Six Flags to sell Magic Mountain and five other parks.

In need of cash to satisfy its lenders, Six Flags has announced that it plans to sell off six of its parks, including Magic Mountain in Valencia.

Executives of Six Flags reportedly stated that they hope to get at least $300 million for the Magic Mountain land. Magic Mountain is being considered for sale supposedly as a result of its "rowdy teenage atmosphere" as well as its land value. Six Flag’s Chief Executive Mark Shapiro is making this move just months after he replaced prior CEO Kieran Burke.

Many investors, as well as Santa Clarita residents, are shocked that Magic Mountain was included in the list of parks to be sold since this is one of their flagship parks. Six Flags says that they want to reduce their reliance on teenage revenue, but then they also reported that teenagers are spending an average of $4.12 more per visit than they did last year. The industry considers Magic Mountain to be a profitable park, but then it also has the most profit potential if sold to developers because of its location.

Of course one of the biggest factors in deciding which parks to go was the projected amount they could receive from the sale of the land. Let’s face it, 250 acres in the Santa Clarita area will likely bring a nice premium to the Six Flags coffers. The price for the real estate may present a problem for potential buyers who may be interested in continuing to operate Magic Mountain as a theme park.

Shapiro said that the park does not fit well with Six Flags’ mission of repositioning as a family brand considering the current ride offerings. If they do end up closing Magic Mountain, Six Flags may relocate some of the rides and attractions to other properties.

"Magic Mountain has been successful since it’s been marketed as a thrill park," said Shapiro. "As a family park you’re up against some stiff competition with Knott’s, Disneyland and even Universal. The park doesn’t have another family offerings."

Six Flags spent $25 million this year to open Tatsu at Magic Mountain, the world’s largest flying roller coaster. With this new attraction the park’s total number of roller coasters now totals 17. Shapiro copped out on this expenditure, telling investors that the money spent on Tatsu was the decision of the past management, not his team.

If Six Flags decides to keep Magic Mountain, Shapiro said they will need to spend money to build new attractions to align the park with the company’s new focus on families.

Although Magic Mountain attendance was up 5% in 2005, a rainy spring hurt attendance at West Coast parks and the New Orleans park was closed for the season because of damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, said of the proposed sale "But then if you’re … trying to dig yourself (out) from some financial issues, the local Six Flags would probably be one of the more attractive assets that you have, and there are potential buyers out there."

If Magic Mountain is sold to developers, we’d not only lose an area landmark and a popular theme park, we’d lose one of the area’s biggest employers as well as the business that the theme park provides to businesses that support the theme park’s operations.

Also of concern to Santa Clarita residents is the additional traffic that would be created by yet another massive development in the Santa Clarita Valley. With planned developments in excess of 20,000 homes each such as Newhall Ranch and Centennial in the Tejon area already on the table as well as many other smaller developments, there just isn’t enough infrastructure in the area to handle the increased traffic load.

So, Mr. Shapiro, why dump a profitable flagship park instead of upgrading it to be more "family friendly" instead? It can’t be just the teenagers!

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