Six Flags Reinstates Park Presidents at Its 10 Highest-Potential Parks
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is reinstating park president positions at 10 of its parks less than a year after eliminating the role, according to an Orange County Register report. The shift signals a reinvestment in the localization of its highest-potential parks.
Brady MacDonald at the Orange County Register broke the story on April 16th, based on an on-the-record statement from unnamed Six Flags (Charlotte, NC) officials. As of publication, Six Flags has not issued a press release, filed an 8-K, or posted on its corporate channels to confirm the reversal. MacDonald also broke the original May 2025 story, eliminating the park president role in favor of four regional managers overseeing 27 parks.
The 10 parks receiving presidents are:
- Canada’s Wonderland
- Carowinds
- Cedar Point
- Kings Island
- Knott’s Berry Farm
- Six Flags Great America
- Six Flags Great Adventure
- Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Six Flags Over Georgia
- Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags told the Orange County Register that individual appointments will be announced later this week. MacDonald reported that Raffi Kaprelyan will return to Knott’s Berry Farm as VP and park manager, and Brian Oerding will move from Carowinds to Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Six Flags officials told the Orange County Register that the restructure is “designed to better support the unique needs of each park” and that the changes “increase accountability at the park level and allow the organization to move faster with fewer layers and less complexity.”
Portfolio Context
The reversal comes two weeks after Six Flags closed the sale of six U.S. theme parks to EPR Properties on April 6, part of a seven-park divestiture announced March 5 for $331 million. Six of the sold parks are being operated by Enchanted Parks, a new Florida-based operator led by James Harhi. The seventh, La Ronde in Montreal, is being operated by Kieran Burke, the former Six Flags CEO who built the original chain before its 2009 bankruptcy.
Six Flags America closed in 2025, and California’s Great America is scheduled to close within the next few years, further narrowing the remaining portfolio. Two properties that have received significant recent capital investment are not on the park-president list: Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Kings Dominion.
What This Means for The Industry (Analysis)
When John Reilly became Six Flags CEO in December 2025, he described a chain that had suffered from inconsistent standards and a lack of accountability across parks after the 2024 Cedar Fair merger. The park-president reversal is the first major structural change announced under Reilly’s tenure, and it tracks with those observations.
I’ve long argued that great regional parks lean into their differentiation to create unique experiences for the locals. Park presidents who understand, communicate, and align teams around that differentiation are essential to keeping the parks competitive.
This is also a strong signal that the 10 parks getting presidents back are the 10 parks Six Flags is investing in. Six Flags must delever as its debt financing is unsustainable, and further portfolio reductions are likely.
The 10 parks reinstating local presidents are the same cohort receiving the company’s most significant seasonal investment and are likely the ones Six Flags plans to keep after further sales.
All four parks hosting The Conjuring: Beyond Fear (Carowinds, Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Canada’s Wonderland) are on the park-president list. The interactive walkthrough, built by Plague Productions with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences, debuted during fall 2025 Halloween events and has already been extended into a spring window at Carowinds’ new Scream Break event.
Brian Oerding, quoted in that piece as park manager at Carowinds, is now one of the two named appointments in MacDonald’s reporting. He’s moving to Magic Mountain, which suggests Six Flags might be preparing to make it more competitive in the SoCal market.
Fiesta Texas and Kings Dominion will be interesting to watch as both have received meaningful recent capital investment; these could be in sale negotiations.
