Theme park fans had high hopes when Six Flags and Cedar Fair combined to create North America’s largest theme park company. The ultimate dream was that Six Flags’ thrill rides and IP would come to Cedar Fair, and Cedar Fair’s customer service would rub off on Six Flags.
In the first season of operation, fans saw a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the parks under the new Six Flags Entertainment banner saw closures and worker shortages at some of its parks nationwide. The parks also instituted a strict content creator policy that banned guests from filming in certain areas and restricted what creators could say about the parks online.
However, there is some hope, as Six Flags is introducing a new pass for 2025 that allows guests admission to all 42 theme parks and plans to introduce dozens of new rides across its parks.
Despite that glimmer of hope, a looming issue from the Cedar Fair days could haunt this new venture. There is a land deal that could force Six Flags to close one of its parks in Northern California.
California’s Great American Amusement Park was purchased by Cedar Fair in 2006. During the pandemic, the park struggled financially, and Cedar Fair sold the land on which the park was situated to Real Estate Company Prologis for $310 million for the 112.6 acres.
Part of the deal allowed Cedar Fair to lease the land from Prologis. However, a notice in the lease permitted Prologis to terminate the lease agreement by giving Cedar Fair two years’ notice.
The land is in Santa Clara, California, near Levi’s Stadium, where the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers play. The 112.6 acres have become significantly more valuable and could be used for apartments and retail/restaurant space to support the stadium.
It appears that Prologis has realized that this land could be more valuable to them if used differently. According to the Mercury News, Prologis filed documents with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office showing it could terminate the theme park’s lease as soon as June 30, 2028.
Neither Prologis nor Six Flags Entertainment has said if the company has given notice to terminate the lease. However, the filing with the county could be the first step in that direction.
So, while Six Flags and Cedar Fair continue to work out the kinks in their partnership, it appears they may have to do it with one less theme park to operate with.
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