months, to going to Six Flags Over Texas every summer. It was our one vacation most years (my dad was a doctor trying to build a practice in a small East Texas town), so we didn't have much money, and he had even less free time. But every year he'd basically stay up for almost 24 hours to take us to the park; we'd get up at before dawn to drive so we'd be there when the park opened, we'd stay until they kicked us out, and he'd stop at a HoJo's for food and coffee so he could say awake until he got home. I think he got about 5 hours of sleep the night before we'd go, and 3 hours the night we got back, so it was miserable for him, but as long as we liked it, he'd take us. The place was magical to me then, but I'd probably be depressed to see it now. When I was older, he moved to L.A., and then I went to Disneyland so often I got bored with it, until I had kids of my own.
I’m having a Berenstain moment. I only knew of Cedar Point, so I didn’t know that it had a wider reaching company. Almost thought the Sandusky location was actually named Cedar Fair when I saw the thumbnail.
Yea it's confusing they don't really market that they own multiple parks outside of the Platinum pass. Cedar Fair owns: Californias Great America Gilroy Gardens Knott's Berry Farm Cedar Point Canadas Wonderland Kings Island Kings Dominion Carowinds Dorney Park Michigans Adventure Valleyfair World's of Fun Both Schlitterbahn parks
I grew up going to Cedar Point. We lived 20 mile away. I worked and lived there for one summer during my college years. An experience that I will never forget. I remember hitching a ride up the causeway to get to work. The person who picked us up was the CFO. Much smaller company then.
Great America in Northern California was previously managed by Paramount and the park fealt legitimate with rides like Top Gun, Drop Zone, and the Survivor ride. They also had a partnership with Nickelodeon. After Cedar Fair took over it felt like the unlicensed costumes at the Spirit store with all the rides changing names and the switch to Peanuts.
great america was way better under paramount. i worked there years ago and was told that it was purchased to run in the red to fund the east coast parks. they did add that one new wooden coaster tho, and its a decent ride.
@@wh0cares- that's awesome that you worked there. That wooden rollercoaster is a good example. It is a great ride, however I think Paramount would market it better and we would know the name of it lol.
@@MrRicklynch57 you got a good point there. they also shipped away invertigo which was always my favorite. and was actually my first job. teenage amusement park worker cliché lmao. will always love that place tho
@@abjecttiramisu8558 the santa clara park effectively runs as a tax write off for the other parks. at least that what i was told when i worked there in 2013. i think that added a new single rail coaster tho. i may buy a ticket this season and check it out if i have time. i hear its pretty good. they need to tear down the grizzley and the demon tho lmao
Wow! That took me back to my childhood. I remember all those changes in the '90's. Cedar Point will always be better than Geauga Lake, but Geauga Lake was close enough to my hometown that we were allowed to drive there alone with friends in high school and I got to have a season pass, so they are both special to me. The Walmart/Target comparison totally lands!
This is a pretty interesting video. Kings Island is my home park and I've been to Cedar Point, and love them both. I've kept my eyes on other parks not too far from me (notably Kings Dominion, Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland) to visit in the future. In regards to Six Flags, I've never been to one but would love to visit a few of them in the future. I've heard that they're run more poorly than Cedar Fair but I guess I'll find out at some point.
It's so weird as an Ohioan to hear people talk about Cedar Point. I mean, no one outside this area would remember Geauga Lake, but Cedar Point makes Sandusky a city everyone knows, yet it's also just a place I went to occasionally as a kid. Also RIP Geauga Lake and Sea World D:
Cedar Point is a "Holy Grail" park for enthusiasts, it's a park you HAVE to visit in order to truly be called an Enthusiast. Steel Vengeance is a ride that us Enthusiasts were BEGGING Cedar Point to make. Next time you go to Cedar Point, I bet you over a quarter of the people there, including the staff, are Enthusiasts from out of town and out of state, they usually wear shirts from another park or of their favourite ride from another park. Hell, I'm from Canada and I've gone to Cedar Point like 6 times
As a San Diego resident for my first 63 years, we spent a lot of time at Knott's, Magic Mountain and Disneyland. Magic Mountain had so much potential but was poorly run with an often sketchy crowd. We had Knott's passes in the 2000s, which got us admission in all of their parks around the country and we used them! Our favorite park was Cedar Point, I often said that I would leap over Disneyland to go to there. We have been to other Six Flags parks and not found them as bad as Magic Mountain. So I'll vote for Cedar Fair as having the best parks, including Valleyfair and Dorney, both were quite nice.
Visited Cedar Point about 35 years ago and had some fond memories. Used to work for Six Flags MM back in the mid 90s for a year and they were great. That was when folks can turn in a used can of soda and pay $7 to go in, or pay a few dollars for a twicket to come back in within a week, and a season pass cost $40. Haven't been to Six Flags for about 6 years and don't think would visit it or any amusement park since it is just too expensive and better money spent on something else.
8:57 I still remember geauga lake/six flags Ohio I remember going there when I was a kid it was sad to see it close down in 2007 in fact some people still (depending on who you ask) to this day hold a grudge against either cedar fair or six flags for the closure of the geauga lake
@@ahuman997 exactly, I get why people blame both sides cedar fair took away the animals once they bought it & some of the rides towards the end but at the end of the day 6 flags buying SeaWorld Ohio & making the park bigger than it should of been was the beginning of the end and even if cedar fair didn't close it down in 2007 the economic recession in 2008 would've definitely killed the park due to the financial issues it already had due to 6 flags buying SeaWorld
To me Geauga Lake was a dying park. There was no way it was going to be able to survive. Especially after the Cedar Point roller coaster boom. GL didn't have much land and some of the land it had was swamp land because of the lake. It was built around a lake and it needed an overhaul because the walkways were so narrow and crowded. Also after they finish Rt 2 it made travel to CP that much easier.
@@ScottCleve33 right, GL was basically on borrowed time in the 2000s it was going to close down no matter what if cedar fair didn't close it in 2007 I guarantee it the economic recession in 2008 would've killed it & even if cedar fair would've put the money into GL to overhaul it I think it's location would've been a problem for them in the future because why would you go to a park similar to cedar point when the real cedar point was an hour and a half away
might be the odd one out here, but part of me has always had more interest in Six Flags because of how much more experimental they're been compared to Cedar Fair. For example, Rocky Mountain Construction wouldn't have gotten to where it is now without Six Flags taking a risk on them.
Great video! I’m from and live in Minnesota so liking Cedar Point more might be bias, lol. Cedar Point used to operate Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America. It closed when I was either 5 or 6 but I remember my dad taking me there and even from the small memories of that, I miss it.
I grew up in a suburb in between Cedar Point and Six Flags Ohio-I went to both growing up! The competition between the two parks in the area was palpable.
I haven't clicked Company Man this fast since he talked about movie theaters! I can add one more example of an interaction between the two chains. In 2016, the Cubs played the Indians in the World Series so Cedar Point made a bet with Six Flags Great America where the loser had to rename one of their coasters in honor of the winner. So Top Thrill Dragster became Top Thrill Cubster for a season (and LeBron had to wear a Cubs uniform and post it on Twitter!)
Most enthusiasts would probably tell you that they prefer Cedar Fair, because during the recession, they focused on adding a few quality rides while Six Flags tried to add many cheap rides (like the free-spins and boomerangs). Six Flags also cut a lot of corners leading to poor operations (the speed at which they load people into a ride), cheap food, and a ton of advertisements in your face and in your ears all over the park.
There is hope that Six Flags is going to change their strategy, however, because after naming a new CEO, they recently announced a new dive coaster for Fiesta Texas created by B&M (one of the most expensive and reliable manufacturers). Hopefully a sign of things to come.
fan of your channel, love cedar point as well! 💜
Yes, a dive coaster that doesn't even use the quarry wall, Fiesta Texas would have been the ONE park where a Dive Coaster would have been a great addition IF it used the quarry wall, but nope, it's just going to be another lame dive coaster
@@coastaku1954 It'll at least be the first B&M dive to be beyond vertical.
Also, Fiesta Texas seems to have been a higher-tier Six Flags park throughout the 2010s. I'm waiting to see what happens to Six Flags America.
@@100DollarHeadache They’re always the same, the extra degree won’t matter cause the layouts suck
yo
It's absolutely insane that Cedar Fair and Six Flags are merging now.
Yeah I'm curious how worlds of fun is going to operate next year
All CF park names will remain the same, even after CF is renamed Six Flags (With CF's ticker symbol "FUN") @@matthewbarker1785
And neither Arlington nor Sandusky will be the headquarters (although Sandusky will retail many back-office functions). The new HQ is going to be in Charlotte. I can't see both the Peanuts and Looney Tunes' licenses surviving.
nooooooo
Who is here after they officially merged?
Cedar Fair definitely has the overall better coasters to me but some Six Flags parks definitely hold their own! This was a fun duel
We have Knott’s and Magic Mountain here in Southern California. In our case, Magic Mountain has the better coasters, but Knott’s has a better theme, and they’re both only a fraction of the cost of Disneyland Anaheim or Universal Studios Hollywood.
I know that this video was supposed to be about the business of theme parks, but it’s utterly impossible to mention Cedar Point and not talk about roller coasters.
Your profile photo is driving me NUTS!! I keep thinking I have an eyelash or hair on my screen!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH
@@luodeligesi7238 Agreed. I live in Valenicia, down the street from Magic Mountain and Magic Mountain definitely has the best coasters but man Knott's is an overall better package imo.
@@Onoitsbroko six flags is kind of ghetto and too many wannabe gangbangers. Knotts has more upscale people.
With Cedar Fair and the Peanut’s characters, it kinda comes full circle after their acquisition of Valleyfair in Minnesota. The original creator of the characters, Charles Schultz, was from Minnesota. So the fact that their first acquisition was Valleyfair, giving them their company name; and then their second one owning the rights to use the Peanuts character as mascots, kinda brings it all full circle.
The Cedar Fair/Peanuts/Minnesota rabbit hole goes even deeper:
When Cedar Fair bought Knott's Berry Farm, they also picked up Knott's contract to manage Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America.
This went well for a few years and they were even able to add a whole 2nd roller coaster to our indoor theme park (The park now has 4 coasters, which is hugely impressive for the niche indoor theme park genre), until the mid-2000's when the relationship between CF and the MOA broke down. CF opted not to renew their MOA contract, and as a result the Peanuts license was pulled from the Mall of America.
At this point Valleyfair never once hosted the Peanuts characters before (In fact the *only* license they had was The Berenstain Bears), so the loss of the license was a HUGE gut punch for Minnesotans. Peanuts is *our Disney,* and Camp Snoopy was our Disneyland.
Since then, CF brought the Peanut's license to Valleyfair in 2010 - restoring the franchise's presence in its home state, while MOA converted their whole park to Nickelodeon in 2008. But despite both parks growing past it, I still feel a considerable hole with the loss of Camp Snoopy. That park had a certain charm that both Valleyfair and Nick U don't have.
@@scaryhobbit211 I agree I remember being at the MOA back in the 90's when Camp Snoopy was there it really had charm and actually I applied for a job there once but I never got it. I did work for Valleyfair in 1998 and it was awesome. That job was probably the funnest job I've ever had.
i love cool little moments like this
Although he was born and raised in Minneapolis/St. Paul area, he eventually settled down in the North Bay Area in California (Santa Rosa) and retired there etc and there’s snoopy statues and memorabilia all over the North Bay just fyi
A lot of people aren’t even aware he was primarily raised and influenced in MN
I learned quite a few new cool things about MN from this thread.
Aside from that, had never even heard of Cedar Fair before and today I learn that they own Valley Fair.
I grew up going to Cedar Point, and at one point in my career did graphic design for the local 6 Flags. Cedar Fair is my favorite, I bought some stock in them in 2020 during the pandemic and it was a pretty good decision.
I think I want to buy some stock in Cedar Fair too.
Dang, as a coaster enthusiast who has watched company man for over 6 years now. Boy am I glad to see this!
Me too!
Uh he only started his channel five years ago?
Cedar Fair definitely has better quality (rides, water rides, food, atmosphere, etc.) over Six Flags though they underserve their lower parks. Six Flags, while they do have preferences, will serve their lower parks better. However, one thing that I love Cedar Fair for is that their parks feel less corporate than Six Flags as Six Flags places brands all over their parks and put IPs into their larger roller coasters.
Agreed Cedar Fairs has multiple different amusement parks. I didn’t even know Knott’s Berry Farm was owned by Cedar Fairs. That’s just one notable cedar fair park. While Six flags is all six flags and are pretty much the same at any location.
@@zojirushi1 Hell, Six Flags New England and America have the exact same entrance building!
Yeah Cedar Fair ain't doing any favors for Worlds of Fun
@@calculator3609 You got a GCI, quit complaining. If you want more investment into the park, get better attendance. Canada's Wonderland got nearly 4 Million guests in 2019, making it the most popular Seasonal Amusement Park in North America and that will continue to grow, that's why Cedar Fair gives us money and new rides
@@coastaku1954 hehe Canadian...
I grew up in Cleveland OH, and had been to both Geauga Lake and Cedar Point (as wells as Kings Island). Cedar Point is hands down the best roller coaster theme park in the world. Both were great, with Geauga Lake being smaller and cheaper to get in. Great Job!
Magic Mountain is better than Cedar point lol
@@CGFights it's definitely not
@@CGFights no
Energylandia > Cedar Point
Did you ever go to Boblo Island? May have been before your time.
Knott’s Berry Farm is increasingly popular with us locals. It is a much less expensive alternative to Disneyland. Good that Cedar Fair has this park in their portfolio.
As a Ohioan, cedar point is expensive af
Great video! I grew up in Northeast Ohio, and Cedar Point and Geauga Lake were annual summer pilgrimages; both about equal distance from where I lived but Cedar Point was far superior. However, when Geauga Lake became a Six Flags, it really introduced some exciting rides, the Superman, Batman, and X Flight come to mind. The years where one ticket could get you a Six Flags+Water park+SeaWorld access was a huge deal and a bigger bargain
I went during the downfall (05-07) and I remember all those rides as well. Some are actually still operating:
Dominator is still called Dominator and is now at Kings Dominion
Head Spin is now Flying Cobras at Carowinds
Thunderhawk is still Thunderhawk at Michigans Adventure
Steel Venom is now Possessed at Dorney Park
Beaver Land Mine Train is now in France
X Flight was Firehawk at Kings Island (scraped in 2018 to make way for Orion, there is a clone of it at Six Flags America called Batwing)
In my opinion, comparing Six Flags to Cedar Fair is like comparing Walmart to Target (besides the financial side of course).
I've never been in a target that impressed me....
It's funny you said that. I compared Six Flags to Walmart without seeing your comment. LOL. I feel like your comparison is perfect.
Actually, comparing Walmart to Target is a fair comparison. I don't know if that's what you meant.
This is exactly what I was going to comment.
@@stephenbarabas6286 I'd ask you how many Walmart stores you've been impressed by but I don't want to throw up if you say more than zero.
Finding out how businesses have overtime grew, became successful or unsuccessful or a combination of the three is incredibly fascinating to me.
Same
Agreed
In the last 12 months I’ve visited Six Flags (Dallas), Cedar Point, Disney World, and Universal Studios. I was surprised by how much more I enjoyed Cedar Point than any of the others.
Waiting in line for 2 full hours in miserable heat and humidity to ride the Snow White ride was a regrettable experience.
Cedar point is totally marketed towards thrill seekers, and I love it. I would wait 2 hours to ride steel vengeance any day haha.
Lol Hopefully you have kids and we’re waiting to ride that ride because of that otherwise no shit that was a miserable experience
I’ve been to Cedar Point, King’s Island, Lake Compounce, and Six Flags New England in the past year. I also have visited Disney World/Land and Knotts, and I agree with your opinion. Disney is over priced and the lines are miserable. Never really had that problem at Cedar Fair. Six flags is fine; lots of cloned coasters, but they have a of RMCs and I love those.
If you got to Knotts, Cedar Point, or King’s Island you are definitely getting a good bang for your buck without breaking the bank.
@@brianharrington7663 same. I luckily ate at the nearby Chick-fil-A all because of that wait, since I didn't want to ride all hungry, neither. hated the wait, but after I got off, so far, it's been the best roller coaster I've ever rode so far.
@@ninjagirl226 that's what I hated about Disneyworld. expensive, crowded, long lines, the "Fast Pass" only worked for certain rides and several of these lines realistically weren't worth the wait.
YO COMPANY MAN! This week, the two parks merged! Can you create a video on this crazy update?
When I was in college in the mid-late 2000s, there was this girl whose father was some high-up with Six Flags. She had a credit card she could charge basically whatever she wanted to and he'd pay for it. She'd party with us and pay for food, drinks, drugs, hotel rooms. She'd say, "don't worry about it. It's my dads money. He won't even notice." She even slept with most of the guys in that friend group. I guess I'd have to say I'm a Six Flags man.
Thottie lol
She’s the reason they went bankrupt 😂
Not exactly the best story to tell. Whores and drugs do not belong in this conversation.
What a lad
Bs
Cedar Fair consistently has higher quality experiences compared to Six Flags. While Six Flags parks are clean, they aren't as well kept and feel cheaper than Cedar Fair, now you do pay for that quality (I have a Platinum Season's Pass for a Cedar Fair park and it cost me $1500CAD for all of the bells and whistles added, meanwhile and equivalent pass, sort of, for Six Flags would be more like $500 or so), but I feel like Cedar Fair puts more money into their parks, at least the parks they like like Cedar Fair, Kings Island, Carowinds, Knotts and Canada's Wonderland, meanwhile Six Flags' best park: Six Flags Great Adventure, looks pretty dated while walking around. Cedar Fair is also much more conservative compared to Six Flags, when Geauga Lake was turned into Six Flags Ohio, they added 4 new roller coasters, a new childrens area, and a whole waterpark, AT ONCE! That costs a TON of money to do, then they bought the neighbouring Sea World Ohio across the lake too, it's no wonder the park ran out of money!
Magic mountain is sixflags flagship park
@@restless5996 So is Great Adventure
Six flags is not clean
@@coastaku1954 there's one flagship, magic mountain but similar to cedar point and kings island great adventure is a close second.
@@restless5996 Cedar Point actually has good rides, Magic Mountain is just filler
As someone from New York I have never heard of Cedar Fair amusement parks so it is pretty amazing to me that Cedar Fair is neck and neck with six flags! I personally think six flags has been on the downhill with the park being dirtier and the implementation of new rides being sub-par like the cyborg ride in six flags new england.
I used to be a season pass holder but eventually cancelled it because we would rather visit Busch Gardens on a long weekend in Virginia than go to a run down six flags!
As a Virginian kings dominion located in northern Virginia is my family's choice over Busch gardens
It's likely because cedar fair doesn't brand their parks so most people don't know certain parks are a part of thr chain
@@danielmallory4687 Which is owned by Cedar Fair...do they still have the Eiffel Tower replica. I remember you could see it from the freeway
Six Flags is actually starting to improve slowly but surely. They have new owners and from the looks of it they are finally taking quality over quantity. Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio is a prime example.
@@scpatl4now The tower is still there but from my visits in August '21 and March '22 it wasn't operating. King's Island in Mason, OH operates though
What a great time to make a video like that. I actually have a 3 day trip planned for cedar point next week. Cedar point is honestly one of my favorite places on earth I absolutely love being there and some of my greatest memories have been at that park. Just picturing it getting dark to where all the lights are emulated and you’re climbing the steep hill of the millennium force and you hit that point where you can’t even see the track. You’re now 300 something feet in the air looking down at nothing but the lake and the atmosphere to the left of you nothing beats that
People also have no idea how big Lake Erie is until they see it. The view from the top of Millennium force is like looking over the ocean.
Jacob, what you said, exactly!!!!!! CP is one of my favorite places on earth too and at night the lights are magical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love sunset at CP. Beautiful!!!
@@shawndavis1910 Even the Wind Seeker honestly, if you can't get a fast lane pass to get on Millennium Force or Steel Vengeance. I hope TTD re-opens next year.
Ahh it’s so cool to see one of my favorite non-coaster channels make a video about coasters and theme parks. I live right between cedar point and kings island so I visit both of them a bunch in the summer.
Genuinely never hear of Cedar Fair before today, but I’ll be damned if that Six Flags commercial with the old guy isn’t etched into my brain.
I have long waited for you to cover this topic. I think it might be even more interesting now since Six Flags is transitioning to a more Cedar Fair like investment structure with the new CEO. They have raised prices to be more like Cedar Fair, so I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
Six Flags still doesn't have an All-Season Flash Pass for all parks pass like Cedar Fair does, my Platinum Season Fast Lane Plus pass was the best $1000 I ever spent~
@@coastaku1954 I’m more speaking to the elimination of memberships at some parks and the increased prices of season passes. I also was talking about the new business model that is more similar to Cedar Fair, with two or three big additions throughout the chain each year, rather than one new small thing at every park. I am interested to see how Six Flags fairs in this new environment to compete more directly with Cedar Fair. I think that in the past, the two operated almost parallel with each other by attracting slightly different clientele, but now Six Flags is trying to attract a more similar clientele to Cedar Fair
I've never went to a cedar point. Do they have better park in the tri state area then the new Jersey six flags?
@@aharonsidorov5145 hard to say, but I’ve been to cedar point and it’s a must do, they do have a ride similar to King Da Ka called Top thrill dragster, sadly it is closed for the season, but it inspired King Da Ka, they also have Steel Vengeance, which a lot say is one of the best coasters in the world and I agree it’s awesome
@@aharonsidorov5145 No. Cedar Fair has not really taken hold in that area of the country.
I was just at Cedar Point Ohio and it was a great experience
What's your favorite ride?
Same I was just there a couple days ago
But.. Ohio 🤢🤢🤮
@@davidfrey08 Top Thrill is closed down due to it nearly killing a woman. So the millennium is the best ride
Steel Vengeance
i just went to my first six flags park yesterday, it was way better than i expected! it was decently clean, great operations, very nice
my homepark is carowinds , obviously i like that more
@@maincoasters that’s my home ceded fair park and I live in Florida so I’ve never been there (I want to though in the future.) the only six flags I’ve been to is over Texas and frontier city in Oklahoma City and I really enjoy both a lot as there very fun but cedar fair is better for sure
Which particular Six Flags did you visit?
@@seanlewis1148 sixflags over georgia
Annnnnnd..... They have merged
I grew up within a couple hours of Cedar Point and the place is like hallowed ground. Generations of people from Michigan and Ohio love the place, and it continues to open amazing rides. I feel very lucky to have experienced a place like that many times over the years.
This Hoosier Born woman LOVES Cedar Point! Hallowed ground indeed. I always get tears of joy when I approach the best amusement park in the world!
When I was a child, I always thought cedar point was called "See the Point" which I thought was named after the thrill of the view at the top or point of a rollercoaster. I was so confused when I learned the real name. Especially since I had no idea what cedar was.
Given that their tagline for a while was "Get to the Point..." I could see how you thought it was "See the Point."
I got the point
Man, Wildwater Kingdom was such a massive portion of my summers during high school. Sad to see they didn't survive much longer after I moved away.
Same, I loved going there. I was pretty sad when they closed down
They got a lot of flack for closing it, too. People around here are still mad about it.
I have been to Cedar Fair park Worlds of Fun (Kansas City) many times since 1983. I really loved the coaster Orient Express which, sadly, no longer exists. It was an awesome ride! I also liked the wooden coaster Timber Wolf and the other coaster Mamba. They were awesome to ride! I am now too old to ride on many of the rides at Worlds of Fun, as I am on blood pressure medicine. And a footnote: when I was eleven years old back in the Reagan eighties, I got to visit Six Flags Over Texas, which I also liked.
The Geauga lake part hit me right in the feels, I though no one else realy cared about wild water kingdom, I grew up at that place as a kid, thankfully when they tore it down they brought some of the stuff over to cedar point
Thanks for adding the Geauga Lake story!! It was 15 minutes from home growing up, so was always a family favourite. I remember the constantly changing names were always confusing, but at least we had variety so close to home
Honestly, both chains have some really good parks that they pour a lot of investments into, and have some really bad parks that they've neglected or left by the wayside. It seems to be based around how much competition there is in the park areas. But I think both chains are kind of overbloated and could benefit from selling off some of their lesser parks to either be independently owned or taken over by another chain.
Michigan Adventure and Great Escape probably would do better as independent parks.
@@countofarcadia Amen. Though at least Great Escape has some good coasters like El Toro and Nitro, Michigan's Adventure mostly gets by on its waterpark being included with theme park admission.
@@JCBro-yg8vd You are thinking Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. Great Escape is north of Albany, New York. Both would do better due to have more of their profits possibly. Michigan Adventure was possibly going to get a hypercoaster before being bought by Cedar Fair.
@@countofarcadia Yeah, and I think it was those hypercoaster plans falling through that forced Michigan's Adventure to sell out to a national chain. That, and the money they had to spend to fix up the park after the 98' Tornado/Derecho outbreak. But it's clear that Cedar Fair doesn't care about Michigan's Adventure specifically because it has no direct competition.
@@countofarcadia true great escape could easily be its own park
It used to be six flags over Texas, because there was one time where 6 different flags were flying in Texas simultaneously over a hundred years ago with the different governments and conflicts. I want to say that the original six flags in Dallas had the true 6 state flags flying back before they just look like 6 colors now.
Six flags over Texas is in Arlington actually alongside everything else that's cool that people like to say is in Dallas it would be more accurate to just say DFW.
@@manicpepsicola3431 I agree with you as over Texas being near DFW is very convenient compared to say magic mountain for example where that’s 1hr I think from the nearest airport and with LA traffic, That’s gonna be a nightmare for travelers
Don't ask:
A man, his salary
A woman, her age
Six Flags, what the sixth flag over Texas was
No there weren't.
Six flags got its name because six flags that ruled at different times over Texas
Where do you get this shit?
The Six Flags over Texas we're chronologically
Spain
France
Spain
Mexico
Republic of Texas
United States of America
Confederate States of America
United States of America
I've never heard of Cedar Fair, but I went to Cedar Point several times as a kid in Ohio. We also went to Six Flags. Cedar Point was always a remarkable experience!
Yay I’ve been going to Cedar Point since I was a kid. My favorite place. We go several times each year. Platinum pass, meal plan, and drink pass. This was a great video, thanks for covering this comparison!
CP experience is honestly kinda meh without the fast lane plus wristband. Hour - plus long waits and needing to pee really bad halfway through waiting in stupid-long lines is not my idea of pleasure.
As a roller coaster enthusiast, I absolutely loved this!! I'm on team Cedar Fair. My home park is Valleyfair, been going since i was a kid!
Same!
Plus Camp Snoopy when Cedar Fair still managed it. It's a shame they split with the Mall of America.
same here
Cedar Fair vs Six Flags from a beginning enthusiast perspective:
Cedar Fair parks are all good quality but they are clearly divided into 3 levels of investment. It's relatively rare that rides are moved from park to park. Cloned coasters are also pretty rare.
I don't have any experience with Six Flags parks but I know that the level of investment is relatively equal between all the parks. It's quite common for rides to be rotated to different parks. There's also a lot of cloned coasters across the parks.
That said, even where Six Flags is concerned there is some level of preference. Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great America tend to get a lot more attention than parks like La Ronde, Great Escape, and Six Flags America.
As for Cedar Fair, the three tiers of investment seem to be split between the "Haves" (Cedar Point, Kings Island, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland), the "Have-Nots" (Valleyfair, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Michigan's Adventure), and those in-between for one reason or another (Knott's Berry Farm, California's Great America, Kings Dominion). With Knott's, it seems to be primarily space issues making expansions difficult, and CGA seems to have similar issues. As for Kings Dominion, seems the state of Virginia didn't want to give Cedar Fair the same tax breaks that the Carolinas did, so Carowinds got all the attention.
@@MarsJenkar thank you for further expanding on the differences! I always appreciate getting more details
@@MarsJenkar There's zero doubt they would invest more into Knott's if there were room. It's their only year-round park, and it pulls in massive amounts of visitors each year. It's a great park, but there's simply nowhere to put new things unless they tear something else down, or use up the parking lot.
As someone who grew up near Kings Island, the big fear when Cedar Fair acquired them was that, since it's so close to Cedar Point, that they would ignore it or even downgrade it to lower competition. Thankfully Cedar Fair realized the two parks could be complimentary and keep investing into it...
@@thomasrinschler6783 It also helps that despite Kings Island and Cedar Point being in the same state, they're basically at opposite sides of the state. For people making a quick day trip to a major park, the spheres of influence don't overlap too much--mostly just the people in central Ohio.
And yes, given the attendance figures for Knott's Berry Farm (they are by far the most heavily attended park in the chain), it _should_ be one of the "Haves", but that land is 100% developed, with little to no hope of further expansion. Cedar Fair still does what they can to help the park out, though.
One interesting thing you may note about the "Have-Nots" on the list... all of them were owned by Cedar Fair before they acquired the Kings Entertainment/Paramount parks from CBS.
It's been announced that Cedar Fair and Six Flags are merging to create one unified Cedar Fair company.
@@ssilent8202 Except its gonna be Cedar Fair....but renamed as Six Flags 💀
@ssilent8202 Wdym Seaworld Universal And Herschend Have Some Of The Best Parks In The Country In Fact Only Cedar Point And Kings Island Are Better Then Silver Dollar City
As a passholder for both Magic Mountain (membership, which I didn't cancel during the pandemic) and Knott's (Cedar Fair park, the only one that has solid theming... I love coasters but also good theming), hopefully this means that eventually there will be a universal pass for ALL parks under this merger (as well as not removing the Ghost Town theming at Knott's and the chicken restaurant). That is the only positive I could see from this, otherwise it is a complete coaster park monopoly (Disney and Universal are more into dark rides and family entertainment, and while Sea World has its share of coasters, it is also a marine park as well). I never in my dreams saw SFMM and Knott's being under the same company...
I'd never heard of Cedar Fair and wasn't aware that they owned Knott's Berry Farm. I always learn things for watching these vids. Thanks!
Man....Growing up in southeast Michigan in the 90s.....Cedar Point and Geauga Lake were THE summer vacations as a kid. Camping in a little campground nearby. Making bagel sandwiches and sneaking crackers and peanutbutter in for snacks.....All worth it. I was there for the opening of RAPTOR - The biggest, baddest, loopiest, neon-greeniest, roller coaster that ever existed at the time. I also remember riding Millenium Force - at the time the fastest coaster - at night, in the back car (you got the most speed on the drop), with all my friends after high school graduation.
Geauga lake was always fun due to the more vintage rides - Raging Wolfbobs will always be the nastiest wooden roller coaster in my eyes - and then there was this water "sled" ride. You got on a plastic and steel "sled" and went down a water slide at high speed. When you hit the pool at the bottom, you'd shoot forward and make a giant wave. Unless you're my dad. Who hit the water, his sled went like 10 feet forwards, then he just stopped......and sunk. Good times. Great parks.
Definitely time for an update, with the merger!
This is RIGHT UP MY ALLEY!
Been to Cedar Point for years, have been a coaster enthusiast for forever, and I’m excited for this.
I’ve actually been to six CF parks (plat pass holder), but am itching to finally take on some of the SF parks because of some of their legendary coasters
The only CF and SF parks I’ve been to is kings dominion (my former home park, now it’s bush gardens Tampa) six flags over Texas (Dallas) and frontier city (Oklahoma city)
Over Texas is the OG SF and has a pretty unique lineup with the first RMC, new Texas giant, mr freeze, an intense launch coaster, and the boring hyper coaster that is a monorail, titan.
Frontier city is a charming little park in Oklahoma with diamondback (not a hyper), and is a cute place to stop by for a day and have some fun at.
I would love to see a video on the Big Three automotive companies
Just as far as cultural influence, three private companies' and their unions' managing to destroy one of the most dynamic cities in the world is pretty significant. Definitely worth a video.
Detroit had more problems than just the Big 3.
Glad to see ceder fair gets the recognition they deserves
ehh, not really.
I'm even more glad to see Valleyfair get noticed.
Geauga Lake is now apartments and shopping. I'm old enough to remember the original Geauga Lake and the swich to six flags and the swich back. Geauga Lake is truly missed in Ohio.
Six Flags tries to buy Cedar Fair....
Cedar Fair: Flashes UNO Reverse Card
Important Geauga Lake note: people theorize Cedar Fair let Geauga Lake (a historic 100+ year old park) decline and fail on purpose because it competes too closely with Cedar Point for attendance. Cedar Fair gets a lot of hate from NE Ohioans for this.
There are others who think that Cedar Fair's investment in Geauga Lake was more or less part of an "I win no matter what" gambit--that Cedar Fair did actually attempt to make the park work, but when they couldn't (in part due to Six Flags's previous actions) they allowed the park to fail. Not saying Cedar Fair doesn't deserve hate for what happened to Geauga Lake but giving a more nuanced view--and maybe Six Flags doesn't get enough criticism for their role in the park's downfall.
I felt Geauga Lakes days were numbered. They had no way of surviving. They died a long slow death which started even before Six Flags purchased it. Six Flags threw some money at it in a halfhearted attempt to compete with Cedar Point. Then Cedar Point bough it and did the same but in the end both Cedar Fair and Six Flags knew it was just throwing good money after bad.
@@ScottCleve33Exactly, they wouldn’t have survived since Cedar Point is so close and since Kennywood attracts people too.
One thing I will say, if anyone out there is a teenager, and has the opportunity to work at any one of these parks DO IT! My experience was amazing, super fun job, Plus We Got To Test The Rides Every Morning!! Sitting in the front of a near empty coaster without wait makes you feel like a celebrity, and is way more thrilling.
I live near Michigan Adventures, and they were going to build a hotel resort next to it and expand the park like crazy; but Cedar Fair bought them out so they weren’t a threat to Cedar Point. They add a new ride every 5 years to keep the locals entertained for about a week; and we all go back to grumbling how the park hasn’t had anything good happen to it.
Yeah, that is frustrating.
I heard about that a while back. While I would like Mi Adventures to be able to expand or at least do something new, I also like that it's a smaller park. A hidden gem if you will.
At least you got a nice brand new kids area recently
That's kind of the thing with Cedar Fair. Their higher performing parks are amazing, and a much better experience than any Six Flags park! But on the other hand, they really don't give much attention to their smaller, less known parks...
With Six Flags, at least the quality is consistent between their parks, even if it's generally pretty mediocre when compared to the good Cedar Fair parks.
I grew up about half a mile from Geauga Lake. They used to give us free passes as part of their deal with the township (I guess they got some concessions in exchange for noise and stuff). You could also pack your own food to bring in. When Six Flags bought it, they banned outside food and drink, added bag checks, and of course stopped the free passes. Worse yet, they ripped out all the water fountains and refused to serve free water (the only free water was from the taps in the bathrooms). It was absolutely infuriating. They eventually loosened up a bit, but it still makes me angry. That said, the new rides they added were pretty great, easy to underestimate since the park was so small.
The whole situation is really crazy though. I don't understand why Sea World thought it made sense to have a park in NE Ohio in the first place. They could only open about three months out of the year, and they had to tend the animals year round, even moving the orca to other parks at enormous expense. Maybe they did turn some profit, probably not much, but I don't think anyone was surprised when they made an exit and Six Flags got rid of all the animals. It was sad, though. I will miss listening to the sea lions at night, their barks inexplicably carrying on the still air even through a closed window.
Cedar Fair got rid of all the animals. Six Flags kept the Sea World animals as part of “Worlds of Adventure.”
@@darkridedan1 Six Flags had largely removed the animals before selling to Cedar Fair. At first, they kept a pretty large area of animals, including some on land, with their pride being a pair of tigers. They also had a pool for touching skates and rays and some other stuff, including shows (but I can't remember if they kept any dolphins--they definitely got rid of the sea lions). But they gradually stripped them away and used the land for other purposes, including water rides. They already had like half a dozen water rides in that part of the park before selling.
@@EebstertheGreat yes, they knew Cedar Fair wouldn’t keep the animals, and SF sent them to their other animal parks
I grew up going to Cedar Point and Kings Island. I loved visiting the historical museum at CP and learning about the growth of the park. 💚 As always, amazing research! Thank you for covering these two companies.
The museum is one of the main highlights!
Love me some Cedar Fair. Carowinds is an awesome park. They’ve been a blessing.
I miss the Nickelodeon themes rifes
That's my local park! It's such a great park, lots of wonderful rollercoasters. Honestly Fury 325 is worth it alone
@@cgpxae2119 me too. It gave more of a chill vibe when they still had it. I’d take that loss in return of Intimidator and Fury.
@@MustachioFurioso9134 I agree. I’m glad Cedar Fair is investing a lot here.
@@bryanchung yeah all the spongebob characters back in the 2000s was a super cool vibe as a kid
As a coaster enthusiast and UA-camr, seeing a video like this from a legit channel is incredible. Personally I think Cedar Fair is a little higher quality overall but Six Flags is rapidly improving and honestly, I think I prefer Six Flags. Their operations are actually much better of the parks I’ve been to and they just seem to have more personality.
So close to 1.5 Million Subscribers!
I actually never even heard of Cedar Fair until this video. As a Chicago Native (don't come to Chicago... there's third world warzones that are more inviting) Six Flag Great America and Santa's Village were the only parks I knew off outside Disney of course. Hell I still remember learning how weird it was to know there were other Six Flags when I was a kid.
Six Flags is the Dollar Tree of the Theme Park Industry.
I had no idea Cedar Point had a parent company. As someone who was born and raised In Detroit, and currently lives near Detroit, I've been to cedar point multiple times in my life. I've never been to a Six Flags tho. I had an opportunity to go some years ago on a family vacation but the rest of my family chose to do something else. Crazy how their business history is so similar. Lastly, I just so happen to be going to Cedar Point next week, so you posting this video now is crazy 🤣🤣
Get a Platinum Pass for Cedar Point and travel to the other parks, Kings Island is only 4 hours south near Cincinnati, and Canada's Wonderland is only 3 hours into Canada from Detroit, just north of Toronto, you won't regret it
As of this writing. I spent the entire of month of May 2022 exploring all of the Cedar Fair Parks across NE US. As a committed Disney fan, I'm still loyal, but they are so gosh darn expensive that I gave Cedar Fair a chance, with only a visit to Knotts Berry Farm a few years ago. This month I went to Carrowinds, Kings Dominion, Kings Island, Cedar Point, Dorney Park and Canada's Wonderland all in a span of 4 weeks. The experience was very enjoyable, and while not thematic like Disney or Universal, I had a lot of fun for a fraction of the trip. In fact my vacation of 5 weeks had 5 days at Disney World. And those 5 days nearly equated the cost of visiting the other 6 parks combined as a vacation cost while seeing a lot of sights a long the way. I'm doing Six Flags next year.
BEEN REQUESTING THIS VIDEO FOR 2 YEARS. YOU DID A GOOD JOB. CEDAR FAIR IS BY FAR THE BETTER CHAIN
I'm Canadian from the east coast, but when I was a kid we used to do road trips to Six Flags in Massachusetts every couple of years. It was always a great time and me and my brother rode our first roller coasters there. I'll have to check out a Cedar Fair park!
I owe you a thank you because your original six flags video got me back into roller coasters after a decade-long hiatus
These videos are so well done. I really hope you do a Hershey Park video one day!
I've never heard of Ceder Fair, but I've created some of my favorite memories at Six Flags Great Adventure
They own Dorney Park in PA
The company usually keeps their name off the title of their parks, whereas Six Flags put THEIR name on most of theirs.
I had to come here when I heard the news yesterday that Cedar Fair and Six Flags are merging. I guess you'll have to make a new video about this.
I live fairly close to Geauga Lake and grew up going there in the 90s (Sea World was right next door to the park). Such good times...and as a kid, it was a real treat to have something like that less than 30 minutes away. When it closed down, it was a huge let-down to the area and many locals, including myself, hope to see it back up and running but it would take a ton of capital to do so and a lot of elbow grease. What was very sad to me, personally, was the dereliction of the famous wooden roller coasters that were original to the park (Big Dipper, for one). Some drone footage can be found on UA-cam...
I grew up in western PA in the 90s, so Geauga Lake was a common summer destination for my family. I remember all the drama when six flags bought out, then sold it to cedar point, then it finally closing down. Lots of good memories there. For anyone else who remembers it, my favorite coaster was Raging Wolf Bobs.
I grew up in Allentown, PA a few minutes from Dorney Park which is the park in Pennsylvania that Cedar Fair bought in the 90s. Dorney was a huge part of my childhood and, while I knew that it was owned by a company in Ohio, I never visited that park. It is funny to hear though that they reused the name of Dorney's waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom, for the name of a failed park in Ohio. I guess they were trying to turn that into its own franchise.
Dorney Park rocks. Ice Cream World across the street is great too.
Dorney Park is definitely one of the undeserved "lesser" parks too that needs more coasters and more Cedar Point-quality stuff. My home park, Michigan's Adventure, is similar. Just not enough to do.
Oh, Cedar was the company that bought Knotts? My family use to go to Knotts every Christmas, until it was purchased. A lot changed and my parents weren’t happy. My parents grew up a few blocks away from Knotts in the 60’s, so it was pretty personal to them.
Welp they won’t like what their planning on building in 2024 a 330+ tall Giga Coaster!
@@SunshineStateCoasters that got canceled, it’s now a smaller hyper coaster they are planning to build.
@@brodeypriddy23 oh… they should remove Xceleator and put a compact Giga there lol jk
10:30 fast forward a year, and...well...
Can’t wait till the day UA-cam notifies me there’s a crossover collab by Company Man, Yesterworld, and Defunctland. I would clock so fast.
Just my two cents....When Cedar Fair took over Kings Dominion, in Doswell VA, from Paramount, they GREATLY Improved the service and cleanliness of the park....so much so that I actually wrote a nice email to the Cedar Fair management competently them on the positive changes they made to Kings Dominion in Doswell VA. Also, I wanted to mention that growing up in the late `70's in a suburb of Chicago, my parents frequently took me to the Great American theme park in n Lake County, Illinois. I have a LOT of happy memories of that place!
I’m from Cleveland right, roughly a 20min drive from Geauga lake and an hour and a half drive from cedar point. Growing up, I actually would go to sea world/6 flags/geauga lake/ wildwater kingdom a few times a year. It was cheaper, close by, and they had more rides for kids. From my perspective (which is shared by most northeast Ohio residence), cedar point bought geauga lake to kill it. So they would have no more competition in the area. Which, cedar point always had the bigger, faster, and more exciting rides (especially in the early 2000) and geauga lake was the cheaper and easier park to go to that didn’t have to be an entire day endeavor. Part of the reason why I believe this is because the wildwater kingdom was open for so much longer… but without the park the desire to go to the water park was a lot less…
I drive past where the park used to be maybe once a month and it’s just an empty parking lot now with large fences. They recently starting turning it into a housing development which makes me so sad. I have such wonderful memories from that park. I do of cedar point as well but I think about waiting in line forever when I’m there. Cedar point does have a special place in my heart, don’t get me wrong. I just wished we still had both.
Also, you did a wonderful job pronouncing geauga.
I’m a Cleveland native too and couldn’t agree more. Especially with the pronunciation 🤣
I'm from the Cleveland area myself and it seemed to me that as Cedar Point got larger and travel to it became a little easier after they finished Rt 2 to go all the way out there it spelled the doom for Geauge Lake. It was a losing business that couldn't survive. It just had too many things going against it. One of them was the pure logistics of it being built around a lake. While at one time this may have seemed like a good idea it eventually hurt it.
Six Flags bought it (no doubt to attempt to compete with Cedar Point directly) and they threw a bunch of sub standard rides in it to update it but eventually probably found that there was no way for them to compete directly with Cedar Point in their own market.
When Cedar Point bought it they seemed to make an modest effort at keeping it going but it didn't take long for them to fold. I don't know if they just made that effort for appearance sake only or it is was sincere but It didn't last long after Cedar Fair bought it.
Mary, I completely agree with you! My body can't handle the extreme rides unfortunately so I always preferred Geague Lake. I now have 2 young boys and we have to take them to Waldameer park in Erie PA so I can ride some rides with them. I so miss Geagua Lake!
Northeast Ohio native here also. He did a great job I agree
Six Flags made Gaeuga Lake a $hit hole. There was no coming back from it. I loved Gaeuga Lake hated Six Flags
maybe sometimes, enemies can come to terms
In my experiences, Cedar Fair parks put a lot more emphasis on guest experience and operations - Cedar Fair will run as many trains on a coaster as they can to ensure that operations are smooth, lines go as fast as they can, and the parks generally feel more lively and better maintained. Six Flags definitely seems to put cutting costs above all else, operating at bare minimum capacities and employees, and it shows.
But atleast six flags doesnt get rid of there parks because of the money of selling the land
True I happen to live near six flags America and kings dominion I went to both this summer and at six flags everything was a ten minute wait while despite being more crowded kings dominion had station waits for everything except i305 (5 min wait running two trains). But the thing I took away most was that the kings dominion staff where having fun while still dispatching very fast whereas the six flags crews were swearing and taking forever to send trains.
It depends on the park and usually based on size. SFGAdv, SFMM and SFGAm will run as many trains as possible while Dorney, Michigan’s Adventure and Valley Fair usually doesn’t.
I didn't get a notification on this one and I am SO MAD because I live in Cleveland! We have had Six Flags but Cedar Fair is is our #1!!! I will update when I am done watching!
I worked at Valley Fair in the late 1990s! Weird thing about this history is Knotts Berry Farm was also the name stamped on the amusement park rides inside the Mall of America; which if you have never been, is enormous for a indoor amusement park! This all must have happened long after I moved away from Minneapolis in 1998.
I loved this comparison. One piece of economic analysis that would have been helpful is understanding why theme parks thrived in the US during the post-war period.
As a kid in northeast Ohio in the 1970s, I thought Cedar Point was the greatest place in the world. I'm pretty sure they still have the biggest and best roller coasters. But not being located in a big touristy city, it seems like most visitors come by car from fairly long distances. The two way trip for me was 150 miles as a kid. It's 230 miles today. I have to wonder if Cedar Point and similarly situated parks will survive the current inflationary period.
I thought Geuaga Lake was the greatest thing ever too as a kid
They don't have the tallest coaster in the world, but they do have two of the best
I think they will. There was a huge wave of pent-up demand when parks reopened after the pandemic closures and I don't think it's over yet. Higher fuel prices might cut down on vacationing a bit but I think people still really want to get out there. It's also still a bit harder to travel internationally than it used to be, which has people looking at domestic destinations.
@@MattMcIrvin Right now Fuel prices in Canada are skyrocketing yet I still want to travel to parks. The pent-up demand is real
@@MattMcIrvin Very good point.
Who’s here after Six Flags and Cedar Fair merged?
Sixty years ago I looked forward, for months, to going to Six Flags Over Texas every summer. It was our one vacation most years (my dad was a doctor trying to build a practice in a small East Texas town), so we didn't have much money, and he had even less free time. But every year he'd basically stay up for almost 24 hours to take us to the park; we'd get up at before dawn to drive so we'd be there when the park opened, we'd stay until they kicked us out, and he'd stop at a HoJo's for food and coffee so he could say awake until he got home. I think he got about 5 hours of sleep the night before we'd go, and 3 hours the night we got back, so it was miserable for him, but as long as we liked it, he'd take us. The place was magical to me then, but I'd probably be depressed to see it now. When I was older, he moved to L.A., and then I went to Disneyland so often I got bored with it, until I had kids of my own.
Sounds like you had an excellent, and very caring father.
I hope y’all are all well!
This is crazy that you put this out after I’ve been watching lots of coaster videos.
As a coaster enthusiast this video gets a thumbs up 👍
I’m having a Berenstain moment.
I only knew of Cedar Point, so I didn’t know that it had a wider reaching company. Almost thought the Sandusky location was actually named Cedar Fair when I saw the thumbnail.
Yea it's confusing they don't really market that they own multiple parks outside of the Platinum pass. Cedar Fair owns:
Californias Great America
Gilroy Gardens
Knott's Berry Farm
Cedar Point
Canadas Wonderland
Kings Island
Kings Dominion
Carowinds
Dorney Park
Michigans Adventure
Valleyfair
World's of Fun
Both Schlitterbahn parks
11/2/23 and the two companies have merged. I'd love to hear your take on this.
I grew up going to Cedar Point. We lived 20 mile away. I worked and lived there for one summer during my college years. An experience that I will never forget. I remember hitching a ride up the causeway to get to work. The person who picked us up was the CFO. Much smaller company then.
Valley Fair is still the name as a child growing up in the 90s/early 200ps we took trips every year and the name today is still Valleyfair
Who’s here after they announced their merger?
Not me. I’m from the past.
Great America in Northern California was previously managed by Paramount and the park fealt legitimate with rides like Top Gun, Drop Zone, and the Survivor ride. They also had a partnership with Nickelodeon. After Cedar Fair took over it felt like the unlicensed costumes at the Spirit store with all the rides changing names and the switch to Peanuts.
great america was way better under paramount. i worked there years ago and was told that it was purchased to run in the red to fund the east coast parks. they did add that one new wooden coaster tho, and its a decent ride.
@@wh0cares- that's awesome that you worked there. That wooden rollercoaster is a good example. It is a great ride, however I think Paramount would market it better and we would know the name of it lol.
@@MrRicklynch57 you got a good point there. they also shipped away invertigo which was always my favorite. and was actually my first job. teenage amusement park worker cliché lmao. will always love that place tho
I thought they would've added a Star Trek shuttle ride or some such, but I never came across one, not even those virtual rocking simulators.
@@abjecttiramisu8558 the santa clara park effectively runs as a tax write off for the other parks. at least that what i was told when i worked there in 2013. i think that added a new single rail coaster tho. i may buy a ticket this season and check it out if i have time. i hear its pretty good. they need to tear down the grizzley and the demon tho lmao
What about Busch Gardens? I would love to see a video on them!
Sea world owns Busch Gardens
I could see a video where it's sea world vrs hershend
Ouu I'm excited for this video! I live near cedar point but don't know much about the company, and I know very little about six flags.
Wow! That took me back to my childhood. I remember all those changes in the '90's. Cedar Point will always be better than Geauga Lake, but Geauga Lake was close enough to my hometown that we were allowed to drive there alone with friends in high school and I got to have a season pass, so they are both special to me. The Walmart/Target comparison totally lands!
This is a pretty interesting video. Kings Island is my home park and I've been to Cedar Point, and love them both. I've kept my eyes on other parks not too far from me (notably Kings Dominion, Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland) to visit in the future.
In regards to Six Flags, I've never been to one but would love to visit a few of them in the future. I've heard that they're run more poorly than Cedar Fair but I guess I'll find out at some point.
Six Flags is really hit or miss with their parks. If you want to go to a really good one with amazing rides, I'd recommend Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
POV you are here when they merged
It's so weird as an Ohioan to hear people talk about Cedar Point. I mean, no one outside this area would remember Geauga Lake, but Cedar Point makes Sandusky a city everyone knows, yet it's also just a place I went to occasionally as a kid.
Also RIP Geauga Lake and Sea World D:
Cedar Point is a "Holy Grail" park for enthusiasts, it's a park you HAVE to visit in order to truly be called an Enthusiast. Steel Vengeance is a ride that us Enthusiasts were BEGGING Cedar Point to make. Next time you go to Cedar Point, I bet you over a quarter of the people there, including the staff, are Enthusiasts from out of town and out of state, they usually wear shirts from another park or of their favourite ride from another park. Hell, I'm from Canada and I've gone to Cedar Point like 6 times
If I could afford it, I’d fly out to Cedar Point tomorrow and I know all about Gueuga Lake, but I am en enthusiast.
@@katashworth41 You can't fly to Cedar Point, you need to fly to Cleveland first and then rent a car
@@coastaku1954 I know that.
As a San Diego resident for my first 63 years, we spent a lot of time at Knott's, Magic Mountain and Disneyland. Magic Mountain had so much potential but was poorly run with an often sketchy crowd. We had Knott's passes in the 2000s, which got us admission in all of their parks around the country and we used them! Our favorite park was Cedar Point, I often said that I would leap over Disneyland to go to there. We have been to other Six Flags parks and not found them as bad as Magic Mountain. So I'll vote for Cedar Fair as having the best parks, including Valleyfair and Dorney, both were quite nice.
Visited Cedar Point about 35 years ago and had some fond memories. Used to work for Six Flags MM back in the mid 90s for a year and they were great. That was when folks can turn in a used can of soda and pay $7 to go in, or pay a few dollars for a twicket to come back in within a week, and a season pass cost $40.
Haven't been to Six Flags for about 6 years and don't think would visit it or any amusement park since it is just too expensive and better money spent on something else.
8:57 I still remember geauga lake/six flags Ohio I remember going there when I was a kid it was sad to see it close down in 2007 in fact some people still (depending on who you ask) to this day hold a grudge against either cedar fair or six flags for the closure of the geauga lake
Six flags is to blame for it closing imo
@@ahuman997 exactly, I get why people blame both sides cedar fair took away the animals once they bought it & some of the rides towards the end but at the end of the day 6 flags buying SeaWorld Ohio & making the park bigger than it should of been was the beginning of the end and even if cedar fair didn't close it down in 2007 the economic recession in 2008 would've definitely killed the park due to the financial issues it already had due to 6 flags buying SeaWorld
To me Geauga Lake was a dying park. There was no way it was going to be able to survive. Especially after the Cedar Point roller coaster boom. GL didn't have much land and some of the land it had was swamp land because of the lake. It was built around a lake and it needed an overhaul because the walkways were so narrow and crowded. Also after they finish Rt 2 it made travel to CP that much easier.
@@ScottCleve33 right, GL was basically on borrowed time in the 2000s it was going to close down no matter what if cedar fair didn't close it in 2007 I guarantee it the economic recession in 2008 would've killed it & even if cedar fair would've put the money into GL to overhaul it I think it's location would've been a problem for them in the future because why would you go to a park similar to cedar point when the real cedar point was an hour and a half away
Great job nailing the pronunciation of Geauga. 👍🏾
might be the odd one out here, but part of me has always had more interest in Six Flags because of how much more experimental they're been compared to Cedar Fair. For example, Rocky Mountain Construction wouldn't have gotten to where it is now without Six Flags taking a risk on them.
Same, though I'm not a huge roller coaster junkie so I thought Six Flags was more enjoyable for someone who isn't interested in them as much.
Great video! I’m from and live in Minnesota so liking Cedar Point more might be bias, lol. Cedar Point used to operate Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America. It closed when I was either 5 or 6 but I remember my dad taking me there and even from the small memories of that, I miss it.
I grew up in a suburb in between Cedar Point and Six Flags Ohio-I went to both growing up! The competition between the two parks in the area was palpable.