Sunday, October 2, 2016

Is there a Six Flags park in Florida?

Despite the consistent rumors, there are currently no Six Flags parks in Florida. This rumor may have been started on April 1st, 2014, when Coaster101.com posted an April Fools Day article containing a fake news release about the announcement of Six Flags Orlando. An excerpt from the fake announcement:

Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter will soon have to make room in Orlando for Bugs Bunny and Batman. The Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced late Monday night that they plan to build the 12th United States park under the “Six Flags” banner, Six Flags Orlando. The park plans to break ground later this year and be completed by mid-late 2016. “It was a logical decision to build our next United States park in Orlando,” said Brett Petit, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Six Flags. “The greater Orlando area entertains more than 50 million worldwide visitors on an annual basis, and we wanted to expose these guests to the excitement and thrills that Six Flags’ guests have experienced for decades at our other parks around North America.” 

Shortly after, on May 24, 2014, the Spring Hill Courier published an article stating Six Flags was expected to break ground in Hernando County in 2014 on a new theme park slated to open in 2018. This article was completely faked, with one of the biggest red flags being that the author names Will Feinstein as the CEO. That might come as a surprise to Jim Reid – Anderson who had been serving as the Six Flags CEO since 2010. Later on, a follow up story on the Spring Hill Six Flags was posted in July 2015 and should prove without a doubt this is a made-up ongoing story. 
six flags orlando

Historically, Six Flags has had a presence in Florida, even Orlando, but maybe not exactly what you would expect:

Six Flags Stars Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida was a wax museum was located near SeaWorld Orlando from 1975 to 1984. Like SeaWorld, it was acquired by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, but it was closed almost immediately after the sale.

Six Flags Atlantis was a water park located in Hollywood, Florida. Begun as a private venture originally known as 'Atlantis the Water Kingdom', funding ran out before construction ended. The park sat partially completed for several months before Six Flags opened in 1979 "Six Flags Atlantis." The park included a wave pool, a lake with water ski shows, a seven-story slide tower, picnic area, stores & arcades, shows, and activities for all ages. In 1989 the park was sold. was eventually demolished in 1994. Today most of the area is now occupied by retail shopping.

Six Flags is lending their brand to new parks in Dubai and China but no, there are no Six Flags parks in Florida, but we could always use more theme parks and would welcome Six Flags Florida if they did build one ;)