Six Flags facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation

Logo used since 2024
Administrative offices at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio
Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: FUN Russell 2000 component S&P 600 component
Industry	Amusement parks
Predecessors	Cedar Fair Six Flags
Founded	July 1, 2024; 21 months ago (2024-07-01)
Headquarters	Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Number of locations	35 (2026)
Area served	United States Mexico Canada Saudi Arabia
Key people	Richard Haddrill (executive chairman) John Reilly (CEO and president)
Services	Amusement parks live entertainment lodging water parks zoological parks
Revenue	US$3.10 billion (2025)
Operating income	US$−1.38 billion (2025)
Net income	US$−1.60 billion (2025)
Total assets	US$7.80 billion (2025)
Total equity	US$0.55 billion (2025)
Members	7.4 million (2025)
Number of employees	95,225 (2025)
Footnotes / references Financials as of December 31,  2025 (2025 -12-31)[update].

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, often called Six Flags, is a big company from America that runs amusement parks. Its main office is in Charlotte, North Carolina, with another important office in Sandusky, Ohio. The company started on July 1, 2024, when two large amusement park companies, Cedar Fair and the original Six Flags, joined together.

Six Flags now owns 35 different properties, including fun amusement parks, exciting water parks, and places to stay (resorts) across North America. They also help manage two parks in Saudi Arabia. Six Flags is the biggest company for regional amusement parks in North America. It's also the fifth-largest amusement park company in the world by how many people visit, with 50.3 million guests in 2024.

The company has special permission to use famous characters like the Looney Tunes and DC Comics superheroes in its parks. You can also find Peanuts characters at some of their parks. To help guests enjoy more rides, Six Flags offers a special system called Fast Lane that lets you skip the long lines. Six Flags shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the fun symbol "FUN."

How Six Flags Began

The Story of Cedar Fair

Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, bought another park called Valleyfair in 1978. This led to the creation of Cedar Fair in 1983. The name "Cedar" came from Cedar Point, and "Fair" came from Valleyfair. In 1987, the company became public, meaning people could buy shares in it.

Cedar Fair grew by buying more amusement parks across the United States. In 1997, they bought Knott's Berry Farm, which gave them the right to use Peanuts characters in their parks. In 2006, Cedar Fair bought five Paramount Parks from CBS Corporation. Cedar Fair faced some challenges and offers to be bought by other companies, but these plans didn't go through. To help manage its money, Cedar Fair sold one of its parks, California's Great America, in 2022.

The Original Six Flags Company

Six Flags Over Texas was the very first Six Flags park, opening in 1961.

The first Six Flags park, Six Flags Over Texas, opened in August 1961. It was created by Angus G. Wynne and other investors. Over the years, the company built new parks and bought existing ones. In 1984, when Six Flags bought the Great America park in Illinois, they also gained the rights to use Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes characters. Later, Time Warner owned Six Flags for a few years.

In 1998, another company called Premier Parks bought Six Flags. Premier Parks then started changing the names of its own parks to Six Flags and eventually became known as Six Flags in 2000.

During the 2000s, the original Six Flags company faced tough times financially. They reorganized their business to become stronger and continued running their parks. They also sold some of their parks in Europe and the U.S. to help with their finances. A new plan to change how parks operated was tried but didn't work out as expected, and park visits went down.

The Big Merger of 2024

How the Merger Was Announced

The main offices of Cedar Fair (top) and the original Six Flags (bottom) before they joined in 2024.

After talking for a while, Cedar Fair and the original Six Flags company announced on November 2, 2023, that they would join together. Both companies wanted to be stronger financially and compete better with other big theme parks, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic affected park visits. They expected to save a lot of money by combining their operations.

This was called a "merger of equals," meaning both companies were important. Cedar Fair shareholders ended up owning a bit more of the new company (51.2%), and Six Flags shareholders owned 48.8%. The new company was named Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and started trading on the stock market using Cedar Fair's old symbol, FUN.

Getting Approval for the Merger

The leaders of both companies agreed to the merger right away. The U.S. government's Department of Justice reviewed the merger to make sure it was fair. Mexico's competition commission approved it on January 25, 2024. Most Six Flags shareholders also voted to approve the merger on March 12, 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice gave its final approval on June 26, 2024. The merger officially finished on July 1, 2024.

Some investors disagreed with the merger, saying it wasn't the best deal for everyone.

What Happened After the Merger

The company's main office moved near its Carowinds park in Charlotte, North Carolina.

After the merger on July 1, 2024, Richard Zimmerman, who was the CEO of Cedar Fair, became the CEO of the new combined company. Selim Bassoul, the CEO of the original Six Flags, became the executive chairman. The main office of the new company moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, close to its Carowinds park. The important administrative and financial operations stayed in Sandusky, Ohio.

Six Flags said that parks would keep their original names and that there wouldn't be big changes at the park level. The new company's shares started trading on July 2, 2024, under the symbol FUN.

In late 2024, Six Flags started looking at which parks fit best with their future plans. They announced plans in December 2024 to take full ownership of Six Flags Over Georgia, Hurricane Harbor Atlanta, and Six Flags White Water by January 2027.

On February 10, 2025, Six Flags announced a deal to help manage and license its brand for two new theme parks in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia. These parks are planned to be Six Flags Qiddiya City and Aquarabia water park.

Six Flags America in Woodmore, Maryland, closed permanently on November 2, 2025.

On May 1, 2025, the company announced it permanently closed the Six Flags America theme park and its water park, Hurricane Harbor Maryland, in Woodmore, Maryland. The company said these parks didn't fit its long-term plans. Hurricane Harbor Maryland closed on September 6, 2025, and Six Flags America closed on November 2, 2025. In May 2025, Six Flags also made some changes to its team, reducing the number of full-time employees.

New leaders took charge in late 2025 and early 2026. Richard Zimmerman stepped down as CEO by the end of 2025, and John Reilly became the new CEO on December 8, 2025. Selim Bassoul also stepped down as executive chairman by the end of 2025, and Marilyn Spiegel replaced him on January 1, 2026. Richard Haddrill became the executive chairman on March 25, 2026.

On January 5, 2026, Six Flags announced it would not acquire its remaining share in Six Flags Over Texas. On March 5, 2026, Six Flags announced that it divested seven of its theme parks to EPR Properties. These parks included Valleyfair, Worlds of Fun, Michigan's Adventure, Schlitterbahn Galveston, Six Flags St. Louis, Six Flags Great Escape, and La Ronde. The sale of the U.S. parks was completed on April 6, 2026. The sale of La Ronde is expected to close by the second quarter of 2026.

Six Flags Parks and Resorts

As of March 2026, Six Flags operates 35 properties. These include 21 amusement parks and 14 separate water parks. Nine of these properties also have resorts in North America. The company also licenses and manages two parks in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia.

The sale of La Ronde to EPR Properties is expected to close during the second quarter of 2026.

Amusement Parks to Explore

The table below lists the main amusement parks that are part of Six Flags.

     Parks that were part of Cedar Fair before the merger.
     Parks that were part of the original Six Flags (1961–2024) before the merger.

Water Parks to Splash In

This table lists the separate water parks that are part of Six Flags.

Resorts for Overnight Stays

Parks Licensed and Managed by Six Flags

Former Properties

How Six Flags is Organized

Six Flags is a public company, which means its shares can be bought and sold on the stock market. Its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FUN." The main office is in Charlotte, North Carolina, and it has another important office in Sandusky, Ohio.

Who Leads Six Flags

Board of Directors

As of March 25, 2026, these are the people on the Six Flags board of directors:

• Richard Haddrill – executive chairman
• Marilyn Spiegel – lead independent director
• John Reilly – director and CEO of Six Flags
• Jonathan Brudnick
• Sandra Cochran
• Michael Colglazier
• Felipe Dutra
• Steven Hoffman
• Chieh Huang
• Jennifer Mason
• Arik Ruchim

Executive Team

As of December 8, 2025, here are the main leaders at Six Flags:

• John Reilly – chief executive officer and president
• Tim Fisher – chief operating officer
• Brian Witherow – chief financial officer
• Brian Nurse – chief legal and compliance officer and corporate secretary
• Christian Dieckmann – chief commercial officer
• Dave Hoffman – chief accounting officer
• Ty Tastepe – chief digital officer
• Seenu Sarma – chief procurement officer

Who Owns Six Flags

As of December 31, 2025, these are the ten largest shareholders in Six Flags:

Six Flags' Money Matters

How Many People Visit Six Flags

Company-Wide Attendance

These numbers show how many people visited Six Flags parks overall, compared to other amusement park companies.

Most Popular Six Flags Parks

These Six Flags parks were among the top 20 most visited amusement parks in North America in 2024.

How Six Flags Makes Money

Admission gates to Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California in 2025.

Six Flags earns money mainly in three ways: from park tickets (51.1%), from things bought inside the parks like food and souvenirs (33.5%), and from other services like hotels (15.4%). They offer season passes that are often cheaper than buying single-day tickets. People with season passes might spend less per visit, but they visit more often, so they spend more money overall each year. Six Flags focuses on getting more visitors and encouraging them to spend more inside the parks.

They also make money from special events like Fright Fest for Halloween and Holiday in the Park for winter. These events often use popular characters to attract more guests. A popular extra service is Fast Lane, which lets guests pay extra to get into shorter lines for rides.

Marketing and Special Characters

How Six Flags Advertises

Travis Kelce is a brand ambassador for Six Flags.

In April 2025, Six Flags launched a new national advertising campaign called "We're Serious About Fun." This campaign introduced a new character, the Funsultant, who is known for being very serious about fun. This campaign was shown on TV, online, and in other places.

American football player Travis Kelce became a brand ambassador for Six Flags in March 2026. He helps the company with its marketing efforts.

Using Famous Characters and Partnerships

The DC Universe area at Six Flags Great America.

The Planet Snoopy area at Dorney Park.

Six Flags has special rights to use characters from Warner Bros. and Peanuts. Their agreement with Warner Bros. allows them to use Looney Tunes and DC Comics characters in their North American parks, except for specific areas like Las Vegas and Florida. The Peanuts characters are used in some parks in the United States and Canada that were originally Cedar Fair parks. Six Flags renewed its agreement to use Peanuts characters until 2030.

The Six Flags brand is also licensed to the Qiddiya Investment Company for the Six Flags Qiddiya City park, which Six Flags helps operate. Also, EPR Properties can use the Six Flags brand at the parks it bought from Six Flags for the 2026 season.

Six Flags also partners with food companies like Blue Bunny Ice Cream, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, The Icee Company, and Mars Inc. They also work with different companies for ride photos and online ticketing.

See also

• Incidents at Six Flags parks