Six Flags flip-flops, will bring back park presidents
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has reversed course and decided to bring back the position of park president that the company eliminated less than a year ago.
My colleague Brady MacDonald has the story for the Orange County Register.
Last May, Six Flags decided to replace the function of 27 park presidents with regional managers for four regions across the country. Now, the amusement park chain will bring back the park president position at 10 of its remaining parks:
- Canada’s Wonderland
- Carowinds
- Cedar Point
- Kings Island
- Knott’s Berry Farm
- Six Flags Great America
- Six Flags Great Adventure
- Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Six Flags Over Georgia
- Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags just completed the sale of six of its US theme parks to EPR Properties as it looks to "optimize" its portfolio. With Six Flags America closing last year and California's Great America due to close within the next few years, if you wanted a list of parks that the company likely is to keep, well, this list is probably as good as any.
Notably missing from this list are Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Kings Dominion, both of which have seen relatively aggressive investment over the past years. I am awaiting information about who will be overseeing those parks going forward.
Six Flags said that it will announce next week who will hold these park president positions. But Brady reported that Raffi Kaprelyan will return to Knott's, with Brian Oerding coming over to Magic Mountain from Carowinds.
Putting a single individual in charge at each of the park's top locations will allow the company to reduce its number of corporate positions. It also should allow better accountability and faster decision making at the local level, but fans will have to wait to see how this latest change affects individual park operations.
Replies (4)
I am seeing multiple reports that Jeffrey Siebert is out in Texas.
@Robert - I'm seeing the same reporting, though it sounds like Mr. Siebert was not part of any of the recent layoffs. It's disappointing that one of the biggest champions of the brand and one who single-handedly differentiated their park, is no longer with the company.
It's a bit odd to me that 2 of the parks with the biggest potential, though not in the biggest markets (SFFT and KD) do not have appointed presidents in this move.
They should never have eliminated this position to begin with, but I guess bringing them back is better than sticking to the alternative when it clearly isn't working.
As for Siebert, the story I've been hearing is that he was offered the position of president at SFOT, but declined as he didn't want to relocate his family to Dallas and opted to resign instead of take a demotion.
As for the parks not getting presidents, rumor has it that one or more of those properties are currently in negotiations with a buyer...
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It's great to hear Raffi is back at Knott's. I worked under him in the early '00s, and he's great for the park.