Former Cedar Fair CEO calls for change within ‘troubled’ Six Flags
Matt Ouimet, former CEO of Cedar Fair prior to the theme park company’s merger with Six Flags (and formerly president of Disneyland), publicly shared guidance for the corporation he used to lead.
Six Flags is currently in the process of selecting its next CEO following the recent resignation of Richard Zimmerman. As that process remains ongoing, “The company is troubled and has big decisions to make,” Ouimet wrote in a LinkedIn post on Oct. 15, 2025.
Ouimet hopes Six Flags’ board of directors overseeing the CEO selection is “acknowledging reality and giving the new CEO an opportunity to retire some board members and replace them with people who have proven track records with analogous businesses and demonstrated leadership qualities that will make them strong thought partners.”
Photo by Blake Taylor
He feels that Six Flags’ current board — comprised of members from both Six Flags and Cedar Fair’s pre-merge companies, as well as outside activists — has problems “cycling through CEOs, producing overly optimistic projections, and overseeing rapid value destruction,” among other issues. (Ouimet’s full post is transcribed below.)
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company and Six Flags Entertainment Corporation merged in 2024, forming a conglomerate of 56 theme parks and water parks.
Matt Ouimet frequently posts business musings and reflections on his career as a theme park executive on his LinkedIn profile. His October remarks echo his sentiments from August, following the news of Zimmerman resigning, when Ouimet wrote, “I for one will remain discontented until additional leadership changes are made.” Regardless of who is Six Flags’ next CEO, Ouimet continued, “I can’t with good conscious [sic] endorse the role under the current board of directors’ makeup.”
Ouimet was CEO and chairman of Cedar Fair from 2012-2017 (according to the Sandusky Register) and remained with its board of directors through 2023. Prior to his Cedar Fair tenure, Ouimet worked with Disney from 1989-2006, and at various points was president of Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line.
Ouimet retired from Cedar Fair just before he would’ve had to vote on the merger with Six Flags. In a LinkedIn post from earlier this year, Ouimet wrote, “I recognized that I wasn’t up to watching talented colleagues being asked to exit in order to achieve the cost synergies that were promised to investors.”
Photo courtesy of Six Flags
In the 15 months since its merge with Cedar Fair, Six Flags has removed park presidents from all locations, reduced its full-time staff by more than 10%, and announced the permanent closure of its park near Washington, D.C., Six Flags America.
The company has also continued announcing and opening new attractions, including Tormenta Rampaging Run (opening at Six Flags Over Texas in 2026), Speedway Stunt Coaster (opening at Six Flags México in 2026), Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare (opening at Kings Island in 2026), and a suite of new attractions themed to “The Conjuring” (which debuted at Carowinds, Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Canada’s Wonderland this Halloween season).
An entire new park, Six Flags Quiddiya City, will open by the end of 2025 in Saudi Arabia with the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world.
Below is the transcript of Matt Ouimet’s full post in October 2025 about the future of Six Flags:
I don’t post this with an expectation that it will cause change; I do it in the spirit of educating those who are early in their leadership careers as I believe there is value in sharing how the real world works.
Matt Ouimet, LinkedIn
So here goes:
Sometimes it is hard to stay quiet.
When I joined Cedar Fair unique circumstances forced us to replace the majority of the board members. They weren’t bad people, but they had overseen a proposal to sell the company that was opposed by a large number of shareholders and therefore lacked the votes to get reelected.
We then recruited a number of very talented executives who, as it turned out, ended up being impressive thought partners for our leadership team. They brought experience and expertise that was additive to our team. They challenged our thinking and had a demonstrable impact on the strategic direction of the company. They were also committed to holding the leadership team accountable for the commitments we made, and I always believed that they felt just as much ownership in the results as we did.
It wasn’t as if we didn’t have significant disagreements, but in the end, I can’t recall any instances where once the path was agreed upon, they second-guessed us later.
That is how a board is supposed to perform!
For years before the merger, it wasn’t clear to me that the Six Flags board members felt ownership in the results that were produced. Cycling through CEO’s, producing overly optimistic projections and overseeing rapid value destruction while maintaining their seats were obvious clues. Post-merger it appears the historical pattern continues.
Now the same players plus some who served previously for FUN are charged with hiring a new CEO. The recently elected chairperson is a legacy SIX board member; activists hold two seats and there are two other new additions. Even under the best of circumstances, it is unlikely that this board would function productively.
The company is troubled and has big decisions to make.
I’m hoping that one of those decisions is acknowledging reality and giving the new CEO an opportunity to retire some board members and replace them with people who have proven track records with analogous businesses and demonstrated leadership qualities that will make them strong thought partners. He or she deserves this as a foundation for moving forward.
A friend of mine has another phrase for acknowledging reality, “saying the quiet thing out loud.”
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Yesssss!
The Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has very little to do with Six Flags Quiddia. The owners and investors are just leasing the name because it’s recognizable. Six Flags is not running the park and has no financial stake in it.