It’s rare that an activity can excite both kids and adults equally, but amusement parks do just that. Many have enough to entertain the biggest thrill-seekers while still offering not-too-scary fun for little ones.
Not to mention, if you have a longstanding local amusement park like Six Flags America —which just celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024 — in Bowie, Maryland, it becomes a part of family tradition for parents to share their experiences with their children.
Many millennial parents remember when Vengaboys’ “We Like To Party” made Six Flags a household name from 2004 to 2005 as the park’s official theme song in commercials featuring a dancing man with glasses (love it or hate it!).
It is parents who will miss the park the most as it celebrates its final days this fall after a closure announced earlier this year. But they mourn the loss not just for themselves but for their kids, too.
Kids Boo Fest, a daytime event featuring family-friendly events and activities to celebrate Halloween, will be the last event held at Six Flags this season, beginning Sept. 13 and running select dates through the park’s final day Nov. 2.
We caught up with parkgoers earlier this summer as they prepared for Six Flags’ final season and learned the whys and what now of the park’s closure.
A Final Summer to Remember
On the first weekend of June, as the Hurricane Harbor water park had just opened for its final summer season, there was an aura of sorrow hanging in the air for the patrons of Six Flags America.
This past May, the Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (SFEC) broke the hearts of DMV natives across many generations when it announced the closure of Six Flags America.
“I’m devastated,” says Brittany Krebs, 28, of Halethorpe, Maryland.
Because of a recent medical condition, Krebs is unable to ride roller coasters, but she still comes here with her husband because she likes the atmosphere and the shows. More importantly, she has great memories of coming as a kid growing up in nearby Pasadena.
The general sentiment among people interviewed on and off the record for this article is that the closing makes visiting this summer a more emotional experience for adults than for kids, thanks to the nostalgia factor.
“They’re tearing down a childhood and my legacy,” says Larry Wallace, 37, who is here with his girlfriend. “That’s why we’re gonna ride this out ‘til the end.”
Why Is the Park Closing?
In response to an interview request, SFEC spokesperson Kristin Fitzgerald issued a statement that did not reveal the underlying reason for the sale:
“As part of our comprehensive review of our park portfolio, we determined that Six Flags America is not a strategic fit with the company’s long-term growth plan … Without going into specifics, we explored a variety of alternatives. But in the end, we determined that marketing the property for redevelopment will generate the highest value and return on investment, as well as deliver the best possible outcome for the surrounding community.”
The popular amusement park YouTuber who goes by the pseudonym Rampaging Rex notes in his video that the writing was on the wall as early as the mid-2000s.
“The park’s first few years saw continued investment, with areas and attractions being added on a yearly basis, but by the mid-2000s, this kind of investment nearly came to a halt,” the YouTuber explains.
The Bowie site of Six Flags sits on 523 acres of land with 300 acres available for expansion that have gone unused.
“Six Flags America became a sort of punching bag of the Six Flags chain, with certain roller coaster and amusement park enthusiasts mocking it as a park of hand-me-down rides that no one else wanted,” he adds.
Still, he concedes that “for locals of the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area, Six Flags America was a staple of the community for four decades.”
In July of 2024, Six Flags Entertainment announced a merger with Kings Dominion’s parent company, Cedar Fair. The 50-year-old amusement park has long been a mainstay among D.C.-area residents, and many theorize that SFEC found the existence of two parks in the same area redundant.
However, that doesn’t satisfy many of the parkgoers. Although it is just 5.7 miles from the eastern terminal of WMATA’s blue line (Largo Town Center), Six Flags America is more or less Metro-accessible. In contrast, Kings Dominion is 90 miles down I-95.
Krebs adds, “There’s a bus stop here from the city, so for a lot of D.C. residents, this is the only option.” Krebs is referring to the C29 bus.
Wallace says this reflected a historical pattern that still holds true in Baltimore. “We didn’t have too many amusement parks coming from Baltimore.”
What Happens Now?
Now that the park is closing, patrons are asking what might become of its historical rides and how the closure will affect the community.
Liz Gray, who lived in nearby Anne Arundel County for nearly 25 years, says, “I’m worried for their flume ride and historic woodie (slang for a wooden rollercoaster). That they won’t be preserved.”
Gray is referring to the Wild One, which dates back to 1917. It was relocated from its original home in Paragon Park, Massachusetts, to the Maryland amusement park in 1984. No decisions have been made yet as to which rides will be repurposed for other amusement parks within the company’s holdings, but this is part of the company’s plan.
Another casualty of the park’s closing will be the employment. The park employs 70 full-time employees and countless seasonal workers in a region that has historically been economically depressed.
Sydney Cooper, a college student at Morgan State University, says “A lot of kids work here, and everyone’s [going to be] out of a job]. They’re not really hiring Gen Zers.”
Six Flags has been Cooper’s first major job to date, and she’s going to miss it.
Six Flags America opened in 1974 as a safari attraction called Wildlife Preserve. It has since been rebranded through the years as Wildlife Preserve, Wild Safari, Wild World, and Adventure World before being bought out by Six Flags in 1998.
As of now, November 2, 2025 is slated to be the park’s final day.
