Most theme parks in Cedar Fair chain announced their opening dates for the 2021 season Thursday, including for several parks that had never opened during 2020.
The earliest opening will be Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, which will host a preview weekend for passholders on May 8 and 9, though the park did not reveal the opening date for the general public.
“The full schedule, including any updates to safety protocols or park operations will be announced at a later date via our social media channels, e-newsletter and website,” Kings Island spokesperson Chad Showalter said in a statement.
The May 8 opening is about a month later than the park’s typical seasonal debut. Before the COVID-19 pandemic kept parks closed for months last year, Kings Island was scheduled to open for the 2020 season on April 11.
On May 14, Cedar Point is scheduled to open, as is Canada’ Wonderland, one of Cedar Fair’s parks that stayed shuttered throughout 2020.
Much of the Cedar Fair chain is set open on May 22, including Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Valleyfair, Dorney Park, and Worlds of Fun. Of those parks, only Dorney Park and Worlds of Fun had reopened during their regular seasons in 2020. Kings Dominion and Carowinds partially reopened late in the year for holiday events, while Valleyfair stayed closed all year.
Curiously, the list of May 22 reopenings includes California’s Great America. The state of California currently won’t allow its theme parks to welcome back guests until their home counties hit the lowest “tier” in the state’s reopening guidelines, which health experts have said likely won’t happen until this summer.
When Theme Park Tribune asked whether the park opening date was simply tentative, or whether the state’s guidelines were changing, California’s Great America spokesperson Danny Messinger replied only with a boilerplate statement: “California’s Great America is working closely with local, state and national health officials to plan for a safe return to fun,” he said. “Our scheduled opening date is May 22.”
Cedar Fair’s other California parks, Knott’s Berry Farm and Gilroy Gardens, have not scheduled reopening dates.
Michigan’s Adventure announced it would open on May 29 after only opening its water park in 2020. The park is scheduled to open a new Camp Snoopy kids’ area this year.
Cedar Fair has extended all 2020 annual passes for its parks through the end of 2021. When parks reopen this year, many of the same COVID-19 safety measures are likely to be in place, including requiring guests to wear face masks and physical distancing being enforced throughout the parks.
Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately stated that Michigan’s Adventure did not announce a reopening date. In fact, it announced a reopening date of May 29.
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