Almost 50 years ago, in Santa Clara, California, Six Flags California’s Great America—a 1 11-acre theme park was opened. It’s expected to be closed in October 2027, after the Halloween season. The prioritizing was at the end of its current lease, as reported by People magazine.
“Unless we decide to extend, and exercise one of our options to extend that lease, that park’s last year without that extension would be after the ’27 season,” Six Flags CFO Brian Witherow said at the company’s Six Flags Investor Day 2025 on May 20.
Further, California amusement park & Six Flags America in Maryland—two parks, are very low on the ranking of margins, as per People magazine.
“At this time, we are still in the planning stages and are working with stakeholders and engaging the community,” a spokesperson for Six Flags told Fox Business in an email. “Until we know more, we remain focused on the great season that’s already underway at the park and the events ahead.”
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In 1976, Six Flags California’s Great America first opened its gates as Marriott’s Great Adventure. Although the amusement park has had several owners for several years—including Cedar Fair Entertainment Co.—it went on to merge with Six Flags in 2024. This is all according to the website for California’s Great America.
The amusement park, however, was initially built on public land—but Cedar Fair purchased the 112 acres—which is underneath the park, in 2019, for around $150 million. Cedar Fair sold that land to real estate company Prologis in 2022 for around $310 million with a lease agreement. This is all slated to end in 2028—extended option over the term for an additional five years.
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Authorized spokesperson for Prologis—in an email to the Los Angeles Times—at the start of this year—said the real estate company is already working with design and planning experts to “help us create a master plan” for the Santa Clara property.
The news of the West Coast park’s possible closure follows shortly after the company’s May announcement that Six Flags America and Hurricane Harbor in Bowie, Maryland, will operate for the final time on Nov. 2. Six Flags decided the park, which has the oldest roller coaster across all its properties, was no longer “a strategic fit with the company’s long-term growth plan.”
“After reviewing several options, we believe that marketing the property for redevelopment will generate the highest value and return on investment,” Six Flags CEO Richard Zimmerman said in a statement at the time.
