Gilroy Gardens left Cedar Fair in December 2021, the last park to do so before the merger with Six Flags. However, during the latest quarterly earnings call last week, the corporation announced that it will be selling some of its small parks. They didn’t say which parks were for sale and the Los Angeles Daily News speculates that the smaller Frontier City, Valleyfair, Worlds of Fun, Michigan’s Adventure, Great Escape, and Darien Lake properties are all on the "marketplace". Six Flags America joins them due to its proximity to Kings Dominion while California’s Great America's scheduled demise will likely save Discovery Kingdom, eliminating competing parks in the same markets. The two New York parks have coexisted for years, but Six Flags only serves as Darien Lake's lease operator. Three larger parks "on the bubble" are La Ronde, Six Flags St. Louis, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
The Schlitterbahn properties in Texas rank first and third in attendance among Six Flags water parks, but four stand-alone water parks in Northern California, Texas, Georgia, and Mexico, are likely for sale because they're not directly tied to amusement parks and are among the smallest locations in the chain. The Phoenix water park also makes the TEA/AECOM Top 20 North American water parks list, but that might not be enough to keep it.
I would think Fiesta Texas should be safe, but I don't know where the park attendance ranks. I can see all the rest being sold, but I hope none are shuttered if they're not purchased.
On a personal note, I hope ending the Darien Lake lease is enough to save Great Escape. The park has improved a lot since the rebrand and it would be a shame to see it fall into the hands of Parques Reunidos or the like.
The Schlitterbahn properties in Texas rank first and third in attendance among Six Flags water parks, but four stand-alone water parks in Northern California, Texas, Georgia, and Mexico, are likely for sale because they're not directly tied to amusement parks and are among the smallest locations in the chain. The Phoenix water park also makes the TEA/AECOM Top 20 North American water parks list, but that might not be enough to keep it.
I would think Fiesta Texas should be safe, but I don't know where the park attendance ranks. I can see all the rest being sold, but I hope none are shuttered if they're not purchased.
On a personal note, I hope ending the Darien Lake lease is enough to save Great Escape. The park has improved a lot since the rebrand and it would be a shame to see it fall into the hands of Parques Reunidos or the like.
