The Valencia theme parks Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor were rescued from the selling block Thursday after its corporate parent excluded the parks from a slate of properties it sold this week for $312 million. New York-based Six Flags will sell seven of its water parks and theme parks in Buffalo, Denver, Houston, Seattle, Oklahoma and Concord, Calif., to PARC 7F-Operations Corp. of Florida. The theme park operator had been considering selling Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor in Valencia, but backed out. “We’re pleased with the sale price for this portfolio of parks, particularly since we were able to retain the Magic Mountain parks,” said Six Flags President and CEO Mark Shapiro in a statement. The retention is a reversal from last summer, when Shapiro told investors that the company was looking into shedding the roller coaster-heavy Valencia property because it didn’t fit in with Six Flag’s new focus on family-friendly entertainment and rides. “(Magic Mountain) has been successful because it has been marketed as a thrill park,” he said. Shapiro said Six Flags, then $2 billion in the red, could possibly benefit more from divesting the property while focusing on the core performers. It was suspected the property, just west of the Golden State (5) Freeway, could be sold to a real estate developer. But in a December conference call, Shapiro changed his tune. “I can’t underscore this enough: Magic Mountain will be open for business in 2007 and will stay open for the foreseeable future, no matter who owns it,” he said.
