Iconic California Theme Park Closing Forever as Six Flags Cull Continues

Six Flags is officially closing yet another theme park.

Since the July 1, 2024 “merger of equals,” Six Flags and Cedar Fair have operated under a single banner as Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, now the largest amusement park operator in North America with over 40 theme parks across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

The merger brought leadership from Cedar Fair, with Richard Zimmerman leading as CEO. However, it hasn’t necessarily marked a welcome change in the theme park community, with many sharing their fears that the newly-merged company would soon start pruning its hefty lineup of attractions.

These fears weren’t entirely unfounded. In the year since, several record-breaking coasters – including Kingda Ka, once the world’s tallest and fastest coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, and Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain – have been retired. In May, it was also confirmed that Six Flags America and its waterpark, Hurricane Harbor, in Bowie, Maryland, will close down permanently at the end of the 2025 season.

“As part of our comprehensive review of our park portfolio, we have determined that Six Flags America and Hurricane Harbor are not a strategic fit with the company’s long-term growth plan,” Zimmerman said at the time.

It seems like they’re not the only ones as yet another permanent closure has been confirmed by Six Flags.

Six Flags Confirms Permanent Closure in California

Six Flags Investor Day revealed that California’s Great America will close forever.

Unlike Six Flags Great Adventure, there’s more time to enjoy the Santa Clara theme park, with its closure estimated for the end of the 2027 season.

“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,” said CFO Brian Witherow (via PEOPLE).

Witherow’s comments came after an audience member questioned its fate. Also referring to Six Flags America, Witherow added, “Those are two parks that are very low on the ranking of margins.”

Two years before merging with Six Flags, Cedar Fair sold the land occupied by California’s Great America to Prologis. The deal included a leaseback agreement lasting six to 11 years, with plans to close the park once the lease ended. The initial term ends at the end of June 2028.

While Witherow stopped short of a full-blown closure announcement, it’s not exactly a comforting sign that Prologis already has future plans for the land. “We’re focused on identifying and partnering with planning and design experts to help us create a master plan for the property,” a spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year.

California’s Great America’s Legacy

California’s Great America opened on May 20, 1976, originally as Marriott’s Great America. It gained a sister park in Illinois just days later. Over the decades it passed through Paramount Parks before Cedar Fair acquired it in 2006, becoming a Bay Area icon.

Spanning 112 acres, the park offers over 40 rides and attractions, including South Bay Shores waterpark. Highlights include Gold Striker (a top-ranked wooden coaster), RailBlazer single‑rail coaster, and Flight Deck, an inverted B&M coaster. It also hosts seasonal events and a dedicated Planet Snoopy area for families.

Will you miss California’s Great America?