Welcome to the world’s biggest theme park merger; please keep your hands and feet inside at all times.
What happened: Six Flags and Cedar Fair, the company that owns Canada’s Wonderland, have completed a $10.9 billion merger. Canada’s premier theme park will now be under the Six Flags banner. However, Wonderland branding and park operations will be unchanged.
- Six Flags could eventually introduce combined park passes, and Wonderland could have characters like Bugs Bunny and Superman walking around, as Six Flags has a licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Zoom in: Canada’s Wonderland has been Canada’s largest theme park since 1981. One of its ~200 attractions is Leviathan, one of the world’s top 10 tallest and fastest steel roller-coasters. Just this year it added a new ride, Moosehorn Falls, described as a “boomerang waterslide.”
Why it matters: After a post-pandemic rebound, theme parks could be in for a steep drop. Cedar Fair and Six Flags have seen attendance rise, but guests are splashing less cash. This merger allows them to cut costs while creating new revenue opportunities in the face of diminished consumer spending.
By the numbers: In 2022, annual revenue in Canada’s amusement and recreation sector jumped 35.5%, and attendance at Wonderland surged to the pre-pandemic norm of 350,000+ riders.—QH