Cedar Fair and Six Flags merger to complete July 1, mostly Cedar Fair executives to lead new company

Jeff:

Women are not inherently less capable of voting, driving, wiring electrical or building a camper from scratch.

I 100 percent agree. And I never meant to imply they are.

But it’s hard to drive a natural interest or job in a certain subject to any human. Man or woman.

My kids took stereotypical career paths. Son in chemical engineering and daughter in veterinary medicine. Each about 75-80% male/female respectively. You won't have equal representation in employment in those fields because credentialing isn't equal.

Ohio State vet school gives preference to males. Class of 2027 is still 86% female. Giving preferences to white males is interesting to me. Its inconsistent with the historical reason for giving preferences and is a pure numbers game. White men were pretty much 100% of the vet profession (and many other professions which are now dominated by women) so its not the case that white men didn't have opportunities in those professions. They just opted into other careers/fields.

I think gender norms are largely cultural. But they are also biological on some level (based on thousands of years of evolution).

Much progress has been made but there is always need to improve. More you are on the 50-50 (or 33-33-33 -- with maybe the 1% going to Bezos?), the more work you likely think needs to be done.

I think the best thing a parent can do is to support and nourish ANY interest a child has and do your best not to project your own wishes/desires. I was an Eagle Scout and scouting played a big part of my family, historically. We took my son to one Scout meeting, and he had no interest. So be it.

I think the best thing a leader can do is to be cognizant of workplace diversity issues. I don't know that quotas or mandates are the answer, but to be cognizant of the issues (and, dare I say, be educated about them if you live in a state that will allow that) seems to be a responsible way of trying to make sure that the issue remains on your radar.

GoBucks89:

(or 33-33-33 -- with maybe the 1% going to Bezos?)

In the future we're going to self-identify as either Male/Female/AI/Bezos in terms of workplace quotas.

Consider this another bonafide CoasterBuzz prediction. May the folks of the 22nd century truly appreciate our ingenuity and reason.

Vater:

But should we also be encouraging male kids...

Kids or adults, yes. Look at nursing. All of the macho nonsense historically meant that men were too manly to care for others (a sentiment that has generally extended to parental child care, Gonch not withstanding). My kid had a male nurse in the delivery room, and the internets says the percentage of make nurses has since doubled.

Vater:
Speaking of ick, the context of what you're saying here feels a little indoctrinatey.

I don't know what that even means. But I think I follow with this...

I'm not saying adults should discourage either gender to pursue whatever career they want, but to "encourage" them specifically to pursue careers currently dominated by the opposite sex in the pursuit of some form of equality that not everyone wants seems strange.

I think you misunderstand the intention. The point is not recruitment or being prescriptive. The intention is to say, "You can do this, too, if your want, even though your peers of the other gender may not like it or discourage it." Something like Girls Who Code exists to offer support where tech bros have largely excluded women. That some of their books have been banned in the US tells me all I have to know about what they're up against.

But again, the agenda is to remove barriers. To bring it back to executive leadership, the barriers for women have historically been pretty bad. The irony is that in the S&P 500, there are only 32 female CEO's, but their companies outperform the index.

Vater:

I'm all for equity and equal rights, which I think we're closer to achieving at this point in time than ever in human history. Forcing complete equality... is not the same thing... and in fact more closely resembles a fictional utopian society than a free one.

Yes, I have to remember myself that there has never been more progress than today (which is why "great again" is such nonsense). But again, I think you misunderstand intent. Diversity in the workplace is not about trying to perfectly match the demographics, it's about removing the barriers and being aware of the bias, conscious or not, that makes opportunity unequal.

Coasterhound36:

That does raise an interesting point. Ive been a Six Flags "member" since 2012. The difference with me is I dont pay an annual fee each season. Six Flags debits a small amount from my bank year round. And my membership has allowed me entrance into every park nationwide. Now with this merger, Im curious to see how this will be affected, if at all ?!?!?

My best guess is that your membership will still only be good at the legacy Six Flags parks. I'm sure there is some wording somewhere in the contract stating as such. I am basing this on a similar situation with a timeshare group that I follow. Silverleaf was a smaller timeshare group that had somewhere around 15 properties that members could exchange weeks free of charge, for like units within like seasons. Holiday Inn bought Silverleaf out but legacy Silverleaf owners had no access to Holiday Inn properties except through exchange services like RCI.

If I'm wrong, and I hope I am, then keep that membership!

Not saying anything about the specific Cedar Fair/Six Flags or even necessarily c suites (actually I have disliked movement there), but there are reasons men and women succeed at different rates in a variety of professions that is not cultural in my opinion.

A good example of why is to look at the other end of the spectrum. Take 20 people, 10 random men and 10 random women and rank them by agressiveness. Odds are of the 10 most aggressive, 6 are men and 4 are women. That would mean men are moderately more aggressive on average, but 40% of the top half are still women. Despite that fact, almost all the most violent incarcerated crimianls are men. The reason for that is that while an average man may only be moderately more aggressive than the average women, at the extremes, this trend is hyperfocused. It doesn't mean no women is in the group, but it is a lot less than 40%.

If you look at requirements for professions which go to the extremes in a variety of ways, it makes sense you would see things breakdown along the sexes in non-linear ways. To the extent this applies to the top level of bussiness I cannot say (maybe very little, maybe a lot), but I do think there are definitely professions dominated by men because are there are simply more men who are willing to take a huge gamble on a profession that requires insane hours and still usually leads to limited success than there are women who will take the same gamble.

Again I am not saying I like the Cedar Fair moves of late (I don't) and that there can't be truth in some degree of sexism at the high levels. I do think true equal opportunity will still result in professions that are much more male and much more female dominated than people like too acknowledge though.

My best guess is that your membership will still only be good at the legacy Six Flags parks.

I have a membership as well, which I’ve been planning to cancel this year … in any case, I’m expecting an email stating either

• “We’re terminating the membership program, please buy an annual pass” or
• “The cost of your membership is increasing thanks to the incredible value of having 40 parks you can now visit.”

I expect both memberships and season passes will be ending due to an “exciting new offer.” As a loyal customer, we are even going to offer you a an exclusive loyalty discount*

*offer available through 10/31/2024

I think they will probably standarize across chain, but given they already have similar tiers, I don't think there is going to be huge differences in season passes besides maybe a bit more push on upgrades for all parks in a few markets.

On the costs for all parks, I doubt it increases a lot more than now. While it will save a handful of people a lot, most people won't use at for more than two parks which limits the premium you can put on it and still sell decently (in Ohio, Cedar Point and Kingd Island, in LA, Magic Mountain and Knots, etc).

A quick google search shows Forbes having statistics that women make 80+% of vacation/travel decisions and that women make up 50% of the workforce in the vacation/travel industry, I suspect mostly in frontline positions that don’t pay well. By not having at least 50% of your corporate leadership reflecting “the decision makers of families” is kind of self-defeating in a “family” business industry.

We know legacy CF parks like Dorney, CP, CGA, and MI have female park presidents/GMs but it’s also known that Charlotte now makes all the decisions. It was one step forward, one step back.

So you are saying we need to find a way to give men 30% more opportunities to make vacation decisions? :)

Cedar Creek Mine Ride:

On the costs for all parks, I doubt it increases a lot more than now.

Well, the Six Flags membership (all parks) is costing me $108 (or maybe $120? - $9-something a month). The Cedar Fair all parks pass appears to start at $225. One of those seems likely to change. More likely the former.

What do you get for that $9 a month?

• Admission at all parks and waterparks
• Free parking
• 5% off (most) food and drinks; 20% off retail
• Various other discounts like a $5 waffle cake, 1 free skip the line, etc.
• $20 friends and family tix during July

That's exciting news! Cedar Fair's leadership has consistently delivered fantastic park experiences. It'll be interesting to see how their expertise blends with Six Flags' unique offerings. Looking forward to the new adventures this merger will bring!

After all these years Zimmerman finally makes a Coasterbuzz account.

Welcome Mr Zimmerman (or whichever park Marketing flunky has decided that this was a smart career move).

Late to the game as usual, but I’ll share an embarrassing anecdote to illustrate my general agreement with Jeff’s position. About 15 years ago, I was the director of an after school program which had its fair share of behavior issues. Most of the kids were young middle school so there was a lot of room for positive discipline and encouragement. I had a young African-American boy sent to my office and after some talking, I wanted to give him some encouragement, so I said, “You know, if you work hard and stay out of trouble, you can be anything. Like, a rapper or basketball star… … or a doctor or lawyer.” I consider myself pretty aware (woke, if you will) and that literally came out of my mouth and took me a second to realize my own racial idiocy and correct it in that moment.

I have to imagine that’s happening for race, gender, class, sexual orientation. immigrant status, and other demographics millions of times every day. Interest is influenced greatly by encouragment and I have to believe that being told “you can’t do this” does not foster interest.

Unless you think people born in Jan and Feb are naturally more interested (or gifted) in hockey.

Its not limited to hockey. But though its tougher for players who were born later in their selection year to make the pros, they are more likely to be elite athletes in their respective sport.

https://fivethirtyeight.com...%20sports.