Update April 2025: The “all parks” benefit is here! By buying anything as low as the Gold Pass and then adding the All Park Passport (which could be $75 to $150 more depending on your park) you can visit all the parks of both legacy chains. It is more expensive than the old Diamond pass from Six Flags which included all their parks, but it’s also a lot more parks now with the addition of all the legacy Cedar Fair Parks.

UPDATE AS OF JUNE 21, 2024: The merger is expected to finalize on July 1, 2024. It will be known Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, trade under the ticker symbol “FUN” on the NYSE and be based out of Charlotte. I’d expect more news on season passes and other changes after July 1st, however the company has already stated in investor updates that, “The combined company will also offer expanded park access to season pass holders along with an enhanced, combined loyalty program featuring additional perks.” so we know it’s coming in some form!

Will my Six Flags Diamond Pass work at Cedar Fair Parks in 2024?

So this isn’t really a theme park news channel, but wanted to comment on what could be a very significant theme park merger, a Busch Gardens angle on this and some thoughts/hopes on season passes at the end. It was announced today that Six Flags and Cedar Fair are merging. You may recall about a year ago the SeaWorld Parks (parent of Busch Gardens) made a bid to buy Cedar Fair, but this was ultimately rejected. That bid would have valued Cedar Fair at $63 per share where today it is at $37. Interesting to look back on that now and wonder what could have been for better or worse…

In terms of park culture it seems like the character of the Cedar Fair Parks would have more easily meshed with SeaWorld than Six Flags. However, for positives there is minimal geographic overlap of major properties for Cedar Fair and Six Flags of signature parks (SeaWorld’s Busch Gardens Williamsburg and King’s Dominion would have been quite close) and technology/business synergies should net up to $200 million in savings annually. This savings could be used for new attractions/improvements as well as retire some debt.

I’ll avoid the whole Six Flags quality versus Cedar Fair quality as I know that’s a hot button for some. My home Six Flags park is Six Flags over Georgia and I’ve found that to be a pretty nice place, but I also know it’s one of the better ones in the chain. I just want to see an economically healthy industry as this means well run facilities and new attractions. Hopefully this also provides some buffer to any future economic downturn should that occur.

In the shareholder conference call it was mentioned that a company combined pass was coming, but no further details were given. As a person who typically has multiple season passes in a given year I’m personally excited about the potential that my Six Flags Diamond pass might get me in a bunch of new places next year. I’ve had SeaWorld platinum passes this year and have enjoyed the nationwide access with trips to SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, SeaWorld San Antonio as well as Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg as with one pass.

Six Flags passes have been silly affordable recently as a Six Flags Plus membership will get you into all their parks for under $100 for a year. Cedar fair on the other hand requires you to get an “All Park Passport” for $100 on top of an existing $125 season pass with a park, so we’re looking at $100 versus $225 for the cheapest “in the door” to all parks. If you compare the Six Flags Diamond to Cedar Fair Prestige with All Park Passport (the most comparable benefits package of preferred parking, single use quick queue, VIP lounge, etc.) you’re looking at $160 for Six Flags versus $425 for Cedar Fair (when including the All Park Passport). So when thinking about a combined entity, something has to give.

With the merger supposedly closing in early 2024, a combined pass could be in place by summer, but it’s anyone’s guess on the pricing model they’ll use. I’m guessing long term pricing will land in the middle, but next year will probably be more of a transition year. For 2024 (for those of us who have already purchased) if they just extended access to Cedar Fair Parks to existing Six Flags plus/diamond members that would be beyond amazing (reciprocal for Cedar Fair All Park Passport members too). Visiting a bunch of great Cedar Fair parks using my existing pass next year would certainly be a great treat!