Six Flags reinstates park presidents

Well, well if list doesn’t confirm the ten most important parks.

Obviously KD missing is telling, along with Fiesta. Curious what happens to Dorney and SFNE, as the other two Mid-Level parks, that are not leased.

^ As well as Discovery Kingdom and Mexico, two parks I've long felt will be sold off. I felt this even before the merger.

I feel like the new company wants parks with the potential to earn 3 million visitors per year or more. It's a numbers game at this point.

It does seem that way. I'm worried about Dorney - arguably siphoning off business while it's in the company, and a direct competitor in both the Philadelphia and NY Metro markets if they were to sell it.

(I think the NYC + Philly markets are more than big enough to support the various parks there, including Hersheypark, Playland, Coney Island, etc. And Dorney is sort of a waterpark with rides anyway. But it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to geaugalake it.)

I always had hoped Cedar Fair would have ultimately been successful with making Geauga Lake a sort of Dorney Park West after realizing they weren't going to keep the (legacy) Six Flags momentum of Cedar Point East. I still think if they had marketed it better, given Bill Spehn some money and a few more years, they could have done it.

But yes, post-merger Dorney is one of those parks I have worried about.

Dorney was slammed every time I went last year, A very hot day, Halloween, and latin nights. I think the reason it didn’t go with others to Enchanted.

Mexico pretty sure never lost its president, and Reilly said it’s a priority for investment after his visit, (akin to CW after CF bought Paramount) and it’s already one of the best looking.

BrettV:

still think if they had marketed it better, given Bill Spehn some money and a few more years, they could have done it.

Just stop. This group forgets the absolute economic apocalypse that hit that side of Cleveland in the years since the closure. It would have happened anyway. Go back and look at what happened to Youngstown/Akron/Canton. The corporate picnics that were the bread and butter for that park back in the day absolutely dried up since then.

Fiesta surprises me. It has the Houston/Austin/San Antonio market locked up. Hard for me to grasp that it might not be a strong performer.

Fiesta might not be on the list because of Schlitterbahn. They might want one person running both parks and integrating them better. They are so close, I imagine they might want locals to realize they are part of the same chain now. Both parks could benefit from a combined marketing strategy. With them selling off Galveston and SFOT getting its own who is left in their region other then those two parks?

I’ve worked in hospitality since the early 1990s, and I genuinely struggle to see how any park, attraction, or large venue can operate effectively without a clear on‑site leader — a General Manager, Park President, or whatever title you prefer — who owns the operation day in and day out.

Attractions are fundamentally different from many other businesses. They employ a massive workforce that skews young and seasonal. They operate complex rides and systems. They balance safety, guest service, cleanliness, crowd control, food service, maintenance, and entertainment — often all at once, often under intense pressure. When you boil it down, a park or attraction is essentially a small city that opens its gates every morning and invites tens of thousands of people inside.

And just like a city, leadership matters.

Trying to run an attraction without a dedicated on‑site executive is like trying to run a city without a mayor. You can have regional planners, corporate policies, and centralized oversight — but someone still needs to be there every day, walking the park, setting expectations, making judgment calls, and taking responsibility when things go wrong. Operations don’t happen on spreadsheets alone; they happen on the midway, in ride queues, in kitchens, and in break rooms.

A strong park‑level leader provides clarity and consistency. They align departments that naturally pull in different directions. They set the cultural tone for safety, service, and accountability. Most importantly, they create a clear chain of command. When there’s an incident, a weather event, a staffing issue, or a guest crisis, someone needs both the authority and the situational awareness to act immediately — not escalate through layers of regional structure.

I understand the argument for regionalization on paper. It promises cost savings, standardization, and efficiency. But attractions are not interchangeable boxes on an org chart. Each park has its own layout, demographics, staffing challenges, local regulations, and guest expectations. What works operationally at one location may fail completely at another. Removing top‑level, on‑site leadership flattens nuance out of the equation.

Frankly, aside from trying to cut costs, I don’t see how Six Flags — or any operator — realistically believed this model could work long‑term. You can centralize purchasing. You can centralize marketing. You can even centralize certain decision‑making. But you cannot centralize leadership in a business that relies so heavily on people, timing, judgment, and real‑time decision‑making.

Attractions don’t need less leadership. They need strong, present leadership at the helm. Without it, the operation isn’t being managed — it’s just being administered.

Agreed. I criticized the decision to pull those Park President positions and I'm glad they have reinstituted them.

Wow, Hanging n' Banging, that was one of the best posts I've read on here in ages. I wish I could give you more thumbs up than one.

From Six Flags

https://investors.sixflags....fault.aspx

Kinda ominous for those that did not get Park Presidents

“These changes are about putting leadership, expertise and accountability as close to our guests and team members as possible,” said John Reilly, president and CEO of Six Flags. “By strengthening park-level leadership, and aligning our support model with our strategic priorities, we’re empowering our teams to move faster, innovate locally and deliver exceptional experiences every day.”

coincidences surely..... but, "strategic priorities", no park President and Jeffrey S. exiting sure don't point to a good future.

As someone else pointed out, the fact that both KD and FT have a solid Busch park in their backyard might be something of an indicator. Although I can't be convinced that a purchase of those two by PRKS would be feasible. And while their operations are abysmal, saving the parks in that way would be better than a loss.

Although, I'm still confused as to how FT isn't a strong performer given the quality of the park, and its location in what is arguably the 4th/5th largest population area in the country, without any other real competition. KD must surely be in a somewhat better position this year, with SFA having closed. To the extent the NoVa crowd went to SFA, KD now has to be a viable alternative (even if it's a longer drive). As for the Baltimore crowd, Hershey is 1.5 hours and KD is a little over 2 hours, again, there has to be some improvement for KD, although not a 100% pickup of the North of DC population.

CreditWh0re:

Just stop. This group forgets the absolute economic apocalypse that hit that side of Cleveland in the years since the closure. It would have happened anyway. Go back and look at what happened to Youngstown/Akron/Canton. The corporate picnics that were the bread and butter for that park back in the day absolutely dried up since then.

I'm not convinced of this at all, and I'm not forgetting anything. GL group sales were being handled out of Sandusky without any increase in sales staff, another Dick move to do more with less. Pissing off the unions was another self-inflicted wound. There was a reasonable place in the market for the product before Six Flags changed it beyond recognition.

Jeff:

There was a reasonable place in the market for the product before Six Flags changed it beyond recognition.

I would agree with that, but I do have to wonder how much longer it would have lasted as a "company picnic" park. That seems like a by-gone era at this point.

CreditWh0re:

coincidences surely..... but, "strategic priorities", no park President and Jeffrey S. exiting sure don't point to a good future.

It's not just Jeffrey S. it's moving Bridgette to Carowinds from Kings Dominion. She was definitely plugged in at Kings Dominion a couple seasons ago, Kings Dominion was my most visited park the last 2 season each year even though I live 40 minutes south of Great Adventure. She left and the ops went sideways.

I will say Mike seems to have hands full at Great Adventure this year. But he's out and about and really seems to want to listen to visitors. I won't be doing the same amount of Kings Dominion visits if things keep up at Great Adventure this season. Great Adventure has been fun early this year with the in park entertainment and new food options helping with the buzz about Project Purple, Shoreline Pier and the retracking of El Toro.

Jeff:

GL group sales were being handled out of Sandusky without any increase in sales staff, another Dick move to do more with less. Pissing off the unions was another self-inflicted wound

Group sales could have been handled in Twinsburg and it wouldn't have mattered. Even if you made an effort to court the unions after that, how much of that was left from 2008-2019? Then Covid? No way.

GL closed in 2007. That area was already in a steep decline, and then 2008 hit. Do you REALLY think that GL could have survived, in any meaningful way (GL side open/Sea world side closed/some further retrenchment in excess capacity) through the great recession? The fact that the land wasn't redeveloped until late 2020 (COVID) 2021 tells you how bad the economy is/was in that area.

Yes the park was initially unsustainable based on what SF did to it, but after that, it wouldn't have survived long term, even it was culled back to what it once was.

KD suffers because it's in a crummy location. Richmond is a pretty small city already, but what's worse is it never grew north, and the park is literally in the sticks. Nobody lives within "Hey, let's stop by the park for a bit" distance. Look at KI, Carowinds, SFFT and most other SF parks are surrounded by suburbs. KD has farmland. SF can't really fix this, and they're acknowledging it by dropping KD to 2nd tier status. A shame, because it has a top tier coaster collection.

Yet Great Adventure is in the sticks even more and will be thriving when they complete the 5 year plan that they are in year 1

And I abandoned Great Adventure due to issues with crowd control. Now I've been there often this year.