Six Flags

Original Six Flags company (1961–1998)

Origin

In 1957, real estate businessman Angus G. Wynne and other investors created The Great Southwest Corporation, which in 1960 began building its first theme park in Arlington, Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth. They named it Six Flags Over Texas, a reference to the six nations that have governed Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. The park opened the following year for a short, 45-day season.

Six Flags Over Texas initially featured a Native American village, a gondola ride, a railroad, some Wild West shows, a stagecoach ride and "Skull Island", a pirate-themed adventure attraction. There was also "LaSalle's River Adventure", inspired by the late-1600s La Salle Expeditions, that carried customers on French riverboats through a wilderness of animated puppets. Over the years, all of those attractions, except the railroad, were replaced by others, such as roller coasters, swing rides, log flumes and shoot-the-chute rides, as well as an observation tower.

Growth and acquisitions

In 1964, Angus Wynne's uncle Toddie Lee Wynne announced he would sell his stake in the Great Southwest Corporation, a sale valued around $6 million. The Pennsylvania Railroad purchased 500,000 shares of the company, a controlling interest, as part of its effort to diversify its revenue sources.

The railroad merged with the New York Central Railroad to form Penn Central in 1968 and went bankrupt two years later; still it bankrolled geographic expansion and additions for its Six Flags parks. The company opened Six Flags Over Georgia in 1967 and Six Flags Over Mid-America in 1971. Those were the last two parks built by Six Flags, which continued to grow by acquiring independent parks. Six Flags purchased AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, in 1975; Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, in 1977; and Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, in 1979.

In 1982, Penn Central—which had sold its railroad assets to Conrail and now consisted largely of its diversified sub-firms—sold the company to Bally Manufacturing. Under Bally's ownership, the company began to develop Urban Entertainment Center projects which were intended to supplement its larger amusement parks. Three of these projects were completed, all of them short-lived: AutoWorld in Flint, Michigan, which opened in 1984 and closed in 1985; Six Flags Power Plant in Baltimore, which opened in 1985 and closed in 1987; and the SS Admiral riverboat in St. Louis, which opened in 1987 and was shut down later that year.

In 1984, Six Flags bought the Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois, from the Marriott hotel chain. That deal also included the rights to use Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes animated characters in Six Flags properties.

In 1987, Bally surrendered control of the chain to Wesray Capital Corporation in a 1987 leveraged buyout. Time Warner quickly began to gain more company stock, gaining a 19.5% stake in Six Flags in 1990 and then 50% in 1991, with the remaining shares of the company being split by Blackstone Group and Wertheim Schroder & Company. Time Warner purchased the remaining stake in Six Flags in 1993, changing the company's name from Six Flags Corp. to Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. In 1995, to reduce its debt, Time Warner sold 51% of Six Flags for $200 million in cash to an investment group led by Boston Ventures, shifting $800 million in debt to Six Flags.

Premier Parks era and Six Flags rebranding (1998–2024)

Premier Parks

Premier Parks, Inc. was an amusement park operator based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They were founded in 1971 as Tierco Group, Inc., and initially operated as a real estate company. They entered the amusement park market in 1982, acquiring Frontier City for $1.2 million although the company was not interested in entering that route. Company officials described Frontier City as "beat up" and "run down" and had plans to demolish the park and build a shopping center in its place, but the oil bust in Oklahoma scuttled those plans. Instead, Tierco decided to touch up the park grounds, and in 1984 they hired Gary Story as general manager of Frontier City and spent about $13 million to improve the park. As the new head of Frontier City, he quadrupled the park's attendance and revenues. Under his leadership, two rides, a ticket booth, a sales office, and a petting zoo were added to the park. Food service improved. By 1988, Tierco had fully shifted its strategic direction to the amusement parks market and eventually exited the real estate market, and in 1991 they had acquired the White Water water park from Silver Dollar City, Inc. and renamed it as White Water Bay. Tierco realized the key to boosting a park's attendance was to add new and exciting rides and make it family-friendly.

In 1992, Tierco added its second amusement park to its portfolio by acquiring the financially troubled Wild World in Largo, Maryland and spent $500,000 to remodel the park. Tierco treated the park's renovation similarly to Frontier City, where the park's buildings were remodeled and the park's children's ride selection was expanded. The park also saw a name change to Adventure World, having a tropical look and feel. Afterward, Gary Story was promoted to executive vice president of the two parks, and by 1994 he had become president and chief operating officer (COO). Within that year, Adventure World saw two additional roller coasters and more flat rides. Tierco then changed its name to Premier Parks, Inc. afterwards, under Kieran E. Burke, chairman and chief executive officer.

During the second half of the 1990s, Premier Parks underwent a massive "Growth through Acquisition" phase. On August 16, 1995, they acquired Geauga Lake near Cleveland, Ohio, Wyandot Lake in Powell, Ohio and Darien Lake near Buffalo, New York from Funtime, Inc. for $60 million. While Lake Compounce was also included in the purchase, Premier Parks eventually sold it to Kennywood Entertainment Company. Aside from theme park acquisitions, Premier also saw plans to expand their water park offerings by opening water parks for the parks that did not have one.

Sale of Six Flags to Premier Parks

On February 10, 1998, Time Warner Entertainment and the investment group announced the sale of their stakes in Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. to Premier Parks, Inc. for $1.86 billion, forming Premier's largest purchase. The deal closed on April 1. Shortly afterwards in June, Kentucky Kingdom became the first of Premier's owned parks to rebrand under the Six Flags moniker, effectively renamed as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. In October, Premier announced that an additional four parks would rebrand under the Six Flags moniker; Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake, The New Marine World and Adventure World. The former three would keep their names alongside the Six Flags suffix, while Adventure World would be completely reinvented and refurbished as Six Flags America. These additions also saw the addition of the Warner Bros. IPs to the respective parks and brought the number of Six Flags branded parks to seventeen. On November 18, 1998, Premier announced that they had fully purchased Six Flags Fiesta Texas from USAA, putting the park under their full control.

Aside from that, Premier Parks added additional parks to their portfolio. They purchased Reino Aventura in Mexico City, Mexico for an estimated $59 million in March, White Water Atlanta and its sister park American Adventures in Marietta, Georgia from Silver Dollar City, Inc. on May 5 for an undisclosed amount and SplashTown USA in Spring, Texas on May 17. On October 6, Premier announced the expansion of its North American licensing agreement with Warner Bros. to include rights to the Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, and DC Comics characters and franchises in Europe, Latin and South America as well. The deal also allowed Premier to open more theme parks under the Warner Bros. Movie World brand theme parks in these territories. The deal also included the purchase of Warner Bros. Movie World Germany from the company and an agreement to hold a minority stake and manage the upcoming Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid theme park, which was scheduled to open in 2002. The deal did not include the original Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia, as that was under completely different ownership.

Rebranding of Premier Parks under Six Flags name

In their 1999 annual report, Premier Parks announced that they would rebrand under the Six Flags, Inc. name. The company also announced an additional four parks (two in the United States, and two international parks) would rebrand under the Six Flags brand – Geauga Lake becoming Six Flags Ohio, Riverside Park becoming Six Flags New England, Walibi Flevo becoming Six Flags Holland and Reino Aventura becoming Six Flags Mexico. The rebrands of all four parks coincided with the addition of Warner Bros. properties. The corporate name-change occurred on July 5, 2000. In December 2000, Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Federal Way, Washington was added to the Six Flags family when its owner Jeff Stock sold his shares of the park for $19.3 million.

On January 10, 2001, Six Flags announced that they had reached an agreement with Anheuser-Busch to purchase SeaWorld Ohio for $110 million. The deal would allow Six Flags to merge the former park with Six Flags Ohio alongside its campground properties and nearby hotels to form a massive entertainment complex. After the purchase was completed, the entire complex was rebranded under the name of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, and was positioned to compete against northern Ohio's Cedar Point. On January 15, Six Flags European Parks announced that they would rebrand Walibi Wavre as Six Flags Belgium for the 2001 season with the addition of the Warner Bros. properties. The rebranding would not apply to water park Aqualibi, which would keep its name. In May 2001, Six Flags expanded to the Canadian market by negotiating a deal with the city of Montreal to operate La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Six Flags acquired the assets of the park and has a long-term contract to lease the land from the city.

In April 2002, Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid opened to the public, adding another park to the Six Flags portfolio. The park was constructed as a joint venture between Six Flags, Warner Bros., and the City of Madrid, with Six Flags holding a minority stake and park operations. In August 2002, Six Flags purchased the lease operations to Jazzland in New Orleans for $22 million and rebranded it as Six Flags New Orleans for the 2003 season with the addition of the Warner Bros. properties. For 2003, Walibi Schtroumpf would see a name change to Walibi Lorraine after the contract to use The Smurfs characters was not renewed.

Asset sales and shareholder revolt

In 2004, Six Flags began the process of closing and selling properties to reduce the company's growing debt. On March 10, Six Flags made two major theme park sales. They first announced the sale of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure to Cedar Fair for $145 million, with the deal planned to close before the start of the 2004 operating season. The deal would include the theme park, wildlife, and water park sections, as well as the adjacent hotel and campground while the animals would be relocated to other Six Flags parks, while branding that Cedar Fair did not own licensing rights to like Looney Tunes and DC Comics, would be removed. Cedar Fair confirmed that the park would revert to its original name of Geauga Lake and that they would remove the wildlife section of the park in to focus on other facilities. The other was the sale of the Six Flags European Parks division to an undisclosed partner which was later confirmed to be Palmon Capital Partners. This deal was closed on June 24 with Palmon rebranding the company as StarParks. The Six Flags branded parks in Belgium and Holland reverted to the "Walibi" brand for the 2005 season while Warner Bros. Movie World Germany was rebranded as Movie Park Germany as the Warner Bros. license was not included in the sale. both sales raised $345 million. On November 23, 2004, Six Flags completely left the European market altogether when Warner Bros. Park Madrid's management firms terminated their 99-year operation lease and stake. The park's management took over operations of the park in-house while Warner Bros. acquired Six Flags' minority stake.

In 2005, Six Flags endured even more turmoil. Some of the company's largest investors, notably Bill Gates's Cascade Investments (which then owned about 11% of Six Flags) and Daniel Snyder's Red Zone, LLC (which owned 12%), demanded change. On August 17, 2005, Red Zone began a proxy battle to gain control of Six Flags' board of directors. On August 29, 2005, Six Flags New Orleans was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and has since sat abandoned. On September 12, Six Flags Chief Executive Officer Kieran Burke announced that Six Flags AstroWorld would be closed and demolished at the end of the 2005 season. The company cited issues such as the park's performance, and parking issues involving the Houston Texans football team, Reliant Stadium, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, leveraged with the estimated value of the property which included the park. Company executives were expecting to receive upwards of $150 million for the real estate but ended up receiving $77 million when the bare property (which cost $20 million to clear) was sold to a development corporation in 2006. On November 22, 2005, Red Zone announced it had gained control of the board. Kieran Burke was removed on December 14 and was replaced by former executive vice president of ESPN programming and Red Zone CEO Mark Shapiro. Six Flags then named former Representative Jack Kemp, Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein and former president of the Interpublic Group of Companies Incorporated Michael Kassan, to their new board of directors.

Bankruptcy

The company's cash flow had decreased by over $120 million annually during the Shapiro years. In October 2008, Six Flags was warned its stock value had fallen below the required minimums to remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange. With the 2008 financial crisis weighing both on consumer spending and the ability to access credit facilities, Six Flags was believed to be unable to make a payment to preferred stockholders due in August 2009. Management saw the business as a sound one, noting that attendance across the company's parks increased slightly in 2008 compared to 2007. Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro said that the company's problem was the declining attendance and cash flow created by his new management initiatives. If not resolved, the company warned in its 2008 annual report that the situation might require a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, with Six Flags already retaining counsel should that occur. The company stated at the time that it expected business to continue as normal in the event of such a filing, although one analyst believed attendance at the company's parks would decrease by six percent, suggesting parents would be leery of letting their children ride a roller coaster operated by a bankrupt company. In April 2009, the New York Stock Exchange announced it would delist Six Flags' stock on April 20, a decision that the company did not intend to appeal. On June 1, 2009, Six Flags announced it would delay its $15 million debt payment further using a 30-day grace period. Less than two weeks later, on June 13, the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but issued a statement that the parks would continue to operate normally while the company restructured. On August 21, 2009, Six Flags' Chapter 11 restructuring plan was announced in which lenders would control 92% of the company in exchange for canceling $1.13 billion in debt.

One component of the restructuring was negotiating a new lease agreement with the Kentucky State Fair Board, which owned much of the land and attractions for Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. Six Flags had asked to forgo rent payments for the remaining nine years of its current lease agreement in exchange for profit-sharing from the park's operations. When it appeared that the offer had been rejected, Six Flags announced in February 2010 that it would not re-open the park. However, the Kentucky State Fair Board stated at the time that they were still open to negotiating a revised lease agreement. The park later reopened under different management.

On April 28, 2010, the company's bondholders reached an agreement on a reorganization plan. Junior note holders, including hedge funds Stark Investments and Pentwater Capital Management, assumed control of the company, while senior note holders were paid in cash. Despite objections from some parties who stood to gain nothing, the bankruptcy judge approved the plan on April 30, 2010. As part of the settlement, chairman of the board Dan Snyder was removed, while chief executive officer Mark Shapiro briefly remained in his post.

Emergence from bankruptcy

Six Flags officially emerged from bankruptcy protection as Six Flags Entertainment Corp. on May 3, 2010, and announced plans to issue new stock on the New York Stock Exchange. Amid suspected disagreements regarding the future of the company with the board, Shapiro left the company and Al Weber Jr. was brought in as interim president and CEO. The company announced that several corporate positions as well as the corporate headquarters would be relocated from New York City to Grand Prairie, Texas. The building that served as the new headquarters, was located in the Great Southwest Industrial District and was a converted warehouse that had been in use by Six Flags for office space as well as a corporate operations center. Six Flags kept a portion of the Midtown Manhattan office and currently maintains a presence in New York City at that same location.

Post-bankruptcy

Six Flags announced that Jim Reid-Anderson would replace Weber and become chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) on August 13, 2010. John Duffey also joined the company in 2010, taking the role of chief financial officer (CFO). As of October 1, 2012, Al Weber Jr. had retired as chief operating officer (COO) with no immediate successor.

In late 2010, Six Flags announced as part of their post-bankruptcy cost-cutting measures they would terminate non-Warner Bros. licenses from the parks, leading to attractions and areas based on Thomas the Tank Engine, The Wiggles, Tony Hawk, Evel Knievel, and Terminator being debranded.

On April 10, 2014, Six Flags announced a strategic partnership with Meraas Leisure and Entertainment (now known as DXB Entertainments) to build a Six Flags-branded theme park in Dubai, reviving the project. On June 23, 2014, Six Flags also announced a strategic partnership with Riverside Investment Group to build multiple Six Flags-branded theme parks in China over the decade.

On February 18, 2016, Six Flags announced that Jim Reid-Anderson had been promoted as executive chairman and John M. Duffey succeeded him as president and CEO. On January 11, 2016, Six Flags announced Six Flags Zhejiang, then named Six Flags Haiyan, in China. On the same day, a website was created along with concept art for the property. A month later on February 2, 2016. Six Flags announced Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec. The water park, originally named Parque Acuatico Oaxtepec, is a 76-acre park located in Morelos, Mexico that went bankrupt in 2011. On March 21, 2016, Six Flags announced a partnership with NaVi Entertainment to build a Six Flags-branded theme park and a Six Flags Hurricane Harbor-branded water park in Vietnam. On March 29, 2016, Six Flags announced the revival of its previously canceled Six Flags Dubai. As part of the second phase of the Dubai Parks and Resorts project in Jebel Ali, the park was expected to open in 2019. On July 20, 2016, Six Flags announced an agreement with Riverside Investment Group Co. Ltd. for the development of a second Six Flags-branded theme park in China together with a water park. The two parks will be located in Bishan District, a district of Chongqing.

On April 27, 2017, the company announced it would take over operations of Waterworld California in Concord, California, making it Six Flags' 20th property. On July 18, 2017, Six Flags announced that president and CEO John M. Duffey had retired from the company and Jim Reid-Anderson had re-assumed the roles of chairman, president and CEO. On May 18, 2017, Six Flags and Riverside Group signed an agreement with Paws, Inc. to use Garfield in children's areas in Six Flags-branded theme parks in China.

Merger with Cedar Fair

On November 2, 2023, Cedar Fair and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced an estimated $8 billion "merger of equals". Completed on July 1, 2024, the merger created the world's largest regional amusement park company, with 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks, and 9 resort properties. The new company was named Six Flags although Cedar Fair owners held a 51% stake. Cedar Fair President and CEO Richard Zimmerman became president and CEO of the new company, while Six Flags President and CEO Selim Bassoul became executive chairman of its board of directors. The company opened headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, retaining administrative and finance operations at Cedar Fair's headquarters in Sandusky, Ohio.

Marketing efforts

TV commercials

In June 2003, Ackerman McQueen, who had been handling advertising for Six Flags since 1994, lost the account to the Doner Company.

In 2004, although DC Comics and Looney Tunes as well as Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network characters including Scooby-Doo still had a major presence at the parks, Six Flags began a new series of commercials for the parks. The commercials introduced a new mascot, conceived by the Doner Company, "Mr. Six", a seemingly feeble old man in a tuxedo and red bow tie. In many of the commercials, Mr. Six would slowly exit a multi-colored bus, only to start frenetically dancing to the Vengaboys' "We Like to Party". The commercials were an immediate hit and Mr. Six almost instantly became the de facto mascot, and his presence was felt for years after the character was retired. These ads have become widely parodied on the Internet, with faces from other Internet memes being superimposed over Mr. Six's face.

From 2008 to 2010, Six Flags' TV ads consisted of a "Fun-O-Meter" in which the beginning of the ad showed something boring or embarrassing, leading to a man's face popping up judging it to be "One Flag!" or "Oh! Two Flags!". Then roller coasters and attractions of Six Flags are shown and says "Six Flags! More Flags, More Fun!" for Six Flags parks. The thick accent of the Asian man in the original commercials drew criticism for being an offensive caricature. In 2009, the Mr. Six character came back from retirement and replaced the Asian man in Six Flags' ads, still using the Fun-O-Meter. In 2011, Six Flags' TV ads received a new slogan, "Go Big! Go Six Flags!", for its theme parks.

As part of Six Flags' effort to reopen theme parks in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic, Six Flags brought in a new slogan for both its social media and TV ads, "The Thrill is Calling".

Licensing with other brands and companies

Six Flags has licensed its name and its theme park creations to other companies, who have used these assets to create licensed products. One notable example is the theme park simulation game Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, which featured recreations of Six Flags parks and rides that could be expanded and operated at the player's discretion.

Six Flags has approximately 24 known current and past partners. These partners include Dole, Armitron, TCBY, Mrs. Fields, Famous Famiglia, Mike and Ike, Barcel, Ben & Jerry's, Good Humor, Nathan's Famous, Coca-Cola, Icee, Ortega, Cold Stone Creamery, J&J Snack Foods, Red Gold, Coppertone, Papa John's, Panda Express, Johnny Rockets, Samsung, Dasani, Mars and Tyson Foods. These businesses help the park generate more income. Most importantly, it provides more jobs for prospective employees. For example, Barcel USA expanded its partnership in 2013. This helps to import food and beverages to increase sponsorships within the United States.

In 2008, Six Flags partnered with Brash Entertainment to create a video game based on the Six Flags parks named Six Flags Fun Park. The game was first released on the Nintendo DS on October 28, 2008. The Wii version was delayed while the PC and PlayStation 2 versions were canceled after Brash Entertainment went out of business. On February 24, 2009, the rights to the Wii version were taken over by Ubisoft, who released it on March 3, 2009. The game allows players to explore the themed areas and mini-games representative of a visit to a Six Flags park. In the game, players are tasked with quests that encourage them to explore the park's universe. After creating a unique custom character, Six Flags Fun Park patrons can win prizes and compete with other players in 40 mini-games. Although the video game is called Six Flags Fun Park, it lacks any major reference of Six Flags outside of the names of the different areas. This caused some to speculate that the video game was created separately, then the rights to the name of the game were sold as a way to pay for the game's development. The game was released as simply Fun Park and Fun Park Party in Europe on the DS and Wii respectively. When the game was released, it eventually ended up getting abysmal ratings across the board. IGN gave the Wii version a 4.5 out of 10, saying "The quests are uninteresting and the game's '40 Thrilling Games' (as touted by the box) are far from entertaining."

Other assets

On June 19, 2007, Six Flags announced it had purchased 40% of Dick Clark Productions, which owns rights to American Bandstand and other shows and productions. On September 28, 2012, Six Flags sold its stake in Dick Clark Productions. Additionally, Six Flags owns many other shares in various companies, like Nestle, Google, Mars Candy, and Coca-Cola.

Properties

The Flash Pass

The Flash Pass was an optional, pay-per-person virtual queue system offered at Six Flags amusement parks. The system, named after DC Comics character The Flash, allows guests to reserve places in line at participating attractions, and access must be purchased for a nominal fee in addition to the general park admission price. The first iteration, called Q-bot, was designed by Lo-Q and was first implemented at Six Flags Over Georgia in 2001. Guests are given handheld devices, which are then used to make reservations and receive notifications when it is their turn to ride. Another iteration is where guests can scan a QR code on in-park signs or through the mobile app, and guests can buy individual Flash Passes per ride or use their season pass or membership Flash Pass. This feature was adopted in 2021.

A water park version of the virtual system called Q-band was first tested at Six Flags White Water in 2011. Guests wear waterproof RFID wristbands that can be scanned at kiosks near participating water park attractions.

Following the 2024 merger between Cedar Fair and Six Flags, The Flash Pass was replaced in January 2026 with Cedar Fair's system Fast Lane.