I know this is incredibly unlikely, but boy does it upset me! Not one person has responded positively to this rumor, and for good reason. Six Flags doesn't deserve SeaWorld Parks. Not when their own parks are the dregs of American theme parks. SeaWorld may be adding more thrill rides nowadays, but the parks have remained just as animal-focused and themed as ever (JTA and Tigris notwithstanding), and in-park experiences like food and events have become arguably among the best in the industry. Six Flags, on the other hand, continues to be unabashedly mediocre at everything from theming to cleanliness to profitability, and the one area that they tout as a strength -their thrill rides- is hardly any better, with identical, ugly, unthemed off-the-shelf rides often being plopped into half of their parks at once. They're the Wish.com of theme parks.
And how would Six Flags even buy SEAS? They're already $2 billion in debt, and SeaWorld Parks' asking price would be at least $5 billion -more than SF is worth- and if I'm not mistaken has over $1 billion of its own debt. Then there's the fact that SF is losing money and its stocks are falling, while SeaWorld is doing the opposite. What does SeaWorld have to gain from any of this?? An early retirement for top-level executives? It just seems like such a nonsensical deal, especially in markets like Florida where there is high-quality competition. I hope, if this is even a real discussion, that SeaWorld executives would care enough about their parks (not to mention the animals living in them) to not let something like this happen.