Six Flags and Cedar Fair are the two largest theme park chains in North America in terms of the number of parks they operate. For easy reference, I’ve included lists of the parks in the two chains:
[one_half]Six Flags[table id=17 /][/one_half][one_half_last]Cedar Fair[table id=18 /][/one_half_last]
Which of these theme park chains do you prefer? Six Flags or Cedar Fair?
Vote below by clicking on one of the images and you’ll see how others voted.[dil dil = 12760]
Let us know why you voted the way you did by leaving a comment below.
Coaster Critic 
32 responses to “Six Flags vs Cedar Fair | Theme Park Showdown”
Cedar Fair’s parks are just higher quality… I find Six Flags to be crowded, understaffed, and the lines are poorly managed. The attractions are top notch at both, but CF takes the cake for me.
I’ve been going to Six Flags parks for 35 years and I find them to be clean and most enjoyable.
“Six Flags what you wish the world could be.”
Six Flags used to be full of gangs and they have really cleaned it up. I prefer Disney but Six Flags has made a great family park. Six Flags lacks quality food. Enough burgers and pizza already.
They do have a great funnel cake though. How about some healthy options
Cedar Fair has entertainment and a great kid’s area with amazing shows. Six Flags’ kid’s area is run-down and poorly staffed. No entertainment in the park and the food concessions are the worst. The tram service takes forever. My kids like 6 flags, but I never go with them – EVER. I’ve got the money. You want the parents to go and spend money, provide something we can do too!
I am leaning towards cedar fair. Although six flags adds more coasters more often, (which I find a good thing) they don’t have anything else. If I were not a roller coaster enthusiast, I would have a horrible time at six flags. I still would not have a good time at a cedar fair park, but I would have a better time there than at six flags due to better shows (ussauly), better service and more family friendly, tame, fun attractions.
This being said, I don’t want people to think I dislike six flags (or cedar fair). I would just rather visit a universal, Disney or busch park. (despite their way to high prices)
I agree with Chris…
This was a tough one…….
I think that there both great parks and both have equal cons and pros. I ended up voting for Six Flags because it has something for everyone to do, not just all really intense thrill rides……..
Definitely Cedar Fair for me! The biggest Six Flags “annoyance” is NOISE. The music is loud, the rides are loud and the clientele seems to be loud. I’ve been to 10 of the CF Parks and only 5 Six Flags parks, so maybe I’m missing something. Texas and California are definitely on my retirement bucket list in a few years. I have gotten season passes for both chains and feel that I get more “bang for my buck” with Cedar Fair, including ERT, free parking, Halloween event admission, water parks, etc. I also do a good bit of traveling with 2 young adults with autism and CF parks are much more user-friendly for them.
Six Flags’ parks are the best! The coasters are world class and I can’t wait for Goliath! The parks are clean and the employees are friendly and well-trained!!
You should know that Six Flags has a sent an email out to it’s workers to vote in this quiz. I don’t really think that’s quite fair.
Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia California the best amusement park safe friendly clean.
cedar fair no doubt higher quality, more theming (of what little there is), less advertising better food, and just a nicer environment.
and only about 350 people voted for six flags? do you know how many people work for six flags?
In one day at Six Flags there are Three thousand employees for every thirty thousand guests there so there is a lot especially now that we are getting closer to summer
We’ve only visited one Six Flags – Magic Mountain, but have visited Knott’s Berry Farm, Kings Island, Canada’s Wonderland and Cedar Point. I love SFMM for its awesome rides, but overall feel that the Cedar Fair parks we’ve visited are a bit cleaner & just feel nicer (especially Cedar Point – what a brilliant location!)
Six Flags Magic Mountain provides gr8 fun entertainment for mostly adolescents and adults; though there are some rides that are family oriented and some for children. The food isn’t bad, especially at the restaurant-style locations, like Mooseburger Lodge, with their talking Moose. Sadly, though, this is being removed to make room for a sports bar. Mooseburger had a great buffet! Its sad to see it go. Several other things are going and they are making a new kids area. The big tree has been removed. Log Jammer is gone.
I had the fortunate opportunity to visit another Six Flags park a few years ago, which I thought was awesome. I went to New York for a week to visit a friend. She and I went to the Six Flags in New Jersey by bus.
Six Flags has some great rides. Tatsu and Goliath are great, thrill-y rides. I’ve always like to go on Colossus and the Gold Rusher. I have not been on Full Throttle yet.
All in all, Six Flags Magic Mountain is what I vote for. I remember getting dropped off there when we were kids.
Cedar Fair.
I agree with some of the comments about Six Flags – typically crowded and poorly managed lines. I don’t mind Six Flags, however. I really liked Darien Lake (back when it was Six Flags), and I also enjoyed Worlds of Adventure (Geauga Lake and the old Sea World), but a number of the others, and even those, were not managed well. In fact, their management style reminded me a lot of the old Paramount parks, which I didn’t care for.
Cedar Fair parks are operated better and the rides they put in are always quality. I grew up near Cedar Point, so I’m a bit spoiled, but I’ve been to a number of parks around the country and they’re still the best.
The only parks that match Cedar Point in quality are small – Holiday World and Kennywood come to mind. They’re managed well, have great attractions, and I always leave satisfied. However, as far as larger parks go, the only one that’s come close to Cedar Point, or Cedar Fair parks in general, that I’ve visited is Darien Lake.
I quit going to Six Flags several years ago when they decided the music should be louder than everything. I went to Great American and a few other parks and all were the same. They do that so their commercials will be heard. It should be an ambient music, not noise making everyone talk louder to hear each other.
Hello. I have been going to SixFlagsMagicMountain all my life, however I believe that Knott’sBerryFarm is better because, they have great themes, different kinds of food, different type rides, etc, but I have to say that I go to SFMM more often because I love the rides and it is closer, trust me I would visit Knotts more that I do if I could, I plan on changing that and getting to go to Knotts more. 🙂 So I say my final answer is, Knotts because it always feels different to me, I love it there.
I would like to encourage everyone to vote on the Mitch Hawker steel coaster poll by March 31st at http://BestRollerCoasterPoll.com so we can all have an accurate list of the best coasters in the world.
I love Six Flags theme parks. I live in the Atlanta area, and have been to Six Flags Over Georgia off and on since I was 7 years of age. I find SFOG to be a decent park, with a decent collection of rides.
My all-time favorite rollercoaster is Mind Bender… manufactured by legendary Anton Schwarzkopf, and billed as the “world’s first ever triple-looping steel coaster”. SFOG’s new SkyScreamer ride is good, but I’ll miss riding Wheelie. Acrophobia is a good drop tower ride. Log Jamboree, Monster Mansion, and Thunder River are good water rides. Other good coasters there include B&M coasters (Batman: The Ride, Georgia Scorcher, Goliath, and Superman: Ultimate Flight), as well as Dahlonega Mine Train, and the wood coasters Georgia Cyclone and Great American Scream Machine. SFOG will be debuting its new Hurricane Harbor waterpark Memorial Day Weekend 2014.
My fingers are crossed that SFOG gets new coaster in 2015. I could picture a Premier Rides launch coaster… either a spaghetti-bowl coaster (clone or mirror image clone of Joker’s Jinx/Poltergeist) or a Green Lantern themed coaster (clone of SFDK’s Superman coaster) in the Liskillet section, and the Whistlestop Park be located to different section of the park. Hope that Georgia Cyclone could be a candidate for RMC hybrid transformation in time for SFOG’s 50th anniversary in 2017.
I live in Valencia and went to six flags magic mountain in
1971 and have seen many changes over the years. It’s
grown to become a beautiful park. Should have kept
some of the trolls and wizards around, that theme seemed
to do alright. It would be good to see some name entertainers again at the theater, even has beens would
appreciate the gig. Change is necessary, and the park has
remained fun.
Six Flags Magic Mountain is rightfully called “thrill capitol of the world”, with its record 19 coasters… including new Speedy Gonzales Hot Rod Racers family/kiddie coaster debuting in 2014. SFMM will be running both Colossus and Batman: The Ride backwards. Growing speculation of Colossus of being lined up for RMC transformation is hard to ignore… if iron horse re-track of the iconic SFMM coaster gets green-lighted, the project could take 12-16 months to complete (ride closing at or near the end of 2014, transformation during 2015, and reopening in early 2016 as newly re-themed “Iron Colossus”).
Other SF parks. Other than SFOG, I do hope that Great Escape, SFGADV, SFOT, SFSTL, SFDK, and SFNE could and might be receiving new coasters in 2015 as well. Great Escape is long overdue for new coaster. With SFGAM debuting Goliath in 2014, I see the Gurnee, IL park possibly receiving 242ft tall SkyScreamer ride in 2015.
Cedar Fair because the attractions have less down time, higher capacity, more diversity in rides, an amusement park with beaches, better shows, better themeing (even though it is still very lacking), less painful rides *cough*kingda ka*cough*, and a better focus on quality over quantity.
The only rides worth riding at the six flags parks are the Iron Horses and maybe Tatsu…
And the parks are some of the dirtiest ive ever seen, and the staff at Cedar Fair are way more helpful. Especially the ones at Kings Island and Cedar Point.
Just go to Cedar Point… Much better rides that are very diverse… You are the pinnacle of stupid…
CEDAR FAIR its cleaner and a lot more section valley fair is awesome even though its small they really try hard to make you happy i wish cedar fair would run every amusement park i bought a water bottle from cedar point and i live in Minnesota and it broke and i called them in two days there was 1 free ticket and a new water bottle with a sorry note i love cedar fair
Eric…. not to be mean but you really cant comment if youve only been to six flags georgia. Trust me u NEED to visit cedar point. Its been voted best park countless times and is owned by cedar fair. Iv been to six flags great america cedar point michigans adventure and kings island I absolutely hate great america. Six flags is so money hungry tht they pave the whole park in asphalt to make u as hot as possible so u buy buy more way overprised drinks . Ot only tht but six flags staff are unhelpfull and couldncare less about guests. Line management is horrifyingly bad and six flags is always to little to late. Cedar point is a inavator while six flags takes their records an makes theres one foot taller and one mph faster and claim their the best. They just copy for publicity. Cedar fair by far…..
I have been to six flags magic mountain and Cedar Point and I prefer Cedar Point because it is laid out better than six flags and it is cleaner and nicer than six flags. Six flags has lots of killer rides but you can’t find them easily and there is a lot more walking at six flags. Everything about Cedar Point is wonderful, from the Breakers hotel to the water views, fantastic rides, to Snoopy in his night shirt saying good nite to kids and adults alike! It’s a convenient location for such a beautiful hotel. The closet hotel to magic mountain is a Hilton Garden Inn with no view of anything.
Not to mention Cedar point has far more diversity than Six Flags