I would much prefer a sale of Kings Island and Kings Dominion to a new company. My wish for a KECO revival has been well documented on these forums. I think what Six Flags should actually do is keep selling until they are either too small to succeed or dissolved entirely. Privatization as Six Flags may not help in the long run while they still have so much debt, so I won't consider that option. If SF didn't have all of that debt then I think they would be doing a lot better, but for now there is no path out besides piecemeal sales of parks.
The current Herschend Family Mega-Corp is already as big as Cedar Fair was before they merged with legacy Six Flags — and that's only counting their 11 theme parks. They also have 5 aquariums/zoos, 2 attractions, 3-4 brands of dinner theater, and various other experiences. Also, if you're a thrillseeker then you do not want HFE to control Kings Island. They will not install a Bakunawa or a Siren's Curse or an AlpenFury before they install four family coasters.
United Parks is just meh right now. I feel like they're only doing somewhat well because they're maintaining a status quo with a couple of historically good brands (namely Busch Gardens). They have 13 parks total for anyone counting. UPR is more likely to install a thrill coaster, but you'll also get bad operations and a mandatory 9% service fee on everything.
In reality I think (outside of the 10 parks that received Park Presidents) from first to last Six Flags will sell:
Hurricane Harbor Phoenix or Hurricane Harbor Splashtown,
Discovery Kingdom,
SF Mexico,
Dorney Park,
SF New England,
Kings Dominion or Fiesta Texas.
The last two are interchangeable for me since they're on the same level. Kings Dominion helps to connect the East Region while Fiesta Texas adds to the value of the Texas Region. I also don't see Schlitterbahn New Braunfels being sold unless the company sells Fiesta Texas. All of the parks in the chain are at least somewhat profitable.
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Losantiville Mining Co. ·
