Six Flags Hatches Plan for Eleventh Theme Park in China

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – U.S.-based theme park operator Six Flags Entertainment has unveiled plans to build its 11th theme park in China. The new Kids World is an addition to the three parks to be built in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, that the company and its local partner Riverside Investment Group initially announced in April.

The first phase of the Nanjing site is scheduled to open in 2021. It will include a Six Flags theme park, a water park and an adventure park. The children’s park will be adjacent. Six Flags Kids World will be built adjacent to the previously announced theme park, waterpark and adventure park.

It will include: scaled-down versions of some of Six Flags’ most popular roller coasters, rides and attractions; brightly-colored play zones, based on popular domestic and international intellectual properties; and education-based entertainment with an emphasis on math and science, and physical fitness. It will also house specialty restaurants and retail outlets.

“Nanjing is a major center of culture and tourism, and the perfect location for these three new parks,” said Riverside chairman Zhe Li. “We look forward to having visitors throughout .”

“(This) demonstrates our growing commitment to a diverse park portfolio in China,” said Six Flags International Development Company President, David McKillips, in a statement. “There is a huge, untapped audience for the type of innovative, thrilling entertainment Six Flags is known for.”

Six Flags and Riverside are building a Six Flags-branded theme park and a water park in Haiyan, Zhejiang province, near Shanghai. The parks will feature roller coasters, live shows, water attractions and open in 2019. They are also building linked parks in Bishan, near the inland megalopolis Chongqing. The pair are expected to open in 2020. The scale of the investments has not been disclosed.