Cedar Point Rejects Multi-Billion Dollar Offer from Sea World

Earlier in February, we heard that Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point and Michigan's Adventure, had received an unsolicited offer from Sea World.

Sea World submitted an "unsolicited" and "non-binding" all-cash offer to purchase the Cedar Fair properties for $3.4 billion dollars. Read more about that original story here.

Will Cedar Fair Take the Sea World Offer?

Last week it was reported that Cedar Fair has rejected the Sea World offer.

Sea World released a statement which read: "“In response to inquiries from various stakeholders, we confirm that our offer to acquire Cedar Fair was rejected. Unfortunately, we do not see a path to a transaction.”

SeaWorld currently owns and operates 12 theme parks and water parks across the United States. Those parks include both SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida.

This is not the first time that a theme park company has offered to purchase the Cedar Fair properties. In 2019, Cedar Fair said "no" a $4 billion bid from Six Flags.

Top Thrill Dragster Will Not Re-open this Year

On Friday, February 18th, Cedar Point announced that the Top Thrill Dragster ride will remain closed for 2022.

The ride has been closed since August of 2021, when a part falling from the ride seriously injured a Michigan woman. Forty-four year old Rachel Hawes of Schwartz Creek was standing in line waiting to ride the rollercoaster when she was hit by the falling part, suffering a head and brain injury. Hawes survived, but there have been no updates on her current condition.

On the same day Cedar Point made the announcement about the ride remaining closed for this year, the Ohio Department of Agriculture released their 620-page report on the incident. They determined that Cedar Point did not violate any laws with operation or maintenance of the ride.

Top Thrill Dragster debuted in 2003. The ride features a single, 420-foot-high hill and a top speed of 120 miles per hour.

Here is what the ride looked like while it was in operation...

You can get additional information about Cedar Point's upcoming season on their website cedarpoint.com.