News Enchanted Parks & EPR Acquire Seven Parks from Six Flags

[Zachary]

Innovative Attractions Management seems to be HEAVILY associated with the aquatics training/certification company StarGuard Elite. They share the same address (suite number and all) and the same website back-end. Any of the water park industry people 'round here know anything about StarGuard? Maybe this is the root of some of the capital?

 

[DH_The_ThemeParkFaniac]

Why is it only the Lodge tho...

 

[Zachary]

@DH_The_ThemeParkFaniac: It's highly likely more trademarks are coming. Technically possible that the chain is only unloading parts of properties (Great Escape & Worlds of Fun), but that seems super unlikely to me. More likely explanation is someone reached 5pm on Friday and went home for the day after submitting the first handful of trademark applications.

 

[DH_The_ThemeParkFaniac]

@DH_The_ThemeParkFaniac: It's highly likely more trademarks are coming. Technically possible that the chain is only unloading parts of properties (Great Escape & Worlds of Fun), but that seems super unlikely to me. More likely explanation is someone reached 5pm on Friday and went home for the day after submitting the first handful of trademark applications.

I see..

It's still scaring me, what are the trademarks for?

 

[Zachary]

I see..

It's still scaring me, what are the trademarks for?

...?

The properties that have been sold...?

Nothing is official until it's official, but if you read this thread, the predominant theory is very strong IMO.

 

[DH_The_ThemeParkFaniac]

Huh..

 

[SweetBabyJames]

If the parks listed under new trademark names are sold to a new company it could be a good thing for them with new opportunities. Perhaps some of the smaller parks will see more investment they wouldn't have seen in a big corporation like Six Flags. There won't be corporate red tape to walk through or budget allocation being sent to the bigger parks. Also, I prefer a sale of parks any day to parks being destroyed for their real estate value.

I've been to many of the parks listed. Enchanted Forest water Safari is a very fun water park and does already feel like the smaller cousin to Great Escape. They have a very similar small town park vibe and even have similar storybook themes. It would be fun to have them under the same umbrella for the northern NY market.

 

[DH_The_ThemeParkFaniac]

If the parks listed under new trademark names are sold to a new company it could be a good thing for them with new opportunities. Perhaps some of the smaller parks will see more investment they wouldn't have seen in a big corporation like Six Flags. There won't be corporate red tape to walk through or budget allocation being sent to the bigger parks. Also, I prefer a sale of parks any day to parks being destroyed for their real estate value.

I've been to many of the parks listed. Enchanted Forest water Safari is a very fun water park and does already feel like the smaller cousin to Great Escape. They have a very similar small town park vibe and even have similar storybook themes. It would be fun to have them under the same umbrella for the northern NY market.

True but what would happen to the people with the SF Season Pass they got from SFGE

 

[SweetBabyJames]

True but what would happen to the people with the SF Season Pass they got from SFGE

Ultimately it would be up to the new owners what they would like to do however, I am sure if the sale goes through before the 2026 season, Six Flags Season Passes will be valid at the parks sold for the remainder of the year. That was the case when Six Flags sold of Darien Lake, Elich Gardens etc. in the early 2000's.

I can almost certainly guarantee 2026 Six Flags passes bought at Great Escape will be valid at all Six Flags for the remainder of the 2026 season.

 

[amperedragon]

This feels very much like what old Six Flags did about twenty years ago when they sold off a bunch of parks to PARC Management in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy. Selling this collection of parks as a bundle makes a lot of sense as they all fall into that area of "mini cash cow" parks that generate steady profit without a ton of investment but have limited growth potential. I also suspect the land values are a lot lower where these parks are than somewhere like CGA or SFA, so selling them for real estate might not be valuable enough to pursue if another operator is willing to take them on. If the deal goes through, it's pretty likely they'll still operate as Six Flags properties for the 2026 season, then transfer to the new owners and adopt the new brand for 2027.

If Six Flags were to complete this sale, terminate the contract with EPR properties, and close CGA at the end of the season, they'd quickly be down to a much more manageable eighteen theme parks (plus six standalone waterparks), so my early guess is that's what we're looking at as likely. It'd also eliminate every park from the chain that didn't get a survey last year apart from La Ronde, Mexico, and Valleyfair (though the latter two are getting sizable additions for 2026).

 

[paintervision]

If Six Flags were to complete this sale, terminate the contract with EPR properties, and close CGA at the end of the season, they'd quickly be down to a much more manageable eighteen theme parks (plus six standalone waterparks), so my early guess is that's what we're looking at as likely. It'd also eliminate every park from the chain that didn't get a survey last year apart from La Ronde, Mexico, and Valleyfair (though the latter two are getting sizable additions for 2026).

Sidenote: Is is possible that EPR is buying these and Innovative Attractions Management is only managing? If so, it's possible that other EPR properties could join like Frontier City, Darien Lake, Hurricane Harbor Phoenix, or Hurricane Harbor Splashtown (which is near the Galveston Schlitterbahn)...

Here's two EPR-owned properties that IAM already manages:

 

[Zachary]

Sidenote: Is is possible that EPR is buying these and Innovative Attractions Management is only managing? If so, it's possible that other EPR properties could join like Frontier City, Darien Lake, Hurricane Harbor Phoenix, or Hurricane Harbor Splashtown (which is near the Galveston Schlitterbahn)...

Here's two EPR-owned properties that IAM already manages:

View attachment 40811
View attachment 40812

This seems highly, HIGHLY likely to me. I had thought about some REIT partnership deal earlier today, but I didn't have any idea that EPR owns the other two Innovative Attraction Solutions properties already. Makes oodles of sense to me. Great spot @paintervision!


I have some more insight into the ownership situation of Innovative Attraction Solutions too. The StarGuard association is 100% there—they're both owned and operated by the same guy. Here's the connective tissue:

Home | JFH Technologies

www.jfhtech.com

The investments page lists the two previously mentioned companies and a handful of others while the about us page dives into a bunch of info about the CEO. Looks VERY likely to me that this is the guy behind this new Enchanted Parks company.

 

[paintervision]

This seems highly, HIGHLY likely to me. I had thought about some REIT partnership deal earlier today, but I didn't have any idea that EPR owns the other two Innovative Attraction Solutions properties already. Makes oodles of sense to me. Great spot @paintervision!

EPR also owns the City Museum in St Louis (close to Eureka/Six Flags St Louis), which is run by Premier Parks. EPR also owns a bunch of businesses around Kansas City, although not really attraction-related.

Speculation zone: could they also pick up Discovery Kingdom? EPR already owns the waterpark nearby, run by Six Flags as Hurricane Harbor Concord. This could open up the possibility for Six Flags to exit the Northern California market entirely (once CGA is closed) AND keep that park open, at least?



I guess other possibilities exist. EPR owns Camelbeach in the Poconos, not far from Dorney Park (plus two ski resorts run by Vail), and a hotel not too far from La Ronde. There are also some wildcards: EPR owns Bavarian Inn Lodge, 3-ish hrs by car away from MiA, which is the most disconnected location of these parks that I can tell so far.

 

[amperedragon]

Sidenote: Is is possible that EPR is buying these and Innovative Attractions Management is only managing? If so, it's possible that other EPR properties could join like Frontier City, Darien Lake, Hurricane Harbor Phoenix, or Hurricane Harbor Splashtown (which is near the Galveston Schlitterbahn)...

That is an extremely interesting observation, and something I could definitely see being the case. If EPR took ownership of the parks and IAM took on management duties for both those and the existing Six Flags contract, they'd have themselves a nice little chain with a half dozen theme parks scattered throughout the eastern half of the country along with a number of waterpark properties. If they went a step further and bought out Premier Parks, that'd give them a pretty sizable portfolio with quite a few different markets to play with.

Speculation zone: could they also pick up Discovery Kingdom? EPR already owns the waterpark nearby, run by Six Flags as Hurricane Harbor Concord. This could open up the possibility for Six Flags to exit the Northern California market entirely (once CGA is closed) AND keep that park open, at least?

I suspect Discovery Kingdom (along with probably Dorney, La Ronde, and Valleyfair) are the bubble parks that Six Flags hasn't yet confirmed as either core or non-core quite yet. SFDK got a ton of investment in overdue infrastructure work this year and all the event assets from CGA so they can have a full calendar of those going forward. If the market responds well to that (plus perhaps a new ride or two) over the next few years, Six Flags will probably hold onto the park as it's the only sizable park in the region. However, if they can't get the CGA audience to transition to SFDK and the downward attendance trend continues, I definitely think it's a probable candidate for a second round of sales.

 

[Timchat2]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone in this thread for all of the great research and discussion so far. This is the kind of stuff where ParkFans really does shine!

 

[MysticClay]

I was just thinking about how I’ve heard that we were going to learn who the sfa buyer was in mid to late January.

Now I did hear a rumor recently which said sfa as land was only worth like 25-35 million and not the 100+ they thought it would be. I keep seeing people saying that they sold sfa to better focus on KD or SFGAd but I feel like it was a simple poorly planned way to make a quick buck.

What if this Enchanted Parks company bought/ is buying SFA? I mean it definitely isn’t impossible and I bet you could get more money for the park with rides which Six Flags could use any extra cent they could get. Plus while sfa has a solid lineup there’s not much you would realistically move. I mean think about it the only thing they’ve even taken from SFA is the new trains and possibly some hardware for some rides, every structure is still there.

Plus maybe that is how they got into the talks for buying more of the smaller parks in the six flags chain, I know six flags wouldn’t want to sell to a major competitor like united parks and with all Herschend has spent they probably don’t have money for that rn. It’s all speculation for now but maybe?

 

[paintervision]

What if this Enchanted Parks company bought/ is buying SFA?

No clue but I think this is a long shot. Didn’t they already move coaster trains out of the park?

 

[MysticClay]

No clue but I think this is a long shot. Didn’t they already move coaster trains out of the park?

To my knowledge it was only the trains for superman and professor screamore, which are the newest ones they had. If someone like Enchanted Parks wanted to buy it all they would have to do is either buy new trains or potentially just demolish the two rides, screamore’s is 31 years old and superman is 26, for steel coasters that’s getting up there.

Other than that I haven’t seen anything that has really been taken from the park, I’ve seen posts claiming more was taken but then the picture is clearly an old maintenance picture. In recent drone pictures/ people trespassing pictures it looks like most everything is still there and in tact

 

[Zachary]

I highly, highly doubt SFA would be involved in a deal like this. If a park operator were to pick up SFA, it would have to be one with INCREDIBLY deep pockets, not just to buy the park (as the land is incredibly valuable) but also to spin the park back up. There's a huge difference between buying an aging, even slightly distressed-yet-still profitable and currently operational park like Six Flags St. Louis and buying an equivalent park that has already officially shutdown like Six Flags America.

SFA's staff is gone, SFA's pass holders are gone, there have been no preparations for a 2026 season, many attractions deemed not-relocatable have likely been neglected over the winter thus far, the park was put in a sort of "zombie mode" throughout much of 2025 in which it deferred a ton of maintenance, drew down their stockpiles to zero, etc.

IF the offers have been unexpectedly weak for the property and IF any park operators were even at the table to begin with and IF one of those park operators somehow ends up victorious at the end of this, it's my expectation that it will be a significant existing name (LEGO, Universal, Disney, Herschend, etc) or a new entrant backed by a TON of capital and likely IPs to push (Netflix, Paramount, etc). Basically I think the only way SFA is revived is by a company with deep pockets and a plan to heavily renovate the park. Trying to drag SFA back to life in its current state strikes me as a pretty doomed strategy, honestly.

 

[paintervision]

If someone like Enchanted Parks wanted to buy it all they would have to do is either buy new trains or potentially just demolish the two rides, screamore’s is 31 years old and superman is 26, for steel coasters that’s getting up there.

Adding on to the points @Zachary made: They also have the oldest B&M, Joker's Jinx (not in the best shape), AND Batwing (which seems like it it's also ripe for scrapping).

What's left would be Roar, Wild One, Great Chase, and Rajun Cajun.. Nice rides but I don't know if these could carry a park on their own... they'd have to put a lot of money into a park like this, and you'd be competing with Hersheypark, King's Dominion, and Great Adventure for a lot of the same market. I don't see this as making a ton of sense, compared to properties that are in better shape and more isolated from competition.