Six Flags plans to close this 49-year-old California park in 2027. Is the Illinois one next?
The park's lease is coming to an end, and the company's chief financial officer, Brian Witherow, told investors in May that there were no current plans to extend the lease.
'Unless we decide to extend, and exercise one of our options to extend that lease, that park's last year without that extension would be after the '27 season,' he said during a question and answer session at the company's investor day this spring.
The remarks were first reported by People.
California's Great America was originally opened in 1976 by the Marriott Corporation and traded hands multiple times before coming under ownership by Cedar Fair in 2006. Cedar Fair and Six Flags merged in 2024.
Cedar Fair had previously announced plans to close the park by 2033 after the operator sold the land to a logistics company, CBS News reported in 2022, but Six Flags decided to move up the closure date with the lease expiring.
What's the status of Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois?
There are no plans to shutter the Six Flags Great America located in Gurnee, Illinois, about 40 miles north of Chicago. According to reports from NBC Chicago, even though the park has merged with Cedar Fair and plans to close another park in Maryland, the Illinois park is slated to stay open.
The Six Flags in Gurnee originally opened in 1976 as Marriott's Great America before Six Flags took it over.
Six Flags also announced in May that it would close Six Flags America and Hurricane Harbor in Maryland at the end of this season. The final day of operation for both of these parks will be Nov. 2, 2025.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.
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