Cedar Fair's theme parks today announced their planned opening dates for the 2021 season, in emails to season passholders.
According to reports from readers, the parks' scheduled opening dates are:
Park operations are subject to state and local restrictions during this ongoing pandemic, so fans should probably take these dates as targets rather than sure things. That's especially so for California's Great America, which did not open for the 2020 season and would not be able to reopen now under current state rules.
There's no word at all on a reopening date for Knott's Berry Farm, which also is located in California. As Cedar Fair's only year-round park, it would be expected to reopen as soon as state and local officials give it the go-ahead, which for now would be when Orange County reaches the Yellow Tier 4 level in the state's reopening system. (It's way, way, way away from that now, sitting with most California counties in the Purple Tier 1.)
Cedar Fair's amusement parks typically reopen for the season between March and early May, so this schedule reflects a later-than-usual start. Still, if any of Cedar Fair's parks were able to open for the season in May, that would be earlier than all of the chain's parks opened in 2020, when the first wave of the pandemic shut down the theme park industry across the country.
Highlights during the 2021 season will include the postponed 150th anniversary celebration at Cedar Point, including the debut of the new Snake River Expedition boat ride and Celebrate 150 Spectacular night parade, and the 100th anniversary at Knott's Berry Farm, which will open Knott's Bear-y Takes: Return to the Fair, an interactive dark ride that calls back to the original Knott's Bear-y Tales ride.
For discounted 2021 tickets to Cedar Fair parks - when they become available - please visit our travel partner's attraction discounts page.
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Well, May is 5 months away. I'm cautiously optimistic about this since Santa Clara County was the 1st in the country to institute a lockdown, and I'm sure Cedar Fair
would not have made any announcement like this without consulting officials. I'm also biased since it only 20 minutes from my house, and I miss RailBlazer! Shoot, the pic by my name is from Gold Striker. As long as they look at Disney and Universal, not Seaworld unfortunately, in Orlando they'll see that it can be done with reasonable safety. And unlike the Santa Cruz Boardwalk that opened briefly and is my favorite Bay park, CGA has plenty of room to space people apart.
I think they're hopefully by May there's more improvement. After all, last year was scores of "opening dates" that ended up not happening.
Am curious about Six Flags' schedule as Great America never had a 2020 season due to Illinois' rules so curious if they plan on getting going sooner.
I mean, parks do need to plan for a season, even if there's no guarantee when it will start. I guess that I see these dates as "we won't be open before..." rather than "we will be open on...."
My gut feeling is that Cedar Fair is announcing dates in May because they are confident they'll be able to make those dates unless trends drastically change. Five months is a long time out, but most models predict the current surge will die down by March/April, and while the virus won't disappear with vaccine distribution underway it shouldn't flare up to the same extent again. I'd also wager that unless conditions are so bad that they force total lockdown, Cedar Fair will probably use any means available to fight for a park opening. They had the least operating days last year of all the major park operators and were the only ones that applied legal action in 2020, so I see no reason not for them to do the same in 2021.
As for Knott's Berry Farm, I've heard previously the park has been kept in a state where they'll be ready to open within three weeks of receiving approval, so I've got a feeling they're on an ASAP calendar. If California revises their guidelines or Orange County drops all the way to yellow tier in the next couple months, I've got no doubt they'll open. Otherwise, I'm expecting the Taste of the Boysenberry Festival in March and April with a full reopening in May alongside the other parks.
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I find it curious that California's Great America is slated to open May 22, considering they are also in a Purple tier area. Makes you go hmmm.