Six Flags Theme Parks

Disneyland Theme Parks are known to cater to children, although many adults also enjoy their experiences at "the happiest place on earth."

Sea World Theme Parks are known for their water animals. They focus on sharing information about ocean wildlife as well as using them to entertain visitors.

Six Flags Theme Parks are known for their wild roller coasters and water parks. Teens and adults of all ages return to Six Flags parks for their wide variety of thrilling rides. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is the world's largest regional theme park country. There are more Six Flags properties than any other company. The corporation owns 19 properties in North and South America. Some of them are theme or water park stand-alones and others are combined.

The Six Flags Entertainment Corporation began in 1961 and is headquartered in Grand Prairie, TX. Their first park was Six Flags Over Texas. The Six Flags Entertainment Corporation adopted their name after the park was named after the six flags that fly over the state of Texas over its history. They represented Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of the America, and the United States of America.

The very first park in Texas contained the following attractions:

• a Native American village
• a gondola ride
• a railroad
• Wild West shows
• a stagecoach ride
• a pirate-themed adventure ~ Skull Island

The Take-Over

In 1966, the original park was sold to a Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary. The new owners built two more parks, Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Over Mid-America in 1967 and 1971, respectively. Along with Six Flags over Texas, these were the only three parks built by the corporation. All the rest were acquired from other companies. By 1984, four more parks were added to the list through purchases. That same year, the company gained rights to Warner Brothers' cartoon characters to be used in their parks just as the Disney characters are used to wander their properties. By 1993, Time Warner had purchased the shares of the company and owned it outright, changing the company's name from Six Flags Corporation to Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc.

The Sale

In 1998, Time Warner sold the company to Premier Parks for $1.86 billion. A new era of growth began while Premier Parks started to add the Six Flags name to the parks they already owned. The Six Flag name was used for parks all over the world as Premier Parks continued ot acquire new properties. Unfortunately, by 2004, the company was struggling with finances, forcing them to sell off all their European parks. Several parks in the United States started to close as well. In total, 27 theme parks were sold during this time of financial crisis. To make matters worse, Hurricane Katrina wiped out Six Flags New Orleans in 2005. In 2009, the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the spring of 2010, the company experienced severe restructuring and pulled itself out of bankruptcy status. Currently, the company is back in the stock market today with 19 properties left in the Six Flags family.

Today, Six Flags Theme Parks continue to introduce new and updated rides to their fans focusing on big roller coasters and extreme thrill rides.

The parks are now competing well against Disney, Paramount, Anheuser-Busch, and Sea World. Six Flags roller coaster consistently make it to Top 5 and Top 10 roller coaster lists.