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Six Flags Buys ArieForce One & Offers Loans To guests
Six Flags now lets guests finance a season pass, or any online order of $49 or more, through Flex Pay by Upgrade. It is presented as a way to spread a pass into monthly payments, and it is a loan from an outside lender, with a credit check, an 18-and-over requirement, a possible down payment, and an APR from 0% to 36% depending on the borrower. For a company this cash-constrained, the move makes sense: Six Flags gets paid up front, the lender carries the risk, and no internal department has to e
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Sept. 13, 2026
Six Flags Buys ArieForce One & Offers Loans To guests
Six Flags now lets guests finance a season pass, or any online order of $49 or more, through Flex Pay by Upgrade. It is presented as a way to spread a pass into monthly payments, and it is a loan from an outside lender, with a credit check, an 18-and-over requirement, a possible down payment, and an APR from 0% to 36% depending on the borrower. For a company this cash-constrained, the move makes sense: Six Flags gets paid up front, the lender carries the risk, and no internal department has to e
Sept. 6, 2026
Six Flags Settles the X2 Lawsuit, Knott's Pulls a Shirt
Six Flags settled the wrongful death lawsuit over X2 at Magic Mountain on August 27, two weeks before trial. Christopher Hawley, 22, rode the coaster in 2022, lost consciousness after exiting, and died the next day of a subdural hematoma. The settlement is not an admission of liability, and Six Flags maintained the ride passed daily inspections. X2 has been closed since July, when two riders were hospitalized with brain hemorrhages within days of each other, and Cal/OSHA opened an inspection tha
Aug. 30, 2026
Six Flags Moves HQ, Disney Patents Ride Aversions
Six Flags is moving its corporate headquarters from Charlotte to Arlington, Texas, with the transition complete by March 2027. CEO John Reilly framed the move as "concentrating our personnel, processes, and decision-making" in one office to improve coordination among the new executive team. This is an efficiency of time. The pure money play would be stipends and no office at all. A turnaround built on live entertainment rollouts, reinstated park presidents, and new layers of communication needs
Aug. 21, 2026
Six Flags Bets the Fall on 448 Halloween Experiences
Six Flags announced its largest Halloween lineup ever: 448 experiences across the chain, including 11 new haunted mazes, 196 scare zones, and live entertainment offerings. Four new licensed franchises headline the year, with Jason: Blood Reign, Final Destination: Death's Playground, Blair Witch: No Signal, and Diablo: The Infernal Path each landing at multiple parks alongside returning brands like The Conjuring, Saw, and Trick 'r Treat. The timing is the strategy: the announcement dropped three
Aug. 16, 2026
Art the Clown Takes Over HHN, Six Flags Opens 2027 Passes
Universal detailed its Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood plans at Midsummer Scream, and the throughline is small IPs moving fast. Art the Clown returns in three controlled deployments: a Terror Tram takeover built around an original storybook and metal Christmas covers from Ice Nine Kills, a dedicated photo op, and a character encounter. Nikki from Curry Barker's Obsession joins as a character experience two months after the film premiered, the kind of deal that only closes that fast with an ind
Aug. 9, 2026
Six Flags Q2: Parks Made Money, the Reported Loss Doubled
Six Flags’ new leadership is successfully reorienting the company toward repeat visitation, yet this quarter its debt cost more than its parks earned. The strategy of getting more passholders to attend more often and spend more, thereby increasing lifetime spend, is working. Revenue and attendance were up, adjusted for the divested parks, and the upcoming Halloween season, with 448 Halloween-themed experiences from coast to coast, should supercharge that strategy. Yet, while the parks made mone
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Sept. 13, 2026
Six Flags FlexPay by Upgrade: How Theme Park Financing Works
Six Flags FlexPay by Upgrade is a third-party financing program that allows guests to purchase season passes and online orders over $49 through monthly installment loans. This partnership shifts credit risk to an outside lender while providing Six F…
Sept. 7, 2026
Why Theme Parks Are Rewriting the Rules on Vintage Cartoon Merch and AI Art
Vintage rubber hose animation styles have long inspired theme park merchandise, but recent controversies involving Knott's Berry Farm pulling controversial shirts expose the hidden risks of recreating the golden age of animation. In this deep dive, …
Aug. 30, 2026
Six Flags Corporate HQ Move: Time Efficiency vs. Remote Work
Six Flags' decision to relocate its corporate headquarters from Charlotte to Arlington, Texas by March 2027 highlights a major shift in themed entertainment management. While remote work dominated the pandemic era, turnaround strategies for major am…