• California’s Nice America is shedding 184 part-time employees in November, elevating questions in regards to the park’s future.
• The Silicon Valley park’s proprietor, Six Flags, says the park will stay open for the 2026 season, and that cuts are a part of its seasonal operations.
• The park’s final season may very well be as early as 2027, except the park extends its lease for a further 5 years.
Whereas the theme park titans proceed to pack folks in, some smaller spots which were round for many years are struggling.
Newest within the highlight is California’s Nice America in Silicon Valley. Six Flags Leisure, the corporate that controls the park, disclosed this month that it’s going to lay off 184 seasonal employees in November.
Longtime followers and analysts of the virtually 50-year-old theme park and its iconic double-decker merry-go-round are apprehensive about its future.
Nice America shortened its season this 12 months, which can wrap up on Oct. 26, in contrast with the earlier season, when it resulted in early January. A lot of its reside leisure for the 2025 season was canceled this 12 months, as have been its marquee seasonal occasions, together with its Halloween-themed Tips and Treats and Winterfest, that includes Snoopy ice skating.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if this can be a signal that the plug is being pulled,” stated Martin Lewison, affiliate professor of enterprise administration for Farmingdale State Faculty in New York, who can be a Six Flags shareholder.
Hypothesis in regards to the timing of Nice America’s closure in Santa Clara has swirled ever for the reason that 112 acres beneath the park have been offered to a San Francisco actual property firm in 2022.
As a part of an settlement, the park’s earlier proprietor had agreed to a lease that expires in the course of 2028, with an choice to increase it till the center of 2033. The earlier proprietor, Cedar Truthful, had deliberate to shut the park on the finish of the lease.
When requested in regards to the timing of the park’s closure, a Six Flags spokesperson instructed The Occasions in an e-mail: “We’re contemplating our choices and can share when finalized. Till then, we’re wanting ahead to a different season on the park in 2026, which can coincide with its fiftieth anniversary.”
One problem for Nice America and different parks in California is the rising wages and different prices of labor. One other burden is the burden of the corporate’s debt.
Six Flags stated it filed the discover of the Nice America layoffs as required by state legislation. The Charlotte, N.C.-based firm stated all full-time positions at Nice America can be retained and its seasonal staff can apply to get rehired subsequent 12 months.
“That is typical of a seasonal park and the timing displays our working schedule,” Six Flags stated in an announcement. “We sit up for welcoming again lots of our associates in 2026.”
Six Flags stated it doesn’t but know what number of associates it is going to make use of subsequent 12 months.
The San Francisco Chronicle earlier reported the layoffs.
Nice America has already began promoting season passes for 2026 at its theme park. The Gold annual season move sometimes contains entry to Nice America and the close by Gilroy theme park, Gilroy Gardens.
This 12 months, in a particular deal that ends Sunday, the Gold Move for 2026 additionally contains entry to different theme parks within the Six Flags ecosystem, together with Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo.
Six Flags has been struggling to cut back prices after a 2024 merger with Cedar Truthful. Earlier this month, the corporate introduced its CEO Richard Zimmerman is stepping down.
Zimmerman stated in August that the corporate’s second-quarter outcomes fell wanting its expectations, noting that poor climate and a difficult client atmosphere damage gross sales.
The corporate reported a web lack of $99.6 million within the second quarter, in contrast with a web revenue of roughly $55.6 million in the identical quarter a 12 months earlier. General park visitation was 14.2 million visitors, down 9% within the second quarter in contrast with a 12 months earlier.
Christian Dieckmann, Six Flags’ chief industrial officer, at an investor’s assembly in Could, outlined a technique to regain 10 million visitors a 12 months that have been misplaced throughout the pandemic.
Throughout the Could assembly, executives stated their focus for the corporate has been increasing the variety of season move holders. The corporate stated it desires to make its parks “comfortably crowded” once more.
Growing visitor numbers and features can enhance revenues by convincing folks to remain longer on the parks, purchase extra meals and drinks, and buy particular passes to keep away from the strains.
It has been robust for regional theme parks to compete in opposition to different types of leisure, together with video video games, sports activities and different reside occasions.
“There are such a lot of new distractions and methods to spend your time,” Lewison stated.
Opryland, a rustic music-themed park in Nashville, closed in 1997 and is now a mall. Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston closed in 2005, as did Geauga Lake in Ohio in 2007. Six Flags America and Hurricane Harbor, in Bowie, Md., will shut after its final working day on Nov. 2, and the land can be put up on the market.
Not like main theme park operators equivalent to Walt Disney and Common, regional theme parks typically lack the deep pockets to speculate billions of {dollars} in new parks and rides. In addition they lack new points of interest related to huge names equivalent to Star Wars and Harry Potter.
Six Flags is attempting to maintain up. It’s investing greater than $1 billion in 2025 and 2026 in its parks.
The corporate introduced this week that it has prolonged its licensing settlement with Peanuts Worldwide, permitting it to make use of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang for an additional 5 years.
Santa Clara’s Nice America followers wish to see it thrive.
Though it might not characteristic rides from the most recent Pixar motion pictures, it does provide Planet Snoopy for the children. It additionally has what it calls the world’s tallest carousel and long-loved rides, like Gold Striker, one of many nation’s prime 20 picket curler coasters, and the steel-inverted coaster Flight Deck, initially known as Prime Gun when it opened 32 years in the past.
For Jose Aguirre, 23, of Castro Valley, Nice America has lengthy introduced pleasure to his complete household. He stated his 14-year-old brother, A.J., loves using RideBlazer, which plunges riders down a single-rail observe at a 90-degree angle, and he likes tucking into the spicy hen sandwich offered close to that trip.
“It’s simply general enjoyable — provides good recollections, even when it’s just like the smallest journey ever,” stated Aguirre, a season move holder. “It’s a kind of spots you will be at within the Bay Space, and simply say, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re gonna go to Nice America and simply hang around.’”
“That is our Disneyland,” Aguirre stated.
Occasions employees author Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.
