Six Flags sells seven of its parks
America's biggest amusement park chain is getting smaller in 2026. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation confirmed this morning that it is selling seven of its parks.
With 41 properties across North America, Six Flags is America's largest amusement park chain by volume, though the company trails Disney in U.S. attendance. Six Flags parks welcomed a little more than 50 million visitors in 2024, according to the TEA Global Experience Index attendance report - all in North America. Universal drew nearly 59 million guests worldwide that year, but less than 50 million in the U.S. Disney lead all companies with more than 145 million visitors worldwide.
Six Flags can expect to lose about 4.5 million from its attendance number in 2026. That is the number of guests who visited the seven parks that Six Flags is selling to EPR Properties. The deal was leaked earlier this year when an Orlando-based LLC called "Enchanted Parks Holdings" registered trademark applications that included the names of several Six Flags properties. [See Trademark applications may point to sale of Six Flags parks.]
Today's announcement confirms that EPR will acquire the following parks:
- Valleyfair (Minneapolis)
- Worlds of Fun (Kansas City, Mo.)
- Michigan’s Adventure (Grand Rapids)
- Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston
- Six Flags St. Louis
- Six Flags Great Escape (Queensbury, N.Y.)
- Six Flags La Ronde (Montreal)
Six Flags will license the use of the Six Flags brand to EPR for the parks for the rest of the 2026 season. The parks will honor all season passes, as well as the recently announced multi-park privileges with other, remaining Six Flags properties.
"We know how much these parks mean to our guests and to the incredible teams who bring them to life every day. Decisions like this are never taken lightly," Six Flags President and CEO John Reilly said. "We’re confident the parks will be in good hands with EPR and its partners, who have strong experience operating parks of this quality and scale. At the same time, this move allows Six Flags to concentrate on the parks that we believe offer the greatest opportunities for growth and long-term success. Our goal is to continue creating amazing experiences for all our guests, and this agreement helps us stay focused on that commitment."
Six Flags said that the sale was for total cash consideration of $331 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.
"By focusing our resources on the parks that we believe have the highest growth potential, we expect to drive operating leverage, expand margins and accelerate our cash flow generation," Reilly said.
Update: To clarify, EPR is the REIT that is buying the parks (or the lease, for La Ronde), while Enchanted Parks will be the management company for EPR, with Kieran Burke's La Ronde Operations managing La Ronde in partnership with Enchanted Parks and EPR.
Replies (3)
Given what it does with season passes, it is any surprise that the company would offer its parks at fire sale prices?
I don't know Zarex, if you assume that this reporting is accurate, EPR is paying $331 million for parks with a combined attendance of 4.5 million. That equates to a per cap average of $73.55, which is well beyond what any SF or CF park has produced in history with the most recent per cap number for 4Q25 sitting at $61.90. Certainly, it feels like the purchase price is low, but the reality is that EPR is paying a premium to get their foot in the door here. Let's not forget that these are parks that were already the red-headed stepchildren of SF/CF even before the chains merged, and were rarely seeing any significant investment, so to project the sale of these 7 parks on the value of the rest of the SF chain is not a fair comparison. In other words, SF sold their lemons for tangerine prices.
You must be registered and logged in to submit a comment.
The sale price seems a smidge low. Herschend took out a loan of over $1 billion to finance the purchase of the Palace Entertainment parks. That was a larger portfolio, but mostly comprised of smaller family parks, water parks and FECs. Cedar Fair paid $28 million for Michigan's Adventure a quarter century ago and they can't get $50 million a park for that and the other 6 former Six Flags? It appears as though a limited # of willing buyers depressed the sale price and New Six Flags was desperate to get them off the books.