Five more North American theme/waterparks are about to be added to the North American portfolio of Six Flags Entertainment.

The company has entered into a purchase agreement with affiliates of Premier Parks to acquire the lease rights to operate five parks currently operated by Premier but owned by EPR Properties. This will take Six Flags’ collection of parks in the USA and Canada to 25. The new additions are as follows:

• Wet n’ Wild Splashtown. Largest waterpark in Houston, Texas, with more than 48 acres of waterslides and attractions, plus two children’s areas.

• Wet n’ Wild Phoenix, the largest waterpark in Arizona.

• Darien Lake near Buffalo, New York. A c.1,000 acre property including an amusement park, waterpark, campground, hotel and a 21,000-seat amphitheatre. The park was previously owned by Six Flags, which itself was once known as Premier Parks, from 1995 to 2006.

• Frontier City. Theme park described as “an iconic part of the Oklahoma City landscape”.

• White Water Bay. Waterpark near Frontier City (above).

“These are all fantastic properties that complement our existing portfolio and provide tremendous added value and cross-visitation opportunities for our extensive membership and season pass base,” says Six Flags CEO, chairman and president, Jim Reid-Anderson.

Six Flags describes itself as the largest regional theme park operator in the world. Upon closing of these latest transactions, which is expected in June, it will be the largest waterpark operator in North America. Six Flags says that an additional 20 million people will be within a 100-mile radius of a Six Flags park (wet or dry), significantly expanding the company’s national footprint. Between them the five new properties entertained approximately two million guests in 2017.

Image: Darien Lake