[12][13][14] In 1957, real estate businessman Angus G. Wynne and other investors created The Great Southwest Corporation, which in 1960 began building its first theme park in Arlington, Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth.

There was also "LaSalle's River Adventure", inspired by the late-1600s La Salle Expeditions, that carried customers on French riverboats through a wilderness of animated puppets.

Six Flags purchased AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, in 1975; Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, in 1977; and Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, in 1979.

They began their acquisitions for the year by announcing the purchase of The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in Queensbury, New York for an undisclosed amount on August 27, to close the deal by December.

[33] In December, Premier announced that they would enter the European market by purchasing a controlling 94 percent interest in the Walibi Group in Wavre, Belgium.

[39] On November 18, 1998, Premier announced that they had fully purchased Six Flags Fiesta Texas from USAA, putting the park under their full control.

[43] On October 6, Premier announced the expansion of its North American licensing agreement with Warner Bros. to include rights to the Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network, and DC Comics characters and franchises in Europe, Latin and South America as well.

[46] In December 2000, Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Federal Way, Washington was added to the Six Flags family when its owner Jeff Stock sold his shares of the park for $19.3 million.

[48] After the purchase was completed, the entire complex was rebranded under the name of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, and was positioned to compete against northern Ohio's Cedar Point.

They first announced the sale of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure to Cedar Fair for $145 million, with the deal planned to close before the start of the 2004 operating season.

[57] On November 23, 2004, Six Flags completely left the European market altogether when Warner Bros. Park Madrid's management firms terminated their 99-year operation lease and stake.

Kieran Burke was removed on December 14 and was replaced by former executive vice president of ESPN programming and Red Zone CEO Mark Shapiro.

Six Flags then named former Representative Jack Kemp, Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein and former president of the Interpublic Group of Companies Incorporated Michael Kassan, to their new board of directors.

[71] With the financial crisis of 2007–2008 weighing both on consumer spending and the ability to access credit facilities, Six Flags was believed to be unable to make a payment to preferred stockholders due in August 2009.

[71] If not resolved, the company warned in its 2008 annual report[73] that the situation might require a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, with Six Flags already retaining counsel should that occur.

Less than two weeks later, on June 13, the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,[10][75] but issued a statement that the parks would continue to operate normally while the company restructured.

[78] Six Flags had asked to forgo rent payments for the remaining nine years of its current lease agreement in exchange for profit-sharing from the park's operations.

[82] As part of the settlement, chairman of the board Dan Snyder was removed, while chief executive officer Mark Shapiro briefly remained in his post.

The building that served as the new headquarters, was located in the Great Southwest Industrial District and was a converted warehouse that had been in use by Six Flags for office space as well as a corporate operations center.

[84] Six Flags announced that Jim Reid-Anderson would replace Weber and become chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) on August 13, 2010.

[89] On June 23, 2014, Six Flags also announced a strategic partnership with Riverside Investment Group to build multiple Six Flags-branded theme parks in China over the decade.

[49][97] On May 18, 2017, Six Flags and Riverside Group signed an agreement with Paws, Inc. to use Garfield in children's areas in Six Flags-branded theme parks in China.

[98] On March 22, 2018, Six Flags and Riverside Group announced a partnership with Turner Asia Pacific to bring Tuzki and other Turner-owned IPs to its theme parks in China.

[105] On October 24, 2019, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced that Jim Reid-Anderson would retire and Mike Spanos would be president and CEO of the company on November 18, 2019.

[106] On January 10, 2020, Six Flags indicated that its projects in China have not progressed as expected and could be canceled due to debt problems with its partner Riverside Investment Group.

[107] In January 2020, Six Flags finalized plans to move its corporate headquarters to the Centerfield Office Building at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.

[126] On November 15, 2021, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced that Mike Spanos had stepped down and Selim Bassoul, the former chairman of the board, would become president and CEO of the company effective immediately.

These partners include Dole, Armitron, TCBY, Mrs. Fields, Famous Famiglia, Mike and Ike, Barcel, Ben & Jerry's, Good Humor, Nathan's Famous, Coca-Cola, Icee, Ortega, Cold Stone Creamery, J&J Snack Foods, Red Gold, Coppertone, Papa John's, Panda Express, Johnny Rockets, Samsung, Dasani, Mars and Tyson Foods.

After creating a unique custom character, Six Flags Fun Park patrons can win prizes and compete with other players in 40 mini-games.

The system, named after DC Comics character The Flash, allows guests to reserve places in line at participating attractions, and access must be purchased for a nominal fee in addition to the general park admission price.