Premier Parks, LLC

Last updated

Premier Parks, LLC
Company type Private
IndustryAmusement park operator
Founded2009;15 years ago (2009)
FoundersKieran Burke and Gary Story
Headquarters Oklahoma City,
United States
Area served
United States, Canada
Key people
Kieran Burke (CEO)
Susan Hughes (CFO)
Website premierparks.com

Premier Parks, LLC (formerly Rapids Holdings, LLC and Premier Attractions Management, LLC) is a limited liability company based in the United States. The company owns and operates several amusement parks and water parks across the country and one in Canada.

Contents

History

Kieran Burke and Gary Story previously held the positions of chief executive officer and chief operating officer at Six Flags for more than 10 years. In November 2009, the pair purchased Nashville Shores, consisting of a marina, RV park and water park. They redeveloped the water park for the 2010 season. In early 2011, it was announced the pair had purchased the Ocean Breeze Waterpark in Virginia with plans to renovate it for the 2011 season. [1]

In 2011, the newly founded Premier Attractions Management began operating three properties owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties: Frontier City, SplashTown Houston, and White Water Bay [2] CNL Lifestyle Properties had terminated its lease agreements with PARC Management for eight parks in late 2010. [3] Burke and Story have since gained operational control of additional parks owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties. [4] [5] In 2013, the company changed its name to Premier Parks, LLC taking the former corporate name of the company that had acquired and took the name of Six Flags. [6]

In late 2016, CNL Lifestyle Properties sold their attractions portfolio to EPR Properties. [7] Upon this transaction, EPR transferred management of these parks to Premier Parks, LLC, including ones previously operated by different groups. [8]

In May 2017, operations of Waterworld California were transferred to Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, which had previously owned the park and also own the nearby Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. [9] In May 2018, Six Flags announced that they had entered into a purchase agreement with Premier Parks to acquire the lease rights to operate 5 additional parks: Darien Lake, Frontier City, Wet'n'Wild Phoenix, Wet'n'Wild SplashTown, and White Water Bay. [10]

Properties

Full Ownership

Operated for EPR Properties

Operated for Kroenke Entertainment

Former properties

Full Ownership

Operated for EPR Properties

Related Research Articles

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, formerly Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc., is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any amusement-park company and has the seventh highest attendance in the world. The company operates 42 properties throughout North America, including theme parks, amusement parks, water parks, and a family entertainment center. In 2019, Six Flags properties hosted 32.8 million guests.

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Six Flags Darien Lake is a 1,200-acre (4.86 km2) amusement park and resort located in Corfu, New York, off of Interstate 90 between Buffalo and Rochester. Six Flags Darien Lake features a theme park, water park, campground and lodging. It is owned by EPR Properties and operated by Six Flags.

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Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park, colloquially known as Elitch's, is an amusement park in Denver, Colorado. It is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and operated by Premier Parks, LLC. Distinctive for being located in a downtown area, it is open April through October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown</span> Water park in Spring, Texas

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Waves Theme Park</span> Amusement park in Washington state, United States

Wild Waves Theme & Water Park is an amusement park and water park in Federal Way, Washington. Opened in 1977 as The Enchanted Village, the park is a popular summer destination in the Pacific Northwest. The park's name was reverted to Wild Waves Water Park and Enchanted Village Amusement Park in April 2016, and once again changed to Wild Waves Theme and Water Park in November 2016, as a result of the park's acquisition by EPR Properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Village Roadshow Theme Parks</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wet'n'Wild Hawaii</span> Water park, located in Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.

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Wet ‘n Wild is a name used by various water parks across the United States, Brazil and Mexico, originally owned by SeaWorld creator George Millay. It is not to be confused with the Wet'n'Wild brand owned by Village Roadshow Theme Parks and CNL Lifestyle Properties or the stand-alone waterpark Wet N' Wild Waterworld in Anthony, Texas.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord</span> Water park in Concord, California

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Adrenaline Family Entertainment, Inc. was an amusement park operator headquartered in Edmond, Oklahoma. It was created in 2007 by private equity firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. when it acquired Clementon Park in Clementon, New Jersey. The company originally had plans to expand by building a portfolio of regional amusement and water parks across the United States. Plans also included upgrades to existing facilities and addition of new rides and attractions.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Former Six Flags executives Breeze into Virginia". Park World Magazine. January 20, 2011. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  2. "CNL announces new management for eight parks". Park World Magazine. January 25, 2011. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  3. "CNL Lifestyle Properties and PARC Management End Lease Relationship" (PDF) (Press release). CNL Lifestyle Properties. November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Silverstein, Stephanie (November 21, 2013). "Premier Parks to take over operation of Wet 'n' Wild Hawaii". Pacific Business News. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  5. 1 2 "CNL Lifestyle Properties acquires one of south Florida's largest water parks" (PDF) (Press release). CNL Lifestyle Properties. July 2, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Wet'n'Wild Phoenix, Hawaii to Add accesso eCommerce, Mobile Ticketing" (Press release). Premier Parks LLC. January 20, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  7. "EPR Acquisition of CNL Portfolio" (PDF). Retrieved January 21, 2017 via EPR Properties.
  8. "EPR Acquisition of CNL Portfolio" (PDF).
  9. "Waterworld California Becomes Six Flags' 20th Property". Six Flags Entertainment Corp. April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  10. "Six Flags Adds Five More Parks to US Portfolio" (Press release). Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. Business Wire. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  11. "Premier parks acquires wild water kingdom water park near Toronto « Amusement Today". amusementtoday.com. July 22, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  12. "EPR Acquisition of CNL Portfolio" (PDF).
  13. "Premier Parks Named New Operator of Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier - Premier Parks, LLC".
  14. "EPR Acquisition of CNL Portfolio" (PDF).
  15. "Indiana park operator buys Clementon Park for $2.3 million". www.inquirer.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021.
  16. "Wet N' Wild Palm Springs sold; will be closed for 2019 season - KESQ". www.kesq.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2019.