Cedar Fair-Six Flags merger: A history of Cedar Point, Kings Island and Six Flags in Ohio
Ohio’s two biggest amusement parks will now be owned by the world’s largest regional theme park operator thanks to a merger announced Thursday.
Four years after rejecting a buyout offer from Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company – which owns Cedar Point and Kings Island – struck a deal with Six Flags to create a juggernaut of 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and nine resort properties spanning 17 U.S. states as well as Canada and Mexico.
The $8 billion merger will “bring together two of North America’s iconic amusement park companies to establish a highly diversified footprint and a more robust operating model to enhance park offerings and performance,” Richard Zimmerman, president and CEO of Cedar Fair, said in a news release.
Selim Bassoul, president and CEO of Six Flags, called the merger combination of "the best of both companies."
Six Flags is now based in Arlington, Texas. The consolidated company will operate under the name Six Flags with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina while maintaining “significant” finance and administrative operations in Sandusky, where Cedar Point is located.
Cedar Point opened in 1870, while Kings Island, in Mason, first welcomed thrill-seekers in 1972. According to its website, the now-extinct Cedar Fair owns 15 other properties including, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, and Canada’s Wonderland in Ontario, and 11 resorts offering 2,300-plus rooms and more than 600 luxury RV sites.
About Cedar Point
At over 150 years old, the 364-acre Cedar Point is considered the second-oldest amusement park in the U.S., behind Bristol, Connecticut's Lake Compounce.
With 70 hair-raising rides, the park was voted “Best Amusement Park in North America” in USA TODAY's 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards in 2019 and ranked No. 4 in the 2023 poll. In addition, readers rated the Lake Erie-situated amusement destination's Cedar Point Shores as sixth-best out of 10 water parks this year.
Cedar Point boasts 18 roller coasters, tying it with Canada's Wonderland and putting both just behind Six Flags Magic Mountain with its 20 coasters. One of the park's flagship attractions, Steel Vengeance, opened five years ago as the world's longest hyper-hybrid roller coaster, with 5,740 feet of track.
In addition to its many rides, Cedar Point also offers a variety of summer events, beach activities, live shows, three expansive kids’ areas, and hotels just feet away from the park.
About Kings Island
Kings Island, which bested Cedar Point as the second-best theme park according to USA TODAY 10Best readers this year. Like its Sandusky cohort, the park sits on 364 acres, with more than 100 rides, including 15 roller coasters — among them The Beast, a 7,631-foot-long monster that has held the record for the world’s longest wooden coaster since it opened in 1979.
Seasonal attractions include Soak City Water Park, where summer guests can enjoy more than 50 water activities, including 36 water slides; fall fun like The Great Pumpkin Fest and Halloween Haunt, voted 2018 Best Theme Park Halloween Event by USA Today readers; and WinterFest, which features more than 5 million holiday lights, plus live entertainment and rides.
Meet the new boss: Six Flags
Before the acquisition of Cedar Fair, Six Flags' closest location to Ohio was Gurnee, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. But the company's roots in the Buckeye state run deep. Like Cedar Fair, Six Flags tried its hand at running two now-defunct theme parks in the northeastern part of the state, Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio, both located in Aurora.
Geauga Lake owner Premier Parks acquired Six Flags in 1998, adopted the company's name in 2000, and rechristened Geauga Lake as Six Flags Ohio. A year later, Six Flags bought the adjacent SeaWorld and merged the two parks as Six Flags Worlds of Adventure.
Combined attendance at both parks reached an estimated 2.7 million visitors in 2001, but by 2004, attendance had dwindled to about 700,000. That same year, Six Flags sold Worlds of Adventure to Cedar Fair and the park was rebranded Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom.
Again, declining attendance plagued the site, and in 2007, Cedar Fair closed the amusement park, continuing to operate the water park as Wildwater Kingdom until 2016.
Wyandot Lake also operated under the Six Flags name for a time. Funtime Inc., which owned Geauga Lake before Premier Parks, leased the property from the City of Columbus in 1983 and opened it as Wyandot Lake Adventure Park the following year. In 1995, Premier Parks acquired Funtime and continued to operate the amusement park as Wyandot Lake.
Within the next decade, Six Flags began to sell multiple properties amid financial woes. In mid-2006, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced an agreement to purchase Wyandot Lake for $2 million. After much reconstruction, the new water park reopened in 2008 as Zoombezi Bay.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cedar Point, Kings Island and Six Flags in Ohio before the merger
