BUSINESS

Iconic Theme Park Chain Announces Another Closure

July 2nd, 2025

Six Flags announced plans to shut down one of its California theme parks during a recent investors' meeting months after a previous closure in Maryland.

The popular theme park chain will close its California's Great America location in Santa Clara at the end of the 2027 season, prior to the conclusion of its lease in three years.

“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,” Witherow said via PEOPLE while answering questions at Six Flags Investor Day 2025 on May 20.

Six Flags America had previously announced the closing of its Bowie, Maryland, location set to take place at the end of the 2025 season.

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“Those are two parks that are very low on the ranking of margins,” Witherow said.

The 100-acre Santa Clara park, which opened under the Marriott Corporation as Marriott's Great America in 1976, would be set to close after the 2027 Halloween season. Cedar Fair merged with Six Flags as part of an $8 billion deal in 2024, having previously sold 112 acres of land underneath the park to Prologis as part of a $310 million deal.

The company agreed to lease back the land and had previously announced plans to shut down the park at the completion of the lease, which was set to end in 2028 with an option to extend through 2033.

“We chose Prologis as our partner because of their deep ties in the Bay Area and their reputation for working closely with local communities on large developments,” said then-Cedar Fair president and CEO Richard A. Zimmerman in a press release shared in June 2022 via PEOPLE.

Curated By

Aris Thorne
Corporate Social Responsibility Consultant | Tech Policy Researcher | Academic Researcher Labor Rights
Aris Thorne is an independent journalism contributor and former sociologist whose work examines the intersection of technology, environment, and social justice. Through their signature curation style, Aris transforms routine news coverage into critical examinations of systemic power structures, consistently highlighting how corporate innovations, from AI breakthroughs to green technologies, often mask deeper inequities affecting marginalized communities. Their "rebuttal" format challenges readers to move beyond surface-level reporting, exposing the human costs behind corporate success stories and advocating for solutions rooted in climate justice and ethical accountability. Drawing on academic rigor and intersectional analysis, Aris maintains a deeply skeptical lens toward institutional narratives, refusing to separate technological progress from its social implications. Their work has covered everything from algorithmic bias in hiring platforms to the environmental justice dimensions of renewable energy projects, always centering the voices of those most impacted by systemic failures.

Suggested Reading

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America by Steven W. Wilson is a richly illustrated historical account that chronicles the evolution of the iconic theme park located in Gurnee, Illinois, from its inception as Marriott’s Great America to its current status as a premier Six Flags destination. The book, part of the Im...

Six Flags Over Texas: The First Fifty Years

"Six Flags Over Texas: The First Fifty Years" by Davis G. McCown is a comprehensive historical account of the iconic amusement park located in Arlington, Texas, tracing its evolution from its inception in the late 1950s through its fiftieth anniversary season in 2011. The book begins by contextualiz...

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