When is California’s Great America closing? Six Flags confirms 2027 season
California’s Great America will remain open through its 2027 season, but Six Flags has not confirmed when the Santa Clara theme park will permanently close. Although the company’s current lease expires in 2028, it includes a potential five-year extension.
When is California’s Great America closing?
California’s Great America does not currently have a confirmed closing date. Six Flags has confirmed that the park will operate in 2027, but the company has not announced whether it will continue operating beyond that season.
The lease for the Santa Clara property is scheduled to expire in June 2028 and includes a potential five-year renewal option. During Six Flags’ 2025 Investor Day, Chief Financial Officer Brian Witherow said that without an extension, the park’s final year would be the 2027 season.
In a September 2026 statement to KTVU, Six Flags said it was “excited to confirm” the park’s 2027 season. Regarding its future beyond 2027, the company said, “At this time, we are working with stakeholders to chart the future of the park.”
A permanent closing date has not been officially announced.
California’s Great America opened in 1976. The park features more than 50 rides and attractions, including nine roller coasters, the South Bay Shores water park and a Planet Snoopy children’s area.
Prologis, Inc. — the owner of the land upon which California’s Great America sits — can terminate the above agreement with Six Flags, but must give Six Flags two years’ prior notice. Prologis is a Bay Area-based logistics real estate company, and purchased the park’s land in 2022.
What has Six Flags said about the closure?
Six Flags phrased the arrangement this way in its 2024 annual report. (Note: “Combined Company” refers to the merged Cedar Fair and Six Flags. The companies merged in 2024.)
The land at California’s Great America was sold on June 27, 2022. Concurrently with the sale of the land, Cedar Fair entered into a lease contract that allows the Combined Company to operate the park during a six-year term with an option to extend the term for an additional five years. The lease is subject to early termination by the buyer with at least two years’ prior notice. Upon termination of the lease, the existing park operations will close and the rides and attractions will be removed from the land.
Page 82, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation Annual Report 2024, June 2025
…the estimated useful lives of the remaining property and equipment at California’s Great America were updated to an approximate 5.5-year period, or through December 31, 2027.
Page 65, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation Annual Report 2024, June 2025
The Dec. 31, 2027 date represents the estimated useful life Six Flags assigned to the park’s remaining property and equipment for accounting purposes. It supports 2027 as the company’s current operating horizon, but it is not itself an official closing-date announcement. The underlying property lease is scheduled to expire in June 2028 and includes a potential five-year extension.
In a previous statement to Fast Company, Six Flags stated it has not made a decision about whether or not it will extend the lease for California’s Great America through 2032; again, the company has until the end of 2027 to consider this option.
As previously announced at the time of the sale [2022], the park’s land lease will expire in 2028 with a potential five-year renewal option. At this time, we are still in the planning stages and are working with stakeholders and engaging the community. Until we know more, we remain focused on the great season that’s already underway at the park and the events ahead.
Six Flags statement to Fast Company, July 2025
Is California’s Great America closing because of the Six Flags merger with Cedar Fair?
No. The uncertainty surrounding California’s Great America began in 2022, before Cedar Fair merged with Six Flags. Cedar Fair sold the park’s land to Prologis for $310 million and leased the property back, establishing the operating timeline and potential extension that remain in place today.
Six Flags subsequently reviewed its North American portfolio following the 2024 merger. That separate review led to property sales and the 2025 closure of Six Flags America in Maryland, but California’s Great America’s situation originated with the earlier land sale.
Timeline
June 2022
Prologis purchases the land at California’s Great America for $310 million from Cedar Fair (then the parent company of the park). Cedar Fair plans to close the amusement park once the lease agreement with the new owners expires.
July 2024
Cedar Fair merges with Six Flags. The arrangements for the future of California’s Great America remain intact.
June 2025
Six Flags reiterates the terms of the deal for California’s Great America closing in its 2024 annual report.
July 2025
Six Flags reiterates the terms of the deal in plainer language to Fast Company, and says it has not made a decision about whether or not to extend the lease into 2032.
September 2026
Six Flags confirms that California’s Great America will operate in 2027 but says only that it is working with stakeholders to determine the park’s future beyond that season.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in July 2025 and updated in September 2026 by Dani Meyering to include Six Flags’ latest statement about the park’s future.
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