Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain season pass holders could soon use their passes to enter both parks following the $8 billion merger of its parent companies, Six Flags and Cedar Fair.
Six Flags, the newly merged company, is considering offering a season pass that would provide access to all 27 amusement parks and 15 water parks in the company’s portfolio.
Knott’s and Magic Mountain posted FAQs on their websites addressing the possibility of a new season pass.
“It’s clear our guests see tremendous value in the season-pass programs. There are no plans to offer a new season pass with access to all parks in 2024. However, we believe there may be an opportunity in the future to offer expanded park access to season pass holders,” the Magic Mountain website said.
However, not everyone thinks a joint pass would be a great idea.
“As someone who has been covering theme parks for more than two decades, introducing that pass would be the worst thing that the new Six Flags can do for the company, its parks, its employees and – yes – even for its fans,” Robert Niles, editor of Theme Park Insider, wrote in an article.
Niles explained that while a “buy-one, get-’em-all pass” sounds like a great idea, it could ultimately lead to higher food, parking and merchandise prices in the long run.
“If a park’s pass holders account for a small minority of guests through the gate, there’s a healthy margin for error on that trade-off. The park continues to bring in substantial per capita revenue from admissions, supplemented by food and beverage and other upcharge spending,” Niles wrote. “But with more and more visitors entering parks on annual and seasonal passes, many parks’ per capita admission revenue is crashing. That narrows the margin for error and pushes risk-averse park executives to raise prices on parking, on food, on drinks, and wherever else they can inside the park to bring up that per capita overall revenue number.”
The newly merged company wouldn’t be the first to offer a season pass to all of its theme parks. Walt Disney Co. offered a similar pass known as the Disney Premier Passport, which gave the pass holder admission to theme parks at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts.
The pass was introduced in 2010 and discontinued in 2021. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced last year that the company had no plans to reintroduce it.
As for Six Flags, no concrete plans for an expanded season pass have been announced.