Cedar Fair facts for kids

This page is about the defunct amusement park operator. For its successor, see Six Flags.

Quick facts for kids
Cedar Fair

Cedar Fair's corporate headquarters at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio
Trade name	Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
Former type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: FUN
Industry	Amusement Parks
Fate	Merged with Six Flags
Successor	Six Flags
Founded	1983; 42 years ago (1983)
Defunct	July 1, 2024; 14 months ago (2024-07-01)
Headquarters	Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.
Number of locations	16
Area served	United States Canada
Revenue	US$1.82 billion (2022)
Operating income	US$520 million (2022)
Net income	US$308 million (2022)
Total assets	US$3.38 billion (2022)
Number of employees	4,400 full time, 48,800 seasonal (2022)

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, often called Cedar Fair, was a big American company that owned and operated many fun amusement parks and water parks. Its main office was located at its most famous park, Cedar Point, in Sandusky, Ohio.

Cedar Fair started in 1983 when Cedar Point bought another park called Valleyfair. They combined parts of both names to create "Cedar Fair." Over the years, the company grew a lot. By 2006, it owned eleven amusement parks, eleven outdoor water parks, and one indoor water park across the United States and Canada. In 2019, they added two more outdoor water parks by buying Schlitterbahn.

On July 1, 2024, Cedar Fair joined together with another large amusement park company, Six Flags. They formed a new company that kept the Six Flags name. Even though the name changed, many of Cedar Fair's leaders continued to guide the new company. The main office for the new company is in Charlotte, North Carolina, but the Sandusky office still handles important financial tasks.

The Story of Cedar Fair
Amusement Parks and Water Parks
Fast Lane Pass
- Skip the Lines Faster
See also

The Story of Cedar Fair

Early Days of Cedar Point

The story of Cedar Fair began with Cedar Point Amusement Park. It started as a simple beach resort in the 1870s. People loved visiting, so in 1887, a company was created to help it grow. In the 1890s, there were some tough times for businesses. But in 1897, a new group led by George Arthur Boeckling bought Cedar Point. They helped the resort become very successful.

The G.A. Boeckling Company managed Cedar Point for many years. In 1978, Cedar Point bought another fun park called Valleyfair. This led to the creation of Cedar Fair Limited Partnership in 1983. The name "Cedar Fair" came from "Cedar" (for Cedar Point) and "Fair" (for Valleyfair). In 1987, the company became public, meaning people could buy shares in it. Under Cedar Fair's guidance, Cedar Point became one of the biggest amusement parks anywhere. The company also started buying other parks across the United States.

Growing the Park Family

Cedar Fair began adding more parks to its family. In 1992, they bought Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. Then, in 1995, Worlds of Fun joined the group. A big moment came in 1997 when Cedar Fair bought Knott's Berry Farm. This was special because it was their first park that stayed open all year long. This purchase also included managing an indoor park at the Mall of America. Cedar Fair later stopped managing that indoor park in 2005. It is now known as Nickelodeon Universe.

Cedar Fair also opened new water parks called Knott's Soak City in California. These opened in Buena Park (1999), Chula Vista (2000), and Palm Springs (2001). In 2001, they bought Michigan's Adventure in Michigan.

In 2004, Cedar Fair opened its first indoor water park, Castaway Bay, in Ohio. It was part of a hotel that was renamed. This indoor water park resort is open all year.

More Big Purchases

In 2004, Cedar Fair made another large purchase: Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. They bought the park and changed its name back to Geauga Lake. Cedar Fair removed all characters like Looney Tunes and DC Comics because those were licensed by Six Flags. The animal part of the park, SeaWorld Ohio, also closed. The amusement park part of Geauga Lake stayed open until 2007. The water park, Wildwater Kingdom, continued until 2016.

A very important event happened on May 22, 2006. Cedar Fair announced it would buy all five parks in the Paramount Parks chain. This deal also included managing Gilroy Gardens. On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair officially bought Paramount Parks. After this, Cedar Fair LP started doing business as Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.

The parks kept their Paramount names for the 2006 season. But in 2007, Cedar Fair removed the Paramount name and logo. The parks went back to their original names, and the Cedar Fair logo was added. For example, Bonfante Gardens became Gilroy Gardens. Cedar Fair decided not to pay to use names like Star Trek anymore. All references to Paramount characters were removed before the 2008 season. They also had a deal to use Nickelodeon characters like SpongeBob SquarePants, which ended before the 2010 season.

Changes and New Leaders

In 2009, another company, Apollo Global Management, tried to buy Cedar Fair. Cedar Fair decided not to go through with the deal in 2010. They also put a plan in place to protect the company from future unwanted takeover attempts.

In 2011, Richard Kinzel, who had been the CEO for a long time, retired. Matt Ouimet took over as CEO on January 3, 2012. He had worked at The Walt Disney Company before. In 2012, Cedar Fair launched new websites and a marketing campaign called Thrills Connect.

Cedar Fair also sold some of its water parks. In 2012, they sold Knott's Soak City: San Diego to SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. In 2013, they sold Knott's Soak City: Palm Springs. By 2013, Cedar Fair owned eleven amusement parks, four outdoor water parks, one indoor water park, and five hotels.

On September 5, 2016, Wildwater Kingdom, the last part of the former Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom, closed.

Richard Zimmerman's Time and the Big Merger

On January 1, 2018, Richard Zimmerman became the new CEO, taking over from Matt Ouimet. Matt Ouimet stayed on as the executive chairman of the board.

In March 2019, Cedar Fair bought the land that California's Great America sits on from the City of Santa Clara. They had been leasing it before. In April 2019, Cedar Fair partnered with Feld Entertainment to bring Monster Jam attractions to some of its parks.

On June 13, 2019, Cedar Fair announced it was buying two Schlitterbahn water parks in Texas. They also got the rights to use the Schlitterbahn name. In July 2019, they bought the Sawmill Creek Resort in Ohio.

In October 2019, Six Flags offered to buy Cedar Fair, but Cedar Fair turned down the offer.

In July 2021, Cedar Fair announced plans to build a new esports arena in Sandusky.

On December 31, 2021, Cedar Fair's contract to manage Gilroy Gardens ended, and it was not renewed.

In February 2022, United Parks & Resorts (the company that owns SeaWorld) tried to buy Cedar Fair, but Cedar Fair rejected their offer.

In June 2022, Cedar Fair announced it was selling the land for California's Great America. They signed a lease to keep the park open for 11 more years, planning to close it after that lease ends.

Joining Forces with Six Flags

On July 1, 2024, Cedar Fair officially merged with Six Flags. This created a brand new, larger company that kept the Six Flags name. This was called a "merger of equals," meaning both companies came together as partners. Richard Zimmerman, who was the CEO of Cedar Fair, became the President and CEO of the new combined company. The main office for the new company is in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, some financial and administrative work still happens in Sandusky, Ohio. The new company now has 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and 9 resort properties.

Amusement Parks and Water Parks

Kings Island's original fountains with the Eiffel Tower

Corkscrew coaster at Cedar Point

Entrance to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

Aerial view of Carowinds

Entrance to Pup's Pier at South Bay Shores waterpark

Amusement Parks

Name	Location	Year Opened	Year Acquired	Roller Coasters	Notes
California's Great America	Santa Clara, California	1976	2006	9	Open seasonally. Acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Canada's Wonderland	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada	1981	2006	18	Cedar Fair's most visited seasonal park, acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Carowinds	Charlotte, North Carolina	1973	2006	14	Acquired in Paramount Parks deal. A portion of the park is in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Cedar Point	Sandusky, Ohio	1870	Founding Franchise	17	Cedar Fair's flagship park and the oldest park in the chain. Cedar Fair's corporate headquarters were at this park.
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom	Allentown, Pennsylvania	1884	1992	7	First park acquired under the Cedar Fair name, acquired from Harris Weinstein. Purchase price $48M
Kings Dominion	Doswell, Virginia	1975	2006	13	Acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Kings Island	Mason, Ohio	1972	2006	14	Acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Knott's Berry Farm	Buena Park, California	1920	1997	9	Acquired from Knott Family in 1997, the park is open year-round and is the most-visited Cedar Fair park.
Michigan's Adventure	Muskegon, Michigan	1956	2001	7	Acquired from the Jourden family. Purchase price $28M
Valleyfair	Shakopee, Minnesota	1976	1978	8	Acquired by Cedar Point. Cedar Point and Valleyfair then formed Cedar Fair in 1987.
Worlds of Fun	Kansas City, Missouri	1973	1995	8	Acquired from Hunt-Midwest. Purchase price $40M

Water Parks

Outdoor Water Parks

Included with Admission

Name	Location	Year Opened	Year Acquired	Notes
Carolina Harbor	Carowinds	1982 as Ocean Island	2006	Located within Carowinds, acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Oceans of Fun	Worlds of Fun	1982	1995	Located adjacent to Worlds of Fun. In 2013, the water park became included with admission to Worlds of Fun.
Soak City	Kings Dominion	1992 as Hurricane Reef	2006	Located within Kings Dominion, acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Soak City	Kings Island	1989 as WaterWorks	2006	Located within Kings Island, acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Soak City	Valleyfair	1983 as Liquid Lightning	Built by Cedar Fair	Located within Valleyfair.
South Bay Shores	California's Great America	2004 as Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay	2006	Located within California's Great America, acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
Splash Works	Canada's Wonderland	1992	2006	Located within Canada's Wonderland, acquired in Paramount Parks deal.
WildWater Adventure	Michigan's Adventure	1991	2001	Located within Michigan's Adventure.
Wildwater Kingdom	Dorney Park	1985	1992	Located within Dorney Park.

Separate Admission/Property

Name	Location	Year Opened	Year Acquired	Notes
Cedar Point Shores	Sandusky, Ohio	1988 as Soak City	Built by Cedar Fair	Located adjacent to Cedar Point.
Knott's Soak City	Buena Park, California	2000 as Knotts Soak City USA	Built by Cedar Fair	Located adjacent to Knott's Berry Farm. Opened under the name, Soak City U.S.A.
Schlitterbahn Galveston	Galveston, Texas	2006	2019
Schlitterbahn New Braunfels	New Braunfels, Texas	1979	2019

Indoor Water Parks

Name	Location	Year Opened	Notes
Castaway Bay	Sandusky, Ohio	2004	Cedar Fair's only indoor water park, located about a mile from Cedar Point.

Former Parks and Attractions

Name	Location	Year Opened/Acquired	Year Closed/Sold	Notes
Geauga Lake	Aurora, Ohio	2004	2007	Purchased from Six Flags in 2004 for $145 million. Closed ride side in 2007, the water park, Wildwater Kingdom, closed on September 5, 2016.
Gilroy Gardens	Gilroy, California	2006	2021	Acquired in Paramount Parks deal, formerly managed by Cedar Fair until December 2021.
Knott's Camp Snoopy	Mall of America	1992	2005	In 2005, closed for renovation. MOA and Cedar Fair dissolved their agreement in 2006. Now operates as Nickelodeon Universe.
Knott's Soak City: Palm Springs	Palm Springs, California	2001	2013	Opened under the name, Oasis Water Park. Sold to CNL Lifestyle Properties.
Knott's Soak City: San Diego	Chula Vista, California	2000	2012	Opened under the name, White Water Canyon. Sold to SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, who would later turn it into a Sesame Place.
Star Trek: The Experience	Las Vegas, Nevada	2006	2008	Acquired in Paramount Parks deal. Closed in 2008, Cedar Fair lost rights to reopen the attraction from CBS Studios in 2010.
Wildwater Kingdom	Aurora, Ohio	2005	2016	Located on former SeaWorld Ohio site.

Fast Lane Pass

Skip the Lines Faster

Fast Lane was a special system used at parks that were once part of Cedar Fair. It helped visitors get on rides quicker. If you bought a Fast Lane wristband, you could use a shorter line for many popular attractions.

This system was first tested at Kings Island in 2011. At first, it was only available for part of the day, but soon it could be used all day long. By 2012, all Cedar Fair parks offered Fast Lane. There was also "Fright Lane" for haunted attractions during Halloween events. By 2019, you could even buy an "all season" Fast Lane pass for some parks.