Cedar Fair history

The facility reached back to its watery roots in 1988, when it launched Soak City water park.

Gemini's record was surpassed by another coaster, Magnum XL-200, in 1989.

The first acquisition of the new Cedar Fair company came in 1992 when Cedar Fair bought Dorney Park from Harris Weinstein.

Cedar Fair also bought Worlds of Fun from Hunt-Midwest in 1995.

In 1996, Cedar Point earned its fifth consecutive designation as the world's "Best Traditional Amusement Park" from trade paper Inside Track.

One of the biggest acquisitions came in 1997 when Cedar Fair bought Knott's Berry Farm from the Knott family.

With the addition of Knott's, the group expected to draw a combined total of nearly 10 million guests in 1998.

Cedar Point surpassed all of its previous records in 2000, when it opened the Millennium Force.

Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon, Michigan was purchased for $27.6 million in 2001.

Cedar Fair opened its first indoor water park in November 2004, Castaway Bay.

On May 22, 2006, Cedar Fair announced it had outbid competitors and intended to purchase all five parks in the Paramount Parks chain, including Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton and the management agreement of Bonfante Gardens.

Mall of America formed a partnership with the Nickelodeon franchise in 2007 and continues to operate under the name Nickelodeon Universe.

All references to Paramount/CBS-licensed properties were removed before the beginning of the 2008 season.

In December 2009, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would offer Cedar Fair $11.50 per share, a 28 percent premium over the market price, as part of a takeover plan which would also make Cedar Fair a private company.

On April 6, 2010, the deal was terminated, and Cedar Fair paid $6.5 million to reimburse Apollo for expenses incurred from the proposed transaction.

On September 16, 2011, JMA Ventures, LLC entered into an agreement to purchase California's Great America from Cedar Fair and take ownership of the Gilroy Gardens management contract.

On November 20, 2012, Cedar Fair announced it had sold its Knott's Soak City: San Diego location to SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

On September 5, 2016, Cedar Fair closed Wildwater Kingdom, the last operating part of the former Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom.

On March 27, 2019, Cedar Fair announced they were purchasing the land occupied by California's Great America from the City of Santa Clara.

In June 2021, rumors began circulating that the company's corporate headquarters would be relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina after multiple corporate positions in Sandusky were relocated to Cedar Fair's corporate office in Charlotte.