Despite the closing of a Six Flags park in Maryland, Midwest amusement park fans shouldn’t be worried about the future of Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, experts say.
In fact, the closure of the other park is a good sign for the local facility, they said.
Six Flags Entertainment Corp. recently announced that Six Flags America and Hurricane Harbor in Bowie, Maryland, will close on Nov. 2, and the 500-acre property will be marketed for redevelopment.
According to a statement from a Six Flags representative, while it is still to be determined what will happen to each ride or attraction after the park closes, relocation to other Six Flags parks or selling to other park operators are both possibilities.
Six Flags operates 26 amusement parks across North America.
An analysis of the future of Six Flags parks by Brady MacDonald — a theme park reporter for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group who has covered the theme park industry for more than 25 years — put Illinois’ Six Flags Great America firmly in the “untouchable” category, arguing it is one of the company’s top-performing locations and a “core” property in the company’s portfolio.
Harry Kramer, professor of leadership at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and a former chairman and CEO of Baxter International, viewed the Maryland closure as a good sign for the company, despite the downsides for that area’s parkgoers.
Companies are constantly shifting, he said, selling or spinning off different parts while continuing to analyze where they should invest to grow, and where they should cut.
“You’ve only got a certain amount of resources, and so you’ve got to decide, ‘Where am I going to invest, and where am I not going to invest?’” Kramer said.
In Kramer’s view, it was an “old asset” that was dropped in favor of more valuable redevelopment opportunities. As parks move forward from the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic and shifting populations, the closure will free up resources to invest elsewhere.
Dennis Speigel, the founder of International Theme Park Services, a consulting company for the leisure and attractions industry, had a similar assessment. The Maryland location sat at the “bottom of the performing ladder in their portfolio,” and had been plagued with various issues.
“It’s a great piece of land,” he said. “It was not a great location for a theme park. It would have been number one on my list to move.”
Speigel said he expects another two park closings in the future, but he feels the company is moving in the right direction after years of bad signs. He attributed that in part to the merger with the Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. last year. That was the “wind beneath the wings” that saved Six Flags from going bankrupt.
“Today in May 2025, it’s far better than it has been in the last 10 years,” he said. “It was mismanaged for the last two regimes. They have made amazing strides in improving consumer satisfaction.”
That ranges from improving pricing and season-pass programs, and moving towards building new attractions that, “they’re going to need over the next five years.” While amusement parks in general face challenges — including uncertainty about the economy and how tariffs might prompt potential parkgoers to tighten their purse strings — Speigel said Six Flags is “back on the right track.”
As far as Six Flags Great America is concerned, a representative said the park will debut a new ride this summer, the Wrath of Rakshasa. The new coaster boasts the steepest drop ever on a dive coaster at 96 degrees, as well as the most inversions on a dive coaster at five, Six Flags officials say.
